34 in 34

Reading has not always been easy for me.  Not sure if it was difficulty in focusing, or trouble with reading (I’ve been told I have ADD/Dyslexia), but I tend to get bored with books after a few chapters.  However, I’m now a grown man and as a follower of Christ, a pastor, a business owner, and having the desire to be somewhat interesting, I am committed to reading more.

On June 27th I’ll turn 34 years-old and I have resolved to read 34 books in my 34th year.  I guess it will technically be my 35th year?  Anyways, suffice it to say that I may finish 12 books a year at this time.  So, this means that I will have to adjust my time, my priorities, and my nightly activities to make room in my life for more reading.

This past Sunday (June 3rd) I Tweeted/Facebooked asking for reading suggestions.  To my surprise, many people had suggestions for me to read, so I took the bulk of their suggestions and added them to my Amazon Wish List.  The main reason I did this was due to a suggestion I received from a good friend and my business partner, Brad, who is an avid reader and blogs at LucidBooks.net.  What he suggested was to put all of the books that I wanted to read in my Wish List so that those who wanted to bless me with a gift could, but more importantly, when I had the money to buy books, I didn’t have to spend time trying to remember what I wanted.  Genius!  Thanks, Brad!

So, I’m committed for this next year to do my best to read 34 books.  I’ll try to write reviews for as many of them as I can, but no promises there.

Any “MUST READS” for my 34th year?  Leave a comment and let me know!

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Let’s Get Healthy Together!

This picture is intended to make fun of myself and JB.

As some of you know, I have a bit of what the doctors like to call, “a weight problem”.  Back in 2002 I did a diet called Body for Life and used products from Advocare and went from 225lbs to 187lbs.  I felt great and according to my wife, I looked pretty nice as well.  However, after we had Braelyn, we began having late nights filled with TV series on DVD and large cartons of Goldfish™ crackers.  Carbs, stress, not much sleep later and wahboom I got up to over 250 lbs, 1/8th of a ton to be exact.

To be sure, some of it is muscle, but also, I assure you, some of it is fat as well.  As a pastor, I feel convicted that if I am called to preach the freedom of Christ, then perhaps I should walk in it as well.  God has been very kind to place people in my life like our Community Pastor at C3, Jonathan Brooks.  JB, as we like to call him, is a certified trainer and a great guy to work out with.  He has recently started Brooks Fitness and is training people on the side as a tent-maker, but I am proud to say that he is my workout partner (aka I don’t pay him and he’s nice about it).

It had been several years since I used Advocare, but JB is an advisor for them and talked me into giving it a shot again.  So, I became a Distributor ($79 for a year and you get $50 of product and a 20% discount on purchases, pretty sweet hookup) and started on the Herbal Cleanse.  Since then I have joined up with him and several other folks to do a 24-Day Challenge and have already begun to see some great results!

Now before you start to think that I’m trying to sell you something, I want you to know that I am very wary of anything that looks like a pyramid scheme.    I used the product from Advocare in 2002 and am using it now, and it works.  Listen, I don’t care if you never buy a thing, all I care about is that people are healthy.   In a recent article by USA Today, they state that if we keep ‘growing’ the way we are, that over 42% of the population in the US will be obese by 2030.  That’s just not okay.

So, here’s what I’m going to do.  I’ve started a new e-mail list called, ‘Casey’s Health Club’ where I will chronicle my journey towards health and fitness and offer tips, and hopefully get some other more expert people to offer articles from time-to-time.  If you CLICK HERE and sign-up for my Health Club, then you will automatically be entered to win a FREE 24-Day Challenge by Advocare (a $185 retail value).  I’m willing to put my money where my mouth is, I care about this problem, and I want to encourage us all towards the freedom in Christ that we’ve been afforded.

If you’d like to know more about Advocare, then I’d love to tell you about it.  You can contact me and we can talk more.

However, at the end of the day, I don’t care what you use, I just hope and pray that if you are not healthy that you will strive towards greater health and fitness.  This life is a precious gift, let’s not waste it.

CLICK HERE to join my fitness club.  The drawing will be on Friday, May 11th, 2012.

 

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Mile Marker 825: The Story of Jason Mirikitani

 

This is the story and testimony of my friend Jason Mirikitani.  Jason published his book Mile Marker 825 with my publishing company, Lucid Books, a while back.  This interview was aired on Friday, May 4, 2012 on the 700 Club on CBN.

I encourage you to grab his book on Amazon.com by clicking here.

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