What I Need

First: While talking to Jason on our ~7.2 mile/1 hour 14 minute run around the scenic loop at Prince William Forest Park in 20 degree weather, he informed me that he was not sure he liked being referred to as Jason "Farley" Pelt by someone else. Even though he called himself this previously I have decided to not refer to him as "Farley" any longer. This now leaves a clear nickname void. So I am in need of some suggestions for nicknames to use when referring to him in this blog. Until such time as I have a acceptable nicname suggested I will refer to Jason as Iceman.

Second: Iceman has decided we would run in the George Washington Classic 10K in Alexandria on February 14. I don't really feel like paying another $30 entry fee. However, if I can get $100 in donations then I get to run for free. The donations support the Alexandria Police Youth Camp, Inc.. Any willing Donors?

Third: If Iceman and I are going to continue winter running. I think I need a face warmer. I don't need donations for this though.
-Maverick

The thing I like about running

You can see your improvement. Today I ran the same distance as last week's second jog. Last week I ran it in 31 minutes and 25 seconds. This week i ran it in 30 minutes and 17 seconds. Next week I may have to run a slightly further distance. I had another moment of genious on the run. Early in the run I started kicking a loose chunk of ice for distraction, then a little later in the run I tried to kick another. This one was frozen solid to he ground. It nearly turned my knee around. Put another star in the should have known better column.

Did I mention I decided to read Ezekiel? Sometimes I read about the prophets and I think, "It would have been cool to be a prophet." Sometimes I read about them and say, "Thank goodness someone else had to do that." What always interests me about reading the Old Testament is to see how God is clearly the same God as in the New Testament. He is not a God that was at one time strict and full of wrath and the later on became loving and full of grace. He is a God that in the Old Testament and the New Testament hates sin and yet shows grace to his people in spite of their sin.

I love book lights

Well... At least I collect a lot of them. Actually I have found that in some cases it is cheaper to buy a new book light than it is to buy a battery. So I have managed to buy somewhere around 10 of them. Of course I can only find about two at once, but I know they are out there. My new favorite one is my newest one. It is good because it uses a standard battery (2 AAA's). What I really like about it is that I can turn it on to help me get to a light to help me get ready in the morning. Then I go to turn it back on so I can find the stairs and it does not turn on. It always does this when I need it the most. This ability to fail when I need it the most makes it my favorite. I like the exercise in probability. Oh well.

If anyone has any topics they would like me to talk about let me know. Otherwise, next week I might blog about my least favorite book light.

Now it is official

Today I signed up for the Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon. Goodbye $60. Hello 13 miles and a T-Shirt. I then went and ran in 30 degree weather with freezing rain. I heard that Jason "Farley" Pelt ran in snow this morning. I could not be outdone. So freezing rain it had to be. I figured out that going forward was not a problem . I did not slip a single time while going forward. Coming to a stop in any short distance needs to be thought out. I nearly slipped and fell. This would have been the second fall today if I had. In a moment of intellectual clarity this afternoon I decided to walk down my steep snow covered driveway in deck shoes. Three Quarters of the way down... I went down. Back to the run... I also found that I was forced to have the turning radius of a volkswagen bug otherwise friction was to little.
Run Stats:
30 minutes 16 seconds
Cold Ears
Frozen hat
Freezing Rain
No falls
One loose shoelace
Two funny looks from neighbors
One word of encouragement from lady shoveling snow
Snow is fun

-"Swayze"

Another Clint Question Answered

What age and experience are necessary for a young man who’s aspiration is to plant churches and is it acceptable for him to stay single if he is qualified in other areas?

I suppose the answer to this question hinges on how you define the purpose of a church planter. Is the purpose of a church planter to collect a flock of people that he can shepherd? Sometimes I think it is. Can the purpose of a church planter be to teach while a group of leaders he has partnered with perform the shepherding of the church? I think this can be true sometimes too. This question really hits on the fact that we often call the preacher pastor. The preacher may not always be prepared to shepherd a church due to age. This does not mean that he might not b gifted to teach or to lead. Come to think of it, I seem to recall that shepherding can also be a spiritual gift (I will have to confirm). This probably hits on one of the problems that can sometimes be found in new church plants. The preacher is gifted to teach, but is not equipped to shepherd. In this situation it is important that the new church planter join with people who can help him shepherd his flock. So I do not believe there is an age or experience in which people could be able to plant churches. I do think however that it is important to recognize that people might come into church planting from different backgrounds and with different giftings. Recognizing this can help the new church planter identify where to seek the Lord in providing for needs in helping him plant a church.

As for if it is acceptable to stay single, the answer is definitely yes. This however is entirely dependent on the person. Paul talks about how it is better to not be married because you get to concentrate on doing more direct work for the Lord. He also talks about how most people should get married because they have trouble with sexual purity and thus could not handle a lifetime of remaining unmarried.

A first long run

1 hour 7 minutes 45 seconds through the scenic USMC Base Quantico OCS Trails starting a little after 7 AM. It looks like we had a temperature of a little over 40 degrees. Very pleasant. I even got a little warm. My new running shirt worked good. And since today's blog is exceptionally boring I am cutting it short. Also I have a two year old tugging on my shoulder.

Do you ever feel like your getting old?

Today I do. After three straight nights of my son not sleeping well. After running twice this week. I decided to have my son chase me around the house like he often does, and also chase him around the house as well. As I started to do that today both of my hips hurt. Then I tried to "bound" up the stairs like a graceful gazelle only to be brought to a quick stop by pain in my hips. If this is not depressing for a 28 year old male, then I do not know what is. So I have made a decision. If I am ever a teenager playing sports again or a young adult playing sports again, then I am going to rest my injuries better. If that day comes I will rest my sprained ankles. I may even ice them. When I get an ovulsive fracture in my hip I promise not to play a soccer game on it. Until that day comes I will have to go on feeling older than I really am. Maybe as I get into better shape things will start to improve. I will now go wipe a tear from my eye.

How to keep a nose warm?

This is what I need to know.

Stats for second run:
19 degrees and clear starry skys
Feels like 19 degrees
31 minutes 25 seconds
Longer run too
Felt better than first run
Hips stiff at first
loosened up after a few hundred yards
nose so cold that it was running ice cubes

On a different note, I finished the book of Numbers in my quest to read through the Bible this year. I am trying to decide where to go next. I am having trouble picking a next book of the Bible to concentrate on getting through. I considered something easy like Revelation, but decided to hold that off until I need a little light reading. I have read 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings more than any other books so not them yet. I am not sure of the best way to read Psalms yet, so it will wait. Acts is good but we just finished it at XFold. Proverbs should be read one a day for a month, and clearly the next best month to start that is March as there are 31 days. So I think I will read one of the prophets. Not Daniel though, I have read Daniel a bunch too. Will let you know which one it turns out to be. Isaiah is currently sounding good, or maybe Ezekiel. I think I will need to skim over a chapter in "How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth" for tips on how to best read Psalms. I would like to get into Psalms soon, and I seem to recall the book providing good advice for it.

The Rightful Place of Science

Today was a historic day. People who marched on Washington with Dr. King came and watched President Obama take the oath of office. There were several interesting things in the speech. The thing that has caused me the most thought since the speech was the following quote. "Science will take its rightful place." I believe this is pretty close.

So the question is what is the rightful place of science. First I suppose we would need to define what it means by rightful place. The rightful place of stockings are over the fireplace. I understand that this quote is likely referring to the comparison of science to religion or moral beliefs likely in regards to items like stem cell research though I suppose it could also be talking about global warming as well. So he is using the rightful place as an ordering. So I have been pondering, what else gets ordered with science. Maybe we order the group of items: science, morals, democracy, freedom of speech, ... I am not really sure what would get ordered with this. If it is really science vs moral beliefs then what is the rightful place of science? It seems to me that science clearly should come after moral beliefs. I am not sure how there could be any other way. Ok so really what the truth is that everyone would say that science comes behind moral values. Right? What people really differ in is the definition of moral values. Thoughts?

My nose tingles

First Run Statistics:
31 minutes 15 seconds
Constant plodding
No walking
Warm Ears
Warm hands
Cold Nose
Cold Lips
No Podcasts
10:20pm start time
Temperature of 28 degrees
Wind Chill 18 degrees

One small step for some.. One giant plod for me. It feels good to start.

What are your three main concerns with the current methodology of church ministry and or church planting?

My three main concerns for the current methodology of church in general are as follows.

1. Denial of the truth: Often the modern church planters are willing to sacrifice even the statement that there is a truth. Even though Jesus says "I am the way and the TRUTH and the life." It seems that some in the church are accepting the post-modern views beginning with the denial that there is an ultimate truth.
2. Acceptance of Sin: The unwillingness to point out sin in the people in the church has perpetuated the view that Jesus is not changing the lives of christians. We seem to be perfectly willing to let members of the church to continue in "little" sins. The acceptance of these will almost inevitably lead to future "big" sins that then we try and figure out how we got to this point. A sympton of the acceptance of sin is the lack of confession of sins to one another. It is not just acceptance of "little" sins that is prevalent. One sin that stands out as having a line that is moving more and more liberal is sexual sin.
3. Pride in Leadership: This is not just pride of the main preacher. This can also be pride of elders and deacons. It seems that to many people in leadership of the churches care about how they look or how many people they are running. Some of the pride can show itself in pushing to shock people just for sake of doing it. Leaders are often convinced they can figure things out rather than rely on the guidance of the Lord.

Updated Weigh In.

The easiest way to be consistent in weigh-ins is to do it first thing in the morning. So I did it this morning. Updated weight for beginning is 208 pounds.

Clint Clifton when he went out of country let a select group of people guest blog. I was not one of those people. Here are the questions he gave people as choices to be answered in their guest blog post.

1. What would you say to president elect Obama if you were invited to advise him on spiritual matters in the oval office?
2. What are your three main concerns with the current methodology of church ministry and or church planting?
3. What age and experience are necessary for a young man who’s aspiration is to plant churches and is it acceptable for him to stay single if he is qualified in other areas?
4. What is the primary purpose of the Sunday worship service? Is it for believers or more for the seeker?
5. What is your favorite experience with Clint?
6. If the government were to decide to do away with three local, state or national tax funded organizations which ones should go and why?
7. What is your opinion about church’s that use signs such as “God Answers Knee Mail” or “Sign Broke… Message Inside”?
8. If you don’t believe Christians should use birth control please write a defense of your position.
9. What do you think about pastor Ed Young jr’s seven day sex challenge?

I have decided to answer everyone of these questions in the near future.

Pre-Training Weigh In

Ok. So I am going to start running on Monday. I will have my first "long run" next Saturday. On Tuesday I am planning out schedule for races. So I decided to weigh in. See where things stand. Now I know that the best way to get a lighter weigh-in is first thing in the morning before breakfast. I also know that I have been known to fluctuate several pounds very quickly so I am not particularly hung up on an exact number. Knowing all that I weighed in late this afternoon after a lunch at Ruby Tuesdays. So maybe it is not 100% accurate. Ok... I have put this off long enough. I am ~ 6 feet tall (maybe 5' 11.75") and I weighed in at 211 pounds. And so it begins.

At Pillar Church we are learning about the Book of James. So here is a fun fact I believe is correct: Martin Luther wanted to remove James from the Bible.

RIP Circuit City

As most are probably well aware Circuit City is closing it's doors. This is after Linen's and Things has closed it's doors. Apparently many stores that use a lot of square footage have been shutting down. So why do I bring this up? Not to tell you to keep an eye on good discounts. Apparently they may not be as good as you think. This makes me think about an interesting "opportunity". I wonder with this increase in available large square footage open buildings will there be opportunities for any church plants to move into the open square footage. There are issues with this of course. Many of these places would require long leases, and the costs would be high for some churches. But available real estate can be few and far between in some places. Maybe this turns into an oppotunity to have a large space that would not have been available otherwise.

How to use a defroster?

Answer:
I have no idea.

Being from below the tropic line I rarely had to deal with fogging windows in the cold because of using the heater. Being from Florida I definitely know how to use windshield wipers. I know how to recognize turn signals that are left on indefinitely. I can also use the air conditioning just fine. The defrosting mechanism for the windshield is next to impossible for me to figure out. I can get it to defrost, but then I tend to get cold. I switch back to heat and the windows fog up again. My wife on the other hand can work it perfectly, and she is from Florida. Oh well.

A Schedule is Forming

In the near future there will be a schedule for races that I will run in the next year. After first hearing about the possibility of the races being planned I had to sit back and look at the screen a second time. After thinking for a moment, I now think this is the only way I will successfully make it anyways. I definitely do not want to embarass myself.

To Bobby and Kevin,
I have 25 extra punds I can let you have. I figure if you split it equally then you each get to add 12.5 pounds I get to be down in the 185 pound range. Let me know if we have a deal. Remember I asked first.

How to get started

One day I intend on beginning to run again. Today I did not. Tomorrow I probably won't. When I do decide to restart I think I will do the following which is similar to the plan they give you for the USMC marathon.
30 minute run on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday.
Long Run on Saturday.

I think I will probably start on this coming Monday. I will definitely have to download some good podcasts. Current preferred podcasts:
Hillsong Australia
Ravi Zacharias
Alister Baig (or whatever) "Truth for Life"
Basically people with cool accents.

Cool Things In The Bible

So I am reading through the book of Numbers. This book has many memorable stories in it.
1. It has the story of when the Israelites first spy out the promised land and do not go in.
2. It has the story of Balaam and his donkey (the talking one).
3. Discussion on how the Levites are dedicated to God instead of the first born. Then God gives them back to serve the people.

One story that particularly stands out to me is when the Israelites complain against Moses and Aaron. So the Lord has a leader from each tribe of Israel bring a staff that to stay in near the tabernacle overnight. Aaron's staff overnight sprouts buds and ripe almonds. How cool is that? This is an example of how the Lord continually showed the Israelites what His will was by doing things that could only be accomplished by the hand of the Lord.

For us we are given these stories as a reminder of the love of the Lord and how he is always reaching out to His people to bring them to a closer relationship with Him.

Decision Making

How to make good decisions:
Step 1: Have an ongoing relationship with God
Step 2: Pray (and sometimes fast) about the decision specifically
Step 3: Listen to any direct answers God might be providing
Step 4: Ask the Lord for wisdom
Step 5: Trust Wisdom has been provided
Step 6: Make Decision

Anyone else have thoughts?

Today... No running

I am watching people run on TV with a football. Does this count?

Facebook is an interesting Web 2.0 creation. I sadly enjoy telling people what I am doing. I enjoy even more when people comment on my status. The thing that has made the most comments though is definitely posting pics. This is a great find. I will now have to post more pics on Facebook.

Unrelated note:
Some resolutions for the year.
1. Train for the marathon
2. Read through the Bible

Which reminds me... The end of Exodus and the whole book of Leviticus is hard to read. Numbers on the other hand is much better.

A New Beginning

Yesterday I accepted a date with Jason Pelt. In January of 2010 I will be running the Disney marathon. My wife reminded me that agreeing to a date with the Pelt's is like a covenant. I hope it is. I really hope to make it.

So I decided to (re)start this blog. My plan for this blog is as follows:
"Steal Everyone else's blogging ideas."

First Ideas I plan on stealing:
1. Blog about running.
2. Write about people who inspire/interest me. (Idea from Bobby)

I will attempt to let you know when I have stolen an idea and who I stole it.

Training for marathon will begin shortly.

I hope that at least somebody enjoys my blog.