Joy In Life

“So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.”

— Ecclesiastes 8:15

“At FFF, we foster a workout environment where anyone can succeed. You don’t need to be the fastest, strongest, toughest, or have some innate ability. You just need to bring a positive, never quit attitude. Through discipline and attention to detail, we strive to build a certain level of mental toughness that carries over into your school work, job, and even life in general.” (Chris)

“Jesus saved my life and brought me into the band of brothers at FFF! I thank God every day for what He has done in my life and for bringing me into FFF.”  (Oliver)

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8) (Manny)

“Leadership is influence.  There is no perfect leader but One, Jesus Christ who walked in perfect righteousness 33 years on this earth He created.  I learn every day by following in His footsteps...our workouts are another training ground to sharpen our talents He has entrusted us with” (Brendan)

Ice Cold + Dangerous

Ice Cold + Feeling Dangerous. 
WE READY for yallllll!

"Integrity is that internal compass and rudder that directs you to where you know you should go when everything around you is pulling you in a different direction." - Coach Dungy 

1. Your role in your job or school can distract you from putting Jesus first or being available to your family.  It is important to bring the same mindset into all arenas of life.  Your integrity and love for God will help you when there is no wind in your sails or no signal.  God will guide your steps in the paths of righteousness. 

  
Preparation + Presentation = Good Performance 

Oliver Coats

I grew up Catholic and never actually read the Bible.  Prayer was absent from my life. I prayed sparingly or when I felt nervous.  I would only seek God when I needed Him. After college I got my first job and at first things seemed normal.  A couple months went by and I started experiencing anxiety and anger. Thinking about how I am not good enough and not successful enough and how I am still single. I also was a porn addict and used porn to make me feel better but it just kept making me feel worse and worse. During this time, I went to Florida to visit my Dad and was involved in an attempted car-jacking. I was the driver and 4 guys ran up to the car and one had a gun. I didn’t know what to do and I just yelled out, “What do I do?” My brother in law, who was my sister’s boyfriend, at the time said, “Punch it.” So, I did and when I did the guy with the gun fell over and then he got up and shot at the car. Thankfully no one was hurt and after that my anxiety really hit me. I got this throat symptom where it would make me gag and it would come up more and more over the next year and a half. I tried to just ignore it and do everything in my own strength. One day I was in Florida and the symptoms were so bad I couldn’t control it. Between the car-jacking incident, anxiety and the absence of God in my life I felt hopeless.  Life was not filled with this joy and abundance that Jesus spoke of. I walked this road for sometime before meeting Brendan Micik through a mutual friend. We all worked out one weekend at Greenwich High School running sprints and tossing the football. We talked openly about God and how the bible contains truth and life. During the week I picked up my first bible of my own. I began to read the Word Of God and seek out the answers I had been trying to find on my own. The Words cut through all of the fig leaves I put on to cover my guilt and shame.  At that point I knew God knew me. He had seen everything I had been through in life and said that He would always be with me!. I answered his call out of hiding and walked humbly into His light. It was a choice that was my own, It felt real and right. The decision I made for Christ has given me the strength to overcome. My life changed for the positive. I stopped just relying on my own strength. I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior and started living for Him. It allowed me to ask for help and surrender my issues to Jesus. I was then able to see a therapist and start to sort my issues out. As I started reading my Bible my life changed and my desires changed. Jesus freed me of my porn addiction and I am so grateful He has. Living for Jesus has changed my life completely. I walk differently, speak differently, and I have a peace that surpasses all understanding. That doesn’t mean I don’t still have some anxiety but Jesus is there and His peace helps me to get through. Now I am a Christian and follow the Bible and what it says because they are the words of life. The greatest decision you can make in your life is to follow Jesus!

Thank you,

Oliver Coats

OliverCoats92@gmail.com

Saturday, April 28

Faith Focus Finish | WOD 

Warm Up

5 - 7 minutes of light stretches, preparing the CNS and body for the secondary functional movements.

Evolution

A. Football Routes

Slant x3

Down and Out x3

Post x3

Fly x3

B. Plank Sprints

Everyone will hold a plank

One person will go to half court and get the basketball, make a free throw and bring ball back and tag the next person

  HYDRATE + + +

C. Quick Quad Set

26 4-count Jumping Jacks

26 Squats

26 4-count Flutter Kicks

26 Push-ups

D. Timed Full-court suicides x3

1.       : 2.       : 3. :      

Hamilton Avenue Hoops

““Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
“Whom shall I send? 
And who will go for us?”
And I said,
“Here am I. Send me!””

— Isaiah 6:8

Isaiah 6:8 has been our meditation.  One FFF leader Oliver Coats introduced this verse one Sunday.  My friend Chris and I were pushing through the last of sled sprints.  He encouraged us by presenting the QUESTION: "Brendan, Chris, WHOM SHALL THE LORD SEND?"

We both answered with out hesitation nor doubt, SEND ME!!!

This weekend was powerful!  God led and empowered us to do encouraging and meaningful work.  

Faith Focus Finish conducted Sunday Training this week at Hamilton Avenue School.  Oliver and I were able to take a few kids through some basketball drills and help clean up the park as seen below. 

One boy asked me as I was picked up garbage, why??? I said because I  wn't play in a park that is overrun with garbage.  He smiled:)

On Friday night, I had stopped by the St. Roch feast at Hamilton Avenue School.  Walking by the crowded basketball court filled with kids playing basketball I felt led to stop and watch.  My heart felt for everything I saw, from the discouraging words that were fired at each other to the unwholesome talk being spoken.  I decided to jump in the next game.  I assembled a few bystanders and my squad was ready to take the court.  

I picked one of the smallest and youngest kids there to share the battlefield with.  A young boy named Deion, who was rocking a fresh red polo shirt and freshly pressed khaki shorts.  My man looked like he just came from a Ralph Lauren photo shoot.  One kid said to me "how come you picked Deion to play, he doesn't know how to play basketball" 

I responded, "We are going to teach him!"

Sure enough the first possession I brought the ball down the court and saw Deion inside the paint, wide open.  I drove to the hoop and dished it out to him.  He received the pass and was hesitant at first like a deer in the head lights.  I encouraged him to shoot.....nothing but net! 

After silencing the critics, Deion put us on the board, as we struck first and his smile was ear to ear.


This encounter was powerful for me as much as it was for those kids.  It boosts our confidence.  I believe strongly in model leadership and that if you can show the kids how to walk, talk, lead, they will follow and then model.  Whether it be kids or adults, people follow you because they want to, not because they have to.  I teach kids to be intentional about LIFE.  To not take life lightly, nor the words we speak.  Each day we have the privilege to be intentional about how we engage the world.  I had just showered at the gym before arriving at St. Roch and left sweating.  I didnt come to the feast to play basketball, but that is what God had in mind that night.  Obedience to his call will bear fruit in our lives.  AMEN! 

I felt God calling me to play that night.

My hope is that the kids can see the encounters and learn from them.  That they will turn their doubts into FAITH.  TO encourage one another!  To believe in one another, to Love one another! 

To say Deion take that shot!  

We can't hear a smile....... however it is seen and it is heartfelt......that my brothers and sisters is eternal! 

Remember that the Lord sees the work you are doing.  He knows what is going on in every single persons life.  Bring heaven to earth by believing in the power of God.  You are a Son and Daughter of the Father!

 God Bless You! 
Brendan 

Encourage One Another

As a kid growing up, I could remember the discouragement that I faced, but thanks be to God...the encouraging words always drown out the former.  I recall being put down by peers and even family members about being skinny and weak.  It motivated me to create a plan and make a decision about who I wanted to be.  Not just a stronger version of myself but a man of strength, honor, integrity, and most importantly FAITH.  I made a decision to be the encourager in a world sapped by discouragers.  

The words of encouragement that I received from my father carried so much weight and still do.  Every kid longs for their Father to say, "You can do it, you have what it takes"  

I am thankful that my Dad was present to say those words to me.  I am thankful that they helped form who I am today.  

I believe it is my duty to embody encouragement, so I too can help edify the body, mind and soul~

My challenge to you is to always let your words be an encouragement to those who hear them.  Even the meanest people need your encourgament, if not you then WHO?  Be that person who is a change agent in a life.  God will reward you for the work you are doing.  He sees all!  

And remember that we are all created in the I M A G E of God.  With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God's likeness. James 3:9.  

Let your tamed tougue steer your ship and others to the shores flowing with Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and SELF CONTROL. 

God Bless You,

Brendan

Colossians 3:8
But now you must put aside all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth.

Colossians 4:6
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

1 Thessalonians 5:11
Therefore encourage and build one another up, just as you are already doing.

Treasury of Scripture

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace to the hearers.

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

1 Thessalonians 5:11”

“Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

Ephesians 4:29”

Invincible

“incapable of being conquered, overcome, or subdued
”

— Definition of Invincible

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary.  I come up short even when i'm rested and prepared.  Life hits hard , but let us be encouraged!  We serve a God who desires us to be invincible.  Jesus Christ arms us to be invincible because of what He has done and what he graciously gives us, Himself...God in the flesh!

Romans 8:31-39

More Than Conquerors

31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”[a]

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[b]neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Word says that we are more than conquorors.  God wants his sons and daughters to overcome the obscacles of this world.  He wants us to be I N V I N C I B L E 

God bless,

Brendan J. Micik