2009 May — wadehodges.com

Want to Change the World?

Want to change the world? I’ll can tell you how.

But first, a story. . .

In the beginning, God created a good world that very quickly fell into chaos because of our rebellion against God.

Full of grace, God initiated a plan to redeem, repair, and restore his broken world. It started with his promise to bless the world through Abraham and his family.

It gathered steam when God used Moses to form Israel into a nation who would show the world what it looks like when a group of people honor God, and each other, with their lives.

God’s plan looked to be in jeopardy when Israel turned away from God. But God refused to give up. He sent Jesus into the world to fulfill his plan, despite Israel’s refusal to cooperate.

Jesus started by gathering a group of followers who would learn from him the “Good news of the Kingdom of God.”

Jesus healed diseases, forgave sins, and set people free from the forces of evil as a way of showing what God wanted to do for the whole world.

Jesus finally defeated the forces of evil and overcame the power of our sin and impending death by sacrificing himself on the cross.

God raised Jesus from the dead to both validate his identity as the Son of God and show that sin, death, and the forces of evil had been defeated once and for all.

The risen Jesus empowered his followers with the Holy Spirit and sent them into the world to tell the story of his life, death, and resurrection.

The disciples went out and started gathering people around the risen Jesus.

These communities embodied the truth of the gospel with their love for God, one another, and their neighbors.

Learning from Jesus, committed to each other, and ready for anything, these churches had the power to change the world.

They still do.

It’s through these churches that God is putting his broken world back together again, one life, one family, one neighborhood at a time.

Want to change the world? Start gathering people around Jesus.

Want to change the world? Unleash a group of people in your neighborhood who are learning from Jesus, committed to each other, and ready to serve.

Want to change the world? Start as many of these churches as possible.

May 12, 2009 By Wade 4 Comments

Pics from the Crossfit Games

Filed Under: Crossfit

Here are a few pics of my experience at the SW Regionals Crossfit games.

This version of Grace was not so amazing.

This version of “Grace” was not so amazing.

pullup

Getting ready for the start of of the pullup/burpee workout.

burpee

Nothing like doing burpees in the rain.

May 10, 2009 By Wade 2 Comments

Crossfit Games Day 2

Filed Under: Crossfit

Here is WOD #3:

3 Rounds, 21, 15, and 9 reps of
Box Jumps (24 inches)
KB Swings (1.5 pood)
Sumo-Deadlift Highpull (95lbs)

I’m a little stiff the morning. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Update: Did WOD #3 in 5:48. I was able to do the box jumps and kettlebell swings unbroken. Had to break up the SDHP’s a little bit. Felt good about my performance. Now it’s time to work on squat cleans.

May 3, 2009 By Wade 1 Comment

Crossfit Games Day 1

Filed Under: Crossfit

Here are the WOD’s for the day:

WOD1:
10 Squat Clean & Jerk (155lbs)
Row 500m
10 Squat Clean & Jerk
Row 500m
10 Squat Clean & Jerk
Row 500m

WOD2:
50 Chest to Bar Pull-Ups
50 Burpees

The 155lb squat cleans are going to be rough. So are the 50 chest to bar pullups. There’s not enough neoprene in Walgreens to give me the support I need for these workouts. If you see me later today and I’m wearing two ice packs, that’s only because I don’t have three.

Havin’ fun on Hell’s Half Acre.

Update: I survived day one. As anticipated, the squat cleans did me in on WOD #1. I’ve never done 155lbs before. I only became comfortable with 135 a few weeks ago. I was able to do all 3 sets of ten, but ran out of time before I could do the final row. The cutoff time was 20 minutes.

WOD #2 went much better. I finished with a respectable time of 7:09. It took about four minutes to the do the pullups and three to do the burpees. Felt good, but very sore now.

One more workout tomorrow. It will be box jumps, kettlebell swings, and sumo-deadlift-highpulls. It will be hard, but doable, provided I can roll out of bed. I’ll post exact workout in the morning.

May 2, 2009 By Wade 3 Comments