Date: 10/29/19

QIC: Chappie

Those who stayed cozy got lapped! Especially those new young guys. What the what? Get upppp! Sorry, not sorry! Nonetheless a dirty dozen HIM started the week by winning THAT FIRST BATTLE and posting for an ad hoc beatdown by YHC. Doubtfire had to back out of his scheduled Q due to his back being tied in knots. Here’s to a recovery day for our brother and a quick return to the rotation. We have so many on the Q rotation that it sometimes feels like you don’t get to Q enough; that’s a good problem to have. YHC was excited to step in.

Never really JUST a standby, YHC went to the Exicon toolbox, pulled out the Bearmuda Triangle, and used it on the PAX. It lived up to its name…we mysteriously lost a PAX along the way (oh, wait, that was only a modification?). Here’s the skinny on the workout:

Warm-O-Rama:

• SSH – 18 IC
• Crab Flippers (Cherry Pickers on Delmarva) – 18 IC
• Swartz Jacks – 18 IC (Uno, dos, tres, QUATTRO!)
• Moroccan Night Clubs – 18 IC
• Merkins – 18 IC

Patriot Run around the block – nice pace!

3rdF Message shared here – Content posted below

The Thang:

THE Bearmuda Triangle – 3 cones set up in a triangle pattern, 90 feet apart. PAX Bearcrawl from cone to cone, adding 1 Burpee at each cone. 3x around the cone triangle = 45 total Burpees

Two 10-counts later, PAX found themselves on the side wall of the church:

• People’s Chair – 10 Count
• 5 Mexican Jumping Beans, OYO
• BTTW – 10 Count
• 10 Mexican Jumping Beans
• People’s Chair – 10 Count, 2x
• 15 Mexican Jumping Beans

The Jack Webb Finale: (Always a crowd pleaser)

• Ratio: 1 Merkin/4 OH Claps all the way up to 10 Merkins/40 OH Claps
• Though Leatherman tried to stop us, and stop the pain, we went…a WHOLE 30 secs over :-)’ Nice try brother, nice try!

Count-O-Rama:

• COT/BOM:
  • Announcements: Nuh’in (at least not that YHC remembers)
  • Prayers: For family of Fireplex’s friend who passed from ALS, Chappie’s nephew (Aaron) who is deployed, for our bro Doubtfire on several different fronts

That was about it. Again, honored by the opportunity to lead. Always enjoy Q’ing. Humbled by it all. Get back soon, Doubtfire.

~Chappie, out!

Scars – 3rdF Content:

The theme of SCARS seems to keep coming up an awful lot in the last few weeks. Scars are often a kind of credential. Each of them has a story.

Kyle Carpenter (MOH recipient) bears some serious scars for jumping on a grenade to save the life of a fellow Marine. He devoted an entire chapter of his book YOU ARE WORTH IT to scars (cf. Ch.13, Don’t Hide Your Scars). In it, he wrote that “scars are a kind of credential”(210). Kyle added this story: “There is a greeter at my local Walmart, an elderly gentleman who always has a cheerful hello for everyone who comes through the door. One day, as I was walking in, he spotted me, flashed his huge grin, and then did finger pistols at me as he playfully asked, ‘Motorcycle wreck?'” I did finger pistols right back at him and replied, ‘Taliban!'”

Later he continued, “I would never encourage anyone to share something they aren’t comfortable sharing. But there are some scars that are so obvious, so apparent, that it is impossible to hide or ignore them. Instead of being ashamed of them, I think there is power in embracing these ‘stories’ that leave their marks on our bodies and souls” (211).

Scars are a kind of credential. They have tremendous power for creating bonds. “Wear them proudly. Wear them for yourself, to honor what you’ve been through. And wear them for others, to connect with them and inspire them to keep on fighting. They reassure others they’re not alone. They give hope that someday, their wounds will become nothing but scars, too” (215).

In 2 Cor. 11, the Apostle Paul shared quite a list of experiences which undoubtedly left him with serious scars. The context of the list was that he was facing off with false teachers who were trying to lead the Corinthians away from the truth. Paul shared the list not to brag about personal experiences, but to express that his heaviest burden of all was for the churches. The best scars are always the ones left from a cause that is bigger than we are! Listen to these verses from 2 Cor. 11:22-29…   

22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.    23 Are they servants of Christ?—I speak as if insane—I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death.     24 Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes.   25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep.     26 I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren;     27 I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.     28 Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.     29 Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern?

Had Paul NOT been a true follower of Christ, had he NOT been truly concerned for the church, he would not have experienced (willingly endured) those trials — he would not have borne the scars which those trials inevitably produced — especially the 39 lashes x5! (Btw…that’s 195!).

Scars are a kind of credential. The nail-scarred hands of our Savior are credentials of His unconditional love. Proof that He paid our penalty in the cross. They are further proof that He is alive! Add to that, sometimes some else’s scars remind us we’re living, we’re ALIVE!

This past week you heard about the death of Toby Mac’s (and his wife, Amanda’s) oldest son, Truett, age 21. Toby Mac’s Facebook post was nothing short of phenomenal. In the midst of feeling exceptional pain that will leave exceptional scars, he and his wife, Amanda, were able to inspire others. Here’s how/why: (This is the last paragraph of their post)

Scars in the lives of HIM are a kind of credential. They’re credentials that we ARE unquestionably ALL IN, whether it be in relationship with God, in our families, our churches, our workplaces, or the communities in which we serve. Scars heal and tell a story BECAUSE YOU ARE ALIVE; scars mark you as resilient, tough, and as a survivor! They mark you as a HIM!