Christian Body Builders

[BurtsDog]

Wow. Thank you! I've struggled with the same thoughts even though I don't compete.

Just wanted to add some more thoughts. I didn't mean to discourage anyone. Professional ballet dancers look at themselves in the mirror constantly. They need to. And all kinds of professional athletes (e.g. football players) eat more food than they need to. Bodybuilding may not necessarily be in and of itself bad. The question of whether it is right for you is between you and God. He can provide as much food as humanity can eat. Checking your progress and form in the mirror does not necessarily have to be narcissistic if you can keep it in perspective. Not every activity is right for every person, even acceptable activities. We all react differently and fall prey to bad behavior differently. And we were not all meant to do the same things. You might be a great race car driver who drives like a sane person in town. But if I were to become a race car driver maybe I could not control myself and would constantly endanger people on the road. We have to examine ourselves and ask ourselves if what we are doing is causing us to sin. You might be able to be a successful fashion designer who is happily married, but I might more easily succumb to the temptation of seducing female models if I were a designer. Silly analogies I realize. But just off the cuff comments. There are a million more, and better, examples I'm sure.

[BuddyIncognito]

You know, I believe regardless of what our profession may be or our hobbies, we as Christians have an opportunity to be a beacon of light wherever we go and whatever we do. I regularly seek opportunities to witness to others. I am respectful of opposing viewpoints and I do not push my views on others. But I have spoken to others at the gym on occasions about church and about God. In fact, my gym partner who is considerably younger than me, I helped lead him to the Lord just this week.

If anything you do takes you away from loving God and living for God, then it is time to re-think your priorities. However, I see nothing wrong in body building for health, for a hobby, or for competition if that is what one wants. Living healthy should actually be a part of Christian living. Until recently, I was not making the most healthy decisions.

If you have a genuine love for God and if you strive to live a Christ-like life to the best of your ability, I can not see what harm body building would pose. But, we can always turn to the Bible for our guide.

" If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." ` Jame 1:5

[TheQuiet]

Anyway, I am not judging, but I want to be a good example and use this somehow, some way to help other believers, or maybe just to be the light in front of people who aren't saved, if that's the Lord's will.

So you're strong like Samson was (I'm almost done with reading all of the Old Testament), and you want to have some sort of meaning with what you love doing?

It's hard to apply a great meaning to bodybuilding these days, as muscles aren't exactly used like Samson used them for, such as ripping a Lion's jaws apart, combat (we have guns now), and tearing down the pagan temple.

But with physical power, such as yours, comes responsibility to use strength for good, to protect the weak and fight against injustice. Simple refusing to sin is one way we please God.

[BurtsDog]

I can not see what harm body building would pose.

Thanks for the positive insights. It can get tricky mentally when an advanced bodybuilder finds himself eating 6 cans of tuna a day, 1/2 a pound of cube steak and 1 lb of turkey and wondering.... "Man. What am I doing this for? Just to look a certain way? This kinda feels ridiculously unnecessary, unwise and pretty close to something like gluttony." I guess it is different for different levels of bodybuilding. I'm not 100% sure if it's good or bad. That's between you and God in the end. All I know is that mentally it can be a very real problem.

[BuddyIncognito]

Thanks for the positive insights. It can get tricky mentally when an advanced bodybuilder finds himself eating 6 cans of tuna a day, 1/2 a pound of cube steak and 1 lb of turkey and wondering.... "Man. What am I doing this for? Just to look a certain way? This kinda feels ridiculously unnecessary, unwise and pretty close to something like gluttony." I guess it is different for different levels of bodybuilding. I'm not 100% sure if it's good or bad. That's between you and God in the end. All I know is that mentally it can be a very real problem.

I respect that answer you gave. I would think however gluttony would be more akin to overeating rather than eating what our bodies need. My goals do not include competitive body building. I can not pretend to know much about the specific dieting habits of those who are competitive body builders. But one thing I completely agree with you on is that what we do or fail to do is indeed "between you and God in the end." I believe a faithful Christian who reads the Bible on some regular basis (hopefully on a daily basis) and has a good prayer life with God, I believe he or she will be guided. I believe Christians do have an opportunity to be beacons of light in a world so dark with sin and if that beacon is shining from some body building competition or from a football field or in a small cubicle in a busy office, then I say, Amen!

[BuddyIncognito]

I'm almost done with reading all of the Old Testament

Good for you! Many people can find portions of the Old Testament difficult but I assure you, if you pray before you read the Word of God and ask God to guide you as you read and study, He will indeed give unto you guidance. If you ever have any questions about anything you are reading in the Bible or have read, please, let me know. I'll do my best to answer them. I do not know how many times I've read the Bible through but I thoroughly enjoy reading the Bible. I do not say that as a point to brag as I, like all other Christians, fail God from time to time. I just enjoy reading and I especially enjoy reading the Bible. In fact, I have been reading the Bible chronologically for the very first time rather than from cover to cover. That has helped to put some things into perspective as well.

Have a blessed week!

[chmbs1]

Just wanted to add some more thoughts. I didn't mean to discourage anyone. Professional ballet dancers look at themselves in the mirror constantly. They need to. And all kinds of professional athletes (e.g. football players) eat more food than they need to. Bodybuilding may not necessarily be in and of itself bad. The question of whether it is right for you is between you and God. He can provide as much food as humanity can eat. Checking your progress and form in the mirror does not necessarily have to be narcissistic if you can keep it in perspective. Not every activity is right for every person, even acceptable activities. We all react differently and fall prey to bad behavior differently. And we were not all meant to do the same things. You might be a great race car driver who drives like a sane person in town. But if I were to become a race car driver maybe I could not control myself and would constantly endanger people on the road. We have to examine ourselves and ask ourselves if what we are doing is causing us to sin. You might be able to be a successful fashion designer who is happily married, but I might more easily succumb to the temptation of seducing female models if I were a designer. Silly analogies I realize. But just off the cuff comments. There are a million more, and better, examples I'm sure.

Exactly. The personal relationship between us and our Savior is the basis of our faith. So, that's why I said I'm not going to sweat it anymore.

The Holy Spirit works differently in each of our lives, so that we will grow into one body and all be presented blameless and perfect in Christ at the very end. Sometimes we do stumble, make mistakes, screw up, have wrong intentions, feel guilty even though we can't pinpoint the sin (1 John 3:20), but God uses all of it to fulfill His plan. We are fully covered by Christ's righteousness. The most we are ever asked to do is love Him with all our heart, mind and soul. This is the first and greatest commandment as Jesus pointed out, it is from this fundamental principle that all the "Thou shalt nots" flow. If I ever find myself in a situation where I don't know what to do, I can always ask myself, "How much do I love Him?"

Really, if a husband really loves his wife, does anyone have to tell him what he should or shouldn't do to please her? No, because he loves his wife so much that he desires to know as much about her as he can. Through the bible, we can KNOW God! In fact, God has revealed Himself so well in the Scriptures that His words are ALL WE NEED to get from here to the end of our lives. All we have to do is read it!

[chmbs1]

You know, I believe regardless of what our profession may be or our hobbies, we as Christians have an opportunity to be a beacon of light wherever we go and whatever we do. I regularly seek opportunities to witness to others. I am respectful of opposing viewpoints and I do not push my views on others. But I have spoken to others at the gym on occasions about church and about God. In fact, my gym partner who is considerably younger than me, I helped lead him to the Lord just this week.

If anything you do takes you away from loving God and living for God, then it is time to re-think your priorities. However, I see nothing wrong in body building for health, for a hobby, or for competition if that is what one wants. Living healthy should actually be a part of Christian living. Until recently, I was not making the most healthy decisions.

If you have a genuine love for God and if you strive to live a Christ-like life to the best of your ability, I can not see what harm body building would pose. But, we can always turn to the Bible for our guide.

" If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." ` Jame 1:5

Yep, read through the Psalms and you see that King David, after he was forgiven and restored from his sin with Bathsheeba, used his position to get rid of the evil in his kingdom and teach others about the Lord. Of course, God had other things for him as well, and it wasn't always easy, but he never lost his focus and by doing that one thing -keeping God front and center- he was able to grow closer to God and gain a deeper understanding of Him through the frustration and difficulties. We all need to recognize, that everything we have- our physical attributes, our relationships, our jobs, our finances- they are all exactly what God intended for us to have and we should seek to use them to the best we can for His glory. Sorry for all the run-on and grammatical errors- it's really late lol.

Hey, that's great to hear someone got saved! Post his name and we can pray for him!

[chmbs1]

I respect that answer you gave. I would think however gluttony would be more akin to overeating rather than eating what our bodies need. My goals do not include competitive body building. I can not pretend to know much about the specific dieting habits of those who are competitive body builders. But one thing I completely agree with you on is that what we do or fail to do is indeed "between you and God in the end." I believe a faithful Christian who reads the Bible on some regular basis (hopefully on a daily basis) and has a good prayer life with God, I believe he or she will be guided. I believe Christians do have an opportunity to be beacons of light in a world so dark with sin and if that beacon is shining from some body building competition or from a football field or in a small cubicle in a busy office, then I say, Amen!

In fact, you and God, God and me, that's really what this is all about. That's it, period. You hear so many people asking questions these days like, "What's the meaning of life?", "What are we here for?", "What is existence?" There it is, you guys just said it: It's about God knowing people. You take away God knowing people in the bible and suddenly the entire bible falls apart and all those people like Samson, King David, the apostle Paul, etc., they all go 'poof!' Their entire accounts were nothing more than the consequence of God reaching out, touching them and saying, "I want you". People get angry at Christians because we act like God is everything, it's because God IS everything! He's the only thing that matters, that ever did matter and ever will matter, and for some Holy, unknowable, unsearchable, perfect reason, He wants you and me and all of us who are believers as His family.

[rdferguson]

I hadn't noticed this thread before. In!

I'm not a bodybuilder per se, in that I have no intentions of competing in bodybuilding, nor do I aim to have huge muscles. However I do train for strength and I do factor aesthetic balance (though, to a much greater degree, functional balance) into my training. I love Jesus, and it's a struggle to be godly around training. There is the tendency for people to lift for their egos, being driven by pride. There is a tendency for people to pursue their pride through fitness in general -- be it pride in strength, endurance, speed, sex appeal, health, or whatever. All these things are good, but using them for the sake of pride is not, and that's something I struggle with.

[BuddyIncognito]

Hey, that's great to hear someone got saved! Post his name and we can pray for him!

His name is Gene. He's going to church with me this morning.

People get angry at Christians because we act like God is everything, it's because God IS everything! He's the only thing that matters, that ever did matter and ever will matter, and for some Holy, unknowable, unsearchable, perfect reason, He wants you and me and all of us who are believers as His family.

Amen!

I hadn't noticed this thread before. In!

I'm not a bodybuilder per se, in that I have no intentions of competing in bodybuilding, nor do I aim to have huge muscles. However I do train for strength and I do factor aesthetic balance (though, to a much greater degree, functional balance) into my training. I love Jesus, and it's a struggle to be godly around training. There is the tendency for people to lift for their egos, being driven by pride. There is a tendency for people to pursue their pride through fitness in general -- be it pride in strength, endurance, speed, sex appeal, health, or whatever. All these things are good, but using them for the sake of pride is not, and that's something I struggle with.

Pride is indeed one of the most dangerous and subtle of all sins. Pride, unlike others sins often already has taken hold of us before we realize it. Pride, unlike say adultery, stealing, or other sins a person obviously knows he or she is guilty of, has the potential to bind us, blind us and, like any other sin, eventually grind us down. I don't think that I would technically consider myself a body builder although I am building my body as I work out. My goal is more health centered than anything else. I had a mild heart attack 3 days before Christmas of 2012. Fortunately, God let me have all the symptoms of the heart attack all at once while I was driving some of my family to our family's Christmas gathering. God gave me the peace to remain calm and blessed me to pull through. I had a stent placed in me that day and from that time, began to make changes in my life such as healthier eating and walking more. I have only recently chosen to add a little strength training as part of a healthier lifestyle.

I believe that if we stay focused on God, if we pray often and read God's Word, God will help keep us from being victims of pride.

[leanguy09]

Good for you, man.

Once you trust in Him, you won't need to worry about anything anymore.

Thanks man! Every since that day I feel like a new person! I have all this confidence in myself to want to do well in life and lift more!

[BuddyIncognito]

Thanks man! Every since that day I feel like a new person! I have all this confidence in myself to want to do well in life and lift more!

Extremely happy for you. We are indeed a New Creation once we have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. Trials will come but when we learn to trust in God in the good times as well as the storms of life that will come, we will always have an inner peace, that peace that passes all understanding. Very happy for you brother!

[natethelegend]

Tomorrow we engage with the communion of saints and experience the power of the Eucharist.

Can't wait!!!

[BuddyIncognito]

Just checking in to say Hello to my fellow Christians. Keep fighting the good fight and use Philippians 4:13 as a personal source of inspiration when we hit the gym. Maybe on some days, our body wants to suggest to our mind that we can't go today but if we have faith in Christ as well as believe in ourselves, the Bible not only guides us spiritually but inspires us in the secular world as well.

[rdferguson]

^ I love that verse, but I love the surrounding paragraph's framing of it even more. Applying it to the gym, it's too easy to apply the verse on its own and think: "I can get this PB. I know I can, because Jesus gives me the strength to succeed." And that might be how it turns out. But you can also fail by the strength that Jesus gives you. You can go into the gym feeling sloppy, and indeed have a sloppy workout -- even a profoundly sloppy workout in which the weights that were easy 2 weeks ago are now not moving. We can enter the gym in beast mode, or in pleb mode, through him who gives us strength.

[chmbs1]

^ I love that verse, but I love the surrounding paragraph's framing of it even more. Applying it to the gym, it's too easy to apply the verse on its own and think: "I can get this PB. I know I can, because Jesus gives me the strength to succeed." And that might be how it turns out. But you can also fail by the strength that Jesus gives you. You can go into the gym feeling sloppy, and indeed have a sloppy workout -- even a profoundly sloppy workout in which the weights that were easy 2 weeks ago are now not moving. We can enter the gym in beast mode, or in pleb mode, through him who gives us strength.

I was just about to say something similar, but you beat me to it. I try to read Scripture verses in their context. Too easily, people can pull one verse out of the Bible and contort it to suit their own purposes, which is most often the case with Phil. 4:13. I do pray for good workouts and am always aware that He is with me every rep, but I also know that it might be His will that one day I suffer some debilitating injury that prevents me from ever lifting again. Oh well, got to keep things in perspective- everything in this is life is temporal and in the end, will fail. I need to be thankful for what I do have in regards to my physical needs/ wants, but at the same time, draw my primary satisfaction from things that are eternal. If I let worldly things rule me, I will always be disappointed and empty inside.

I say these things, because I know them to be true, but they are often hard for me to adhere to in everyday practice. Even since I first posted in this thread, I find myself struggling with the simple command to keep my thoughts on Christ and to trust Him for everything. I know I've been forfeiting a lot of peace lately.

I am thankful for this thread because it's one of many things God is using to help me with me spiritual struggles.

So thanks, guys!

[rdferguson]

I was just about to say something similar, but you beat me to it. I try to read Scripture verses in their context. Too easily, people can pull one verse out of the Bible and contort it to suit their own purposes, which is most often the case with Phil. 4:13. I do pray for good workouts and am always aware that He is with me every rep, but I also know that it might be His will that one day I suffer some debilitating injury that prevents me from ever lifting again. Oh well, got to keep things in perspective- everything in this is life is temporal and in the end, will fail. I need to be thankful for what I do have in regards to my physical needs/ wants, but at the same time, draw my primary satisfaction from things that are eternal. If I let worldly things rule me, I will always be disappointed and empty inside.

I say these things, because I know them to be true, but they are often hard for me to adhere to in everyday practice. Even since I first posted in this thread, I find myself struggling with the simple command to keep my thoughts on Christ and to trust Him for everything. I know I've been forfeiting a lot of peace lately.

I am thankful for this thread because it's one of many things God is using to help me with me spiritual struggles.

So thanks, guys!

That's a huge encouragement. I love hearing what's going on in people's lives spiritually. It's great that you're open to sharing that you struggle, and that you aspire to glorify God wholly, even though like me and every other Christian you endure with being broken, messy and naturally drawn to sin. Keep up the good fight, brother.

[streetlegaltank]

His name is Gene. He's going to church with me this morning.


Amen!


Pride is indeed one of the most dangerous and subtle of all sins. Pride, unlike others sins often already has taken hold of us before we realize it. Pride, unlike say adultery, stealing, or other sins a person obviously knows he or she is guilty of, has the potential to bind us, blind us and, like any other sin, eventually grind us down. I don't think that I would technically consider myself a body builder although I am building my body as I work out. My goal is more health centered than anything else. I had a mild heart attack 3 days before Christmas of 2012. Fortunately, God let me have all the symptoms of the heart attack all at once while I was driving some of my family to our family's Christmas gathering. God gave me the peace to remain calm and blessed me to pull through. I had a stent placed in me that day and from that time, began to make changes in my life such as healthier eating and walking more. I have only recently chosen to add a little strength training as part of a healthier lifestyle.

I believe that if we stay focused on God, if we pray often and read God's Word, God will help keep us from being victims of pride.

I definitely have pride in abundance. The funny part is that I really have no rational reason to be proud, and yet... here I am.

[chmbs1]

Okay, so I just got out of church. I wanted to post this before I get caught up doing other things. Going to bang out arms in a little bit and do a little running on the treadmill, anyway-

Something that has really been eating at me since Wednesday night is this: our pastor is currently in San Diego attending a biblical conference, so we have one of our members -a former pastor himself- filling the pulpit. Usually on Wednesday nights, our pastor does a devotional/ discussion on a Psalm (we are going through the book of Psalms one by one), but that night it was this other guy. He caught everybody off-guard by bringing in a devotional in which he asked us, the congregation, to quote Scripture that related to certain questions, such as "What does God have to say about sin?", "How do we know we are saved?", "Why do we pray?" etc.

Well, guess what? Almost everyone was completely speechless and left fumbling around in their bibles. Of course, people threw out the familiar verses John 3:16 and Romans 3:23. Everyone who is a Christian knows those verses. It was embarassing- an auditorium full of professing believers who couldn't define their faith. People were like, "Well, I know I've read it somewhere, not sure where". One woman even said, "You know, this is really sad that we don't even know where to go in our bibles to answer these questions".

Okay! The reality of our place in the world is that there are people all around us who are living meaningless, unfulfilled lives. They wrestle with these questions on a daily basis, they don't have any hope, they go to bed every night worrying about things, and place their trust in things like spouses, wealth, their own abilities, education and skills. These people aren't truly happy- they are miserable jumping from one temporary pleasure to another, lying to themselves and others while believing others' lies along the way. At the center of it all, they spend their entire lives ignoring or flat-out rejecting the fact that they are going to die someday. Death is a horrible thing, that no one wants to confront, so they'll just pretend it doesn't happen, When it's their time to go, it's their time to go, but they don't have to think about it. They'll have as much fun as they can until then. It's the best they can do.

We are GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE, we are the elect, we have the answers. We the only people on this earth who can say that. Jesus said, "And you shall know the truth and it shall set you free". What is our faith if we can't immediately defend it or present it when asked? If people around us know that we are Christian, then they want to know why and what for- and our answer shouldn't be because we go to church, because we believe the bible, etc. It should be with Scripture. Scripture is what saves people, it is the power of God. Romans 1:16- "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek". 2 Corinthians 4:6-7 "For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us". Knowing the bible is the key.

This brings me to my next point, and what really grabbed me today at Sunday morning service. By giving us His Spirit, God has totally enabled us to present the gospel to others, in fact, that's why he saved us. The Great Commission? That's what He wants! That's what He purposed! It's not to go to church every Sunday, sing hymns, praise God, then go through our entire week keeping our faith to ourselves. That's not being a Christian. Being a Christian is KNOWING God's Word, them going out and sharing it!

There are some people in this thread who have done some amazing things with their bodies. If someone came up to you and asked you what they needed to do to look like you, I doubt you would stand there stumped and dumbfounded. You could probably go on and on for hours about nutrition, what to eat, when to eat, training, how to listen to your body, getting proper sleep, etc. Well here's a news flash, someday our bodies will fail and all this hard work will be for naught, how much more should we know about something that is INFINITELY more precious and important than our physical bodies? There is no comparison, there can't be any comparison. When we get to heaven, God's not going to ask us how well we did in bodybuilding, He's going to ask us what did we do for Him, did we know Him more and more each day and proclaim Him? Did we obey his commandments? Did we go out and witness to other people?

Lastly, this thought occurred to me on the drive home from church. If you have people in your lives who are near and dear to you (friends, family) who are unsaved (I know I do), it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to share God's plan for salvation. God's not asking you to sit back and hope someone else comes along to do it for you. If you don't lead them to the Lord, no one else will. We got to get this through our heads. We have the answers, guys, we have GOD'S WORD revealed to you and me through His Spirit which lives inside of us and will resurrect us from the dead when our time here is up. We have to learn it, we have to know it, and we have to able to confidently present it. It's why God saves sinners and keeps us in the world!

I'm more preaching myself than anyone in particular. The Lord knows I've failed so many times in this area in my life. But, I'm only 30, and it's not over yet! I just wanted to share this in the hopes that maybe it will kindle a fire in you the way it has me. The Christians living in this world in 2014 need to hear this! There needs to be a bigger focus on evangelism!

[chmbs1]

I definitely have pride in abundance. The funny part is that I really have no rational reason to be proud, and yet... here I am.

Jeremiah 9:23-24 "Thus says the LORD: 'Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight," says the LORD."

[2nd_chance]

Okay, so I just got out of church. I wanted to post this before I get caught up doing other things. Going to bang out arms in a little bit and do a little running on the treadmill, anyway-

Something that has really been eating at me since Wednesday night is this: our pastor is currently in San Diego attending a biblical conference, so we have one of our members -a former pastor himself- filling the pulpit. Usually on Wednesday nights, our pastor does a devotional/ discussion on a Psalm (we are going through the book of Psalms one by one), but that night it was this other guy. He caught everybody off-guard by bringing in a devotional in which he asked us, the congregation, to quote Scripture that related to certain questions, such as "What does God have to say about sin?", "How do we know we are saved?", "Why do we pray?" etc.

Well, guess what? Almost everyone was completely speechless and left fumbling around in their bibles. Of course, people threw out the familiar verses John 3:16 and Romans 3:23. Everyone who is a Christian knows those verses. It was embarassing- an auditorium full of professing believers who couldn't define their faith. People were like, "Well, I know I've read it somewhere, not sure where". One woman even said, "You know, this is really sad that we don't even know where to go in our bibles to answer these questions".

Okay! The reality of our place in the world is that there are people all around us who are living meaningless, unfulfilled lives. They wrestle with these questions on a daily basis, they don't have any hope, they go to bed every night worrying about things, and place their trust in things like spouses, wealth, their own abilities, education and skills. These people aren't truly happy- they are miserable jumping from one temporary pleasure to another, lying to themselves and others while believing others' lies along the way. At the center of it all, they spend their entire lives ignoring or flat-out rejecting the fact that they are going to die someday. Death is a horrible thing, that no one wants to confront, so they'll just pretend it doesn't happen, When it's their time to go, it's their time to go, but they don't have to think about it. They'll have as much fun as they can until then. It's the best they can do.

We are GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE, we are the elect, we have the answers. We the only people on this earth who can say that. Jesus said, "And you shall know the truth and it shall set you free". What is our faith if we can't immediately defend it or present it when asked? If people around us know that we are Christian, then they want to know why and what for- and our answer shouldn't be because we go to church, because we believe the bible, etc. It should be with Scripture. Scripture is what saves people, it is the power of God. Romans 1:16- "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek". 2 Corinthians 4:6-7 "For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us". Knowing the bible is the key.

This brings me to my next point, and what really grabbed me today at Sunday morning service. By giving us His Spirit, God has totally enabled us to present the gospel to others, in fact, that's why he saved us. The Great Commission? That's what He wants! That's what He purposed! It's not to go to church every Sunday, sing hymns, praise God, then go through our entire week keeping our faith to ourselves. That's not being a Christian. Being a Christian is KNOWING God's Word, them going out and sharing it!

There are some people in this thread who have done some amazing things with their bodies. If someone came up to you and asked you what they needed to do to look like you, I doubt you would stand there stumped and dumbfounded. You could probably go on and on for hours about nutrition, what to eat, when to eat, training, how to listen to your body, getting proper sleep, etc. Well here's a news flash, someday our bodies will fail and all this hard work will be for naught, how much more should we know about something that is INFINITELY more precious and important than our physical bodies? There is no comparison, there can't be any comparison. When we get to heaven, God's not going to ask us how well we did in bodybuilding, He's going to ask us what did we do for Him, did we know Him more and more each day and proclaim Him? Did we obey his commandments? Did we go out and witness to other people?

Lastly, this thought occurred to me on the drive home from church. If you have people in your lives who are near and dear to you (friends, family) who are unsaved (I know I do), it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to share God's plan for salvation. God's not asking you to sit back and hope someone else comes along to do it for you. If you don't lead them to the Lord, no one else will. We got to get this through our heads. We have the answers, guys, we have GOD'S WORD revealed to you and me through His Spirit which lives inside of us and will resurrect us from the dead when our time here is up. We have to learn it, we have to know it, and we have to able to confidently present it. It's why God saves sinners and keeps us in the world!

I'm more preaching myself than anyone in particular. The Lord knows I've failed so many times in this area in my life. But, I'm only 30, and it's not over yet! I just wanted to share this in the hopes that maybe it will kindle a fire in you the way it has me. The Christians living in this world in 2014 need to hear this! There needs to be a bigger focus on evangelism!

Great post chmbs1

[Rickck48]

Great post chmbs1

I have never seen anyone more dead on than you are!!! God Bless. RTR!

[Mike086]

Hi guys, I'm a Roman Catholic, faith helps a lot!

[rdferguson]

Okay, so I just got out of church. I wanted to post this before I get caught up doing other things. Going to bang out arms in a little bit and do a little running on the treadmill, anyway-

Something that has really been eating at me since Wednesday night is this: our pastor is currently in San Diego attending a biblical conference, so we have one of our members -a former pastor himself- filling the pulpit. Usually on Wednesday nights, our pastor does a devotional/ discussion on a Psalm (we are going through the book of Psalms one by one), but that night it was this other guy. He caught everybody off-guard by bringing in a devotional in which he asked us, the congregation, to quote Scripture that related to certain questions, such as "What does God have to say about sin?", "How do we know we are saved?", "Why do we pray?" etc.

Well, guess what? Almost everyone was completely speechless and left fumbling around in their bibles. Of course, people threw out the familiar verses John 3:16 and Romans 3:23. Everyone who is a Christian knows those verses. It was embarassing- an auditorium full of professing believers who couldn't define their faith. People were like, "Well, I know I've read it somewhere, not sure where". One woman even said, "You know, this is really sad that we don't even know where to go in our bibles to answer these questions".

Okay! The reality of our place in the world is that there are people all around us who are living meaningless, unfulfilled lives. They wrestle with these questions on a daily basis, they don't have any hope, they go to bed every night worrying about things, and place their trust in things like spouses, wealth, their own abilities, education and skills. These people aren't truly happy- they are miserable jumping from one temporary pleasure to another, lying to themselves and others while believing others' lies along the way. At the center of it all, they spend their entire lives ignoring or flat-out rejecting the fact that they are going to die someday. Death is a horrible thing, that no one wants to confront, so they'll just pretend it doesn't happen, When it's their time to go, it's their time to go, but they don't have to think about it. They'll have as much fun as they can until then. It's the best they can do.

We are GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE, we are the elect, we have the answers. We the only people on this earth who can say that. Jesus said, "And you shall know the truth and it shall set you free". What is our faith if we can't immediately defend it or present it when asked? If people around us know that we are Christian, then they want to know why and what for- and our answer shouldn't be because we go to church, because we believe the bible, etc. It should be with Scripture. Scripture is what saves people, it is the power of God. Romans 1:16- "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek". 2 Corinthians 4:6-7 "For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us". Knowing the bible is the key.

This brings me to my next point, and what really grabbed me today at Sunday morning service. By giving us His Spirit, God has totally enabled us to present the gospel to others, in fact, that's why he saved us. The Great Commission? That's what He wants! That's what He purposed! It's not to go to church every Sunday, sing hymns, praise God, then go through our entire week keeping our faith to ourselves. That's not being a Christian. Being a Christian is KNOWING God's Word, them going out and sharing it!

There are some people in this thread who have done some amazing things with their bodies. If someone came up to you and asked you what they needed to do to look like you, I doubt you would stand there stumped and dumbfounded. You could probably go on and on for hours about nutrition, what to eat, when to eat, training, how to listen to your body, getting proper sleep, etc. Well here's a news flash, someday our bodies will fail and all this hard work will be for naught, how much more should we know about something that is INFINITELY more precious and important than our physical bodies? There is no comparison, there can't be any comparison. When we get to heaven, God's not going to ask us how well we did in bodybuilding, He's going to ask us what did we do for Him, did we know Him more and more each day and proclaim Him? Did we obey his commandments? Did we go out and witness to other people?

Lastly, this thought occurred to me on the drive home from church. If you have people in your lives who are near and dear to you (friends, family) who are unsaved (I know I do), it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to share God's plan for salvation. God's not asking you to sit back and hope someone else comes along to do it for you. If you don't lead them to the Lord, no one else will. We got to get this through our heads. We have the answers, guys, we have GOD'S WORD revealed to you and me through His Spirit which lives inside of us and will resurrect us from the dead when our time here is up. We have to learn it, we have to know it, and we have to able to confidently present it. It's why God saves sinners and keeps us in the world!

I'm more preaching myself than anyone in particular. The Lord knows I've failed so many times in this area in my life. But, I'm only 30, and it's not over yet! I just wanted to share this in the hopes that maybe it will kindle a fire in you the way it has me. The Christians living in this world in 2014 need to hear this! There needs to be a bigger focus on evangelism!

I love you man. This is so true. I'm in a similar place of realising that when it comes to the essential key elements of Christianity, I'm often dumbstruck on how to actually articulate it in a meaningful way, let alone with clear reference to scripture.

What is the gospel? That the Son of God became man and was crucified to death to atone for sin, and was resurrected declaring victory over the power of sin and death, and assuring a final resurrection which would usher in the total destruction of sin and death. And the non-Christian says....? Something between "What?" and "So what?" (if they don't simply disregard the credibility of the gospel in the first place).

I think being a disciple of the iron is often far more accessible than being a disciple of Jesus. It's not that the information is any simpler, clearer or more readily available when it comes to lifting. It's that it's normal to be acculturated into learning, understanding what you're learning, and diligently practicing it day after day, making a point of perfecting the practice. When it comes to Christianity, hopefully we're learning sound doctrine each week and developing rich theology through church services, bible studies/growth groups and 1:1's, plus any further reading/discussing we might do. But how much time and effort do we put into mastering our knowledge of the gospel, our exegesis, our theological understanding and our ability to communicate all of the above? It's not so much (hopefully) that we don't more or less understand the gospel, but knowing how to articulate it in a clear, concrete way is something we seldom grasp. Knowing how to relay the facts as something of importance is also something we seldom grasp.

[Rhyval]

Who else is doing the Dymatize Transformation?

[suzisavage]

The Bible says that our bodies are God's temple. I am a christian but my temple is in bad need of renovation. By his grace Im remodeling and by his strength Im making progress. I want to become a temple he can be proud of.

Love this attitude!

[AOD86GT]

Glory to God the most high...Peace, Love, Joy and Happiness to all! Serve the Lord by remembering Him each and every day and giving time through prayer or even simple conversations-acknowledging Him.

[heathermarie9]

I love God and I lift.. it's a thing. Everyone has different convictions in different areas of life.. whether it be relationships, bodybuilding competitions, social media etc etc. and there is a lot of "neutral/gray area" as far as those topics are concerned. To each their own.. I say if you aren't causing brothers/sisters in Christ to stumble, you love the Lord and want your life to be a picture of the Gospel then DO YOU! There is no sense arguing over what is/isn't acceptable as a Christian. You can't lose your salvation. Be sensitive to God's will in your life and find your sweet spot where your God given talents + passions intersect. You can use bodybuilding FOR the glory of God

Just my two cents.

[oct6454]

I love God and I lift.. it's a thing. Everyone has different convictions in different areas of life.. whether it be relationships, bodybuilding competitions, social media etc etc. and there is a lot of "neutral/gray area" as far as those topics are concerned. To each their own.. I say if you aren't causing brothers/sisters in Christ to stumble, you love the Lord and want your life to be a picture of the Gospel then DO YOU! There is no sense arguing over what is/isn't acceptable as a Christian. You can't lose your salvation. Be sensitive to God's will in your life and find your sweet spot where your God given talents + passions intersect. You can use bodybuilding FOR the glory of God

Just my two cents.

I think this is a pretty accurate summation of my thoughts on Bodybuilding/any hobby and how it relates to your faith. The key is being sensitive to God's will in your life, if you can do that. I think you're doing quite well.