It is fight night in Vegas and I am here live! I had originally bought a cheap ticket to the fight but, fortunately, ran into Dana White who upgraded my ticket. Here are Brendan, Mike, and I right before Dana hooked us up!

Since the fights are tonight and I am late on my predictions, lets just get to it! Here are my fearless predictions for UFC 143.

Michael Kuiper by 2nd round TKO over Rafael Natal

Stephen Thompson by decision over Daniel Stittgen

Chris Cope by decision over Matt Brown

Edwin Figueroa by first round TKO over Alex Caceres

Matt Riddle by decision over Henry Martinez

Dustin Poirier by decision over Max Holloway

Ed Herman by 2nd round TKO over Clifford Starks

Renan Barao by 2nd round submission over Scott Jorgenson

Josh Koscheck by decision over Mike Pierce

Roy Nelson by decision over Fabricio Werdum

Carlos Condit by 3rd round TKO over Nick Diaz

I went back and forth on the main event. If it goes to a decision I would lean towards Nick Diaz. But, I am going with Condit for the upset. Condit’s win is going to annoy everyone that was hoping for the Diaz vs St. Pierre championship bout.

Let me know what you think.

Having a great time hanging out with the guys! Join us for the Super Bowl in Vegas next year.

This is the front of our building and the main entrance. You will notice in the middle, where the entrance is, it is in the shape of an octagon. As you are facing the building; to the left are the children’s areas, behind the octagon in the middle is our large lobby, and to the right is our auditorium (which will also be a full-size gymnasium).

If we walked to the right around the building you would see this. The sign is located on the back of the auditorium.

When you finish rounding the building, you reach the back. You will notice another entrance in the middle. To the left is the auditorium area. To the right is the children’s area on the first floor and our offices on the second floor.

Next you will see the plans for the first floor of the building. The first floor includes the auditorium, the main lobby, and the children’s area. Click on the picture to have it enlarged.

The second floor is where you will find the church offices, some adult classrooms, and the youth area. Again click on the picture to enlarge it.

We are very excited about the future of our church. We believe that this Highway 9 property is the key to what the Lord will do through our church in the years to come. We are believing this building will be completed within 3 years. Join with us and pray for the permitting to go smoothly and the resources to come to enable us to move forward with the development.

It is gonna be good!

It is now two and a half months since my ream and run surgery. It is hard to believe 10 weeks have already passed. People used to always warn me that the years fly by the older you get. These 10 weeks prove that. It seems like only yesterday I was trapped in my house, exercising 5 times a day, heavily medicated and watching episodes of the OC. Now, life is almost back to normal.

I didn’t write a blog last week so I am sure you are anxious to know how I am doing. (Please note the sarcasm.)

I am down to doing strength exercises 2 or 3 times a day. This sure beats the range of motion exercises I was having to do 5 times a day. The biggest challenge is the strength exercises take about 40 minutes each time. Fortunately I am hooked on the new version of Hawaii Five 0. One episode lasts the duration of my exercises. You know how when you get really hooked on a show and can’t wait to watch the next episode? If you watch shows while you work out it is great motivation to keep going. So I look forward to doing my exercises so I can catch up on the last bad guy Steve McGarret is gonna bust!

Here are a few pictures of my exercises which give you an idea of my range of motion. (Notice the fighter pose in honor of UFC 143)

Shoulder stretch is looking good.

After the supine stretch (above) I stretch my arm out to the side.

My least favorite strength exercise

This is my row simulation exercise

Stretch and life my arm up on the side

I am down to 2 Advil in the morning for pain. I will occasionally take 1 oxycodone in the afternoon once I have completed my exercises, if my shoulder is very sore. Overall the pain level is about a 4 on a scale of 1-10. The pain is worst during my exercises and a bit sore afterwards but, overall, very much improved from even a couple weeks ago.

The biggest challenge for me is patience. My life is back to normal. I am working full-time again. Driving my car. I don’t notice many restrictions until I tweak my arm in a bad position or I attempt to move my arm in a direction or a way that it is not ready to move. It is in those moments I am reminded that I need to be patient. I was warned this recovery would take up to 12 months. I am only 10 weeks in. I keep reminding myself that I had dramatically improved over 10 weeks and will improved dramatically again over the next 10. But patience is the key. Stick with the exercises and stretches. Don’t lose faith!

As far as sleeping, I am able to sleep on my stomach again. My should gets a little sore right before I wake up but hasn’t been a hindrance in my sleeping for a couple weeks. I would say sleeping is back to as difficult as it was before the surgery. Now it should start steadily improving.

Here is the tricky part for me…..

I leave tomorrow for a 2 week whirlwind adventure. I am in Las Vegas from Wednesday until Sunday. I am there for UFC 143 and to watch the Super Bowl. It is an epic environment! I leave Sunday for Los Angeles. I will be there serving at a board meeting until Tuesday. Then Tuesday I fly to Orlando, FL. The first 2 days are for a conference, then my family arrives and we will spend the next five day hanging out with Mickey Mouse at Disneyworld.

It is going to be a blast but a challenge. I have to travel, carry luggage, and make it through security. Follow me on twitter @fightpastor to hear the updates. Somehow on this two week adventure I have to carve out time 3 times a day to do my exercises.

That should be interesting! I will update you.

My picks: Nick Diaz

My Picks: Patriots

It seems the UFC has a fight card every week now. Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining. I love watching fights. It has become difficult to keep up on predictions though. Here are my predictions for this weekends free fights. Too bad Comcast doesn’t have Fuel TV. I am going miss on the pre-lim fights.

Joey Beltran by decision over Lavar Johnson

Charles Oliviera by decision over Eric Wisely

Cub Sawnson by 2nd round TKO over George Roop

Mike Russow by 2nd round KO over John Olav Einemo

Michael Johnson by decision over Shane Roller

Evan Dunham by decision over Nik Lentz

Demian Maia by 2nd round submission over Chris Weidman

Chael Sonnen by decision over Michael Bisping

Rashad Evans by decision over Phil Davis

]]> http://fightpastor.com/2012/01/25/ufc-on-fox-2-predictions/feed/ 0 http://fightpastor.com/2012/01/17/goodbye-to-40-hello-to-41/ http://fightpastor.com/2012/01/17/goodbye-to-40-hello-to-41/#comments Wed, 18 Jan 2012 05:01:15 +0000 Fight Pastor http://fightpastor.com/?p=2530

Yesterday, I turned 41. My 40th birthday was pretty epic. Yesterday was but a blip on the radar. I have been told that 41-49 are fairly anti-climactic. If not unmemorable.  Fortunately, as a blogger, I can’t reflect and record, for posterity sake, my memories from these years. Starting another tradition, every year, the day after my birthday, I am going to look back on the previous year and highlight my top ten memories.

The challenge will be to find 10 highlights from each year. Lets see how I do. These are in no particular order.

1. Israel.  I have always wanted to take a trip to the Holy Land. For many reasons, money, time, political unrest, I haven’t had a genuine opportunity until this year. It was especially awesome because I was able to share the experience with my wife.
2. Vacation with Di to Hawaii. Both Di and I turned 40 in 2011. For her 40th birthday I surprised her with a trip to Hawaii. I had arranged everything all the way down to childcare for the kids. Since I only gave Di a week notice it took her several hours to mentally adjust to leaving so soon (and trusting I had really take care of all the details). Everything worked out and it was a blast.
3. Hawaii (again) with the kids. Di and I had such a great time when we went, we decided to go again a few months later with the kids. In preparation for the trip I watched Lost with the kids. They became Lost fanatics. Besides spending hours at the pool, their favorite past time was visiting all the different Lost sights. Another cool part of the trip is that my parents decided to join us at the last second.
4. UFC 126 and The Super Bowl in Las Vegas. My brother-in-law and I started a tradition a couple years ago where we take a bunch of guys to the Super Bowl in Vegas. The UFC always has an amazing fight card that weekend too. It is always an incredible experience. In 2011 we went with a great group of guys. It was an awesome time. They say a picture says a 1000 words. I don’t know what this says but it sure reminds me of Vegas.
5. The New Building. Our church had outgrown our building. We were in desperate need of a place to have services until we were able to complete our construction project on Highway 9. Unfortunately that project was going to take about 4 years. We were out of options. God provided an AMAZING solution. The building by Boeing is a miracle.  
6. Ream and Run Surgery. If you pain even a remote amount of attention to my blogs or my Facebook you are well aware that I had my shoulder replaced in November.
7. Advanced Coaching with Church Leader Insights. In October, I began my third year of “coaching” with Church Leader Insights. The previous two years I flew out to New York once a month. This final part takes place in Orlando. The coaching network has made a profound impact on my life and my church.
8. Cage Fighting in the USA. Several times throughout the year, a film crew from Current TV flew up and interviewed me. They spent several weekends taping our services and talking with fighters I chaplain. In December the episode aired. I have had an average of 5 contacts a day since from people watching the program. It was the most positive portrayal of our church and our Fight Pastor ministry yet. I was very encouraged!  
9. My daughter made the high school soccer team. I can’t believe that my baby girl is in high school. She has grown up into an amazing young gal (I couldn’t say woman. It was too much.) This year she tried out for her high school soccer team and made the JV squad. She started every game at outside mid. I was so proud. Now I need the years to start slowing down before she goes away to college.  
10. Travis Kerwin aka Kermit got engaged. I have known Travis since he was in junior high. He turned 30 this year. Travis has been a part of every ministry I have led. He has been a huge part of Fight Pastor. The only thing missing from Travis’s life was Mrs. Kermit. Finally, God moved several mountains and brought Rebecca into his life. I haven’t seen him since. Be careful what you pray for.  
11. Took Elijah to his first UFC fight. My 11 year old son, Elijah, is just as obsessed with MMA as I am. He watches every fight with me. He knows every fighter. He has been begging me to take him to a fight for a long time. Since Vegas is no place for children he had to wait until the UFC finally came to Seattle. They did this year. Elijah was able to sit ringside!  

I tried to keep it at 10 but couldn’t get it below 11. Having 11 highlights in one year is pretty amazing. Turning 40 has been great. A great year for me, my family, and my church.

It is January 17, 2012 or one day after my 41st birthday. It is also, as the media has called it, snowmageddon around here. We are in the midst of our first big snowstorm of the winter. They keep predicting it is going to be the worst snow storm since 1985. So far it has been a let down. That hasn’t stopped the school districts from canceling school simply because of a weather forecast. But, anyways…. the most significant aspect of it being January 17, 2012 is that I have now reached the 8 week or two month point of my recovery from ream and run surgery. I figure once you hit 8 weeks you can start using months instead of weeks.

First, I finally have the x-rays from my 6 week appointment. The first view is from the front and the second from the back.

Dr Matsen and Dr Alex (don’t remember his last name) both said the shoulder looks incredible. It is healing well. I was encouraged because it looks similar to the ones I had taken right after surgery. If you have been following these blogs, you know that my “bad” shoulder was slipping out the back. It is encouraging to see that my new shoulder is exactly where it needs to be!

Week 8 has been fairly uneventful. I have been consistently doing my range of motion exercises as well as my strength exercises. My range of motion is steadily increasing (I will demonstrate this in my video blog which will be posted tomorrow, weather permitting). My strength is beginning to increase. I can now bench press 5 pounds with minimal pain and curl 10 pounds. I am planning to up my bench 5 lbs every two weeks. (It doesn’t seem impressive but “baby steps!”)

The pain has been minimal all week long. I am basically off of any medications. I only take a pain killer on an as needed basis. My only issue with pain was the day snowmageddon hit. It also happened to be my birthday. Happy birthday to me! When the weather got really cold and humid my arm began to ache. Strangely, this was the first time I could tell I had a metal arm. It ached the entire length of the titanium humerus. It felt really odd. Fortunately, today it doesn’t hurt.

I get asked often if when I do feel pain if it is like the pain of shoulder arthritis. It is difficult to explain but the pain is very different. Arthritis is a dull ache that occasionally becomes a VERY sharp pain. When my new shoulder hurts it could best be described as injury pain. Hopefully that makes some sort of sense. Overall, the pain level is low.

I have a love/ hate relationship with sleeping. One night I sleep through the night with minimal pain, another I wake up at about 4:30am with my arm hurting. I am trying to find a good solution for this. The way I configure pillows under and around the arm is what helps. Unfortunately what felt great two weeks ago doesn’t feel good today. Even still, I was warned by some previous patients to be ready to sleep in a chair for up to 6 months. This hasn’t been the case for me. Sleeping has only been a minor irritation in the overall progression of recovery.

Finally, I had the privilege of visiting a new member to the ream and run fraternity right after he had his surgery at University of Washington Medical. Here are a couple pictures of David and I at the surgery center. (These pictures are shared with permission.)

It has been awesome to know that my ream and run journey has been a blessing to others that are facing the same procedure. David made it through surgery with flying colors! If you are joining the fraternity in the future and you want a minister to visit you after surgery, send me an email! I will welcome you to our select group.

Until next week….

Tomorrow night the UFC returns to Brazil with UFC 142. The card is pretty good. Unfortunately I will be missing it. Instead I will be watching (with most of America) Tim Tebow and the Broncos make a run at the Patriots.

Here are my predictions for tomorrow nights fights. I will be checking MMAJunkie often to see how the fights are going.

Felipe Arantes by decision over Antonio Carvalho

Mike Pyle by 2nd round submission over Ricardo Funch

Yuri Alcantara by 1st round TKO over Michihiro Omigawa

Ednaldo Oliveira by 1st round TKO over Gabriel Gonzaga

Thiago Tavares by decision over Sam Stout

Edson Barboza by decision over Terry Etim

Erick Silva by 2nd round TKO over Carlo Prater

Rousimar Palhares by 3rd round TKO over Mike Massenzio

Anthony Johnson by decision over Vitor Belfort

Jose Aldo by 2nd round KO over Chad Mendes

So what do you think? Start the debating, if you dare! I have changed my mind on the Vitor Belfort fight. I was interviewed by the Christian Post and previously picked Vitor. After Anthony Johnson missed weight by 11 pounds, it is obvious he is going into the fight MUCH larger than Vitor. I remember his fight against Dan Hardy well (I was ringside at that fight). All he did was take the much smaller Hardy down and lay on top of him for 3 rounds. I predict he will do the exact same thing against Vitor Belfort. If Vitor doesn’t take him out in with his initial onslaught in the first 60 seconds I think he will lose a very boring 3 round fight.

Dana White will then cut Anthony Johnson for not making weight and then following it up with a boring fight.

Hard to believe that just over 7 weeks ago I was scared to death because I was about to go into surgery. Today, I feel encouraged and almost pain free. It is pretty awesome.

Weeks 5 and 6 were a bit tougher than the previous. As I mentioned before this was easier to deal with because I was warned ahead of time. Having access to people who have had the ream and run surgery is a HUGE blessing. If you are reading this and are considering this surgery, feel free to email me. I would love to help any way I can.

Week 7 started with my 6 week post surgery appointment. I was looking forward to seeing the x-rays and finding out if I was approved to start strengthening the arm. The x-rays looked incredible. In fact, exactly like they did right after the surgery (minus the swelling). This was super encouraging because I was worried the shoulder would slip towards the back as my arthritic shoulder had. Proving I was in good hands with Dr Matsen’s team, my shoulder was perfect. (I wanted to post the x-rays but unfortunately the disk I was given was corrupted. I will post them next week.)

Since my shoulder was healing nicely, I could now venture into strength exercises. The on-sight physical therapist gave me a bunch of additional exercises to speed this along. So now I….

…get to work out on a rowing machine. Since I don’t have a rowing machine (nor does my physical therapist) I was given a rubber band to use instead.

…get to begin the bench pressing motion. I started pushing my arm up to just air (this was challenging for a few days). Now I am up to (brace yourself) 5 lbs. Pretty impressive, I know.

…get to work intensely on stretching my shoulder outward. This is incredibly painful. Fortunately, I am making huge progress in a short period of time. I started with 6 degrees of range of motion and am already up to 25 degrees.

So now my exercises take about 40 minutes each time. Luckily I only need to do them 2 or 3 times a day.

Overall, a great week. I am back to normal at work. Preached on Sunday. Was in the office all week long. It was great to be fully back.

Check out my youtube channel to see what happens at my physical therapy appointments.

]]> http://fightpastor.com/2012/01/12/new-shoulder-week-7-ream-and-run/feed/ 3 http://fightpastor.com/2012/01/03/new-shoulder-week-6-ream-and-run/ http://fightpastor.com/2012/01/03/new-shoulder-week-6-ream-and-run/#comments Wed, 04 Jan 2012 03:18:49 +0000 Fight Pastor http://fightpastor.com/?p=2502

I have reached the first major milestone in my recovery from my ream and run surgery. For the first 6 weeks I spent every day doing my range of motion exercises five times a day. It took anywhere from 30-40 minutes each time. So that is 2 1/2 to 3 hours a day for the past 42 days. The first three weeks after surgery I was unable to work, when I finally was able to go back, it was the Christmas season. I feel like I haven’t had a normal week at work in a month and a half.

Not being able to do much because of pain in my shoulder and being tied to a very regimented exercise schedule I have spent a lot of time watching TV. I think I have watched more TV in the last 6 weeks than I had in the previous 6 months. I am glad to have crossed the 6 week point. Starting Friday, I only have to do my exercises twice a day. Can’t wait.

For posterity sake, here is my five times a day exercise routine in pictures…

It starts off with 5 sets, where I count to 20, of my shoulder stretch. You are suppose to do this on a table but I preferred the comfort of my theater room. My first set usually begins at 7:30am. I get a decent amount of Bible reading in during this. I am reading through the Psalms in preparation for our new message series, iPraise, at Canyon Creek Church.

My next stretch begins after I turn on an episode of Seinfeld. One episode of Seinfeld with commercials is the time it takes for me to do the remaining exercises. What I do here is stretch my arm up against a wall as straight as possible. I do 5 sets counting to 20. I was never asked to do this. I just started it because it loosened my arm up even more.

Next is the pulley stretch. Again, I do 5 sets where I count to 20. This was painful for the first couple weeks but over the last month has felt pretty good.

The fourth exercise is the supine stretch. I use my strong arm to stretch my repaired arm as far back as I can. The goal is to reach a minimum of a 150 degrees. For the last week I have been able to touch my thumb to the ground. It is the little things that keep you going! This is another 5 sets of counting to 20. The first one is usually a bit tight. By the third, it feels pretty good with a minimal amount of pain.

For my fifth exercise, I isolate my elbow and push my arm out with a stick. Due to my arthritis I haven’t been able to move my arm in that direction for several years and my muscles atrophied. To get my arm to move in that direction I have to put my elbow against a wall so it won’t move. Anyways, I do this for 5 sets to a count of 10.

My sixth exercise seems easier than it is. I bring my repaired arm to my stomach and try to move it outwards while using my strong arm to keep it in place. A simple isometric exercise. This is to strengthen some ligaments that had to be cut and reattached. I do this 10 sets for a count of 5 each.

The seventh, and final, exercise is a basic bicep curl. It is humbling to admit but I have now worked up to 10lbs. I do 3 sets of 10 repetitions. By the end of the my third set the credits are usually rolling in the Seinfeld episode.

So that has been my life for the last 6 weeks. 5 times a day for 6 straight weeks.

Couple other updates this week…

I am off of my pain medications so I am officially able to drive again. I was told I would be unable to drive a stick shift for at least 6 months. Unfortunately my incredible Dodge Challenger RT has a high performance manual transmission. Since I knew driving my Challenger was going to be out of the question, I sold it prior to my surgery. I bought a used 2006 BMW 330xi. Got a great deal and saved a ton of money compared to my Challenger. For my birthday, which is January 16th, my wife is having the wheels fixed on the car. It was perfect other than the wheels had “curb rash.” I was given a loaner for the two days it was in the shop. A smart car (pictured above). Amazing, in less than two months I went from driving to Challenger RT to a smart car. Next thing you know I will be driving a Prius.

A member of my church, who is a physical therapist, suggested a scar management routine. Place vitamin E oil on the incision and massage in a circular motion 3 times a day. I have been doing this faithfully for the last couple weeks. The scar is looking good. Here it is…

Still gnarly but could be worse!

By the end of this week I will be starting my strength exercises. I can’t wait (mostly because I want a different exercise routine). The week 6 video is longer than normal but shows my current range of motion and strength. Hopefully that will improve dramatically over the next few weeks.

Have a happy New Year!

]]> http://fightpastor.com/2012/01/03/new-shoulder-week-6-ream-and-run/feed/ 3 http://fightpastor.com/2011/12/28/new-shoulder-week-5-ream-and-run/ http://fightpastor.com/2011/12/28/new-shoulder-week-5-ream-and-run/#comments Thu, 29 Dec 2011 02:05:23 +0000 Fight Pastor http://fightpastor.com/?p=2497

I was warned ahead of time that weeks 5 and 6 were rough. Several people I had talked to said they regressed in these weeks before they jumped forward again. To be honest, I wasn’t sure why. I also doubted I would have the same experience. Now that it is 5 weeks since my ream and run surgery I stand corrected. This week was interesting. I have some good news and some bad news. Since I am a glass is half full person, lets start with the good news.

The good news…

I am down to a pain killer whenever it is needed. It usually works out to 1 or 2 a day. As I write this blog, I haven’t taken a pain killer today.

Early on in the week, I was doing my supine stretch (laying on the ground and using my strong arm to help my repaired arm behind my head) and I heard a strange crack. At first I was concerned, but then I realized that my range of motion had improved by two inches immediately. Since that experience, which is referred to as the crack, my range of motion has been great.

Biggest highlight of the week, I was able to stretch my arm to the point where my thumb touched the ground. The closest previously was within two inches. To the normal shouldered person this won’t seem impressive but to someone who has wrestled with severe arthritis and then, finally, a shoulder replacement this is a HUGE victory. In recovery you celebrate the small things.

The last bit of good news is, I am back to work in full force. This is probably depressing to many people, but I love my job. I missed my church, my staff, and my office. (Note: my week 5 video is filmed in my office.) We celebrated Christmas with a packed out crowd on Christmas Eve. Here is a picture of the kids being read a story by my Children’s Pastor, Jeff Welk.

Now the bad news….

While my range of motion has increased, the pain has also increased. Resting my pain was nearly gone. It is back. Not as bad as it was the first week but, definitely back. I have an appointment next week to find out why. I assume it is nothing. I am not too worried about it because I was warned ahead of time but several people that paved the way before me with this surgery. I think it probably has to do with almost being off the pain medicine along with the increased usage of the arm.

Sleeping hadn’t been a problem since the first week but the last several days it has been a bit more difficult. My shoulder wakes me up about 4:00am and lets me know it is tired of being in the same position. I have found that the more regular I am with the exercises the better my shoulder feels. Sleeping is usually the longest period without doing my range of motion exercises. I am considering getting up at 4:00am and doing my exercises and then going back to sleep. I will let you know how that goes.

Continuing the negative, the shoulder is really sore and tight every morning. Again, likely because I have gone almost 10 hours at that point without doing my range of motion exercises. By about the third cycle of exercises for the day the shoulder is loosened up again.

Finally, I am sick and tired of not being able to drive! This would be easier if I was wealthy and could afford a limo driver. Instead I have to bum rides off people. I want to drive! I have a cool car. It is fun to drive. So be praying that the surgeon authorizes me to drive at my next appointment.

Until next week.

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