spiritual fitness – Page 8

Why We Shouldn’t Just ‘Do Something’

It’s a common belief that US President Teddy Roosevelt said, “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” However, according to the Theodore Roosevelt Center, “this statement is often attributed to Theodore Roosevelt, but no known source can be found to verify the attribution.”

Even so, TR was devoted to action. He didn’t shy away from making a decision and acting upon it. The important detail is that the decision must be based on what is right.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Every Small Decision Leads to Winning or Losing in Spiritual Warfare ]

The fifth element of the five SemperVerus components is DO, which emphasizes the importance of combining the previous four elements in order to engage in accomplishing what is needed in the moment. Neither procrastination nor neglect is an option. The SemperVerus principle reads:

V. Do: resolving to intentionally and skillfully act to accomplish positive and fruitful outcomes.

A recent commentary by John Stonestreet on the Colson Center’s Breakpoint podcast stresses that ambiguity is not the answer when action is called for. Merely choosing to do “something”—especially if it’s misguided—can be inappropriate, nonsensical, and even an obstruction to beneficial outcomes.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Be Like Ernest Shackleton ]

Here are a few excerpts:

What to Take to the Shooting Range—Including a Prayer

Whether you go to the shooting range to qualify for volunteering on your church security team or to train to improve your personal armed self-defense skills, you go to increase your defensive marksmanship to be consistently accurate.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Firearms Training: A Directory of Shooting Drills ]

The more you train, the more you become proficient in handling firearms and the safer you are as a defender, because you know you are responsible for every bullet that leaves your gun.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, The 4 Basic Rules of Gun Safety ]

The time you spend at the range is not an expense, it’s an investment, since…

The Bible TL;DR? Try The Concise Bible !

The English Bible is comprised of 31,152 verses, which take about 75 hours to read.

You know the Bible is an important cultural icon and you’ve heard people who’ve read it say it’s changed their lives for the better. But, with your busy days and all you have to do, do you find yourself saying “too long; didn’t read” (TL;DR)?

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Spiritual Fitness: How Long Does It Take to Read the Bible? ]

Here’s your answer: try reading in only about 4 hours The Concise Bible, published by Initiative.Global, available in print, online, app, and audio, and in 7 languages:

Spiritual Fitness Self-Defense: Seeing Temptation as a Threat

The 2nd element of the five SemperVerus components, and the resulting 6th element—from the sum total of the previous five elements—are AWARE and SELF-DEFENSE respectively.

Being AWARE means heightening your daily attentiveness to be alert to—and anticipate—dangerous potentialities and temptations, as well as edifying opportunities.

Practicing SELF-DEFENSE is the strategic, tactical, and intelligent ability to responsibly protect yourself from menacing spiritual and physical threats.

Notice the inclusion of the spiritual aspect that is often overlooked when considering awareness and self-defense.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Situational Awareness: Spiritual Self-Defense ]

We must not prepare ourselves merely for physical dangers, but also for situations that endanger our moral standing and the strength of our soul; that lead us away from uprightness and down into dishonor. Those situations begin, perhaps innocently enough, with temptation.