Change

This

Has changed to This

Fall in the Midwest can lead to dramatic changes.  Presently crops are being harvested and the views down many roads are changing drastically.  In a few weeks the leaves will be changing and then the grass will become brown.  These are all natural changes and continue to happen each year.  The only thing constant in life is change.  And so goes each of us.  Weather we realize it or not we are all changing.  It may be happening slowly.  The change may be so slow we don't realize it.  Maybe our families and loved ones don't realize it, but it is happening.  

The first question you should ask is if the change is positive or negative.  Are we becoming a force for good or are we falling into sin?  Are we doing things in our lives that make us better Christians?  If we are attending church, reading the bible, praying to God, and being in fellowship with other Christians we should be changing for the better.  If we are chasing things of this world and are worried about self fulfillment we are at risk of changing for the worse.

The greatest story of change is the story of Saul.  He was a Jew.  A Jew with power.  He hated the early Christians and persecuted them.  The word persecuted is to soft for what Saul was doing.  To be more to the point, he murdered Christians.  But God was able to change Saul.  He transformed him and gave him the new name of Paul.  Paul became a leading force in the early Christian church.  He is responsible for many of the books of the New Testament.  Let Paul be our example that we can change.  We can become a force for Jesus.

* Running tip - Keep your running fresh.  Make a change.  Sometimes we get into a rut and running may not seem like much fun.  That's when we need to make a change.  Try to run somewhere different.  Try running a different route.  Run with someone different.  Run at a different time.  Try to run off road.  Mix it up and have fun.

Running Plus 1

In the lexicon of the English language new terms often arise.  The term plus 1 is a relatively new term.  It can be seen on internet sites to indicate someone likes the site.  It is used in the world of personal fitness to indicate that a person is doing something to make themselves better.  I have even heard the term used during a sermon once.  Most of the time when it is used it is used in a self serving way.  It represents what an individual thinks or what they are doing.  I don't think Running Plus 1 should be about an individual improving their running ability by increasing work out time or intensity.  I see Running Plus 1 as having an extra person running with you.  I would like to see that extra person be Jesus.

Running Plus 1 means having Jesus on your mind and on your heart as you run down the path that is set before you.  Taking Jesus with you during a run is easy.  It's not heavy and in fact it may lighten your load. Jesus can take away many mental burdens that interfere with life.  Running care free is certainly easier than running with a heavy heart.  The next time you go for a run or any other activity consider doing it Plus 1.

Another Beautiful Evening on the Ohio River.

Let Your Light Shine When You Run

I stepped out of the door into darkness.  It was 5:40 am and my neighborhood was asleep.  It was going to be a cloudy morning so I knew I would not see the sun as I was running this morning.  Why was I out in the darkness running when my bed was warm and cozy?  I was doing it because I want to be in good physical condition, I want to spend time with God and I want to live to be 100 years old.  Yes I said it.  One of my goals in life is to live to be 100.  You could say that in my bucket list, I want to live to be 100 before I kick the bucket.

Sorry for the distraction but it was really dark this morning.  I am not a fan of running in the dark but due to schedules this morning I had a choice to make.  Either run in the dark or not at all.  I choose to run.  To protect myself from early morning commuters I wear a light when I run in the dark.  The light clips on to

clothing and can be seen for 1-2 miles down the road.  Every time I see a car I always make sure that my light can be seen by them.  This lets them know I am there.  It keeps me protected.  I want to be just like my light when it comes to Jesus.  I want people to see the light of Jesus when they see me.  To do this I must always have the light on.  I cannot turn the  love of Jesus off and expect others to see it.  I will continue to pray and be close to God so that his light is always on inside of me so it can be seen by others.

As I was getting home from my run I passed one of my neighbors who is frequently out walking and running in the morning.  She said "I like your light".  My reply was that it keeps me protected.  She wisely told me "It is very effective"

So my challenge to you is to let people see the light of Jesus in you so you can be "very effective"

This is a picture of my light in the dark

Running Easy with God

Easy running today.  Spent time praying for the people in my life and thanking God for all he has done for me.  Still wanting to present myself as a living sacrifice each day.  That is the prayer I have been challenged to make each day.  I am trying to stay open minded and see the beauty in the world around me.

More Living Water

I found a great link to an article about running with God.  It gives a specific prayer model to use while you are running.  I usually don't have a specific prayer model but try to stay open to Gods leading.  I think for each person they should fined what works for them.

# New song in my playlist - Stay Strong / Newsboys

Talk to you later and keep Running with God

Smile while Running with God

I love to be outside and run.  I think most people can see that on my face when I am running.  I usually smile at everyone I pass and often have a pleasant greeting.  Often I will get a smile back or a wave or a return greeting.  One thing that I get bothered by is when people look grumpy while they are walking or running.  They look like they would rather be some where else.  I often wonder what makes them so sour.  In the book of Mathew we are told that when we fast we should not have a sad countenance.  I think the same should go with running.  Have a smile on your face.  Show people that the Lord lives in you.

 Beautiful sunshine and 55 degrees today.  Perfect morning to run.  I saw this fountain during my run this morning.

I have ran past this fountain many times in the past but today it reminded me that we should be drinking from the living waters.  In John 4 there is a story of Jesus talking with a Samaritan woman at a well and he told her he was the living water.  Who ever drank from the water he gave would never be thirsty.  This fountain reminded me of that water and how if we allow it to be in us it would be as beautiful as this fountain.  On the other hand when we drink of what sin offers we will never have our thirst quenched.  Drink from the water Jesus offers and you will not get dehydrated as you run with God.

# New song on my playlist - Chris Tomlin / God's Great Dance Floor

Talk to you later and keep Running with God.

Easy Running

Great Midwest Early Fall Day

It was a long run today.  I was on the road for an hour and a half.  It was very relaxing.  I didn't have much on my mind and was very open minded.  I started out just praying for my family and then friends.  I had some time to pray for my office and church and many other people in my life.  Some days there is no plan or structure.  I just try to be open minded.  Sometimes just staying in connection with God can bring peace to my life.  I continue to pray each day that I will present myself as a living sacrifice to God each day.

*Running tip.  Increased sodium before runs may decrease cramps.

I have had some trouble with cramps and muscle strains in the last few years.  I wan't sure why this was happening but I may have found the answer.  During a long bicycle ride this summer one of the guys I was with had terrible muscle cramps.  I mean so bad he was off of the road laying in someones yard in the "happy baby" yoga pose.  He was given pickle juice and stretched.  He was able to ride in a few minutes and within about 20-30 minutes was completely back to normal.  He was able to ride the next 100 miles without any problems.  It made me think about my self, especially later in the ride when I had cramps for the last 30 miles.  As I have gotten older I have sweated more than I use to.  I often have salt on my cloths at the end of long runs or bike rides.  I drink a lot of Gatorade and thought that should do the trick.  I investigated the amount of sodium in Gatorade as compared to pickle juice and they are not even close.  Pickle juice has 10 times more sodium.  I don't like pickles so what could I do different?  I looked at many different foods and found that chicken noodle soup has a ton of sodium.  So today I had a can 1 hour before my run and it seemed to work great.

Talk to you later and keep Running with God.

Running is Beautiful

Wonderful run today.  I had the opportunity to run this evening along the Ohio River.  It was a bit warm but beautiful clear skies.  Today was an easy run.  I had no burdens that I took with me on the run.  I had a sense of freedom.  I couldn't help but notice how beautiful God's world is.  Sometimes we get overloaded by images on TV or in the media.  We only see the negative in our lives.  But if we open our eyes and see the world around us we will know that it is a wonderful life we live.  This is where my run started and ended.

 

It will be interesting to see how the green color changes over the next 4-6 weeks.  Maybe I can have a comparison picture in a month when the color is filled with reds, oranges and yellows.

 

One of my favorite songs right now is "Every Good Thing" by The Afters.  I heard it several times while I was running.  One of the lines in the song sings "I don't want to miss or take for granted it's a beautiful life we live".  That is so right.  I want to live my life to the fullest and I can do that if I seek Jesus.  The beauty of the day continued as the pictures show below.

 

Sunset on the Ohio River

 

God can show us the beauty in life if we keep running with him.

 

Talk to you later and keep Running with God





Running with God - Trust

I had planned on running Monday moring. As with most runs there is a bit of planning the night before. My wife and I have to deside what we are doing the next day and who will take our youngest to school, because Lord help our kids if they would ever ride the bus. We also look at the Weather Channel app to see if it may rain. On Sunday night this week the Weather Channel listed a 30% of rain for Monday morning. In my mind that means there is a 70% chance that it will not rain. My alarm goes off at 6:00am. It is hard at this time to see because it is still dark. I don't hear any rain so I'm thinking I will soon be outside running with God. I check the Weather Channal and the chance of rain is 0% for the next couple of hours. Alright I'm running. I'm am a bit slow getting ready in the morning so in 10 minutes I am finaly ready to hit the asphalt. In the blink of an eye the 0% chance of rain becomes 100% chance of rain. How could this be? The Weather Channel wouldn't be wrong would it? My running was then regulated to the basement and the treadmill. I am not as connect to God when I am on the treadmill. I am not sure why that it is. Maybe it has to do with the TV being on and the solitary view that I have. So I was able to get my work out, but not much more. Jump forward to Wednesday. I was outside in the dark at 5:45. Dark enough that I am wearing a light so that cars know I am there. My run was a good workout but more imortantly I was intouch with God. My heart was heavy because I still have been holding back. There is more that he wants from me. He wants me to be open. I still have been resitsting. Just like on Monday when I had put my trust in the Weather Channel I was putting my trust on worldly devises. I need to be trusting in God alone. God has never let me down in the past so I need to step into unchartered waters when he is calling me. Just as Peter was brave enough to step out of the boat and attempt to walk towards Jesus on the water, I must take that step also. Talk to you later and keep Running with God

Running down a new road

God has provided another great day for running. 51 degrees and beautiful. I wore running pants for the first time this season.

 Last Sunday at church our pastor talked about heroes from the bible. He made a point that God's heroes were not afraid to step into uncharted waters. Following that lead today I ran down a road I had never ran down before. I was treated to this view. In the picture you can see the reflection of the morning sun.

 That was nice but this week I had other uncharted water that I stepped into. Turning to my wife and friends was something I had not done in the past. I was rewarded with peace after doing what I knew God was directing me.  When we go where God directs us and visit uncharted waters we will get the reflection of the Son.

Talk to you later and keep running with God.

Running in the Light

Nice and cool this morning.  Yes!  I think it was 57 degrees at the start and 64 at the finish.  Nice running weather.  Bright sunshine and blue skies.  Thanks to the sun I had a running buddy today.

Great analogy today with my shadow.  Since I was in the light my shadow followed me throughout my run.  My shadow was always there.  Sometimes it was in front of me and other times it was behind me but it never left.  If I was running in the darkness I wouldn't have had my shadow.  This is much like when we take Jesus into our lives.  When we do this we are coming out of the darkness and into the light of Jesus.  Instead of having a shadow with us we have God with us.  So I choose to run in the light.

Talk to you later and keep Running with God.

Running with Freedom

It was a busy morning so I ran in the evening.  79 degrees but no humidity so not to bad for a September evening run.

Sun Set

 As I left the house things were vastly different from my run the morning before.  Yesterday morning was a struggle.  My mind was filled with thoughts and a battle was waging in my soul.  This made my running feel heavy.  It was as if I was dragging an anchor.  Tonight I was Free.  I was running and my body felt light.  It is amazing how quickly our mood can change when we listen to God and do what we should.  Tonight a certain bible verse captured my situation precisely.  

Hebrews 12:1

          Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great could of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.  And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

I had a choice to make yesterday.  I could have kept my struggles to myself and they would have festered and grown, but luckily God gave me a way out.  I am lucky to have a wife who loves me, in whom I have learned that I can share my struggles with and I have a friend that I can rely on when I am in need.  I have learned to use the people that God has placed in my life.

I am reminded of Ryan Hall the great american distance runner.  He has a book called Running With Joy.  It is a 14 week journal that details his preparation for the 2010 Boston Marathon.  In his book he chronicles how he grew in his faith with each run and how he was filled with joy as he finished the marathon.  He didn't win the race but he had achieved joy by not letting any of his struggles hinder him.  

Struggles

I left the house as the sun came up this morning.  74 degrees.  Not very chilly.  I had a hard time leaving the house.  Over the last few days there has been something on my mind.  I have kept it inside me and wasn't handling it very well.  I knew what I should do.  I knew what would bring me peace.  The Lord was telling me what to do, but there were thoughts in my mind that told me otherwise.  I started to fool myself and decided not to do what was right.  I had this on my mind as I left the house.  My body felt good as I started my run but as I continued to think about my situation the more I wanted to stop running.  I came close several times to just turning around and going home.  It was a battle most of the run.  I told myself what I needed to do but there were thoughts in my mind that tried to tell me that I shouldn't do what I knew was right.  

I didn't pray because I knew what God wanted me to do so I continued to make up excuses to not do what was right.  Near the end of my run I gave in to God..  I told God that I would just do it and get it over with. There were two bible verses that came to mind that helped me make my decision to do the right thing.

1.  I couldn't remember the exact verse but I knew the bible mentioned fighting like a person trying to beat the air.   That was what I was doing.  I was trying to fix a problem without using the solution that God had provided.  It cannot be done.  You can't beat the air and you can't fix a problem going against God.  I looked up the verse and found the following.

1 Corinthians 9:26
Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.

Wow the verse I was thinking about actually gave a running example.  Certainly as runners we do not want to run aimlessly.  Runners want to have a course and a goal.

2.  I also thought about Jacob wrestling with God.  This was what I was doing also. Mentally I was trying to come up with a solution to my problem that suited me. In my mind I was wrestleing with God desires for me.  If I would have just listened to God I would had a solution to my problem much earlier.

From a running stand point it wasn't a great run, but mentally I was in a much better state of mind after I decided to do what was right.

Running with God - The Goal



Good Morning

Started at 6:15 this morning.   I left the house at twilight and was treated to this view at about 2 miles.  Green grass, yellow wild flowers, light blue sky and orange sun, God is good.  

As I was running this morning tobyMac was talking to me and said "I don't want to gain the world and loose my soul".  It made me think about what my goals were for running.  I have some goals for the next six months but in the end do they really matter?  I think it is fine to have goals for distance and time but I can't let them become why I run.  The shirt I was wearing today puts my goals into perspective.

Philippians 3:14  I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called be heavenward in Christ Jesus.  If I have the goal to please God with my running I will always be successful.  No matter what my goal for a race may be I will never fail.  What is more important, if I achieve a PR or that someone can see Jesus in me because I have a smile on my face or that I thank them for volunteering?

Talk to you later and keep Running with God.

Running With God the instruction book

I had to run late in the morning, about 11:00.  Not a good time of day to run in September. The temp was 82 degrees.  It was a nice day to sweat if that is what your into.  I don't mind sweating but when your cloths are totally wet after you are done then I draw the line. I think a lot of people draw the line at that point because I didn't see another soul out on the road.   I run with a cross necklace.  It has a leather strap and I keep it tight to my neck. Today it had loosened up and with each stride it was coming a few inches off of my chest and landing right over my heart.  I thought that was interesting.  Was God trying to tell me something?  Maybe I should keep Jesus close to my heart.

Crimson Truth

So some of you may be wandering if there is an instruction booklet  for Running with God. The answer is yes.  There is a running plan out there called Run for God.  It is a 12 week program that leads new runners, inexperienced runners, or runners that have been running for years through a book and devotions. It also can be combined with a leaders packet and can be used as a bible study or small group.    I have not read the entire book but I think next year I may do it with my office. For the last two years the office that I work in has participated in a local 5K.  I think this would be a great experience to do as a group.  It would be great to blog about for 12 weeks next spring.

Talk with you later and keep Running with God.

Great Morning / Running with God

I am not a morning person, but after I get myself out of bed and hit the road, I am always glad that I did.  This was my treat for waking up this morning.



Sunrise

This morning I was thinking about Hebrews 12.  ...let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.  And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us...   When we are running we will look for ways to be faster.  Often we do this by making our load lighter.  We buy lighter shorts and wear lighter shirts.  Sometimes I see guys go shirtless.  We will sometimes spend hundreds of dollars on shoes that weigh only ounces.  Just like the examples I have listed from running we need to "throw off everything that hinders" our walk with God.  We need to give God our sinful desires.  We need to pray that he will take them from us so we can "run with perseverance the race marked out for us".

Run and Talk with God

Yesterday morning was a short recovery run.  No agenda as I left the house.  It was a cool 60 degrees.  I would say perfect temperature to run.  As I started to run I thought about how I have been challenged to present my body as a living sacrifice.  That was my prayer for the day.  I didn't have any earth shattering revelations about my relationship with God but it was nice to start my morning with some communication with The Lord.  I was lucky enough to meet my wife for the last 1.5 miles.  I would say that was a gift from God.

Talk to You Next Run.

Run for Your Heart

Great Day today. This morning I ran in the Heartland Half Marathon in Jasper, IN. The slogan for the event is "Run for Your Heart". What a fitting slogan for the day. My day started at 4:00 am. That is early but it seemed earlier because it was storming all night and sleep was difficult. After an hour drive and an hour lost by crossing into the Eastern Time Zone I was picking up my packet. It was a beautiful morning. No rain after 4:00 and the temp was about 68 degrees at the start. The race was well organized and everyone I talked to was friendly and most had a smile on their face.

 The course started on a bridge that went across the Patoka River. It was a very picturesque start and we ran through the town square.  In 2 miles we were running through quiet neighborhoods and then on country roads. At mile 7 we were back in town getting ready to face the first of three challenging hills. The first one was steep and longer than a quarter mile. Things were going well for me until the 12th mile. I had been running just faster than my goal when I suddenly had a cramp in my right hamstring. It was bad enough that I had to walk for about 5 minutes. During that time I had a range of emotions. I started to ask why God was doing this to me especially when I was trying to represent him at the race. I soon realized that things happen sometimes and we should make the most of it. My run is not about me but how I represent Jesus in my actions and how I interact with people. After the race I passed out flyers in the parking lot. I had papers with a list of 10 bible verses that can be an inspiration to runners. If you received one of the fliers leave a comment and let me know what you thought of the race. I thought it was a great day. It was a very well organized run. The volunteers were great and encouraging. At two of the water stations I heard tobyMac playing. The course was nice except the few hills from mile 7-10. I loved the shirts and was surprised to get a hat and a pair of socks. The finishing medals were wonderful and in the shape of a heart. I can honestly say that it was a run for my heart.

http://www.heartlandhalfmarathon.com/

 Again, If you were at the race leave a comment.