1. Sweatin To The Oldies 123
2. Sweatin To The Oldies 1988
3. Sweatin To The Oldies Youtube
4. Sweatin To The Oldies 2

The Sweatin' to the Oldies workout is pure enjoyment. You won't hear any wall-to-wall instructional chatter. But you will hear all of my favorite heart-thumping tunes of the '50s and '60s, tunes. If anyone had reason to be “sweatin’ to the oldies” of anxiety, fear, or depression, it was the apostle Paul. He was constantly being hounded and persecuted by religious authorities who despised the Christian faith.

• 2013
• 4 Seasons

Richard Simmons is a personality from the 1970s who was a fitness sensation. Using classic rock and roll music and contagious energy, he was able to hit the ground running. His enthusiasm encouraged overweight women to get off the couch and dance to oldies music. Simmons’ has branched out beyond his television show, but his base still watches him nearly religiously because he is inspirational. Simmons was overweight as a child and decided that he would jump his way thin. His child-like innocence and his positive outlook on life became a way for him to be much more than a thick child. Richard Simmons has his own product line that is designed to help women and men who are morbidly obese to eat nutritionally, and he stresses the need to move and eat responsibly while he is dancing to those oldies that he plays in the background. The program provides inspiration and motivation through the infectious good nature that Simmons displays to the audience. Moving to Richard Simmons’ Dancing to the Oldies provides an effective aerobic exercise program which proves to be fun and entertaining as well as good for the health thanks in part to the activity, and in part to Mr. Simmons.

“Oh, oh! What do I do now?” This was my thought a week or so ago when the zoom bar on my computer stopped working. As a visually impaired person, I rely on the zoom bar a lot, as it enlarges text and pictures at the touch of a finger. That particular function on my computer has made life easier for me.

But the zoom bar wasn’t working, and I noticed a red light glowing in a corner of the bar. I tried to remember what I had been told to do when that happened. I tried tapping the control key and the zoom bar at the same time. I wracked my brain for some kind of complicated procedure that might correct the malfunction. Try as I might, the zoom bar would not work.

Finally, I e-mailed Cindy, from whom I had purchased the computer, and asked for advice. She immediately e-mailed back: “Tap the bar twice, and the light will go off, and the zoom feature will return.” Was it really that simple? Sure enough! I tapped the zoom bar twice, and I was back in business.

Sweatin To The Oldies 123

To those of you who are computer geeks, my computer glitch may sound like small potatoes, but for the reason explained above, it was a big deal for me. I’ve learned a lot from my “small potato” crisis, and I thought it might be useful to share my lessons with those trying to make it through Covid-19.

For starters, ever notice how little things have a way of becoming magnified in our brains so that we end up anxiety-ridden and on the verge of panic? We all have our own anxiety triggers that cause us to start breaking out in a sweat.

I call it “sweatin’ to the oldies,” a phrase borrowed from a Richard Simmons exercise video. I refer to anxiety triggers as “oldies” because many of them have been with explorers of the Way for a long time. Here are some of the “oldies” to which I’m referring:

• Financial issues
• Health issues
• Relationship issues
• Dread of the future
• Fear of illness
• Fear of failure
• Complicated problems that seem unsolvable.

Sweatin To The Oldies 1988

I have a feeling that many an explorer of the Way is sweating it out with an “oldie” or two these days.

Sweatin To The Oldies Youtube

The good news is that, as I quickly found out with my zoom bar, the answer to dealing with an “oldie” may often be less complicated than we think. One of the joys of following Jesus Christ, is that He calls us to what Therese de Lisieux called “the little way” of childlike simplicity.

For example, if you ask some people how to be sure you are going to heaven, they’ll give you a complicated answer, such as “You have to work hard at being very, very good and then hope you will make it.” Such complication leads to yet other “oldies”: a feeling of inferiority and a lack of assurance about our eternal destiny.

Although it is important to live an authentic life of faith, Jesus had a very simple answer for the question of how to get to heaven: only cry out to God for His saving mercy in Christ Jesus to be assured of a heavenly home.

The Son of God told a parable about two men who had gone to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, a member of the religious elite of Israel. The other was a tax collector, whose profession was despised by his fellow Jews. The Pharisee prayed in an eloquent manner, reminding God that he was not like other men and had many merits to his credit. On the other hand, the tax collector simply prayed, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner” (Lk. 18:13).

Jesus summed up the parable by saying, “I tell you that this man (the tax collector), rather than the other, went home justified (given right standing before God)” (Lk. 18:14).

The simple cry for mercy was seen at Golgotha, the place of the skull, where Christ was crucified with two thieves, one on his left, the other on his right. One of the thieves cried out, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Lk. 23:42).

The Lord of glory answered his cry, saying, “I tell you the truth. Today you will be with me in paradise” (Lk. 23:43).

Some explorers of the Way refer to the cry for mercy as the Sinner’s Prayer. Since the earliest centuries of the Church, the prayer has actually been known as the Jesus Prayer and reads, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Isn’t that wonderfully simple?

Sweatin To The Oldies 2

But what about those nasty “oldies” that keep us up at night or sweating it out all day long? Oh, there’s a simple solution for those too. For example, Jesus asked the question, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (Matt. 6:27). He told us to consider the birds of the air and the flowers of the field, reminding us that God knows exactly what they and we need. “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matt. 6:34).

If anyone had reason to be “sweatin’ to the oldies” of anxiety, fear, or depression, it was the apostle Paul. He was constantly being hounded and persecuted by religious authorities who despised the Christian faith.

Yet it is this same Paul who gives us a simple and uncomplicated prescription for dealing with anxiety and fear: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6, 7).

This week, I listened to a Facebook talk by a friend and heard him mention the fear he sees in so many people’s faces as he visits Wal Mart or the Sobey’s and Superstore grocery stores. Covid-19 has taken a toll on people, no question about it.

Yet my friend made the point that although the world seems to be shaking right now, the explorer of the Way need not be shaken by what is going on. Respect and healthy common sense, yes, but fear, no. Why is this?

We are given a great answer in the book of Hebrews, where we are told, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe” (Heb. 12:28). Although explorers of the Way live in a world that seems to be shaking right now, they are members of a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

I love how my friend Cecille is handling life in these days of Covid-19. She chooses not to give in to anxiety, frustration, or impatience. Instead, she’s taking things one day at a time. Living a day at a time, moment by moment, that’s the way to go for Cecille and for me. There’s no moment as good as the present one.

I find that tremendously uncomplicated. I don’t need to shake, and I don’t need to sweat. After all, I am a follower of Jesus Christ, who called Himself the Way, and he has everything under control.

All I have to do is stick with Him and trust Him, for the Bible says, “The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you” (Ps. 9:9, 10).

It’s really just that simple, so stop “sweatin’ to the oldies,” and start luxuriating in the peace of God.