About Us
What is Grips for God?
Casey Osborn
Hi there! I’m Casey Osborn, one of the founding members of the men’s outreach, Grips for God. This is my story that led me to G4G.
15 years ago, my roommate Lance and I shared a passion for Jiu-Jitsu and a love for God. We used to share ideas about how to serve God in the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) community. We always relished our relationships on the mat and dreamed of combining them with The Great Commission. We came up with names, drew logos, and formulated plans to rent out a camp for a week to bring teens together for a yearly themed tournament. Then a little thing called life happened and smacked us with reality.
Both of us young struggling fathers, we traded our passions for provisions. Having a family was way more demanding than we thought and required what seemed like more than 100% of our ability and time. Lance pursued a career in the Army that took him to Washington while I started a boat lift business at the Lake of the Ozarks. Fast forward to 2019, Lance came on board to run our Lake of the Ozarks location, which allowed me to expand in the marine industry by building a Marina. The Covid pandemic created an unforeseen high demand for any activity at the Lake. Almost immediately, my business grew beyond my goals and expectations.
The business was great, and our family life at home was even better. My wife definitely gets the credit for that! She is a superstar at raising kids and running a home. But not everything is as good as it appears on the surface. Starting a business during the 2008 recession and struggling to get started created in me an obsession to provide. Stress from the feeling of pressure is an incredible motivator and, if harnessed, can push you past your limits. Look at bodybuilders. They apply pressure using weights to stress their body to build muscle. As a business owner, pressure is not hard to find. I would take the pressures of work with me. It followed me to my home, dinner, social activities, lunches, breakfast clubs, church, my kids’ sporting events, my bed, and often it would even follow me in my sleep. Almost every conversation I had was centered around my business, the markets, or the overall economic state of our country.
"A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of." (Luke 6:45 NIV)
The fruit for me was my version of the American Dream, which was also an idol for me. What I lacked in ability and experience, I made up for in obsession. My prayer life was centered around God helping me be successful, you know, “so I could shine His light,” “give money,” “help others,” “be a good father and boss and do the things we were commanded to do,” etc. But all these things were secretly only in second place after He helped me accomplish my will. I had this belief (and I still struggle with the thought) that I would “do better at this” or “give that” once I have what I thought I needed. Basically, I told Jehovah God to give me power, money, talent, land, and wealth, then I will serve you.
This all sounds foolish when I type it out, or as Lance would put it, “Bold move, Cotton.” I wonder how many men before me have tried to negotiate with God the same way. I genuinely feel sick and guilty just writing about it. Paul writes in Titus 3:3, “Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient. We were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other. (NLT)”
Thankfully the same God called Jehovah (ALL Powerful, Omnipotent, Almighty, Trustworthy, Majestic, Supreme, Glorious, Holy Ruler of this Universe) also made a path back to Him through the Cross, and His motives for saving us are all about His “kindness and love,” “mercy,” and “grace.” In the next verse, Paul adds the “But”! Titus 3:4-8 says “But– When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit* He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Because of His grace, He declared us righteous and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life. (NLT)”
Hallelujah! I have wasted so much of my time, energy, and effort chasing things “above” God. Not to say that having such things is bad, but anything sought “above” God is an idol, and my life reflected it.
Off the Rails & Back Again
In 2021, I had many personal health and family issues that seemed to spiral out of control. It was a time of desperate darkness, and I was struggling. Thankfully, the Lord used a friend to reach out to me, speak to my heart, and show God’s love.
At about the same time, a close friend of mine, probably also worried about my current state, suggested we work out in the mornings. So Alex and I started by walking down my driveway and back. It was just a mile, but enough to get me out of breath. I don’t find much excitement from walking, especially in my driveway, but I enjoyed the fellowship.
After a few weeks, I started to look forward to the twice-a-week early morning walk. As winter approached, we started making plans to work out inside. I brought up my love for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and he welcomed the idea. I had some built-up credit card rewards, and within 2 weeks, we replaced the unused weights with mats. I was so excited the day they arrived I installed them. We rolled the following week.
I’m sure it looked like a couple of fat polar bears rolling around, but it was the most strenuous workout I had had in years. We reached out to Lance, and soon it was 3 fat polar bears and Nez. We had a blast. After workouts, we’d talk for a while, and the conversation started getting deeper than what we had to do that day. My brother Cody was in town for a visit, so we took an extra 15 minutes for hot tea instead of rushing off. It was so enjoyable we decided to add hot tea to our routine every morning.
Like a giant echo chamber, we would share our anxieties and concerns about our lives and country. One morning after rolling and having tea, I caught a sermon on Bott radio about the responsibility of men–specifically the generation of men during a challenging time for a nation. Ding Ding Ding! I took very little personal responsibility for the state of our nation, and I was wrong. It starts with me. “Good!”
"Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land." (2 Chronicles 7:14 NLT)
This hit me square between the eyes, so I started challenging the guys that we should do something about all the complaining and grumbling, starting with prayer and devotion. We don’t always do a great job at devotions, but God has been thanked, invited, and praised in our group. We remind each other that our priorities should be: God, family, work, then hobbies. If we have the ability to be on the mat and the time, then we have been blessed. We shouldn’t sacrifice family time to do so; that is why we meet at 06:00. It is incredibly hard to get out of bed at 04:45! I tell myself, “Put on your shoes and start the car.” That is where the battle is won each day.
The mat is way easier. God has gifted us with Jiu-Jitsu and, more importantly, each other. Let us not forget to praise the Giver, not the gift.
Today there is not a time that I step on the mat that I don’t bow and thank God for it. We have many training partners from Tri-County Jiu-Jitsu in Richland. We are blessed to be under Professor Cassio and Professor Michael Geery with Team Alliance. Professor Mike owns NPR BJJ in New Port Richey, Florida. We are incredibly thankful to be under a professor that respects our values and teaches us the traditions, techniques, and history of the art. He doesn’t want his picture on the wall as a shrine, and we only bow to one another as a sign of respect.
Our mission: Use BJJ as an outreach for Christ to promote healthy masculinity in our community. Let’s ✝️rain!
Alex Goans
Proverbs 27:17: “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”
Proverbs 27:17 had always held only a physical connection to my life. As a lifelong competitive athlete, “as iron sharpens iron” was something my coaches would recite as a reason to do our best at practice. Only years later has the whole meaning of that proverb impacted my life. That’s what Grips for God, in the simplest terms, is for me. The full realization and application of proverbs 27:17.
To further explain, yes, it does refer to physical training and competition; however, the meaning doesn’t stop there. Think for a moment, and you will realize that there is a mental and spiritual aspect that you can see in day-to-day life. Sit down with someone and play checkers. Play checkers a lot. Play checkers every day for a week and see if you aren’t better at checkers than you were a week prior, and then ask yourself if the person you’ve been playing with hasn’t improved as much as you have. That’s an excellent example of the mental aspect because, I promise, checkers is a purely mental exercise. Let’s take it even further because if you gather a group of men, train with them, grow with them, and compete with them but keep God as a focus, you will not only get better physically and mentally…you will grow spiritually and will be closer to God.
My hope for the future is that we can take this incredible thing and evolve from Proverbs 27:17 into Ephesians 6:11, “Take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” I believe that you become a better man when you train your body, mind, and spirit. And when you have brothers to lean on and talk to, I believe you become a better man. When we become better men, we become better sons, better husbands, and better fathers. What better way to combat the devil’s schemes than to become better, Godlier men? That is why this group is so important to me, and I pray that we reach those that need us.
From Our Blog
Catch up on some of our thoughts, values, insights and new. Feel free to comment!
Just Train (by L.C. McDowell)
The origin story of Grips for God is humble. It can be surmised as a
Be Smart with Your Exercise!
Be Smart with Your Exercise (From www.lungs.org) You already know exercise is good for you.
Our Scriptural Order of Priorities
Our Scriptural Order of Priorities (Adopted from Dr. Tony Evans) “The scriptural order of priorities
