Fri 8 Feb 2008
See the aftermath of the Feast of Tabernacles as the Pharisees try to clean up their problems. Contact me at biblestudypodcastsjustin@gmail.com!!
2 Responses to “John 7:45-8:1 – The Party’s Over”
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February 21st, 2008 at 9:57 pm
Dear Justin,
Hey brother, I just wanted to thank you for your continued support of the music God has given me. I listened to the podcast from 2/8/08 and after a wonder teaching, I heard Honor and Glory. I really appreciate your endorsement.
You also solicited responses regarding losing weight. Let me first say that it has been a constant battle for me for years, in terms of weight gain and health maintenance. About 1 1/2 years ago, I decided to be more focused on exercise. I weight about 256 lbs. and I had a really tough time with walking because my back would be in pain. I started going to a chiropractor, which helped me to relax, but only lasted for a short time before I had to go back again to receive another “treatment”.
My wife suggested walking and I ran, no pun intended, from this idea completely. I gave her every excuse in the book. I told her that it just wasn’t enough stimuli for me, because I would be moving at too slow of a pace. I told her that my feet would hurt. I told her that I’d have more fun riding the bike. Some of those excuses had truths in them, but they weren’t the real truth. The real truth was that I didn’t feel that I could go walking because it hurt too much.
I work as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor with people who have disabilities. Some of those disabilities deal with substance abuse (i.e. cocaine, heroin, alcohol, etc.) and physical problems (i.e. back injuries, cerebral palsy, etc.). It just so happened that I had a person that came into the office who was addicted to drugs and had gone through treatment. Although he went through treatment, he never really learned what the reasons were for his decision to utilize illegal drugs. I challenged him on this, as part of my counselor duties, and he gave every excuse in the book. However, none of his excuses were plausible and were easily broken down because they were inconsistent (i.e. “I used drugs because of my upbringing,” but when we talked about other people in his family who had the same upbringing, they did not choose to use drugs). As I listened to him give so many excuses, I saw myself giving excuses also, as to why I would not exercise.
It just so happened that on that same week, I met with another individual who had back problems and had a difficult time walking, as his leg was greatly bent out of shape. Yet this same person had a drive and determination to move forward in life. He was open to suggestions, came with a plan in mind, and was overall a person to be seen as an example. I looked at myself and saw ungratefulness.
So, finally, I decided that I would give it [walking] a try. I walked downstairs and walked for about two blocks and then turned around to go back to the office. I was so tired and my back was hurting so badly, Justin, that I stopped at a park bench and just laid out until I could catch my wind. If that bench had not have been there, I’d have just laid out on the ground and prayed that no one thought I was crazy or hurt or something. It was that bad! My back was killing me!
But then something else happened. The next day, I went walking again and I was able to walk 4 blocks. When I got back to the office, I was hurting again, but I was proud to have walked the distance. I actually was glad to see the scenery of the neighborhood while walking. This was something that I had, literally, never done before. I found out that the neighborhood of my job was pretty nice. I took the next step (no pun intended again) and began walking to work (about 3 blocks) and then walking during lunch time, and then walking home. I walked about 1 mile for lunch and you’ll never guess what happened. I began losing weight! I went from 256 to about 245 in a couple of months time.
My back stopped hurting and I haven’t been to the chiropractor in over a year! I soon discovered Bible Study Podcasts through iTunes and I was able to have Bible Study while walking. So I say all of that (yeah, I know it was a lot) to say that walking, my friend… walking is a great way to go. By the way, I’m down to 224 lbs, brother!
February 29th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
Thanks Marcas. We love your music at Bible Study Podcasts and are so glad that you able to move around in a much more healthy lifestyle. We’re proud of you and keep up the great work!