Kings under the King

Airplane Rock

While hiking with my brother between Old Man's Cave and Cedar Falls I pointed to some high, sandstone cliffs above and to our left. I mentioned that when I see those and other similar rocky places I have this almost uncontrollable urge to climb up there. I have this urge to jump the trail and explore. The trail we are on is great, the sites are aweso
me, but there is something inside that says, "what's up there, what's off the trail, what can you discover?"

Men are born with that sense of adventure built in. Where would we be without it? We certainly wouldn't be on the International Space Station. We probably wouldn't be in North America. I'd venture to say that we, as a race, may not even be in existence if it weren't for that adventurous spirit that says, "I wonder, I'll bet, let's try" and so on.

Behind our house to the southwest is a small patch of woods that my boys are always begging to go explore no matter the season. To them, it's like going on a jungle adventure. They look for all sorts of treasures: turtles, sticks, skulls, and rocks. Even a pocket full of hickory nuts is booty to bring back to the castle. They follow the trails paved by the whitetail deer and the small stream might as well be a raging river. On another part of the property there is a sandstone ledge that is about 5 feet high that they love to visit. They climb up the face grabbing crevice and roots and slide back down the dirt bank on wet leaves. The adventurous spirit is built in.

What if we could use that God-given spirit for the Good, the True, and the Beautiful? What if we could raise up wild, adventurous, bold, brave, chivalrous, Godly men or become one ourselves? Would you try? Even if it meant unspeakable pain? Even if it meant struggle, failure, hardship, and testing like you have never experienced before?

If you are not willing, ask yourself why? Are you afraid? Christ says, "fear is useless." Are you weak? St. Paul says, "it is when I am weak that I am strong." My advice to you, "trust God." He can be trusted. He made you for this and He would never put you through anything above and beyond what you can handle, with His grace.

If you are willing, let's go. Let's start the adventure together. I'm no expert but I know the voice of God is calling us. He is calling men to reclaim their rightful heritage as kings under the King of Kings. There's a term to look at - King of Kings. There aren't too many kings left today so what is this title referring to other than the fact that we are those kings or at least we are destined to be, when we are ready. That is what Adam should have been.

The Catechism tells us that, "The anointing with sacred chrism, perfumed oil consecrated by the bishop, signifies the gift of the Holy Spirit to the newly baptized, who has become a Christian, that is, one "anointed" by the Holy Spirit, incorporated into Christ who is anointed priest, prophet, and king." (CCC 1242) He is the King of Kings. He is the King, we the kings. We are incorporated into Him and therefore we share in His priesthood, His prophetic office, and His kingship.
Our adventure, for the purpose of this blog, will begin with three things.

First, prayer. I would challenge you in some way to increase your prayer life. Go to Mass during the week, pray the rosary on Sunday with your family (if you have one) or alone, pray the Liturgy of the Hours (the official prayer of the Church.) In your prayer, talk to God as you talk to your very best friend in plain language and then listen, repeat, rinse (just making sure you're paying attention).

Second, get out. Go for a walk, work out, bike or something that gets the heart pumping a little bit. God never meant for us to sit and stare at this screen all day. We are a total package - body, mind and soul. The soul needs the prayers as much as the body needs the exercise and the other way round too. The mind comes next...

Third, read. As stated in the "about this blog" section, I'll be following both Wild at Heart
and The Way of the Wild Heart by John Eldredge as well as the companion journals. The other two essential books for this adventure are The Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The old adage is so true - garbage in, garbage out. If all we are reading is the newspaper, magazines, and the like our brains will turn to mush, or worse. Saint Paul says, "Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect." (Romans 12:2) We must be transformed. Rather, we must accept that this adventure will transform us and we must let it. The transformation will take place in the three areas listed above and in that transforming adventure we will learn to "discern what is the will of God". We will learn through prayer, physical transformation, and study how God wants us to rule our (His) kingdom.

I hope you stick with me, no, let's stick together for we cannot do this alone. We need each other and Him. Pray for me, I'll pray for you.

Controlled Power

One of my favorite activities is wrestling with my boys.  In fact, I often write it on my calender to make sure I don't leave it out during the week.

Our wrestling takes one of three forms.  First there is the horse / bull ride where the boys hop on my back and hold on for dear life.  This always gets the most laughs but trust me, the laughs are not coming from my knees.  Second, there is the one-on-one match where I let each boy in turn push me around and then I fling them around.  This give and take goes on for some time until I allow them to pin me to the floor.  When I sit up after a match, I have to be ready because the next boy is ready to pounce.  After wrestling each of the four boys twice, this old man is ready for bed.  Third, there is the everyone-against-dad match.  I usually prompt this match with a promise of dessert or candy if they can get me down.  It's all fun and games and I keep the upper hand, that is, until they decide to work together.  It is then that the real struggle begins.

Last week the boys asked if they could wrestle each other.  They are too young to pull dirty tricks so the only rule that I made was that they had to start from their knees.  I came up with this rule because I know how they can start swinging each other around and I could easily see someone being thrown through a French Door.

The two oldest wrestled first and the younger pinned the older after about 5 minutes of wrestling on the floor. Next the younger two wrestled and the younger one again pinned the older.  They all wanted to wrestle one more time and I agreed.  This second match with the older two went on for an eternity until finally the younger one once again pinned his older brother.  This was more than the older one could take and he exploded all over me with shouts of injustice.  "I wasn't down.  You weren't watching when I had him down two minutes ago.  I'm never doing this again," and on and on.  I sent him into the mud room to cool down.  After a few minutes I had a good talk with him about controlling himself.  That is, after all, why we are wrestling in the first place.

I wrestle with my boys to show them that they have incredible strength and that they must learn to control that strength.  I help them to realize that I could easily pummel each and every one of them but I don't.  I am in control, at all times, even when they get a shot in that fattens my lip, knocks my glasses off, or draws blood.  I control my strength, my body, my temper, my mind, my heart.  I have the control.  I hope that through wrestling and other activities they will realize that they too have great power, explosive power, but it must be controlled.  I hope to teach them that there are times to unleash that power and there are times to suppress that power but each and every time it must be controlled by them.  God has given them this gift and it is my job to teach them the proper use of the gift.

Burpees with Christopher and me.

Here is video of Christopher and me doing some burpees for the guys at Wilderness Outreach. Check out the Wilderness Outreach website and join us on Facebook.

90 Days - Day 5

What's this all about?

Bible Reading Program
Today's reading for the program covered Genesis 17-20.

In chapter 17 we see what Abram must do for his end of the covenant, circumcision. There would be no way that Abram, his male descendants, or any of his tribe would be able to forget their promise to God. It was now etched in their very flesh, they would see it every day, a few times a day!

Chapter 17 is also a chapter with a lot of name dropping and changing. Abram becomes Abraham, the irony is not lost on Abram whose name means "High Father". Now his new name means, "Highly Exalted Father". Yet he still has no offspring with his wife Sarai. Sarai's name is also changed, it becomes Sarah. The childless Sarah is told she will "be a mother of nations." These predictions get laughs from both Abraham and Sarah and so God names the son to be born to them Issac which means, yes, "He Laughs." God has a great sense of humor!

In chapter 18 we see Abraham pleading for the righteous in the city of Sodom. Abraham has Lot in mind for sure. However, we see in chapter 19 that you can take folks out of Sodom and Gomorrah but it was extremely difficult to take Sodom and Gomorrah out of the family of Lot. His future son-in-laws think he is crazy for wanting to leave. His wife looks back and is turned to salt. This always puzzled me especially in light of the fact that at nearly the same time Abraham is looking at Sodom and Gomorrah. I believe that Lot's wife had been corrupted and was looking back at the cities with longing and was punished. Lot's daughters too are corrupted by the culture of Sodom and Gomorrah. They get their father drunk and have sex with him and conceive.

Chapter 20 reminds me that I often commit the same sins over and over. Abraham again tries to pass his wife off as his sister in order to save his own skin, again. The Lord appears to the king of the land and punishes him, again. The ruler releases Sarah and reads Abraham the riot act...again. God help us in our weaknesses.

Max Workouts Program
Speaking of weaknesses...I was clinging this morning to the words of St. Paul when he speaks of being strong when he is weak. I was weak but I am getting stronger.

Today I started with a good warm-up and them moved directly into the day's exercises. Today the program called for doing as many of the exercises as you could in a 20 minute period. There were three exercises with 8-12 reps each, all three done in sequence counting as a round. The exercises moved from pull-up to push-up to burpees then back to pull-up and so on. I was ready to puke after three rounds. They should call those dang burpees - barfees. I did three rounds in almost ten minutes. I never thought this could be so difficult. I'M NOT GIVING UP!

Tomorrow is a day of just about any activity. I am going to get up and work on some of the optional ab exercises that are part of the program. I may go hike behind the house to. We're supposed to get about 8 inches of snow so that should make for a good workout!

90 Days - Day 4

What's this all about?

Bible Reading Program
Today's Bible Reading (Genesis 12-16) covers the blessing of Abram and his entering into a covenant with God.

In chapter 12 Abram journeys into Egypt and does a strange thing. He is fearful for his life so he tells his wife to act as his sister so that the Egyptians won't kill him and take her. This is a cowardly action and shows a lack of trust in God. God in turn punishes the Egyptians for taking Sarai and so they release her after giving Abram a good tongue lashing.

In chapter 13 Abram and Lot go their separate ways to avoid anymore strife between their two tribes. However, Lot is captured during a war between a number of kings and Abram must go and rescue him. After the rescue Abram meets up with Melchizedek, King of Salem. Abram is blessed by Melchizedek and this is significant since the blessing of God usually passes from one person to another. Adam blessed Seth, Seth's blessing passed through generations to Noah, Noah blessed Shem and then the blessing appears to disappear. Some suggest the Melchizedek is actually Shem. Anyway, God's blessing is passed on to Abram and we also see a foreshadowing of the Eucharist in the offering of bread and wine rather than an animal sacrifice.

Chapter 15 is an odyssey of events with animals split in two, vultures, and mysterious fire. This all constitutes the covenant God makes with Abram. God promises to bless Abram with offspring too many to count. Often when we read this we imagine that Abram is going out and looking at all the countless stars in the night sky. However, a close reading indicates that it was actually day. After the promise, the sacrifice of the animals, and the birds of prey (which would only be out in the day), we read, "As the sun was going down..." (Genesis 15:12)

God had Abram go out and look for stars, "count them if you can" in the middle of the day. Thus showing Abram that God is faithful even if he couldn't see a single star! The stars are there but just not visible at that time!

In chapter 16 we see Abram and Sarai taking their childless situation into their own hands and not trusting God. It is at this time that Ishmael is born; the son of Abram and Sarai's maid, Hagar.

These chapters are about trust, will Abram trust God? Will you trust God, even when nothing makes sense?

Max Workouts Program

I finally felt good today. I got out of bed without much effort and the soreness of the first couple of days is starting to give way. Today was a bike day. It was pretty intense but much more tolerable. I warmed up with 5 mins of varied resistance on the bike. For 25 mins I did 40 second sprints of intense resistance followed by 40 seconds of lighter resistance.

Tomorrow is another workout so I may stop and get some lighter dumbbells. Saturday has nothing prescribed so I may drop back and do the optional ab workouts. So far, I'd still recommend the program and I am very much enjoying it. It takes some time to learn the exercises, for me at least, and their names but hopefully, with the help of the videos, I'll get a good handle on those so I can really dive into each workout.

90 Days - Day 3

What's this all about?

Bible Reading Program

Today's reading (Chapters 9-11) gives us the geneology from Noah to Abram. Some interesting things to note:
1) We are lead to believe that up until all left the Ark the animals had no natural fear of humans. This would help further explain how such an event could have taken place. Genesis 9:2

2) Are we also to understand that up til this point man did not eat animals? Genesis 9:3

3) I have heard that the incident with Ham and "Noah's nakedness" was actually an instance of incest between Ham and Noah's wife, Ham's mother. This is alluded to in Leviticus 18:6-8. Depending on the translation (RSV-CE) both read "uncover the nakedness of your father."

Max Workouts Program
Today was a very tough day. I won't make excuses but I do think I need some lighter dumbbells for some of these exercises. I did some great warm-up exercises even though I am still extremely sore. Today's exercise consisted of using dumbbells for three exercises, never putting them down until the end of the first round and the beginning of the 1 min break. I only did 3 out of the 5-6 suggested rounds. I simply couldn't move the dumbbells one more time. I was using 30 lb dumbbells and probably need to drop down to twenty or fifteen.

I must say this is the most challenging program I have ever tried. What is nice is that the author/designer is a participant in the forums so he will read, reply and encourage everyone to stick it out and not give up. It makes it a little more personal and you don't feel like your left out on your own after your purchase.

I feel good even if can't do all the exercises yet. Just sticking with that personal commitment to get up everyday and try helps so much physically and mentally!

90 Days - Day 2

What's this all about?

Max Workouts Program

Today was a cardiovascular day, a day of really getting the heart pumping. I woke up at 5 and began the scripture program (see below) and then moved into some warm-up exercises. Frankly, these hurt. I was still tight and sore from yesterday but once I got into them I felt a bit better. However, I realized that they weren't really necessary since I would be doing all of my work on the bike today.

After limbering up and warming up I sat down at the bike. I spent about five minutes at a steady pace before beginning the day's program. As I have said before Max Workouts focuses on intensity. It focuses on quality work rather than quantity work. This bike program for Tuesdays and Thursdays is basically the equivalent of sprinting for thirty seconds and then jogging for thirty seconds, sprinting for 30, jogging for 30. This continues for about 20-25 mins. It was not easy and it really got my heart pumping. In order to get that sprint power I tightened the bike resistance and then let off for the jog. Again, today, my legs are hurting. It can't last forever, right??? Right?

Bible Reading Program

Today Genesis 5-8 takes us through the lineage of Seth to Noah and then the story of Noah and the Ark.

Chapter 5 gives us the family history of Noah. We begin with Seth and work our way through all of the sons, grandsons, etc. One interesting thing to note is that not until we get to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah, do we read "Enoch walked with God." I have to wonder if the other ancestors of Noah did not walk with God. Also, only Noah has three of his sons named while the others had only one named.

Chapter 6 basically retells the story of man from the time of Adam and Eve until Noah. We see that those who followed God, "sons of God", married those who did not follow God, "sons of men", and the human race beings to seriously fall out of favor with God. When we finally get to Noah we once again read that he "walked with God." There is something for us to consider. Do we walk with God?

In the remaining verses of the chapter God tells Noah to build the Ark, why, and who and what is to come aboard.

Many don't believe in the ark account. They read it as a myth. They ask, how could Noah get all of those animals on the Ark. Well, he didn't, God did. I have seen how God can do this too. In the days after Hurricane Katrina I read a story in the New Orleans paper about how they found all of these animals located together on this one spot of high ground. The remarkable thing was that they were animals that would not naturally get along. They were predators and prey, yet they were all seeking safety and accommodating one another. I have also read stories of how animals react before an event of nature takes place.

Another beautiful part of the Ark story is that they go on two by two but scripture tells us that when the Ark came to a rest, over a year after the flood began, they all "went forth by families out of the Ark." It was the original "love boat" by all accounts!

90 Days - Day 1

What's this all about?

Max Workouts Program

Today was the first day of my 90 day program. Last night I reviewed the exercises with the help of the available online videos that come with the program. I made sure that I could do them all and had the necessary equipment. I also found replacement exercises for those I couldn't do since I don't have pull-up or chin-up equipment. After reviewing and planning out my morning, I set my alarm for 5 AM and promptly went to bed at 9 PM.

I can't say I jumped out of bed but I didn't hit the snooze. I got dressed and went downstairs to my "man cave" area and cracked open the Bible for my 90 day reading program (meditations below). After scripture I began with the recommended warm-up routine. This routine isn't just sissy stretches and jogging in place. It is designed to get things kick-started and I was dang near worn out by the end of about 7 minutes of warm-ups!

After the warm-up routine I moved right into the workouts. I thought that I was pretty much in shape. I've been hiking every Saturday about 10+ miles, doing push-ups, etc. By the second round I was begging God to just take me then and there.

This program focuses on high-intensity workouts. It's not doing curls and then looking at your biceps. It's more like those times in high-school sports when you thought you'd probably feel better if you could just throw-up after the given exercise. There are only three exercises each day to begin with but they are killer and they don't even call for a great deal of weight. The 4 rounds took only 20 minutes.

When I finished I was a quivering pile of jell-o. I could barely walk back upstairs for some breakfast. And, to be honest, with you, my brothers, I only did 4 rounds of the prescribed 5-6. I just couldn't do any more. My body and I are not speaking right now.

I jumped on the forums at Max Workouts to find another poor soul that began the program today and he too only did 4 rounds. Misery loves company. Tomorrow is a cardio day and I'll explain that tomorrow. For now, I'm going to focus on recovery, 5 hours later my legs still don't cooperate when going down the stairs!

Bible Reading Program

The 90 Day Bible Reading Program comes from The Great Adventure Bible Timeline program by Jeff Cavins. In order to access the free study you need to register and download the single page PDF file. Or email me and I can sent it to you.

Today - Genesis 1-4 In the beginning, what better place to start a reading program or an exercise program! I can't possibly give commentary on everything I read but I will highlight some meditations that I had during the reading.

7 Sins - I found it fascinating that we can see all 7 of the deadly sins at the fall of Adam and Eve.

Pride - Adam & Eve desire to be like God. (Gen 3:6)

Avarice (greed) - They had everything, what more could they want? Yet in their pride, they desired the only thing forbidden them. (Gen 3:6)

Gluttony - Again, God had given them all they would need, yet they are tempted to reach for more, one more morsel "good for food." (Gen 3:6)

Sloth - Adam & Eve, though they know what is forbidden, give no fight, no exertion to resist offending God, and entertain conversation with the devil. (Gen 3:2-6)

Envy - Our first parents were envious of God, they felt as though He had something good and was hiding something from them. (Gen 3:4-5)

Lust - At the fall Adam & Eve no longer looked upon one another with self-giving love but rather with selfish love, thinking in their hearts "how can I use this person." (Gen 3:7)

Anger - The episode of the fall turns into a blame game - Adam blaming Eve, Eve blaming the serpent. The anger of one is vented against another, confession is never considered. (3:12-13)

Another passage that caught my attention is "and dust shall you eat". God addresses this to the serpent who we know is the devil. I wonder if this was meant to be a play on words. Consider that we are told both Adam and Eve are made of...dust of the earth. Is this meant to convey that the serpent will be in constant pursuit, trying to consume man?

That's it for now, time to let my body and brain relax! God Bless!

Challenge

I took John Eldredge's advice and spent some time in prayer at the beginning of the year asking God for a word or theme for the year. The answer, although I'm still leery of it, was "challenge". I am not sure if this is going to be a challenging year or I am supposed to challenge myself or I am going to face a huge challenge. Since I am unsure, I will step out in faith and if I'm heading the wrong way God will show me. I feel a little bit like Saint Francis. He was told to "rebuild my Church" and thought God meant it literally with bricks and stones and so that is what he did only to find out God wanted something different, something greater.

I've decided to challenge myself, until further notice, in a couple of different ways - physically and spiritually. In August I'll be heading, God willing, to California for another trip with Wilderness Outreach. It is going to be a very challenging trip with a 20 mile hike with pack to our work site. I need to be ready physically. I also need to be ready spiritually.

I've decided to begin two 90 day programs to kick off this preparation. The first is a 90 day program called MAX Workouts. This program appeals to me because of the variety of exercise as well as the levels of difficulty. This is not your ordinary 2 hours of lifting weight in the gym. It is much shorter but more intense. It seems to be more natural as well. What I mean is that it uses more natural body positions, gravity, and full body exercises that burn lots of calories. For instance, you can burn calories doing military presses but if you incorporate a power lift with that press, using your entire body, you can move more muscles and burn more calories.

Another thing that appeals to me is the fact that it focuses on total body exercise and strength training. Too often I lift, feel buff, plateau and give up because I'm not challenged and I'm not increasing overall strength. Of course I'm not looking into body building. I want to gain strength, get rid of calories and weight, and become a bit more flexible. So, MAX Workouts is what I'll be trying for 90 days.

In addition to that program, I've decided to try reading the Bible in 90 days. Of course I won't be reading the entire thing but rather focusing on the 14 narrative books as outlined by Jeff Cavins in his Great Adventure Timeline program. I've gone through the program three times but never have I tried the 90 day reading list.

I am posting this post because I hope to chronicle my experience with both programs for the 90 days (I'll begin on February 1st). I'll let you know what I think of the exercise program as it progresses as well as any thoughts on the scripture that I'm reading.

If you are interested in joining me in either program, let me know. I can email you the 90 day Bible reading list. The MAX Workouts program is $39.95 with a 100% - 60 day money back guarantee. I hope it's a good program and not like some of the junk on the Internet but we'll see and if it isn't good I'll get my money back.