01.0 HEART

Solo Challenge: Read Wild at Heart by John Eldridge 

This month we explore the Focus Point of Heart. Reading Wild at Heart speaks to the freedom and purpose we have as followers of Christ and deals with the issues that hold us back. This is a book that keeps on giving no matter how many times you read it. We have found that as we go through different stages of life, God uses it to speak to our hearts in new ways, every time. So, if you have read it before, dive in and reread it.

02.0 SOUL

Solo Challenge: Listen. Pray. Get Up. 

Soul is often thought to be the deepest level of our being; it comes from the very breath of God and is what makes you uniquely you. Your soul is significant in your connection with God, and to know your purpose is to know who made you and why. Communication is a vital aspect of intimate connection. It is a healthy balance of listening and speaking. Connection with God is no different. For this month, you will alternate between speaking and listening to God. On top of this, you will engage in some physical activity with your sandbag. At the end of the month, reflect on what was easiest for you. For most men, physical stress and discomfort is still easier than the emotional and mental strain of communication and intimate connection.

Listening/Stillness — Spend 10–15 minutes in listening/stillness on one day.

Speaking — Spend 10–15 minutes talking with God on the alternate day. Start with what you are thankful for; then move to your worries, fears, concerns, and decisions that need to be made; and then seek His wisdom. Ask Him to reveal anything that might be hindering growth in your relationship with Him. Ask Him to reveal your true purpose.

Sandbag Get Ups — On your Speaking days, after your time of prayer do as many sandbag get ups as you can until you fail (the bag touches the ground or you drop it). Lay flat on your back with the bag on your chest or stomach and stand up fully without the bag touching the ground or any other object. Repeat until you can no longer get up.

03.0 MIND

Solo Challenge:  Read Matthew Chapter 5.

Read Matthew Chapter 5. The Challenge is to commit the entire passage—verses 1 through 48—to memory. Before you make any snap judgment about how you can’t possibly do this—stop. That’s bull crap. You are a dude, and as a dude, you have already memorized a ton of stuff. How many movies can you quote? How many songs do you know from start to finish? How much information have you memorized to take a test or to perform your job? You can do it. You do it already. Take the time. Invest the effort in committing something truly valuable to memory. Burn it into your being and watch what happens. When you are assaulted by lies, often from within, see how the truth comes screaming forward. That perspective and embedded truth may just save your life. Can you say the same about the lyrics to your favorite song or the lines from Braveheart or 300? You have a little more than 40 verses here. You have about 30 days until your next event. Come up with a plan, learn a couple of verses a day, and then add a couple more the next day. It’ll take some effort, but you can certainly do it.

04.0 STRENGTH

Solo Challenge: Push Up. Read Up. 

This month is a two-part challenge involving strength and weakness. The first part is a physical discipline that will develop your physical strength. The second part is a mental component that will reinforce that we can do all things in Christ who strengthens us, and only through our weakness and brokenness is this possible.

Physical Challenge

You will complete 5 sets of push-ups every other day. Start with a number of push-ups per set that you are comfortable doing 5 sets of in a day. Each day that you are doing the push-ups add 1 push-up to each set. (For example, on day one, complete 5 sets of 10 push-ups, day two is a break from push-ups, on day three complete 5 sets of 11 push-ups, and so on).

Spiritual/Emotional/Mental Challenge

On the off day, you are to slowly read twice and meditate on the following verse: 2 Corinthians 12:9-10: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

With this reading and meditation, pray for God to reveal a “task” to you that you have neglected to take on or resolve. Maybe God has been impressing on your heart the need to apologize to a family member. Maybe you have been struggling with the use of pornography, or you have been given a directive to work less and spend more time with your wife and kids. What does this look like for you? You are the only one who can define this. If you don’t know, ask Him to reveal it to you. Then, pray for the strength to accomplish it. Pray for the fear and hurdles to subside. Then, go after it! Your Braid can’t wait to hear what you learned in this attempt and your story of victory!

05.0 LOVING OTHERS

Solo Challenge: Sandbag Ruck. 

The challenge for Focus Point 5 is a Sandbag Ruck and it brings a few unique components together to help you begin an honest assessment of the things you are lugging around in your pack. Jesus promises a life of freedom, purpose, passion, and restoration that many of us are not actively experiencing —why? Could it be that we are overburdened by things that are infinitely smaller than what Jesus has in store for us? Or maybe, we are unwilling to trust Him with certain areas of our lives. 

Distracted and stressed by the unimportant, fearful of things well within His control and grasp - we are unable to embrace the “full life” we have been promised.

1. Carry your sandbag as you reflect on the things that burden you most. Once a week, until you meet with your Braid at the next Basecamp. Walk, hike or run with your sandbag a minimum of a mile and a half. Feel free to place the sandbag in a backpack, throw it over your shoulder or tie a couple of straps around it to function as handles.

2. As you carry this weight, focus your thoughts on the things in your life that burden you. What adds the most stress? What leaves you exhausted or defeated? What fears do you consistently battle?

3. When your walk is over and after you catch your breath, log or journal the burdens that came to mind. Save this list and revisit it when you ruck your sandbag next week. Each week add any new items that come to mind and note those that reoccur.

4. After the last ruck, revisit your list and write out your answers to the questions in this month’s Solo Challenge Assessment.

This can be some gut-wrenching reflection, but it doesn’t have to be. Invite Jesus to speak into this accounting and reveal some dead weight to leave behind. Don’t be discouraged; there will always be stuff to get out of there.