So I decided to try something revolutionary. My first week of camp made eating right a bit difficult but I held strong until the weekend. Saturday night my wife and I went on a date and decided to try Big Pie in the Sky pizza which is right down the road from our house (and that is not a good thing). Not healthy…but unbelievably good. Click the link to read about their appearance on Man vs Food.

This is our pizza.

This was our neighbors pizza.

So I guess it could have been worse. I’ll have to write about this place some time…I’ll probably need to go back to take some more notes :).

But then after church sunday, my parent’s took us out to the Fruit Jar Café where they’ll carry you out in a wheelbarrow if you’re too full to walk. They were celebrating their anniversary with free drinks and ice cream. Can’t pass up free ice cream…and I got a chili cheese dog.

Sunday night we grilled out some famous Goodwin burgers…but I only had one…and that is some serious self control.

All that to say, I expected to get on the scale this morning and have gained even more weight…but no…

I LOST 3.5 POUNDS!!!

Seriously, I don’t understand this stuff. It just doesn’t make sense.

Anybody want to help me figure it out?

What a great week! What a great group of students. Excited and passionate about worship God.

Technology was our enemy this week - computers failing, in-ears breaking, power black outs, you name it - but GOD WAS STILL GLORIFIED!!! We don’t need no stinkin’ tech to worship God!

My favorite part about the week was meeting the speaker, Brooks Gibbs, whose wife also happens to be in a wheelchair, was also a gymnast (sort of like a cheerleader) and is pregnant and due in just a few days. When we finally got a chance to settle down and chat, I had one of the most encouraging, wise, get-off-my-butt-and-be-better conversations I’ve ever had. One, by the way, I never thought I’d ever have with another human being and was blown away by what we were able to relate to…none of which I am going to share with you :).

If you really want to know, go marry someone in a wheelchair. ;)

This week was frustrating. I kept to my diet but actually gained weight. I upped the amount of weight I was using in the routine and so I know people are going to say, “muscle weighs more than fat” which I will quickly respond, “but that doesn’t help me if it is hidden by the fat that isn’t going away!”

I’ve done the math. Burning 1600 calories should equal 1/2lb lost. With my estimated regular daily activity, I am burning an average of 1000 calories a day. I’m trying to only consume 2000 calories a day, but most days only consume about 1800. If I ride my bike to work or run 45 minutes in addition to the Power90, I’ll burn 1000-1400 calories from the workout alone leaving me with a net of about 400 calories a day. In other words, out of my 14000 calories a week (2000 a day) diet, I only net 5000 calories last week.

And I gained half a pound.

I eat six times a day and if I were to eat enough to actually consume 14000 calories a week with my workout, I’d have to eat 3000-3500 calories a day. There is no way that is right. I wouldn’t even be on a diet. So what am I doing wrong? Is my body going into starvation mode? How do I get out of eat? How do eat healthy and still consume 3000+ calories a day?

All you health experts, help me out…PLEASE!

This is the one thing I wish I was smart enough to invent. I had the idea a long time ago but of course…I’m not a scientist or engineer so I had no idea where to even begin. Plus, all the smart people who did have the know how were already working on it behind my back (conspiracy?).

Anyway, I know this article is old but it still gets me excited thinking about the possibility and what the future holds (probably a lot more cancer caused by these kind of devices). Another guy who has invented something similar to what Intel is working on said he would have something for the marketplace by April of this year…but he’s still working on it.

Regardless, think f the possibilities!

WEEK 2

They say the first two weeks are the hardest and well…it was pretty hard. I pushed myself further than I ever have before. 40 minute non-stop workout routine followed by either a 30-45 minute run or an hour bike ride (one in which I rode from Acworth to Cartersville to work) for six straight days both weeks. And I lost a little over 10 pounds. Can you tell? ha…I can’t.

Which is why I think week 3 and beyond is going to be the hardest for me. I am highly motivated but I also know my weaknesses. Food being number one. In fact, eating has been the addiction, the one stronghold my sin nature has had on me. Not to say I’m perfect in every other area, but I am weakest when it comes to food.

I love me some Five Guys…what can I say?

So, I know that the Devil is going to hit me where I am weakest (which he already has). And if/when that doesn’t work, I am confident he will find another weak area that hasn’t been tested in a while and attack me there.

And that is what scares me the most. See, I believe everyone, even the most committed believer struggles with one thing they just can’t get control over. Whether it is coffee, porn, smoking, alcohol, gossip, laziness, food, pride, jealousy, whatever, we all struggle to overcome every aspect of our sin nature. And since I believe that to be true (at least in my experience with my on life), I know that something is coming.

I just pray it is something like coffee…which I don’t drink right now.

In other words, pray for me. I am like walking on eggshells trying to keep my guard up because, trust me, as soon as I let it down, I am going to get jumped from behind and I want even see it coming.

PRAY!

WEEK 1

I’m on a workout routine and am changing what I eat to help the results. Specifically I am doing Power90 which as I understand it is P90x for slower, fatter, more out of shape people (like myself). Basically, it is an older version of P90x with phases that allow a weak, pathetic individual (like myself) to gradually increase the intensity of the workout.

But what I really want to talk about is what I am eating because you would think I was on a diet. And I guess technically I am but there is no plan or format, just a theory and some calorie counting. What is the theory? Glad you asked.

I believe people misinterpret what the “Daniel Fast” is really meant to be. Though by the time chapter 10 rolls around, Daniel is out of government service (Dan 1:21), he is still nobility and has access to the kind of food and feasts accustomed to that class of people. He does not say he is going to just eat fruits and vegetables, he says he is going to give up all the luxury foods he is accustomed to eating. That is the key!

Did you know processed foods are an invention within the last century? Do you know how many centuries people had to keep and store food without refrigeration (fridge invented in 1876)? My point is, in the last 100 years, our eating habits have changed dramatically but the human body, along with how it processes foods and what kinds of foods it needs, is pretty much the same since it was created.

Think about it. Back in the day, the way to keep food was to grow it and pick it when it was ready to eat. Many fruits and vegetables could be stored, but during the winter months, your diet was limited to what would keep the longest and what you could kill. For the most part, the process of killing big beefy animals like cows and deer was reserved for special events with many people in attendance. Why? Cause the meat wouldn’t keep but a few days. That means the majority of your diet during the year was fruits, vegetables, and small containable animals (i.e. fish, fowl, swine, etc.).

So I started thinking, what kinds of foods and what kind of diet would God want his people to have? I’ve heard the “your body is a temple” argument but it is really taking that passage out of context. I’ve heard the arguments about overweight is a sign of a lack of self control, which is a fruit of the spirit, which translates into poor discipline, which probably means you’re are not disciplined in other areas of your life (i.e. spiritual growth, family care, exercise, etc.). Thinking about and dwelling on those ideas, even if I agreed with them, had zero effect on me cause I would always come back to Paul saying I am free to eat whatever I want.

What did worked for me was realizing the mentions of gluttony in scripture are directed to those who have access to hoards of food and eat like kings whenever they choose. In other words, someone else was doing to work to hunting, harvesting, and preparing the meal and they were just eating it and eating it often. Guess what? With a fast food joint on every corner, pizza and chinese delivered to my door, and huge portions at countless restaurants within driving distance from my house, I WAS EATING LIKE A KING EVERY DAY!!! And I believe that is what Daniel wanted to walk away from for a while. He wanted to get away from all the “delicacies” and just eat controlled as God had intended.

And so that is what I am doing. I’m not abandoning my fridge or just eating grass and soy beans. I’m making a concerted effort to not stuff my face every chance I get. I don’t even really care about losing weight (though I’d really like and am trying to), I just want to really be free from any chains that keep me from loving and serving God with 100% of what I have to offer.

That picture of me is a representation of my starting this exercise program and rethinking what I eat. I didn’t have the foresight to get a week 0 pic. I’ll update my progress  every monday (my weigh-in day) so you can see my progress and help keep me accountable (read: if I start looking like death or Fat Albert, call me out.)

If you want to join the bandwagon I have started for myself, hop on!

Then you’ll love this.

Makes we wish I was gifted enough to pull something like this off.

If you haven’t seen this already, enjoy. Trust me…you’ll want to wait until the end.

…and no one can tell which is which.

Sunday morning, a guy claiming to be saving more lives by his actions shot and killed Dr. George Tiller “The Baby Killer,” who has performed over 60,000 late term abortions in his career (that’s 60,000 fetuses destroyed at 22-40 weeks in which we know babies can survey out of the womb)

I’m a little torn on this issue because Tiller, and active member of his congregation, was killed in church, the murderer murdered the doc, but 60,000 human lives taken by one human is really hard to swallow. I am not in anyway excusing the crime that was committed and believe the killer should get his due process, trial, and conviction…even if one party had that right taken away from him.

The part of the story that burns me the most is both the “The Baby Killer” (which is his real nickname) and the murderer claimed to be a “Christians.” Something is wrong with either his interpretation of what a “Christian” is or his church is not doing a very good job teaching what it means to live like Christ.

Now the media is swarming over the idea of calling Christians in general Domestic Fundamental Terrorists and I am furious!!! First of all, why is this not just another murder? Because the victim happened to be an abortion doctor? Does that mean if someone murders a republican it is terrorism? What about a soldier just home from Iraq? Or a Christian just for being a Christian? Second of all, where are all the REAL Christ followers standing up fighting for their namesake? We are supposed to be different!

We are called to be in the world but not of it. We are called to engage culture but not be transformed by it. We are called to be set apart; obviously different from the rest of the world. Jon Piper calls this the paradox of the indigenous principle and pilgrim principle. he says,

• Yes, confrontation of the world! But also missionary adaptation.
• Yes, separation! But also cultural participation.
• No, not of the world! But yes, in the world.
• No, not conformed to this world! But yes, becoming all things to all people that we might save some.
• Yes, we are indigenous! But we are also strangers, pilgrims!

Because

• Creation is the Lord’s, yet fallen and in need of redemption.
• Christ is incarnate, yet crucified.
• Conversion is justification by faith alone, yet followed by the discipline of sanctification.
• The kingdom has already come, but not its consummation.

I’m tired of hearing about so called “Christians” making a fool of the rest of us. We need stand up and help destroy the resounding stereotype that plagues our reputation in our culture so the next generation and every generation to follow can know what it really means to be a Christ follower.

Are you with me?

Google answers that question with something I believe is going to change absolutely everything about the way we use and communicate via the web.

It is a REALLY long video, but if you’re up for seeing what the future looks like, watch this.

UPDATE: I added the youtube video.