RussHutto.com

I’m doing fairly well in my pursuit of a fit lifestyle. I’ve committed to not only exercising and eating right, but also to reading, researching, and learning as much as I can along the way. It takes time and a bit of discipline, but I’ve decided that never again will I just take someone else’s word for something.

Here’s just a few the things that help keep me going each week.

Vibram Fivefingers

After doing a bunch of reading and research on “barefooting” and the barefoot lifestyle, I bought a pair of Vibram Fivefingers. These are the shoes that look like feet.

Long story short, it’s healthier ALL AROUND to go barefoot. Shoes hurt your feet. Even the ones designed to keep you from hurting your feet. Shoes make us walk wrong and cause our feet, ankles, and lower legs to get weak. I don’t want weak ankles!! Don’t listen to people who say you must have shoes or you’ll hurt your feet…think of all the rickshaw drivers all around the world who are barefoot or wear cheap, thin sandals. And remember the freedom of being a kid and running around barefoot in the grass! Woohoo!

So, around the house and yard, I go barefoot. And 99% of the time when I’m out and about (including working out and exercising) I’m wearing my fives.

Find yourself a pair: VibramFivefingers.com (You might have to find a retail outfitter that carries these. They are in HIGH DEMAND.)

Mark’s Daily Apple (.com)

One of the websites that I frequent daily is MarksDailyApple.com. It’s a website chock full of “primal” fitness information. I usually springboard from there to other sites and studies, but that’s usually where I start. Mark presents most, if not all, of his fitness and nutrition articles, from an evolutionary standpoint (which I’m not necessarily into), but the information is amazing.

I like to think of it more from an “isolated tribe in the Amazon” kind of a way.

Here’s the skinny: Eat meat, fruits and veggies, nuts and berries, and get a lot of exercise.

This website is overflowing with cool ideas, recipes, and informative articles about a healthy lifestyle.

CrossFit (.com)

From a Workout from Last Summer

Keith and I workout together almost daily. He’s a certified personal trainer and after this weekend will be a certified CrossFit instructor. Typically, our workouts are some variation of a CrossFit WOD (Workout of the Day). You can find these daily at CrossFit.com. There’s a small CrossFit group in our area, but we’ve not worked out with them yet.

I wouldn’t encourage beginners to go full steam ahead right into these workouts without an instructor or trainer (I have Keith) but if there’s a CrossFit group or box (gym) near where you are, you might want to look into it. Be warned though, it’s not for the fitness faint of heart.

Workout Brothers (.com)

WorkoutBrothers.com: This is where my brother, Jon, and I (and a friend named Keith), chronicle our health and fitness journey. Keith writes a lot of informative articles. A lot of times we post our results from a workout, or a confessional video, or even just cool links from around the web. Head over there and hit us up on facebook, too, if you’re on a journey of your own, we’d love to journey together!

My name is Russ and I’m a preacher’s kid.

So, I’ve pretty much been a “kid” of the church my whole life. Of course, I’m a grown up now and have been for the last 15 years, but I still feel like I’ve never known anything else.

I wasn’t one to go buck wild out of high school and make an idiot of myself and embarrass my family.

I wasn’t a prodigal son (in the “out of church” sense).

I wasn’t the crazy preacher’s kid who fell into the stereotype of preacher’s kids…hating the church and anything to do with it.

I feel like my journey has been a pretty good one. Not perfect, but pretty good. I thank God for His grace in my life, because like the next guy, I fall short of His righteousness and glory on my own. I’m not any better or worse than the person next to me in church, and I want it to be known that I struggle with pride, lust, greed, and every sin that anybody else does.

My name is Russ and I’m a preacher’s kid.

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A lot of times as Christians we don’t live for this one big truth that is really the crux of what we believe:

Jesus is coming back.

What if we lived the next moment as if He were coming back? And by coming back, I don’t mean coming back to take us away from this “bad, old world” but I mean coming back to establish a Kingdom. Coming back to rule and reign a new earth. Coming back to set things right. Coming back to make things good.

In our “western” gospel we’ve embraced a kind of escapism mentality. We hope to cross the line of faith just far enough to get to glory land. To make it through the pearly gates. But I think God has thrown down the gauntlet. I think He desires a wild and passionate journey of faith, love, and hope from His followers. One filled with a life that has a meaningful destination. Not just one that makes it to the cloud and harp.

If you read the New Testament, it’s clear that “heaven” is not just a mindless, eternal bore of an existence. It’s not just foo foo dust and white robes. It’s a vibrant and life-filled kingdom. What we do here on earth has eternal ramifications. There ARE rewards in heaven for our actions here on earth.

If all we do is live for the “gates” will we stand before God and fill regret for what could have been?

Jesus is coming back.

He’s not coming back for a people that barely know He’s even gone. He’s not returning for a people who give Him lip service on Sundays and live like hell the rest of the week. He’s not coming back for a people who think of eternity as some distant, unimportant time.

He’s coming back for YOU and ME. And He desires for us to live ready. Looking for His return. Prepared for His return.

A lot of times people take the whole “thief in the night” scriptures out of context. Those scriptures do not mean that WE can’t be ready for his return. They are talking about the WAY we live. Either we live ready and expecting His return, or we live like the world, not expecting His return. When Jesus comes back, it will be like a thief in the night to those who aren’t prepared.

Think about it. What are ways that you might be more prepared for His returning? Is it possible to “do” something that could make you more prepared?

I heard a preacher this weekend use the phrase “God wants to take us back to the future.” And it resonated with me so much!

It isn’t a new idea for me as God has really been stirring my heart to dig deep into the what of what I am living for here on earth.

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In my last post, I talked about what the Church in America needs to be successful. It needs only to BE a collective representation of Christ to the communities that surround.

It doesn’t need to be another entertainment venue or concert hall.

It doesn’t need to be a comedy club or a dramatic theater.

The Church is God’s. We are His.

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