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Featured image above is courtesy Debbie Brown. Used by permission. Free use Doughnut photos below are from Pexels.com.

Debbie got donuts the other day. She didn’t buy them – they were a gift. Funny how something as simple as a box of yummy goodness can get you thinking about strategies to market your fitness and lifestyle ministry.

Her friend must be the master of marketing. He knows good and well that fitness is her passion. She thought, “Seriously?” And yet, wow, what an amazing way to personally connect.

Debbie’s donuts help us see that today’s marketing is about good strategies and a commitment to classic values and outcomes. New textures and flavors are constantly evolving but the work of simply satisfying hunger never changes.

NOTE: The following 9 marketing goalf7f49a headings came from, The 9 Goals To Consider When Creating A Marketing Strategy. The remainder of the content except where noted is from Brad Bloom and Lifestyle Media Group. [For the complete COURSE KEY POINTS, NOTES AND RESOURCES tap the graphic below and enter the password. We want to help you and your ministry develop and apply each of these 9 strategies.]

CAN YOU KEEP UP WITH FAST?

Marketing is changing – Fast! Himanshu Sisodia on LinkedIn says that marketing in the last decade has evolved and adapted through:

• Digital Transformation and Multi-Channel Marketing
• Data-Driven Decision-Making and Personalization
• Influencer Marketing and User-Generated Content
• Shifting Consumer Behavior and Customer-Centricity

Over at adwhite.com they note just how fast it is changing. They proclaim that “2023 could be a transformational year for marketers”. They share that the HubSpot marketing report highlights four of the biggest changes for marketing in 2023 include AI and automation, economic concerns and marketing budgets, data privacy concerns and video continues to dominate and drive business.

It’s really quite crazy how fast marketing is evolving – trying to keep up with technology and the many vying elements of a schizophrenic culture that affects how people think, feel and behave – how they interpret reality.

MARKETING AND LEADERSHIP BY THE BOOK

Whats needed, especially for Christian entrepreneurs, churches, businesses and organizations who deliver fitness and other lifestyle ministries is to not just stay abreast of best marketing practices but to be strong in the core competencies of the Christian faith. It may sound old fashioned even naive among the many ‘pros’ relentlessly driven and hustling in business, but the Bible is packed with Godly truths that stand the test of time and forever work.

The 9 strategies below should be considered and exercised with a keen eye on knowing God. The “WWJD – What Would Jesus Do?” mentality may be early 1900’s but God is the ultimate creator, innovator and agent of change. Inevitably, no matter how fast we push and how progressive we become by applying knowledge and technology, God is always light-years ahead of all of us. To the one who will listen and obey there is both wisdom and intrinsic vision given to lead in culture and thus market fitness and lifestyle ministry in compelling, effective and totally on-point ways.

• Marketing – The activity of promoting and selling a product or service. Marketing your fitness and lifestyle ministry is the intentional work of connecting with people so that they enthusiastically buy into a Christ-focused mindset and ethos. They’re 100%.
• Fitness Ministry – A Christian ministry helping people grow strong in Christ utilizing various modalities of physical fitness training and wellness services.
• Lifestyle Ministry – A program, service and fellowship for a community of people who share an interest in or passion for a particular lifestyle activity. A lifestyle ministry helps them understand, make and then keep Christ central to that lifestyle.

Make some noise so people start saying, “I’ve heard about you.”

Do you customers and your community know who you are and what you do? Actually the first question you have to ask is do YOU know? To INCREASE BRAND AWARENESS you need to ask a lot of quesitons: As an organization what’s your mission? What are the values you want to nurture? What are the outcomes you want to achieve? What defines your culture? You need to drill down (pray and discuss) on these and more. Then define exactly what that looks like. Clearly outline, communicate and celebrate it on your website, marketing tools and all aspects of your branding and design. Then annually train staff on it.

The Bible talks about “not just being hearers of the Word but Doers”. To increase brand awareness you want everyone to hear, understand, embrace and passionately share who and what you are as a community/church. BUT – it starts with hearing. If people are going to hear what you’re about and what you do then you have be CLEAR.

Keep it pure. Faith & Fitness Magazine has identified 5 qualities for our Fitness Ministry Award recipients. One of those is CLARITY.

Your highest quality leads come from your members. Create a member-owned mentality for them.

Want to high GENERATE HIGH-QUALITY LEADS? You can get them best through your existing clients/members. You can find all kinds of article online like:

Manage the acquisition of referrals as a process. Get a system in place and follow it consistently. Measure to improve – not to prove. For both clients and staff it’s about genuine relationships not numbers.

Existing client referrals are only going to happen when you deliver a great customer experience. Be honest with yourself. Know the CX of your ministry and know what God wants it to be.

What are the stories being told? Your members and clients can be influencers.

Meeting spiritual needs is perhaps the only real way to get and keep new customers.

Perhaps one of the main reasons churches and Christian businesses do not, will not, (refuse) to ACQUIRE NEW CUSTOMERS is because they find customers with whom they are familiar and comfortable and then stop. NEWness is a big God-originated and God-driven concept. God isn’t just the author of new – new is God’s MO. Nobody does new like God.

That means that if you want your lifestyle ministry to truly acquire new customers you’ve got to be ready for new and different customers. Roll with God!

Yes, that means the work is ongoing. In Bible terms it’s called discipleship.

Explore the range of people God could call you to serve. Everyone needs Christ. Acquiring new customers requirers being observant, gaining understanding and identifying how you can meet specific needs.

Your website isn’t an extra task, it’s part of your ministry. Make it THE place where people can first find you and then want to return to experience you.

How do you INCREASE WEBSITE TRAFFIC? OK, well first you have to have a website. And for those that do, let’s be honest many churches and ministries have appallingly inadequate sites. They lack information (useless), aren’t well designed (ugly), don’t capture attention (boring), are difficult (complicated) to use and don’t help the user (don’t deliver). What to do?

Ask your members (pay them even) to give you an honest evaluation. What sites do they frequent? What features do they find helpful and find to be really cool? What would make them want to use your site more often? That’s right you need to be like every other site – wanting to get as many people coming to your site and staying on it for longer periods of time.

Figure out how to make your website useful, beautiful, engaging, easy and THE site that delivers 100% for you members and everyone else.

Deliver excellence in all you do. And in your faithfulness to God – give it all.

Let’s make this real clear: If you’re not Google you’re not the authority on search engines. If you’re not McDonald’s you’re not the authority on fast food. If you’re not Nike you’re not the authority on athletic shoes. To ESTABLISH INDUSTRY AUTHORITY we’re not talking about you being the industry authority on Zumba, Les Mills, yoga, strength training, pickleball, nutrition, senior wellness or whatever other fitness service you provide.

You want to gain a reputation with the programs and services you provide. Sure, work toward them being second to none in your community. But what defines your business – your ministry is — Jesus.

We’re talking about you becoming the industry authority on fitness ministry and lifestyle ministry.

What do people really want? Give ‘em what they want.

INCREASING CUSTOMER VALUE is taking the strengths God has given your ministry and growing it – making it better. It is giving those you serve God’s values in a valueless world. Extending grace. Not just demonstrating but thoroughly embracing humility. If you want to increase customer value blow them away with God’s values.

The value of your ministry is about helping your customers discover that they can be like Christ. Market that and you’ve delivered what no other business can.

Therefore go and make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them.

When you want to BOOST BRAND ENGAGEMENT think about these 3 things: Are your members aware of your brand, engaged with your brand or loyal to your brand?

You have achieved BRAND AWARENESS when people know what you do, what makes it distinct and can articulate that accurately to others.

Take that to the next level and you have BRAND ENGAGEMENT. When this happens people form an emotional or rational attachment with your brand.

You’ve reached the sweet spot when you achieve BRAND LOYALTY. This is when people make a long-term commitment to make repeat purchases. They’re sold!

But, as a ministry you can go further. You can steward members to be a disciple. A DISCIPLE: is one who embraces the brand so much that they become active in spreading the teachings.

Manage assets to increase yield. Build on the foundation, invest and prune.

The obvious goal of every business is to INCREASE REVENUE. Maybe it’s not quite so obvious for a church or ministry but it should be especially in this context:

BUILD ON THE FOUNDATION: What makes any job worth doing is the God we are serving. Read 1 Corinthians 3: 5-15 to better understand that God is the only one who brings growth.

INVESTMENT AND RISK: It’s good to start by asking you and your team these questions and considering your answers: What do we sell? How much is our revenue? Why do we want to increase revenue? Consider other questions like this that you should ask. Matthew 25: 14-30 MSG A terrible way to live is cautiously. You can’t increase revenue by playing it safe.

PRUNING: John 15: 1-17 NIV Cut off (stop doing) what doesn’t bear fruit. What does bear fruit, prune it (promote healthy growth).

The 3 C’s of building a strong team: Communicate, Cultivate, Commit.

Every business and ministry needs to keep in mind that their team is their first customer. So, as was stated above, focus on the needs and wants of your customers. It’s how you IMPROVE INTERNAL BRAND. It doesn’t matter if you’re an employee owned business or not, your employees and team own the relationship they have with your members, clients, customers and community. If you don’t get it right with your team you can’t have success with your customers.

FINALLY – BE EVEN MORE STRATEGIC IN A NOT SO OBVIOUS WAY

As you exercise these 9 strategies keep in mind that marketing is like fitness: the growth comes in the rest. Marketing done well is intense. You need to budget rest time for you and your team. That’s not a quarterly business retreat where you plan strategy. It is an intentional break from all aspects of the business to allow for recovery.

Be like God and let your team see what great love you can lavish on them (1 John 3:1NIV) Yep, that’s right, discover how something as simple as a box of yummy donuts can contribute to your team being sold on being the life of Christ to others.

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MAKING A LIFE THAT CAN ‘FIT’ IN TODAY’S WORLD

THE CONTEXT: “It’s complicated” isn’t just a social media status, it’s unfortunately an extremely accurate description for how many people live life today. Overly packed schedules, poor diets, technology, lack of sleep, rapid cultural changes, confusion, stress, hatred … the list of what makes life really tough in today’s world is overwhelming. Among other things people turn to sports, leisurely recreation and fitness to help manage it all and hopefully find some relief. But it’s not enough.

Consider all the stuff in today’s culture that distracts people from experiencing a relationship with God. In The Real Social Networking App I share about Dr. Kenneth Cooper who coined the term faith-based fitness. He says, “Unless you are both spiritually and physically fit you really aren’t fit”. That is the BASE thesis that he asserts in his book, Faith-Based Fitness. But, it’s only the starting point. Faith-Centered Fitness goes further providing a paradigm for Christian ministry, social engagement through fitness and a culture of community through deeper personal relationships.

IDENTIFY AND APPEAL TO CONSUMERS

THE OVERVIEW: To know people and to create a relationship with them is the sum of marketing. In other words you can’t just be willing to do your job, you need to be faithful to your calling. this is a truth that isn’t just for Christians – it is the reality for everyone who wants to successfully market, influence, lead and yes, sale to achieve gain.

In our article, Are You Willing Or Faithful, we highlight excerpts from the book Faith Dri>en Entrepreneur by Henry Kasestner, J.D. Greear, and Chip Ingram and correlate those insights with 5 key qualities we use to identify individuals, fitness businesses and ministries that are being highly effective in doing what we call fitness ministry. They are:

• attentiveness and innovation
• clarity of purpose and mission
• humility
• all-in commitment
• deliver big-as-God results

MORPHINE OR MOTIVATION?

THE RATIONALE: Why do faith-based fitness? Isn’t a vocation in delivering the standard constructs of fitness good enough – and certainly challenging enough without complicating it with faith? Doesn’t adding the scope of the Christian faith to the business of doing fitness risk alienating people or limiting reach and potential? These are assumptions, often based in fear but certainly promoted and pushed as wisdom. The motivation for marketing faith-based fitness is to deliver a better product, meet needs with a real and lasting solution, and to empower people – your customers/clients and the broader public with a more robust and transformative fitness.

In my article Morphine or Motivaiton?, respected fitness industry professional, Rob Killen, connects rationale, why you do what you do with attitude. Beyond the attitude is calling – – – divine calling AND outcomes!

THE ‘HOW-TO’ OF MARKETING FAITH-BASED FITNESS

THE STRATEGY: I’m going to make a bold statement here – Most businesses don’t know (deeply know) their customers. They’ve found features and benefits that work good enough but it falls short of what could be. Now let me say this, until you do a survey of your customer – and then build an ongoing relationship of dialogue and understanding, you’ll never ‘know’ your clients – AND they won’t know you or God.

Knowing your customer in my opinion is a huge first step in marketing faith-based fitness. The other step, that goes hand-in-hand with knowing your customer is knowing God’s plan for you and knowing YOU. How you do that can and should be done in a variety of ways and with regular frequency. But, let me suggest, no, implore you, to take a sabbatical. You need to get alone with God only until you hear and know.

Along with getting to know the spiritual drivers of your individual customers you need to consider what population(s) you are called to serve:

• women
• men
• athlete
• senior (50+ market)
• family
• need-specific (cancer/disease, disability, addiction, spiritual challenge, etc.)
• ethnic specific and diversity intentional
• homeless or person completing a court sentence

At this point, to market faith-based fitness you need to be introduced to a preferred term so you can embrace it: faith-centered fitness. Take some serious time to delve deeply into my article, Moving Beyond Faith-Based Fitness. If these concepts don’t resonate with you then it’s unlikely that you can truly market faith-based fitness the way it should be done.

Dwell upon these markers of a faith-centered fitness business and program:

1. The fitness director is a pastor
2. Christ permeates the ethos and every aspect
3. Ministry is being done
4. Members are “OTHERS MINDED”
5. Spiritual growth is a measurable outcome

To market faith-centered programs you need to also consider elements that truly make them faith-centered:

• prayer
• Bible study
• conversation (sharing and listening)/ fellowship
• communion
• service (not just ‘doing’ but ‘being’)

A UNIVERSITY CURRICULUM, DEGREE AND REDEFINING OF CULTURE

One of the best places where all of this can happen is at the Christian university. This is the formative season for young professionals and saturated thoroughly with the following instruction, methods and objectives, I believe can redefine how fitness is done in today’s culture.

A faith-centered ‘fitness’ curriculum needs an even balance between fitness science/technical skill and knowledge and theological/ministry/social service instruction AND practice.

The faculty or ‘extended faculty’ needs to include faith-centered industry professionals to help continually weave theory with practical real-life applications.

Internships need to exercise blended fitness and faith skills, author innovation and advances, and serve as a more guided next-step transition from school to workplace.

Networking for students needs to be prioritized and tracked from day one.

Universities that do this I believe can expect to be funded much like Harvard recently received a $25m gift for the study of mindfulness. Christians need to do what they are called to do and do it well THEN the marketing more naturally shifts to simply being a celebration of values, potential and proven success with eternal significance.

Brad Bloom is the Founder and Publisher of Lifestyle Media Group, a Christian ministry business that produces curated content to help you live a life where Christ is central to all you do. You’ll find Faith & Fitness Magazine, map – A Travel Lifestyle Magazine, ripen – a gardening lifestyle magazine and Shout! OUTDOOR LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE all online to help you not just live life but BE LIFE.

For over 20 years Brad has studied, documented and helped define how faith and fitness don’t just go together but are each more dynamic when they are together. His work helps individuals, entrepreneurs, educators, churches, ministries and businesses redefine how fitness, ministry and Christian living are done.

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A CHRISTIAN DISTINCTIVE

Contrastingly, at Christmas we begin to think of giving gifts and receiving gifts to and from our loved ones. Sometimes we don’t realize the value of the gift of sex in a loving monogamous relationship that we share with the love of our life, our spouse. An outstanding hallmark of Christianity from the beginning has been monogamous marriage. Christians stood out within their communities because of it. It has also stood the test of time and there are so many benefits to sex within monogamous marriage. Let’s take a look at some of them.

First of all, sex is a great releaser of stress. Sex within marriage doesn’t carry all of the negative baggage that sex previous to, or otherwise outside of marriage carries like guilty feelings, regret, worry about STI’s or an unwanted pregnancy with someone who is not your spouse.

BENEFITS ON MANY LEVELS

Sex within marriage leads to greater and greater levels of intimacy. You get to know each other better and better in a way that no one else on earth does. This helps develop a trust relationship that is sure and steady. In happy marriages this can have interesting physical benefits. Happily married couples blood pressures drop when they sleep together. Their heartbeats synchronize as well. Their hearts literally beat as one because of the assurance that they have that their spouse loves them absolutely and has their back at all times.

The physical contact involved in this helps us to bond more strongly all of the time. There are endorphin receptors throughout the skin covering of the body and they react to intimate and loving touch, which generates endogenous (or internal) endorphins, a kind of super relaxant. Hugs contribute to this, and married couples are encouraged to hug each other at least eight times per day.

LIFE LENGTHENING AND ENHANCING

Another great benefit of married sex is that it is antiaging. Cells in the body that are anti-inflammatory are released during sexual activity. This helps the body to be able to repair more effectively and seems to be a built-in way that the wellness and well-being of the married couple is enhanced.

Sex within marriage raises our immune system by causing the release of an antibody called immunoglobin A. This helps protect our bodies against invasive bacteria and viruses. A lifelong marriage is a very holistic stabilizing factor physiologically for a couple.

SLEEP LIKE A HUSBAND AND WIFE

An awesome married sex life helps us to sleep better because oxytocin is released substantially after orgasm. Cuddling afterwards and going to sleep is very natural and healthy. It helps us to have healthier looking skin as it promotes blood circulation, and it even helps women to have lighter periods. Many women have cramps during their monthly period, and regular sex to orgasm can make a difference through frequent uterine contractions that help expel toxins and tissues.

Sex within marriage raises our moods and gives us a more positive outlook on our spouse. If we are reflective we see that it’s benefits go far beyond immediate pleasure. When we look at the physical and spiritual fruits of our married sexual relationship: our children and grandchildren, it is obvious that this is definitely one of God’s most important gifts to us. After all, his first words to humanity were to go forth and multiply. As they say, this is the gift that keeps on giving as we experience one wonderful and memorable Christmas after another, year after year, and decade after decade.

GOD’S WAY IS ALWAYS THE BEST WAY

Married sex is a wonderful example of men and women displaying consistency, intentionality, and most of all faithfulness. This is what God intended for humans and without doubt, it is best for us. As noted above, it pays dividends multi-generationally to a family and then to all of the lives that a family influences in their lifetime. As we have seen before, it is always in our best interests to do things God’s way. Profound and magnificent blessings follow in that pathway. One path leads to death, the other path leads to life. Let’s choose life!

Marriage is to be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, because God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.

Hebrews 13:4 CSB

Sources: Importance of Sex in Marriage: 15 Physical & Psychological Benefits

5 Reasons Sex Within A Marriage is the Best Sex You Will Ever Have

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Some of these young people who had done this in some cases for over a year seem to be some of the most well-adjusted and mature young adults that I had ever had the honor to work with. With their choice to do this they had absolutely demonstrated consistency, intentionality, and faithfulness to their Christian beliefs. They seem to be very happy and in control of themselves after having taken their impulses under control and lived a life that was the polar opposite of most of their college friends for an extended period of time.

GOOD CLEAN FUN

One of their characteristics that really stood out was the way that when we were all in a group, we would all be laughing about some of the funniest morally clean things that happened to them on their journeys that I could imagine. There was something just really good about being able to laugh about these things that happened that demonstrated their strong commitment to ethics and morality but were at the same time, sidesplittingly funny circumstances among these young adults who were now in couples and navigating relationships. It was the old expression “just clean fun!”

I made a mental note of this, and beyond a strong admiration of what they had demonstrated, did not give it much more thought. That is, until my research brought me upon the concept of dopamine depletion. This is a widespread phenomenon in our 21^st century society. Basically, the problem is that as outlined in earlier posts, our lives do not match up very well with the lives of our ancestors. Here, we are having too many hedonistic pleasurable experiences in close succession and chronically. Our ancestors had very few of them and had to work very hard to get them.

MODERN DOPAMINE SPIKING LIFESTYLE

What am I talking about here? Well for one thing the way we typically eat. For example, the amount of sugar we consume per day now compared to the past. In 1700, the average intake of sugar per day was about 5 g. By 2009 the average had risen to 227 g per day. Sweet tastes spike dopamine levels. Every time dopamine spikes it crashes and lowers the baseline level. Eventually this leads to depression and the need to eat more and more sugar to get the same pleasurable high.

The same thing happens with sex. Hookup culture with its continuous casual sex to orgasm does the same thing to dopamine except more extremely. The same is true of porn use. Again, this is not Natural Lifestyle Matching in any way. Hookup culture and porn use can be looked at as behavioral addictions that are dopamine depleting. The dating abstinence that I have witnessed from the young adults I’ve had the honor of working with this year has the opposite effect. It is dopamine replenishing.

JUNK FOOD AND JUNK SEX

So, a hedonistic lifestyle, whether it be in the area of eating or the area of sex, is destructive to humans. One way we can think about it is that neither Junk Food nor Junk Sex is good for us. The Bible speaks to this:

“If you find honey eat just enough-too much of it and you will vomit.”

Proverbs 25:16 NIV

“Treat older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.”

1 Timothy 5:1-2

          This clean, biblical approach to life allows us to relate to each other with a clean conscience and really become good friends that can have a great time together. When I saw these young adult women and men relating to each other in this way, it made me and them laugh!

The post MADE ME LAUGH appeared first on Faith & Fitness Magazine.

“If you’re going through hell, keep going.”

Winston Churchill

It was almost over. The men and women who had braved one of the toughest athletic endurance events in America were so close to finishing their GoRuck Heavy event after having completed a grueling 24 hours with over 40 miles of hiking with a rucksack stuffed with weights and a water bladder. Other than that, they carried a headlamp, and any gear they thought they might need. They didn’t know the finish line but they were almost certain they had completed the hike because they were so near where they calculated they would be stopping in their minds. They had made it so far in an event where there is a 50% dropout rate…every 1 of 2 participants fails to complete the hike. you might need. Then their instructor cadre informed them that they were to get their packs on and continue hiking. At this point, many participants straight up quit and were like “screw this” and began to head home because they figured they had enough.

However, there were a few brave and committed souls who picked up their pack, shrugged their shoulders and marched on for what they thought would be miles. In the end, the instructors met them about a quarter of a mile down the road and told them they were finished. They passed the test. The instructors just wanted to see who had the mental and spiritual fortitude to keep sucking up pain until they find victory…not when they felt like they have had enough pain.

The story above was recounted to me by a Marine veteran friend of mine Chad Hiser over a zoom call one day with another Marine veteran, Drew Toothman (GySgt, USMC (Ret), an Explosive Ordnance Disposal technician who had served in combat operations in the post 9/11 era. Drew listened to the story and then told us one of his own about a unit of Marines on a training hike. These Marines saw what looked to be their trucks that signaled the end of their grueling hike and relief sitting in the back of a 7-ton vehicle while driving back to their home base. Their Executive Officer however told them to keep going because those trucks weren’t theirs. The Marines challenged him saying, “sir, those look like our trucks.” He said, “no, those aren’t our trucks.” As the Marines pushed past the vehicles which to them was their finish line, many fell out of the hike at this point because they felt they could go no further. After observing this for some time, the Executive Officer stopped the training evolution, gathered the Marines up, and explained to them that indeed the trucks they saw were theirs. However, he had them push past the trucks because he wanted to make a point: the Marines in this unit needed to learn how to keep sucking up pain even past the point they felt was the finish line. In combat, there is often no sign of when relief is in sight and the Marines needed the grit to keep pushing long after they feel they are ready to quit. Their very lives are on the line.

As fellow Marine veterans, we pondered what is it in a man or woman to keep pushing through pain long past when they thought it would be over. We recognized that the issue at stake was not so much one of physical endurance but of mental and spiritual endurance in all reality. When men and women are pushed beyond their limits and are forced to decide to keep going or turn back, what they ultimately choose tells both them and others what they are ultimately made of and is more of a determination of their ability to have victory than any obstacle right in front of them.

In my personal life, I have faced this sense of non-stop pain from an emotional and mental standpoint and I can tell you that many times when I wanted to quit because there was no relief in sight for a long time, the only thing that kept me going was the thought that if I quit, then I am certain I will never achieve what I set out to go for. In the fall of 2021, I was fairly confident that I would get selected for promotion in my Marine Corps career and finally have a sense of being able to take somewhat of a break from pushing as hard as I had been over the past few years, especially with a sprint of a 13-month overseas unaccompanied tour that I had just returned from that summer. To my dismay, I was called up by a 3-star general telling me that unfortunately I was not selected for promotion. This was stunning to me despite my overall solid performance record. I recognized that I had only about five months of time to really showcase my performance on an evaluation that typically would take place over a year in order to give me whatever leg up I had in the next promotion board which based on previous selection statistics went from about a 76% selection rate to 6%. The temptation to throw in the towel and give in at this point was immense. I weighed my options. Not getting selected on the second round meant that I stood a good chance of being involuntarily separated from the Marine Corps before 20-year retirement eligibility with the goal of being able to have healthcare benefits, especially for my wife and 4-year-old son who had a lot of health issues. On top of all this, I was facing my own setbacks at home still needing to maintain social isolation and strict COVID protocols such as masking at work when everybody else was now mask-free because of my wife, son, and father-in-law’s immunocompromised issues. Should I give up on my career dreams and try desperately try to find another line of work in such a short time to continue providing for my family? Or should I buckle down and do everything in my power to at least know I gave it my all for this promotion and if failing in that outcome at least know for the rest of my life I had least given it my all? I continued to ponder my lot in life. At this point in life, I was also having to take a ton of time off from work to watch my son in order to help my wife through various health challenges due to a lack of being able to deal with these due to COVID-19 medical center delays and my extended time away from home. I couldn’t just slave away at work because then my family would also fall apart.

On top of all this, the non-profit ministry I had launched right before COVID started had not taken off like I had expected for many reasons despite my diligent efforts. Funds were dwindling, volunteers, facing their own life challenges were quitting, and I could not seem to get the traction I needed to get the cause off the ground. Both well-meaning and ill-meaning people challenged had their rounds of unwarranted criticism during this season to make matters worse.

Emotionally, mentally, and spiritually I was past my breaking point. I had been on a long…long GoRuck Heavy of life that honestly had been in a series of ups and downs since 2010 but most certainly since 2016 where the storms of life picked up and never really abated with one thing after another. The finish lines that I had imagined in my head were beyond my sight and there was no certainty of relief in sight. My faith was at a crossroads and what I would do next in this season for good or bad would be for keeps and consequential not only for the rest of my life but for my eternity and others. As my mentor, Kurt Parsons, a retired US Navy Officer who had been through Navy Diver, SEAL, and pilot training had once told me, “Christopher, you have one life to live so go big or go home.” I had decided to go big and I wasn’t going home…ever. I would fight to the very end or at least die trying in terms of holding the line in all the areas God had called me to in terms of my family, career, and ministry. In the midst of my garage gym workouts, one of the audio tracks I listened to often was from Winston Churchill’s speech to his nation during World War II where he encouraged his fellow citizens to “never, never, never give up.” I decided I would do the same. Failure might be an option but quitting wasn’t.

You may have heard the term “don’t give up the ship.” This phrase comes from the dying words of the Captain of the USS Chesapeake, James Lawrence, during a naval battle with the British against the HMS Shannon during the War of 1812. Although James would die from his wounds and his ship eventually had to surrender, his words inspired his crew and others in the naval force. In fact, his friend Oliver Hazard Perry had his words written on a large blue battle ensign which flew on Oliver Perry’s ship 3 months later in a victorious engagement over the British in the Battle of Lake Erie. This original flag still hangs in Memorial Hall of the US Naval Academy as an inspiration to Navy and Marine Officers over the years to keep fighting the good fight even when it seems like all is lost and it seems like the best choice is to quit. As was mentioned in the GoRuck challenge, it appeared at first that the challenge would go on forever, but the brave souls who persevered only had a little more to go. They just didn’t know it. Oliver Perry’s men only had 3 more months to wait before they finally found victory against the British and the war outcome tilted eventually in the favor of the US as history tells us. From their initial vantage point though, they didn’t know it. That’s the tricky part of these challenges in our life. We just don’t know when our victory will come…how long will we have to continue holding. Have you ever been there or are you there right now?

How do you keep pushing when your emotions and mind are screaming to you to go home? Here are some of the ways I have learned to do this in my own life to help you find strength in your own battles to keep going and never surrender to the tyranny of dark days:

1. Always Remind Yourself of “Why” You Started in the First Place. Remember what you are fighting for that got you started in the first place. Decide in your heart that no matter what hell or valleys you experience, you will never quit until you finally have victory. Even if you are forced by circumstances beyond your control to change course, remember you are not retreating…only fighting in another direction. The writer of the New Testament book of Hebrews encourages his readers to keep in mind their example as Jesus of Nazareth who endured the shame of the cross for the dream before Him of reconciling man to God and being exalted to the right hand of God forever. He and others who followed the God of the Bible endured much in order to achieve their dreams and achieve victory. We do well to keep them in mind as examples when we are tempted to quit on our dreams as well.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

Hebrews 12:1-3 (Berean Standard Bible)

2. Remember how far you have already come. When we are tempted to give up, we often only think of the negative aspect of the pain we have endured and not how far we have come. Quitting will guarantee our suffering has been in vain and we will essentially “throw away” our past efforts. Of course, there are times when life circumstances determine we alter course because we have no other practical choice, but this should be done with the intent of moving forward in life, not giving up on our ultimate why. If you recall my inspiration from Winston Churchill, he encouraged his people when all seemed lost. Europe was now a fortress for Hitler. The French overt government was toppled and the land was occupied. England’s army was forced to retreat at Dunkirk only narrowly missing annihilation by being rescued by citizen mariners across the English Channel. He prepared his people to fight to the very end. He gave the roar of the lionheart in the midst of his people who slowly but surely began to turn the tide when all seemed lost. Recalling also inspiration from the writer of Hebrews who was telling his fellow brothers and sisters in faith to hold the line in spite of the hell they were going through can also inspire us today:

Do not throw away your confidence; it holds a great reward. You need to persevere, so that after you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.”

Hebrews 10: 35-36 (Berean Standard Bible)

3. Put one foot in front of the other. Figure out what steps you can continue to sustain indefinitely even if they are painful. Force your brain to focus on what you can do today and what you can reasonably plan for positive future outcomes. If you sense a strong likelihood of a future fight, envision yourself fighting through to ultimate victory. Don’t let yourself dwell on thoughts like “I don’t know how much more I can take.” Instead, tell yourself “I can take this next step….and the next.” I was recently helping my 4-year-old son achieve a relatively difficult obstacle at the playground where he was off the ground and scared of the height. He didn’t know if he could continue to move forward. I told him, “take the next step.” He did. I told him, ok, “take the next step.” He did and this continued all the way until he completed it. I was teaching my son how his dad has gotten through difficulties in life and how he can do the same. Years ago I was given the opportunity to complete the Navy SEAL Confidence Course and I remember being up on the “slide for life” which is an approximately 200-foot rope about 40 feet off the ground. Going back down was significantly scary and out of the question for me but I was also scared of falling too wondering if I would make it to the end. I chose to mentally focus on each pull of my arms while pushing with my leg despite the swinging of the rope and my fear of heights as I lay on top of the rope. I eventually made it to the end not because I focused on the whole obstacle in front of me or the ground beneath but because I kept focusing intently instead on each pull in front of me recognizing I had the strength to do that. Navy SEALS and other high-performing enduring athletes call this “segmentation”. They refuse to focus on the entire race but only on what is immediately in front of them. This way their mind is not overwhelmed. The cliche phrase of eating an elephant one bite at a time holds true. There is a story in the Gospels about Jesus calling his protege Peter out of the boat to “walk on water” towards Him. Peter initially was enthusiastic about this and literally started to “walk on water”, but the tax collector-turned-Gospel writer Matthew tells us that “when Peter saw the wind and the waves he became terrified and began to sink.” (story found in Matthew 14:22-33). I wonder what would have happened if Peter had kept focusing on each step recognizing that he was literally walking where the winds and waves could not stop him as long as focused on each step toward Jesus, he would have made it. Truth is, I’m reminded of this in my own storms of life to do the same. It is easy to judge Peter for getting afraid, but you and I are tempted with the same mindset in our own serious storms of life.

Jesus furthermore encourages his followers to focus on what they have to do in a given day vs. worrying about the future when he says:

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Matthew 6:34 (New International Version)

In the end, remember God had you yesterday, He has you today, and trust He’ll have you tomorrow. Worrying isn’t going to help and by focusing on your next step, you will stay calm and eventually walk right into your victory! This leads me to my next point.

4. Remind yourself of God’s promises, but release the “when” and how. When I look at hardships I have struggled with in the past or that I am currently struggling with, the reality is not that I can’t face the pain of today. I can do that. I may not want to, but I can. When I set out on a journey to accomplish anything I feel God calls me to do, I need to remember the promises He has personally given me or shared in His Word and trust that He is faithful to complete the good work He began in me. At the exact same time, I need to release the “when” and “how” because feeling the need to answer those questions will literally drive me crazy as I imagine it will you as well. So I have to have the mindset that anything I feel God has called me to do will come to pass, but at the same time, I need to accept the reality that since I don’t know when or how, I need to live faithfully in my current circumstances until they change. I need to just keep taking positive steps forward in life or at least sustaining what I know to be right and true in life. Paul of Tarsus who had a vision for what God had called him to do despite many setbacks told those he was mentoring in words that still ring true today the following:

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 3:12-14

So, whether you are setting out to complete a physically and mentally grueling challenge or you are struggling to stay steadfast in doing good in some area of your life whether it be staying faithful in a difficult marriage, continuing to hold the line in a difficult season of parenting, persevering through a difficult patch in business or ministry, or are struggling through a physical health challenge that won’t seem to end, know that you can make it to the end. Just don’t quit. You will eventually walk into your promised land if you remain faithful.

Land of the Free Because of the Brave,

Chris Reardon

Major, USMC, US Naval Academy Class of 2007

Founder/Executive Director of Freedom Fitness America

“Fit for the Fight and Life”

If you are a military, law enforcement, fire/rescue, or first responder professional or would like to train physically, mentally, and spiritually to have the warrior mindset to achieve victory in the field and in life, then check out Tactical Garage Gym or email me at chris@freedomfitnessamerica.org to learn more!

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I’LL NEVER FORGET

I was a young midshipman at the US Naval Academy in the summer of 2006 conducting my “interview” to be a Marine Officer at a three-week rigorous physical and tactical training evolution program called “Leatherneck” in Quantico, VA along with other fellow midshipmen (college students in training to be US Navy or Marine Corps officers). We were preparing for various field exercises and my Staff Platoon Commander was salty Captain Shane Groah, USMC a prior enlisted officer with a drill instructor and military police officer background. He pulled our platoon of midshipmen in close with various exhortations and said words I’ll never forget: “officers never fall out of a hike…ever…”

Shane went on to talk about his own experiences conducting various hikes (also known as humps, rucks, or road marches) where military professionals particularly on the ground side put their field packs on weighing generally anywhere from 40-100 lbs, and then march forward in columns of individuals arm length apart at a general rate of at least 3 miles per hour for distances ranging from 3-20 miles depending on the evolution in a given day. Shane in particular told a story of being on a Marine Corps Combat Readiness Evaluation (MCCRE) where he was the unit leader of a military police unit leading a grueling 20-mile hike. Given the standard rate of march, this can take up to 7 hours if not longer, and will usually start in the early morning hours to beat the heat if possible. He went on to explain how during this event his feet were blistered and hurting bad, but he knew that despite the physical pain he was in, dropping out was not an option because if a leader like himself dropped out to get into the safety vehicle, this could cause many of the Marines he was leading to conclude that they too could drop out based on the example they saw from their officer causing whole platoons and companies to come apart.

Officers, particularly commanders, typically are in the front of their units during hikes and are very visible. Furthermore, the enlisted members of the unit are looking to the officer and other senior enlisted leaders for inspiration and an example of how to conduct themselves in the midst of suffering. Having a poor performance in a grueling physical event like this demonstrates that it is “ok” to feel inclined to drop out when one feels some pain. A mentality like this especially in combat is not good and can completely bring about chaos. Hikes in general are very chaotic physical evolutions with the slinky effect going on where people move up and down in the formation. Furthermore, as people drop out or drop back, it causes command and control of the unit to really be difficult as the unit spreads out over a long distance. In training and especially in combat when a unit needs to move quickly to a battle position in order to accomplish a mission on time, this will mean mission failure…all because the officer didn’t live up to the ethos of sucking up pain in order to inspire the men and women around him/her.

WHAT I LEARNED FROM MY HIKES

As I began my Marine Corps career, I have to confess that hikes were not my favorite evolution as they were physically grueling and there were many times I would have rather quit given the loads we were carrying, the heat, hilly terrain, or distance, pain in my shoulders from the pack, legs, and lungs burning, etc. In my early officer training at The Basic School, I remember one particular evolution very vividly that was only about 3 miles…the distance of a typical Marine Corps Physical Fitness Test. However, this event took place during the hot summer months in Quantico somewhere on an infamous road called “Washboard” which was a roller coaster of a road. Our platoon commander was leading the charge and he was a motivator, to say the least. He pushed us at a very fast pace for us officer students looking to soon join the Fleet Marine Forces as the latest batch of junior officers. One of the other Lieutenants in my platoon was struggling and so we spread loaded gear so I was now more weighed down in the back of the formation not to mention a bit disadvantaged with my short legs given my height at 5′ 7″ compared to my taller platoon mates. So I started to drop back as I struggled to keep with the pace or run just to catch up (although usually this was discouraged because it could exaggerate the slinky effect) and in the end didn’t keep up with at least what I thought was the bulk of the platoon (it was hard to see given the hills and my place in the rear of the formation). I remember finishing even though I wanted to quit thinking of Shane Groah’s words. However, I was greeted by another snarky Lieutenant who had it out for me whenever he got a chance and in this particular instance, he said, “you [expletive] suck Reardon” which really made me feel bad although I tried to brush him off. When I got back to my room feeling pretty ashamed of myself for not having kept pace with everybody else even though I didn’t quit, I remember my roommates urging me to take off my pack and rest a bit as they laid their sprawled out. I would later learn that only 5 of the approximately 40 personnel platoon would ACTUALLY finish with our Platoon Commander and some Lieutenants were heat exhaustion cases with one of my roommates urinating on himself when he got back. Rumor had it that our platoon commander actually got in trouble because the heat conditions were actually close to the type where outdoor physical evolutions like hikes should be secured from what I recalled. So I realized I actually did pretty well overall and felt better about my performance.

Another hike early on in my career that I vividly remember was with the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines where I was the Intelligence Officer from 2011-2012 out in Camp Horno, Camp Pendleton, CA. The battalion commander wanted the staff to help him along with the Sergeant Major to carry a .50 caliber machine gun on a 12-mile hike along with our packs, M-4/M-16 assault rifles, and M9 service pistol…get some. A .50 caliber machine gun is a crew-served weapon with awesome firepower that weighs about 120 pounds. The commander to his credit would carry the receiver (the main part of the weapon) and the Sergeant Major would carry the spare barrel. My office at the time was next to the Sergeant Major and I remember him looking like the Battalion Commander went crazy, but he went along with carrying the spare barrel while the battalion. For my part, I volunteered to carry the tripod which weighs in at 40 lbs and is pretty awkward to carry and usually is balanced on your pack while carrying the rest of your stuff. Having come from the air wing prior to this tour and being an intelligence officer, I was not you may say one of the “boys” having gone through the infamous Infantry Officer’s Course like my Ground Intelligence Officer counterparts or being an infantry leader. So I certainly had to prove myself to be respected.

The first 3 miles went fairly well, but I noticed I started to feel a bit light-headed. Remembering Shane Groah’s words as if he was right there next to me, I knew that falling out of the formation was an unacceptable option and could kill my reputation for the rest of the time I was at the unit not to mention be a bad example to the enlisted Marines around me to include my own section of intelligence Marines who are sometimes hit or miss when it comes to physical performance depending on individual motivation and talent. I also foreshadowed that if I kept trying to push it, my body might just say “screw you” and I would achieve the same result as quitting let alone likely passing out and getting a rectal temperature check in front of everybody else…an embarrassing thought. While quitting wasn’t an option, passing out as an officer would also likely put me in the category of “this guy can’t hack it.” So I made a decision to take the third option, ate some humble pie, and handed off the tripod to another staff officer. Over the next 12 miles, the tripod was shared between myself and a few other staff officers including the Logistics Officer, the Navy doctors, and a few other guys. We made it together as a team and I felt proud of all of us that we held our own without dropping out.

CHARACTER TRAINING = CHARACTER STRENGTH

I bring these stories up because they serve as physical metaphors and experiences that have formed the backdrop of my character trained early on that applies not only to my career as a Marine Corps Officer with 15+ years active duty now, but also in life as a husband, father, and leader within Christian circles a.k.a. the Church. I have been called to lead myself, my family, my fellow warriors, my fellow citizens, and my brothers and sisters in the Church. Many are watching me all the time even though I often don’t know it or perceive it. In physical training with my Marines or during difficult evolutions during training or real-world operations, it would be easy to quit or slack off on holding myself up to a higher standard. It would be very easy for me to “fall out” or “drop my pack”, but I recognize that if I do, there is a real danger that many others would do so as well. One of my friends, Jeremy Stalnecker, the Executive Director of Mighty Oaks Warrior Programs, wrote a book called “March or Die” based on his experiences as a Marine Corps Infantry Officer in the initial invasion of Iraq. He describes from physical combat experience with analogies to the spiritual realm from a Christian perspective how when things get hard, we have two choices: march…or die. Dying might not mean physical death, but it may mean death in a relationship, a dream, etc.

LESSONS FOR YOUR LIFE “HIKE”

To get really personal here, I think about my initial lessons learned as a Marine Corps Officer hiking or from inspiration from men I respect like Jeremy or Admiral McRaven when I think of initiatives at home or at work. At home, I am a husband and a father. When I swore an oath (military terms for saying my marital vows) to my wife before God that I would love her for better or for worse…in sickness and in health…and to be faithful to her only, I didn’t realize how in a few short months those very words would be put to an extreme test. A few short weeks after getting married my wife informed me that she was pregnant and soon she started having severe symptoms of morning sickness followed by a long period of health challenges that created many challenges in our relationship exacerbated by spiritual warfare. The emotional pain of it has tempted me to quit on my family or quit on following God’s way given to me from his Word a.k.a. the Bible or the Holy Spirit’s prophetic direction to me given through many godly men and women at various times over a decade in various locations. In particular, I knew that I was called to be a major influential leader for godly influence in the nation to spread the message of Jesus but also as a government leader with a God-given plan to have significant influence and authority inside the US Federal Government. The enemy however would regularly tempt me to abandon these plans instead of taking a path of life with seemingly more comfort and stability if he couldn’t tempt me to give into blatantly disobeying God’s Word. On top of this, I was regularly reminded by the enemy of failures of the past such as a Chapter 7 bankruptcy stemming from a failed business venture in 2016, having ministry activities face opposition and delay, or career challenges like finding out I was passed over for promotion for O-5 putting me at significant risk of being potentially forced out of the Marine Corps despite my high level of documented performance.

Amplifying all of this over the course of a long desert season that is still at play (7 + years now ongoing), I then would receive comments from Christian friends and mentors in my life that in summary would seem that I was facing all of my struggles because I was doing something wrong and certainly not following the will of God much like Job’s friends did in the book of Job. I found myself lonely whether looking for fellowship, support, or partnership and life seemed like quicksand or Lilly pads I was constantly trying to negotiate while always keeping my eyes on the Lord as I walked towards Him in the midst of the storms of life. COVID-19 exacerbated these difficulties as it did for everybody as my ministry model was rapidly shut down in 2020 almost as soon as it started an overseas 13-month unaccompanied tour where I uprooted from a support network in New Orleans, quickly built one in Bahrain, and then struggled to develop a new one in San Diego, CA. Coming back from an overseas tour, I came back to a lot of challenges in my family due to health conditions including dealing with the hardship of supporting my wife and son through a cancer diagnosis and follow on brutal treatment protocols with the final death of my beloved father in law early in 2022. I suffered, prayed, and worked hard in obscurity with nobody aside from the Lord for the most part seeing my secret faith and perseverance or at least commending me for it. For sure I had made some mistakes that I later realized were not in line with God’s Word because instead, I had based my decision-making on feelings, interpretation of positive circumstances, and watching other Christians making similar decisions find success. Other mistakes were simply the cost of being a pioneer where there is no road map and it is part of the journey. Regardless, every day I decided that I would not quit no matter what. I would die physically before I ever quit. I made an active choice of a posture that essentially said: “death before dishonor.” I made a decision and have kept to that decision that no power of hell can steer me to drop out of the hike of my life. Why? Because I recognize that my afflictions are truly temporary compared to the eternal glory that awaits me with reward from heaven when I look back at the legacy I am in the midst of creating and the eternal difference of true life I will pave for many to follow in my footsteps.

As a military man, I have considered very carefully with conviction and peace in my heart that if God calls me to danger to face the barrels of guns which leads to my own physical death on the battlefield and I don’t get to be in my young son’s life as he grows up, then that is ok. I believe with strong faith that God will protect me but even if he doesn’t, much like Daniel’s friends who faced the fiery furnace in the book of Daniel instead of bowing to an idol, we must consider the reality that God for His own purposes may not save us from physical harm in order to bring glory to Himself. Our job is to simply trust and obey regardless of the consequences. In fact, I’m truly not afraid of death or how I will face it. The other day I saw a post on Facebook by Adam Davis, a former police officer turned evangelist who spoke about a dream he had where he was observing his funeral when thunderous words from God echoed stating “did you do what I created you to do?” That really has stuck with me because I want nothing more than at the end of my life to hear the precious words from Jesus “well done, my good and faithful servant.” To get to heaven and learn that because of fear, laziness, or indifference that my life on earth was wasted for eternity would be terrible knowing life could have been so much different. I cringe at looking back from heaven thinking “what if”. As my mentor Kurt Parsons told me one fateful night when time seemed to stop driving over a bridge near Annapolis, MD, “Christopher, we get one life to live…so go big or go home.” I have never forgotten that. As one of the most famous quotes in the movie Gladiator goes, “what we do in life echos in eternity.” I can’t control external circumstances, but as long as I’m alive and persevering, God has maneuverable room to glorify Himself. If I decide to quit, He’ll get glory elsewhere, but not through my decision to give up. God help me if I ever choose to do so. I hope that the reader of this post will never quit on God’s plan for their life either. Our life’s legacy and the eternal life to come for us and many others are too much at stake for us to seriously consider quitting. In the New Testament, a letter to Jewish Christians who were tempted to quit in the midst of hardship, confusion, and persecution that was very well costing some of their lives on this earth exhorts the following:

“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood [in a modern context, you aren’t dead yet] in your striving against sin; and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, ‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the LORD nor faint when you are reproved by Him; for those whom the LORD loves He disciplines, for those whom the LORD loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives. It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterward, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.” (Hebrews 12:1-3)           

Jesus also exhorts his followers:

“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.” (Matthew 16:24-27) 

6 PRINCIPLES TO HELP YOU NOT FALL OUT OF YOUR LIFE’S HIKE … EVER

So, how do we do it? How do we keep trucking when hell seems to throw the kitchen sink at us and life brings us to our knees? I will give a few principles here:

1. Determine in your heart your convictions ahead of time that you will never quit on. “Set aside Jesus as Lord in your heart” first. (1 Peter 3:15, Luke 14:26). This means Biblical values, loyalty to key people in your life such as your family, commitments to key goals, and commitment to your dreams; especially God-given ones with albeit flexibility and patience in seeing them through. to commit to the task at hand no matter what until your external circumstances keep you from staying on your particular path. You must also count the cost of what you are willing to lose in order to gain something of value. This may mean for example that in order to follow God’s call, you may have to disappoint or even lose family and friends opposed to His way for you, let go of a work-related position, sacrifice material resources, or even your own very physical life. Anything less leaves open the door to fear and second-guessing to steal your conviction.
2. Ask for help from God and from others. The Bible says that “pride goes before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18) and that “God gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6) meaning support. Jesus also says that “He is the vine and we are the branches…unless we remain rooted in Him, we have no power.” (John 15:5) Given that the collective organization of the Church is the “Body of Christ”, we gain the ability to bear fruit and His grace by remaining connected to His Body (1 Corinthians 12:12-28)Our relationship with God must be solid and we must depend on Him. We also must seek out friends to walk regularly with who will lift us up. To paraphrase the wisest man to ever live according to the Bible, Solomon from his words written in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 “two are better than one for they can help each other succeed..but one standing alone can be attacked and easily defeated.” Just like I sought out the help of my fellow staff officers on the hike in Camp Pendleton to share the load among ourselves to avoid our mission failure or my physical passing out along with the emotional support from my fellow platoon mates after a grueling hike at The Basic School, so you and I are not meant to do life alone. We need God and others, especially Christian brothers and sisters in our lives to give us support in all types of ways and are called to support them (Hebrews 10:25, Galatians 6:1-3).
3. Eat the elephant…one bite at a time. Focus on your next immediate step or steps. It is easy especially when the road has been long and painful and the road ahead is filled with either known or unknown obstacles with no seeming end to the pain that your mind gets the overwhelming urge to quit. Compartmentalize the pain and focus on the reality that you can do the next thing you are called to. You have the strength, the knowledge, and the guts. When you complete that, focus on the next thing ahead. As the old song goes, “put one foot in front of the other and soon you’ll be walking out the door.” Another good quote is “yard by yard it is hard…inch by inch it is a cinch.” It has been said that the mind is ready to quit when you have only given 40% of the true physical capacity you have when you still have 60% of the physical ability to still march on.
4. Calm your nerves and heart rate in a difficult emotional or physical situation through tactical breathing. Your breathing is one of two aspects of your autonomous nervous system you can control (blinking being the other) and so it can slow your heart rate, and your adrenaline in order to get your brain back into logical thinking vs. fight or flight “freak out mode”.
5. Practice positive self-talk vs. negative self-talk. A retired Navy SEAL friend of mine told me a story where he was at BUDS and woke up to a student telling himself in the mirror that “nobody will look down on you for quitting.” That same student was one of the first the next day to ring the bell. My friend on the other hand decided he had no Plan B and although he was not as fit as other students and even was slightly on the heavier side, he outlasted many others and not only went on to do a 20-year career in the Navy SEALs but ended up having his two sons also become Navy SEALs with one of them even going to the infamous SEAL Team 6. A Christian friend of mine, Robert Owens, who is an endurance athlete with the claim of being the “fittest 66-year-old” says to say things in your head like “easy day, I got this”. I like to think of Bible verses like “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13) or “I am more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:37). Remember, the body feels and eventually acts on where the mind goes. If your mind is negative, you are sure to feel and act out on your mental state. Dr. Caroline Leaf, a Christian neuroscientist, describes the effect of both the positive and negative on our brain cells when we meditate on either positive or negative thinking. She teaches that science has proven the Biblical exhortation “as a man thinketh, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7) because our thoughts literally form brain cells and have real physical-chemical effects on our body and emotions. Thoughts determine our emotions and emotions determine our behaviors. If you want to change your emotions, change your thoughts. I literally went through this today while waiting at a military gate unexpectedly that was shut down causing me to be late to a meeting. I practiced positive self-talk telling myself I couldn’t control the event, the event would pass, and I might as well just sit and be patient. As a result, I stayed calm and felt at peace. On the other hand, I was tempted to get impatient, angry, and start to worry which would have done nothing other than put me in a bad mood.
6. Take care of yourself physically. Get adequate rest every night, hydrate regularly, eat right, train for difficult events, and keep your muscles stretched. Physical pain from not taking care of yourself physically exacerbates emotional and mental pain like a self-inflicted gunshot wound. We see multiple times through the Bible the practical wisdom of nourishment and rest to keep on going including the admonishment of an angel to the prophet Elijah who told him to eat and drink after he got some rest because he was “freaking out” and needed strength for the journey right after he had a major victory over the enemies of God when a wicked queen told him she was going to take his life (1 Kings 19:4-8).

FOLLOW GOD WHOLEHEARTEDLY

In closing my friends, when life gets hard, especially in the conduct of doing God’s work, keep your pack on and keep marching. Many are watching you. If you fall out, it is likely your choice will also cause others to fall out too. On the flip side, your commitment to persevere will likely inspire others in hard times to keep going too. For men especially, our decision to follow God wholeheartedly statistically has such an outsized impact on your family. It has been said that when a father/husband is following the Lord that there is a 70% chance of his kids attending church for the long haul even after the kids grow up. If it is only the mother/wife, there is about a 30% chance that the kids will stick with their faith. So for you men out there for the sake of your wives and your kids, your spiritual walk affects them and can either propel them forward into the great plans God has for them or play a significant role in dragging them down in the plans the enemy has. Outside of our immediate family, our extended relatives, our friends, our co-workers, neighbors, and many others we may never meet are depending on seeing the Bible lived out in practice. If not you, then who, and if not now, then when? Life isn’t about me and it isn’t about you and the stakes of the game are literally for eternity. Yes, we matter, but others do as well and so we must keep fighting the good fight of faith knowing that in the end, our trials will end. For God, Family, Country, and ultimately the Kingdom of God, we must keep our pack on and keep trucking.

If you are interested in receiving more training to develop spiritual, mental, and physical toughness like what I mentioned above, I encourage you to join our Tactical Garage Gym Facebook Group where we provide free weekend “Hero Workout of the Day” workouts with Christian YouTube content to listen to either by yourself or with friends from your garage gym as part of our Garage Gym Church initiative!

Land of the Free Because of the Brave,

Chris Reardon

Major, USMC

Founder/Executive Director

Freedom Fitness America

“Fit for the Fight and Life”

https://freedomfitnessamerica.org

“The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.”

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God called me to begin a fitness ministry as I began to see a deeper need while I was working as a fitness instructor at a local gym. I saw a need that goes deeper than just physical fitness. We are all made up of a body, a mind and a spirit. We all need to be healthy and strong in each of those areas to live out the life God has for us.

God led me to [the Bible passage] Ephesians 2:10 where He tells us that we are His workmanship, created for good works that He prepared for us to do beforehand. We need to be ready and able to do and be all that He created us to be. I willingly obeyed His call with no preconceived notion of how this ministry would look. I found that when I surrender to His call and say, “Here I am; send me”, he works out the details. God gave me the vision of Faithfit [in Paducah, Kentucky]. A beautiful journey in fitness ministry began.

THE PLAN: GET SERIOUS – YOU WON’T BE DISAPPOINTED

A few years ago, I walked into the gym where I participated in group fitness classes, like I did most every morning. This particular morning, however, God had a divine appointment planned for me. One of my group fitness instructors said something to me that God would use to set things in motion that He had planned. She told me of an upcoming training to be a certified group fitness instructor in our area and encouraged me to go, get trained, and teach a class. I decided to go for it and I am so glad I did.

I started teaching classes at the gym and fell in love with it. God kept telling me He wanted to use this as a ministry. I didn’t know how He would accomplish this, but I told Him, “Here I am. Use me any way You want!” One Wednesday night in church, God spoke to my heart that I should go to a local addiction recovery center called Lifeline and workout with the ladies and lead a Bible study. I had no idea if Lifeline needed or wanted such a thing, but I spoke with the director anyway.

I found out they had been praying for something like this for the ladies. We went and looked at the little chapel they have on campus as a possible space for the workouts. It was perfect. A stage in front with a large wooden cross on the wall is the focal point when you walk into the building. There are large windows lining both sides of the chapel, letting sunlight pour in. A beautiful space for a fitness ministry and workout class!

We then asked for donations from the community and generous donors helped us get all the equipment we needed. By this time, I had designed a logo and we were off and running. FaithFit is now a big part of the ladies’ recovery and healing from their addictions. Several groups of ladies have come through the FathFit program and I can see how God is using the workouts and Bible study to allow them to see themselves the way God sees them; strong, beautiful and confident.

BUILDING STRONGER TEMPLES IN THE CHURCH

While doing the workouts with the ladies at Lifeline, God continued to lay on my heart to take FaithFit into the community, as well as Lifeline. God had brought a good friend along to partner with me in this ministry and we began to pray about how and where we could hold the classes and make it truly a community wide ministry.

I didn’t want it to feel “churchy” or be affiliated with any one denomination. I wanted FaithFit to meet the need of helping people get healthier and stronger physically, spiritually and mentally. Not “religious”, but I wanted each class to exude the love of Christ to anyone who walked through the doors. I didn’t know where this space would be. I wanted FaithFit to be free of charge, open to anyone and feel free of judgement to anyone on any fitness level.

Finally after much prayer, I spoke with my pastor at my church, Heartland Church in Paducah, Kentucky. I told him my vision that I felt God had given me. He was completely on board with allowing FaithFit to meet in our church’s youth building. This space is perfect. We have amazing lighting, sound and plenty of room for a large group. God provided all the equipment we needed too.

A year and six months later, God keeps blessing Faithfit! More and more people are attending from all over the community and surrounding areas. The participants are from all denominations and some who do not attend church at all. People are getting stronger, healthier and more confident.

We have 13 group fitness classes per week with a team of many volunteers ranging from instructors to Bible study facilitators and a welcome team. We have all the equipment we need and plenty of space for both the workout and storage. All of the workouts are to Christian music and we have a practical devotion from God’s Word at the end of each workout that we call our “Spiritual Fitness Challenge”. Faithfit is such a Spirit-led ministry that is both worshipful and fun. Our fitness ministry is full of unity and amazing encouragement.

At Lifeline, I have worked with several groups of ladies going through the program. Many have told me how this ministry helped them greatly in their recovery of addiction.

ORCHESTRATED TO BEAR GREAT AND PERPETUAL FRUIT

God continues to show me that all He wants is my heart and a willingness to be obedient to His call. He provides the space and everything else I need. Faithfit is His. He continues to provide, lead and equip this ministry. It is quite the spiritual journey I am on watching Him work in so many lives!

Go back to Ephesians 2:10. God has called us as believers to live a life in obedience to His calling on our lives. We need to be ready. I encourage anyone who may feel led to begin a ministry like Faithfit, to pray big, be willing and just ask! Be open and flexible and watch God work. He always provides and equips what He has called us to do.

QUESTIONS FOR INDIVIDUAL REFLECTION AND GROUP DISCUSSION

1. Lisa reminds us that we are all made up of body, mind and spirit. In what ways do you feel physical, mental and spiritual strength all come together to make a person whole? What “good works” do you feel best reflect your life and who you are? What “good works” might God be calling you to do in the future for which you need to train and be prepared?

2. Describe what you feel a “divine appointment” is and reflect on what that appointment was/is for you. How can you know when God is working out a plan through you? How do our plans as humans differ from God’s divine plans for us and others? When you get serious about doing something how do you behave? Discuss the outcomes when you apply that level of seriousness to your spiritual life.

3. Where and how Lisa did fitness ministry was different from what she originally envisioned. How about you? Describe a time in your life when things turned out different than you expected and what you learned from that. How can God help you to make wherever you workout to be a sacred space that won’t just build you up physically but spiritually too? Where else could you exercise that isn’t your usual place and how might that be of value to you and others?

4. What did you learn about the concept of “just ask” from Lisa? What is the “just ask” in your life right now?

POST YOUR COMMENTS ABOUT FITNESS MINISTRY BELOW

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A few years ago Lisa Jarvis realized that doing cardio exercise alone isn’t enough to maintain a strong body. She learned BODYPUMP – and loved it – AND when asked, she got certified to teach it. 

Then she realized that even a good workout isn’t enough to truly satisfy the soul. Fortunately, Lisa knows WHO does satisfy – Jesus Christ. Longing led to praying, listening and a calling to do something even better next.  But where? 

Lisa’s story is more than a good inspirational read. It is instruction God is giving you to live out your faith so He can move in fresh ways in your community. Where? God has the perfect place(s) for you to do fitness ministry if you’ll JUST ASK!

Listen to the entire conversation. You can download it too then share it with others.

Ready to get started doing fitness ministry in your community. Start by getting help from Faith & Fitness Magazine to do Personal Fitness Ministry.

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A Powerful Solution For Pre And Post-Workout Recovery

If you can only do 1 thing to redefine how you do fitness, create a culture where transformation is about a lot more than physical ability and appearance. -Brad Bloom, President, Lifestyle Media Group

re: is a multi-faceted program to grow your gym culture and strengthen members and staff through a holistic approach to recovery.

Muscles repair and build after a workout. You know the research, you’ve shared it with your clients and members AND not only do they understand and embrace it, they want recovery to be a consistent part of their healthy lifestyle.

When you shift focus to make recovery as important as the physical activity you create huge opportunities to shape customer experience, build value and grow your business.

How do you do it? The more you read about it, talk about it and think about it the more you’ve likely concluded that either this will be a really big investment in space, equipment and staff – a potentially huge adjustment to your business model OR you’ll just get a few foam rollers and mats to put in a corner along with a mini-frig at the front desk with some recovery drinks.

When you get re: you get a powerful recovery solution that affordably integrates into your existing space, systems and staffing so that you can focus on strengthening the culture of your community and helping them achieve better results. We’ve crafted re: as a simple, budget mindful yet comprehensive approach to recovery – one that helps increase the success of your members and business.

‘The road to recovery’ is more than muscle therapy and good nutrition – it’s a process. At your business that process begins when members enter your building or login to your program. Actually it begins before then. They have a busy and complex life filled with decisions, challenges, frustrations, demands, disappointment and more. Clients come to you to get away from all of that. But, if they don’t re:lease the stress, declutter and surrender it all before the workout the energy exerted doesn’t deliver the full potential. The internal pain is a distraction that hampers performance and risks injury.

re:lease gives you tools and support to:

• Deliver pre-workout text or email with audio or video options.
• Utilize and manage entrance, front desk and locker room messaging.
• Design an indoor or outdoor re:lease studio to provide space for active release.
• We can build a custom re:lease solution for your business.

Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences and failing to achieve anything useful. – Margaret J. Wheatley, Leadership coach

Few places have more mirrors than fitness facilities. Yet your patrons may be staring almost blindly at the same things again and again. When it comes to holistic recovery they need a well lit, honest and caring view.

re:flection is designed to support them in pursuing after the clear view. It helps them with the art of listening to their spirit, mind and body.

re:flection equips you with engaging, thoughtful and high interest tools:

• Podcasts that explore a wide range of reflection focused conversations.
• Interactive mirror clings that direct attention to your team and community.
• Trainer training on how to listen to your body and more.
• We work with you to design a re:flection program tailored to your business.

When you promote re:storation as a part of your culture, what may come to mind are home repair shows on television. If so, that’s a good association to make. The truth is everyone at your place of business even the ones with the best physique, healthiest diet and most attractive personality are still in one way or another a fixer-upper.

Helping your members find restoration may be one of the most personalized components of the recovery culture you create. It can provide a path from hurt to healing, brokenness to wholeness, despair to hope and fear to freedom.

re:storation is crafted in consultation with you to deliver:

• A community network directory with collaborative options.
• Training to deliver specialized programming like Journey To Freedom.
• Member selfies – compelling online testimonials.

As the culture of your business is embraced by your leadership, team and members something naturally occurs – everyone finds greater value in each other – they become one body seeing the potential in sharing a common passion. They celebrate together, imagine potential, and fuel new levels of energy.

Gyms that have a culture where members experience deeper community are places full of commitment and strong harmony. This re:sonate aspect of recovery can make way for sound growth.

re:sonate provides ways for you to help your members make noise:

• Apparel and other branded products that can tie-in with online content.
• Member and staff appreciation media.
• Support to develop events for members and community.

Recovery is far more then strengthening the capacity to quickly rebound after an injury. A good fitness business helps clients be competent, connected and maintain perspective in physical fitness. A great fitness business helps them develop these same markers of resiliency in relationship with others.

The re:silience facet of re: helps you to elevate the look and feel of your business. Members workout – practice self care – AND because they resonate with the environment you create they really have the potential to become others minded. That can ultimately lead to new memberships. It most certainly leads to your existing members being stronger in times of adversity and being more eager be a force of good in your community.

re:silience supports you and your members with:

• Customized ‘take action and do good’ surveys
• Ready-to-use challenges, causes and community engagement
• 1-on-1 workout buddies

When post-workout recovery becomes a planned reset from the routine then it’s a re:treat. Your members want it. In fact they’ll look forward to the refreshment and invigoration that retreats deliver.

This is their opportunity to go somewhere special, do something different and recalibrate their perspective. Fitness retreats as part of the complete re: program add a component of variety and rhythm to your clients’ overall wellness lifestyle.

Give them a spiritual, mental and emotional reboot they can’t get anywhere else.

Re:treat can start simple and develop as far as you want to take it.

• Guide to help you consider options, envision possibilities, plan, execute and grow.
• We can provide initial or ongoing direct support for your team.

re: is your customizable multi-faceted program to grow your gym culture and strengthen members and staff through a holistic approach to recovery.

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