I just think it would have been really weird if Jesus had told Simon and Andrew while they were fishing, doing their everyday busy life, “Come follow me – for just 7 weeks and if you don’t think this being fishers of men idea is just as cool as I think it is then you can go back to doing your same routine – until I come up with something else and then I hope you’ll try it too because I’ve got a program to sell here.”

Being in the world AND of it is tempting. I mean it can’t be all that bad, right? God didn’t have social media, algorithms, or best practices for success back then. He sure didn’t have bills to pay. If he had come on, you know he’d do it too. He can do anything he wants.

So here you go, if you’re going to do “challenges” let’s at least be sure to incorporate biblical truths into them. Things like this:

Stay awake with me 1 hour.

Matthew 26:40

Pray unceasingly.

1 Thessalonians 5:17

Don’t have eyes for the fashionable god of darkness, thinking he will give you what you want and you won’t have to bother believing a truth you can’t see. Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life the more evident in us. We’re not giving up. How could we! There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.

2 Corinthians 4

IF IT’S NOT REALLY A CHALLENGE – IT’S NOT A CHALLENGE

God wants people to practice fitness as a physical working out of the faith that is on a “can’t see” level. If the life of Jesus is to become more evident in us then we must train not with the cheapness of a challenge but by exercising ‘forever’ daily beginning now and not giving up but continuing right on into eternity.

The post The 7 Second Fitness Challenge appeared first on Faith & Fitness Magazine.

Andy described his album this way, “Exodus is a journey into the presence of God: to hunger for God in a passionate way, craving that intimacy and hearing the spirit; to commit everything we are, and to say that we are going to run for and live our lives one hundred-percent; to be movers and shakers for the cause of our love, wherever that leads us… even into the desert of our lives; and to ask questions and find answers of who we are and where we are going.”

Yeah, when you give your fitness lifestyle, your vocation, your whole being to God and choose to take the ride of your life in that way then BRACE YOURSELF!

The October/November 2021 issue of Faith & Fitness Magazine I think is divinely engineered to fuel this kind of anticipation. The theme is Go Big. That is also the theme for our 2021 redefined – a faith and fitness conference by Faith & Fitness Magazine in San Antonio and online. The conference is especially for fitness or wellness professionals and church and community leaders who want to redefine how they do fitness with a Christian faith-centered approach. The magazine is for absolutely everyone. The focus to Go Big is invitation an invitation to all of us – you too, to seek God for a greater vision of who, where and what.

Who can you invite to join you in fitness? Where can you get active that has never seen your presence before? What different ways of doing fitness does God want you to do? Brace yourself – because you can’t know yet where God will lead you if you truly ask those questions.

Faith in and obedience to God are lot like pulling that locking foam covered harness over you head when you get on the roller coaster. It’s good to know you’re secure. At the top, just before you really GO, it also restrains you from getting off the ride if your unsure or fearful.

I invite you to join me in this prayer, “God, show me how you want me to go with my faith, with my fitness will all of who I am. Help me to eagerly anticipate the new and better journey you have for me. Thank you that you would graciously call and use me. Help me to depend entirely on you God to be led and faithfully Go Big.”

when you pray that – brace yourself.

More On Brace Yourself From Our Social Media

How do you brace yourself for the really big stuff. That new personal best in the gym is just the tip of the iceberg – easy compared to tough life challenges or the “life or death” moments.

YOU can’t brace yourself for it all – not enough. In the really GO BIG times in life God wants you to lean on others. God wants you to be the one to help brace others. Both require humility, grace and compassion.

Join us and others as we pursue God together in the new October/November issue of Faith & Fitness Magazine in what it looks like to GO BIG.

Brace yourself because someone needs you today.

Read more at https://faithandfitness.net/brace-yourself/

#IchooseBIG

Ready to GO BIG? We’re talking about some really heavy lifting in the new October/November 2021 issue of Faith & Fitness Magazine.

This kind of heavy lifting? Well, maybe some. Sure, after all we are a fitness magazine. But we really want to help you to lift heavy SPIRITUALLY.

Like how to get down (not just on your knees but) on your face and do some serious prayer when the prognosis isn’t just bad but hopeless.

Like lifting others up not just because you’re a really nice person that likes to be known as someone who knows how to spread positivity but because it’s in your DNA and you’ve discovered that God’s grace, promises and joy aren’t just efficacious but also infectious.

Let’s GO BIG not just because we know we’ve got it in us but because we know who put it in us. Heavy lifting isn’t about proving something to yourself or showing off in front of others. You lift heavier not because you’re a servant to the mindset but because you’re driven with the anticipation of seeing what only God’s Spirit can perform through your obedience to Christ’s calling for your life.

Can you do it? Yes, when you  stand firm with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Put on the whole armor of God and … Brace yourself!

Read BRACE YOURSELF my blog post that offers a context for our October/November 2021 issue of Faith & Fitness Magazine. It’s online at https://faithandfitness.net/brace-yourself/ or just go to our homepage link in our bio. You’ll find it featured on our homepage.

Message us, email or text us and share how your life is demonstrating #IchooseBIG

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Last night I was watching a video from the Convicted Conquer website. Abut ¾ of the way into it is a young teenage boy named Mario listening to a preacher talk with him. Was it being faked for drama – I don’t think so. You can see his lip quivering, his eyes are squinting back the tears and you get the sense that your witnessing a profound and miraculous transformation deep inside Mario. Maybe it’s more real to me because I remember when I was just 7 experiencing that same overwhelming gratitude for a grace that I knew I could never fully comprehend or understand.

The April/May 2021 issue of Faith & Fitness Magazine was designed to help all of us explore a Godly definition of privilege that we can in turn live daily among every person we encounter to build and strengthen them in Christ. Think about that. You have the ability to respond to God – the responsibility to make a positive influence for God in the lives of others. To be the “spiritual physique” that is compelling, impressive and useful for God to attract them to Him. That’s a tremendous privilege.

Start being the privileged person you are. Do your purpose! The place where you are, the position you have in life, the challenges, pain, vision, strength – – – everything about you is a God-given privilege. If you workout at a really nice, expensive, well-equipped gym – you’re privileged. If you’re simply doing a walking challenge in a rural community with only 7 women – you’re privileged too.

I’m glad to be hosting my Walking Challenge, but God is stretching me by having me step out of my comfort zone by being a host and putting myself out there. God showed me that it doesn’t matter if there are only 7 ladies in the challenge. All 7 are significant and God is using me to work in their lives!

My #1 thing that I did before starting the Walking Challenge was to completely give Him the whole event and rely fully on Him to do his work through me. I feel that this really is the very beginning of what God has in store for me and this ministry.

-Christine F., Personal Fitness Ministry program participant

It’s time that we all get down on our face before God – before our workout and ask Him to give us strength to rise to the occasion, “Use me God.”

If you’re a follower of Jesus Christ you may be thinking, “That’s more than I bargained for.” As the preacher in the following song says, “We don’t come to God on our terms. This is not a negotiating conference. This is not a God who says, ‘Well what do you like – here’s what I like, let’s go talk about it.’ He’s given us the privilege of not just coming and singing about him but entering into His actual presence.” That’s where the power is!

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By Brad Bloom, Publisher

“My contact info is plastered all over. DM and we can talk.” Now that’s a gym owner that seriously wants to engage with members.

A decade ago I featured Ben Booker @thebenbooker in Faith & Fitness Magazine. Back then he had an amazing story to share and he/we didn’t know fully where God would take him next. 

Today we see more – a lot more. He owns two gyms in Illinois, Second Chance Fitness.

I recently “liked” a social media post he made and want to bring it to the attention of all Faith & Fitness Magazine readers especially those who are fitness professionals and church leaders. In it he is addressing/admonishing his gym members about keeping the gym environment politically neutral and making it friendly and welcoming to everyone. That makes good from both a business and wellness perspective.

But there is another perspective. I love that in his post AND clearly in his business he is having confident ownership of his faith in God and the influence God has at his gym. He says, “But there is one who has all power, that one is God, may you find him now.” It’s a quote from Alcoholics Anonymous. Ben defines the “boundaries” at his gym with incredible clarity.

Make no mistake God’s boundaries are bold and liberating. 

Christians and especially Christians who are in the business of fitness or the church often give themselves a pass from the full potential and influence God has for them, “I couldn’t do that – I don’t want to offend anyone.”

Ben shows that YES, you can declare your position – not only with confidence but with effectual influence that truly helps others gain a greater level of spiritual strength. In other words infusing the fitness environment, facility and culture with God with a very intentional and in fact thoroughly integrated Christian worldview isn’t something you might kind of try to do if it works when it is convenient. It is critical to creating not only a healthy environment but more significantly a dynamic and vibrant community that discovers what makes life with God so potent and valuable.

This is faith-filled encouragement personified and visualized to embolden you. It is the invitation you put out to others, “Here I am, talk to me!”

This is what it means to be CONSUMED – to be wholly equipped for the good work that God wants to do through you. If you’re not there yet, realize that your faith matures through daily practice and exercise. #dailydevotionaddsup 

Thanks Ben for the leadership and passion for God that you demonstrate. Everyone, Check out the October/November 2020 issue of Faith & Fitness Magazine with the theme, consumed – be wholly equipped for the good work.  While you’re there read the conversation we had with Ben Booker a decade ago titled Bodybuilding, Faith And Finding The Real Prize.

The post HERE I AM – TALK TO ME appeared first on Faith & Fitness Magazine.

But things aren’t, as they seem.

I’ve sung the national anthem many times and I believe that one of the most powerful parts of the song’s message is in the line, “gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.”

Our story, like many people’s story, is one of great struggle. The challenge, the apparent hopelessness, the God-forsaken desperation, the smoke from a battle that blinds us during the desperate search for some sign that all is not lost and that good will prevail.

Physical fitness is a practice in perseverance. “Leg Day” is synonymous with disdain, avoidance and pain. In general many don’t workout their legs as much – thus it hurts more when they do. It’s also tougher to get results – So, why bother?! The excuses are endless as to why we skip leg day or “go lite”. (photo: Michael Wittig)

But we all need to become persistent heavy lifters. Don’t avoid the pain – discover the growth of it. Believe in the gains not yet seen. Repeat again and again even when you don’t feel like it, others scorn you and your inclination is to despair.

Strain with all you’ve got to see it. Pray for the way forward. Believe that God has gone before you. In the darkness of night the flag is waving.

This is a call to the deepest part of your soul, “Be the bold display of hope that others desperately need.” Be the life of Christ when suffering is all around. Be strong in your faith. God wants to flag you as PROOF through the night!

#solideoinfinito

What is your prayer?

How will you help bring hope to others?

How do you be proof through the night that God’s grace is the strength that endures and leads us out of the darkeness?

The post Proof Through The Night appeared first on Faith & Fitness Magazine.

By Brad Bloom, Publisher

If you’ve read Faith & Fitness Magazine for any time you may know that a music genre I enjoy is EDM – Electronic Dance Music. Some of it’s uninspired. Much of it lacks any presence of God. But, there’s evidence some of the artists are seeking or are inspired in one way or another by God.

Beyond the lyrics EDM is my choice for “fitness”. It often has very infectious rhythms and beets that are driving and make for great listing while you workout.

I also often listen to Christian music – especially songs that are blessed to be (in my opinion) especially anointed by the Holy Spirit. There’s also Christian EDM and some of it hits both of these sweet spots in me. They’re a magical blend of both physical and spiritual movement.

I recently purchased the song Faith by Galantis & Dolly Parton featuring Dr. Probz. It’s quite a jewel. The song is part of the new Galantiz project titled Church. “Hmmmm,” I said. And by hmmm, I meant, “WHAT?” I don’t think the two men who are Galantis, Linus Eklöw and Christian Karlsson, are trying to cross over to the Christian music market. Though if asked, I recommend that this particular song, Faith, get some significant airplay on Klove radio.

Watch the video and listen to the song now:

According to a RollingStone feature, Eklöw said, “She [Dolly Parton] has always been one of our dream collaborators, but we honestly thought getting her on the song was a total longshot.” Dolly Parton said, the invitation and song came in “divine order.” Parton continued, “As soon as I heard it, I thought, ‘Yes! This is a song that the world needs right now.’ I ‘Dolly-ized’ it a bit and wrote some more spiritual things inside [the lyrics].”

AND THE POINT IS?

I share all of this with you in Faith & Fitness Magazine because this IS the example Christians need to model in their gym, among coworkers, in school or wherever they are in their community. Yes, Christians are called to train, be strong and live an attractive healthy life. BUT, they are called to do that so they can be prepared for the opportunities that come to them in ‘divine order’. Big opportunities happen more often than you realize. Unfortunately the opportunities are often missed. Wrap your head around God to catch the vision and seize the moments.

Like a bodybuilder in the gym who frequently stares in the mirror, I think many Christians see their reflection, they like what they see but then they miss opportunities to use their inner strength outside of their comfortable environment to be what ‘the world needs right now.’ In fact I’d venture to say that, like the Galantis video, Christians often feel they’re stuck on a broken down bus.

What do you do when things break down. When you or someone around you has injury, defeat or things just aren’t going the right way – What’s next? Are you tempted to relent, close off, despair, get frustrated and lose drive?  God wants to show you the way to a better outcome. Have a little faith, get on the bus, dance with intense passion and … Goooooo!

FAITH TO MOVE MOUNTAINS OR AT LEAST THE BUS IN YOUR COMMUNITY!

We want to hear from you. What’s your story? Share how you feel God has used you to inspire faith in others and bring a hopeful dance to your culture.

The post Get On The Bus And Goooooo! appeared first on Faith & Fitness Magazine.

By Brad Bloom, Publisher, Faith & Fitness Magazine

[photo from the Faith RxD Instagram.]

Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do bad things happen at all? When someone like Becky Conzelman, co-founder of Faith RxD, dies at the age of 47 it shakes you and wakes you on so many levels. What is life all about? What is our plan, our strategy, our MO?

This is the kind of thing that can rattle the most fervent Christian and seemingly bolsters the message of disbelief by those who have no faith at all.

As much as I try to understand God and God’s ways, as much as I celebrate God’s wisdom and grace, as much as I have confidence in a great God, it is a moment like this that makes us all draw on Bible passages that say, “Who has known the mind of the Lord”. For sure this is way over my head, I’ll never figure it out.

I never got to personally meet Becky or directly co-labor with her. And – for all of you like me who must now wait for a time in eternity when we can be part of that fellowship, the legacy of her ministry, as beautiful as it is, can seem (at least to me initially) be like a pale second place prize. But – there is much we must learn and share with others.

No amount of anything can save you from death. This goes without saying. We all know it is true and yet we often exercise, eat, live our lives and even practice spirituality as if we can add to the work of grace that Jesus Christ has done.

Sure, we should exercise vigorously, eat well, and pray that our lives will be vibrant and long. Moreover you need to know and SERVE God with every capacity and moment that you have that you may BE LIFE to many and be fully used by God to shape the eternal results for others.

Christians in the faith and fitness culture often whip out the Bible verse that says, “For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things.” The life Becky lived begs us to keep reading further, understanding more, and then applying ourselves to our divine calling.

We need to be insistent and get the word out about God. We need to be an example of how to live: set the standard for how to talk, act, love, and be faithful and pure. That is some tough training and even heavier lifting. Do not neglect the gift that is in you. In fact give yourself entirely to them. This is far more than the Workout Of the Day. This is the Magnificent Obsession that becomes stronger daily.

More than fitness – More than life itself, let’s pray to God that Christ is constantly our one consuming desire and passion. This is our MO.

The post This Is Our MO appeared first on Faith & Fitness Magazine.

should christians | ……

Go ahead and search. Top results include:

Should Christians celebrate Halloween?

Should Christians fight in war?

Should Christians play the lottery?

Should Christians be on Facebook?

Should Christians save for retirement?

Should Christians be Socialists?

Should Christians do magic?

Should Christians wear makeup?

And – the ever popular: Should Christians practice yoga?

For this last one I’ve read more than I care to admit and talked with all kinds of people ad nauseam. As a Christian fitness magazine publisher I cover all kinds of fitness programming and in the yoga/meditation category there is practically a new flavor everyday.

So, SHOULD Christians do yoga? Go ahead do that search – good luck with that!

As of this article date one of the most recent popular headlines is, Megachurch Pastor Issues Urgent Warning To Christians Who Do Yoga. It’s all about Pastor John Lindell of James River Church in Missouri taking a strong stance against yoga. By the numbers he’s in good company. You’ll find quite a few Christian leaders with an identical or similar message. I’m not sure the extent to which those in this priesthood interact with and understand those who do yoga (Christian or not) but I think if they dare venture like Jesus they’ll find people are truly looking for God more than they realize. The opportunity is there to be a presence for God.

Instead, this type of preaching calls for Christians to surrender certain practices (like meditation, focus and becoming spiritually one) to other religions. The instruction is that to achieve a pure heart for God one must abstain from certain lifestyle activities and human interactions regardless if such activities can yield divine value when given to and used by God. 

Top-down church leadership can foster social paranoia and self-protection. It can result in Christians in the church having an indoctrinated faith where determined self will to be holy is encouraged over the deeper pursuit of God and a dogged willingness to be used. 

Full disclosure – as the founder of Faith & Fitness Magazine, I and this Christian ministry do not promote any one Christian fitness program over another and I have no compelling reason to personally or professionally advocate for any kind of Christian yoga, alternative or anything else yoga related.

What I do have extreme passion about is what I believe every Christian should aggressively be searching and daily practice being:

CHRISTIANS SHOULD |……

Fill in the blank.

Christians should pray and seek God.

Christians should read the Bible.

Christians should know, understand and be able to communicate their faith.

Christians should be compassionate and graceful like Christ.

Christians should be the life of Christ to others.

These are just a few of the ‘should’ that you should boldly pursue instead of being so uncertain about and encumbered by how you may not be good enough or fall from grace.  

People around you want to know (they need to know) what Christians are FOR, rather than what Christians have publicly been characterized to be against. 

They don’t really care what you think or what any Christian experts think. You shouldn’t either. You really only need to KNOW God and let Him be known so they too can know God.

That’s not a difficult thing to do but it does take some sincere effort and quite honestly human nature often causes us to never get around to that. By the time we do all the Google searches and listen to preachers and experts our brains have come to conclusions and our capacity to persist in prayer and know God has waned.

I think a lot of Christians – in fact a lot of people want to go deeper. I’m excited to tell you that there’s a God inviting you, “Come on! Stretch — I Am.”

The post Should Christians | …… appeared first on Faith & Fitness Magazine.

Somewhere along the way our modern culture convinced many that ‘random acts of kindness’ is an ideal mindset. But I’d suggest to you that it is an enlightened way of thinking for those who deny the divine.

More difficult for us to come to terms with is the Bible’s instruction, “Choose you this day – who you will serve”. Choice, especially making a choice for righteousness, for “My ways are higher than your ways”, requires a certain amount of intentionality. In fact until you’re totally given over to God’s Spirit, choosing to follow God’s leading will require a lot of intentionality.

Choice is supreme. Randomness falls short. Fitness can be true strength or narcissistic activity.

The Bible offers a simple illustration that can be very tough to embrace.  Two people are giving money at the temple. Call it tithes, offerings, giving to God, doing good, whatever you want — It was truly “optional” — they weren’t paying taxes or purchasing something for their own survival or comfort. The wealthy man gave a large amount but it was really just a drop in the bucket compared to his total assets. The widow on the other hand gave just two mites, a trivial amount, but it was ALL she had.

Look at the difference made between random verses choice.  I’m not talking about the difference made in the lives of others but in the lives of these two givers.  The wealthy man randomly decided what percentage of his excess he’d show off. In the fitness culture you’ve seen it. It’s the extremely muscular bodybuilder doing a few more reps because others are watching OR the person at 2% body fat dieting during a shared meal even when there isn’t a competition next week. If Christ we’re using today’s vernacular He’d say, “Big freekin’ deal”!

The widow on the other hand – gave it all! And she did it not because, she wanted to be an early origin for the phrase, “let me give you my 2 cents worth” or because she wanted to get on Facebook and tell everyone how she was so inspired and blessed to show some compassion. Heck no! She was compelled. It wasn’t a matter of doing the right thing it was simply who she was. It was her state of being. She chose to make her will, God’s will with NO consideration that she could depend on herself. Her faith was placed totally in the miraculous mystery of God. In the fitness culture you’ve seen it as the obese person prayerfully commits to reigning in tremendously powerful appetites OR when the weak, de-conditioned, old or disabled person persists through some pain and no evidence of change.

‘Choose you this day who you will serve’ is a big deal. It’s a game changer. It’s a defining difference.

‘Choose you this day who you will serve’ is a big deal. It’s a game changer. It’s a defining difference between pagan (yeah, I know that’s a strong word) and being an eager servant to God. And, let’s get this clear: When you think you’ve figured it out and attained it, God increases the weight, changes up the routine, gives you a new challenge and let’s you experience your physical world in yet another new spiritual dimension.

Quit it! Stop doing your pretty little ‘random acts of kindness’ that are socially acceptable, personally palatable, and amount to little more than another selfie. God help us PLEZ!

It’s time for the birth of boldness where YOU spiritually conceive of giving up all you have (leaving your heaven) to dwell among all those around you that are desperate for hope, love and purpose.

Yeah, it’ll cost you everything — that’s the bold power of choice.

Do you like content like this? Want to see more people in your gym, church, school and community strengthened through the ministry of Faith & Fitness Magazine? You can sponsor our blog posts and articles. CONTACT US to be a content sponsor today.

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This is a movie that discusses the topics of addictions, compulsive behaviors, secrecy and SHAME from a Christian faith perspective.

I suspect those who don’t embrace the Christian faith and place little value in morals and traditions may be quick to assert that shame is merely human judgment that they may suggest is fueled largely by those who are Christian. However, I believe most people conclude that the feelings of shame they sense deep within are something more than imposed social agendas designed to control their behavior. This film will help you find some clarity for what is going on in your life, who God really is and how He behaves toward us.

What I like about this “Christian” film is that it isn’t another historical Bible tale or apocalyptic thriller.  Yes, Christians are aware of the past and anticipate the future, but they serve a God that is very active in the NOW. This film represents exactly what Christians need to do so much more — deliver a faith that is usable today and be a solution for the spiritual needs of those around them.

The Heart Of Man I think should be presented as a fitness ministry event at YMCA’s, church fitness facilities, CrossFit boxes, personal training studios, large and small group exercise classes, wellness centers and other fitness facilities and events. I encourage fitness professionals to make it part of your programming.

The fitness culture is so incredibly focused on the physical body. This film dials into the spiritual backside of that physical focus. Everyone can benefit from this film either for their own personal growth or to BE LIFE and compassionately support those around them.

There is no other faith-building film that talks ‘cardio’ like The Heart Of Man.  CONTACT US for help with doing fitness ministry at your church or gym or in your community.

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