Why I Believe What I Believe
My
first meaningful experience with God and Jesus Christ was in the boxing ring. I
was scared, I didn’t know what to do but the butterflies in my stomach were
about to make me throw up so I remembered that Rocky prayed in the movies so
that is what I did and when I got up the butterflies weren’t so bad. I thought “If
God is in my corner and this whole place was full of demons and King Kong was
in the other corner, I would have the advantage because God was on my side
because I just asked him to be” That is why I was able to go against guys with
more ability and experience than myself.
I
got invited to attend a Catholic Mass by a pretty girl and at the Mass I did
something I thought I would never do and that was forgive my stepfather. I had
planned on giving him payback for the beatdown he put on me that caused me to
be taken away from my family and put into a foster home. I decided that was
significant enough to start attending that church regularly. I went to Catholic
Mass for ten years before being baptized and confirmed.
I
was running the all Navy Marathon the second time. I had participated the year
before and my time was 3:54. I was in better shape the second time but I could
feel “The Wall” it seemed like every muscle in my legs was about to snap. With one
mile left I was singing “Jesus Loves me” and in my mind I saw Jesus standing
beside me as big as a mountain and gently placing his hand on the back of my
head and I passed 12 people in that last mile and my time was 3:14::01.
Then
I went through instruction to become a Catholic. I had an Air Force Colonel who
went to seminary before Vatican II. He told us how he was so excited because he
could face the congregation, speak to them in English and that the purpose of
Vatican II was to take the focus of the church off the ritualism and symbolism to
a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It was about a year later when I had
my first real faith experience.
I
had attended a business function in Louisville Kentucky and Daniel “Rudy”
Ruettiger the actual person the movie Rudy was about was the key note speaker.
After he gave his testimony there was an alter call and I was the first one to
the stage. I was asked to open my heart to the Holy Spirit and that is what I
did. A few days later I had an experience where I was going to have stop boxing
training at a gym where I was handling these pro-fighters who fought in ESPN
and I decided to make an example to demonstrate leadership with some new Naval personnel
and the Chief told me “Petty Office Lowing, I have a job for you. We need
someone to work at the gym” I know it doesn’t sound like much but I knew God
did it and that caused me to dig into my bible. While reading my bible I had an
encounter with a demon in my dreams and I spoke in tongues for the first time
and my dreams were in color instead of black and white. I no longer had violent
dreams which I have had form most of my life.
The
most recent faith experience was while I was living in a motel in Mercedes
Texas. I knelt behind the motel on a 4x4 and prayed for God to take me out of
my situation and to give me a faithful woman who didn’t drink, smoke or do
drugs that would love me. It all happened so fast. I split with my atheist
business partner. Rented an apartment in McAllen and I went to a Toaster
masters meeting and meet a very friendly woman who was a John Maxwell Certified
Leadership Trainer. She was everything I prayed for. That was the end of August
and we were Married November 3rd. I got exactly what I had asked
for.
There
are other things that I do which I want to explain my reasons. I don’t drink. I
quit drinking when Roy Jones Sr. told me “If you want to fight for me, you better
come to training every day, you better be on time, you have to do what you are
told and you better quit drinking” That is why I stopped drinking but the
reasons I still don’t drink is because I have seen a lot of devastation because
of the effects of alcohol. Not just conflict and bad decisions due to the influence
of alcohol but terrible health consequences. My mentor in the SEAL Teams Mike
McDonald died of cancer. He had bladder cancer, they had to remove his bladder
and give him a hog’s bladder. He went through chemotherapy but it came back and
went into his liver. I spoke with him a week before he died and he knew it was
from drinking too much.
Another
Navy SEAL buddy of mind recently died. Jose Trevino, I talked to him on a
Tuesday and that next Sunday I found out that he died from complications from
cirrhosis of the liver. They both were legends in the SEAL Teams. Living
healthy and abstaining from drugs and alcohol is something that I will never
compromise on.
My
best friend in High School had told me that he twisted his ankle and it was bad,
it turned black and swollen. He went to the doctor and when they called him
back he passed out in the waiting room. When he came to they told him that he
had cirrhosis of the liver. They told him that if he didn’t quit drinking he
would be dead in six months. They wanted to put him on medication but he
refused and quit cold turkey, juicing fruits and wheat grass. He lost a ton of
weight and now he is back to training in martial arts.
Right
after that I got a call from one of my SEAL platoon officers. My LPO from Delta
Platoon had died. We did our first two platoons together and he was picked up
for SEAL Team Six and had a parachute accident and got a compound fracture of
his tibia and fibula. He was medically retired. He was the brain child behind
Blackwater the contract logistics company that hired former Navy SEALs. He made
a lot of money but he got big, he stopped working out and his heart couldn’t
take it and he had a heart attack. The officer who told me what happened asked
me how I was doing and I told him “Not much since I dislocated my shoulder and
my knee started bothering me” He gave me a good scolding and I started going to
the gym. I haven’t stopped working out ever since.
I
had been diagnosed with a fatty liver in 1998 while I was doing phone sales.
Sitting at a desk on the phone or a dialer making over 200 calls a day. They told
me that is was a prediabetes symptom. It took a lot of discipline to change my
diet and keep working out. I can tell when guys have the “Dunlap disease” Where
their belly done lapped over their belt that they probably have a fatty liver.
I have seen to many good guys die to young because they abused their bodies.
When I see the signs it scares me, I get scared for them and their families.
Pastor Elias Flores mentioned that to many church leaders were out of shape. I
know from experience that this is serious.
I
have been promoting two organizations in the Rio Grande Valley, Trail Life for
the boys and F3 Fellowship for the men. F3 stands for Friends, Fitness and Faith,
there isn’t a chapter south of San Antonio but they have a huge presence on
Twitter. I am a believer in the power of association. The bible says “Mathew
18:20: For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them”. That is
what this group is all about and they have infrastructure to support groups
like this around the country. They support each other with encouraging workouts
and prayer. They are changing the perception that Christian men are weak. I am
hoping that someone will read this and sponsor a F3 workout groups in the
Edinburg Municipal Park, at Center Church and around the Valley.
Maybe
Eli Lara will organize a group?
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