A few days ago I had the opportunity to have a discussion with my friend Todd Hallinan from the Christian Growth Center on a topic he calls Alignment With Your Assignment. 
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Here is some of what we discussed...

You have an assignment from God that is unique to you and you find that assignment by spending time with him and in his Word. 

Once you find your assignment you must get into alignment by allowing God to place you into your proper place in the body. Then you must get to work but you also need some boundaries so that you stay on track and fight off distraction. 

To be in alignment means you must focus on your thing and let others do what they are assigned to do which requires a community built on trust. 

Purpose and community are a divine pair that are meant to work together.

Just as every individual has an assignment every church also has a unique assignment. They are not all called to do the same thing. 

How do you judge the success or quality of a workout? For many people they use things like how much they sweat, how many calories were burned, or how sore they became. 

What I have learned is that you can't judge the success of a workout in isolation. The biggest key to fitness is to think of it as a series of steps that you progress through over time. The goal of fitness is to increase flexibility, strength, endurance, and speed while improving your ratio of muscle to fat.

The key to judging the quality of a workout is to see if it caused you to make progress, and a good workout should set you up for continual progress. As a trainer it is really easy to make someone super sweaty, sore, and burn a bunch of calories but that doesn't mean that any progress is made. 

Recently I have put together a new workout system called the Expanding Workout. It is a series of workout phases that sets you up to make continual progress. When you join the Abundant Life Blueprint you will get...

The book of James tells us that if we are double minded we cannot expect to receive anything because we are unstable, meaning that we don't have a good foundation. If the foundation is unstable then we have nothing to stand on when the pressures and storms of life come. 

To truly get results in anything you must become single minded and make a firm decision. To decide means that you kill off other options.

As a practical example, the key to losing body fat is to make a firm decision to make it happen and not look back. If you haven't settled it in your mind then you will waver when busy or tempted with unhealthy stuff. If you are not getting any results you are probably wavering because you haven't settled it in your mind.  

Also, remember that you can make a firm commitment/decision and still use gentle approach. 

What's New

There is a new video up on How to Improve Your Health Today. 

You can watch it here.  

I think one of the best habits you can develop is going for walks with God. Literally go for a 10+ minute walk with God. You do this by walking and having a conversation with God.  I have found the more consistently I do this the better things go, but I often rationalize that I don't have time or have too many other things to do. But I have come to the conclusion that this needs to be a high priority.

Here are some scriptures to think about...

Proverbs 13:20 He who walks with the wise grows wise

Galatians 5:16 Walk in the spirit and you will not satisfy the desires of the flesh

Genesis 5:25 + Hebrews 11:5 Enoch walked with God and it pleased God

Amos 3:3 Do two walk together unless they have agreed to meet

Recently in the Abundant Life Blueprint we have been discussing leadership and insecurity. 

Something I have learned is that insecurity steals presence. Leaders often have self doubt and insecurities because they know their weaknesses and feel like they have to have all the answers. Insecurity can cause you to turn inward and hide rather than being externally focused. If you are a leader your team can feel this and they may even say that it seems like you are not present, even though you are trying to be. 

The key to overcoming this is to take your eyes off of yourself. Focus on what God can do through you and on making the people around you better. This will increase your security, presence, and vulnerability so that you better connect with the people you are leading. 

P.S. If you are interested in the Abundant Life Blueprint you can learn more here. 

I have had a stubborn right shoulder for about 15 years. It would often crack, pop, and be very tight.  I have worked on it and stretched it but nothing ever seemed to last. There is a stretch where you put your hand behind your back and see how high up your back you can take your hand. For a long time there has been a huge difference between my right and left. It came from playing baseball. 

But, recently I started trying a much gentler approach. I started doing that same stretch but very gently and adding the Touchpoints by giving a light touch to the areas that felt restricted. I have seen more change in my shoulder from this gentle approach than anything I have ever tried. 

The other day I was reading in Zechariah and in verse 7:11 God says the people turned a stubborn shoulder to him.  I didn't realize there was such a thing as a stubborn shoulder, but that is the phrase God uses. The stubborn shoulder was an unwillingness to change. Whether it is a stubborn...

Recently the mother of a middle school basketball player asked what her son could do to jump higher so that he could dunk. He could already touch the rim but couldn't dunk. 

I said that if he would start stretching every night before bed that he would probably dunk within 30 days. A few days ago I received confirmation that he had indeed dunked - it took 25 days. 

If you or someone you know needs to get faster or jump higher for a sport one of the fastest ways is improving flexibility. By becoming more flexible you take the friction out of the body allowing for better performance, speed, and power.

When you stretch make sure to stretch gently and to add Touchpoints by giving a light touch with your hand to any areas that feel tight or restricted. 

What's New

In the Abundant Life Blueprint I have been adding a new series of workouts that creates an ongoing path for progress. When you join you'll receive all of the workouts along with tracking sheets, exercise demos,...

Back when I started writing my first book 7 Dates With Jesus I was worried about finding someone to edit my books, because I had no experience editing or publishing a book. Then one day I was at church and met a friend who was interested in health and fitness. I felt a nudge on the inside to invite him to come workout with me. 

As we worked out together a few times, I found out that he was the editor of the Virginia Tech magazine and he had helped a few other people with their books. 

I asked if he would be willing to take a look at what I had written. What I sent him was a complete mess. It was similar to journal entries with no structure or organization. He sent it back to me a few weeks later and it looked like a book. 

In this process I learned that I was limiting God. I had been hesitant to start writing because I didn't think I had the resources to edit and publish the book. What I learned is that if you will take a step of faith God already has people lined up...

One of my daughters really likes to bake. A few weeks ago she made a 2 layer gingerbread cake. I tried a piece and it was really good. The problem was that I couldn't stop eating it. Over the course of a few days I had several pieces of cake.. 

When it comes to nutrition I think it's important to have freedom, where no foods are off limits. But, I also think it's important to know yourself. When my daughter makes cupcakes I have no problem either resisting them or eating just a little bit. However, when she makes a big cake I have a hard time keeping my portions in control. It triggers me to overeat. 

Is there a food that triggers you to get out of control? If so it is probably best to avoid these foods. 

What's New

Today we are on Day 5 of the Proverbs 13:22 Book Writing Challenge and we will be discussing the importance of an encounter with the author. 

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What You May Have Missed

In January we completed the Isaiah 61:3 Fat Loss Challenge. ...

Recently someone asked me about digestive issues after breakfast. So, I asked about his normal breakfast routine. It was coffee, then a breakfast usually with eggs, avocado, and veggies. I suggested he switch the order and have water, then breakfast, then coffee. The next day he got back to me and said there were no more digestive issues and he has gone several weeks without any issues. 

Coffee is high in acids and it is beneficial for your digestion after you have eaten because it helps to breakdown your food. 

Coffee can be hard on an empty stomach. Coffee is different with food. Food with your coffee also slows down the absorption of the caffeine into your system making it last longer.  

The first thing you eat or drink every day influences your brain chemistry for the rest of the day. Water should be the first thing you have every day. This is also a spiritual principle in that the first thing you eat spiritually impacts your brain chemistry. Try starting...