Check up and getting fit

Today I see my doctor for my check up. We will go over health numbers and I hope my triglycerides have improved. I have been cutting back on carb intake. With my check up will come ideas for things to work on. We will also look at two injuries I have had that  that have slowed me down.
In the last three weeks I have been walking, biking, working, for 45 to 60 minutes. Some days I have done work 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there. It all adds up.
I have also been taking small exercise breaks for some time now. Usually a series of three movements, push-ups, squats, toes raises, lunges, side lunges, jumps 2 to 3 times a day, I am actually jumping higher. sit ups, crunches, hip raises, band workouts.
I have downloaded about 20 workout videos to give variety and with daily biking or walking I am working on my 30 minute cardio.  All of this is to break up sitting and keep the blood moving.
Three movements that have help me get off the floor easier are the core work, lunges, dips and push-ups.
The dynamic body moves are great for flexibility and managing pain. take a a look at how you can use your body weight to strengthen and give range of motion back. Everything I do is modified in some way. Lunges can be done from the counter as you one hand for balance. If both hands are needed use a study table or chair on the other side. Push-ups can be done from a wall, counter, stair, bench. Jumping can be done with one or two hands on the counter for support. Squats can be done off the bed or chair or your back against the walk. Dips can be modified using your legs to take the weight you need to put the right resistance for you. Using a exercise mat gives me practice getting off the floor. Resistance bands by their very nature can be custom to you.
Check with your doctor and maybe enlist a physical therapist to get you on your way.
Don't do something you can't,but look for things you can do. And always keep walking.

Dr. Dwight Pentecost 1915-2014, a life well lived

Dr. Dwight Pentecost 1915-2014

Dr. Dwight Pentecost passed this week in his 99th year. As a nation were were yet to enter WWI.
DW Griffin made a movie all should see The Birth of a Nation in 1915. A well made film that unintentionally shows what many thought about race at that time. There many who disagreed with the film as well. If you haven't seen it you need to.
The Scofield Bible was a new study at this time. Sherlock Holmes was still having stories penned by the Doyle and there was Christians teaching in schools and universities without censorship. Joliet Central was a relatively new school that was an academic model as the best of high schools in the US.
Dr. Pentecost lived along time and taught to the very end. He had a 64 year career. Reminds me of another movie you should see, Good Bye Mr. Chips a 1939 classic. The movie is dated and we probably don't think or talk that way, but people should.
Dr. Pentecost was up to date. Anything he has written I recommend, but two books come to mind: Things to Come, 1958, updated many times and The Words and Works of Jesus Christ: A Study in the Life of Christ 1981. Both works are a must and are modern classics. Itunes has a series on the Life of Christ as Dr. Pentecost teaches in Isreal which I am going to take time to view.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/course/id592125822
The viewing is free and if you like a series with the back drop of the Holy land I believe you will enjoy it. Dr. Dwight Pentecost who lived to 99. He continued to write and work into his 90's.
In the news we have old guys who embarrass themselves. There is no cutting a person some slack, because if we live long enough most of us will say or do something we shouldn't, but Dr. Pentecost had the good fortune to keep his mind and he lived a class act. Thanks Doc for your writing and blessing me and others. Keep walking

Dutch priest, Frans Van der Lugt a well lived life

Frans Vander Lugt, 76 a life well lived

Last week I read an article by John L. Alan Jr. From the Globe staff, April 12, 2014.
He reported a Dutch Jesuit priest Frans Van der Lugt, killed in Syria last week just shy of his 76 birthday, personified the best of the missionary spirit in Catholicism.
Since 1964 he is lived in his adopted country, serving the humble, the poor, disabled people and mentally ill regardless of their race or religion.
Lugt told her friend, "I don't see Muslims or Christians, only human beings."
For the last several years he served at a small center for the mentally and physically disabled people. And Muslim charity would give him about 9 pounds of flour every week, which he turned into bread, giving half a loaf to the 30 neediest people he knew. 
In a recent interview, Vander Lugt said, "I try to help them, not by analyzing their problems, as the problems are obvious and there is no solution for them here. I listen to them and give as much food as I can. "
He was the last Westerner to live in the city of Homs. An unidentified assailant drag him out in the street outside of his residence, beat him and shot him twice in the head.
Most observers believed the killer was either an Islamic radical, or a possible suspect from the Assad regime to orchestrate the murder and then blame it on the rebels.
Just a couple observations, Frans Van der Lugt was a life well lived. Helping the helpless is a good thing, and it speaks well of his faith, The Muslim charity that gave him the flour speaks well of their charity. People of faith can live together and work together for good. They don't have to necessarily agree to look out for their fellow man. If I knew this priest, I am sure that him and I would have our differences, as well as our sincerity help others. Whatever the differences the thought of actually taking his life would never occur to me. 
But political and religious ideologists, who are willing to use brute force against helpless people shows no courage at all. What it does show is evil. And until more and more people see this type of action is being wrong, we will continue to see this kind of stupidity.
Another thing we see here, as Western values become the minority in any situation in the Middle East, we see these kind of thugs working to silence opposition. How many people won't be cared for by the old priest, how many years was he actually robbed of his life, we can't know?
To live your life for something greater than yourself that's a life well lived, especially if it service that is motivated by love and care rather than self-interest. Keep walking

Good Friday tomorrow, down load photo and have a good study

I made a picture which you should be able to save and open to enlarge. The picture is a study of a chart made by Dr. Irving L. Jensen, Mark: Self Study Guide pp. 113-115, Moody Press 1972
My adaptions and analysis focus on the theme of service. It was very interesting looking at my notes as a new believer some 42 years ago and how was able to create this slide.
Read the text, observe and ask your own questions. You be surprised how much you learn. Keep walking

Summing up my not so secret disciple

Church built on the ruins of the fist church built in England

• I spent today researching Joseph of Arimathea, and I discovered rather directly how many tradition and legends have him in the very King Arthur story. And after a while the legend becomes very fanciful. I spent some time trying to figure out his age. And right now I don't have anything definite. I think his age has a lot to do with what he could have done in the future. So here's some things that I found out.

I am of them the opinion that he would be older being one of  Jewish elders of the Sanhedrin. One source says he's eight years older than Jesus was and that would put them about 41. I looked up the source and I don't know how I could verify it, but I think he is the older based on the fact that he had taken the effort to buy a grave and usually we do those kind of things as we get a little bit older. Not that you couldn't do it at 41 and that's that's possible. You would be considered an old man if you made it into your 60's during this time so he may not been that old. If he was old it would be much harder for him to go out have a long history of reaching out to people and making a big impact as a disciple called an apostle to England. He was not an apostle according to the Bible. He is talked about being robust some 30+ years later. I think it is possible but not probable.

The story goes that he had mine interest in tin in Cornwall. So he might have been in the area were Doc Martin of the series on PBS. He is said to have built the first church in the first century before the church of Rome. Most churches in the first century were home churches.

Now we move into the area of legend. You may remember hearing the reference watching Indiana Jones. In the voices of Indy's father and Marcus Brody they recount the myths of Joseph's part in the Holy Grail that was in the notes of Henry's notebook they had to retrieve from Hitler. Hitler himself was fascinated by such legends.  Joseph is also said to brought the shroud of Turin. Legend also has the queen of England comes from bloodline of Joseph.

A few lines challenge some of these legends:
There is a contrast between the real segments of a real person struggling in good and evil in

Summit of Glastonbury, seen this on
Doc Martin

the Gospels versus the imagination of the Arthur legends.
The cup of Christ and the Shroud of Turpin are both objects that could lead to meet people worshiping them. These fanciful items have taken too many peoples on a silly chase from the truth and the real things that happened in the Bible and an early church history. It is along the same lines of Chasing Bigfoot or vampires. 
Considering his age being older and the effort for an older man to do move from his comfortable dwelling in Jerusalem to a harsher place in England should be factored in. Did he do church work in England? Middle Age traditions say yes. History may not be as certain. The linens that wrapped Jesus were several pieces and the face covered with a separate cloth. The Shroud of Turin has a Middle Ages origin. His activity is not in the book of Acts, but what we know from the gospels is pretty cool. 

How secret was he as a disciple? But a disciple is a learner, a follower. His faith is really between him and God. It is Paul says in Romans of faith that God sees, (Romans 2:2) what we see is what James talks about faith you see the action, 2:24 "you see", the external things that show to us some indication what the heart is like. Joseph here gives us several indications where he stands.

1. One he probably states his disapproval of the Sanhedrin's actions. He puts himself politically in a minority situation.

2. He gathers up the courage to ask Pilot for the body. Bodies of criminals who died in on the cross were put into a public poor man's grave. Probably a grave that had many bodies in it. Once again it was a public action that Joseph took for all to see.

3. Here we see him lovingly taking down the body of Christ and preparing it for burial. Joseph went for the body and Nicodemus got the supplies for burial. The spices dried the body and masked the smell of decomposition. He becomes unclean in a major holiday to care for Jesus he loved and respected. His actions here go against many of the ceremonial actions of the Pharisees.

4. I believe he's already an outsider who is excluded from the trials. Like our own politics it is well known where people stand, not so secret. Annas and Caiaphas knew.

5. He places Jesus in a grave that he himself had for himself. To me this suggested he was probably an older man. But it also shows he was willing to back up what he believed with this very important property.
He is a good man willing to help others. He is a righteous man in that he is honest before God about his sins and walks with God. He is not a perfect man as we see. He overcomes his fear to act bravely which I find fascinating. He stands up for right and shows compassion. Not bad for a secret believer. Keep walking

Picture of Barb and where we had a honeymoon - Pt. 2 of secret disciple

Barb looking back as we walked the wall of Jerusalem, I can
tell you she walked closed to the wall. What a trooper!

John was the youngest, the rest being in their thirties, were able to follow Jesus, walk with him which included great distances.  Many of their walks were over 100 miles.  They had to sleep with him outside with just outer garment being their blankets.  It is not spelled out for us but I think each had their job as they move is a group.  Not everybody that became a disciple could follow the same task.  I think that’s true today, what I could do when I was younger I really can’t do today.  I would describe my life of faith as more than being a disciple.  Knowing what I do today and my study of the bible, for sure I would like to be able to do what the disciples did when they were here when Jesus was on earth.  To spend time with Jesus would be the dream come true.  But for practical concern I would be left behind.  I think Jesus would tell me I’ll be back this way, see you then.  When I was younger I wanted to volunteer in the navy, but with my CP I was disqualified.  I went to serve but my disability may prove a problem when it counted.  Instead I serve the Lord in Africa and lived in the jungles in under primitive conditions.  I did quite well there and today I am not so sure. That brings me to Joseph of Arimathea who is described as a good man, fair and a secret disciple, Luke 23:50, John 19:38.

We know that he stood up when it counted; he disagreed with the proceedings that put Jesus to the cross. 

Outside the church of the Holy Sepulcher another possible
location of Calvary and the tomb.

There is no record during the trials of his protest, only Luke 23: 51 reports his disapproval.  I am of the opinion that he wasn’t there during illegal trials of Jesus by Caiaphas and Annas and their supporters in the Sanhedrin.  Caiaphas has long plotted for Jesus’ death and I think they gathered the ones they needed for the illegal trial.  Whatever was a quorum for them I think that’s who they called on?  I also think they were politically aware not to invite members who were supporters of Jesus, and even if they were secret; I believe the wiles of Caiaphas and Annas knew how people would vote.  In the accounts I just don’t see the protest like you see in Acts 5: 34, anyway Scholar Leon Morris cites 22:70, "They all ask" Mark 14:64, "They all condemned" This brings us back to observation. All were in agreement at the Jewish trials. Nicodemus and Joseph and other sympathizers were not there. They did later voice their opposition, Luke 23: 51. But they did far more than that; they cared for Jesus’ body.

19 century painting of 1st century Jerusalem-
What it may have looked liked.

Most criminals who were crucified their bodies were just discarded.  Yet once Jesus died, we see only loving hands cared for him.  Nicodemus and Joseph were given the task to take down his body.  The ugliness and shame of the crucifixion and the nakedness they would have to deal with.  Unlike the legalistic Pharisees of the day they took care of the dead body during the holy week the Passover.  They didn’t delegate this to others but they did it themselves.  They were willing to become unclean and deal with what was important rather than focus on the small minds of others.  They went ahead and put Jesus in linen, prepared the body with spices and place the body in a tomb that Joseph bought for himself.  Despite various claims as to where this body was laid, we don’t know.  After caring for the body, they sealed the tomb by rolling the fitted stone into place.

These old men were leaders who forever in history will stand out because they stood up and did the right

This is where Barb and I had one week of our honeymoon. The sisters of the
Rosary served us wonderful meals and they were delighted we had our
honey moon there. The nuns were from Lebanon. We prayed with them for
peace there. 

thing.  So far in my investigation I don’t know how they fit into the future church.  Their relationship to Jesus and service almost goes under the radar.  I believe it’s the same today.  On the Larry King show, He asked Billy Graham about his handling reward for all the great things that he had done.  I am paraphrasing here but Billy Graham answered “his standing in heaven, he would not be the most recognized believer there.  In Graham’s view he believed he was the “least of these” and there would be many who are humbled today would be great in heaven.  Billy Graham thought that greatness was measured differently by God than the way we do.

There are many secret believers behind the crescent curtain; there are many secret believers in China, in Africa, and places of persecution.  There are many people who make it possible for someone to be a spokesman, the public person, who support and live a life that pleases God.  We would do well remember that believers come in all shapes and sizes, personality types, disabilities, weaknesses, and are often the poor.  We may think of them a secret, but they’re not a secret to God.  The famous are always the rich, the beautiful, intelligent and successful.  God values the heart.  Keep walking

Take a look yourself - Matthew 27:57-61; Mark 15:43-45; John 19:38, 39, 40 Luke 23: 50-54.
What happened to these secret believers? part 3

With spring like weather, get out for a walk, Secret disciples count - holy week meditations p. 1

Can you see the skull? The farther you are from the rock face the easier to
see. Unceremoniously now a bus station. The place of execution is at the
top - Gordon's Calvary

When it comes to faith and believing, faith is right when the object is Lord Jesus.  When we come to trust Lord Jesus is our Savior, the son of God who died for us on the cross, our faith great or small is what matters.  The size of our faith is not what counts but the size of the one who saves us is everything.  As believers we come in all shapes and sizes, we all have different gifts and abilities, even the same gift works differently in each one of us.  One of us may be confident, we may be outgoing, or we may be intelligent, but on the other hand we may be shy, not very comfortable around people and an average intelligence.  Our traits and more mix and match to make each one of us unique.  If there’s one thing I’ve learned 62 years of living human beings love of conformity.  We try to deny it but our behavior seems to betray us.  Like each snowflake that’s different, God who made us with reason and design made us different.  Let’s look an example of a disciple who was different than Peter for James, he was too old to follow Jesus the way they did and in his leadership position great pressure was put on him not to share his faith that he had in Jesus.  He was called the secret believer for disciple, but he had a task and the step forward at the right time.  One thing we could never do is know the human heart.  People are very outgoing may be fakes and people who are quite maybe the genuine article.

Disciples in Jesus time came in all shapes and sizes and the hard part for us is some of them were unbelievers and some were followers.  I think of John 6:64-69 where there were disciples who no longer followed him.  A disciple is a learner, later these disciples would become Christians, believers.  Believing and faith for salvation certainly was happening during Jesus time. When we look at the John 3:1-15, we clearly see the gospel need no further proof.  There has only been one way of salvation, what they looking towards the cross, or we looking back at the cross, God’s way of salvation was always the same.  Remember it is God who saves us.

When many write about today of what a disciple should be there is a sense of conformity.  But when we look at believers today or in the bible times we see how different the disciples were to one another.  Each one was an individual.  The 12 were called upon a particular task to follow Jesus everywhere he went.  They had the ability to do so.  One thing a younger man can do better than older men is walk and lives out in the outdoors.  There are older men who can do this, but their number decreases as you go long.  I have a friend of Scottish descent who is nearing 80 and I am sure he would give it a go to follow the Lord Jesus as disciples did.  Jesus and the 12 may vote him out after awhile for being so stubborn. Keep walking 

Some views for Easter

Jerusalem at sunrise. Don't worry everybody is up, church bells and mosques sound off early. Photo by Picturial Bible Lands

Easter, if you want to get a deeper experience past an Easter bunny or egg hunt you can participate at a church or you will have to do it on your own. It is a good idea to do both. There is little to gain from our schools or media. If you bring up happy Easter at work or school or see in the media you will notice people  will display rashes and itches, and at least a change of color. Maybe if your lucky blood vessels will start to appear. I have always thought at such times to remember that famous philosopher "Bugs" who said, "Silly ain't we."
For a good experience from the Holy Land visit http://www.waynestiles.com/places-of-the-passion-week-in-360-degrees/#more-10104
Great information and wonder views in the 360 format. You can click on Flat image and save pic. suggest label you won't remember later. Keep walking

Baby steps

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=790257847651588

I talked about baby steps that we need to make in life see if this link and lead you through a wonderful good he'll my granddaughter true baby steps

Taken a 2 mile walk

Barbara and I were able to take her to my walk today, and we throw in some 30 push-ups along the way. The Giesen bucks for health. And it was good to see you some mall walking buddies walking with us. Felt pretty good today
Have a nice stretch time afterwards. Keep walking

Proverbs not in the Bible about grieving, getting back into the swing

I came across an interesting quote I posted already on Facebook and tweet and it goes like this; "Remember, grieving is a personal process that has no time limit, nor one right way to do it." Now it's true that anyone of us could give sage advice or counsel that we think may help. But deep down we know that's not the only way to deal with grief. And sometimes unintentionally we may say the wrong thing. And in a time of loss such things may be very hard to let go. But it's good to be reminded that were human.

I remember another quote from Greg Craig Johnson's Longmire series, "Don't let anybody tell you when you're ready to let go." These quotes are like proverbs, they are true in most situations. But they're not absolute, sometimes we need help if we hang on to ,long. I just don't know when that is?

Well I've been feeling better and my back and the back exercises are helping. So this last week I taken steps to get back into the swing of things. It helps to have snow gone. I've been biking and building up my bike time to about a half hour. And I also have been building up stretches of walking a mile. Today, I was able to walk 30 minutes without any back difficulty. I was kind of breathing like a jogger in the walking and I took time to slow down occasionally to control my breathing. But I could feel the circulation moving through my body and the oxygen breathing deeper and that was kind of cool. Throughout the day it is been my habit this winter to do one minute workouts, just kind of an ongoing thing every hour or every half hour.

In the world of healthy lifestyle work on the positive; there's too many negatives to work on. It will drive you nuts!

5-9 servings of vegetables and fruit every day-"five is fine, nine is divine. "

Three-quarter plate and Fill it with veggies

30 minute walk anyway you can do it

Do mini walks throughout the day

Give yourself a break, if you're right 80% of the time you're doing the right things.

Love and be loved and allow God to forgive

Keep walking!

Remembering John Raymond Egly,

John Raymond Egly, 1929-2014
My father in law stands out as one who finished well. There is a long life, but one that was lived fully in light of physical injury and pain. He cared for others and enjoyed the blessings of life all the way to the end.  He was active in mind and wit and always encouraged others. 

The one thing that stands out with Ray was his ability to make others better. He was one of the most unique people that I have come across in my life. He had a strong sense of being a working guy, but that was just one layer. 
Ray was a fixer. He could and did just about fix anything that needed repair or building. He wasn't a putzer, no, he was a perfectionist. The work wasn't just put together; He made things better and he had an artistic flair to what he did. His home is a reflection of the can-do spirit all of his family had. They all had a hand in putting things into his home.
He was the chief electrician for Material Service for over 35 years.  I'm not sure that even describes his job as many things that he fixed were outside the world of electronics. He also used engineering, calculation and science with engine know how. How do you raise a barge that's been sunk and get it ready to work again? He could take a complicated problem and find a way to solve it right on sight. Immediately after the 1990 tornado, Bev was worried because she hadn’t heard from him. Switching on the news, there he was, on a front loader, assisting with the rescue operation.
There are many projects that he did for the grandkids and children show a long record of craftsmanship that he had. He loved to see historic places and furniture, to see how things were built. He was fascinated with the coal industry and geology at work. Like his brothers each took a great interest in the railroad and the engines and the mechanics that made it work.
He was well read and did his own analysis of life and news. In that sense I think he was a Renaissance man. He liked to travel and investigate family history and roots. 
He lived his own story; he took interest in the story of his family. He loved the west, he loved going to England and later to Malta. Throughout his life he took many holidays with his bride and took along as many little people as they could.
He loved work because it was in him to make things better. When it comes to family I think that's exactly what he did. He wanted to improve the place where his family worshipped so he put himself into the task of helping to make Larkin Baptist a better place  to worship and know the Lord.  The building, currently Stone Hill Bible Church, is one of the most beautiful churches in Joliet. That was John Raymond. He thought worship was more than a gymnasium, or in a storefront.
That was just another layer of Bompa. He was a man of class and dignity. He was the most honest man that I have known in my life. 
Ray was a man of faith. He taught me that faith isn't easy. People often talk as if faith is easy to do or believe, trust; but it isn't. To put your trust in Christ is an exceptional thing. He and I had great conversations and an ongoing dialogue about faith. Communicating his faith was hard and he would often ask Barb and I to share things with people. When he made decisions concerning faith, or service, or giving he did it with a whole heart.
I believed in his trapdoor theory on preaching, when it is time for the sermon to be done, it is time. He supported missions, and there is no doubt that what Barb and I did in Africa would not have been possible without his support. There were a lot of people who were helped and came to know the Lord as a result.
His humor was sharp and full of wit. He was good at recounting many of the family stories. He enjoyed the humor that was found in life. He had a twinkle in his eye and a smile that was very endearing.
I have a little experience here with the passing of my parents and other people in my life who have already gone to be with the Lord. Bompa, (thank you Becky for giving us that name), Dad, (or father) husband, friend will give hours a pleasant conversation for years to come. Maybe even a debate or two? We will continue to talk to him, will be sitting in our living room, or out in the backyard enjoying life underneath the shade trees. And his thoughts, conversations, directions and wisdom will enter into our minds and I just personally believe we will just end up talking to him again even before we go see him glory. I can't be the only one here who talks to people who has already passed on? It is rather fun to do.
Philippians 2:3-4 Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Romans 15:2 Each one of us must please his neighbor for his good to build him up." This is what you saw in his life. His faith was in action. What he did was for our good and benefit. He had purpose to make us better.
The other night I wish you could've been there when family and friends and were around him, sharing stories prayers and even songs. He would have shooed us off. Ray, has certainly given us a legacy and he is someone to aspire to be like in so many ways. He for sure has given us a lot of things that we will laugh about.  He has set a very high bar for us to follow to be a man, husband, dad, and grandfather who loved and was loved. For the women in his family he was both strong and caring that made it possible for them to blossom.