Tales of Toliver
This is the blog of Colby Toliver Foster
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New Moon Workout
May 10, 2013
If you haven’t been coming to Reigate Road on Thursday nights (men only), I should rebuke you for denying the faith 
Thursday nights are when boys become men.
The usual routine envoles some boxing, followed by a WOD, and ending with everyone laying on the floor in exhaustion. After this, we make the worlds best smoothie, then dive into the Word for some sharpening.
Make the common, Holy
As I’ve grown in the my faith, I’ve learned that G-d actually cares about EVERYTHING in our lives. If He cares what we eat and how we dress, then wouldn’t it make sense that the Master of Legions would also care how we CrossFit? I believe he does.
So tonight, we attempted to make the common, holy. We attempted to glory our Creator with how we worked out by designing the workout around his Word.
New Moon… New Workout
Tonight (since the sun has set) is 1 Sivian, 5773, which is exciting because it is a New Moon which means we get to say some really cool prayers and bless G-d for bringing us into this new season. Tonight is also the 45th day of the Omer #prettyexciting. So in our attempts to make G-d a part of everything we did tonight we designed out WOD to remember whats going on on G-d’s calendar. Here is a glimpse:
Warm-Up
Boxing – because life is a fight with the enemy. If you’re not in a fight, you’ve got to question whether your even a solider.
W.O.D.
44 Burpees - Because when we started the workout, it was Day 44 of the Omer
Then 14 reps of each station. Because the moon begins to shine on the first day of the month and goes on shining until the fifteenth day of the day, when she is full.
- (14) Slam Balls – when you start off, you are slamming your sin to the ground
- (14) Pull ups – Because sometimes it’s hard to keep your “chin up”
- (14) Push ups – To make sure the foundation you are pushing against is firm
- (14) Old Yelllr’ – To keep us constantly lifting others up
- (14) Toes 2 Bar – Because sometimes you’ve got to hold on for dear life, and still pick your feet up
- (14) Kettle Bell Swings - Righteousness is heavy
Then we Rested on the full moon. Because when Messiah returns, all G-d’s people will LIGHT UP and say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’… then we did round 2! Because the month is not over!
- (14) Slam Balls
- (14) Pull ups
- (14) Push ups
- (14) Old Yelllr’
- (14) Toes 2 Bar
- (14) Kettle Bell Swings
And we fished the workout with:
45 Burpees – Because when we finished the workout, it was Day 45 of the Omer.
#BOOM!
Pray Hard, Live Hard,
Toliver
Doctor Visit
April 25, 2013
It had been a great night! @Mattathias22 and I had just left a mezuzah party and were heading home. I reached down to tie my shoe and… POP! A muscle in my back pulled and I was down for the count. My 23 year old frame was walking like an old man the rest of the night and today has been no different.
As I work from home today, semi bed-ridin, I began to ponder…
The Doctor’s Office
When you visit the doctor, he usually leaves you with two commands:
- Rest
- Do something
He wants us to rest, so our body will heal itself. Take it easy and stop worrying about so much. If you body is hurting, listen to it… rest.
Also, the doctors tells us to DO something! For example, stretching, eating healthy, and exercising This will help prevent further illness and will lead to a much more abundant life.
The (original) Good Doctor
Our Messiah is the same way. I don’t think it’s coincidence (a word not found in Hebrew) that current doctors follow the same practice as the One and Only, Good Doctor.
Could our Messiah be giving us these same two commands as well? My current view says he could be…
- Rest
- Do something
First he tells us to rest. Matthew 11:28. Only in Him can we truly find rest. If we search elsewhere, we will become tired and unfulfilled in the process.
After all, he is the Good Doctor and we can only go to Him if we desire true healing.
This first requires acknowledgment of who He is (John 14:6).
Second, we must admit we are sick (Mark 2:17).
Third, we must follow the commands he gives us once he sends us off (John 14:15). We’ve all heard to “lay our sins down at the foot of the Cross,” but rarely are we given anything to pick up.
My current view is we should pick up the Scripture, turn back to Torah, and follow the customs of our Jewish Messiah.
Judge a Tree by it’s Fruit
We can tell how big an impact the doctor had on us by how seriously we take the commands he gives us after our departure. If we were really sick, and have become really healed, we will abundantly shout our praise to the rooftops! (Luke 7:36-50)
Then we will take the necessary steps to prevent any further injury or harm to ourselves. We will stop our current lifestyle, (John 8:11), and undertake a new lifestyle (John 3:3) & (Acts 2:38). The Doctor didn’t give us the Torah (instructions on life) to burden us, NO, but to SET US FREE! He invites us to live out a life of abundance! (John 10:10)
My $0.02
- If we are not being healed, we have to question whether we went to the right doctor (Our Messiah was a Jew).
- If we are not doing what the doctor tells us, we have to question whether we really love the doctor.
Rest and Commands. The good thing about the commands are they give us REST…because they are from the One and Only, Good Doctor!
Pray Hard, Live Hard,
Toliver
An email from Jacob
March 28, 2013
This was so good I had to share.
A mentor and friend of mine sent me this email this morning. Many of you know Jacob, and if you don’t…well you’re missing out. Peep this and get ready for some goosebumps!
(From Jacob)
m.us.wsj.com/articles/a/SB10001424127887324105204578384781088854740?mg=reno64-wsj
There used to be a time when Christians held these positions of leadership leading to community and national and global influence. When Godly individuals excelled in what they DID, they positioned themselves for powerful influence.
Today Christians are a bunch of losers who have lost their soul to the world! Where is excellence and the drive to push innovation leading to influence in Christian communities today?? It is more of an exception than the rule!
Oh that we will raise Joseph and Esther and Daniel and Nehemiah And David and Peter and Paul, who excelled in what they DID! Whether raising the dead or serving or making tents or fishing or administering nations, these were men and women of excellence! They were IN the world, but not OF the world!
Oh that we will break this paradigm of sacred and secular! What is the value of salt if it is contained inside a beautiful glass jar!! What is the value of salt if it is salty only inside the salt factory! What is the value of salt if it will stay only among other salt particles!
Oh that we will have pure salt that will spread among the unsalted to make them salty!
The proof of the saltiness of salt is when it can make the unsalted salty!!
When was the last time your salt influenced the unsalty? Is there space in your life for the unsalty? Have you done an analysis of your sphere of influence? How does that profile look? How many people are positioned in your life today where your salt and light can influence? OR are you in a holy bubble!!
Influencing the influenced who will not influence the uninfluenced is the tragedy of the “church” today!
We are CALLED to influence! If we don’t, Godless people like Zuckerburg will! We are so good at complaining about the rise of evil, but do not realize that evil rises because the carriers of light are not shining! Darkness can exist only when there is no light!!
May this season when we remember the death and resurrection of Jesus, be the time when we realize our God given calling of BEING salt and light in the situations God has placed us in today. May we not long for the glory days gone by or look for glory days to come by, TODAY is the day, NOW is the time!
Jesus is risen, He is Risen Indeed and may it be demonstrated in my life DAILY!
Jacob William
Was that good or was that good! Wow, I feel so blessed to have men like this in my life!
Pray Hard, Live Hard,
Colby
Opportunity Cost
February 28, 2013
It brings me much joy returning to the keyboard to write this post. I’ve been away for a while, but for a noble cause indeed. As I reflect on my absence from the blogging world, many thoughts come to mind. I’ll start basic:
Opportunity Cost
This is one of my favorite business terms and probably the one I use most often for decision making in life. It’s technical definition goes as follows: ”The cost of an alternative that must be forgone in order to pursue a certain action.” Because I’m not a fan of academia or complicated theory, I’ll put the definition in my own terms. Opportunity cost giving something up, in order to obtain something else.
Here is a great video that breaks it down nicely: opportunity cost
Where Have I Been?
…all my liiieeife, all my lieieffe liiiieiffffe (it’s a song) I mentioned earlier my absence was for a noble cause and now you get to make the decision whether you agree or not.
The reason I haven’t been blogging is because I haven’t been able to justify the time I would have spent writing vs some career things I’ve been working on. I’ve been laser focused in 2013 and while blogging is a passion of mine, I had to allocate my time elsewhere for the current season.
I can’t exactly say what I’ve been working on for two reasons:
- I don’t have any fruit to show you yet
- If it’s good, you’ll see it eventually
I’m not a fan of talking in business. I feel too many people talk way to much in the marketplace and very few people do. I prefer to simply work and let my results speak for me. If I don’t have any results, then I guess things will be pretty silent.
So there you have it, I’ve been absolutely working my face off on some world changing projects for Q1 of 2013. I hope you get to see the harvest!
@GaryVee
January 1, 2013
— 1 Comment
I’ve got one word to describe this man:
Authenticity
Gary Vaynerchuk is hands down one of my favorite entrepreneurs.
Why?
Because he’s real.
Because he cares
Because he DOES!
The Real Deal
@GaryVee is the real deal. Mr. Vaynerchuk is “a 36 year old New York Times and Wall Street Journal Best-Selling author who is also a self-trained wine and social media expert…Recognizing the importance of e-commerce in 1997, Gary launched Winelibrary.com and helped grow his family business significantly from $3 million to $45 million by 2005.”
It is a sad fact you see people giving speeches today who have never actually build a successful, sustainable company. Mr. Vaynerchuk has built multiple. And he did all this BEFORE he stepped on stage. Mr. Vaynerchuk is also a family first guy who passionately loves his wife and will raise an amazing daughter!
Best selling author… check
If you want to learn how to actually SALE stuff using social media, this is the only book you need to read.
Keynote Speaker… check
About halfway through the speech, Mr. Vaynerchuk is rocking the one sleeve down, one up look. But besides that, one of my favorite stories is at minute 22 where he talks about first selling wine over the internet.
Successful Entrepreneur… check
I get all my wine here. Best prices. Free Shipping. And the customer service is the best in the industry. I once called and had Gary’s brother AJ actually hook me up with some goods!
Actually Caring
Here is just a few reply’s from emails I’ve sent them over the years. Some are returned (no lie) my Mr. Vaynerchuk himself, most by the VP of wine library.
From: brandon@winelibrary.com – 5/29/12
Hi Colby! Great to meet you! I’m the Vice President of Wine Library so if there is anything else I can do for you, please let me know!! On the Cab – the announcement comes tomorrow so let me know if you are interested! We have a regular mailing list for these kind of offers plus I have a special list for limited specials as well. Would love to put you on if you are interested! Of course, on the Cabernet deal – that one is a little time sensitive as the offer goes up tomorrow so take a look and let me know if you have any questions! Thewine was awesome!! Let me know what other kinds of wines you might be interested in and I can help! Jeff will also send over a free shipping code!
From: jderose@winelibrary.com – 5/30/12
We’re huge with one-on-one service here, so please let me know how I can help you out. Also, if you’re not already signed up for our email service, you can do so below. That way you will be sure not to miss our great deals: https://winelibrary.com/emails/email
Plus, here’s your free shipping code, CFOSTER2012OT, which is a one-time code that’s good for free ground shipping on your next order!
Thanks!
A DOer
My favorite part of Mr. Vaynerchuk is the fact he is a doer. He doesn’t just talk about business, he is a businessman. And a very successful one at that!
Most speakers in the market today has never built scalable, sustainable, multimillion dollar companies that will be here long after they are gone, Mr. Vaynerchuk has, and is still doing so!
…so there you have it. Just sharing with you guys one of my favorite movers and shakers in the marketplace today. IT’s funny because Greg, Pete and I were actually just talking about @GaryVee last night. Love him or hate him, we can all learn from him.
Pray Hard, Live Hard
Toliver
your Words vs. your Wallet
December 27, 2012
— 1 Comment
I’m a huge fan of the parable Yeshua tells in Luke 6:44:
“Each tree is recognized by its own fruit.”
The reason I love this phrase is because it focuses our eyes on the end product. In business, if you don’t have a focus on results, you want be in business very long.
Results are everything.
I know, I know, our generation is all about processes and cool companies cultures, and all that jazz. Trust me, I get it. I love popcorn machines and smoothies like everyone else in Gen Y but what I want to focus on right now is action.
All Hat No Cattle
Not only is this a great country song by Trace Adkins, but it’s one of my favorite phrases when giving speeches.
“All Hat No Cattle” was originally used in reference to people imitating the fashion or style of cowboys. These people wore the hats, but had no experience on the ranch — thus, all hat, no cattle.
It’s Similar to talking the talk without walking the walk.
I put little weight into the word that come out of people mouths. I’m not one to get too hyped up on what people tell me they are going to do, or what they have planned, or what they are thinking about doing.
The only thing that really gives me kicks, is results.
What have you done? Where are the results? What did you actually accomplish/learn?
Results don’t lie
but people do…
This is why I don’t take too many conversations with people I don’t know too seriously.
You can tell a lot about people by the way they spend their money. People vote everyday how they spend their money.
For example:
What People Actually Believe
If you actually thought president Obama was going to fix the economy… why didn’t you buy stocks the same day you cast your vote?
If you actually believe homeless people need help… then why don’t you join us on Friday’s when we pack food at the Men’s Shelter?
(I’m not even kidding… I googled Men’s Shelter and my man @wutzupham popped up! #how #cool #is #that #ahhhhh!)
If you actually feel bad for people without a house… then why don’t you spend you time on Saturday morning volunteering for Habitat for Humanity?
If you honestly thought Wal-Mart was a bad company… why do you continue to shop there?
If you really thought Oil Companies were bad… why to you continue to purchase their product?
My entire point of this post is that if you really believe something, prove it. Not only with you words, but with your wallet.
Prove It
…by DOING something about it. My good friend Paolo Publico always used to say, “Don’t talk about it, BE about it.” man, how right he was!
Do you really love someone? Prove it
Really care about someone? Prove it
Want to succeed in life? Prove it
Want to be on the Forbes 400 list? Prove it
Want to be a millionaire, raise a great family, love your wife (or future wife) get a promotion, get in shape, lose weight, eat better…. THAN PROVE IT!
Don’t just talk about it, BE about it!
I Need Your Help
Because I’m a big talker. Hints the fact I have a blog and all I write about is my life, and my experiences.
I need you help because I need to “prove it”
Most everyone who reads my blog is my friend. So I want to prove to you this upcoming 2013 (G-d willing) that I really do value you.
I love the people in my life. Friends, mentors, family, ect…
And if I’m going to judge a tree by it’s fruit, then I’ve got to put my money where my mouth is.
What You Can Expect (from me)
If our lives cross paths in 2013, I really want to bless you. I honestly do value everyone in my life and I want to show you that. Below is some ideas I’m trying to impliment to show people I care, and you might find them useful yourself.
- Handwritten Notes
- 5-star treatment (for my friends visiting from out of town)
- A bottle of wine (who doesn’t love a bottle of wine)
- Show up with Gifts
- Compliments
- A good memory – I’ve worked very hard to remember important things about the friends in my life.
- Good Conversation
- a Win-Win – I promise I will always go out of my way to help/serve you. Especially in business.
- Humor – I make more mistakes than anyone I know, and we can both laugh at my stories!
“King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for; he gave her more than she had brought to him. Then she left and returned with her retinue to her own country.”
Let’s do it! It’s a blessing to be a blessing!
Pray Hard, Live Hard
Toliver
It’s worth the time
December 26, 2012
I’ve learned early in life that time is more valuable than money. We can always get more money, but we can never get more time.
I say this to stress the importance of how we spend our time. I advocate we:
- Spend time with people
- Spend time investing in people
- Spend timing blessing people
One of my favorite songs to get to open out eyes on the subject of times is the below video:
“We only got 86,400 seconds in a day to
Turn it all around or to throw it all away
We gotta tell them that we love them
While we got the chance to say
Gotta live like we’re dying”
What’s worth the time?
Relationships
Every relationship we choose to have in our life is worth the TIME we invest in it. I mean that from the bottom of my heart.
Relationships are everything to me.
I’m not talking about boyfriend/girlfriend or courtship or any thing like that. I’m talking about every other relationship in life in which we choose to engage.
Is it worth the money?
YES!
Is this even a serious question? How can you put a price tag on relationships? How can you even let money be considered in the occasion when it comes to people? Ahhhh, I hate cheap people. Can’t stand them!
Every relationship we choose to have in our life is worth the MONEY we invest in it. I mean that from the bottom of my heart.
There is no such thing as “spending money” on friends. Just like there is no such thing as “spending money” on a coach. It’s an investment. And any investment we make in people is worth it.
If something is worth your time, then it is definitely worth your money! Because we’ve already established that time is more valuable than money.
I just wanted to write this post real quick and encourage everyone to really be intentional about spending time building relationships. In my humble opinion, relationships really are everything.
Let’s make 2013 a great year and spend time blessing those around us.
Pray Hard, Live Hard
Toliver
my 3 favorite blog’s to follow
December 19, 2012
I love to read. I LOVE to read. Especially stories… especially life stories… especially LIFE stories by interesting people!
If I could, I would sit under a beautiful oak tree every day and read a books. Since that’s not possible and because time limits me to roughly 1 book a month, I like to subscribe to blogs for nuggets of wisdom delivered to my inbox daily.
Here are my 3 favorites:
Bible
By: Oswald Chambers is hands down the best daily devotion out there. A quick warning though: there is no “milk” here, it is solid food! If you’ve haven’t been through the Scriptures for at least one year, you might want to build up to this. Here is a quick dose for all interested!
Business
It’s all about business baby! The #1, hands down, best, most creative, most disruptive inovator in the market place today is Seth Godin
If you’re in business, you need to be reading this, every single day. Some post are long, some are short, but ALL are WORTH IT! One of my recent favorites: “The danger of starting at the top”
Benham Companies
I’m the luckiest guy in the world. Why? Well for many reasons, but near the top of that list is the fact I have the best mentors a young, aspiring entrepreneur could ever dream of.
If you want to get slapped in the face every day with some TRUTH, while at the same time keeping up with current issues, then this blog is for you. David and Jason give practical advice on how we can DAILY be salt and light to a broken world.
“Preparing Your Mission” -Benham Companies
Enjoy!
Pray Hard, Live Hard
Toliver
One Name
December 18, 2012
I’m about to go on a rant here… I hope you’re ready!
The only thing that matters in life is JESUS. (Yeshua for my Jew-ish friends) 
It’s all about Jesus! The only solution is the CROSS
You want to know how to handle when people have sinned against you? …Jesus! Or how to handle your sin (which is most of the time in my case) when you’ve really hurt someone? …Jesus.
If you want reconciliation, it takes Jesus
Want forgiveness? It takes Jesus
Want to forgive? It takes Jesus!
You want to be able to love again, It takes Jesus.
You want to wash away scars from your previous life? It takes Jesus. From previous relationships? Go to Jesus! From a previous reputation?…Jesus
Nothing else in life matters! Nothing!
There is no life without Jesus, there is no peace without Jesus! There is no such thing as true fulfillment unless it is found in Jesus!
(I’m sure there are some great verses on this, so please comment, but I’ve got to rant and no time to look them up!)
There is nothing else that can save! Nothing else that can help! Nothing else in life matters except Jesus! Nothing!
Ahhh! I can’t stand the world’s logic!
The world’s culture is corrupt! It’s evil, it’s vial, it’s full of darkness, it’s sad, it’s frustrating.
IT’S EMPTY!
Nothing the world does is right! It all leads back to emptiness! It never fills! It’s never brings peace!
Your relationship is going south? Go to Jesus. He got sacrificed, so your relationship doesn’t have to be.
You think someone is beyond reconciliation? Look at Jesus! (Preaching to myself here)
You think you can’t start new? Meet Jesus
You think God can’t bring hearts back together? You don’t know my God.
You think dreams don’t come true? You don’t know my God
You think lives can’t be healed? You don’t know my God!
…okay deep breath… I’m done. As you can tell, I’m a sinner. I’ve messed up in life, a lot.. I’ve been hurt, betrayed, and slandered. Worse than that, I’ve hurt other people, I’ve betrayed other people and I’ve been bitter towards other people.
The good news is, we have victory because of the Cross. Because of what Jesus DID on the Cross we don’t have to live life in regret or bitterness.
Jesus forgave us, giving us the power to forgive others.
“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord,
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool.
If you are willing and obedient,
You shall eat the good of the land;
But if you refuse and rebel,
You shall be devoured by the sword”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
-Isaiah 1:16-20
I’m tired of people thinking the world has anything right. It doesn’t. Be confident in your faith! Stop trying to be like the world. Everything the world preaches will leave you empty and unfulfilled.
Judge a Tree by it’s Fruit.
There is one name above all names, and it is the King. He came as a Lamb, he is coming back as a Lion.
Goodnight.
Pray Hard, Live Hard
Toliver
Repentance is God’s Solution for Everything
December 17, 2012
The best devotional I’ve ever been subscribed to is called, “My Utmost for His Highest” written by Oswald Chambers.
The man is real, he is wise, and he is deep. If you’ve not been through the scriptures at least two solid years, then I recommend something else for a daily devotion, like the bible
Below is a great devotion, that I could not do justice if I tried to paraphrase, so enjoy!
______________________________________
“Repentance” — My Utmost For His Highest
For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation. — 2 Corinthians 7:10
Conviction of sin is best portrayed in the words -
“My sins, my sins, my Saviour,
How sad on Thee they fall.”Conviction of sin is one of the rarest things that ever strikes a man. It is the threshold of an understanding of God. Jesus Christ said that when the Holy Spirit came He would convict of sin, and when the Holy Spirit rouses a man’s conscience and brings him into the presence of God, it is not his relationship with men that bothers him, but his relationship with God – “against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight.” The marvels of conviction of sin, forgiveness, and holiness are so interwoven that it is only the forgiven man who is the holy man, he proves he is forgiven by being the opposite to what he was, by God’s grace. Repentance always brings a man to this point: I have sinned. The surest sign that God is at work is when a man says that and means it. Anything less than this is remorse for having made blunders, the reflex action of disgust at himself.
The entrance into the Kingdom is through the panging pains of repentance crashing into a man’s respectable goodness; then the Holy Ghost, Who produces these agonies, begins the formation of the Son of God in the life. The new life will manifest itself in conscious repentance and unconscious holiness, never the other way about. The bedrock of Christianity is repentance. Strictly speaking, a man cannot repent when he chooses; repentance is a gift of God. The old Puritans used to pray for “the gift of tears.” If ever you cease to know the virtue of repentance, you are in darkness. Examine yourself and see if you have forgotten how to be sorry.
“My Utmost for His Highest” was written by Oswald Chambers.
_________________________________________________
My Favorite Lines:
- The bedrock of Christianity is repentance. Strictly speaking, a man cannot repent when he chooses; repentance is a gift of God.
- Repentance always brings a man to this point: I have sinned. The surest sign that God is at work is when a man says that and means it.
I hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I did! Praise God for the GIFT of repentance.
