Fitness 2017

DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 17K21

Celebrating Contentment and Health 

I won’t tell how old I am, but can report that last year I was a year younger than I am now, and also that I am contented and, by all reports, healthy. 

69th Birthday Run
at
"Chase Tractor Downs"

Winter 2016/2017
"Dancing on the Back Nine"

Fitness 2016

The Jump Up and Down

I don’t dance (some men don’t dance or wear flip flops), but in 1983 when Ronald Reagan won the election, I did the Jump Up and Down by myself in a hotel room. When Donald Trump was elected President, I did the Jump Up and Down with my wife in our den.

DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective/Journey Notes 16K09

Growing Older Just Getting Started

I was born on this day a lot of years ago. Someone said I had more life behind me than I had ahead of me. I said, “Are you kidding! How can that be if I have eternal life?”

• I still have opportunity in this life to help hurting people learn how to read the Scripture in order to hear and experience Christ.
• Then, during the Kingdom Age, the “Thousand Year Reign of Christ on Earth,” I will be assigned the most useful ministry I ever had for helping hurting people learn how to read the Scripture in order to hear and experience Christ. Our message of grace will be very relevant and the most sought after at that time.
• And then in Heaven for eternity I will provide support for experiencing Christ to the saints for eternity. 

Right now, I am just a kid and the ministry God has given us has just now gotten started.

DonLoy Whisnant/Journey Notes 16J06

“Déjà Vu All Over Again”: Learning Again a Lesson from Losing

I write in my testimony that my earlier marriage, parenting, and ministry failed, that it was because my understanding of Christian living and ministry was performance based – meaning that I was highly motivated to be the world’s best Christian, a Champion for Christ, and also that I depended hugely on hype and emotions (fear, guilt, and ego) to drive my performance at home and in the church. I have been in recovery from that failure for 33 years.

Now, as of recent, I must add to my testimony another failure: This one driven,

• not just by a sensible need to be physically healthy, athletic, and without decline even into my later years (“strength unabated” as was Moses and Joshua), but 
• by a stubborn desire to improve each year despite my age and family history. 

The problem was not that I made physical demands of myself but that I began in 2015 using a caffeine supplement to increase energy/metabolism which, according to doctors, caused a heart arrhythmia (A-Fib) and eventually a sudden onset of vertigo-type symptoms (the result of an injury [blood clot] to the part of the brain that controls balance). I have been in recovery for about four months and will need, I am told, another several months for my injury to heal.

From this experience I have learned (again) that the outcomes God gives are

• not the result of heroic performances, but 
• the result of taking time each day to include his Provisions of Grace into our lives, 
• always redemptive (appropriate to and sufficient for our health and happiness),
• according to his Law of Sowing and Reaping, and
• always “without regret” (ametamélētos) (Romans 11:29). 

DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective/Journey Notes 16E28

Update: Working thru Recovery

Overachieving is

• attempting to perform at a level beyond the strength and skills needed to support the performance,
• usually driven by an unmet temperament need
• to be significant (to be a hero, experience power and prestige),
• for approval and acceptance - from people but also from God,
• to be successful, and
• to feel useful, and
• often aided by stimulant (rather than natural) energy.

The result is always injury. It occurs in different arenas of life, including education, workplace, and sports.

It occurs also in ministry.

The Body of Christ is fraught with Church leaders who have

• suffered the injuries of overachievement,
• attempting to do God’s Work,
• impulsively,
• in the wrong place and at the wrong time,
• without his enablement/support, and
• superficially motivated by wildfire emotions -
• guilt (“Christ died for me, I must live for him!”),
• fear (to stay out of trouble with God), and
• ego (to be a hero to people and a Champion for Christ).

Personally, I can speak to the injuries in ministry.

During my earlier ministry, I missed understanding that God does his Work in specific places through vessels he calls, prepares, and appoints in his own timing according to his Will. So I jumped into the fray

• impulsively and ill prepared (having some human strengths and skills as the world determines it, but too little of the support Christ provides per Matthew 11:28-30 and John 15:1-8),
• motivated, of course, by the desire to bring the lost to Christ for salvation, but
• driven also (as I am willing to confess now) by my unmet temperament needs as stated above.

The result was injury and loss. But instead of the failure driving me away from God into despair, God used the experience to call me into a different relationship with him beginning especially 28 years ago, leading to ongoing healing and renewal for meaningful ministry through GracePoint.

I can also speak to the injuries that are the result of trying to perform athletically to a level beyond my strength.

At the beginning of last year, despite growing older, I set out to better my running times and endurance as in previous years. I had read that athletes drank lots of coffee before events to improve performance, so I foolishly began using caffeine supplements before my runs. As a result, I developed an irregular heartbeat (A-Fib) (which I may have already been subject to genetically given my age and family history) which doctors say caused an injury (blood clot) to the area of my brain that controls balance.

So instead of increased performance, my running speed and endurance was cut in half. I expect to recover with hard work, sufficient rest, and proper nutrition, but without the caffeine supplements.

DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective/Journey Notes 16D30

Recovering to Become a Zero: A Mixup in Rehab

At my first visit to rehab following an injury, the therapist and I had our standards mixed up when she asked me to rate how I felt. Thinking 5 was good, I said 4.

“I’m sorry you are that sick,” she said.

“It’s okay,” I said.

“No, 4 is not okay; we don’t want you to be a 4,” she said.

“I thought 4 was pretty good,” I said.

“No,” she said, “zero is good.”

“I don’t want to be a zero,“ I said.

“But if zero means no pain, we want you to be a zero,” she explained.

“Oh!” I said. “Then I am a 1 and definitely want to be a zero!”

DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective/Journey Notes 16C30

Missed Support, a Guarantee for Superficial Success

Failure is a powerful teacher. (That's why we learn quickly not to put our hands on a hot stove.) But from the beginning it was God’s plan for us to be supported in our formative years by resources in the home and Church and even community (parents, pastors, and mentors) for learning how to make wise choices so that we would be spared having to learn mostly from our failures – which is painful and takes much, much longer.

I could have been saved from unmet psychological needs (for information, affection, and structure) if earlier in my life I had been supported for learning 

• how to experience God through Scripture reading and quiet-time worship and that
• his relationship to and through us to others is organic.

As it turned out, left in my ignorance, I was driven by the need to perform heroics (overachieve) which almost always guarantees failure – both in

• my home and ministry (which I experienced over 30 years ago), and also
• physical health (which I experienced this year).

In both cases, I had information and support, but they were not complete. I had some success as the world understands it, but in many ways it was superficial and not enduring.

DonLoy Whisnant/Journey Notes 16C07

Set Back Pressing to Perform

Several weeks ago (January 14), I experienced a sudden onset of vertigo-type symptoms (severe dizziness, nausea, and weakness). I recovered in about 18 hours. About a day later, I experienced the same symptoms, but recovered in about 10 hours. After about a day, the symptoms returned with force. I vomited for four hours and could not stand up. When Carole returned home from work she found me slumped over in the bathroom. She helped me crawl to the shower, and then called EMS. I was in Cone Hospital for two weeks.

As I understand it now, my problem may have begun ten months earlier in March on a visit to Gold’s Gym. I had a great 2014 conditioning wise, so wanted 2015 to be even better, which was unrealistic given my age. At the end of an hour long run on the treadmill at a 6 mph pace, I experienced a sudden weakness. I staggered over to a bench to recover. After about 10 minutes I was able to get to the van and drive home.

Doctors say my conditioning saved me from a much worse experience, also that I will be able to work and run again, but a full recovery may take several months. We’ll see.

In the meantime, I will continue to develop OISGC and hope to continue postings on the website and sending emails.

Throughout 2015 I continued my exercise program logging about 1200 fitness miles, although my running times were about 25% slower. I was also strong physically (muscularly) to keep up with mowing and landscaping and even helping with yard work for two of my elderly neighbors.

However, after the March episode, I noticed an irregular heart beat which turned out to be Atrial Fibrillation (A Fib), a genetic, age-related development, worsened, I think, by my attempt to better my running times (a performance issue) – which resulted during this last episode several weeks ago in a blood clot and injury to the part of my brain that controls balance.

DonLoy Whisnant/Journey Notes 16B15

Laughing at the Little God Uses

The tools I use to maintain my lawn and landscape are, I think, only a step above toys. My neighbors must chuckle. My favorite vehicle I like to bust about in is a little 1986 four cylinder Toyota Camry. The computer I use is a Gateway which I bought new at WalMart for about $200 almost ten years ago. I produce the videos for our Online Institute for Grace Concepts using a small digital recorder and Windows Movie Maker.

Considering that the tools I have to offer God for his use to accomplish his Redemptive work in the world are so small and insignificant, it is evident that

• all God does through my life is all God and
• little is much when God is in it. 

“Little is much when God is in” is a line in one of me favorite songs. I could add a thought, “Little is all some of us have (also all God gets) when he has us.”

DonLoy Whisnant/Journey Notes 15K14

An Old Joke: My Life at 67

Favorite really corny joke: I’m wealthy: I almost have a six-figure income; in fact, it’s five.

Just to report on my 67^th birthday, though: I am excited, thankful, and contented with my modest life, needs, income, and possessions.

Wealth is having

• physical, mental, and emotional health,
• a tension-free marriage,
• a safe, modest place to live/house, property, and furnishings in good repair,
• two maintained/paid-for vehicles,
• no debt,
• 6 months living expenses saved,
• an emergency fund for repair needs,
• health/dental/visual/life insurance,
• modest investment savings for retirement years,
• sufficient funds for food, clothes, nutritional supplements, gifts, day trips to coast and mountains, maintaining possessions - including house, vehicles, and equipment,
• no need for cruises or expensive vacations, alcohol or drugs, social media, parties, tv/movie entertainment, spectator sport events, or codependent relationships with friends or family,
• growing faith and understanding of the message of grace,
• increase in freedom from brokenness, and
• opportunity for redemptive service to others through GracePoint.

Almost Heaven!

DonLoy Whisnant/Journey Notes 15J06

Reflecting on Past Support Resources for Growing in Grace

I hold dear the resources God used in my early life and ministry to support my growth in grace. He used

• my pastor dad to lead me to Christ, also pastors and evangelists who came to our church to speak (C.F. Friend, B.B. Nick, and others),
• Pastor R.J. Barber, Jr. and evangelists Lester Roloff and Maze Jackson to call me to holiness and spiritual renewal through reading the Scripture,
• John Rice, Jerry Falwell, Curtis Hutson, and Jack Hyles to stir my heart for soul winning and church building,
• Radio preachers Charles Fuller, Oliver Green, and J. Vernon McGee for understanding the Scripture, and  
• Pastors Gary Marsh and Charles Stanley to introduce me to the message of grace and support me on the long journey out of legalism. 

None of the above men, however, alone or together, could have substituted for the work of the Holy Spirit to support me during quiet-time worship for experiencing Christ to fuller measure each day.

DonLoy Whisnant/Journey Notes 15J05

Truth and Love: Support to Identify What's Wrong

After moving to our present home, I neglected / procrastinated to look at the side of a building on our property that backed up to a neighbor’s fence. As a result, the 12 by 24 feet area became a tall thicket, overrunning the neighbor’s fence but also damaging the back side of my building. After two seasons, the elderly neighbor, a retired minister, rang my door bell. Kindly he informed me of the problem. (Kindly, because he was sensitive to the potential for people to be offended.) I was horrified and embarrassed by my oversight, hugely apologized, and worked the next several days to correct the problem. Then I thanked him for informing me.

Well-intending friends sometimes tell me I need to be more positive, that I tend to identify problems. I respond that it must be part of the equipping for ministry God has called me to, also because of my temperament type which tends to focus on what’s wrong. (The world needs a few people like that, you know.)

Satan (the demonic powers), our sinful nature, and the world’s culture call us to compromise – that is, to either condemn (to be negative about) what is right (supports health) or to approve (to be positive or say nothing about) what is wrong (destroys health). But "speaking the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15) requires us to be positive about what is right and grieve about what is wrong, and if we are called to it and enabled for it, to communicate that.

DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 15F18

January 12, 2015: 
25th Wedding Anniversary

Our big smiles express the happiness we have experienced almost every day it seems during our marriage. They may also mask deep sadness for previous divorces and failures.

Good Health, Not Longevity: Motivation for Making Wise Choices

My father died at 62, my grandfather at 59, my great grandfather at 61. In fact, I do not have a forefather as far back as I have records (1684) who lived to be older than 68. So I was highly motivated almost 50 years ago to begin making wise choices for diet, exercise, and supplementation. Although I am a very private person, I produced the following videos to provide testimony that, when we make a lifestyle commitment to include God's provisions into our daily lives, we don't need to be much diminished in strength, but can be supported for a good measure of health and fitness ("rooted and established by his Provisions" - Ephesians 3:17), even into our later years (Psalm 91:16; 92:12-14). I do not have a great need or desire to live a long time; but only to be healthy while I live. 

"He will keep you strong until the end so that you will not be without health." - 1 Corinthians 1:8

DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 14B21

Hyped Up Being a Hero

Eight degrees this morning in Greensboro on top of yesterday’s snow, so Carole delayed going to work for several hours. At pre-dawn latte, I told her I loved her more than ever again today (the same thing I told her yesterday morning). She said I could prove it by driving her to work, washing the road salt off her car, and taking it to get inspected. I hate driving on wintery roads, but what could I say. 

Anyway, I got to take her to lunch before getting her to work. I promised I would pick her up later if I could make it back. She said I was her hero. I’m too stingy to pay for a real car wash, so I went to the self-service bay and slid around on the frozen ice. 

At the inspection place, I told service guy Dan my story. He thought it was too much information. I teased that I should have waited on the car wash and let him do it after the inspection. He grinned. I told him I was not as funny as I thought I was. He looked at his buddy, grinned again, and said my car was ready to go. 

DonLoy Whisnant/Journey Notes 14A30

January 12, 2014: Celebrating 24th Wedding Anniversary

In front of the place where we first met. 

Except for an occasional posting, Carole and I are quiet about celebrating our wedding anniversaries, the same as we were about our wedding ceremony on this date 24 years ago. We are thankful for second chances, but grieve the devastation of failed marriages. 

DonLoy Whisnant/Journey Notes 14A12

GracePoint: 2000-2013
 

GracePoint was begun on Easter Sunday, 2000 – so we celebrate God’s faithfulness in significant ways today.

 

I recall that, in 1974, during a time of discouragement and only a few years after I had surrendered to the ministry, I sensed God telling me he would use me for ministry to others in a special way. I have never forgotten the day or where I was or what I thought “special” meant. The scope and size of such a special ministry seemed overwhelming to me.

 

Today, I understand better that “special” did not mean scope or size as I first thought. If it had, the very best of that scenario would have sorely paled, in terms of eternal value, to the opportunity God has given GracePoint to support our counselees, even if only a few, for learning how to read the Scripture in order to hear God in order to experience Christ daily for recovery from deep human brokenness and in order to be made competent for meaningful service to others, beginning with their families.

 

DonLoy Whisnant/Journey Notes 13C31/The Grace Perspective 13C31/D01