What we’re going to do next is do less by giving you more. We’re going to help you get a better workout by challenging you to get out of the gym. We want your get up and go to be gone. We’ll help you grow a little dirtier. What’s next is nothing like we’ve been doing up to this point – it’s better! But before we go there let’s talk about how NEXT helps you to make progress. At least enough to be close.
NEXT IS PROGRESSION
I got to hit the gym recently with my good friend and one of our Lifestyle Media Group board members, Seth Doherty. It was leg day – and he can out squat me at the squat rack by a lot of weight. He’s been doing CrossFit for a few years now so I asked him how it was going.
I remember years ago when I first met him he shared with me how he grew up as a kid on Lake Squam in New Hampshire. It sounded so ideal that when he invited me to swim at a lake near his home in Virginia (a deep, cold, stone quarry lake) I thoughtlessly agreed. By the time he’d gotten across the lake and was returning he realized I was no where to be found. I hadn’t gotten to far when the cold water started causing me to cramp and my lack of stamina in the water drove me to barely make it to the edge before drowning.
So when he said that he can outperform the best of the CrossFitters in the area of endurance, I was not surprised. “So”, I asked, “what’s the next big challenge for you then?” Seth replied, “I want to get better at the crazy stuff.” He could tell I wasn’t following him so he clarified, “The gymnastic skills – – – The handstands!”
Personally, with a wrist injury, a handstand isn’t a big deal to me. I mean, OK, they look cool but…” BUT, if you’re seriously into the CrossFit culture it is a big deal. So, making progress like this is important.
The Bible says, Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord. That helps us start to understand a big concept of NEXT and build a vision of progression where it isn’t about getting better, doing more, going faster, being stronger and achieving what our mind can conceive and believe.
It’s about doing all of that by being dependent upon God and doing it unto God with His leading, grace and provision. That’s a heck of a lot more ambitious and rewarding than any progress we can self-induce.
Lisa Vassur Jarvis looks to God to make progress with her fitness ministry with this mindset.
NEXT IS NEAR
You’ve heard the expression, “It’s so close I can taste it.” Want and desire are God designed to be powerful drivers. That’s a good thing. Want is an incredible gift from God that help us to get the very best He wants to accomplish through us. But, sin in our life can taint that gift. If we’re controlled by our ‘want’ it gets corrupted and becomes wanton. When that happens we long for a false sense of more, extravagance without righteousness and a lustful push for next that is uncontrolled. It’s the tomorrow that never happens because we fail to be obedient, see what is near and embrace what God gives us right now.
The Bible gives us inspiring examples of people being near to God. Take for instance Moses on Mount Sinai. You might say he got a little too close. There was no standup tanning bed there, but he straight-up got burned by God’s presence. Not only did he bring back the 10 commandments but, “when all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him.” Jump over to the New Testament and a sick woman had such a level of determination in her faith that she pushed through the crowd and touched Jesus’ clothes. She got an immediate healing and Jesus was like, “Whoa, who touched me?!”
Don’t expect to do that if you see Arnold Schwarzenegger at the Arnold Sports Festival. He has a band of bodyguards all around him as he walks through the crowded corridors. Maybe he heard my wife’s story. In the year’s we’ve been married she’s often recounted to family and friends a childhood experience she had. As a little girl her heart-throb was singer Donny Osmond. Her older brother took her to a concert and when Donny walked by, close but not close enough, her brother literally picked her up and threw her like an acrobat directly in front of the surprised performer. She got the autograph!
All of these illustrate how being NEXT is being near – like intimately near. And – with the ones you love, your God-given purpose and indeed with God you should not only WANT to be near, you have the ability to BE near, real near as in becoming one. But, here’s the real learning curve not only is this closeness what God also wants for you, it’s time to open your eyes and embrace the truth John Prather shares that NEXT is NOW.
#whatsNEXTisbetter – SO SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Since 2003 we, Lifestyle Media Group, have been faithfully bringing you our bi-monthly flagship brand, Faith & Fitness Magazine. We have and continue to be completely free and totally online – A Christian ministry to help you build physical and spiritual strength. Our content is far more than an alternative to secular fitness media. We work to help you discover that being fit is so incredibly fascinating, meaningful, vibrant and lasting – a game changer, when Jesus Christ is central to all you do and everything you become. When we say that we’re “your tool for powerful, healthy and passionate living” we’re challenging you to go further than the hyped, feel-good, motivational affirmations of “live life adventurously”, “get more out of life”, “pursue your dreams” and more. We’re here to help you make your lifestyle your God crafted destiny to BE LIFE!
So, it’s time to pull the trigger on what is next for us and for you. We’re transitioning to a quarterly cycle. That means 4 issues per year instead of 6. Dialing back? Not at all. We’re bringing back Shout! Outdoor Lifestyle Magazine and map A Travel Lifestyle Magazine – AND we’re adding a new brand, ripen A Gardening Lifestyle Magazine. All of them are designed to help you make God a big part – the central component to your daily lifestyle.
Each of the online magazines are very different as they dive into the unique skills, experiences, stories, tips and resources of the specific lifestyle interest they represent: travel, outdoor, gardening and fitness. They’re all identical in that they help you to understand how you can make the Christian faith central to your active lifestyle activities. Through this common thread the stories you find in one magazine will give you natural opportunities to link to the other magazines and explore further. That can lead to trying something new, meeting new people you never knew doing things you’ve never done, learning new skills and deeper truths, growing your faith and ultimately being the life of Christ to others in ways you never could have imagined.
God created us as beautifully simple yet vibrantly complex beings. You do more than just wake, eat, work and sleep. You move, go, get outdoors and grow – and more significant than what you do and how you do it is how it shapes you and how God can use you to shape the world. We’re glad to have you as an active part of the Lifestyle Media Group community. Invite your friends to join you. Together lets explore what God has for us NEXT.
