Born to Run

Born to Run is a true story that centers around the Tarahumara Indians who live in western Mexico. This tribe is known for their unbelievable feats of running endurance. Wearing home made sandals as foot protection  and fueled on lots of corn, they can run for distances of 100 or more miles without much difficulty.

Christopher McDougal travels to Mexico to see what they’re all about and to pick up tips that may help in his own running. During his travels, he encounters numerous “characters” including a man who calls himself Caballo Blanco. Caballo Blanco is an American who has lived among the Tarahumara for more than a decade and has incorporated endurance running into everything that he does.

After returning to America, McDougal stays in touch with Caballo Blanco who sets up an ultra race in the beautiful but desolate Mexican Copper Canyons where the Tarahumara live. His dream is to bring together American ultra marathoning great Scott Jurek, a number of other top ultra runners, and the Tarahumara who are regarded as some of the most incredible endurance athletes ever.  McDougal helps organize the American side of the race and brings about 10 other runners with him.

One of the runners is called Barefoot Ted who virtually always runs barefoot or with minimal foot covering. He provides an interesting foil to Caballo Blanco, both being unique characters in their own right.

The book makes a strong case for the benefits of barefoot running and the possibility that running shoes may actually cause more injuries than they prevent. They also discuss something called the Running Man theory that postulates all humans were created to be runners and discusses group endurance hunts. These endurance hunts involved running after prey and keeping at it until the animal died of exhaustion. While humans are not nearly the fastest animal on the planet, we have greater endurance than a vast majority. For example, given enough time and distance, a man can outrun a horse.

McDougal’s journalism background shows throughout the book as we see vignettes telling individual character stories that feed into the overall narrative of the Tarahumara and culminating in the race. He delves into the science behind running as well as telling interesting background stories for each of the people represented in the book. He clearly performed a great deal of research when writing the book.

His writing style is funny, engaging, and off the cuff. There are a few spots where the language can get a little rough and a few scenes are described in a bit more detail than is needed. He does discuss macro-evolution as fact but if taken with a grain of salt, the perspective is still interesting as it relates to running. These elements do not overly denigrate an otherwise fascinating and fun story. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and recommend it to anyone interested in running, geography, or just a plain good story. Incidentally, if any movie producers are looking for a good potential movie, this would make a great story with a full cast of characters.

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You Will Never...

You will never...

have enough things, be popular enough, be rich enough, be pretty enough, be strong enough, be thin enough, be funny enough, be smart enough, be powerful enough, accomplish enough, laugh enough, be talented enough, be tough enough, drink enough, eat enough, exercise enough, gamble enough, play on the internet enough, watch TV enough

...to be fulfilled.

You will always want more. You will plan and devise ways to get the next thing, meet the right people, and reach the next goal. This will not be enough.

Jesus is the only one who can truly fill and satisfy your heart. He is more than enough.

The Perfect Mile

In the early 1950s, several young men by the names of Roger Banister, John Landy, and Wes Santee were knocking on the door of the 4 minute mile barrier. Some said it would never be done and that the human body was simply not made to run that fast. The Perfect Mile is the story of each of these mens' quests for the 4:00 mile barrier.

Bannister was a medical student in London at the time and mixed training with studying, rounds at the hospital and keeping up with a social life. His scientific research into the capabilities of the human body aided his understanding of the practical side of running and he knew that it was definitely possible to break the barrier.

Landy was a student as well and spent countless hours training when friends and family were pursuing other activities. Of the three, he was probably the most well trained and could consistently run 4:02 miles and not be overly spent shortly thereafter.

Santee was a student at the University of Kansas and had team commitments to fulfill in addition to his individual pursuit of the 4 minute mile. His team obligations sometimes put a damper on the ability to focus solely on training for the event.

Each of the men kept track of the other's progress on far away continents and spurred him on to be the first to break the barrier. Eventually, Bannister succeeded in running a sub 4 minute mile at Oxford University with the help of a couple of training partners pacing him through the first 3.5 laps. Landy and Santee were obviously a bit disappointed but continued in their own personal pursuits.

After the barrier fell, Bannister and Landy finally met in the Commonwealth Games held in Canada in an epic race hyped in the media as one of the biggest races of all time. Thousands and thousands of people witnessed the race with Bannister just barely beating Landy at the end.

I was interested to read about the training methods at the time. There is a much greater understanding of how to train for speed in the approximately 60 years since that time. Another factor differentiating that period of competitive running with today is that virtually all world class athletes were not professional and had to subsist on the support of family and their own jobs rather than benefiting from the lucrative sponsorships afforded to today's athletes.

I thought the portion about the showdown between Bannister and Landy was well done but could have gotten to the point a bit quicker rather than prolonging the suspense. At parts, this portion felt like the suspense leading up to the race was unnecessarily lengthened.

The book is well written and adds suspenseful elements that keep you wanting to read more. It alternates amongst the three runners stories, constantly circling back to the 4 minute mile barrier. Bascomb did extensive research and interviews in writing the book and the quality of the material shows this. It would make an excellent movie if ever produced into a full length feature film. I definitely recommend the book for anyone interested in running, history, and the intrigue of running a mile in 4 minutes.

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Temporary Break

Howdy friends, it's been a while since I've posted a blog entry and I thought it'd be good to let you, the reader, know why. I'm helping edit a book for a friend at church called JUMP: Jesus Understands My Problems which is about working through hurts, habits, hangups, or generally any issues holding a person back from living a victorious life in Christ. Thus, most of my free writing/editing cycles have been used for that recently. It's been a lot of fun and hopefully lots of people will be helped by the materials. I've got several blog ideas waiting for development so keep checking back and I should hopefully get one up every so often.
In pursuit of His best,

Andrew

Spiritual Attacks and Opposition

Sometimes when we're walking the path of righteousness and doing cool things with God this can result in spiritual attacks and opposition. If you're experiencing opposition from the enemy, it probably means you're a threat to him and he doesn't like what you're doing. Obviously, it's important to first examine your motives, seek wise council, and God's wisdom to make sure you're walking with a pure heart on the path He has planned for you. But that being said, spiritual attacks are probably to be expected and even though they're not fun you can take comfort that you're on the right track and God's using you. James 1:12-15, Ephesians 6:10-18.

In pursuit of His best,

Andrew

Seeing With Spiritual Eyes

Have you ever walked out the door and gotten in the car only to realize that "Hey, everything seems a little fuzzy and blurry"? Oh yeah, glasses/contacts actually make a difference in seeing clearly.

This same concept can be applied to our spiritual lives. If we head out the door without first preparing our spiritual eyes, things can be a little fuzzy.

In Romans 12:2 Paul says, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

Without renewing our minds, we go through life picking up all kinds of external stimuli whether other people, TV, radio, websites, music, emails, or other media potentially dirtying and fogging up our spiritual glasses. Taking some time each day to renew the mind and "clean the glasses" is critical in seeing and interacting with the world using a God centered perspective.

In pursuit of His best,

Andrew

Food, Inc.

Food, Inc. will change the way you think about food and where it comes from. This documentary on the food industry delves into the business behind food production and the dark side of farming.

A few multi-national companies control the vast amount of food production and dictate how farmers and growers run their operations. Though the documentary interviews individual farmers and workers, the huge corporations all seemed to decline to be interviewed.

The documentary shows chicken growing productions where enormous chicken houses without access to light are a primary method for producing chickens. The conditions inside the chicken houses are disgusting and chickens are packed together with little room to move. They are fed hormones and antibiotics which reduce the chick to adult gestation period from 70 to 49 days. This growth is so rapid that the internal organs and body structure are not equipped to support the chicken.

The documentary also shows enormous feed lot cattle productions where cattle are fed corn though the natural food is grass for cows. The cows stand in large amounts of their own manure which makes it much easier to spread Ecoli to the cows and sometimes ends up in the final product.

Workers at a pork processing plant in North Carolina are interviewed to discuss the poor working conditions and what seems to be uncaring nature of the company towards it's workers. The conditions for the animals when they are growing are poor as well with them being confined to a small cage rather than free to roam. It seems to be a mass production factory rather than an operation with good quality control and safety measures.

Large fast food operations such as McDonalds want virtually identical products every time and this has resulted in cookie cutter production of food instead of the production of cows, chickens, and pigs. Their high demand for identical factory animals has pushed the concepts of mass production feed lots and encourages unsanitary conditions through cost cutting.

There are now patent laws protecting specific strains of seeds which some companies have used to wield virtual monopoly power over farmers. One example mentioned in the documentary is the company Monsanto who controls 90% of all soybean production and forbids farmers from saving seed forcing them to continue purchasing seed from the company. The company resorts to strong arm tactics and regularly sues farmers and seed cleaners to further secure their monopoly under the auspices of protecting their soybean patent.

The government officials responsible for regulating the food industry often have direct ties back to the major companies so there would appear to be a strong conflict of interest in enforcing regulations.

A law called Kevin's law, named after a 2 year old who died following eating hamburger infected with Ecoli, has not become law yet but has had various versions proposed over the past 5 years. If passed this would give the USDA the ability to more closely regulate the meat and poultry industry to reduce pathogens in meat production and potentially shut down plants that breach health regulations. Feel free to contact your congress members to let them know of this proposed law.

As an alternative to mass production, examples of organic farming are presented. The animals are able to interact with each other and walk around freely similar to how they might in the wild. They eat natural foods rather than being force fed corn. A very articulate and humorous farmer name Joel Salatin, owner of Polyface Farms in Virginia, has fully embraced this style of farming and runs a very successful operation. He talks about letting chickens be chickens and allowing the pigness of pigs. Though organic food costs a bit more, proponents say it taste better and is better for the eaters health. Large corporations such as Walmart and Target have begun selling organic food and this will help with economies of scale and cost reduction.

Throughout the documentary I found myself going "woah, your kidding right?" I won't say that I'll never eat fast food again or purchase non-organic but it definitely gives pause towards thinking about where the things you're eating come from. I definitely recommend this 90 minute video to everyone wanting a behind the scenes look at the food industry.

Is Jesus Your Rabbi?

Recently, I watched a Rob Bell video titled "Dust" in which he describes the historical context of a rabbi and his disciples. It's definitely relevant to us today.

A disciple followed his rabbi wherever he went to learn everything he taught and to become like him. Those who were not chosen to become a student of a rabbi learned a trade or some kind of business and had teachers in those respective areas.

The environment you're in and people you spend time with and hang out with will affect your thought pattern and who you become. Ultimately, we should seek to follow Jesus as our rabbi and allow Him to teach us as He taught the disciples. In each situation you're in and every person you interact with strive to follow Him and learn The Rabbi's teachings for life.

In pursuit of His best,

Andrew

The Treasure Principle

Imagine God personally setup a meeting with you and during the meeting entrusted you with some assets to manage. This is the basic principle behind The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn. It is a short little book but is full of good perspective on what it means to be a money manager for God.

Rather than thinking of your money and assets as yours, Alcorn discusses a different concept of God owning it all. When you think of money/possessions, not to mention many other assets such as time and talents, it changes the way you make financial decisions. By praying about purchases, saving, or giving away money, a person can gain insight into how God would like the assets used.

Until a few years ago, I thought of myself as a relatively generous person but still thought of possessions and financial resources as my own. In changing to the perspective of being a steward of those assets, it really helps to keep in mind what is truly important and investing for eternal gain.

I really like the discussion Alcorn covers in talking about spending temporary resources for eternal purposes. Anything that is owned here on earth will eventually be left behind so there is wisdom in seeking out the eternal purposes to invest in.

For anyone wanting a quick read and a good Biblical perspective on being a financial steward of God, The Treasure Principle covers this nicely.

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Son of Hamas

Son of Hamas by Mosab Yousef, is the account of a man who grew up as the son of one of the first founders of the Islamic group Hamas. Growing up, he lived mainly in Palestine and maintained a relatively normal life despite his father being linked to Hamas. As he approached high school graduation, he became increasingly frustrated with the Israeli soldiers who occupied the area and generally harassed them.

He was arrested and sent to prison where he was interrogated for information about Hamas though he knew very little at that time. During the course of his incarceration he was eventually convinced to become an agent for Shin Bhet, the Isreali intelligence agency similar to the CIA. Though this went against everything he believed in and he did it partly to escape torture, he came to see the increasingly militant activities of Hamas as bringing destruction and harm to the world and saw that assisting to prevent these activities would be of greater good than participating in them himself.

Over the course of the next 10 years he was involved in continual operations that led to the arrest or death of terrorists and their leaders saving many lives in the process. His inside connection within Hamas allowed him access to the highest level leaders as well as interactions with the Palestinian Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat. This provided invaluable insight and intelligence for Shin Bhet in fighting terrorist activities.

A seemingly random encounter with a British tourist led him to investigate the Bible and the Christian faith. Over time as he read the Bible, he found more and more truth in it which matched up more with the reality he experienced than the Koran which he had a firm foundation in. Eventually, he became a full fledged follower of Christ and was actually baptized. All of this is rather amazing given his upbringing and that his father was a sheik and imam of the Muslim faith.

After 10 years living this life, he loved the work but wanted more of a sense of normalcy so got out of Shin Bhet and moved to California. He now maintains a blog at sonofhamas.com.

The story reads like a spy novel but is an amazing real life account. It provides great insight into the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and anyone interested in gaining better perspective on the Mideast would benefit from it.

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Our Iceberg is Melting

In the book Our Iceberg Is Melting, Harvard professor John Kotter and co-author Holger Rathgeber tell the story of a colony of penguins who are facing change. The story is written in fable format similar to Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson.

An astute penguin named Fred observes that the iceberg the colony lives on is melting and that they will face potential disaster if it breaks apart in the middle of winter. He proceeds to present his findings to Alice, a member of the leadership council. Once the need for action is realized, there is no small amount of squabbling amongst the council as to next steps.

They eventually determine to let the rest of the colony know of the great risks and solicit ideas for solutions. After arriving at a creative solution through interactions with a seagull, they implement a migratory initiative to seek out new icebergs. The change is not without detractors who question the findings and argue for maintaining the status quo without addressing the risks of the melting iceberg. However, through strong leadership of the head penguin and a small action team, the penguins drove efforts to eventually relocate to a safer home.

The story has multiple examples of personalities seen commonly in organizations. There are those who are interested in arguing for the sake of arguing, the cautious, the hard driving but consensus building leaders, the creative but sometimes ignored penguins, the naysayers, those being academic in mindset but who ask tough questions, and those who just want everyone to be happy, among others.

Kotter and Rathgeber use the story to demonstrate an eight step process of successful change which includes:

1. Create a Sense of Urgency
2. Pull Together a Guiding Team
3. Develop the Change Vision and Strategy
4. Communicate for Understanding and Buy In
5. Empower Others to Act
6. Produce Short-term Wins
7. Don't Let Up
8. Make It Stick

The book is fun, has great change management principles, and can be read in no more than an hour or so. While change for change's sake is not necessarily wise, for those in any organization facing challenges, this book provides easy to understand concepts for managing change.

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Shoes

Yesterday at church as a part of the sermon, the pastor challenged the congregation to not be afraid to be uncomfortable if your agenda does not match up with God's plan. As a physical illustration of this, he challenged people to give up the shoes they wore to church to go towards needy people in Hati and other under privileged areas of the world.

This was not communicated to people prior to the church service so was an immediate response. I was on stage playing with the band while people came up and it was a really cool sight to see hundreds of people bringing their shoes to the front steps not afraid to be a little uncomfortable.

Run Like Elijah

"The power of the LORD came upon Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel." I Kings 18:46

I think this display of God's supernatural power is just awesome. It comes briefly after showing His power through sending fire to light a very wet sacrifice on fire, proving that He was God and Baal was not. (some good trash talking from Elijah to the prophets of Baal is in there as well) It also comes just after Elijah had prayed for a three year drought to be lifted. Once a cloud appears, Elijah sends word for Ahab to hitch up his chariot and skeedaddle because it's about to rain something fierce.

I don't know how many horses a typical chariot would have but am guessing the king could afford several so suffice it to say that Elijah was booking it in running "ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel."

I recently ran a half-marathon and while the spirit of the Lord did not give me supernatural speed, it was a good time of seeking His power to complete the race and glorify Him in it. I think Elijah's seeking after God and walking or rather running with Him is something to aspire to. Will God always reveal Himself supernaturally? Probably not, but if we continue to pursue Him and stay in His will, someday, we may run like Elijah.

Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt by Louis Auchincloss

Theodore Roosevelt was one of the most dynamic presidents in the history of our country. After being born in affluence, he established himself as a man's man by becoming the leader of a crew of rough country characters and city men and leading them in the Spanish-American conflict in Cuba. He himself led the charge up San Juan hill which proved to be pivotal in winning the battle.

He also had stints as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Commissioner of Police in New York City, Governor of New York, Vice President, and ultimately President following the assassination of William McKinley. Throughout his life, he was a diligent reader and even endeavored on writing several books himself. He had a very excitable and strong personality with a constant bent towards leadership and inspiring others to his vision.

The only short coming of this book is the concise almost cliff notes story of his life. He had so many exciting experiences and such vivacity of life that I would liked to gone into more depth and may check out additional accounts of his life.

Inquire of the Lord

David inquired of the LORD, and the LORD answered him, "Go down to Keilah, for I am going to give the Philistines into your hand." -1 Samuel 23:3-5
"David inquired of the LORD, "Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?" "Pursue them," he answered. "You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue." -1 Samuel 30:8 
"David inquired of the LORD, and he answered, "Do not go straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the balsam trees." -2 Samuel 5:23


David's life is such a great example of a man seeking after God and yet at times really messing things up. At various points during his life we see him "inquiring of the Lord." This is coupled with resulting wisdom and success in his endeavors. At other times, he did not "inquire of the Lord" and reaped negative consequences such as a broken family, adultery, murder, and a plague upon the nation of Israel.

I think his life can very easily be applied to most people today. How often are decisions made without inquiring of the Lord? While sometimes things work out fine, at others the Lord could have provided insight and wisdom into the situation that would have resulted in greater success or avoided poor decisions and heartache. In my own life, I sometimes do well at inquiring of the Lord and seeking His wisdom. It is at these times that I most sense His presence and guidance in my life. At other times, I do not inquire of the Lord and rely on my own understanding and capabilities. Inevitably, mistakes or awkward situations occur that could have been otherwise avoided.

I Thessalonians 5:17 says "pray continually." This fits nicely into inquiring of the Lord. When we are continually in a state of prayer, we inquire of the Lord and have His constant guidance. It is definitely something that takes practice to become skilled at. Next time you're driving in the car, exercising, shopping at the store, or doing other daily tasks, visualize Jesus presence there with you and talk with Him. By building a constant relationship, you can much more easily hear His prompting and feel comfortable inquiring of the Lord.

A really good short book written by a 17th century monk that covers this concept very well is called The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. He writes about learning to experience and know God's presence even in regular tasks like cooking or washing dishes rather than only in dedicated "sacred" times.

San Diego: Torrey Pines, Padres, Historic Gaslamp District

This past week I took a trip to San Diego and while there got to visit the Torrey Pines nature preserve along the Pacific Ocean as well as go to a Padres vs. Cardinals game and checkout the historic gaslamp district. Here are a few photos:

Runners be not jealous, I got to do a mile repeat speed workout along this stretch.

This guy was hanging out around my hotel along with a few of his buddies.

Praise in Battle

Running has so many parallels to the spiritual walk/run and life in general. I was reminded of this again yesterday while doing a 10 mile long run. I'd been running for around 4 or 5 miles and listening to a worship album by Paul Baloche and really enjoying the time of praise and singing while running. Cars kept wizzing by and while that's not out of the ordinary when running on the roads, it definitely keeps you on your toes.

The spiritual parallel I saw in this was the times when going along in a season of joy and worship and then something catches you by surprise. I can be in a worshipful frame of mind and praising God for who He is and the things He's done in my life then an arrow from the enemy comes firing my way.

It's important to always be mindful that I'm in a spiritual battlefield and attacks can come at any time. My Commander is able to see attacks coming and give me power to resist and keep my eyes fixed on Him. There's something powerful in weathering the storms and battles then coming out on the other end still holding on to Jesus.

I think He sometimes guards us and prevents the enemy from interfering with our lives in order to give us seasons of rest and rejuvenation. It is during these peaceful and quiet times by abiding in Christ that we firmly root our souls in Him.

When the storms and battles do come, we may undergo blows and be battered by the wind and rain but with our feet planted firmly on the Rock, we can stand and praise Him despite the circumstances. "I lift my eyes up to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." -Psalm 121:1-2

Speed Up a Podcast or Slow Down a Song

Windows Media Player has the ability to either speed up or slow down a podcast or song. I've found this useful when listening to a podcast but want to get through it a bit faster. Of course, if you're listening to a deep sermon by a pastor that you really want to absorb, you might even consider using the slow down feature.

Another really good use of the speed settings is if you are trying to learn a music part by ear and it's crazy fast like the bass solo of Salvation Is Here by Hillsong United. (I actually learned it at normal speed but this would be a good application for the tool)

To do this, simply right click while playing the song or podcast then go to Enhancements, Play speed settings and adjust to your preferred speed. I've found most podcasts to be fine up to the 1.3 to 1.4x speed but much more than that and you feel like you're listening to a chipmunk hyped up on Mountain Dew.

If you're working on a Mac this can be done in Quick Time by going to Window, Show A/V Controls, playback speed.

In pursuit of His best,
Andrew

Prayer CATS

An acronym that can be helpful when thinking about prayer and how to pray is C.A.T.S.
Confession
Adoration
Thanksgiving
Supplication

Sometimes this acronym is in the order ACTS but I think it's good to confess sin first thing before getting into the other areas. Just seems to make sense if there's something that's not straight with me and God to fess up then get down to business. Then, I can focus on the praise and worship of who He is followed by thanks for the many blessings He's given me and after each of these elements, intercession and prayer for myself and others. Of course, it doesn't always have to follow this order but it's at least a good tool to keep in the back pocket.

In pursuit of His best,

Andrew

Lead Me

I really like the song "Lead Me" by Sanctus Real that we're playing at church this weekend. Even though I'm not a husband or father yet, the song has a powerful message of relying on God to give strength and give guidance to a man as he leads and provides strength and protection to those he loves.