Random reflections of an incurable infracaninophile
My apologies for these ugly pictures. These are my feet.
Well, these were my feet after I completed last May's 50K race in Farmville.
Sometimes things get nasty during an ultra. Especially when you don't cut your toenails very well before the race. (Will somebody please hit me with the stupid stick?)
Races need not come with a complimentary foot makeover nobody asked for. This time I will have a professional pedicure before the race.
You can't take a bad picture in the alps, especially in Zermatt and its environs. This picture was taken at the Stellisee back in August when I was in the alps to climb the Riffelhorn with my mountain guide.
But, like so many of my favorite corners of Europe, you have to earn (by hiking) the thrill of seeing this reflection of the Matterhorn.
Pack light, pack right, and keep on traveling, my friends!
The new Encyclopedia of Biblical Greek Language and Linguistics opens, not surprisingly, with an entry titled "The History of Greek Biblical Language Scholarship" by Stan Porter. Stan's intro feels like a warm handshake, not a lecture.
Here Stan writes that "... principles of linguistics began to emerge in NT Greek research, with some introductory-level books being written in the 1980s ...." In other words, the 1980s seem to have been the heyday as far as the renaissance in New Testament Greek linguistics is concerned. Stan notes, specifically, three works:
To this list I might add:
Both of these books were influential in getting me to write my introductory volume in 1988.
The development now looks something like this:
This means that when I set about hoping to open the door of linguistics to students of New Testament Greek, I had been able to take advantage of the insights of at least three major authors: Louw, Silva, and Carson. When I wrote Linguistics for Students of New Testament Greek, I thought, "Who am I to write this book?" I wrote it anyway. Someone once said that you write the book you need to read. The book is kind of a hand on your shoulder. "This is how language works. The science is called linguistics. Don't be afraid of it." You can disagree with my conclusions in that book. But you cannot disagree that linguistics is an essential discipline for all students of the Bible. I keep hearing, "But linguists agree on nothing." Yes, some of the observations taught by New Testament Greek linguists may differ from each other and even differ considerably. But that's largely due to the fact that linguistics is taught from various "schools." And no book will help you understand these differences better than the volume edited by Stan Porter.
It often seems that the world is divided into linguists on the one hand and Greek teachers and their avid disciples on the other, and that never the twain shall meet. I do hope otherwise, and I have the feeling a book like this one can help break down those barriers.
The stats:
Running outdoors is my personal favorite. There's variety, fresh sunlight, and a calming effect that resets your mind. Today I just ran, breathed, looked at the trees, and thought: I need a lot more of this.
Bike safety is in the news again. I like my bike riding but I don't like to ride on the roads because I don't feel safe. The more cycling trails that are added, the more I use them and the less I'm on regular roads. When I am driving my car and I run across a group of cyclists on the road, I've always found them to be very respectful. As someone who loves to cycle, my advice to drivers is simple. Use your brakes, slow down, exercise some patience, wait for your opportunity to pass safely, and give a thumbs up to the cyclists. Kinda like passing a slow RV or a farm truck pulling a trailer load of hay. It's just that simple.
One bike trail I love to do is the Virginia Capital Trail between Richmond and Jamestown.
It's 52 miles and you're off the road completely.
I've done the entire trail 3 times and it takes about 4 hours to complete. Here I am at the end of my ride about a mile outside of downtown Richmond. That was a great ride!
Tomorrow is long run day! Praying for a smooth 17 miles. It's nuts to think how quickly this training block has whipped on by. I'm not getting any younger but I feel that I am getting stronger. If I said I wasn't nervous about the race I'd be lying. But I'm also really excited. This is getting REAL, folks. I'm about to do something that's really hard. I'm not going to worry about speed tomorrow. Just keep a smile on my face and get 'er done. Should be nice weather!
Being under-muscled is more dangerous than being overweight. "Overweight" doesn't always mean unhealthy. Our BMI doesn't know the difference between body fat and muscle. It just measures our total weight. The danger isn't weight. It's too much fat and not enough muscle.
God gave us muscles not as decorations. They are metabolically active tissue. They help your body burn more calories throughout the day. The more calories you burn, the easier it becomes to create and sustain the caloric deficit required for fat loss. The more muscle you have, the more energy your body requires to maintain it.
Most people struggle with fat loss because they have underdeveloped muscles. With underdeveloped muscles, you burn fewer calories at rest since muscles generally increase your total daily energy expenditure. Now, building muscle won't necessarily cause fat loss. You will still need a caloric deficit. But building muscle can make that caloric deficit easier to achieve because your body is burning more energy throughout the day.
The fix is muscle. Lift a couple of days a week, eat enough protein, get enough recovery, and give it time. Your weight may barely move on the scale, but your whole shape changes.
Muscle isn't vanity. It's vitality.
German words never seem to end. You can basically combine German nouns to create all sorts of monstrosities words. "Kraftfahrzeughaftpflichtversicherung" is basically your car insurance. Oh my. Can you imagine playing Scrabble in German?
The longest New Testament Greek is word is found in Acts 10:41. It means something like "chosen beforehand."
English could do the same thing but we're too lazy. Why couldn't we make up our own compound nouns like:
"cardoorwindowopener"
"cardoorwindowopenerfactory"
"cardoorwindowopenerfactoryworker"?
Here's a question for you. How would you say in German "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"?
It's a nonsense word meaning something like "fantastic" or "extraordinarily wonderful." This will get you started:
super = above
kali = beautiful
fragilistic = fragile
expeali = make amends
docious = teachable
Who knew that words could be so much fun?
This arrived today at the farm from Baker.
I am very happy to have contributed to it. I am so thankful to be part of a guild that takes linguistics seriously.
So here we go. My final month of training has officially kicked off. Here are today's stats:
One run.
One workout.
One mile at a time.
Now I want to know: What goal are you pursuing right now?
Getting lean (or leanish) is pretty simple. This doesn't mean it's easy but that it doesn't require any complicated techniques. It simply requires the consistent repetition of some very straightforward basics. Staying lean, however, is where things can get a bit more complicated. This is true whether you are an average Joe or a competitive bodybuilder, a swimmer, a football player, or a surfer like me.
You either need to burn more calories through activity or consume fewer calories. What you need to figure out through trial and error is how lean you have to eat in order to feel full while consuming roughly the number of calories that enable you to maintain your weight. For most of us that means unprocessed foods with a little room for indulgences now and then. These "indulgences" matter. Life is just more enjoyable with them than without them. There are times when all of us will eat to excess. I do this whenever I am with family. Offer me a piece of homemade pecan pie? Gladly!
Now the question becomes, What do I do now? What we often do is more cardio because that's what will burn off the calories the quickest. Another option is to put these extra calories to good use by getting in a few extra sets at the gym. Might as well use all those carbs for some muscle building. Either way, it's essential to remember that one meal or even one day of overeating will not affect your overall progress. What matters is what you do consistently over time.
The best way to reset is not with restrictions but by resuming your normal eating, walking, and lifting habits as soon as possible.
Overthinking isn't simply thinking too much but thinking about things in a disproportionate manner. You spend longer than you should on things that shouldn't require as much mental energy. Let's say you want to teach yourself New Testament Greek and you're faced with lots of choices about the textbook you want to use. The fact is, there are a lot of beginning grammars that will get you to where you want to go, provided you apply yourself. These textbooks represent the plethora of right choices, some better than others perhaps, but you're still going to get to your goal regardless of the grammar you use.
Just make an informed decision and then go for it!
While you're on Oahu, strolling down Kalakaua Ave. in Waikiki is a great way to spend your day. Whether or not you have your surfboard with you. 😉
Can't wait to climb the Mettelhorn next summer in Zermatt, Lord willing. 20K roundtrip. Not too steep. 1,880 meter elevation gain. (That's just over 6,000 feet.) Views of the surrounding area in every direction. This includes the Matterhorn.
As usual, I plan to stay at the Hotel Bahnhof.
You're 60 seconds from the Zermatt train station. Some rooms come with a Matterhorn view. Plus the hotel is super affordable.
Don't want to eat out? A shared kitchen facility has everything you need.
Will I be strong enough for one more alpine ascent? I hope so!
What's on your bucket list for 2027?
In case you don't know, I'm still writing. I'm finishing up two books, after which I plan to revise two of my other books.
You may have noticed that my books are getting shorter and shorter. That's not accidental. There's a major difference between a good book and a great book, in my opinion. Good books come and go, but rare indeed are those that stay fixed in our minds. As a student at Biola and Talbot, I will never forget certain required textbooks: Frazer's Behind the Ranges, Trueblood's The Idea of a College, and Allen's Missionary Methods: Saint Paul's Or Ours? to name but three. Often the great books are not those that are longest or most arduous. They are the ones that speak with relevance and get to the point.
It's easy for those of us who write to substitute length for strength. A woman who had listened to the great Welsh preacher John Owen was once asked about his sermons. She said, "Well, sometimes he's so long setting the table, I have lost my appetite for the meal."
Two of the most recent beginning Greek grammars are about 600 pages. Yes, I said beginning grammars. I loved how Jesus spoke. He cut it straight. He used plain language. Occasionally he used humor. You didn't have to be trained as a rabbit to understand what he had to say. Jesus's Sermon on the Mount is a great example. There's not a wasted word here. And the depth? Oh my, the depth. R. C. Sproul once said that a great preacher is like an iceberg. You may see only 10 percent, but underneath you sense the 90 percent. Simplicity gets attention. No, I'm not talking about being simple AND simplistic. There's enough of that kind of writing out there today. I'm talking about writing that is both simple and deep.
I hope I don't forget this as I enter the last phase of my writing career. I hope I can still maximize information density while minimizing the clutter. I have found that being concise takes a lot more skill than being verbose. That's because it doesn't have fluff or unnecessary details. Concise books are also incredibly fun to write. It doesn't bog down while retaining all the great hallmarks of a good book. I want to write books that anybody can read and be genuinely interested in. Which means writing concisely even when no one else does.
Here's my step counter progress for the week.
Wednesday and Saturday were the longer runs. The best part? Every step counts! Got in the usual gym sessions as well. Today is a true rest day.
One step at a time, one day at a time!
There are three great doctrines that drive me as a Greek teacher. I was taught these foundational doctrines when I was a student at Talbot back in the 1970s. They have since become watersheds for me.
The first is revelation. The second is inspiration. And the third is illumination.
Revelation is God revealing his truth to man. Inspiration takes the next step. Inspiration is man's receiving and recording this divine truth in accurate form. If revelation is God making his truth known to us, inspiration is our recording truth so that it becomes graphē -- sacred Scripture. Finally, illumination is our understanding and application of divine truth to everyday life.
Revelation and inspiration have ceased. Illumination hasn't. It goes on and on. Our need as believers is not to find some new source of revelation. God is no longer giving revelation. He has, in fact, given us his word in written form as the Bible. And the Bible is totally without error. No one today has the ability to speak God's truth without error. This includes the most well-meaning teachers. They will make mistakes. But in the Bible we have the sure word of God. We have God's truth stated in written form. It is able to be read and studied and pondered and applied.
This is why, Greek student, you are studying the biblical languages. If there is anything that marks contemporary New Testament scholarship it is its murkiness. In fact, that is the word Peter uses in 2 Pet. 1:19 to describe the lack of clarity that characterized the false teachers and skeptical scoffers of his day. Peter counters them by directing his readers back to the "prophetic word" of God that was confirmed by his own eyewitness experience of the earthly Savior. In place of this prophetic word, the false teachers offered nothing but auchmēros -- an adjective meaning dark gloominess or murkiness. When applied metaphorically, the term evokes an image of truth that has been obscured by deceit and corruption. Only the light of Scripture pierces such gloom.
Certain New Testament scholars today deny the historicity of biblical events, contending that their approach to "genre" supports their gloomy conclusions. They argue that the biblical doctrine of inerrancy needs a facelift that would include the dehistoricization of texts. The unfortunate result is not merely the violation of Scripture but the implementation of unproven categories that negate the historicity of biblical narratives that clearly present themselves as factual. If the Gospels are redemptive history (and they are), they are still real history.
We either believe the claims of Jesus or we don't. What he said about the Scriptures is either false or true. If you think that holding to biblical inerrancy is optional, don't call yourself an evangelical. You are either for him or against him. I know that is brutally frank, but that's the truth. There is no neutrality.
My next 50K is on Dec. 5. Exactly four weeks out!
This is the time when your biggest training weeks happen. Long runs. Time on feet. Getting a feel for how well race day will go. Finding your pace. Race fueling strategy. This was my view today:
And here were today's miles and steps:
Nothing too dramatic over the next four weeks. Just keep showing up and putting in the work. This is what the race day course will look like:
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| Farmville to Rice and back: 16 miles. Farmville to Prospect and back: 16 miles. |
This race looks awesome! It will be here before we know it!
If you're new to my blog, I'm not a bodybuilder. My goals are actually pretty simple. I want to be fit for everyday life and stay healthy long term. I would also like to have a physique that looks strong and sharp without looking awkward or overdeveloped. Obviously, genetics plays a big role here. But you can target specific muscles by choosing the right exercises.
Most of you men reading this blog post want a body that looks and feels good. You probably want to lose some body fat, have a bit of muscle, see some abs, and maybe not be too embarrassed when you go shirtless on the beach.
People call this look an aesthetic physique. At this point, your clothes start fitting differently, your face looks narrower, and for the first time the mirror actually reflects all the hard work you've been putting in. To get here doesn't require some crazy diet or going to the gym 6 times a week. It's actually way simpler than you think.
It starts with being more mindful about the food you put into your body. The key here is simply making sure that most of what you eat is real food. Then we want to build muscle as we go. Building an aesthetic physique means being intentional about where you build those muscles. We want broad shoulders, a V-tapered back, and a chest and arms that fill out our shirt. You're not training to become a bodybuilder or a powerlifter. You're after a lean, athletic build. When I started lifting 5 years ago I never wanted to get shredded.
All I wanted was a lean, healthy, athletic physique, wider shoulders, a decent chest and arms, and some visible abs. If that's your goal as well, you don't have to do 2-hour workouts 6 days a week. You just need to focus your effort on very specific muscle groups. A routine that works well for this is a simple 3-day per week full body workout. These workouts take less than an hour and produce some amazing results. Again, we're not talking "massive" but "lean." When you think of Brad Pitt in Fight Club, he wasn't massive at all.
The reason Pitt looked so impressive was because he was lean with some muscle. You see, without losing that excess fat, an aesthetic physique is impossible.
So getting lean is a non-negotiable.
Now, this is going to take several years of really solid, consistent effort. You can't shortcut the process. This is why I always come back to the basics: incline bench presses, lat pulldowns, dumbbell biceps curls, lateral shoulder raises, and pullups. Here are some curls I did today:
That's basically it guys. My magic drug for aging well is called building muscle. The goal is a body that feels capable and strong, not just one that looks strong.
A lean physique is not just for super athletes. It's for all of us.
Keep in mind that there are options for different fitness levels, gym training, and home workouts, so you can make it work for your life.
At this point in my life, I don't train just for aesthetics. I train because I want to keep getting stronger, build more muscle, and be more able to do "life" as I age.
P.S. I've never met a guy with a good physique who couldn't do a pullup. If I could only do one exercise for the rest of my life, it would be the pullup. A few years ago when I finally decided to get a handle on my health and fitness, I couldn't do a single one. So I started with lat pull downs, like the ones I did today at the gym:
Then I progressed to band-assisted pullups. Eventually, the Lord granted me my first non-assisted pullup. Friend, you are capable of things you can't imagine now. Please, please, please keep working until you can do this:
You don't always get to see yourself changing while you are actually changing. The pullup allows you to do just that. No exercise is more simple -- or more brutally honest -- than the pullup. Your first pullup isn't just a fitness milestone. It's proof that your body is becoming stronger as a system.
Have a wonderful evening!
When Becky and I moved from Southern California to North Carolina in 1998, we purchased a ranch near the Tar River and brought the horses and goats with us. It wasn't long before we felt that we had outgrown that property and began looking into buying a farm. That process was more difficult than we had anticipated. Very few intact farm properties were on the market. Generational farms were being turned into subdivisions and shopping malls. Many farmers had built an operation on land that was worth substantially more to a developer than it could ever generate from farming. In many instances, their children moved away or simply decided that they didn't want the financial uncertainties and physical demands of farming.
Let's a say a developer offered you several million dollars. Would you sell to another farmer for a fraction of its developmental value? A 130-acre piece of farmland that sells for, say, 1.5 million could easily create 100 potential building lots. The fact is, we live in a society where land is worth more when you stop farming than when you continue. Becky and I watched over and over again as another farm was bought only to be subdivided into housing tracts. One farm after the other. One field after the other.
I want to be clear that I'm not picking on farmers who did this. I understand that some families have to sell their farms to developers. In our case, we found a beautiful farm in Virginia near the Carolina border with an 1811 farm house that would be a perfect restoration project. None of the four children was in a position to take it over. The elderly owners, however, had decided to sell their farm intact to someone interested in agriculture.
We bought that farm with the goal of perpetuating the legacy they had built through generations. For two and a half decades we've worked the land. We've toiled through good seasons and bad, relying on the Lord to meet the needs of our family. That utter dependence on God is one of the reasons I love farming so much. Farming is not an easy life. It tests you in every possible way. But it's a life that farmers cherish.
They're not making farmland anymore. Land once developed is lost forever. Yes, I understand that people need to live in homes with limited acreage. But not everything needs to be developed just because it can be. Once it's gone, it's gone.
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| Our farm and environs. |
I've met a number of people who said they didn't enjoy living in Germany. I'm not surprised to hear that they wanted to go back to the U.S. But I'm surprised to hear that they didn't like living in Europe. If you plan to live in Germany, I would travel and really explore German history and culture. It's a truly beautiful and amazing country. I lived there for 3 months. Make friends. Go out. Explore what's there. Enjoy your second country and make the best of it. You will never call it your "Heimat" but it is your home for now. And if you ever need a break from Germany, another country isn't far away (think: Switzerland!).
My daughter just sent me this pic of my grandson Ira.
What do you call a boy with a shovel? Dug. (Doug). 😀
Most people overcomplicate fat loss. I walk. Walking is the very best exercise for fat loss. It lowers stress. It improves your cardiovascular system. It turns on your brain. All while burning calories. Here are my steps from today.
Start WHERE YOU ARE.
Build GRADUALLY.
Keep SHOWING UP.
If you enjoy farming with your dad or your son, you will never take it for granted.
I am blessed to have had 26 harvests with my son.
I now look at his sons and see young men with dust on their cheeks and dirt on their pants. I'm so proud I could burst. This is nothing short of a blessing from the Lord. Watching them work for something and then hold it in their hands -- Oh. My. Word. It feels like I'm standing on holy ground. Their mom and dad are teaching them so much more than hard work. They work with love -- love of their family, and love of their farm. They have been taught most of all love of their Lord. It's hard to put into words how amazing it is to see fine young men who love the Lord and live it out like that. Even if they go into other careers, they will grow up remembering these fields, these harvests, and the hard work their mom and dad put into providing for them.
Probably the most interesting breath I ever took was in Kapiolani Hospital at 1319 Punahou Street in Honolulu. It was my first breath on earth.
This past summer, 74 years later, I returned to the land of my birth for another challenge to my lungs and body -- surfing Waikiki. No matter how beautiful another place may be, nothing compares to the feeling of being home.
The people, the island breeze, the local lifestyle and food, the familiar surroundings -- you simply can't put these things into words.
I haven't lived full-time in Hawaii since 1971 but I'm not ashamed to admit that I still miss it all these years later. When you grow up in Hawaii, leaving can feel like you're leaving something special.
Hawaii will always be home to me.
Looking back, I realize how far I've come, and how much I have to be thankful for.
God has blessed me with a beautiful family, amazing friends, a satisfying career, and a life filled with blessings beyond what I could have ever imagined. But it all started at Kapiolani Hospital. I'll never forget where I came from, because those roots helped make me the person I am today.
Never forget your roots.
Appreciate your past.
Always remember where you came from.
