Off Schedule - Neutral Pulls - 20160229

Neutral Pulls, HT timer
7 rounds, pyramid up, 2 rounds down.
11 mins.

Just logging this to prove that I still have muscle in the game.

Blackiron.

Saturday. During AM soaking time, my hands were open in the assume-the-position position, but I felt something placed on them ... then into them, spreading my fingers and thumbs open and apart. My fingers were actually moved apart and opened to receive this item. The thing was a yard long (both hands holding it) and metal ...like a piece of steel beam? brown ... dark? long and rectangular like a box with a scroll inside? What is this? What is this? I kept asking over and over. What does one hold with fingers open like that - like holding an extra long taco?
Puzzling, and I had to laugh - the HS is playing the game He likes to play. If it's by the same rules, we normally play by, I'll find out in about 5 days. He likes this game. I think it's pretty fun too - revealing mysteries as mysteries.

Sunday. My bead chain holding up my triquetra broke, and the new chain was short, so I put 1.5 chains together, which makes it hang lower than before. Before, it was in my sternum, right over my heart. Now, it's lower, at the top third of my abdomen. God, my heart is already full, thank you for this reminder that I can now operate from my gut. I pray that what comes from me today could not come from my mind, or heart, but from my raw gut.


Did. God used me to do something deep today, and all from the gut. Maybe I'll write it all up later. But we're talking about the picture we see at the left right now.

Today, the HS ended the What is This? game early. I realized during worship singing time, that I was handed a sword yesterday. Then, as suddenly as the realization, there it was for the taking. I grabbed hold of it and held it. It didn't come with a sheath, and I didn't want to put it down or away. What to do with it? I figured it came from the pneuma aletheia within, so I put it away into my insides. But first, I remembered how I received it yesterday, with open hands; and, as a knight-champion, I offered it back up to my King in fealty and service.

PS. When I first beheld it, I made no sense of the runes on the blade. Just indecipherable markings. A later revelation was that the inscriptions are hebraic; they are some of the names of God. So the composite above contains some of those.

PPS. Two weeks later. Just cleaning and an hour of round robin praying with the Care Team at HP. Something put its wet cold nose against my right back pocket. Felt like ice through my pants into my skin. I slowly pulled out blackiron, and struck it down. Looking at it, I could not get a sense of what manner of spirit, but it appeared as a black and pink spotted sow, misshapen and grotesque. And dead.

School of the Seers, Today's Lesson.

Had a break at work, so I breezed a chapter in School of the Seers (nearly finished), the chapter about God revealing secrets to those who have His confidence. 

But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.
‭‭John‬ ‭16:13‬

The activation was, simply and briefly, to get settled down and ask God to show you something.

CC was home alone today, sick but nearly well enough to go to school, and, earlier, she had texted a pic of her lunch, prepped to eat outside on the backyard patio table in the sunlight of a pretty day. I caught an impression of that table in the backyard, but with a large fuzzyindistinct jet black cloud moving toward it from the south side of the yard.

Is that it, God? That's my message? 

I'm learning to act on sense and instinct and gut-feel when it comes to what the Spirit is trying to say. So I just texted her to check the doors. I was mostly worried about the front door or the garage door being unlocked or wide open, but the image was the backyard. 

The back gate on the side of the yard from where the dark cloud was emanating, was not only unlocked, but standing open. I'm sure that something was averted or someone was prevented from entering our back yard because of the spiritual image I was given.

The future isn't set. Christian prophecy isn't prophecy in the Greek tragic sense. God can give us a word, or premonition, or warning, that will set us into motion to avert or intervene. And we can intervene, if we act. But first we have to be willing to hear/see/know in faith. 

Hey! I got one right today.

Off Schedule - DB Press & Chins - 20160224

AM
6 rounds, HT timer
Chins max reps (7 rounds)
Offset DB press x12 @ 40/46#
14 mins.

6 hours - 2230/0430. 14 minutes total. PE: 6. 48 hours.

Off Schedule - Neutral Pulls - 20160222

Neutral Pulls, HT timer
7 rounds x max reps
7 mins.

Does this even rate as an entry?

STRHT L2.2 - Oly Squat 3x3 - 20160221

Ignition
3x12, no timer
Landmine Lunge, @ 46#
6 mins.

4 rounds, no timer
Hip Thruster x12 @ 2 strong bands
RDL x10-11 @ 163
14 mins.

Oly Squat 3/3/3+
Rx: 200/225/255
Actual: 8x 155/8x 185/3x 205/3x 225/3x 255/lsf 205 x8
4x12 Standing Calf DB singles @ 43
1 min RI
23 mins.

Going heavy felt heavy today.

5.5 + 3 hours - 2330/0500. 44 minutes total. PE: 7. 48 hours.

Off Schedule - AMPM Chins & Triplet - 20160218

AM
Chins pyramid, 1/2/3/4/5/6/6/6/5/4///, HT timer
Rep count: 51
13 mins.

PM
4 rounds, HT timer
Meadows rows x12's @ +43, alternating
BtN press x12 @ 88#
KB swings x12 @ 53#
12 mins.

7 hours - 2130/0430. 25 minutes total. PE: 7. 24 hours.

STRHT L2.5 - Front Squat 3x3 - 20160216

Ignition
3x 6/7/8, 1 min RI
DB Step ups @ 40#s
6 mins.

3 rounds, no timer
Hip Thruster x10/11/12 @ 2 strong bands
RDL x10-11 @ 163///
8 mins.

Front Squat 3/3/3+
Rx: 155/180/200
Actual: 8x 135/8x 145/3x 180/4x 200/lsf 155 x8ish
13 mins.

6.5 + .5 hours - 2130/0400. 28 minutes total. PE: 7.

Off Schedule - Chins - 20160215

Chins, HT timer
x7/6/5/4/3/3/3
9 mins.

Just whatever.

Off Schedule - Shmotel Squats - 20160214

6 Rounds, HT timer
Goblet Squats x12 @ 25/30/35/40/45/50
DB RDL x10 @ 50's
14 mins.

3 rounds, alternate, 1 min RI
DB Split Squats, drop sets @ 25's/25 x6+4/7+4/8+4
6 mins.

7 hours - 2330/0630. 20 mins total, PE 7. 24 hours.

Off Schedule - Shmotel antagonists - 20160213

6 Rounds, HT timer
Neutral pulls/Chins x maxreps
DB recline press x12 @ 50's
15 mins.

5/4 rounds, HT timer
DB shoulder press @ 35/40///35
Cable curl singles, strip sets x10
11 mins.

3 rounds, trade-off HT timer
Sit ups x20-15
6 mins.

7.5 hours - 2230/0600. 32 mins total, PE 6. 48 hours.

Self-Blame and the Scent of Onions.

Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world…
Philippians 2:14-15

I'm the son of the surviving police officer from the Onion Field incident. My father lived out his life under a shadow of self-blame. Although he didn't deserve the condemnation he received, he received it, and he bore the weight of the responsibility for someone else's death, and internalized a debt to the universe that he could never repay.

I grew up watching him live, and learned this spirit of self-blame. Everything was alright for me as long as I maintained a standard of perfection; never letting anyone down, never disappointing. 
More than a facade of perfection, I drove myself by this standard. In my 20's, striving for excellence rather than perfection was a freeing step for me, I thought, but the change was really only semantic. I was actually striving for more excellence than everyone else - and there's not an observable difference between that and striving for perfection. So. Never good enough. Never strong enough, or smart enough, or impressive enough. Never worked hard enough. Never completed a project that I could look back on with satisfaction, seeing all the benefits. I could only look back and list all the things to change to improve it for "next time." 

Going forward, wouldn't hurt to do both. I can design projects and refine projects, and advance projects … and celebrate projects. I will design, I will refine, I will advance, but I will end each chapter with some celebration of the benefits of my labors.

This day, just by perceiving this spirit of self-blame, I disarm it. I will not blame myself for circumstances out of my control. I will not count imperfections against myself. 
I will add increase wherever I go. I will add improvement to every undertaking to which I devote myself. I will step onto the battlefield as more than a conqueror, as a game changer because I am at rest, with nothing to prove, nothing to gain, only to give. I walk in newness of life.

Good morning, nice to be here. Let me introduce myself. I am Blameless.

Off Schedule - Pulls n' Squats AMPM - 20160211

AM
Neutral pulls pyramid, to 7's, HT timer
Rep count: 51
14 mins.

PM
Squat reps, in .30 on 1.30
10x 135/8x 155/8x 185

4 rounds, HT timer
RDL x10 @ 133/163///
Oly Squat x9ish @ 185////
10 mins.

6.5 hours - 2200/0430. 29 minutes total. PE: 8.

Off Schedule - Chins Pyramid - 20160209

Chins pyramid - 7 rounds - 3
pyramid up/down from 7, HT timer - rep count: 46
8 + 9 mins.

Just what I can squeeze in today.

STRHT A2.4 - Weighted Pull - 20160207

Ignition
4 rounds, no timer
Meadows rows x15 @ bar/10#/23#/46#
9 mins.

4 rounds, HT timer
Weighted V pull 3/3/3+ @ 20 (Actual: 3's-4's all)
Ring dip x8ish
11 mins.

4 rounds, HT timer
BtN Press @ 93# x10-8s
DB curl @ 33# x9+
10 mins.

None of this felt hard. Just logging the milage.

8.5 + .5 hours - 2300/0730. 32 minutes total. PE: 6.

Man, on Fire.

A great morning. A few things were pointedly telling, and I won't mention them here (except to say that I won't mention them, yah?) to quickly highlight one moment that was a highlight.

Saturday, I took time to work through a good third of Jonathan Welton's School of the Seers. I was struck by this: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God from Matthew 5:8. Jonathan's point is that exercising our senses of sight/other spiritual senses is good, but for true efficacy, we've got to have purity as well as intimacy with God. Like gold, we don't become more pure by becoming more gold, we become more pure by eliminating the dross that is not gold from ourselves.
I'd been on this bender all week; determining to eliminate distractions from my time/mindset, especially electronic ones. There was a little activation for this element of purity at the chapter's end in the book, and I did it - basically just praying and asking for improved purity. 
I was struck that some what-might-seem-insignificant distractions needed to go; I deleted Clash of Clans and Boom Beach and Kingdom Rush from my phone ( - again. I had deleted them during the summer, but reloaded them, telling myself recently that I had latitude to play - which I do, I do have latitude to play, these games aren't sinful - but I do not have time to waste on distraction. A few minutes attacking someone's virtual town could always have been a few minutes invested attacking my enemy's spiritual stronghold, right? Or just worshipping, or just meditating, or, for sure, opening up the Bible app and seeing what God's saying in that moment). I also deleted the Facebook app, which I hadn't deleted before, but which had been showing itself to be a far worse time vampire. Check in on FB and scroll through 30 minutes of fluff, and political invective, and self-aggrandizement. For what? I was avoiding FB because I would leave there unsatisfied that my time was ever spent well. So, that got deleted, too. 
I'm not hammering anyone else's use of these apps. Even for me, they're not evil, not base, but they're simply not gold. Let's keep to the gold standard, shall we? In this, and in more to come, I hope to refine myself.

Sunday, the message at HP was one about "dullness of hearing" from Hebrews 5:11: Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. In order to avoid the irony of a sermon about dullness-of-hearing-falling-on-ears-too-dull-of-hearing-to-hear-it, my prayer was that during the preliminary singing time, ears and hearts would be opened.

So. Once the songtime started, I hung out along the back wall and tried to help things along, adding my bit of fuel to the room. I was asking for ministering angels to take part, for the Holy Spirit to do work, open people up, open ears up. I was being moved and touched. Near the end, I took a moment to ping the room with my spiritual sonar. Eyes closed, seeking to use spiritual sight.

Where are you working here God? I expected something in the grouping of people before me, where I was kinda focusing my concentration and energies.
Is there anything here to see? Any angels? 
An impression that yes, there are two. Large ones, like 12 feet tall, here in the back ...on either side of me.
What are they up to? What's going on? Fire. Flames. 
What's burning? The angels aren't. … What's that? I am. 
I am standing between the angels, flames licking up all over me into the air, like, 15 feet high. Do I feel hot? No. Cool flames, I'm not feeling heat at all.
What's happening? 
You are being made pure. These flames are consuming your impurities.

Wow, I was hoping that God would do something special for someone today, and here it is, happening to me.
I'll take that. Let it burn! Take away the stuff that's deep inside that I can't cleanse. I'm righteous, but anything that's not right, make clean. Wash my feet and hands and heart and mind. I did a self check, and offered up any of those impurities that still needed to be removed. 

A fine moment for me, unexpected. I think this happened today because I was obedient yesterday. And this bottom line: Faithful physical actions release spiritual realities.

STRHT L1.4 - Squat - 20160206

Ignition
3x 5&5, no timer
BB Step ups @88#
1x 5&5, DB step ups @ 44's
8 mins.

4 rounds, no timer
Hip Thruster x11+ @ 2 strong bands
RDL x10-11 @ 133/155///
9 mins.

- 1 min -

Squat 5/5/5+
Rx: 185/210/240
Actual: 10x 135/6x 185/5x 215/6x 245/lsf 205 x8ish
13 mins.

4 rounds, 1 min RI
Standing DB calf x12+
FtB, fat bar x8ish
11 mins.

6.5 + .5 hours - 000/0630. 44 minutes total. PE: 7.

Off Schedule - Neutral Pulls - 20160205

Death by Neutral Pulls - 7 rounds + 3
pyramid down from 7, HT timer - rep count: 52
8 + 9 mins.

First Friday in February tonight, you know what that means. So I got 1.5 hours sleep in the PM. Lots of things are more important than physical training, yah? But it still gets its minimal nod.

STRHT L1.1 - Front Squat - 20160204

Ignition
Jump rope, 1 min
3 rounds, 11ish
Landmine lunges, bar only
6 mins.

4 rounds, no timer
Hip thruster x10ish @ 2 strong bands
RDL @ 133# x12
13 mins.

4 rounds, loose timer
Front Squat x5/5/5+ @ 145/165/190
as RX'ed 135# x8/145 x5/165 x5/190 x5/lsf 145 x8
Standing calf singles w/40# DB
17 mins.

6.5 hours - 2200/0430. 36 minutes total. PE: 6.

STRHT - A1.5 - 20160202

Prelim
6 rounds, HT timer
Chins x7/6/5/4/3//
7 mins.

4 rounds, HT timer
Weighted pull 5/5/5+ @ 15/17/20 (fail)
Actual: 5/4/3 @ 15#
Ring dip x8ish
10 mins.

- 1 min - 

4 rounds, HT timer
BtN Press @ 83# x10s
EZ curl @ 88# x9ish, 2 in, 2 out
9 mins.

Pulls are not as strong as they want to be.

7 hours - 2130/0430. 18 minutes total. PE: 6.

Off Schedule - Squat reps - 20160201

5/4 rounds, HT timer
Oly Squat
10x 135#/8x 185/8x 205////
RDL x12 @ 133#
10 mins.

Everything felt great tonight. Not heavy, but the reps were sweet.

6.5 hours - 2130/0400. 10 minutes total. PE: 6.