Head-dibs

Firm trust. Children have no difficulty with confidence. They trust without question. Children trust firmly, with resolution. Confidence comes naturally to a child. Then, everything changes. Sometime, somewhere, somehow, confidence wanes, trust falters. One grows and the focus of trust shifts away from the parent to self. We throw ourselves off balance when God’s natural design is corrupted by the sin nature. Confidence is significantly weakened and distrust takes over. Confidence must be relearned, re-established and to have it fully, one must return to the one who instilled that in our design. We must return to our maker, and in so-doing, retrain ourselves to think, live, believe differently. Confidence takes discipline. We need to practice trusting God and practice takes time, requires focus, saying “yes” to some things and “no” others. Our mental, physical and spiritual diets may have to change, get rid of the fat that weighs us down, build up the spiritual muscles we...

At first I thought “Tabata” meant "have a great Monday", but by the end of my workout yesterday I realized there was a slight mistranslation. It’s more like, "I think I'm going to be sick." I can think of two times in my life when I exercised so hard that I got physically ill--and both instances were back in High School. Yes, Tabata really took me back. Thanks for the memories. Seriously, and with all due respect, “Tabata” is the last name of a doctor who designed the fitness routine. Let your fingers do the Googling, for more information. Yesterday's WOD (Workout of the Day) started with a warm up of (5x) 100m sprints and (3x) 10 Pull-ups. The WOD was Tabata burpees, air squats, pushups and AB Mat straight leg sit-ups. "Tabata" (for the uninitiated) means 20 second of work (max effort) and 10 seconds of rest for 8 rounds. Start with the first maneuver for 8 rounds, then do the second maneuver until done. 20 minutes of no-hands riding the Hap...

“ Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that has been set before us .” (Hebrew 12:1) After a heavy workout, I feel like collapsing. Though the ground feels nice as I gush sweat like a lawn sprinkler, that pile is really not the best position in which to be. One needs be upright. So I walk around with my hands on my head, filling my lungs with air. I’m running much faster now that some of this weight is coming off. I started at 252 by walking for 15 minutes. Then 15 minutes became 20 minutes, then 30 minutes, then 45 minutes. Then my body whispered “faster.” So I went faster. And the weight is coming off. With faster comes stronger and the end of the workout is full of accomplishment. The encumbrance, the weight must come off in order to run with endurance. Jesus said the thorns that choke are world-worries, things that ...

“ Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win .” (1 Cor. 9:24) Recently athlete Adam Coccia was quoted to say this about CrossFit. "This is CrossFit. No one is going to stop you from stopping. Nobody is going to be disappointed if you scale down. You have nothing to prove to anyone, but to yourself. And that might be the most important aspect of CrossFit."   There is a connection between Paul’s encouragement to the Corinthian Christians who were struggling, learning what it meant to be God’s saints in a hostile world and Adam’s comment about CrossFit. I find this illustrated best by the Monday’s workout following a fairly hefty warm-up: 200m run   4 minute jump rope   400m run   3 minute jump rope   600m run   2 minute jump rope   800m run   2 minute jump rope   Sounds easy. Looks good on paper. I had to jog (not run) the 600, and walked the...

Since May, I started something I had no intention of starting and now I can’t stop. Making matters worse I’d never heard of that which I’ve gotten myself into and now I am saturated in it. Just after my birthday in May I started Crossfit and it has rocked my world physically, emotionally and spiritually. Running the risk of sounding like a commercial—there ain’t nothing like Crossfit. Mind you: this from a non-sports person. Short testimonial: I started a weight loss and exercise program back in 2011 with fairly good results, but got stuck on a plateau (I lost about 30 pounds from 2011 to 2013). Since late May, I’ve not only lost 12 pounds (to date) but have grown stronger. Oh my goodness. I’m swimming in the kool-aid. The Crossfit WODs (Workout Of the Day) are intensely varied and address the mind as much as the body. One feature is finishing, no matter what. Sounds good until one sees the WOD—just about anyone may think “I can do that.” Well, hold that thought because about...

I am just now looking through my blog subscriptions and one in particular has been posting strings of self-help-style posts: “5 Simple Ways To . . .” “4 Warning Signs That . . .” “How To Solve 10 . . .” “30 Second To . . .” “Avoid These 4 . . .” This is where we are, in the age of fast, pat answers. Has someone written a computer program, having found the algorithms of life that produce solutions to nearly every problem imaginable? Don’t be fooled. It’s not that easy. Life is a journey we all make together. We are born, we will die; however, what takes place in the  “dash between the dates” is unique. Where is life’s journey taking us and how do we know we’ve arrived? The beginning is definite, so when did we begin to think the end is nebulous? How is it we’ve become convinced that the challenges of the journey are met with simplistic answers? How did the human race survive before the internet? Seems impossible. One question that cannot be answered in the alg...

Ain’t no such thing as writer’s block, so stop pretending. There is so much to say, so much to put down on paper—there’s not enough time in a day to get it all down. The page is blank, all you need to do is fill it. Go ahead. Put it down. Pull the thoughts from your head and out of your heart and record them on paper. Or screen. Consider what you have—all that knowledge, all that wisdom. You have opinions and thoughts. Sound them out. Test them, try them. Compare and contrast with what others have to say—but you can’t do it until you get it down. Sometimes ideas show how good or bad they are once they enter the realm of the objective. You know what I mean. Sure, you can sit there and contemplate all day long, but the moment you sound it out, get it out of your head it, you can often see it for what it is. All those questions you have—you have questions, right? They are not difficult to ask, but asking good questions sometimes takes practice. Get them down. Put them on paper. ...

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“Intrigue, innuendo, intimidation, insinuation, those constitute the discipline of danger. Our temptation is to turn from our task to untangle the intrigue, to take time to undo the innuendo, to flee from intimidation and to fight hidden insinuation. Our safety is in doing our duty (Nehemiah 2:3), in putting our trust in God (Neh. 6:9), in standing stedfast and immovable (Neh. 6:11) and in serving in silence. The result for us will be as it was with Nehemiah, ‘the wall was finished . . . our enemies . . . were much cast down in their own eyes; for the perceived that this work was wrought of our God.’ (Neh. 6:15-16). Danger feared is folly, danger faced is freedom.” (Edman, V. Raymond. The Disciplines of Life. Scripture Press Foundation, 1948)

Peterson, Severin. A Catalog Of The Ways People Grow.   New York: Ballentine, 1971. (I read old books because there are there) The most likeable feature of this 367 page encyclopedia is the rare and painfully honest assessment Peterson gives to the reader of his own collection. He suggests, “that you regard this book as being a manure spreader, that all the words in this book are, at best, manure, and that this book is a vehicle for spreading manure . . . . As you read this book, you can, if you like, be spreading manure. If you leave it on the ground, it will smell a little and then dry up.” So how can one be not just a little curious? Peterson goes on to describe the benefits of manure to a garden, but this is truly less a catalog of the fruits of a productive garden so the title does not fit the analogy. The book is an alphabetical arrangement of worldview; that is, ways man tries to understand the self and the world in which he lives. Certainly one would expect to f...

“ The disciple is that one who has been taught or trained by the Master, who has come with his ignorance, superstition, and sin, to find learning, truth, and forgiveness from the Saviour. Without disciplines we are not disciples, even though we profess His name and pass for a follower of the lowly Nazarene .” (Edman, V. Raymond. “The Disciplines of Life.” Scripture Press Foundation, 1948) Edman gives us much to contemplate in this simple definition of discipleship. He suggests that the disciple “has been taught.” The disciple has learned truth and found forgiveness from the Savior. There is no good intention to follow, to pass off as a follower. The disciple came with ignorance and has learned. The disciple came with unjustified beliefs and presuppositions and has not only been corrected but trained to live in truth. The disciple came with sin and has been cleansed not by his own doing or merit but by his Master, the Saviour. The disciple correctly represents His Master to the wo...

This 5" ugly bug wanted to fight. My wife held him off like a champ.

The road to Canadian independence from England began on July 1, 1867, when Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Province of Canada were united into a single country as the result of the Constitution Act. The goal of total independence took nearly a century to achieve because many Canadians considered themselves British. The first official celebration of independence was recorded in 1917 and the government instituted July 1 as a holiday in 1958. It is common (Canadian) knowledge that the country overall celebrated its independence all together for the first time in 1967, at the 100th anniversary of the Constitution Act. This year, Canadians enjoy a three day weekend!