Race Day Jitters (4/7/2012)

In just a few hours, I will run my first 5K (3.1 miles) race. I think I was able to get about 6 hours sleep last night. It took some mental effort to calm myself down enough to slip off to sleep. When 4am this morning rolled around, I woke up and began thinking about the race again.

What makes this 5K race so special?

• For starters, I've never run a race that long before. Even in high school, when I was as physically fit as I've ever been, I never ran a race longer than a mile. So, today as a 41 year old, I'll run a race longer than I've ever run.

• I know that I won't win. In fact, that thought hasn't even crossed my mind. I've only been running seriously for a few months so there will most certainly be men and women who will do much better than me. But running is a personal sport. When you boil it all down, runners are competing against themselves. It's just them and the clock. Whether or not they beat others to the finish line, they are really more focused on beating their own previous time. Today, I want to run a sub-8min pace. The best I've done in my fitness training is an 8' 14" (8 minute 14 second) pace. Today, with the adrenaline and friendly competition, I want to average a mile in less than 8 minutes. That means I will need to run the 5K in 24' 48" or less.

• This is just one more step toward my understanding of being a follower of Christ. Jesus doesn't just want my mind. He wants everything which includes my body. In 1 Corinthians 6:20, it says that followers of Christ must "glorify God in your body." There are many limitations on our abilities to serve Jesus if our bodies aren't healthy and fit. In a culture that is fighting the battle of the bulge (I'm not judging; I have been guilty, too), I want to encourage others to take better care of their bodies by my example.

• I'm also looking forward to seeing my wife and sons at the finish line. Ultimately, whether or not anyone else is watching, I want my family to be inspired by my example of self-discipline. I want them to see the joy that comes as a result of hard work and focused discipline. Hearing their cheers will be icing on the cake.

Praying for God to Show Up

Will you watch this video and considering joining me in praying for Spiritual Awakening? 


Looking at the rapidly declining moral state of our country and world and then realizing that the Church has fallen asleep, these are times when the faithful few must rise up and cry out to God. 


He is waiting to see if we are willing to seek Him with all of our heart. 


Will you?

OneCry for Revival

My heart and passion is for God to show up. Sadly, most Christians never experience the power of God in their life and church because they are experiencing the sin of the church at Ephesus - they've lost their love for Him, also stated in Scripture as losing "their first love" (see Revelation 2:4).

If your heart craves to see God move in your life, your church, our nation and world, consider joining OneCry. It is a very helpful sight to assist you and thousands of others in praying and preparing for revival. Join by clicking here. 

Zach's Middle School Band Concert (March 6, 2012)

Here's a 3 minute piece from Zach's band concert last night at Challenger K-8 School. Kim and I are so proud of our son!

You can view it at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN9fbe7qdps

Sermon (video): Nine Things We Lose When We Fail to Enjoy God

If you're satisfied with the fact that you're saved and want no more of God than you already experience, then this sermon was preached with you in mind. In fact, if you don't consciously enjoy God, I imagine that this sermon may completely change the way you look at your standing with Him.

Here's my request: Will you watch the first 8 minutes and then decide whether to keep watching? At that point, you can turn it off if you want. 

This sermon is a bit lengthy. Yet, I noticed that almost everyone in the congregation stayed tuned in and were actively taking notes during the whole sermon. I believe this sermon touched a nerve and the Holy Spirit was driving the truth home to all of our hearts.

To view the sermon, click here.

Running, Endurance, Trials and the Christian Race

As I was finishing up my morning run today, I realized that I had not allowed enough time to recuperate from yesterday's run. My legs were tiring out and felt like I had taken them about as far as they wanted to go today.

I was reminded of a bit of information I had picked up in a running book recently - if I'm going to run longer distances, I need to develop muscle endurance. 

Muscle endurance isn't dealing with the strength of muscles. It speaks of a particular muscle's ability to perform a particular activity for a prolonged period of time.

Now, there's a lot of variables that go into a muscle's ability to endure. But, when you boil it down, to build muscle endurance, you have to run long distances. Pure and simple. To get your leg muscles to take you on a 3 mile or 10 mile run, you've got to train your muscles to endure for that long by running those distances. 

As you are training, your legs are going to get soar. You're going to feel tired the day after. You've got to make sure that you consume some carbs immediately after the run and make sure that you're taking in more than the amount of water that you lost on your run. You've got to do muscle stretches.

But, to build endurance, it's really not that complicated. You've got to just get out there and put in the miles.

Knowing that one day I will run much longer distances, I fought through the discomfort this morning. While my left calf was beginning to ache and I realized that I did not have nearly as much energy today as I did on yesterday's run, I fought through it.

Why? Because the pain today means gain tomorrow! I'm building muscle endurance with every run I take. 

And that's when it hit me ...

That's a lot like the Christian life. The Christian life is a runner's race (see 1 Corinthians 9:24-27). To effectively run it, we've got to develop endurance.

And guess what. God almost ALWAYS takes us through difficulties to build that endurance.

But, take joy in the fact that as you go through those trials, it's God's way of equipping you to build the endurance you need to be victorious in your Christian race!

James 1:2-4 "Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials,  knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing."

Book Review: "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Running: Third Ed." by Bill Rodgers and Scott Douglass

This book is a priceless resource for new runners!

For someone who has just started running or wants to start a running program, it may seem that all the sport requires is to put one leg in front of the other. Without being unnecessarily burdensome or complicated, the author makes it clear that there is much more to running than meets the eye, at least if you want to be reasonably good at it and sustain as few injuries as possible.

Some of the topics covered in this book are:

• Reasons why running is a great sport!
• How to know if you're overtraining.
• How to measure and log your runs.
• How to choose the right shoe for you.
• Choosing the right running apparel.
• An overview of the various running gadgets (watches, gps, heart monitor, etc.)
• How to properly stretch to avoid injury.
• What muscles you need to exercise that won't get a workout while running.
• When to run with an ache and when to run to a doctor.
• What foods / nutrients to consume.
• The necessity and possibilities of cross-training.
• There's a whole chapter that addresses women's issues.
• Determining how to dress / run in various weather conditions.
• The joys of participating in a race.
• How to train for specific races (the author provides a general weekly schedule for training for 5K's, 10K's, etc.)

I would highly recommend this book to anyone getting started in running. It's an easy read and every page is saturated with helpful information.