1.         OPEN VENUE::  Going behind closed doors is just not the F3 style.  Since we don’t do our physical workouts in a gym, our spiritual workouts need to be out in the open and not in a room behind a closed door.  The 3rdF influences our daily lives, so it should occur where we are in the flow of life like a coffeehouse, restaurant, pub, wherever.

 

2.         ALWAYS THERE:: All three Fs need discipline, regularity and focus to impact our lives, so 3rdF gatherings should meet weekly and launch quickly after a workout.  This keeps the momentum going as vibrant faith discussions occur after guys have challenged themselves, built fellowship and formed levels of trust…now we are ready to dig into the real meat of life.

 

3.         NO MAN LEFT BEHIND::  If you are looking to discuss the doctrinal positions on the Christ hermeneutic in the minor prophets during the post-exilic Babylonian, this ain’t for you.  If you don’t know and don’t really care to know what that previous sentence meant, these gatherings are for you.  F3 is open to men of all faiths, and men of no faith; and these groups will be shaped by the PAX who gather.  There is no extra reading but opening the playbook that instructs our faith lives.  We will dig into texts that have shaped some of the toughest men’s lives for generations to see how it guides us today.

 

4.         LEADERSHIP::  The beauty of F3 is its leadership structure; the PAX own the workouts, and each man works his own workout.  We workout without trainers, so we can spiritually workout without pastors; the Q does not lord over the Pax but is someone in the foxhole digging through the text and applying it to life.  The Q’s responsibility is to start folks in a direction, set the pace, and let em go at it.  A critical piece of F3 leadership is the ability to call upon and raise up new Qs who will one day go plant ShovelFlags of their own.  This is true both in 1stF workouts groups and in 3rdF gatherings.  Can you read? Can you connect what you read with another idea like a movie, book or tweet?  Good — you are ready to Q.

 

 5.      3rdF WORKOUT::

1. Prayer-In:  start with a brief opening prayer calling upon the ultimate-Q.
2. R3
   1. Read-o-rama:: whether 1 verse or 20, the Pax read it aloud.
   2. Retell:
      • Paraphrase the story.  Dig in to the verse to see what it says: What key words stick out?  What image does this make in your mind?  What’s the history going on here?  What does another translation say?
   3. Relate:  (this is the Jacob’s Ladder…this is what you’ve paid for, so don’t hold back on this part of the workout)
      • Start connecting the verse to our real life–is there a movie, book, quote out there that reminds you of this?
      • How did the verse apply to the lives of the people living back then? How does it apply in the 21^st century? Why did is this important to know? What’s at stake for our lives?  If you took this seriously, how would it change an attitude or behavior in your life?
      • Who’s someone that would benefit from this?
3. Name-o-rama:  Just as this is crucial to bringing new guys into the CoT, it’s also critical in 3rdF groups.  Knowing men by name builds 2ndF and 3rdF simultaneously.
4. Prayer-out