My New Church

I go to a new church. It focuses on transformation. It is welcoming to everyone, people of all types and backgrounds. The music is good and this morning, very inspirational. The speaker's message was relevant and life applicable, translating easily to my life and how I can grow and be a better person. I felt a connection with those around me, knowing we were sharing the same experiences and life together; a common purpose.

I left energized, refreshed, and at peace.

The only thing missing was God. And that sounds horrible, until I mention that my "church" was a spin class at the gym.

It is so strange how it works, but I enter and I am greeted. All people of all abilities are welcome, but we'll all be challenged. Today I met a new instructor. I've now attended several spin classes with a total of 4 instructors.

R is a bubbly extroverted personality. I think that she attracts a following because I've now been to two of her classes and they are always packed. She knows people by name, and even knows their stories and weekend plans. She has a lot of commentary during her songs, her shrill laugh and voice penetrating the music thanks to a headset. She makes us work, hard. She reveals tidbits about herself, her life, favorite bands, people, TV, etc. She's always smiling.

L. I've only met once. She seemed more genuine than R and more down to business. She also knew her "flock" but welcomed new folks, encouraging them to stay on the path of wellness. She spoke easily but with purpose. I liked her class, and she took the time to come visit with me prior to spin and helped me set up my bike, pulling the straps of my pedals tight.

D. is my pastor. It was the first spin class I took and remains the hardest. Not sure if it is because I try harder in it, or because the music he plays (I really do try to keep up with the music). There's not a lot of talk or chit chat except that commands spoken rather forcefully. Though he obviously knows the Back Row of the class well (most of us attend his church) he keeps the personal interaction to a minimum.

And finally, M. This is where I realized that I now attend a new church. Surprisingly, it wasn't in my pastor's class. Today I was welcomed by M, and the gathering began. Much like my "real" church, folks staggered in late, but it began on time. The music all had a theme and a message, and the speaker/instructor was quite motivational, talking about ways to change our life, based on the song playing. She told us that we are control of our lives, and every decision and choice we make counts, so choose wisely. She encouraged us to believe in ourself, think positively and be open to opportunities in life. She told us we were empowered and could do anything, be anything we wanted. We just had to follow through with our choices. We can change the world through changing ourselves. She even told us how to do that, by little steps that will result in big changes, focusing on our purpose in life and our own importance.

Then we stretched, found our center, and filed out to go home. (or the treadmill)

What do I look for in church? Community? I can get that at the gym. Purpose? Well, if my purpose is myself, I can also get that by working out at the gym. Helping and changing the world? My gym, with the other locations, collected over 2,500 running shoes and is sending them to people in need in India and Guatemala. A great, life-changing inspiring message? I can easily get that at the gym. Friendships? Gym. And God? Well, I'm told you can find God anywhere.

Now, before you think that I'm serious, let me tell you that the reason I love my real church so much, (not the gym) is because It is so much more than what I mentioned here. I love my church because it is so different than my gym experience. The songs are not so much inspirational, as much as they are centered around the magnificence of God our Creator. The message my pastor prepares is definitely "relevant' and "life applicable" but it also is centered on what Christ has already done for us, and our response to that is life changing and transformational. No "7 easy steps" to achievement,... more like an act of surrender.
The community I have at my church is growing. We're all so different and yet the common bond of loving Jesus is strong. I have certain folks I spend more time with than others. I have friendships at church but that's not the reason I go to church.

I love my church because it loves God and shows us how to love God. Not just by songs or teaching.... it shows me how to love God by loving others. Both inside and outside of the churchs' walls. And it is not easy for me to love others, but the more I learn and grow and be around others, the more I see Christ in them. I love my church because my church honors God in its purpose.

Purpose. It's not all about me. I think it is. At the gym, it seems to be. But I love that my church's purpose is to glorify God and helps me to glorify God too.

The Liturgical Year: The Spiraling Adventure of the Spiritual Life

I read The Liturgical Year: The Spiraling Adventure of the Spirit, by Joan Chittister. I was looking forward to it because I wanted to know more about that. When I attended a Presbyterian church they observed certain parts of the liturgical year and I enjoyed participating in Ash Wednesday, Lent and Advent, so I was looking forward to learning more about that.

I found this book a bit dry and not as in depth as I would've liked, but still a good introduction. It did not compel me to want to seek out observing the liturgical year and it still left me with questions.

Note: Per the FTC Guidelines, I am disclosing that I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, Thomas Nelson.

Philippians 1:1-6

1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ
Jesus, to all the saints in Christ
Jesus who are at Philippi, with the
overseers and deacons:
2 Grace to you and peace from god our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 i thank my god in all my
remembrance of you,
4 always in every prayer of mine for you
all making my prayer with joy,
5 because of your partnership in the
gospel from the first day until now.
6 and I am sure of this, that he who
began a good work in you will bring
it to completion at the day of Jesus
Christ.

For the Record

It's been a while since I've posted and kept track of my time at the gym, but rest assured, I've still been going. The past few weeks have been a bit chaotic, but I hope to get into more of a routine now that the kids are in school again.

Jan. 1: Went to a morning spin class. It was an hour! An hour is so much more than 45 minutes But I finished it. Later that day I went with my friend back to the gym, did about 30 minutes on the treadmill (my HR was so high! I've no idea why its always so high!) Then some weights. I'm quite sore today. I don't like weights.

Jan. 2nd. Wanted to go for a bike ride with David but went to Costco instead so I could make soup for dinner. Decided to go the gym but there was only an hour before it closed. Went anyways and did the treadmill for nearly an hour, until the place closed. Felt good. I realize I need a class to really push me, otherwise I just do things at my own comfort level.

It is my goal that I can stay disciplined in both my eating habits and workout routine. I have plotted out all the spin classes that I can attend. (a total of five a week) Now I just have to stick with it and not sabotage my eating! (so easy to do)

Tomorrow: A bike ride and possibly swim! Looking forward to it.

Book Thoughts - Chazown

I heard Craig Groeschel speak at WIllow Creek Leadership Summit last summer, so when I saw Chazown, I knew I wanted to read it.

This will be a hard book to explain my thoughts, because this book is really geared for someone that wants to change and is motivated to do the exercises and things suggested in the book. Merely reading it cover to cover really isn't enough, and yet, I'm not quite ready to embrace "defining my vision. Pursue my passion. And Live my Life on Purpose" as the subtitle suggests. So maybe this wasn't the book for me to read, because I'm a skeptic when it comes to change. There's so much I don't understand about God and how he changes us, it is completely a mystery to me, and in these pages, Mr. Groeschel goes though many aspects of vision, passion and purpose. He lists personal experiences as well as other's experiences. There are diagrams and things that make so much sense and yet I still felt defeated reading this. It seems to say that anyone can find their purpose and gifts and follow God in a unique, vibrant way, and he might be right. I don't know because I did not engage in the things he suggests. But what he writes makes sense..... thinking on your core values, spiritual gifts, and past experiences to discover your unique part that God has for you that will fulfill you and fill you with purpose that is a joy to do daily.

If you are eager to embark on such a journey and spend some time in prayer and reflection, then this might be a life-changing book for you. If you are weary and tired and still a skeptic of what God can do by you and through you, you might want to hold off reading this book until you are able to really listen to what he has to say.

I received this book free from Waterbrook Multnomah. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255

Thoughts on The Quotable Chesterton

G.K. Chesterton is a thought-provoking writer that is said to have inspired C.S. Lewis with his book The Everlasting Man. I have several Chesterton books on my shelf and his works are quite varied but equally magnificent. His Father Brown mysteries are the most accessible of his works, but he is also well known for his book Orthodoxy. This book I received was a compilation of quotes from many of his books. It is called The Quotable Chesterton

G.K. Chesterton's books are full of wonderful quotes, so it is doubly delightful to see them catalogued here in one book. For those that know and have read Chesterton, this book will be a delight, for those that don't, I hope this will inspire them to read the books these quotes originate from to better appreciate them.

Here's some of my favorite quotes I've had through the years:
“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”—G. K. Chesterton


“There is no such thing on earth as an uninteresting subject; the only thing that can exist is an uninterested person.” —G. K. Chesterton

“The aim of life is appreciation; there is no sense in not appreciating things; and there is no sense in having more of them if you have less appreciation of them.”—G. K. Chesterton

“When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.”—G. K. Chesterton

“You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.”—G. K. Chesterton

“When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas time. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs?”—G. K. Chesterton

"Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried." -- G. K. Chesterton

The New York Times (Ross Douthat) did an opinion article on Chesterton several months ago and stated this:

"Part of what makes Chesterton appealing to so many readers is also what makes him frustrating if you approach his writing looking for straightforward, syllogistic argument — namely, that his appeals on behalf of Christianity (or any other cause) tend to rove from history to philosophy to intuition to revelation to politics to aesthetics and then back to history again, with all different sorts of arguments crowding in together, and no necessary A=B=C thread to follow all the way through. He is not an “irrationalist,” as Bramwell suggests, but he isn’t Plato either. But then again neither are most people: They justify what they believe, whether it’s about God or political order or love or any other aspect of human affairs, based on a mishmash of different facts, ideas, experiences, premises, impulses, and so forth. And Chesterton succeeds as a polemicist, if not as a philosopher, because his style of argument fits so well with this very common, and very natural, way of human thought."

I think most anyone would find great value and though in this book, and it is well worth having it on your bookshelf.

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishing. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255

There Is a Difference

I'm training for a triathlon. I've spent the last several months at the gym, attempting to get in shape.

I'm still not in shape, but I'm definitely better. Before I could barely swim 2 laps and now I can do about 40. I started a spin class right after Thanksgiving and it is one of the hardest things I've ever done. I'm getting better there too, as before I couldn't stand up and now I can. (barely)

I still have a long way to go.... I can't even run a quarter of a mile yet. I'm scared of taking out my new road bike.... those thin wheels, the clip-in pedals.... the fact that crashing is inevitable and this bike is twice the cost of my first car, a used 1967 Mustang.

I've never been an athlete; I'll never be an athlete. There is a difference between a triathlete and someone who has participated in a triathlon. I thought that maybe if I did an international distance tri that it will make me feel more "real" but I've come to the conclusion that it won't. I'll be able to say I did it, but will never be able to say I'm an athlete or a triathlete, no matter how many races I attempt. I don't belong in this group.

Yet, I am committed to doing this small sprint. It looks like my friend and I have chosen to do the Silicon Valley Sprint Triathlon. David warns me that there is one steep hill section on the bike, but that I can do it. (If I practice!) He still sounds dubious.

Or maybe I'm not yet committed.... I still haven't registered and paid my money. But I must do this. Not sure exactly why I must except that I said I would and feel I must. But if I am hoping this makes me any better, or a real triathlete, I already know that I'm mistaken. Nothing will change who I am,, no accomplishment, no amount of effort or outward change of appearance will change who I am. And athlete I am not.