Tips for Getting in Shape

I came across this article online at relevantmagazine.com.

RESTORING THE TEMPLE: 6 Keys to Getting in Shape

So where should you begin when you finally desire to take better care of your body? Try these tips.

1. Pray for self-control in the area of eating and drinking. You can pray with confidence because God desires to give you self-control (Gal. 5:22-23).

2. Confess your failure to God when you overindulge, just as you would any other sin-with humbleness, repentance, and with the knowledge that God will forgive (Ps. 86:5).

3. Realize that our culture's concept of the "ideal body" (i.e., unnaturally trim models and actors) is often detached from reality. God made our bodies all different shapes and sizes, and it pleases Him! Starving our bodies isn't any better than gorging them. The goal should be maintaining a healthy, fit lifestyle.

4. Exercise for 30 minutes at least four times per week. (Experts advise seeing a doctor before starting any diet or exercise program.) Find a friend who is willing to work out with you and keep you accountable. To keep it interesting, try a mixture of walking, jogging, swimming, aerobics, and weight lifting.

5. Eat a balanced diet: Stick to fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, grilled or baked meat, and low-fat dairy products. Visit a dietician or ask a health-conscious friend for advice if you need help getting started. (One easy rule: Make sure that everything on your plate isn't the same color).

6. Remember that your body is God's temple (1 Cor. 6:19), and "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor. 10:31).

—Jenny Solomon

Get Healthy and Get in Shape!

Enough is Enough.

With the new life in uptown, new baby, new church plant, camp pastor for MLab again, and taking summer classes...it has certainly been a far from normal summer. One of the main areas of my life that has slipped is my personal fitness. I have always been a pretty disciplined dude in this area of my life. Throughout high school and college I played competitive basketball, so that always kept me in shape. Since then, I feel like I have done a pretty good job staying in the gym...but then came this summer.

Stats tell us that 2 out of 3 adults in America are out of shape. When you take a look at most congregations and pulpits, you will confirm that the church is possibly even worse. I have always been aggravated by the majority of Christ-followers in our country (especially pastors) who take a stand against drinking, partying, and drugs but look like a beach whale. This is completely hypocritical. The sin of gluttony is as serious as the rest of sins we love to highlight. If you don't think this is serious, read Proverbs 23:2: "Put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony". I believe God desires for us to engage in two activities. #1 Repent, #2 Eat & Get Healthy.


I just returned from the gym above. This is Temple Gym on Magazine St. The owner, Gus, has blessed Andrew and I with permission to work out here. Our church meets above his gym for worship. In the middle of my workout today I took a bathroom break. In the bathroom was a scale. Here is what I found out:


Right now I am 210lbs. I am not a freakin whale, but for me this is not good. In college I was a solid 185. This summer I have not taken care of my body and I repent for my irresponsibility with the body that Christ has given me. I refuse to be another fat husband/pastor/friend. Anytime that I have gotten serious about my physical health it has had a great impact upon my spiritual health. That is motivation enough. Now it is time to get healthy and get in shape.

Below is my plan until 2009. If you feel convicted about your health, I want to invite you and challenge you to take this journey with me. Don't worry about following my plan, find something that works for you. The main point is to get healthy and get in shape. My goal weight is to return to my college b-ball playing weight of 185lbs. That is 25lbs. I am going to post my weight each Sunday for accountability.

Strategy:

Get Healthy: 6 smaller, healthier meals a day for 6 days. (meal times: 7:30-8, 10-10:30, 12:30-1, 2:30-3, 4:30-5, 7-7:30) 1 free day (eat what I want) each week. (go to Body for Life for tips)
Work Out: 3 days of weightlifting with 15 minutes of cardio. 3 days of cardio (45-60 minutes). options: running, biking, crosstrainer, bball, tennis, rollerblading, etc. 1 day off.

There it is. Enough is enough. I would love for some of you to join me in this journey. Let me know how I can pray for you and encourage you to get in shape.

Pray for our Military

Over the past month, our Vintage community has been without one of our leaders. Page Brooks is serving up in South Carolina as a military chaplain. God is using him to do some great things for His glory as he serves our country. This past week, I launched into my message by having a live interview with my friend (thanks to Travis Manint and Skype). Click here to tune into our conversation. Please continue to pray for Page and especially those who are engaged in active duty for our country around the world.

Soldier, Athlete, Farmer?

This past month has been an amazing journey for our new church. People are coming to Christ each week, new locals are connecting and wanting to become members, our membership is stepping it up in their faithfulness, and our attendance has shot up to around 100 people each Wed Night. We are going to have to launch our Sunday morning service about a month early because we have run out of room. I am so humbled and excited to be a part of this movement in Uptown. Christ is amazing!

We have been journeying through the book of II Timothy this past month. Our text last night was II Tim 2:1-7. As I shared in the message last night, Paul encourages Timothy to have the focus of a soldier, commitment of an athlete, and hard-work of a farmer. As I went to bed last night after preaching this text, I was once again reminded of God's grace upon our new journey in New Orleans. I am so grateful that God has brought us a team of people who live and serve Christ and Vintage Church as soldiers, athletes, and farmers.

To all the faithful members and friends at Vintage Church, I love you and I thank God for you. To the soldiers...keep engaging the spiritual battle for souls. To the athletes...keep training and conditioning as you live out the Word. To the farmers...don't stop laboring and getting dirty for Christ. Continue to Be the Church. For those who are struggling in the battle, I offer you the wisdom of Paul in Philippians 3:12-14:

12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Grace and Peace.

Vintage Podcast

When our church (Vintage Church) launched in January, we began a series through the books of I & II Timothy. Our series is called "Advice". It has taken around 20 messages for us to get through I Timothy. This past week we launched our journey through II Timothy.


As II Timothy starts, we have launched our church podcast. Included in our podcast will be weekly messages and announcements. We will also upload some special events, messages, interviews, and songs from our church team. This podcast will be a great way for you to keep in touch with what God is doing in New Orleans.

Subscribe to the Vintage Podcast by clicking on this link. Our podcast will also be posted on iTunes soon.

A Superior Calling

PRAISE REPORT:

Below is an article that my good friend (Dr. Jeff Cook) wrote for the Louisiana Baptist Magazine about our church. When I was interviewed for this article I shared about an experience of having dinner with a couple in Uptown. I have amazing news! Two Wednesday nights ago, my dad (Dr. Don Wilton) preached at our church about the importance of the family and the church. The couple that is mentioned in the article came to church on that night for the first time. Our friend surrendered her life to Christ and her husband is asking some great questions. Pray for us as we disciple this couple and their little girl.

God is doing a great work in New Orleans through Vintage. Thanks for your prayers and support!

"A Superior Calling"
by Dr. Jeff Cook

When you visit New Orleans, everyone knows to ask where to eat. Most people know to visit some very special eating establishments like Café Du Monde. But if you live in Uptown New Orleans, you frequent places like Buddha Belly, Ignatius, Storyville, Slim Goodies, or Fuel Coffee House. Walk down Magazine Street to visit one of these eclectic locations and you will discover Vintage Church, another new church plant in Uptown.

Rob and Annabeth Wilton were in Seminary when Katrina hit New Orleans. They moved to South Carolina, then returned to serve with the MissionLab program at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. When they moved back to live in a very different New Orleans, they began to realilze that God had prepared them for a different kind of ministry in the new, New Orleans. Rob and Annabeth Wilton were meeting with friends at Superior Grill Restaurant in Uptown New Orleans when their conversation began to be about Jesus. As the friends were eating and talking, "It just clicked." We fell in love with the people of Uptown." When Rob and Annabeth left that meal, they realized they could minister to people like their friends, and they knew that the best way to do that was through a local church.

They began to pray that God would help them start a new church. After a few months, Rob and a core team launched this new church in the heart of Uptown. Vintage Church currently meets Wednesday nights above Temple Gym. More than 50 people attend and the group ranges from "church hoppers to bar hoppers." Sunday Services and Life Groups will launch in the fall of 2008.

Rob (who is the lead planter/pastor of preaching and vision) is joined by Page Brooks and Andrew Ogea. Page is the pastor of teaching and strategy for Vintage and Andrew is the pastor of worship leadership and discipleship. Page and his wife Ashley have a daughter (Karis) and he serves as Professor of Theology & Islamic Studies at NOBTS. Andrew and his wife Amy are newlyweds and he has served over the past six years as worship leader at Northshore Church in Slidell.

When you come to New Orleans, order a poboy at Masparo's, ride a trolley car down St. Charles, come grab coffee at Fuel and then look for Vintage Church and be blessed.

Bolt Arrives!

I know that I haven't written this week, but I have a pretty good excuse. Annabeth went into labor this past Wednesday morning around 5:00am. After a long day of struggle but amazing joy, Annabeth gave birth to our son on Wednesday night at 8:48pm.


I have a lot of friends that have kids. They have all told me that watching your wife give birth to your first child is one of the greatest experiences of your life. After Wednesday night I join the list of daddy's around the world. There is absolutely nothing that compares with the experience of kissing your wife and looking into the eyes of your child. Thank you Jesus for giving me such an amazing blessing. I know that this little man is going to teach me so much about the love Christ has for us.


I love my wife so much! She pushed for over 3 hours. I kept giving her ice chips and washing her face with a wash cloth and she never slowed down. Finally, after a long battle our little man made his entrance into this world. At that moment I was utterly speechless. The only thing that I could do was cry and kiss my beautiful wife. His name is Robert Bolton John Wilton. We are calling him Bolt. He has four names just like his dad (Robert Edwin John Wilton). Bolton is my mom's maiden name, so we are going to carry on my grandpa's (who we call "Bumpa") name. John is the name of my other grandpa (who we call "Papa"). He is a big boy and fits his nickname "little fatty" well. 9lb 3.8 oz and 21 1/2 in tall! His head is huge like his daddy (14 1/4cm).


Enjoy the pics. Thanks to all our friends and family for your prayers and support.