First Ultramarathon Advice

50K training is on! Nine weeks. That's it. Nine weeks to get this beach bum ready for 32 miles. Thinking about joining an ultramarathon? If so, I have some advice for you. 

First, decide your distance. An ultramarathon involves running distances beyond a traditional 26.2 mile (42K) marathon. Types of ultras include:

• 50K. 
• 50 miles. 
• 100K.
• 100 miles.

Most people start with the 50K. It's equivalent to 31 miles (or, in my case, 32 miles -- the High Bridge Ultra always adds a mile for some unknown reason).

Second, remember that ultra running is not only about distance. It requires you to manage pace, hydration, nutrition, fatigue, blisters, chafing, and mindset. Above all, your body needs aerobic endurance. Consistent easy running is the foundation. Ultra running requires you to gradually build up your weekly volume and develop the muscular and connective-tissue durability you will need to handle hours on your feet. Rush any of these and you practically guarantee injury, including overuse injuries like stress fractures and tendon problems. 

Training for an ultra is stressful on the body. You don't earn the right to go farther simply by wanting it. You earn it through consistent preparation and training. Never train just to prove you can go the distance. Train so that your body is prepared to handle it. If you can run a half marathon without stopping, you can probably complete a 50K ultra. If you can run-walk a full marathon, you can probably do the same with a 50K race. Going into the race in December, I have 45 half marathons, 20 full marathons, and four 50K ultras under my belt. That's a confidence builder. Your lungs work, your legs know how to run, and the reality is that a 50K race only adds a little more intensity or duration to a 42K marathon. Yes, an 8-10 hour ultra is hard. I'd never say otherwise. But with proper training, most experienced athletes can run-walk a 50K race. By completing half and full marathons, your body will have months to adapt to learning how to "run on tired legs." Remember, you don't have to run that distance non-stop. Although walking is generally frowned upon in the marathoning community, that attitude is not found in the ultrarunning world. Walking is not cheating. Strategic walking can save valuable energy for the later miles of your race. Newbies to ultrarunning often underestimate how much fatigue builds up over 8-10 hours and pay dearly for their early aggressiveness. But if you respect the early miles and put in the time-on-feet, your chances of finishing improve dramatically. 

I hope you don't mind this unsolicited advice! 

Yours truly at his last 50K back in May. This was after about 16 miles. I still had half the race to go.

When I finished, my feet thanked me. :-) 

OLD old!

Nothing makes you feel old more than the realization that everyone in the Greek class you're teaching except you has a birth year that starts with 20. And if the third number is 5, you're OLD old! 

It's a Dog's Life

In an essay titled "Live like a dog," the author gave the following list:

• Drink only water.
• Eat the same thing every day.
• Have a treat once in a while.
• Go on lots of walks.
• Be happy to see those you love.
• Protect the people you care about.
• Enjoy the small things of life.

I notice that he left out:

• Pee on the rug.
• Chase cars.
• Bark at nothing.
• Don't go to work.
• Slide your butt on the floor.

Still, I think the list is fabulous! 

The Gift of Teaching

This my 50th year of teaching. I never take it for granted. Every week I'm given the privilege of doing what I love. Teaching is hard work because it's heart work. You pour your whole life into your work. Paul says as much in Rom. 12:7. In the words of the Living Bible, "If you are a teacher, do a good job of it." Phillips renders it this way: "Let us give all we have to our teaching." Every spiritual gift requires good stewardship. This includes:

• Discovering your gift.
• Developing your gift.
• Exercising your gift correctly in the body of Christ.

Take a moment and reflect:

Which spiritual gift or gifts has God entrusted to you?

How effectively are you at using those gifts to serve and honor him?

Are you doing your work in his strength and not your own? 

Teachers don't just impact classrooms. They impact the world. 

Doing What You Love

Hi everyone! Here are today's steps. I absolutely loved it.

What are you doing today that you love? 

We Love Grammar

Saw this on Instagram:

My doctor asked me the other day, "Do you smoke or drink coffee?" I said, "I drink it. But it sounds like your way might be more efficient."

As a kid I used to stick my tongue into the communion cup to make sure I got every last drop of the grape juice. After all, didn't Jesus say, "Drink ye all of it"? 

😋😁😂😃😄😅

Ultramarathon Self-Talk

My body: "I'm dying!"

Me: "Shut up. We're having fun." 

How to Chase Your Next Biggest Fitness Goal

Not gonna lie. Today's workout was simply amazing. 

One hour of upper body strength exercises. 

Then got in 11 miles and a bunch of steps. 

This is equivalent to about one third of my 50K ultramarathon on Dec. 6. The run was a grind but I ran one mile at a time. I mentally ticked off each one as I completed it. I slogged through those miles until I finished. 

A fun and adventurous day. How was yours? 

Weight Loss Is a By-Product

Weight loss is a by-product of lifestyle choices rather than the main goal. Once I started to eat healthier, sleep better, and make training a part of my everyday routine, the excess body fat took care of itself. It was a process that took time, and I still have to work at it every day. Good health is a gift but one you have to be willing to work for. 

What Surfing Can Teach Greek Students

Here are some key life lessons that surfing has taught me and that apply to the study of Greek.

1. Humility. Ocean waves are extremely powerful. They remind us that we are not always in control. So it's important to focus on things we can control: our attitude and our effort. 

2. Presence. Both surfing and studying Greek require being fully engaged in the current time and place rather than being distracted. Always be ready to seize the opportunity. 

3. Patience. Surfers do not make waves come to them. They wait for the right moment and match its rhythm. Mastering Greek is impossible without patience. Good things come to those that wait. 

4. Resilience. Wiping out on a wave is guaranteed to teach you how to stay calm under water and try again. A bad grade on one quiz or exam doesn't define you. Get back up and try again.

When God Closes Doors He's Already Opened

I spent 10 joyous years ministering to hidden pastors in Asia who desperately needed instruction in New Testament Greek. Made 13 trips there. Then all of the sudden that door closed due to internal politics. I'll never take anything for granted again. Life is such a WILD trip isn't it? It can be so wonderful and it can be so hard. This IS life. And a fundamental wisdom for living well through the journey. 

The Magic of Bible Study

Part of the magic of Bible study is that it doesn't care about your status. Rich, poor, celebrity, unknown, it gives everyone the same reward: the knowledge of the Holy. 

Where True Wisdom and Knowledge Are Found (Col. 2:3)

In June of 1978, Becky and I arrived at the Bibelschule Bergstraße in Seeheim to begin a 3 month summer mission in Germany.

Immediately we saw these words carved into the iron gates of the building:

"In him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col. 2:3). 

Beautiful, humble words that helped me prepare for a lifetime of ministry and teaching. What a great motto for a Bible school.

Tips on Language Learning

It's been 43 years since I've lived in German-speaking Basel. 

German is a "category 2" language, where "category 1" is the easiest to learn as an English speaker (Spanish being one of them). Category 2 is just a slight notch harder because it is a little more complex. The hardest categories include languages that are very distant to English and not related at all, like Mandarin and Japanese. 

Let me add this. When you know one foreign language, it is much easier to get another one going. Once your brain has learned how to rewire itself around another language, it is much easier to do it again. Your brain learns how to map new concepts along those same pathways. Even more importantly, you've learned how to efficiently learn another language by that point.

My first foreign language was Greek. That led easily to German, Spanish, French, Latin, etc. But here's the clincher. Don't think that just because you've learned a language you're done. You have to maintain it. German is not a language you get "fluent" in and then keep it forever. You have to shore it up or it'll be lost. 

The ideal would be to speak German with someone who is fluent in the language, that sort of thing. That's virtually impossible for me except when I'm traveling in Switzerland. Otherwise, I use the method of talking to myself to reanimate my German after almost 5 decades of not speaking that language every day. 

How about you? What languages are you trying to learn? What online resources have you found most helpful? Do you have a native speaker to converse with?

Country Roads

Have you noticed? Life out in the country moves a little bit slower. I've lived in big cities (LA) and next to the ocean (Kailua) and in city suburbs (Basel). But it wasn't until I moved out to the country that I felt I could really breath. For example, this is my farm road. 

I travel it every morning on my way to Bo's. And this was my drive to church this morning.

Quite a contrast from Raleigh, wouldn't you say? Did you know that rural areas comprise 97% of U.S. land but only 3% of the population lives there? Which means there's lots of room for you. Of course, you don't have to live in the country to find sunshine and trees. But you'll definitely find more of it than you will in the cities and suburbs. John Denver knew what he was singing about in his song Country Roads. There's nothing more beautiful than the expanse of sky over a pasture. In the country, it's just clear skies and empty roads. 

Perseverance Fixes Everything

Nobody is born to read New Testament Greek, nor is anyone born to run ultramarathons. What separates everyone from finishers is not talent or genetic giftedness but the ability (in the case of runners) to put in the boring miles that never show up on anyone's feed or (in the case of Greek students) to maintain the commitment to the language even when your motivation has left the building. 

Show up anyway. 

Perseverance fixes everything. 

The Greatest Treasure

I have been all around the world chasing down adventures. Now at 74, I realize that the ordinary is the extraordinary. This realization turns the mundane into magic. Traveling and adventure is fabulous, but the sights and experiences of this world pale in comparison to the deep peace and satisfaction that only comes from walking with the Lord. Knowing Christ is the greatest treasure and the only true thing to chase and boast about. 

Say La Vee

I won't bore you with all the nitty gritty details of my workout today. On the other hand, maybe I will. Because everyone knows that if you don't blog about something, it never happened, right? 

So, after sleeping for 9.5 blissful hours straight last night, I was back in the gym today for my final strength training session of the week. 

Today's empty gym. Don't worry -- it'll fill back up in January for about a month before people lose interest. 

I have to tell you -- it was the best workout I've ever had. 

I know, I say that about every one of my workouts. 

But it's true. Who am I without a gym and my daily steps? 

Why do no other hobbies excite me as much as lifting and running do (excepting, of course, climbing, marathoning, surfing, etc). 

Believe me, ping pong would not have the same effect. Yesterday made me feel so good (fall is back --yay!!!!) I just had to do it all over again today. 

So what now? Finish my book on reading -- and ENJOYING -- the New Testament. I predict it's going to be my parvum opus. (Google it if you don't know Latin.) I've titled it How to Make the New Testament Come Alive! How's that for a goofy title? I've only got two chapters left to polish. I'm past the idea phase. I'm past the rough draft phase. I'm past the revision phase. I'm in the "refining-the-grammar-and-word-choices-and-formatting-phase." You know, things like shoving commas into the proper holes. 

Thus far I've given myself permission to be a bad writer. It's the stage of writing when you allow yourself a messy draft so that you can actually reach the end instead of endlessly rewriting your chapters. Believe me, I realize that this book will be a very minor contribution to the field of biblical studies, but it is MY work and MY love and I'm allowed to indulge in such simple pleasures from time to time. I will say this about my publications. I try not to bore people who read my books. I save that for you on this blog. And my kids. That's because I am a hopeless literary geek. I love the library. I love bookstores (especially the ones near Piccadilly in London). I've always got books I want to read on hold, and there's always a long wait. By the way, here's a little secret. Every author knows his writing days can't last forever. We all struggle with this fact in our own ways. Aging is a good lesson in letting go, of being able to say "C'est la vie." I'm okay with that. Sometimes our best laid plans get sidetracked by life. C'est la vie. There are worse things in life than not being able to, say, complete your parvum opus. But that doesn't stop you from trying. 

Okay, off to be productive. Bore ya again soon. 

Crop Failure

When I began teaching 50 years ago, I was a fledgling teacher if ever there was one. The word "fledging" refers to a young bird that's just acquired the ability to fly and is no longer dependent on the nest. Metaphorically, it can refer to a person who is new to a particular field or activity, such as a rookie NFL player or an electrician's apprentice. You're still mastering basic skills. 

Remember, when I began teaching I was only 24. I had finished college only a year before. Fledgling teachers face significant challenges such as classroom management, overwhelming workloads, and exam design. So the semester I began teaching Greek I took two classes at the college in education -- College Teaching Procedures and Tests and Measurements. I discovered that the great majority of teachers believed that the biggest challenge in teaching is assessing academic progress and addressing the widening achievement gap. 

Here's a question every teacher struggles with. I know I have for 5 decades. In fact, not a semester goes by without it haunting me. Why do some students thrive while others exposed to the exact same spiritual nourishment don't? How can it be that the same group of people can hear precisely the same message and receive the same encouragement and there be such a divergence of responses? How can there be, frankly, such indifference to what is being taught on the part of some students? When a farmer plants a field of corn and notices that some plants are thriving while others are struggling, he wants to know why. Here's an example from the life of a corn farmer on Youtube.

I thought about all of this during my morning time in the Gospel according to Mark. In chapter 4, Jesus seems to answer these questions of mine. He gets to the heart of the subject when he speaks of the soil. This explains why one student will grow by leaps and bounds and another will remain dull, uninterested, even apathetic. There's nothing wrong with the seed. Something's wrong with the soil. 

Bad soil is unresponsive. It's preoccupied. It's distracted. It happened to me in my college days. When I arrived at Biola I wanted to do two things -- study the Bible and play varsity basketball. I quickly discovered that if I tried to do both, I would do neither of them well. I also came to Biola with a terrible attitude. Let me be blunt. My scholarly life was a joke. I didn't even try to be the best student I could be. If I could wing it in high school, surely I could wing it in college. Thomas Jefferson once said, "When the heart is right, the feet are swift." My heart was, in fact, foul and unreceptive. But when the heart is right, negativism and cynicism are swept away. To change, I began with confession. I repented. I analyzed my studies, the condition of my heart, my sensitivity to the things of God, my praying, my study habits. I realized that the harvest depends on the soil. 

At some point in your studies, you will face a major decision in this regard. This is gutsy work. But you'll be further along if you start now. Without real change, you're not going to make it. There will be a major crop failure. I don't believe that's God's will for any of you. Brothers and sisters, let's get back to the business of being great students for the glory of Christ. I pray we begin today. 

Reflections on Fall

Today was the perfect day to get in another training run for December's ultra. I mean, we're talking 70 degree weather with a light breeze blowing. You know what I'm talking about -- you wake up in the morning and distinctively know there has been a huge shift in the weather. Summer is being kicked to the curb by her big sister fall. Summer, feeling neglected, begins to slither away, much like this black snake I encountered on the trail did today. 

I couldn't be happier. Bring on the hot chocolate, extra blankets, pumpkin spice latte, and watching the Cowboys lose. Your friends can now wear a giant oversized hoodie to completely hide the consequences of eating too much ice cream during the summer. And, because it gets dark early, you have a completely valid excuse to go to bed early. Not to mention the fact that the colder air mass evicts mosquitos and other annoying flying bugs from your backyard. 

September is my favorite month for running. Orange everywhere. Cool nights but still warm-ish days. Fewer thunderstorms. It takes absolutely no motivation to get outdoors for an 11-mile run. 

Everything screams, "Go, go, go!" If summer is too hot and winter too cold and spring too messy, fall is perfect. You can sit back and relax through most of it. Fall feels so dramatic, like the calm before the storm. At the High Bridge Trail today, I ran a lonely part of the course that racers will have to navigate not once but twice during the event. That's a very good thing.

Which brings up a question. You know I'm going to ask it so I might as well get to it. Can you get fit? No! You can get to Dallas, you can get to a meeting on time, you can get ready for winter. But you can't get fit. Fitness is never one and done. It's a never-ending process. However fit you are on September 25, 2026, a year from today you will either be fitter or less fit. It's totally up to you. 

Isn't the trail gorgeous? 

Just remember that your biological clock is ticking. Both time and gravity are working relentlessly to slow you down. So stop overthinking things. Just tell yourself you're going to get up in the morning and go outdoors for a walk or a run. Do not look at your calendar and decide you're too busy. Don't think up excuses. And for Pete's sake, stop comparing yourself to others. Just because some runners train 30 miles a week doesn't mean you have to. This is your journey. Do what's right for you. If this means taking baby steps, so be it. Ain't nothing wrong with that. But you do have to move. Trust me on this one. Something happens to us physiologically when we move, when our body becomes active and our heart rate becomes elevated. It's a legal high, people! 

That's all I got for now. Just some reflections on fall most of you already knew! 

Defending the Wrong Places

I think this is my favorite idiom in the movie The Longest Day: "Das liegt zu sehr auf der Hand" (literally, "That lies too much on the hand"). It's spoken by German General Erich Marcks in this scene from the film:

This German idiom means that something is obvious, evident, or completely clear. Equivalent phrases in English would include:

"It goes without saying."

"It's very plain to see."

"It's staring you right in the face."

"That's way too obvious."

The basic idea is that what you are saying requires no further explanation. You see, the Allies had tricked the Germans into expecting the main invasion of France at the Pas de Calais through a deception campaign called Operation Fortitude. 

General Erich Marcks was one of the few German commanders who saw right through the ruse. He persistently urged that Normandy was the most logical choice for the Allied landing. His superiors dismissed or downplayed his warnings. As a result, German troops in Normandy were severely under-resourced. The Allies often used deception as a core strategic weapon to mislead the Axis powers. These operations saved countless lives by forcing Germany to waste resources defending the wrong places.

Applied to the world in which I live, I think debates among New Testament scholars frequently devolve into peripheral squabbles. We waste our resources defending the wrong places, if you will. Rigid tribalism over modern English translations is a case in point, given that all translations represent standard linguistic tradeoffs. Other issues, however, become "a hill to die on." Biblical inerrancy is one such hill in my opinion. Inerrancy is the bedrock of biblical authority. A God who is himself truth speaks only truth. To stray from Scripture is therefore disloyalty to our Master. I therefore fully affirm the inerrancy of the Bible and proudly say it is God's divinely inspired word. We shouldn't even have to be defending this doctrine. It's truthfulness "liegt zu sehr auf der Hand." 

Frankly, I am amazed that this doctrine has now become controversial among evangelicals. But if it requires defending again, defend it we must. 

Thoughts After a Great Workout

We all face hardships in life. It's all about overcoming and getting on the other side of every situation life throws at us. 

We do this with the help of the Lord Jesus. He gets all the glory!

Don't ever stop chasing down your dreams no matter how old or how young you are. 

"I Love the Flower Girl" (the Cowsills)

I loved a flower girl. I married her. She died almost 14 years ago. 

They're as rare as unicorns. If you're married to one, enjoy every moment with her. 

The Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinatti

It's my favorite marathon. Completed it three times. This videographer captured the feel perfectly. 

Why I Ran on the Treadmill Today

I was running on the treadmill today at the gym and the thought occurred to me: Why in the world am I running indoors rather than being outside and enjoying God's beautiful creation? 

And the answer to that question is a very simple one: This is today's weather. 

Suffice it to say we have sorely needed rain this summer. So this makes running on the treadmill bearable. On May 9 of this year I completed my fourth ultramarathon. It required a good number of steps. 

Today I was enabled by the Lord to get in about one third of those steps. 

I think I could have gotten in more steps had I been running outdoors. But God knows we needed today's rain more than I needed steps. 

Virginia has faced a historic drought in 2026. It has heavily impacted agriculture, including my farm. Severe to extreme drought continues to exist in several parts of the Commonwealth, including Southside (where we live and farm). The 2026 drought is the worst we've seen in decades. Hay crops have come in at roughly one third of their expected yield. Yet the good work of farming goes on. You just hope and pray for days like today. Farmers can plow, seed, and fertilize. But none of us can force the clouds to open. Unless the Lord causes your crops to grow, farmers labor in vain. 

God doesn't just spin the top and let it go. He is intimately involved in keeping the heavens and the earth going for his glory. It is all in vain without him. Glory be to God! 

Me and the Beach Boys

While growing up in the 1960s in Hawaii, I recall hearing the Beach Boys for the first time. I felt that their music about surfing was a Hollywood version of what surfing actually was. Neither I nor my surfing buddies really listened to the Beach Boys all that much. We used to joke that California had the girls and the music and the bleached blond hair and the surfing music. The one thing it lacked were the waves. That said, the Beach Boys were writing widely popular songs about surfing. Even the landlocked areas of the country lived vicariously through their music. And so surfing became a nationwide craze, especially among non-surfers. 

I clearly remember when I heard their hit "Catch a wave and you're sitting on top of the world" for the first time. It seemed to describe perfectly what we island boys were thinking and feeling about our sport. 

When I moved to California in 1971 to attend college at the age of 19, of course I took my board with me. By that time surfing music had all but crested. And I could never get really excited about the waves at Huntington Beach. Still, I came to love the music of the Beach Boys. The quality of their music was second to none. Only the Beatles wrote harmonies that could compete with those of Brian Wilson. When you think that he also sat in the producer's chair, that was a formidable achievement musically. 

Kids nowadays can't relate to how we grew up in the 60s. There were only three TV stations. There were no video games, no internet, but we had lots of great music on the AM radio. My mother thought I'd lose my hearing to rock music. What great music we listened to every day. Brian Wilson changed popular music for good. Surf music is such a happy and feel good style of rock. It's hard to dislike. I love the Beach Boys. I loved the 60s. I loved surfing every day. The "surf era" years were some of my happiest. I taught myself all of their songs on the piano and guitar. 

Your memories of the Beach Boys? 

1971. A freshman at Biola. 

Montage of Today's Workout

I Don't "Read" Audio Books

Why not? When you listen to an audio book, you are easily distracted with your eyes and hands, while reading with a book requires both your hands and eyes. Therefore, you are more focused and can retain more information. Reading is also easier to reread physically. Reading an audio book requires more motivation to rewind. I usually have two books going at any one time, both printed. Audiobooks are (almost) a total waste. 

We Love Idioms

Idioms in language I find most fascinating. Can I give you an example from German? 

You don't say "Ich mag Deutsch lernen" when you want to say "I like learning German." The German verb mögen is used with nouns. 

"Ich mag die Farbe Blau" = "I like the color blue."

But --

"Ich gehe gerne spazieren" = "I like going on walks." 

So, "I like learning German" is "Ich lerne gerne Deutsch." Or you could say, "Ich lerne sehr, sehr gerne Deutsch." Meaning, "I really, really like learning German." 

However you say it, I hope you're enjoying whatever language you are currently learning! 

(Übrigens, es gibt keinen Unterschied zwischen "gerne" und "gern." Du kannst beide Varianten benutzen.) 

You Know You're a Surfer When ...

You know you're a surfer when you look at an ad and all you can think about is the size of the waves in the picture. 

7 Things That Transformed My Fitness

I humbly offer them for your consideration:

1. Three full-body workouts a week. The results? I'm not just stronger in the gym. I'm stronger in life.

2. I've been lifting consistently for 5 years. Not perfectly, just consistently. That's the real secret of success -- time and patience.

3. We need more recovery time, not less, as we age. Three gym sessions a week gives my 74-year old muscles 48 hours between workouts. This leaves me with more energy to push hard in each session.

4. I stopped chasing soreness. Being sore doesn't mean you had a great workout. Progressive overload does.

5. A bedroom conducive to sleep. Make sure your sleeping environment is as comfortable, cool, dark, and quiet as possible. 

6. Routine. Stop chasing new fads or programs. Give sensible habits time to become ingrained habits. The problem is, we start our new athletic lives with almost as much frequency as Mark Twain gave up smoking (thousands of times) and with about the same success. 

7. Exercise covers a multitude of dietary sins. Nutrition is a very controversial subject, but few will deny that we get unhealthier eating rather than fasting, or that our intake of refined sugar is unnatural. Having earned our daily bread, we can turn it into daily health. The athlete doesn't stop eating junk food and start training. He starts training and finds that he has stopped eating junk food. He starts lifting and finds he is eating the right things in the right proportions.

So there you have it -- 7 things I've done to get relatively fit. Great tasks depend on small things. Our health, then, depends on the day-to-day choices we make about the supposed "minor" details of life. The athlete knows this more than many. You don't need to do everything. Find the practical thing you can repeat. The mental differences? I'm not exhausted. I'm not stressed. I'm not white-knuckling my way through an exercise program I hate. The physical differences? More muscle definition. Better body composition. And, by the sheer grace of God, I'm in the best shape of my life.

My Current Writing Project

Every professor has their WIP, though I'm not sure if this stands for work-in-progress or work-in-perpetuity. In fact, I thought of calling this blog post "The Monster in My Desktop" or even "My Current Bout of Literary Masochism." 

Some of you know that I am currently writing a book for lay people on how to read and enjoy their New Testament. You may think that the process of writing comes easily for me. Hardly. Nothing creative is done by committee. It's just you and your keyboard. 

Writing is a mystery. But when the urge to write strikes, you cannot escape it. Someone has said that writing is turning blood into ink. All it asks is the time to do it. 

The day is coming, probably sooner rather than later, when I will write my last piece. Am I ready to have my heart weighed at the Bema Seat of Christ? Have I pleased the God I love? Is this as far as I should have gone? Only the One who made me knows. 

John Wooden was the coach of the UCLA Bruins. 

In a book called They Call Me Coach, he gives this three-statement piece of advice:

Talent is God-given. Be humble.

Fame is man-given. Be thankful.

Conceit is self-given. Be careful.

That's why we must walk so sensitively with our God. He not only has a plan for our lives that includes length, it includes depth. May he grant us daily a cooperative spirit to work within his power to do his will until he calls us home. 

My Bengals Win and Go 2-0

I'm so hyped! Great way to start my week. That Chase catch was ridiculous. Cincy is cooking! 

The Joy of Espousing Minority Views

Standing against the consensus in your field can be professionally isolating. However, it can also be intellectually exhilarating. In my books such as Why Four Gospels? and The Authorship of Hebrews: The Case of Paul I championed minority views that were, paradoxically, majority views for most of church history. 

I would never have written these books had I not shifted from a passive consumer of established dogma to an active challenger of it. Interestingly, along the way I discovered a small network of like-minded dissenters. 

If the road feels lonely, you're probably heading somewhere worth going. 

You Know You're a Runner When ...

You know you're a runner when your vacation planning turns into, "Okay, but where can I run?" 

Below: Getting in a run at Waikiki a month and a half ago. 

What Is a "Church"?

A New Testament church isn't a building. It's a community. It's rooted in relationships. I so wish that ekklēsia had never been rendered as "church" by English Bible translators! 

Pipeline Taught Me a Lesson about Faith

As you know, I grew up on a surfboard. 

I once wiped out on a big day at Pipeline. This was long before boards had leashes. I didn't know if my board had washed ashore or had gone out to sea with the riptide. I swam around for about 15 minutes before I became exhausted. Thankfully I wasn't too proud to ask another surfer if I could hold onto his board for a minute to catch my breath. Faith in Christ is the board you hang onto when you've wiped out in life. It's the raft you find floating near you when you're about to drown. Jesus says whoever comes to me I will in no way cast out. He promised I will never you nor forsake you. Put your faith in the faithful one when you lose your board. 

Today's Training Run at the High Bridge Trail

Training for a race? You have to do three things: take whatever God-given talent you have, train as well as you can, and then go out and see what happens. On this very trail in Farmville there's a 50K ultra waiting to be run on Dec. 6. 

If you're training for it, you've got to ask yourself, Can I commit the time to training? If not, it's better to pick a race that fits your schedule. I'd rather be successful at training for a race I can do than having to quit training because I wasn't realistic about my time resources. Part of the magic of a race is that it doesn't care who you are: rich, poor, teacher, student, etc. It rewards one thing: giving it your all.

This morning's sermon at church was a marvelous exposition of Psalm 19, which contains a declaration that the sun "rejoices like a great athlete eager to run the race" (Psa. 19:5, NLT). In training, there's a sweet spot between boredom and exhaustion. Find it, and you will thrive as a runner. 

Finishing Touches

We just finished baling a 20-acre field. I'm tired, hungry, and very happy. 

There's nothing that feels as good as putting the finishing touches on some project you're working on. 

We're now expecting a few days of much needed rain, then it will be back to work. Earlier today I also added a few finishing touches to my arm and back workouts at the gym. 

I think I've pretty much maxed-out my genetic potential for building new muscle, so my current goal is to try and maintain as much muscle as I can before attempting the Mettelhorn in the alps next July. Last year, as you know, I barely summited the Riffelhorn. I simply reached the point where my own strength wasn't enough. It was impossible to go on. That's when I learned (again) what faith is all about. Faith in God doesn't make you invincible. It just means that you don't face your mountains alone. Christ is my strength when I have nothing else to rely on. And even when I am strong in myself, I still need faith to trust that what I'm doing is pleasing to him. 

This is the mission we're called on as believers. 

A Lesson from Human Sports

I've never been able to understand why some students never seem to take their Greek studies seriously. They easily lose interest. They seem jaded and bored, cynical even. Chesterton once said, "There's no such thing as an uninteresting subject. The only thing that can exist is an uninterested person." If you don't enjoy studying theology or the biblical languages or church history or pastoral counseling, it's your fault, not the subject's. 

Of course, people are naturally drawn to some subjects more than others. I could never quite get into my philosophy classes in college, but I recognize that as a deficiency in myself and not the courses. If you're not interested in the NFL (I am really into this sport), it's your problem, not the game's. Philosopher George Santayana once wrote, "Watching a football game the whole soul is stirred by a spectacle that represents the basis of life."

This is one reason why sports is so important to me. It was to the apostle Paul, too. Only he among the authors of the New Testament used sports analogies in his writings. To what other vocation (save farming) do men bring such effort and dedication? It doesn't matter whether you are good at sports or not. (I'm not.) Paul may not have ever actually run a race in the stadium, but he seems to have had nothing but the greatest regard for those marvelously gifted and courageous people called athletes. 

Like Christianity, sports doesn't care whether you're black or white or Republican or Democrat or a Northern Yankee or a Southern Hillbilly. Sports goes to the essence of living. It reveals how trivial most of our lives are. 

"Whatever you do, do it with all your might" is a biblical principle. Perhaps some of what we see in the world of sports -- courage, passion, dedication, sacrifice -- can rub off on our educational pursuits. 52 years ago I took Greek for the first time. Suddenly when I read the New Testament everything was vital and fresh and new. I've never gotten over it. Now at 74, I can see Paul the theologian just as much as I can see Paul the football player or Paul the marathoner. The whole world is sacred. Every human vocation is capable of greatness.

What better place, then, to observe mankind excelling in human performance than in the Greek classroom? My beginning Greek grammar has 26 chapters, each of which, I tell my students, is one mile in the marathon we call baby Greek. I tell them that nothing can prevent them from mastering the subject as long as they preserve in their hearts a passion for growth.

Just another lesson drawn from human sports. 

The Greek Nerd Test: How Many Boxes Can You Tick?

Talked about Greek to someone who didn't ask.

Had to have your Greek New Testament rebound at least once.

Asked your Greek teacher a question you regretted.

Bought beginning grammars you didn't need.

Compared the Byzantine Text to the Critical Text.

Cringed when your pastor etymologized from the pulpit.

Brought your Greek New Testament with you to your fellowship group.

Asked yourself, "Why have I never seen this before in the Greek? It's amazing."

Attended a conference on Greek linguistics.

Spelled your name in Greek letters on a quiz.

Considered getting a tattoo in Greek.

Joined Nerdy Biblical Language Majors.

Left your Greek New Testament at home when you went on vacation because you were afraid it might get lost or stolen.

Bemoaned the lame text-critical notes in your English Bible.

Taught the Greek Alphabet Song to your children.

Scratched your head when you first heard the words "verbal aspect."

Kicked yourself for getting "only" a 109 on one of Dr. Black's exams and thus missed getting a free book by a single point.

This Is Why I Love Latin

Speakers up.

Grateful!!!!

All praise and glory to God! A great workout at the Y.

A fantastic 7-mile run at the HBT.

Getting up hay in one of our largest fields.

Grateful!!! 

It's Never Too Late to Take Control of Your Life Again

So you've been trying to lose weight and get in shape for 2 years. That's 104 weeks. However, those 2 years didn't fix your problem. That shouldn't come as a surprise. Anyone telling you 8 weeks is enough is lying. Anyone telling you 8 months is enough is lying. I know how hard it is to go from fat to fairly lean. I started off at 240 pounds. I've gone down to 185. I know exactly what you're struggling with. Getting in great shape isn't a sprint. It's consistency, month after month and year after year. That means:

• Workouts you actually enjoy, not workouts you dread.
• A way of eating that isn't poisoning you.
• Progress you can sustain, not just survive.
• Strength training at least 2 times per week.
• Treating sleep and recovery like training. 
• Regular walking.

Some men over 40 think that getting into shape isn't sustainable. The problem is they're doing things they can't stick to. What I do is simple on purpose. I train a few hours every week. I eat mostly real food. I walk every day. I keep my habits simple. And that's what makes everything sustainable. No complicated meal plans. No cutting entire food groups. No neglecting the things in life that really matter to you -- your family, your God-given purpose on this earth, your mind, your body, your health, your peace. This comes from self-control. Self-discipline. Simplicity. Living with intention. 

I'm not trying to look like a bodybuilder. I'm not trying to be 30 again. I'm just a normal guy who got tired of feeling soft and uncomfortable in my own skin. I'm a man who decided he still cares about his health. So I kept showing up. Now, at 74, I'm in the best shape of my life. 

It's not too late for you to do the same, my friend. It's not about becoming obsessed with fitness. It's not about starving yourself. It's about moving again. It's about building up your strength. It's about losing a bit of that extra weight. It's about getting your energy back. It's about feeling confident in the body God gave you. I'm able to chase my grandkids around the yard and actually keep up with them. That's the whole point. You see, as you get older, fitness isn't so much about how you look but about how you feel and how well you move. At my age, staying fit isn't something you can put off any longer. The stakes are just too high. 

How about you? 

If today feels like a reset moment, don't put it off. Make this the last year you just talk about getting into shape. Just think about how a little more God-given self-respect and self-discipline could change everything. The work isn't always easy. But for me it's been worth it. The point of this post is a simple reminder that it's never too late to take control of your life again. Fight for yourself. 

A Matter of Urgency

Good intentions will not get you very far in personal Bible study. It takes a willful commitment on your part. You have to go through the steps of observation, interpretation, and application. I want to challenge you to see at least one new thing in every passage you read. The ability to see details in Scripture is one of the most powerful skills you can develop. One of the things I observed in Hebrews 13 this morning in my quiet time was an instance of paronomasia in verse 22. 

I had never seen it before. Here Paul opens and closes his sentence with two Greek words that clearly parallel each other. 

Yet this connection is completely lost in your typical English translation. Here are a couple of examples with the parallel terms printed in bold:

NIV: "I urge you ... my word of exhortation."

CSB: "I urge you ... this message of exhortation."

ESV: "I appeal to you ... my word of exhortation." 

Sherlock Holmes, that master sleuth of yesteryear, could often be found on his hands and knees, inspecting the floor for cigar ashes or footprints. In the same way, finding clues in a passage of Scripture demands more than a quick overview. Here in Heb. 13:22 we clearly have a pun or wordplay that many if not most interpreters overlook. But not in German. Here's how Luther rendered the verse:

"Ich ermahne euch, aber, liebe Brüder, haltet das Wort der Ermahnung zugute." 

I absolutely love that. Paul is "urging" his readers with a "word of urging"! I thought, You've got to be kidding! As I said, I'd never seen this before. The genius of the word of God is that it has wordplays like this one on practically every page. With every book I've written, you can pretty much put it on the shelf and move on to something else. That's never true of the Bible. You can read it over and over again and you will still discover things you've never seen before.

So we're back to the same issue: the books of the Bible were meant to be read and studied. They were never intended to be given a perfunctory once-over. One way to avoid that is to slow down and, if you can, use a variety of translations. You're bound to notice new things! 

The Whole Game

Getting in my steps today. 

Exercise keeps you independent, sharp, and active for decades to come. 

Train now for the 70-year old (or, in my case, the 80-year old) version of you. 

That's the whole game. Running and surfing in my 80s is the goal! 

How to Build Muscle over Age 70

(All videos from today's workout.) 

When it comes to building muscle over age 70, I certainly know it's possible, but there are certain ways to train that will help us to maximize the time we spend in the gym. 

First, there needs to be at least 2, preferably 3, days spent in the gym that are dedicated to working out. 

This can come in the form of total body workouts dedicated to both strength and hypertrophy (muscle building). 

As I have often said, we lose strength and muscle mass with every passing decade of our lives, so in order to preserve the muscle we have and the strength we need to complete everyday tasks, we need to work on strength training. 

The way to build muscle during your workouts is to slow down and really command control over your reps. 

Be sure to train the full range of motion in order to maintain strength and integrity in your muscles, tendons, and joints. 

Partial reps rarely build muscle and strength. When you have completed your workout, be sure to get in your daily step count (whatever that is). 

If your goal is to build muscle, burn fat, and get lean, walking can be a powerful addition to your routine because it is low impact, easy to recover from, and easy to do consistently. The key is to walk with purpose. Stand tall, pick up the pace, and make every step count. 

Movement is proof that you're alive. Every lift and every step is a confirmation of your place on the planet, of your ability to move through time and space. Because of my workouts, I'm a little bit more alive each day. What was once a slow, steady march toward old age has become a race to cover all the miles that my life (and the Lord) will allow. These moments of activity will be yours to keep and to share with others. These moments, more than how heavy you lift or how fast you run, will distinguish you as an athlete. The joy you feel will be like the joy children feel when they run across a field of wildflowers or through a lawn sprinkler on a hot summer day. Eventually you'll forget that your muscles and your heart are getting stronger. You will do it simply for the pure joy it brings.

I Am Not a Greek Teacher

I don't teach Greek. Never have. I teach logic. I teach thinking. I teach language skills. I teach the importance of each and every detail in the text. I teach Christology. I teach Pneumatology. I teach Ecclesiology. I teach Historical Theology. I teach Practical Theology. Mostly I teach Global Missions.

Teachers impart far more than subject matter. They impart thinking skills, social skills, emotional intelligence, and overall spiritual development. Their role extends far beyond just delivering content. They shape students' character and prepare them for real-world challenges. The impact of a teacher extends far beyond academic instruction. Being a teacher is a multifaceted role that requires a combination of skills, aptitudes, experience, and empathy. Only by embracing all of these aspects of  teaching can we create an environment in which all students have the opportunity to succeed. 

Teacher friend, you are doing so much more than you realize. This week inspire your students by your example. If it wasn't for Harry Sturz and Bo Reicke, I wouldn't have realized that I actually had potential to become a Greek teacher. God used them to steer me in the right direction. Do the same for your students! 

11 Weeks

Guess what? Only 11 weeks before my next ultra. So it's time to train! Got in some steps this morning at the good old Y. 

I plan on getting in some more when I'm in Wake Forest later today. 

This is moi as of today. 

It's the best I can do. You have to take whatever talents and gifts you have, train as well as you can, and then go out and see what happens on race day. That's true whether you run at the back of the pack like I do or out in front. The ultra is one of the top experiences of my life, ranking right up there with my wedding day and the birth of my kids. I savor every step of the 32-mile race, amazed at how far I've come as a runner since Becky died. Racing is a giant unknown. But getting to the starting line is something you can control. 11 weeks. That's all I've got. And no one can run a single step for you. It's all up to you. 

One of the biggest mistakes runners make is overestimating their level of readiness. I've made that mistake all too often. So when you decide to train, make sure your training plan is the best plan for you. No one knows you better than you know yourself. And remember: Goals can never be too high, but expectations can.