Soul Training DAy 30-35

DAY 30-35

I have made you a second piece called, “Wrestling Gear for Billy Mark: By His Stripes We Are Healed.” In a location on 8 Mile Road, use the fabric stripes as a prayer piece. Cover the ground with the stripes and reflect on Jesus being the healer of not only the human soul, but the land as well. Read Isaiah 53.

Sing a chorus of “Hallelujahs” at least 41 times in different renditions. Sing while taking prayer walks along 8 Mile Road.

The spiritual act of worship is warfare, but also draws you closer to the living God in whom you put your hope in. Many songs have been sung along 8 Mile Road. What is your song?

Read Ephesians 6 and think about who this battle belongs to?

As March 28th approaches, take time to pray for your family. Lay hands on each member of your family and ask the Lord’s blessing, healing, unity, and protection over each one.  Consider what unity means for your family. What needs to “die” to be united to each one? What needs to be “redeemed?” Would you be willing to walk down 8 Mile Road with your family with some wrestling gear in hand and heart? There are visible and invisible wrestling gears—use both.

“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

Guided Prayer Part II

Heart Trainer Shacha lead the wrestler in a guided prayer.

Mind Trainer Geronimo was present as well to add a layer of prayer support and insight.

Visuals created by Dan Waters.

Guided Prayer Part 1

Heart Trainer Shacha lead the wrestler in a guided prayer.

Mind Trainer Geronimo was present as well to add a layer of prayer support and insight.

Visuals created by Dan Waters.

Soul Training Day 16-29

DAY 16-20

Take the next five days to cleanse the heart, soul, mind, and body in preparation for the second half of the journey. Cleanse the body from toxins – emotional and physical ones. Purge the heart of its desire to please itself.

Fast from that which entangles you or what has become habit (maybe it’s fasting from what you always listen to or from what you always watch or other habits that could prevent you from hearing the Spirit). 

Breathe three deep breaths three times a day (perhaps choosing those sacred times in the day from your previous prayer rhythms—8am, 12pm, 9pm).

Prepare for spiritual battle by finding a routine of “putting on the full armor of God” on a daily basis. You can see this is offensive or defensive depending on what is before or within you.

DAY 21-23

The second half of this soul-training guide will focus on materializing or making manifest what you have learned and received during the first half. By now, you will have considered what the soul means. You will have encountered some scrapes with spiritual forces of wickedness, or at least begun to see a glimpse of how these forces are at work within you and this world. You will have identified your name. You will have meditated on Ephesians 6 and read it verse by verse. Continue to ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate this passage (do not tire of going to the same passage over and over again).

I have made you a hand-knitted wrestling gear. The piece is made up of bright red yarn and serves as a reminder regarding, “Nothing But the Blood.” Read Isaiah 53; meditate on it and think on it when you wear the piece.

You also have identified the match to be a match against division; a fight for unity. Read John 17:20-26 and Luke 12:49-53. Pray. Journal about passages.

DAY 24-29

Take the next five days to go on prayer walks along 8 Mile Road (does not have to be everyday, but aim to walk the stretch for at least 30 minutes to1 hour stretches for how ever many days you can).  You are now going to spiritually engage the forces that are along this stretch of land.  Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to give you eyes to see what is really going on in that area; do not take things at face value. What is hidden can be disclosed to you. Pray before, during, and after the time. End prayer time by asking Jesus to cleanse you of anything that is not from him and to not allow anything to enter your home that is not from him.

Journal after each prayer time.If there's something that stands out to you about certain locations along your walks, write that down and write the location. You may also choose to bring a camera as a way to journal.

Bring your Nothing But the Blood wrestling gear and wear it on one of the walks. If you haven't learned the song "Nothing But the Blood," learn it and sing it on your prayer walk. Plenty of versions can be found online.

May the Lord Bless you and keep you, may the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord look upon you with his favor, and give you his peace. Amen.

Isaiah 53 (Soul Training)

Who has believed our message
    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
    and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
    nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by mankind,
    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

U.N.I.T.Y

Wrestler...Unity (Spend 20-30 minutes on the couch everyday with your wife. Even if the kids are around to see it. Until our next meeting.

There is freedom in unity.

Gmoe

Jeffersons of Hazzard

In response to the heart training direction, I googled "1979 T.V. Shows" and then took the first predominantly white and predominantly black t.v. shows and mashed up the image and audio.

I noticed that there are two vehicles featured in the intros to the both the Jeffersons and the Dukes of Hazzard. Both symbolize freedom and escape.

Wrestling With Revival. He's Alive.

 

Direction: Need of prayer, realizing that it's krunch time for the Trainers and Wrestler...Coming together in order to keep him alive.

Gmoe

How Were you Raced? (Exercises)

Question 1:

When were you first made aware of your race?

Exercise:

Go to a heavily populated public space. For 15-20 minutes observe the people walking by. Pay close attention to their similarities and differences.  If someone comes near you start a conversation with them. Journal about this experience.

Scripture:

“ After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,”  Rev. 7:9

Question 2:

Who or what helped shaped your racial identity?  What were you taught?

Exercise A:

Visit the year of your birth. Research the major headlines & television shows of that year.  What did you notice concerning your race and others races?

Exercise B:

Ask a relative about their views/opinions on the race you identify as.

Scripture: 

“I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”   Psalm 139:14

Question 3:

Who or what helped you to learn about other races? What were you taught?

Exercise A:

Interview one relative about their views of other races.

Exercise B:

Write a short story or poem about one of your first experiences with someone racially different than yourself.      

Scripture:

For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  Gal: 3:26-28 26

Heart Training Week 1: How Were You Raced?*

*“Raced” is intentionally used in the place of “raised” to help us think about how our upbringing, families and communities helped to shape how we developed our racial identity and racial judgments towards others.

Question

1. When were you first made aware of your race?

2. Who or what helped shape your racial identity? 
(What were you taught?)

3. Who or what helped you to learn about other races?
(What were you taught?)

 

Beyond Saying Words (Division)

The media is feeding us lies. We were meant to be united. The snake is winning. We have to combat it with truth.

Alert! Alert! Trainer Down!

So, what happens to the wrestler when the trainer is down. When she has been wrestling while training? Today, Soul-trainer sent the wrestler the beginning of a wrestling guide that she's been working on for a while. 45-minutes after sending that guide, the trainer gets knocked down. Air knocked out of her lungs. She pants, she buries her head. She thinks to herelf, "What happens when the trainer is down in the middle of a wrestling match?" That's when she realizes, that this human trainer is in desperate need of her own soul-trainer. She calls out, "Help! I'm down? Pick me up, Jesus!"

After about 15 minutes of swimming in her tears, she's up again. She's wounded, but up. She goes about her day again, but she's not the same person. The wrestling match for the trainer strengthens her because it forces her to depend on someone beside herself.

--Soul-trainer

Soul Training: Day 4-9 of 40

DAY 4-7: Read Chapter 12, “The Cross and the Soul Life” found in Watchman Nee’s The Normal Christian Life, Mark 14:32-41, and Thoughts on Soul and Spirit.

The Human Soul according to Watchman Nee:

“Now we know the course that Adam chose. Standing between the two trees, he yielded to Satan and took of the fruit of the tree of knowledge. This determined the lines of his development. From then on he could command a knowledge; he “knew.” But—and here we come to the point—the fruit of the tree of knowledge made the first man over-developed in his soul. The emotion was touched, because the fruit was pleasant to the eyes, making him “desire”: the mind with its reasoning power was developed, for he was “made wise”: and the will was strengthened, so that in future he could always decide which way he could go.”

The words soul and spirit are often used interchangeably. In these next few days, I want you to consider if there is a difference between the two? If there is a difference, what is it? Journal thoughts on the matter.

There is a passage in scripture where it is interpreted that Jesus uses the word soul and spirit in the same situation—praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. Read Mark 14:32-41 and meditate on verses 34 and 38.

DAY 8

Read Ephesians 6:10-20

Consider

·      To wrestle, we must put on the full armor of God. Without the full armor, there will be gaps; there will be exposed areas of our mind, body, soul, and heart. Exposed parts get injured; distracted. We put on the full armor so that we can stand.

·      Our struggle is not against flesh and blood. This battle isn’t about just people not getting along at some point in history.

·      This struggle – the battle: the rulers, the authorities, the powers of this dark world and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

·      Since this is our struggle, we can only combat it with spiritual ammunition and weapons.  All other modes of attack are null and void – ineffective. Perhaps they quell some aspects of the struggle for a few moments, but the attacks come back.  The flesh and blood attack method cannot totally extinguish the flames of the evil forces.

DAY 9

Read Ephesians 6:10-consider the foundation of this endeavor and in whose power and strength you will rely on to wrestle the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly realms.

Soul Training: Day 1 -3 of 40.

For the Wrestler: A 40-Day Guide to Wrestling the Spiritual Forces of Evil in the Heavenly Realms

Written by Restorer, a Soul-Trainer

How to Use this Guide

The most effective way to use this guide is to select 40 days within the calendar year in which to engage in wrestling. You might consider the season of Lent, though you may discern another season of the year.  The Guide should be used daily during the 40 days. There are entries that the Soul-Trainer has prepared for the Wrestler. It is crucial that the Wrestler engage in prayer after reading, considering, and doing what each entry says.

Day 1-2

On this 40-Day Guide to Wrestling the Spiritual Forces of Evil in the Heavenly Realms, you, the Wrestler, will journey into the desert. The desert is a physical place where you will engage in the battle of the heart, soul, mind, and strength. You will come to identify this place at some point in the journey.  One primary purpose of this guide as to help you learn what this means: “ ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ ”[1] The secondary purpose is for you, the Wrestler (though you will find yourself struggling against the systems of man and this dark world) to see that your “struggle is actually not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”[2]

While we will not ignore the heart, mind, and strength, this training will focus on the soul. You will learn the governing principals of the soul and how, since the creation of man, it has wrestled with an addiction to power. “By taking the fruit, Adam became possessed of an inherent power to act, but a power which, by its independence of God, played right into Satan’s hands.”[3] Throughout the 40 Days, there will be times of great trial where the core of you will feel utterly defeated. A blow will come when you least expect it. It is as if an invisible fist came at you without forewarning. You will be on the ground and see your own blood dripping down your skin, clothes, and on the desert ground. You might be down for a minute, an hour, a day, or even a week. This is when you most need to realize that the battle is not yours alone. There is a stronger invisible force that is greater than that of this dark world. This force is the Holy Spirit of the living God who Tabernacles within you upon invitation. When He comes, He will give you power. This is not the self-seeking power the soul is addicted to, but a power from on high that will give you the strength to get back up and wrestle again. (Read scriptural references related to power.)

It is important to start your day with prayer. Select times throughout the day to actively pray about your journey.  This guide is a way to have conversation and meditation about how to wrestle; it is not a replacement for the Holy Spirit or for your personal relationship with Jesus. Wrestler will need to keep a journal and Bible within reach throughout the journey.

Scriptural references related to the word power:

2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

2 Corinthians 10:4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, “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.

Colossians 1:1 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.

Hebrews 2:14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—

DAY 3: Why 40 Days?

Below is the passage often titled, “The Temptation of Jesus.”

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    and they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ ”

Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’ ”

Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

BODY TRAINING 1

QUESTION: What are your thoughts on pre-match rituals? Have you thought through any particular rituals or routines, especially physical ones, to get you in the right state, just before facing an opponent?

DIRECTION: Exert your body in some way to the point of failure (for example: do push-ups or hold a half push-up position until your arms give out; lay on your back, legs straight out and hold your heels 8 inches off the ground until they drop).  Then record at least one observation about reaching the point of failure.  (Feel free to repeat exercise.)

Be on your guard, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong.  Do it all in love.

(1 Cor 16:13-14)

Fireman's Carry

Folkstyle vs Freestyle Wrestling

"Folkstyle" wrestling is the style used in high school and college wrestling competition in the United States. "Freestyle" wrestling refers to the style seen in international competition (the Olympics). The two styles are very similar and their differences relate to how points are awarded to the wrestlers during the match, and how the matches are structured (length and number of rounds in each match).

Silver or On Not Winning.

"The fifth Modern Olympic Games, wrestling competitions were held from July 6th to 15th July 1912. A total of 170 wrestlers from 18 nations competed at the Stockholm Games. There were five wrestling events were contested and all for men in the Greco-Roman style.

Wrestling was conducted on three 5 x 5 meter mats in the Olympic Stadium, exposing the wrestlers to the hot sun throughout the matches... The bouts were in 30-minute rounds, with three judges. After each 30-minute round, the judges could declare a winner or order another round, with no limit to the number of rounds. In the event that neither wrestler was aggressive enough, the judges could declare both wrestlers to have lost (today called disqualification due to passivity).

The light heavyweight final between a Swede, Anders Ahlgren, and a Finn, Ivar Bohling, lasted nine hours and the match was finally declared a tie. Since neither had gained an advantage over the other, no gold medal was awarded. Each received a silver medal."

The Wrestler's Training Has Begun

Trainer Matt Hale gives the wrestler a lesson on taking down your opponent. 

The Wrestler's Cloth

Trainer Matt Hale gave this cloth to the wrestler noting that, according to the rulebook, wrestler's are supposed to carry a cloth with them as they wrestle so that they can wipe up their own blood.