Xtreme was a blast again this year and I was glad to be with such good friends backing me up. Here are some pics of us leading worship and of Marcus, Matt, and Jake being “rockstars.”

My wife and I drove down to Deland, Florida to celebrate her grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. She worked really hard to bring it all together and managed to keep it a surprise to boot. My wife is super great at surprises (remind me to tell you about my 30th birthday sometime) and it always makes me proud to see her plans come together so well.

I played the “professional” photographer with my new camera. I’m editing photos right now and have definitely found a new hobby. So…once I figure out how to use the thing, I might actually make a legitimate hobby out of it.

But back to the anniversary. It is quite rare to hear about people being married for 50 years these days and I only fear it is going to get worse. Little things like this make me more and more concerned about the world my kids will grow up in. And that makes me more and more committed to teaching my boys everything I can that will keep them in God’s will and locked into His word. So maybe one day they can throw Jamie and me a 50th anniversary and can be inspired to make their marriages last even longer.

We’re blessed to be leading worship up here in Pigeon Forge for Winter Xtreme once again. I brought with me some great leaders from Oak Leaf Church to be my band this year. Very proud!

I’ve been loading up images on the camera I got for Christmas so as soon as I figure out how to get them on to my computer I’ll be sharing my new hobby with you all.

my website has been down for quite some time. Finally got it working again thanks to the amazing magical wonders of the super Seth Skinner.

while I was away, I was working on a redesign just to have something up and am now contemplating actually changing my theme all together. not sure what to do.

what I do know is I’ve got a million things I have wanted to talk about…politics, religion, being a pastor, music…I need to dump my mind.

be prepared!

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!