Perhaps it is a bit over-the-top to compare Google, or more correctly said, the umbrella corporation of the Alphabet Conglomerate (seriously), to Resident Evil‘s The Umbrella Corporation—as far as I know, they are not developing biotech to rid the world of the powerless—they aren't, are they? Nevertheless, like Alice, I'm done with them....inasmuch as I can be by getting rid of my account with its storage in Google Drive; the phone number with Google Hangout; the apps with Docs, Sheets, Notes, and Slides; my music backup with Google Play Music; the photos with Google Photos; the synced bookmarks with Google Chrome; the browser with Google Chrome; and no doubt more that doesn't come to mind...oh!—email. Yeah, clearly. I'm entering the phase of my training where I'm even more disconnected. Yes, I guess like the roving zombies of the Resident Evil universe, I cannot get rid of them entirely...there is YouTube—remember when they were their own? Of course, there's the search engine, the AltaVista of today, and I don't necessarily mind transitioning to DuckDuckGo. Oh yeah, I now no longer have access to a Google API, so I had to go through EVERY post I posted a YouTube clip to remove an EmbedYT shortcode—I've posted a lot of trailers!

I just don't want Google so entrenched in my life...the Chromecast stuck to my TV, the Chromebook on my lap. It's a wonder there's not a Google Crawler literally on my lawn, mowing down the grass.

Speaking of my yard, I've chosen to not cut most of my yard, but will just leave a walking trails. I still will be cutting 2+ acres, but I don't know what rationale I have to cut that which has no application. It's not like my cutting will keep the varmints away as the immediate woods has its share, or the tall grasses on the property that I've previously abandoned. I'll be happy to dissuade the groundhogs from hanging out underneath the back porch or the armadillo ninja that keeps digging up holes.

I'm still indecisive if I should give up my first hour of my workout to read. Simply, I'm shredding the weight and I don't want to lose the momentum. And I won't ignore that I may be unduly influenced by a long week of working out—3 hours a day of training has a lot of bang. Still, I can't ignore the benefits of that quiet time...well, I don't want make any huge changes in the The Second Expedition. I'm entering its 6th and final week. I can consider it as part of The Third Expedition, since I have been wanting to do a general shift toward something...different. The Second Expedition was all about increasing the intensity and adding further cardio in comparison to The First Expedition. The Third...it shall be unveiled.

As it has been said, "Butterfly in the sky, I can go twice as high. Take a look, it's in a book, a Reading Rainbow! I can go anywhere. Friends to know, and ways to grow. A Reading Rainbow!"

I'm excited about this newfound fervor with reading. I suppose it never left, but it tended to get lost in the shuffle of life. For that matter, it's challenging to carve out time to do it now. That being said, I hope Logos's reading planner will change that. In the past, I used it for some solid success. The challenge now before me is when exactly I'll do it since I no longer stay up late since I wake up early to workout.

Thus, I'm trying out waking up at 3AM. In that approach, I can have my morning tea, read for the day, and as my body re-hydrates from its slumber, it gets prepped for the 4AM-6AM workout. On the downside, it's 50 minutes less sleep, but I think it could be worth the tradeoff. An hour of high quality reading a day could lend itself to a positive payoff.

Of course, my focus is theology and for good reason: this is the study of eternity. What good is it to study securities or humanities if they do not lend itself to the big picture? What good would it to have studied securities pre-18th century? And it looked nothing like it does today! Perhaps my bent is shaped by my own IT education: sure, the general idea hasn't changed, but 90s tech is far from today. Maybe I should have studied mathematics instead!

No, studying the things of God makes sense: 1) in the short-term, I derive pleasure from it; 2) in the long-term, it's information that I can use and is applicable for the next...well, 10,000 years is just the beginning (Psalm 39:5, Psalm 90:4, 2 Peter 3:8, Titus 1:1-2). Seriously. Yes, yes, we live finite lives—what value is it to discipline my mind in...accounting or...you name the focus, if I don't use that knowledge toward eternity?

In essence, it's an application from the Sermon on the Mount:

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

So why haven't I always done this? I'm still dealing with a fallen body. It's challenging to keep my mind my on the eternal, especially when the shallow things of this world, culture, politics, entertainment—you name it, are like insolent children flinging fits for attention. And try as I may, I succumb to the fallacy of scarcity. I need reminding of Matthew 6:25-34.

Another shoulders day...I seemed a bit sluggish after the initial stretch out of the gate this morning. I began to turn it onaround 5AM before hitting the weights. After the routine, cardio was a breeze. There may be some sort of application to my morning warmup by adopting some sort of resistance...potentially even some sort of ab exercise, but I don't know if that would charge me up like a 40+ minute resistance routine. Then again, I could just be riding the coattails of the endorphins?

I finished a book on my new reading list: R.C. Sproul's Chosen By God. It's been a long time coming—not that it's a hard read or long for it's only 213 pages, rather, it's just one of those books that I enjoy reading, but then something else comes along and distracts me. It's a topic that I've studied a bit and I completed his video series on in the past. While I have the link posted elsewhere, here's the link to the 6-part video series, Chosen By God.

I'm liking the evolution of my site, from merely just a simple workout / weightloss / nutritional personal journal to the sharing of my faith. I've not done so consistently in the past because I didn't feel...good enough, I didn't want to tarnish the name of my God. But, look, that's silly...there's no one righteous, not one. Check out Romans 3:10-12. It's for that reason why NO ONE wants justice; we want grace. Beautiful, sweet, amazing grace. I've made mistakes...and like I've been hearing from a couple sermons yesterday from both MacArthur and Piper, my love for God isn't this balanced line toward eternity—it ebbs and flows; it's like a sine wave; a rollercoaster! I've had those joyous moments of basking in the sunny grace he pours down upon me; I've had those dark nights of the soul. This is the believer's life. I've sinned, then repented, and sinned again. Yet, still...I love Him. No, of course I don't sin so that His grace may increase (Romans 6:1-2). How often have I felt Paul's sentiment in chapter 7:

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Of course, there's this tension for the Called, as we wrestle through our sanctification. And it makes perfectly good sense that it exists. There would be little need for justification if I had it figured out...and I would be unique to the whole history of humanity with the exception of Jesus—clearly, that's not me...

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.