100+ Attendees, 7-10 Decisions, 3 Salvations, and 1 Successful 10″ Brick Break. Enjoy the videos.
*Please take note that while delivering the Gospel I was nervous about the upcoming break.
In my weakness He was strong.
Tag Archives: Karate
Chains That Prevent Success
How do you define success?
Success is generally defined by our performance and achievements, but who defines whether something is a worthy cause worth achieving?
8" of Concrete Brick
For example… I am going to attempt to break ten inches of concrete brick tonight at Karate. When I think about it, it is a stupid idea, but at the same time it has the ability to gather a crowd, peak people’s interest, and open their minds to new ideas. My goal is to give a gospel presentation throughout it. The bricks represent a barrier or a wall that separates us from God, and that in order to be justified the wall of sin has to be broken. The breaking of the bricks will represent what Christ did on the cross for our sins.
I sit and wonder will I be successful at my attempt? I have never accomplished a brick break of this size, and magnitude before in my life. One doesn’t just wake up in the morning, and say “hey, I think I am going to punish my body, break ten inches of concrete, and tell people about Jesus today.” It doesn’t happen. Brick breaking is like a form of art or science. It is a masterpiece in the making. I realize from past experiences that there are a lot of chains that restrain us from doing what seems to be impossible. I’m not talking about bricks anymore. I’m talking about your life. You have the potential for greatness, however we allow ourselves to be restrained by the chains of failure. I want to simply state just a few of those chains.
- 1. Fear – I fear that I will fail, hurt myself, or let people down.
- 2. Doubt – I doubt my own abilities, God’s abilities, and the abilities of others.
- 3. Purpose – I either lack or lose focus of my purpose & vision.
If I expect to accomplish my goal tonight, I must overcome my fear, rely on the abilities that God has enabled me with, and remember that my purpose isn’t necessarily to break the bricks, but to plant a seed to see lost souls saved.
What is your goal, and how do you plan to accomplish it?
Future Black Belt In The Making
Yesterday, I was excited when my son was announced Student of the Month in Karate. When his Instructor Pat Malone handed him his medal and certificate Kaleb’s face just lit up. I had the privilege of placing the medal around his neck as I looked upon him with pride. Kaleb really has come a long ways in the martial arts. He has been training since he turne
d 4 years old. Being the child of instructors can be very hard on him, but he always keeps a positive attitude. Having to share your parents with many other students, stay at the gym for long hours, and stay out of trouble while his parents are busy setting up requires a lot of independence. This is the first time Kaleb was selected for this in the two years of RMAA operation. We are very proud of him. Kaleb is a future black belt in the making.
2 Months and Going Strong
We have been offering free martial arts to the community for the last 2 months, and God has been blessing through it. Children are memorizing scripture, learning discipline, and self control. Tonight will be our first testing since we closed the school in Rogers. I am very excited to see what our students have retained, and been able to apply. This is a time where parents should be proud of their children. The martial arts is a very thought provoking art which requires mental and physical strength. Putting on that belt for the first time is a very rewarding moment especially for those who trained hard to obtain it. Tonight students will demonstrate their abilities, and for those who succeed the honor is great. We will have an awards ceremony 2 weeks from today, and students will be able to call themselves “Martial Artist”. True martial artist are a rare breed. Too many of our black belts are so caught up in the sport aspect as well as arrogant pride they lose focus of the true martial artist. One who is humble, respectful, and at the same time proud of whom they have become. A great deal of respect is due to those who have worked so hard to keep the martial arts an art.
Karate Recap
According to the Sign in Sheet we had 29 people show up for Karate. That is not counting myself or Katie. It was a great class. The students listened, and had a good time. I think we will have allot of students registering next week. I did have a couple parents that were frustrated, because their child wouldn’t stay still, but you know what, we got to remember that they are kids. They are not Great Kung Fu Karate Masters. That is why we call them the Ninja Monkeys. After it was all said and done I think it was an overall successful class. I’m glad we are back in session.
Karate for Christ
Today is the first day that we start karate lessons for the Fall 08 season. I am very excited, but at the same time dreading it. I love teaching and training in the martial arts, however just like any exercise program as soon as your schedule gets busy it is the first thing to go. Since we have been out of session for the summer my personal training has come to a stop. Because of this I am going to be extremely out of shape and sore for the first couple months of class. That is the good thing about starting back up. It forces me to train, and exercise. I have to say that is one area in my life that I fall short. I give my all to God by studying, teaching, proclaiming, and almost all areas of my life except my health. I am ashamed of it, however it is true. I am out of shape, and because of that it will hinder me in the ministry in some areas. You may be thinking is this guy crazy; is he saying being out of shape is like a *sin*. No, that is not the case. Being out of shape is the result of a sin, and that sin is laziness & gluttony.
Anyways, I am really looking forward to meeting new faces, and training new students. Martial Arts is actually a very neat hobby. It consist of allot of different aspects. It is a sport, it is an art, it is exercises, and it is educational. It teaches patience, perseverance, integrity, courtesy, self control, discipline, and in our area of study; faith and Biblical practices. I think my favorite part of it all is getting to see a student’s face when they have accomplished something they think they couldn’t do. Anyways I would encourage you to check out our website even if you are not personally interested it karate.
