November 5 2007

Transformed and Upgraded, but not yet arrived! (Part 1)

What a difference a year makes. I was on the phone the other day with my friend and the founder of New Beginnings-The Fitness Angel, talking about the changes he was making on his website www.myfitnessangel.com. I wanted to know how his changes were going to affect the New Beginnings family. We were using the website for our physical fitness component and he shared that he was moving to a paid site. You know me I was looking out for yall. I wanted to know what my peeps were going to be paying for and what they could still get for free.

I had not actually been on the site for several months as I was going through a time of God directing me on stuff I needed to be doing and working on some changes He wanted to make in me. New ideas and new vision take up a lot of time. Providing new weekly articles each week, monthly newsletters, podcasting, book talk, accepting the call to the preaching ministry and then preaching my trial sermon. I was kind of busy. Well if you know the Fitness Angel you know he told me to check it out. So I did.

I saw a young lady by the name of Amy on the site. The Fitness Angel was taking her through a 60 day physical fitness challenge. I had the privilege of meeting Amy personally prior to seeing her on the site, because she is a member of the same fitness center that I attend. Okay, let me put in a plug for the gym. It is Contours Express located at 16th Street and Baseline in Phoenix, AZ. It is owned and operated by our own Fitness Coach and the writer of our physical fitness articles, Sheila White Phillips. If you are in Phoenix (women only, sorry guys) check it out.

Now back to what I was talking about before the commercial break. I was checking out Amy’s videos and I was as I told the Fitness Angel, a little intrigued. He laughed. But I told him I had a lot of questions. Who was Amy? Why did she choose to do the challenge? Amy was a real person, a woman, my sister. She had been placed in my view, but I did not know who she was, what she thought or anything that would make her real to me. You know I couldn’t let it go. What I saw and experienced in meeting her, what I saw on the video all said, “we need to know her”. Just watching her work out and comment periodically was not enough. So I checked with His Royal Highness, The Fitness Angel and with Amy to see if I could take it a little farther. Could I do an interview with her.? Can we follow her through the rest of her journey to her becoming holistically, not just physically fit? As the favor of God would have it they were more than agreeable to allow us to do it.

Over the next couple weeks we will be introducing you to Amy, as a total package. A woman with needs and desires, struggles and opportunities, just like all of us. She will be sharing her inner most thoughts, her struggle with the weight, her losses, her hurts and her pains. Now I have to put a warning message and disclaimer on this. Amy is real! She is going to tell it like it is, and she has our permission. Her story when shared may bring healing to her and to you in specific areas that you may not be aware that you have. Keep watching the site for her.

My viewing The Fitness Angel site did not stop there. A lot of the new stuff The Fitness Angel was telling me about was not ready yet, but in my surfing through the site, I rolled up on some videos of Angela. Yeah, me! I was shocked. The videos are all at least 1-1 ½ years old. I called The Fitness Angel to express my dissatisfaction. How do you upgrade the site and hold me in limbo to what I looked like almost 2 years ago. New Beginnings’ family, I need you to send your letters of dissatisfaction to The Fitness Angel and let him know just like he transformed and upgraded his site he has to give his old fitness models the opportunity to show their transformation and upgrades. I have met some people that have visited his site and the repeated question that I am constantly asked is “Are you on The Fitness Angel site?”

If there is a question it means based on what I look like now they are not sure. Well since The Fitness Angel is stuck on making me live in the past I decided we needed to take this on the New Beginnings’ site by adding video and continuing our transformation series.

Are you in the same place you were 2 years ago, 1 year ago or even 6 months ago? Over the next several weeks that is what we will be focusing on, Transformed and Upgraded, But Not Yet Arrived. There is still work that needs to be done, but we are not where or what we used to be, old things have passed away and all is becoming new. We are not perfect, nor are we expected to be, but this is about making progress. Progression towards the goals you have set for yourself and the destiny God has for you, because if you are still here no matter what has happened you can turn it around.

Weekly Scripture:

Passage Philippians 3:12-14:  12 -14 I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back. The Message (MSG)

We just worked out spiritually. If you have not worked out your physical temple get up and put your video in or go for a walk, but do something. Remember to work out at least 3 times per week (20-30 minutes per day) to experience a New Beginning physically. Work out to music, workout and pray. Just workout.

For further discussion contact angela@mynewtemple.org or write to us on the message board