SOAP A Journaling Method to Assist Your quiet Time

Blog entry for Week three of my part in the Lose It campaign. Weighed in today and went backwards on the whole weight thing 1.8 lbs  but lost another .4% body fat. I don't know what I expected so I don't even know if I should be happy or not. I guess I will adjust and keep moving forward. As I review my other Lose It goals I am doing well on most of them. I missed my date with Chelsea this week. We plan to make it up on Monday. I have kept my other commitments and I'm seeing the beginnings of the Lord's movement and I like it.

Last week I talked about the second part of the My Daily Plate that we are using at our church. 

As you will remember, there are four sections to the plate. (spirit, mind, body, and soul). I talked about the body and what I am doing to help me reach my goals for Lose It for two weeks. last week I changed the topic of discussion and talked about the mind and over-coming setbacks. So today I would like to continue the subject of the mind and share with you a Method of Journaling that I have used for a while now. It really assists me in my quiet times by providing a method to record what God is saying to me. Personally I feel that if you expect God to speak to you (and why do a quiet time if you don't) then you should at least be prepared to right it down when He speaks. in other words journaling is a discipline that we all should develop. And this method makes it a whole lot easier.

It's called the SOAP method. No I don't mean the soap you wash with. It's an acronym. It stands for Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer. The basic concept is this: As you are reading your Bible Prayerfully look for a scripture that stands out to you. With practice you will begin to hear The Holy Spirit whisper to you about certain scriptures or passages. This is the scripture that you write down in your journal. Don't just write the reference down either. Write the whole scripture or passage down. Next, write what you observe about this scripture or what you feel God is saying to you about it. As you write this down spend some time trying to clearly communicate what it is that makes this scripture jump off the page. This will help you gain clarity about what God is saying. Third, write down how you are going to apply it to your life. And don't make those ambiguous generalities either, make it have some meat. i.e. Instead of saying, "I'm going to pray more." say something like, "I am committing to pray 15 minutes a day 5 days a week for the next 5 weeks". The more specific you are the more you are setting yourself up to actually do what God is asking you to do. (You know, "Be doers of the Word and not just hearers) Lastly, Write a short prayer that expresses what you are thinking and more importantly feeling in response to what God is saying.

There you have it. It's that simple. I planned on showing you one of my entries but this blog is getting too long, so I will add another blog early next week and show you one of my journal entries. I hope this helps. Remember to evaluate your Lose It goals this week and evaluate how you are doing. Now is the time to make the appropriate adjustments to help you accomplish your goals. You can do it! I know I believe in you and Jesus believes in you. 

Grenades and Masculinity

I was riding in the car with my 11 yr old daughter last week and listening to Bruno Mars' song Grenade. In the middle of the song while I was singing along and telling her how much I loved it, Maddie looked at me and said, "This song does't make sense! I mean who would take a grenade for someone?" This lead us into a conversation about men and masculinity. We are having these conversations more and more as Maddie gets older and they usually start with me saying  something like, "Let me explain something to you about men" as if what I'm about to say is the kind of thing that is normal masculinity stuff. The sad truth however, is that this is usually no longer the case. The very reason that I feel compelled to define this man is the fact that he is missing or at least very rare in our culture today. And because true masculinity is rare, I want to do all that I can to ensure that she will know what to look for when the young men come pursuing.


The conversation I had with Maddie that day is the subject of this blog. There are several strengths to masculinity that I think are being overlooked, redefined, and even eliminated by our culture today. This is one of those strengths: One of a young man's greatest strengths is his expendability. In the heart of every young man is the burning desire to be a hero. Most of us couldn't tell you where it came from or what it means, but every boy has dreamed of risking his life and even dying to protect those he loves or fight for a cause he believes in. This is how a boy's heart expresses his love and devotion to the things he holds dear. Men are no different (or at least shouldn't be). Each of us would like to think that in the heat of the moment we would not hesitate to give our lives to protect our family and friends. A great example of this strength is United flight 93. The men (and women) of United flight 93 have our respect because they were willing to sacrifice their lives in order to save the lives of others. This is The Strength of Expendability at its finest and it is one of the things that make a man great. When a man understands that one of the things that makes him so valuable is the fact that he doesn't think of himself as too important to be sacrificed, there is no limit to the things he can accomplish. When he considers his family to be precious and more dear to him than his own life, then his loved ones have little to fear. He doesn't have to be the strongest guy on the block. He doesn't have to be the smartest man at work. He doesn't have to be the richest man in town. He just has to be willing to sacrifice himself for those he loves and his family and loved ones will know that they are going to be taken care of.


When a man has this strength working in his life, you know that he's going to go to work even when he is sick. You know that he is going to spend time helping finish that project after work, no matter how tired he is. When a man has The Strength of Expendability working in his life, you know he will get up early and go to bed late if he has to, in order to get the job done. In other words, you know he's going to carry his weight and then some. You know that he will fight for what he believes in, stand up against injustice, and lay his life down for a worthy cause. This is the stuff that real heroes are made. It's exactly what our homes and families need. And it's the kind of life that Jesus calls men to.Mark 8:35 says, "For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it." When you step back and look at it, it's a little crazy to think that a man would be motivated by statements like "lay your life down", but that is exactly what happens. In fact writing this blog, I am motivated to do more than just tell my daughter that this is a characteristic of a godly man. I want to show her with my life. I leave you with this question aimed at the men reading this blog: Have you allowed self-preservation to extinguish one of your greatest assets, or are you demonstrating The Strength of Expendability by your life?

Lose it Part 3 Overcoming Setbacks

I will keep it brief today. In my video I discuss a setback that I found myself face to face with this week and what I am doing to overcome it. Romans 12:2 tells us not to be conformed to the patterns of this world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

On another note; my weigh in today showed that I have maintained the same weight that I had at the start of this whole thing and lost .4% b odd fat. I know, not that impressive but watch the video and you will see that these numbers are more encouraging than last week's. To be honest, it has been both a good and difficult week. I saw areas where God is moving in my life and faith is high. And at the same time I faced difficulties and setbacks. I think the key is determining what you are going to focus on. I am choosing to focus on the good things. (Sounds scriptural doesn't it?)

Anyway, hope you are experiencing some victories in your Lose It goals. God Bless.

Lose It Part II

Welcome back! How about I share some great news? I heard this week that the 90 days of Lose It officially starts this Monday. Do you know what that means? It means if you started this week then you have a head start. It also means that if you haven't started yet, you still have time to join in. Don't wait join the rest of us and set some goals and go ahead and Lose It for Jesus.

What I would like to do in this blog is share with you my Plan B HIIT workout routine. If you have seen my previous blog (Lose It Part I) then you know that I am doing an interval training program that I put together after reading Bodyweight Overdrive by Mike O'Donnell. With this plan your interval training days are every other day and alternate between Plan A and Plan B. So on Monday I did Plan A, Wednesday was Plan B, and today Friday I was back to Plan B. You get the point. This will all modify after a few weeks (4 to be exact) and I will tell you all about it then. But today I want to fill you in on my Plan B workout and sign off so that you are not here all day reading this.

HIIT Training Workout Plan B:

 I won't go over the whole interval timing thing again you can just read my previous blog if you want to see that. I will tell you that I have adjusted it a little by adding another round of exercises in the first set so now I do each exercise four times instead of three and my first set is 12 minutes long instead of 9. My second set is still 9 min long and I don't think I could add anything to it even if I wanted to. Now without any further ado here it is.

1st  exercise (40 sec): Dips 

2nd exercise ( 40 sec): Inverted Rows*

3rd exercise (40 sec): Step ups w/ knee raise (20 lb dumbbells)

20 sec rest between each, repeat 4X's

2 min rest

4th exercise (40 sec): Lateral Raises (8 lb dumbbells)

5th exercise (40 sec): Burpies

6th exercise (40 sec): Turkish Get Ups (20 lbs)

20 sec rest between each, repeat 3X's

note: * designates the exercises that I use rope suspended from the ceiling to modify the exercise.

Thanks again for reading! Have a great weekend. Don't give up and shoot for the small victories the will carry you on to victory. Be sure and share your stories with me so we can celebrate together.

Lose It Part I

So here it is my first blog of 2012 and I am selling out whole hog to the Lose It campaign that we are doing at my church Southpoint Community Church. And I will be sharing everything that I am doing to participate in all of this. First, let's talk about my goals for Lose It:

Physical Goals: (Lose the Pounds)

1. I turn 40 this year and have never been consistent with my workout regimen. So goal #1 is all about consistency. Therefore, I want to workout 5 X's every week until Easter.
2. Also, I would like to lose 5% of my body fat by Easter. I don't really know if this realistic or not but what the hey?
3. While I'm at it with the physical goals I want to gain 5 lbs. of muscle mass. The way I see it is that if I gain .5 lbs/wk and decrease in body fat % at the same time this will work.

Personal Goals: (Lose the Excuses)

1. As a husband and father I want to do a better job expressing my love for Chelsea and Maddie. So to start off I intend to go on a date with Chelsea every week and with Maddie at least twice a month. This will be a difficult goal for me to keep because I'm not much of a planner and my schedule can get away from me. So this will be a good growth goal for me.
2. Too often I stink as a friend so my goal in this area will be to hang out with my guy friends at least once a month. I want genuine friendships that have lifelong ramifications and this will be a good start.
3. I want to get our family finances in order. So Chelsea and I are going to attend the Crown Financial Seminar being held at our church on January 21st.

Spiritual Goals: (Lose the Attitudes & Baggage)

1. As I said earlier, "I am selling out whole hog" to Lose It. So my first goal here is to do the daily plate 6X's/wk through Easter. I don't even fully understand what it is but I'm going to do it.
2. I want to exercise my faith in 2012. So I intend to identify some of the promises in the Bible that I want to apply to my life and pray through them regularly, at least 5X's/wk.
3. Finally, what's the point of going on a spiritual journey with Jesus if you're not going to make sure it's memorable? So I intend to journal and blog about this whole experience so that whatever God does in all of this will be recorded and not forgotten.

Well, there they are. It's a little scary putting your goals out there for all to see. Either no one will read them and that would be a little disheartening or I will fail and you all will know about. In any case I look forward to the whole experience and to see what God will do with my efforts.

I mentioned in the video that I would do this so, here's a short explanation of my workouts and how it is all supposed to work. Mike O'Donnell www.theIFlife.com (btw he believes in intermittent fasting not interval fasting sorry 'bout that!) in his book lays out a system that is based on the HIIT concept. I have taken his system and customized it according to his suggestions. Today was my Plan A routine and here is what I did:

The interval training that I am doing is based on a circuit system. I spend 40 sec. on an exercise and then rest for 20 sec. Then I go to the next exercise in my circuit. there are three exercises that I rotate through and I continue this for 9 min. before I rest for 2 min. After the rest I do a new circuit for 9 min. This is the beginning plan for his system. After 4 wks I will change the exercises and circuit times and start all over. one more thing about this. Each exercise is based on a specific muscle group and activity and therefore compliment each other. 1st exercise: Upper body push, 2nd exercise: upper body pull, 3rd exercise lower body, 4th exercise: upper body secondary, 5th exercise: Plyometric exercise, 6th exercise core exercise. So here it is for the few of you who are still reading:

1st  exercise (40 sec): pushups *
2nd exercise ( 40 sec): pull-ups
3rd exercise (40 sec): Pistoles *
20 sec rest between each, repeat 3X's

4th exercise (40 sec): handstand pushups (definitely modified!)
5th exercise (40 sec): kettle ball swings 20 lbs
6th exercise (40 sec): planks *

note: * designates the exercises that I use rope suspended from the ceiling to modify the exercise.

This was long but it was an introduction. my future posts will be shorter.

Ramblings From Mark: 4 (Parable of the Sower)

This parable has been one of my favorites for almost twenty years. It is a very simple parable with a seemingly simple message but it contains some very profound truths in it. I intend to spend my next few blogs discussing some of the things that stand out to me in this parable and how they have impacted me and my search  for hope.

Jesus begins with, "Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed." This immediately brings to mind a question, and that question is, "What is the seed?" You don't really have to wonder for long what the seed is because Jesus tells us later as he explains this parable to his disciples. The seed is God's Word. When I read this it really rocks my world and is a big reason why I serve and love God today. God speaks! When I say that He speaks, I mean that He speaks to you personally. Jewish tradition says that God's Word is forever speaking from Mt. Sinai. The tradition exists because God spoke audibly form Mt Sinai in the days of Moses and they feel that His voice continues to this day. I like this thought for several reasons but that is not what I'm talking about here. God is speaking to you! He's speaking right now. He is always speaking to you. The coolest part about this is that He is saying something to you at the same time as he is saying something completely different to someone else. What God is saying to you  is a personal message for you. 

God speaks in different ways. The most common way that God speaks to us is through His Word. This is why the Bible is said to be living and active. By itself the Bible is just a book and if you read it and do not hear from God as you're reading, it will not be of much use to you. However, when you are reading the Bible and, all of a sudden, God highlights something you are reading it comes alive and has power to change your life. God's Word spoken to our heart really is like a seed that God plants there. If this work is nurtured and cared for, it will grow and eventually bear fruit in our lives. This fruit is life change. 


There is one final point that I would like to briefly share on this subject today and it  involves this concept of life change. We have all heard the question, "Can a leopard change it's spots?" It is common in our culture today to say that it is impossible to change who we are. This is at the same time both true and discouraging. Everyone has character flaws and bad habits that we wish we could change but the truth is that on our own we are powerless to change them. However, God's Word has the power to change us form the inside out. Jesus tells us that we don't need to understand how this works. We just need to plant His Word in our hearts, cultivate the "seed" of His word, and He will do the rest. This is the subject of the parable of the sower and the point that Jesus is making here. We will need to address the condition of the soil that you are planting in and I will do that in later posts (or you can read the parable for yourself Mark 4:1-20) but the point is that God's Word planted in the human heart has an incredible, unbelievable, miraculous, life changing power.

My Search for the Promises of God

I have recently began asking God what promises He has for me. I ask this because I don't want to just search the Bible and pick a few promises that sound cool and then just say, "Hey this is for me too." Yes I know that all of God's promises are yes and amen. I'm just not sure that means that every promise that God made in the Bible is for me. I have nothing wrong with someone taking a promise and believing that it is true for them. If that works for you, go for it. It just doesn't work for me. So before I start a big theological discourse, back to my point. I just started searching the Bible for promises that I know without a doubt are promises that are for me. Well here is what i've found so far:

Jeremiah 29:13 - "You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart"

John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."

John 17:3 - Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."

Luke 11: 13 - If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!

So Here it is in a nutshell. God has promised me eternal life. He has promised me that if I place my faith in Jesus, (this is talking about genuine faith not just mental assent; probably needs to be another post) I can have an intimate relationship with Him that will last throughout eternity. When you look at this all by itself it is a pretty cool thing. The one and only living God, creator of all things and sustainer of life is going to have a personal relationship with me! The only thing I can think to say to that is wow! As if this not awesome enough, this amazing all powerful God who transcends His creation has promised to come and dwell with me and in me. I can't even begin to comprehend all of that and what it all means. Let's set aside whether  you believe these promises are true or not and just look at them from the view point of a promise made to you. You have to admit that these are some pretty amazing promises.

Here's the question that I was faced with as I finished this list: (and I don't think it is a complete list but just a start for me) Can I be satisfied with that? I mean honestly, can I be satisfied with getting a relationship with God if none of the things I have dreamt about all my life come with it? If I am intellectually honest here, this is a difficult question. I have a lot of dreams and plans for my life. I have some dreams that I have held onto for a long time and now I am asking myself if I can be content with letting those dreams go if God so wills.

I remember the first time I read The Pursuit of God by A.W Tozer. This book rocked my world. In it Tozer challenges us to pursue God; not God AND... In other words, God has called us to pursue Him not Him AND His blessing, not God AND the answer to my prayers, not God AND anything; just God. I always thought that was so cool and now I find myself wrestling with the idea that all this time I might have been pursuing God AND... and not God alone.

So now this question sits out there and I'm forced to look into myself and answer it. And so I ask you, Can YOU be content with receiving God and God alone as your inheritance?