And to Your Faith - Add...

And to your faith – add…

 There are lots of training plans you can follow if you wish to run a marathon.  Most of them take between 16 and 20 weeks and will include a combination of easy runs, speed workouts, and long runs.  The differences in plans are based on you starting shape and you finish goal.  But all of them start with one big assumption – that you have already been running.  The plan I’ve used most often assumes that you have already been running 25 miles a week and can run a long run of at least 8 miles.  Only at that point should you start to train to go 26.2 miles. 

Like running, I try to look for training plans that will prepare me to run the “Christian” race.  One thing I’ve noticed is that God, when He does a great work, does not typically follow a pattern.  That Jericho thing, when the army marched around the city and blew trumpets, was a one-time deal.   So was the burning bush and the talking donkey.  God doesn’t want us to rely on special phenomenon, but on Him.  But when I see a formula on how to train as a Christian, I want to latch on to it.  One such formula came to mind in 2 Peter 1:

⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, ⁶ and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, ⁷ and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. ⁸ For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Peter talks about qualities we should be developing in order to be effective and fruitful in our Christian lives.  But it, like our 25 mile per week running base, also has an assumption – our faith.  Peter tells us to add or supplement our faith. 

So as we begin to train for the Christian life – our foundation has to be our faith.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1

We need to start with a heart given to God through His Son, Jesus Christ.  We need to understand salvation, repentance, and forgiveness through Jesus.  And then we can add to that those qualities that will make us effective.

Over the course of the next several blogs we will look at adding these qualities to our faith – much like a runner in training who is adding to his running base abilities that will help him run faster and farther.  After that we will turn our focus to the race itself as we strive to reach the Finish Line for which God has called us to achieve.

Until then – run on!

Define Your Finish Line!

When I finished my first marathon I vowed never to run another again.  It was much harder than I expected and my training was less than sufficient.  I did finish, but it took much longer and I felt much worse than I than I thought it should, than I thought it should, than I thought it should.  “Never again!”

Until about 2 weeks later.

Memories of pain are short lived compared to the memories of accomplishment and the thoughts of what you really think you can do if you just prepare for it properly.  I had made it through 26.2 miles.  I knew I could do it and I believed I could do it faster.

And I did – 8 more times.

I’ve heard it asked – what’s the difference between a runner and a jogger.  The answer I like the most is – “a race application”.  When you sign up for a race, whether it is a 5K or a 50 miler (now that’s just crazy), you have committed yourself.  You have laid out cash to participate and now have an end goal, a finish line, in mind.  It’s time to get serious and prepare.

 

I love the Rocky films (with the exception of Rocky 5).  I love that they spend as much time showing Rocky’s training as they do the actual fight.  How we end up at the Finish Line will be a product of how well we trained to get there.  And that training takes place before we ever get to the Starting Line.

So what is your Finish Line?  What do you want to accomplish?  Right now I am signed up to run a half marathon in the spring.  I have a training plan prepared to help me get ready and meet my time goal.  I start following it this week.  Your finish line may not be a running race – maybe it’s a new ministry, or a new skill you want to develop.  Maybe the plan you need to stick to deals with losing wait, or staying on a budget.  Maybe there is someone you’ve wanted to share the Gospel of Christ with.  It starts with a race application (define your Finish Line) followed by the appropriate training.  Then it’s time to reach the Starting Line and let your training carry you to the finish.
 
Next time I'll talk about the "Training Plan".  But first you need to know what you want to train for.  So whether it’s is a 5K or a marathon, or assisting in the church kids program or leading an adult small group, define your finish line and then put a plan together to get there.

Run On!

Look Mommy! Daddy's wearing tights!

Look mommy!  Daddy’s wearing tights!

I’ve spent a good deal of my life working in and around Wright Patterson Air Force Base.  I first arrived there in 1989 and at that time I was not a runner.  Loop Road in the Area B section of the base has a 1 mile stretch that rises about 200 feet in elevation.  During the day you will almost always find someone running that stretch,  I would pass this section on my way out to lunch, usually to one of my favorite fast food places and think how crazy those runners were, especially when they were not only running the uphill stretch, but also in the wind, cold, rain, or snow.  Why would anyone want to subject themselves to that – that’s just weird? 

Fast forward about 10 years and that became me.  And more recently after coming home from a long run in the cold, wind, and snow my daughter remarked “Look mommy!  Daddy’s wearing tights!”  I’ll spare you the picture (you’re welcome!) but I would rather run outside than run on a treadmill or even worse, not run at all.  And I will dress accordingly. 

 

I love the title to Craig Groeschel’s book “Weird: Because Normal Isn’t Working”   Weird is going out for a run on a snowy day.  Weird is waking up before 5 AM each more and reading the Bible, spending time in prayer, and maybe even get in a run before most people reach to hit the snooze bar for the first time to get 10 more minutes of sleep.  Weird is adopting three kids from a foreign country in addition to the two you already have (and some of you are weirder than me!)  Weird is giving money to support the work of God instead of upgrading you house or vehicle.  Weird, not just for the sake of being weird – but to accomplish the work of God in my life. 

 Normal – is sleeping in, getting caught up in the things of the world – many (not-all) of which keep us from God’s true desires for us, and realizing that when we talk about being too busy to so certain things it’s God that has gotten left out. 

Last week I blogged about the Finish Line.  The journey to the finish line begins with some decisions   “What do I want to accomplish?”, “Will I do what it takes to get there?”, and “Am I willing to be weird if that is what it takes?” 

We all will race towards many finish lines in our lives before we reach the final finish line.  We need to decide which races to enter and which ones to pass up.  Each decision hopefully will be made with the final finish line in mind - the one which we hope to hear the words from the race director “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Some of you reading this are weirder than me.  You’ve given your lives to support the work of God – taking less pay and in some cases moving your family to a foreign country to do so.  I praise God for you! 

I would love some feedback – what are you doing that is Weird? Or what are you going to start doing that is weird to help you achieve your God ordained finish line?

Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?  For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you,  saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

Luke 14:28-30

 

Run On!

 

The Finish Line!

It main seem strange to start out the new year focusing on the finish line.  However, I would suppose that most (if not all) runners don’t train to reach the starting line – they train to reach the finish line.  And many who get to the starting line will never reach the finish line.

The next few weeks will prove my point.  Many, armed with new year’s resolve, have been heading to the gym for the first time in almost a year.  They will work out with earnest, some sporting fancy new gym wear obtained at Christmas.  And soon, they will be gone – back to their old routines. 

Why?  Because making it to the starting line is easy.  Getting to the finish line, well that’s another matter altogether.

Whenever I run a marathon I like to familiarize myself with the course ahead of time.  I don’t want to be surprised by a hill midway.  I want to be mentally prepared for it.  I want to make sure I’ve trained with that hill in mind.  I want to be ready.  I want to know what the last .2 miles looks like so I can envision myself there – running (hopefully) past the crowd (that I hope is still there) toward the finish.

I also know that at the end of the race there awaits a prize - a medal that signifies my accomplishment.  Everyone gets a t-shirt at the start – but only those who finish get the medal.  I don’t train for the t-shirt, I train for the medal.

One of Steven Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is to begin with the end in mind.  Focus on the finish line – train to reach the finish line.  To do this we must know where the finish line is and what it will take to get there.

 So during this year, this blog is going to focus on the finish line.  As we race toward the prize, we will focus on the prize and what it takes to get there. 

So you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.  (1 Corinthians 9:24)

So where do we start?   That’s a matter of another blog entry.  Until then…

Run On!