By Rob Killen
Rob Killen has a long history of faith in God and being active in fitness. When he decided to bring the two together he founded ChurchFitness.com, a service to help churches develop effective fitness facilities and fitness ministry. Rob took his keen interest in fitness and gave it to God. His personal story challenges men to take their passion, apply life principles and achieve real growth to serve others.
ROB’S THOUGHTS ON THE EARLY INFLUENCE OF HIS FATHER AND OTHERS
My father was a high school coach, and I played football and basketball during my childhood years in Virginia. I began weight training when I was 13 to help with athletics. Fitness has remained a big part of my life, both personally and professionally ever since. My life-long passion for keeping physically fit and encouraging others to do the same led to winning the 1994 MID-USA in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Today, I continue to weight train regularly for personal enjoyment and health. I spent a great deal of time with my grandparents when I was young. My grandmother was a strong Christian woman, and she played a huge role in my spiritual journey during my younger years.
ROB’S FITNESS BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCES
I’ve worked in the fitness industry for over 20 years. I got my professional start by serving my country in the U.S. Air Force. I’ve been a certified personal trainer for many years, and after leaving the Air Force I opened and operated health clubs in Texas and Oklahoma for several years. In 1999 I made the transition to selling commercial fitness equipment, and have worked for Gym Source since 2003. Gym Source is the largest commercial fitness equipment dealer in the world, and I get the opportunity to work with a wide variety of different fitness facilities. Our customers at Gym Source include health clubs, hospitals, universities, YMCA’s. JCC’s, celebrities, corporations, resorts, country clubs, fire and police departments, physical therapy centers, and churches. It’s exciting to see how fitness has become such an important element in our world today.
ROB’S DESCRIBES HIS FAITH JOURNEY AND THREE GUIDING PRINCIPLES HE ENCOURAGES MEN TO HAVE
Like many of us, my Christian journey has had many challenges over the years, but my Christian faith has taught me many valuable lessons in life such as humility, patience, and perseverance to name a few. No matter what we may be experiencing in life, we can learn and grow from it. I have three basic principles that my Christian journey has taught me, and I try to live my life by these principles:
1. USE OUR BLESSING TO BLESS OTHERS: I believe every one of us is gifted in some way. Every one of us has been blessed with a God given gift or skill, and it’s up to us to use what we’ve been blessed with to be a blessing to others. 2. THE GOLDEN RULE: Treat others the way you want others to treat you. Our God is a God of love. Every human being deserves to be treated with love, kindness and respect. Love people where they are, regardless of whom they are or what they believe. Like most of us today I have family members and friends who are Christian, Jewish, agnostic, atheist, republican, democrat, homosexual, lesbian, etc., and you know what? I love them all just the same. We’re all sinners, and none of us are perfect. I don’t have to agree with someone’s position on any number of topics, but I’m not going to let that affect how I treat them. 3. MAINTAIN YOUR SENSE OF HUMOR: Life can be trying and difficult for all of us at times, but God gave us a sense of humor and ability to laugh for a reason. It’s also been scientifically proven that laughter is healthy for us! It lowers blood pressure, increases vascular blood flow and oxygenation of the blood, reduces stress hormones, and can defend against respiratory infections. John Hopkins University Medical School even did a study, which showed humor during instruction led to increased test scores. Don’t take life too seriously all the time by stressing out over everything, especially those matters that are beyond our control. Be serious when the time and circumstance calls for it, but you can literally make or break someone’s entire day by giving them a smile or a chuckle.
