Heart Fit: spirit, soul, and body

Heart Fit: spirit, soul, and body.

Strengthening The Saved & Saving The Lost

in the nursing homes and on the bike trail.

We had another wonderful service this morning. This service is "church" to the residents. Some of them dress up but all of them are ready to praise the Lord. When they hear that every promise that God has ever made is "yes" to the believer they light up. They are understanding more and more that God really does love them.

I want to share something very powerful the Lord is doing through this ministry. In the last few months the Lord has put a powerful focus on this ministry. It is called "Heart Fit: spirit, soul, and body" Heart Fit is intended to help us run our race, for the Lord, with: focus, endurance, and strength. Heart fit is a strategic way to train the spirit, soul, and body of man. Heart Fit gives me a renewed focus for ministry in the nursing homes and on the bike trail.

Let me digress a little bit and tell you how this all began.

Back in October of 2016 I had said, “I want to be in the best shape of my life the year I turn 65.” I was turning 65 in the following year (2017.)

After having ministered for the Lord since 1974 and full-time in nursing homes for the past 6 years I said to the Lord, “Lord I’ll go wherever you want me to go and I’ll do whatever you want me to do.” I meant it more than ever before. He simply responded to my statement with a question, “Can You?” I knew He was being kind. There were some issues I needed to address.

(I was overweight and had not exercised for years. I thought, “How can I run my race for the Lord effectively without taking care of my body. I was inspired by my mother who was approaching 100 and very fit.”)

Back in the 70's and 80's I had been a part of the Des Moines bike club, in Des Moines, Iowa, and had ridden in RAGBRAI, (A bike ride across Iowa that takes a week to accomplish). I loved it! So, I thought biking might be the way to go for exercise. On a Saturday I rode with a friend of mine. After riding 3 miles with him I was so exhausted all I could do was turn around and go back to my car. I decided I was going to lose weight first and not exercise. Doing both at the same time would be too much for me. I would have quit. I found an app for my phone that tracked calories. I decided to eat whatever I wanted but watch my calories. From March 2017 to June 2017 I lost approx. 30 lbs. That was exciting. In August I got back on my bike and started riding again. By the end of the year I was riding in the 30 – 40 mile range. I wanted to be cardiovascular fit more than muscular and had been studying a lot on the different ways to do that. I discovered how to train the heart for cardiovascular fitness. Now I was riding my bike based on my heart rate as apposed to my speed. By the end of 2017 I rode 65 miles in the year I was 65 and then in August of 2018 I rode 100 miles. As of this writing I have ridden 3,850 miles for the year.

I have sensed, for the last several month, (the end of 2018) the Lord wanting me to be more intentional with my faith on my bike. To use the phrase “Heart Fit” in a way that will lead people to the Lord. Take the same mandate of "Strengthening The Saved & Saving The Lost" in the nursing homes and include it on the bike trail. (Bikers, runners, joggers, walkers, the homeless, etc.) To establish the ministry of Heart Fit: spirit, soul, and body.

Just as you can become heart fit in your body you can also become heart fit in your spirit; with the intended purpose of running your race for God. The more fit you are in every part of your being the more able you are to run your race effectively for the Lord.

There is so much more I could say about this but we would be getting into the nitty-gritty of how this all works.

Heart Fit: spirit, soul, and body.