November 20, 2023 • 61 mins
What if church meets fitness? In a world where physical well-being takes precedence, how can spiritual health complement this journey? Listen in as Logan Poirier, founder and executive director of Eleventh Element, spins an intriguing tale on how he transitioned from a church pastor to a CrossFit coach, and eventually merged both worlds in a transformative way.
Logan shares how his passion for both fitness and ministry helped him create Eleventh Element, a unique organization dedicated to not only promoting a healthy lifestyle physically, but also emotionally and spiritually. We delve into what makes Eleventh Element an unconventional 'church', with community nights, baptisms, and the gospel being propagated within fitness gyms. Logan also shares exclusive insights on the challenges faced while sharing the gospel in a fitness setting, and how Eleventh Element is revamping this, one workout at a time.
In our chat, Logan also emphasizes the importance of integrity within the fitness community. He talks passionately about how Eleventh Element prioritizes accountability and accuracy in their group workouts. We also discuss how finding the right instructors is key to fostering an environment that lives out faith authentically. The episode concludes with Portier sharing his visions for the growth of Eleventh Element and how it plans to impact more lives. So tune in to discover how faith and fitness can intersect in life-changing ways, and how you can be a part of this journey too.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Logan Poirer (00:03):
There is such thing as irresponsible behavior
that can be under the guise ofwell, it's just a step of fate.
We cannot be a good steward ifwe're not living healthy
lifestyle.
No one cares how much you knowunless they know how much you
care.
How many lost people were youable to share at least an
(00:27):
expression or an element of thegospel that they had?
Aaron O'Connell (00:30):
Welcome to the WHY to Fitness Podcast.
I'm your host, aaron O'Connell,and today I have Logan Portier.
That's actually right.
Yeah, all right.
Good, I should have checkedthat beforehand.
But on the podcast with me andhe is the founder and the
executive director of EleventhElement.
(00:52):
How are you doing today?
Logan Poirer (00:53):
I'm doing well.
Man, I appreciate you having meon.
Aaron O'Connell (00:55):
This is a great time, oh of course, it's a
pleasure to have you on.
Eleventh Element is actually aunique initiative that came to
life in 2019 and you saw theneed to bridge the gap between
the physical and spiritualhealth within the fitness
community.
Could you share the story likehow you founded Eleventh Element
(01:16):
in there and what inspired youto combine the physical and
spiritual health?
Logan Poirer (01:20):
Yeah, absolutely.
To share the story of how itwas founded, we have to go back
a little bit and we have to lookat the early years of my life.
I think I grew up at a localchurch here in South Florida
called Spanish River Church andthey're a big church, planting
church and they've planted over500 churches worldwide and
(01:44):
that's part of their bread andbutter is like hey, we want to
focus and put a significantamount of money towards planting
new expressions of churchthroughout the world.
Aaron O'Connell (01:54):
And you say church, are you talking about
brick and mortar churches, thatthey did 500?
Are you talking like Echolestiagathering of people within,
like a CrossFit gym like we arein now?
Logan Poirer (02:05):
Yeah, no, like brick and mortar stuff.
Wow, that's a lot of churches.
So, in fact, like so much.
So, like their vision was sonarrow that it was not really
going to include things likechurch in a CrossFit gym.
So it was no, like this is howwe do it and we're going to
plant churches in thesebuildings.
And maybe it wasn't.
(02:31):
Each church was going to haveits own brand new facility, but
like meeting in the local middleschool or high school
auditorium.
That's how most church startsRight, and so that was their
model and that's how I grew upand so I was very kind of well
versed in the process of thischurch planting.
And then I worked at thatchurch in the student ministry
(02:54):
for about eight years and I gotto experience kind of the ups
and downs, the good and bad ofchurch planting and of even kind
of the larger church model andsystems and procedures that
exist within those churches,that style of church.
And then, while I was a studentministry pastor, I started
(03:17):
coaching CrossFit.
Just, I had been doing it for anumber of years and I enjoyed
it and I started thinking, man,it would be really cool to
somehow combine my passions forfitness and ministry, because I
loved coaching people in theCrossFit gym, I loved seeing
people progress and learn newthings and just become more fit,
(03:39):
and that was awesome.
So I said well, but I still, ofcourse, have this calling and
passion for ministry and seeingpeople grow spiritually and come
to this realization of whoChrist is and how that can
affect and change your entirelife.
And so the very initial stepwas how can I combine these two
(04:00):
things and still make a livingand provide for my family?
And the vision definitely justcontinued to develop and I think
we'll talk about that in asecond.
For sure, and that was reallythe first step was kind of this
call, this push, and it lastedfor a while before I did
anything about it.
I just kind of sat there and Ikept thinking, well, this is
(04:24):
just a fling, that's going to goaway.
But God was persistent and hekept that vision just right in
the front of my mind for monthsbefore I said anything to
anybody, like even my wife.
It took me a while to even saysomething to my wife, but
(04:45):
eventually I did.
And then I can remember the day, like it was yesterday, when I
walked into the executivepastor's office at Spanish River
.
At the time, ron Tobias and Iknew that I was going to share
this with him and I knew what itmeant.
It essentially meant I wasgiving him my letter of
(05:08):
resignation because Ron, he wasan incredible, incredible man
just recently passed away.
But he was so kingdom-mindedthat I knew, if I told him that
I had this vision and God wasplacing it on my heart, that he
(05:28):
was going to do whatever hepossibly could to make it happen
.
Aaron O'Connell (05:32):
Sounds like a great guy, great mentor.
Logan Poirer (05:33):
And so that's how I knew when I told him that I
wasn't going to be the youthpastor anymore.
So eventually I did, I told him, and that's what got the whole
ball rolling.
Aaron O'Connell (05:45):
Wow, that's amazing.
I love that you're marryingthose fitness and spiritual
fitness together, because that'swhat the Y2 Fitness podcast is
all about.
Because I was a personaltrainer for a really long time
and, although I'm not staying inthat actual hands-on training
physical part, because there'sso many ways to skin the cat,
(06:06):
crossfit isn't for everybody,working out in the gym is not
for everybody.
You can be walking, you can bedoing Tai Chi, you can be doing
whatever it may be, as long asyou are staying active and ready
and capable for anything thatGod, the devil or life throws
your way.
So that's why I brought thispodcast to life, because I
(06:26):
understood, hey, there's so muchmore to fitness than just the
working out.
I'll let those people take careof that, but even just harboring
unforgiveness in your heart canmake you unhealthy.
If you're experiencingrelationship problems, financial
problems, whatever it is, whatis the first thing that usually
goes when you're going through ahard time?
(06:46):
Your workout regimen, your diet, all those things?
So I understood that there's,yes, so many diets out there.
But wait a minute.
Why don't I go to the sourceand start trying to tackle that
and try to illuminate that, hey,health is so much more than
just diet and exercise.
Logan Poirer (07:07):
It's all encompassing, right.
Aaron O'Connell (07:08):
It really is, and it reminds me of 1 Timothy
4-8, which says physicaltraining is of some value.
There is value in it.
The Bible even says physicaltraining has some value, but
spiritual training has benefitsin this life and the next.
And I really looked at that andGod just heard God calling me,
saying hey, you're about thespiritual training.
(07:29):
Yes, everything is going toboil back to physical, because
I'm here to bless you in thephysical and that will be when
you're walking spiritually inline with God.
That's when you're going tohave the most peace and you're
going to be the healthiest youpossibly can be, because stress
is what really brings you down.
Logan Poirer (07:45):
Yeah, yeah, no, that's great and to echo on that
, it's so.
I think most people oftentimeshave no concept of how related
these things are and we'll talkabout this more, I think, later
(08:08):
on as well but just the idea ofbeing a good steward of your
body, your physical body andyour physical life on this earth
.
We can't do that, we cannot bea good steward if we're not
living healthy lifestyles, andby healthy, I think the tip of
(08:28):
the iceberg is movement.
It's not crossfit, it's movementand nutrition, and then it just
goes from there and there'smore and more and more.
Aaron O'Connell (08:39):
Yeah, 1 Corinthians 6-19 tells us that
our bodies are the temple thatthe Holy Spirit is living in,
and you don't want to bebringing trash in there.
Look at all the laws that theOld Testament had about regards
to the temple and how to splitup the food, how to put all
these sacrifices in there.
We have these same principlesthat happen with our own body.
(09:02):
Get enough protein to repairthe muscle.
Get enough energy and caloriesso you're not in a constant
deficit, so you can be ready andcapable for things.
Don't be going just to, don'tbe like the Pharisees and be all
whitewashed, tuned, but becompletely to have death inside
of you.
You know there's all thesethings that I kept reading the
Bible and I'm like this appliesto health and fitness.
(09:23):
This is where it's at.
This is what people are missing, but I love that you were
actually being the boots on theground, going into the gyms and
bringing the word.
So tell our listeners just alittle bit of the concept of
11th element and how you'repenetrating the land in the
community.
Logan Poirer (09:45):
Yeah, so the concept is that we partner with
a local fitness facility, alocal gym.
It doesn't have to be CrossFitCrossFit was where we started
because that's where I was.
So we partner with a localfacility.
They allow us to come in andhost a weekly community style
(10:07):
workout.
So it's a workout that is freefor non-members to come in and
experience the gym.
So there's a benefit for thegym right there.
Aaron O'Connell (10:16):
It's a benefit for the gym they're getting
people in the door.
Logan Poirer (10:19):
You're marketing for them, right?
We've seen people buymemberships from hanging out
with 11th element, but it's notits own class.
Ideally it's coupled with apreviously existing class so
that there are the regularmembers of the gym are also
(10:40):
welcome to attend this same work.
It's just part of the scheduleof the gym already.
And then after that workout wewill have a time of fellowship
where, hey, if you're interested, we have this 15 minute, 20
minute hangout, wherever it isMaybe it's around back, maybe
(11:01):
it's in the corner and we offersome snacks and drinks and a
quick little catch up How'severybody doing?
And then a small kind ofdevotional, or you can call it
maybe a sermonette, right.
That will speak to the physicaland the spiritual is the concept
(11:21):
and that's our weekly rhythms,right?
And so, outside of that, wethen also kind of the next step
with 11th element is gettingplugged into our community
nights, and our community nightswe try to run on a monthly
cycle and that that is a littlebit more where 11th element
(11:43):
exists as kind of an expressionof church instead of just like a
small group devotional Right.
So so at our community nightswe have, we have worship and we
have sacrament that's where weare, you know, taking Lord
supper.
We have baptisms and then moreof an actual sermon, right yeah,
(12:04):
and there's no workout, likehey, let's just hang tonight,
you know, and that's kind of our, our rhythms for for community
night.
And then we have, you know, wehave partnerships with, with
other more traditional localchurches, and if we see somebody
kind of progressing down thesesteps and they're interested in
a traditional local church, thenoh yeah, go check out.
(12:25):
Fill in the Blank.
And we have we have ourpartnerships that we can kind of
point them to, and so so thiskind of like a progression,
almost like a funnel right wherewhere our, our main like bread
and butter, our evangelistic,like outreach kind of where we,
I would say, spend our, themajority of our like time and
(12:49):
resources and effort, is is the,are those weekly gatherings in
the, in the particular gym andfitness centers.
And the way that we do that Idon't, I don't travel around to
all all the different gyms thatwe have partnerships with I try
to identify and then train andequip and then and then plant
what we call location directorsin each of those fitness centers
(13:12):
.
Okay, and so those people are.
They go through our, ourleadership development pipeline.
We have a process where wherethey get trained up, mainly
theologically, a little bitpractically, but mainly the
other.
We want to make sure that we'reon the same page.
Do you offer?
Aaron O'Connell (13:30):
that on on your website?
I do.
I was scouring that website andI saw that there's all these
videos and it was like free, youknow and I was like this is
something that I might goconsume.
Logan Poirer (13:40):
Yeah, it's all, it's all free and it's all great
stuff.
Yeah, man, even I mean I don'tI don't think it really plays a
difference your background inyou know, your spiritual or
theological training or whatever, like it's good stuff, it's
really good stuff.
And it's going to.
It's going to help you be ableto share the gospel and express
(14:04):
the bad news of sin, the goodnews of Christ, and in a way
that's contextual.
It fits the culture right and,and you can, you can mold it and
shape it to deliver it to theperson how they need to be, need
to be delivered, and and soit's a really cool tool, but but
anyway, so we take thoselocation directors, train them
(14:25):
up, and then we plant them inthe particular gym.
We want them to buildrelational equity.
That's more than just like, hey, we're dropping in to, so, and
so is Jim, yeah, and we'rehosting this workout.
No, like you're there all thetime, like you need to be, you
need to be a part of thatcommunity.
Yeah, almost almost like longbefore you even try to to start
(14:47):
bringing in, you know this, thislike gospel outpost.
Aaron O'Connell (14:51):
Like no, like you just go in there and just be
a be a human before, before youtry to be, like you know, the
savior, like just go in thereand just hang out, get to know
People like that, because thatoftentimes we skip that.
Oh yeah.
Logan Poirer (15:05):
In the evangelistic approach you know,
we're just.
We're just so fired up andwe're hungry to get out there
and tell people about Jesus andthat's great.
But but there are so manypeople who have had poor
experiences with church and andeven just go on like social
media or the news and you'llhave you'll have a really bad
(15:28):
taste of spirituality orreligion in your mouth real
quick.
Aaron O'Connell (15:34):
When I think of Christianity, I think of
accepting, I think of love, Ithink of caring the most
tolerant people, right, but ifyou go look into the news,
you're going to think of themost judgmental, the most
bigoted, bigoted people, themost hated people, you know like
they're the people that hateeveryone, because there are
those bad players in there andeven the, the failure, the moral
(15:55):
failure of pastors is like athing.
Well, that just is.
I believe that's the devil.
Just saying, anytime a pastorfails, let's highlight that, and
it gets highlighted, and butthat's because it's.
It's that 5050 viral story thatgoes ha, I told you, this was
all fake.
One side, Right, you know, andthe other people trying to
defend it but can't reallydefend it, you know.
(16:16):
So it's like a catch 22 for thechurch of like ha gotcha.
Logan Poirer (16:20):
Yeah, exactly.
But if we're able to go intothese places and build a
relation and then they thesepeople, realize oh you're,
you're just like a normal dude,yeah, that's cool, yeah.
Oh, by the way like, let meintroduce you to this, this God
of scripture, this Jesus, whocan change your life.
Aaron O'Connell (16:37):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And it just reminds me, I think, of John Maxwell that says no
one will value what you sayuntil they they feel that you
value them Right.
Logan Poirer (16:47):
Or there's another version of that and I won't be
able to attribute it to anybody,but I didn't come up with it.
No one cares how much you knowunless they know how much you
care.
Yeah, yeah.
Aaron O'Connell (16:59):
Exactly, exactly, and I really love that.
That way that you you mentioned, you're bringing value to the
gyms, you're bringing value tothe churches you're partnering
with, because so oftenChristians at least, what I've
kind of noticed is that it'salmost like they're scared to
give that message, even thoughit's good news, it's literally
(17:22):
good news, to go tell everybody.
It's the same thing as like,hey, they're having a free
giveaway, giving away free carsright around the corner.
Just go get one, right, it'seven better news than that,
right, but yet we're scared.
If we, if that was actuallyhappening around the corner, we
wouldn't be on this podcast.
We'd be going and getting us afree car, and there's not one
person in the world thatwouldn't be doing it.
But the news that Christian hasis actually that much better, is
(17:45):
that much more powerful.
It's not just going to rust,it's not just going to break
down.
You know, and we're almostscared, but that's because so
many times I see that the peoplein front of them it's almost
like, hey, we're trying to Takesomething from you.
Please give us an opportunityto give the the gospel.
(18:06):
Well, what do I get in return?
You know, like You're in cominginto my gym, what do I get you
know, like you're just gonnacome after my members, that I
already have Sounds like somepeople are gonna get turned off
and no one's really gonna becoming.
But when we can look at thatand partner in ways that we are
providing First love or value ofhey, I'll be bringing new
(18:28):
people in, I will be, I will bebringing your, taking your
message and sending it outFurther by my resources, then
it's that just.
It's just that much moreconducive to say well, welcome
in right.
Logan Poirer (18:42):
Oh yeah, yeah, we want to.
We want to be a value add.
Yes to the gym owner yeah, andif there's a gym owner who's a
who's a believer.
Aaron O'Connell (18:49):
And then it's just slam dunk.
Yeah, but but for those whoaren't?
Logan Poirer (18:53):
yeah, you know, we are bringing a value add and
and you know whether it's for abeliever who's in the gym, who
would be interested in such acommunity, or whether it's just
to like if, like we were justsaying, bringing new faces
Through the door and they'regetting to experience the, the
offering that you have as afitness facility, mm-hmm, so, so
I want to take this time andshift gears a little bit into
(19:17):
your values that are reallyrunning the company, and the
first Value that you guys willhave listed is integrity.
Aaron O'Connell (19:25):
So how does the 11th element manifest integrity
and its operations andinteractions with the fitness
community?
Logan Poirer (19:32):
yeah, man.
So so this is, I think, spawneda little bit from like.
We're just talking about thelike, the moral failures from
pastors, and, and, and and man,there's just no See how do I say
this.
No one is is exempt, yeah,right, and and you know, I think
(19:58):
that we need to be putting,putting the correct
accountability and guardrails,and I mean being, way you know,
above reproach right.
Yeah, we need to be way ahead ofof, maybe even the like the
cultural norm as far asintegrity goes, and and so what
(20:21):
we try to do is is set up these,like these avenues through
which people are, locationdirectors and myself that we can
run through, that, that havethe, the structure necessary in
order to keep the integritywhere it needs to be.
And you know, going just goingback a couple minutes ago, we
(20:42):
were saying how the, thenon-believer or or the
non-churchgoer, they, they havethese, maybe bad experiences
with church, or or they see thenews at all and and, and we want
to be able to provide the Like,the outward expression of our
(21:04):
integrity, like, like they can.
They can look at us and know,okay, like this guy, he has
integrity, like I can tell bythe way he's living his life, he
has integrity, and that'ssomebody that I'm willing to
listen to, whereas, you know, ifif we're, if we're just
flipping with our lives andwe're not, we're not holding to
a certain standard, then I thinkit's much easier for people to
(21:26):
just dismiss us as the next guywalking around the gym because
when your integrity goes,everything goes.
Aaron O'Connell (21:32):
That's like what we said when the pastor has
that downfall, it's gonna takeyears just to get that back.
Get back that trust.
Yeah, and Proverbs 11 3 saysthe integrity of the upright
guides them, but the unfaithfulare destroyed by their duplicity
.
And One thing that that remindsme of in what I think that the
(21:52):
world kind of gets a wrong tasteof Christians is because
Christians quote air quotes.
Christians, ones that areplaying the game Sunday, you
know Sunday the warmer, you knowSunday players, but that's
about it type of thing.
Right, they like to put on theChristian mask.
They, they love what God doesfor them, they love that there's
(22:16):
great people around them, butthey don't really want to get
dive in their word.
They're the Bible.
They don't really want to pray,they're not really seeking
after God's face, they're notdying to self.
So when they get in front of acrowd, when they get on a
platform, when they are doingtheir good deed of the day, they
put Christian mask on and theygo and serve.
(22:38):
They go do all these things.
So, or post this post of like,hey, I'm giving my life to God.
You know, god, god's in controlall these other things, putting
Christian mask because it'smaking them feel good, like they
they're doing what needs to bedone, but in all reality they're
still living for selves.
And because then the next postis all about them getting drunk
(22:58):
at a Concerts, you know, or atsome some place like that.
So that duplicity right there iswhat I believe is also
destroying a little bit of thatChristian name.
Because the Bible says it looksclear, luke warm gets spit out
Because if you're cold, you canactually Make people so
(23:20):
distasteful to your coldness,your evilness, that they will go
.
I don't want any part of thatand they end up on the good side
.
Yeah, if you're on the goodside, you just attract people to
the good side, the warm side orthe hot side.
But that Luke warm, when you'reclaiming one thing but living
in the other, that's when you go.
Well, I don't want anything todo with Christianity, because
look at that guy, right, youknow, and I think that's what a
(23:42):
lot of it's coming.
And do you have?
You have the training for your,for your ambassadors, but do
you guys host like Meetings toreally be talking about?
Like how connected are yourambassadors after they get
trained up, after you let themgo into the gyms.
How often are you guys meetingso you can almost feel the pulse
(24:03):
that's going on in the mall?
Logan Poirer (24:05):
Yeah, so so I.
I have created a like a cohortof People who provide the soul
care for our location directors.
So so this, this soul carecohort, will meet with their
respective location director ona regular basis and that that's
(24:28):
that's at least monthly andthey're they're gonna be kind of
touching base, keeping a pulseon that person, and not just
like a performance review, yeah,well.
Well, of course we want to knowhow your location is going, but
we also care far more aboutlike you as a person and how
you're doing spiritually, howyou're doing personally,
emotionally, mentally,physically, and then that can
(24:52):
get like Recorded away and wehave a little bit of a record as
far as like how, how thatperson is doing.
Okay yeah, and I would love Justto touch on that I would love
to create we haven't done thisyet, but I'd love to create an
annual like retreat for thelocation directors where we can
all go somewhere together.
We've we've pseudo done this ata conference in Orlando called
(25:17):
exponential conference.
It's like a it's a big churchplanting conference, right, and
we had gone up there a coupleyears ago as a group really, and
it was.
It was great and I think thatcould be a cool, maybe, maybe
spot or something like that,where it's a hybrid between Some
other organization is puttingon a conference where we can all
be poured into.
But it's also like teambuilding, for for us as a, as a
(25:42):
group of 11th element hmm,that's awesome.
Aaron O'Connell (25:45):
That's awesome.
And when, when they're faced,either you or Ambassadors are
faced with times of adversity,because true integrity is
revealed in times of adversityEven Job, in the midst of all of
his trials, declared till I dieI will, did not deny my
integrity.
So when that, when there'sthose little times of you know
(26:10):
falling or those, whatever itmay be that, those adversity
times, how do you go abouthandling that?
Like, do you, is that where thefaith, the people that you
instill on the ambassadors Kindof come in?
Or do you come in there?
Or like, how does that kind ofwork?
Logan Poirer (26:26):
Yeah, I mean we haven't had anything Significant
on that regard.
Yet good, fingers crossed,right, yeah, let's pray.
I pray never right, but but ifyou know, if, if something came
to light, the the soul careperson who's responsible?
for that individual.
They they are equipped to beable to Handle whatever that
(26:51):
situation right.
So it's not as though the soulcare person it is like my best
friend from high school, likeit's somebody who I have
complete confidence in in theirministry experience and
Education to be able to speakinto that and handle it.
If it needs to be brought to myattention, that's fine.
(27:12):
But but again, you know, we're,we're hoping that the process
Through which somebody goesthrough to become a location
director and run 11th element intheir respective gym, that they
would Be following these youknow or values and be above
(27:33):
reproach and ideally, you knowagain, we pray that we'll never
have to deal with anysignificant you know failures or
issues like that.
Aaron O'Connell (27:45):
Yeah.
So let's switch to your next,your next value, which is
accuracy, which is highlightedboth for physical fitness and
spiritual teachings, whichyou've already kind of nailed on
the head.
How you're getting thespiritual teachings out?
Through the accuracy of that,through the training program
that's found on your websitethat you've, that you developed,
having those soul care peoplein there.
But how does 11th elementensure accuracy and is
(28:07):
approached like the physicalfitness to prevent injury?
Because, let's be real, there'sa lot of CrossFit Instructors
out there.
I, when I talked to WilsonBailey, he said one of the
biggest downfills of theCrossFit coaches are lack of
education.
They don't, they just don'tknow you.
They get their firstcertification, whatever it may
(28:29):
be.
They become this coach.
A lot of times they're theirown athletes and then they're
just constantly pushing, pushingand you know there's a, there's
a stigma of CrossFit that thatform go, it kind of goes out the
window, right.
So how do you, as somebodythat's taking that next step,
that is caring for theIndividuals, that isn't just
(28:50):
about getting members throughthe door, that isn't just about
putting the name of competitorsin your gym, whatever is, or or
just Just Romping on the, on the, on the people, that is like oh
wow, I got such a good workout,it's so.
I'm so sore, you know, becausethat's not always the biggest,
best sign of a good workout.
How do you really care for theindividuals that are coming in
(29:12):
to do these group workouts?
And or even, how do you pickthose, those instructors, to
make sure that they're accuratewith their approach to physical
fitness?
Logan Poirer (29:22):
So I think the the first step is the the fitness
Facility as a whole first like,first and foremost.
So we want to partner with, withgyms that prioritize that very
thing.
And and yes, crossfit certainlyhas a stigma of you know like
it's too easy to get certifiedto be a coach and you know pride
(29:46):
Takes over and everything elseto throw out the window, and you
know but, but you know so.
So, for example, we're atCrossFit point-and-beach right
now, we're sitting in the officehere and, and it starts with
the ownership and excellentowners names Alex for Jerry, and
, and he will, he will onlybring in coaches that that he
(30:11):
knows and trusts will, first ofall, lead by example, but also
Prioritize the accuracy and thesafety of each of the people
that walk in the door.
And that will include CrossFitgames, athletes, and you know
the, the 55 year old Mom, yeah,who's just trying to like be
(30:35):
healthy, and then everybody inbetween, right and so.
So you have to have, you haveto have a experienced and
well-educated coach in order toto be able to coach each of
those two athletes and everybodyin between, and, and that's
what we have here at this gym,so, so, so again, first thing is
like the gym itself is going toexemplify the like, the correct
(31:00):
form and accuracy when it comesto coaching, and then for us,
for our location directors inthese gyms, we actually build
into the budget a line for themto receive further education if
they need it to, in order to beaccurate with their coaching and
teaching.
(31:22):
So not everybody needs that.
But if somebody does need thatwhether it's from my perspective
or from their own perspective,or maybe it's from the gym
owner's perspective hey,so-and-so needs some more
education, then we can foot thebill and be able to train them
up with their training practicesso that they're able to keep
(31:45):
everybody safe and healthy.
Aaron O'Connell (31:47):
Yeah, I love that I do, and I would suppose
then it takes a lot morehands-on work to really then
it's not just finding the oneindividual that is gonna be an
ambassador for you, that is onfire for God, that has a desire
to bring the word to their gym,that is in the culture, all that
(32:07):
stuff.
You not only have to vet thatperson, make sure they're
trained up spiritually, they'retrained up physically.
They're gonna be inspiring allthat stuff, but you're going and
taking a lot of the land of allthe way to the owner that may
not even be a Christian Rightyeah, yeah, because they're
(32:27):
going to ultimately, I think, bethe main representative of that
particular facility.
Logan Poirer (32:37):
And so, yeah, we and that's kind of a part of the
process that we establish withthe gym owner at the beginning
is like hey, are you willing to?
We have a little gym owneragreement contract that they'll
sign allowing us to come in anddo our, host our gatherings and
all that.
And it's a part of that processwhere you can start to realize
(33:01):
is this person the right guy orgirl?
For this organization, or forus to partner with or not.
Aaron O'Connell (33:09):
So what have been some of the biggest
challenges that 11th Element hasfaced to either get it off the
ground, to get it into a gym, toexpand.
What have been those challenges?
Logan Poirer (33:23):
I think I think maybe the biggest challenge is
finding the right person for thelocation director position, and
what I mean by that is you canfind somebody who loves to coach
(33:45):
fitness classes, right, and youcan find somebody that loves to
share the gospel, and you caneven find somebody who loves to
do both of those, but they'renot willing to go through the
processes that we have or thesystems in place.
Like they don't wanna go throughthe leadership pipeline or they
(34:06):
don't want to do thiscontractual, like this contract
over here.
They don't wanna have to likethe background check or you know
what I mean.
Like there's we have thesesystems and processes in place
and ultimately I think it's agood thing because we're able to
kind of weed out some peoplewho are like all on board and
(34:28):
then they're like, oh wait, Ihave to read this book.
Like no, I'm not gonna do that,because ultimately, what we're
doing with that is we're showingthe legitimacy of the role and
the seriousness of what we wantthese people to walk into.
So it's not like, hey, you'rejust gonna lead a Bible study
(34:50):
and that's great too.
But from our perception and ourview, it's much more than that
and you need to have not justthe passion but the calling into
this particular kind ofministry in order to, I think,
be successful.
And so I think that's been ourbiggest like hiccup or sticking
(35:15):
point, cause we have, you know,we have gyms that would be on
board for us to come in, butwe're still trying to fill those
places with, you know, theright location.
Director.
Aaron O'Connell (35:32):
Do you have like key performance indicators
that you're that you kind of areaiming for within 11th element,
like whether it be membershipof the weekly gatherings, or how
does 11th element measure thesuccess that is happening with
(35:54):
not only the ministry as a wholebut also, let's just say,
individual locations?
Yeah, that's a good question.
Logan Poirer (36:02):
So you know the a lot of times a traditional
church will measure the butts inseats right how many people
show up, how much money iscoming in and how many
salvations or baptisms yeah, Ithink it's butts, budgets and
(36:23):
baptisms or something.
Aaron O'Connell (36:25):
I haven't heard that, but it sounds right on.
Logan Poirer (36:30):
And there's only a number of these things that we
have like significant influenceover.
Okay, scripture's clear it'snot us that can save somebody,
it's not me, it's not you.
Now, of course, we are thevehicle, like God can use us, in
(36:52):
order to share the gospel andhelp somebody come to know the
Lord, but ultimately it's thespirit that's gonna be changing
that person's heart.
So for me to say hey, likewe're only successful if we hit
a certain number of salvationsor baptisms, you know again, I
don't think that's really fairon ourselves or on our location
directors.
(37:12):
So the one key metric that wetry to track is what we call
gospel conversations.
So how many people are you ableto share at least an element of
the gospel with on a weeklybasis?
And and that can be Ideally,it's lost people, like how many
(37:34):
lost people are you able toshare the gospel, at least a
part of the gospel, with, onthis weekly basis?
I like that, and you know again, because to like our, I can
have a location that gathers 20people on a weekly basis and
maybe most of them are, maybe 18of them are already believers,
(37:56):
two of them or not.
So they're still, you're stillbeing able to have a gospel
conversation with these twopeople, or I can have another
location who has three peopleshow up.
One's a Christian and two arenot, so they're having two
gospel conversations as well.
The same same number of gospelconversations with lost people.
The same evangelistic Return oninvestment so to speak right,
(38:20):
but they're, but they're.
Their actual attendance numbersare way different.
So so again, yes, we want toknow how many people showed up.
That's cool, that's great, butwe really, we really are gonna
celebrate how many, how manylost people were you able to
share at least an expression oran element of the gospel?
Aaron O'Connell (38:38):
I really like that because I've been really
plays into your desire for yourambassadors to really be part of
the area that they are goinginto, because you could then
have those conversations evenwhen you're not doing a formal
week weekly gathering.
Right, you could get somebodythat, yes, like you said, gets
(38:59):
four people.
I'll say three of them areChristians, one of them is not.
But because they're there andthey're on mission, they then
talk to 30 people that aren'teven Part of that.
I don't really plan to go inthere, but they're, they're
planting those seeds, you're,you're right on point.
(39:20):
Yeah, that's exactly the yeah,the goal because that's with
that, because my key performanceindicator, for the podcast as
well, is as much as I can'treally have any bit of
measurement, because I'd love todo listeners, but then I would
just get upset of myself, views,I'd get upset with myself.
But it's, how many people aream I actually Affecting?
Right?
(39:41):
And I see that through comments, I see that through people.
Be a gill man.
You know those those little atchurch Conversations.
Man, I listen to your podcast.
Wow, you are changing the way Isee things.
Like those little things rightthere.
Like, and I'm doing the rightthing because, let's be real, to
lead just one more person toChrist is huge.
(40:01):
Like, there's so manyChristians out there that are
actually Christians, right, ifyou ask them when was the last
time you shared the gospel?
I Bet you an overwhelmingmajority be.
I can't remember, right, howmany people have you led to
Christ?
And during your time,overwhelming majority is
probably next to zero.
So if you look at just yourimpact, one person starting 11th
(40:25):
element and the in the rippleeffect that's happening of how
many, how many people are gonnabe in heaven saying, hey, I'm
here because of you, logan,starting 11th element that's
huge, right, it's super huge.
Oh, and I love that, you'realso creating hospitality, which
is your third value within notonly these places, bringing food
(40:45):
, snacks, drinks, whatever butdid I not see that coming up
soon?
You're also doing a 5k, right,and yeah, so do you do events on
top of that of?
On top of the meetings, on topof the full-on chapels, all that
stuff?
You guys are low, partneringwith the community as well and
putting on your own events, suchas 5k and all that's what other
(41:07):
kind of things that you'redoing?
Speak to that a little bit.
Logan Poirer (41:09):
Yeah, so.
So we do like to, we like topartner with, with local,
whether it's like localcompetitions or events that that
are geared around fitness right.
So you know, there's some localCrossFit competitions that we
have Either just been a part ofwith, like comp, like competing
or we set up a booth in a tentand we represent ourselves there
(41:30):
, or we just show up wearing ourshirts.
You know, and I hey, this is whowe are is what we do.
But we, in regards to more ofthe hospitality stuff, yeah, we,
we host our annual 5k.
It's our fundraiser, and thatthis year is December 16th,
which is a little bit furtherback than normal.
(41:51):
Typically it's like right now,but we're it's gonna be in
December this year and but, yeah, it's a.
It's a really cool opportunity.
Once again to Last year, therewere so many people who showed
up just because they're 5krunners, not because they're,
they have anything to do withthe 11th element?
Yeah, but they're like oh,another another cool 5k.
I'll check it out and and whilewe're hosting this 5k, we're
(42:14):
able to Share the gospel.
Yeah, you know like we geteverybody's attention and like,
hey, we're about to start therace, want to share something
with you real quick, boom, andand you never know like where
that's gonna go, and so we dothat, and and then I was
thinking of one more like eventthing that we do and I lost it.
(42:37):
It'll come back to me.
Aaron O'Connell (42:38):
That's all right, it's just.
I love that you focus on thathospitality part, not only to
the people that are in it, but,throughout all the events, to
strangers, because Hebrews 13, 2says don't forget to Share
hospitality with strangers,because you may have been
entertaining and showinghospitality to an angel and you
didn't even know it.
Right, you know, and you neverknow that opportunity that could
(42:59):
be there, that just justbecause someone feels valued,
just because people want to beseen, yeah, and that's why
there's so many views and somuch people spend time on social
media, because they just wantto feel valued and seen.
Like one of the I back when Iwas in college where I still am,
but when I was getting mybachelors, um, I was in an event
(43:21):
planning class and the teachersaid hey, the most beautiful
thing that anyone can hear isthe sound of their own name,
because then it shows thatsomeone actually cares right
like, how, like, how many peoplejust say hey, what's your name?
and they can't even recite ittwo seconds later.
Too many people, you know.
But if it's a cute girl or acute boy that you're liking, or
whatever, I bet you, the firsttime you hear that name, you
(43:44):
never forget it, because yousaid it 20 billion times in your
head, because they mattered toyou.
Right, you were attracted tothem.
There was this next level thing, and when you show that you are
valuing, showing hospitality,going that extra mile, that
could be the difference betweensomebody saying hey, hey, what
is it that that you're offering,what is it that you're telling?
And them just using you forwhatever it may be right now.
Logan Poirer (44:10):
That's, that's great.
Um, the the thing.
I just remembered what I wasgonna say.
We we have done in the past afew uh, like community service
days, right where we've goneInto the gyms that we have
partnered with and we've donelike a, like a deep clean.
You know, hey, let's clean upthe whole gym, or you know, so
(44:31):
like little things like thatwhere we've been able to give
back a little bit To thecommunity.
It shows again the.
That's part of the value addthat we're trying to bring to
these gyms is like hey, we'renot just trying to use you like.
This is a partnership.
You're allowing us to come inand we want to.
We want to take care of you too.
That's awesome.
Aaron O'Connell (44:49):
What looking ahead, what are 11th elements
aspirations and goals for thecoming years?
Like, how do you expect toexpand it, it's influence,
within the community and just atlarge?
Logan Poirer (45:01):
Yeah, you know so.
So the way that we've dealtwith expansion and growth so far
is Is that we've let it be veryorganic and spirit led so.
So there's, there'sopportunities that we could have
had, and we kind of take a stepback because we realize it's
not, it's not really where thespirit's leading us to go.
(45:21):
Yeah, and so that that goeswith Location directors or
getting into new gyms.
We, we want to make sure thatwe're doing it in a way that's
organic and spirit led, and andwe just need the infrastructure
To be there in order for us toto grow and and so that's a
that's a slow process, whetherit's financial or even um
personnel, like kind ofadministrative personnel, like
(45:45):
like behind the scenes people,that that kind of stuff needs to
be in place before we justcontinue to blow up right.
Yeah and so, uh, so myaspirations, my, my goal is
moving forward, is that we wouldcontinue to to grow and expand
and go into the places that godwants us to go, but in a way
that is responsible and andagain, being a good steward of
(46:06):
this opportunity that we've beengiven.
Where, uh, where we are Like,like the organization, is in a
healthy spot before we'reentering into, you know this,
this other season of growth orexpansion, um, but I, but I
definitely see so just a coupleweeks ago, we started our first
(46:27):
Uh 11th element on a universitycampus and we met at uh that we
started it, a location on thecampus of Mississippi State
University, and so to me, that'sa really cool expression of
11th Element going out into adifferent kind of community.
They had a great turnout.
Aaron O'Connell (46:51):
And so things like that.
Logan Poirer (46:52):
I can see us continuing to kind of just
infiltrate these little pocketswhere God wants us to go.
Aaron O'Connell (46:57):
I really love that.
I just love 11th Element andjust all of it, because so many
times people think that worshipof God and just obedience in God
is like a Sunday affair.
But it's not just a Sundayaffair.
It's a lifestyle that weintegrate that worship into
everything, into our workouts,into our jobs, into our
organizations, all those things.
(47:18):
And because they enhance it.
They enhance not only as yourspirit, the spirit of worship,
and what God has for you isgoing to enhance your job, but
your job when you bring it intothe house can be enhanced as
well, because you are giventalents that other people do not
.
If you are an accountant thatloves God and you're an amazing
(47:39):
accountant, you may be able totake those and be work pro bono,
whatever for a strugglingchurch, because finances are
huge within the church.
They have tight budgets, so youmight be able to use your gifts
whatever God has given you,those passions, and I just love
how you're doing that through11th Element.
(47:59):
And I was really wondering ifyou had any advice for people
who inspire to integrate theirfaith into their professional or
community initiatives.
Logan Poirer (48:11):
Yeah, man, short answer is go for it Just do it,
yeah right.
But it takes faith, but it alsotakes a combination of it's a
responsible step of faith.
So there is such thing asirresponsible behavior that can
(48:36):
be under the guise of well, it'sjust a step of faith, and you
got to be careful to take thatstep in a way.
That's and your level ofresponsibility is going to
differ.
Whether you have a family andyoung kids and a mortgage, or
(48:56):
you're living at home with yourparents, single, there's
different levels of risk you cantake or not, and so I would
encourage you to first of all,just immerse yourself in the
scriptures and in prayer andpray for the Lord to reveal what
(49:17):
that next step could be.
And then, if you feel likethere's a responsible step you
can take, but the only thingholding you back is your fear of
what comes next, then you justgot to take that step and you're
probably going to have to starttaking steps before you see the
(49:41):
end of the road.
You're not going to be able tosay, okay, hold on, I'm going to
stay right here and then I'mgoing to wait to see how God
opens all the rest of the way.
What's it going to look like 10years from now?
And then, once I see that and Ilike it, then I'll take the
step.
That's not how it works most ofthe time.
(50:01):
I think that you're going tohave to take this step because
that's what God has you to do,and then you're going to see
okay, this is what he has for me.
Next, take that next step.
Aaron O'Connell (50:13):
Okay, this is what he has for me, you know
what I mean, Like he's going toreveal as you go type of thing
and again, that takes faith.
Logan Poirer (50:19):
But for sure, but we have to.
We have, it's pretty clear manlike we have.
We have the scripture tellingus that God cares so much about
us, as His sons and daughterslike, as His people, Like He'll
provide, and it doesn't meanhe's going to provide in the way
(50:40):
that we always think.
Like, but He'll provide thethings we need if we're staying
faithful to the call in ourlives.
Aaron O'Connell (50:51):
So I love that.
So to anyone that is listeningor watching on YouTube or
anything that may want to getinvolved with 11th element, you
said you're working organically,but let's just say that my
podcast does take off.
And you know and it all of asudden, there's people that want
to reach out to it.
(51:11):
Is there a process of beingable to reach out to you, Like,
even like what if they're in adifferent state?
Like, how does that go?
Logan Poirer (51:19):
Yeah, yeah.
So the different state thing, itjust, it just creates a longer
on ramp for somebody to getplugged in, because we have to
establish our legal presence inthat state and, of course, just
the geographic distance betweenmyself and somebody else is
going to create a little bit ofa longer runway, but it doesn't
(51:44):
mean that we're not about it.
Like, we're definitely aboutthat.
You know, wherever, whereverGod and I certainly feel like
this podcast can be that organicspirit vehicle to bring
something together, so I'm allin on that.
You know, the first thing Iwould say if you wanted to get
plugged in as a potentiallocation director, then on the
website there's a, there's anapplication.
(52:06):
It's real short, quick, sweetlittle application right on the
website.
Aaron O'Connell (52:11):
And that's 11th elementorg, that's right.
Logan Poirer (52:15):
Yep, and you'll fill that out and then I will
get that application sentdirectly to me and I'll be able
to reach back out to you.
Thanks for filling this outLike here's.
Here's the next couple steps ofthe process.
If you want to just like reachout, shoot me an email.
It's just Logan at 11thelementorg Okay.
And you know we'd love toconnect in that way as well.
Aaron O'Connell (52:38):
And you're also on Instagram at 11th element,
right so?
Logan Poirer (52:41):
it's 11th underscore element underscore.
Okay, that's the.
That's the Instagram for 11thelement.
My Instagram's on there.
It's just Logan poyer.
Yeah, we've Americanized it, bythe way, so it's really so, so
I say poyer, but but if somebodyknows it's really poyer, you
know, then they're going tocorrect me.
You actually said it right.
Aaron O'Connell (53:03):
Excellent, excellent, yeah, because I just
want people to be able to reachout to you and you know, have
have this grow, because we needthis, we need the light.
There's so much darkness withinthe and selfishness within the
fitness industry.
I really I say it all the timeon the podcast I really believe
that it is one of the biggest,if not the biggest, trojan
(53:25):
horses that Satan is using.
That is posing itself is alwaysgood Right.
When you say I did a two a day,everyone high fives you.
Right If someone says you're onthis extreme diet and you're on
it.
You look like you're doing thisgreat thing.
But if it's all for selfishvanity, right, it's yet another
(53:46):
idol.
Yep, you know, you are offeringfood to idol when you're it
foods to idols when you'reeating that certain diet just
because you don't feel goodenough.
But instead to look at and be,we're doing something to glorify
God.
We're doing this to take careof our temple.
We're, we're working out,because we have the ability to,
because I'm so grateful for thisbody that is made in God's
(54:08):
image, that I then can, I wantto go to do that next step, like
, well, just go, look at all thepeople of the Bible.
They had to go walk.
How far right?
Right, you know they were.
You know the fat people werethe kings that didn't move
around.
Yep, you know.
But everyone else, you know,had to make do with their little
bits.
Like even Paul says, is likeI've learned the secret of life
(54:28):
how to live with a lot, how tolive with a little.
You know how to go with richand how to be poor.
Because through guys, throughChrist, I can do all things, and
a lot of people forget thatpart.
They just want the power ofChrist that they can do all
things, but they don't look atthe part that says wait a minute
.
I need to learn the secret.
I need to be able to be okay ifI'm at my CrossFit gym and I'm
(54:50):
working out, or if, all of asudden, I get called to take
care of my grandma for threeweeks and I can't touch a weight
.
Right, but how many people themoment they can't come into this
gym?
Go crazy.
Logan Poirer (55:01):
Yeah.
Aaron O'Connell (55:02):
Do they go that crazy if you took your Bible
away from them?
Logan Poirer (55:05):
Right.
Aaron O'Connell (55:05):
They better, you know I do like are they into
it that much more?
And it's just, it's so easy tomake fitness and health and
image a false God and I lovethat you are becoming that light
in right now in Florida goingover to Mississippi Now you said
and just just expanding.
I just pray that it justexpands.
(55:27):
Yeah, is there?
Is there any last little bit ofadvice or anything else you'd
want to depart on the listenersbefore we head off?
Logan Poirer (55:37):
Oh man, um, I would say, if you are somebody
who's maybe not into fitness, um, but you feel, maybe, a
conviction to kind of get alittle bit more into it, um, I
(55:58):
would say that you, I would justencourage you to, to explore
something, whether it's 11thelement or or some other method
or mode of of movement andexercise, um, because we touched
on it briefly at the beginning,but, uh, but this, like the
science, is coming out more andmore now where, where movement
(56:19):
and exercise plays such a hugerole in the mental, of course,
the physical, the physiological,the emotional, uh, all these
different aspects of our bodies,um, and and if we are truly
going to strive to to be thebest stewards of our lives, I
(56:42):
think that there has to be somesort of of movement, um
expression in the way that welive.
Yeah, so, Well we're.
Aaron O'Connell (56:52):
We're made in God's image and God worked, yeah
, and created us for work, andhe created us to be like him, in
his image, to create.
And when we are sitting stillfor so long, like you said, the
science is coming out.
Our brains don't want to thinkas much, we don't make as many
neural pathways, our bodiesaren't even capable to carry out
(57:13):
the things that we want to dobecause we don't have the energy
to do so.
That's right, so that we're.
What?
Are we answering God's call?
When we are being more active,when we are, when we are taking
care of our bodies, when we'removing and being capable for,
like I said, to be capable foranything that God, the devil or
life throws your way?
The last thing you want to dois get caught with your tail
(57:35):
between your legs and say Ican't answer the call of God
because I'm too fat, right, Idon't have the energy to.
It's not going to be a goodexcuse.
That flies, you know, to God,you know, yeah, so I love that.
Logan Poirer (57:47):
Yeah, and, and you don't have to like you were
alluding to this, but you don'thave to to dedicate your life to
the gym.
Nope, and you know you don'tneed the six pack and you don't
need some crazy chiseled body,but but there's a line right
Like that you just, you justwant to be healthy man, you just
(58:07):
want to be healthy.
And healthy looks a bunch ofdifferent ways, it's not.
It's not about the way you look, necessarily, but but just
exercise, move, get out.
Aaron O'Connell (58:19):
I always look at it as, like hey, offer your
body as a living sacrifice.
Be real with what you're doing.
If you haven't lifted, ifyou've never lifted, if you
can't even walk around yourblock without huffing and
puffing, the next step probablyisn't going into a crossfitch,
right?
You know, even though a lot ofpeople do that.
It's like they're overweight,all this of them.
They hire the personal trainer.
(58:39):
They don't know what they'redoing, they bash them over the
head with squats and all thesethings.
It's like they barely can walk.
And I always say be real withyourself.
Take a lot of your land andjust look for the next step.
Look for that next step andwithin no time you're going to
be able to go up those stairswithout huffing and puffing.
You're going to then be able torun up those stairs, you're
(58:59):
going to be able to chase afteryour kids for more than an hour
or 20 minutes, and it's going tobe that next step.
Just have that desire to pushyour the physical limits, cause,
let's be real, we've seen somecrazy things in the physical
world now with the CrossFitgames.
Logan Poirer (59:16):
Yeah, yeah.
Aaron O'Connell (59:16):
You know when you got these guys being able to
do 500 pound squats, run fiveminute miles, all within the you
know, right, almost back toback, and then all the handstand
put like there's just so muchcrazy stuff that women and men
are showing that the human bodyis capable of.
We don't have to be that far,but it just goes to show how
well we can adapt.
(59:37):
That's right.
Yeah Well, thank you so muchfor being on this podcast, Logan
, and I know my listeners aregoing to be thanking you as well
, because you imparted a lot ofwisdom.
I hope it really does inspireyou.
Mind if I close this out insome prayer.
That'd be great.
Dear every father, I just thankyou for this day and this
ability to talk with Logan todayand just really be able to
showcase that fitness goes handin hand with spiritual fitness.
(01:00:02):
Lord, you created us to be ableto work, to be able to create,
lord, and I just want to justpray a special blessing over
Logan and 11th element and allthe ambassadors Lord, that you
begin to shine brighter than youhave ever shined in them.
That they may be able toradiate like Moses's face when
he saw you on Mount Sinai.
Lord, that you give them thewisdom to be able to talk in
(01:00:25):
context that isn't too religious, lord, but in a way that is
palpable for gym goers, thatshowcase that this is fun, that
the best way is you.
You are the way, you are thetruth, you are the light, lord,
and I just pray that you put theburning desire and all the
people that come across the 11thelement to just be able to just
(01:00:47):
want to know you more, open uptheir eyes, open up their ears
to be receiving of you.
Bless Logan, bless his family,and in Jesus' name I pray.
Amen.
Logan Poirer (01:00:57):
And then have a good one.
Thank you so much, Logan.
Appreciate it.
Thank you.
There is such thing as irresponsible behavior
that can be under the guise ofwell, it's just a step of fate.
We cannot be a good steward ifwe're not living healthy
lifestyle.
No one cares how much you knowunless they know how much you
care.
How many lost people were youable to share at least an
(00:27):
expression or an element of thegospel that they had?
Aaron O'Connell (00:30):
Welcome to the WHY to Fitness Podcast.
I'm your host, aaron O'Connell,and today I have Logan Portier.
That's actually right.
Yeah, all right.
Good, I should have checkedthat beforehand.
But on the podcast with me andhe is the founder and the
executive director of EleventhElement.
(00:52):
How are you doing today?
Logan Poirer (00:53):
I'm doing well.
Man, I appreciate you having meon.
Aaron O'Connell (00:55):
This is a great time, oh of course, it's a
pleasure to have you on.
Eleventh Element is actually aunique initiative that came to
life in 2019 and you saw theneed to bridge the gap between
the physical and spiritualhealth within the fitness
community.
Could you share the story likehow you founded Eleventh Element
(01:16):
in there and what inspired youto combine the physical and
spiritual health?
Logan Poirer (01:20):
Yeah, absolutely.
To share the story of how itwas founded, we have to go back
a little bit and we have to lookat the early years of my life.
I think I grew up at a localchurch here in South Florida
called Spanish River Church andthey're a big church, planting
church and they've planted over500 churches worldwide and
(01:44):
that's part of their bread andbutter is like hey, we want to
focus and put a significantamount of money towards planting
new expressions of churchthroughout the world.
Aaron O'Connell (01:54):
And you say church, are you talking about
brick and mortar churches, thatthey did 500?
Are you talking like Echolestiagathering of people within,
like a CrossFit gym like we arein now?
Logan Poirer (02:05):
Yeah, no, like brick and mortar stuff.
Wow, that's a lot of churches.
So, in fact, like so much.
So, like their vision was sonarrow that it was not really
going to include things likechurch in a CrossFit gym.
So it was no, like this is howwe do it and we're going to
plant churches in thesebuildings.
And maybe it wasn't.
(02:31):
Each church was going to haveits own brand new facility, but
like meeting in the local middleschool or high school
auditorium.
That's how most church startsRight, and so that was their
model and that's how I grew upand so I was very kind of well
versed in the process of thischurch planting.
And then I worked at thatchurch in the student ministry
(02:54):
for about eight years and I gotto experience kind of the ups
and downs, the good and bad ofchurch planting and of even kind
of the larger church model andsystems and procedures that
exist within those churches,that style of church.
And then, while I was a studentministry pastor, I started
(03:17):
coaching CrossFit.
Just, I had been doing it for anumber of years and I enjoyed
it and I started thinking, man,it would be really cool to
somehow combine my passions forfitness and ministry, because I
loved coaching people in theCrossFit gym, I loved seeing
people progress and learn newthings and just become more fit,
(03:39):
and that was awesome.
So I said well, but I still, ofcourse, have this calling and
passion for ministry and seeingpeople grow spiritually and come
to this realization of whoChrist is and how that can
affect and change your entirelife.
And so the very initial stepwas how can I combine these two
(04:00):
things and still make a livingand provide for my family?
And the vision definitely justcontinued to develop and I think
we'll talk about that in asecond.
For sure, and that was reallythe first step was kind of this
call, this push, and it lastedfor a while before I did
anything about it.
I just kind of sat there and Ikept thinking, well, this is
(04:24):
just a fling, that's going to goaway.
But God was persistent and hekept that vision just right in
the front of my mind for monthsbefore I said anything to
anybody, like even my wife.
It took me a while to even saysomething to my wife, but
(04:45):
eventually I did.
And then I can remember the day, like it was yesterday, when I
walked into the executivepastor's office at Spanish River
.
At the time, ron Tobias and Iknew that I was going to share
this with him and I knew what itmeant.
It essentially meant I wasgiving him my letter of
(05:08):
resignation because Ron, he wasan incredible, incredible man
just recently passed away.
But he was so kingdom-mindedthat I knew, if I told him that
I had this vision and God wasplacing it on my heart, that he
(05:28):
was going to do whatever hepossibly could to make it happen
.
Aaron O'Connell (05:32):
Sounds like a great guy, great mentor.
Logan Poirer (05:33):
And so that's how I knew when I told him that I
wasn't going to be the youthpastor anymore.
So eventually I did, I told him, and that's what got the whole
ball rolling.
Aaron O'Connell (05:45):
Wow, that's amazing.
I love that you're marryingthose fitness and spiritual
fitness together, because that'swhat the Y2 Fitness podcast is
all about.
Because I was a personaltrainer for a really long time
and, although I'm not staying inthat actual hands-on training
physical part, because there'sso many ways to skin the cat,
(06:06):
crossfit isn't for everybody,working out in the gym is not
for everybody.
You can be walking, you can bedoing Tai Chi, you can be doing
whatever it may be, as long asyou are staying active and ready
and capable for anything thatGod, the devil or life throws
your way.
So that's why I brought thispodcast to life, because I
(06:26):
understood, hey, there's so muchmore to fitness than just the
working out.
I'll let those people take careof that, but even just harboring
unforgiveness in your heart canmake you unhealthy.
If you're experiencingrelationship problems, financial
problems, whatever it is, whatis the first thing that usually
goes when you're going through ahard time?
(06:46):
Your workout regimen, your diet, all those things?
So I understood that there's,yes, so many diets out there.
But wait a minute.
Why don't I go to the sourceand start trying to tackle that
and try to illuminate that, hey,health is so much more than
just diet and exercise.
Logan Poirer (07:07):
It's all encompassing, right.
Aaron O'Connell (07:08):
It really is, and it reminds me of 1 Timothy
4-8, which says physicaltraining is of some value.
There is value in it.
The Bible even says physicaltraining has some value, but
spiritual training has benefitsin this life and the next.
And I really looked at that andGod just heard God calling me,
saying hey, you're about thespiritual training.
(07:29):
Yes, everything is going toboil back to physical, because
I'm here to bless you in thephysical and that will be when
you're walking spiritually inline with God.
That's when you're going tohave the most peace and you're
going to be the healthiest youpossibly can be, because stress
is what really brings you down.
Logan Poirer (07:45):
Yeah, yeah, no, that's great and to echo on that
, it's so.
I think most people oftentimeshave no concept of how related
these things are and we'll talkabout this more, I think, later
(08:08):
on as well but just the idea ofbeing a good steward of your
body, your physical body andyour physical life on this earth
.
We can't do that, we cannot bea good steward if we're not
living healthy lifestyles, andby healthy, I think the tip of
(08:28):
the iceberg is movement.
It's not crossfit, it's movementand nutrition, and then it just
goes from there and there'smore and more and more.
Aaron O'Connell (08:39):
Yeah, 1 Corinthians 6-19 tells us that
our bodies are the temple thatthe Holy Spirit is living in,
and you don't want to bebringing trash in there.
Look at all the laws that theOld Testament had about regards
to the temple and how to splitup the food, how to put all
these sacrifices in there.
We have these same principlesthat happen with our own body.
(09:02):
Get enough protein to repairthe muscle.
Get enough energy and caloriesso you're not in a constant
deficit, so you can be ready andcapable for things.
Don't be going just to, don'tbe like the Pharisees and be all
whitewashed, tuned, but becompletely to have death inside
of you.
You know there's all thesethings that I kept reading the
Bible and I'm like this appliesto health and fitness.
(09:23):
This is where it's at.
This is what people are missing, but I love that you were
actually being the boots on theground, going into the gyms and
bringing the word.
So tell our listeners just alittle bit of the concept of
11th element and how you'repenetrating the land in the
community.
Logan Poirer (09:45):
Yeah, so the concept is that we partner with
a local fitness facility, alocal gym.
It doesn't have to be CrossFitCrossFit was where we started
because that's where I was.
So we partner with a localfacility.
They allow us to come in andhost a weekly community style
(10:07):
workout.
So it's a workout that is freefor non-members to come in and
experience the gym.
So there's a benefit for thegym right there.
Aaron O'Connell (10:16):
It's a benefit for the gym they're getting
people in the door.
Logan Poirer (10:19):
You're marketing for them, right?
We've seen people buymemberships from hanging out
with 11th element, but it's notits own class.
Ideally it's coupled with apreviously existing class so
that there are the regularmembers of the gym are also
(10:40):
welcome to attend this same work.
It's just part of the scheduleof the gym already.
And then after that workout wewill have a time of fellowship
where, hey, if you're interested, we have this 15 minute, 20
minute hangout, wherever it isMaybe it's around back, maybe
(11:01):
it's in the corner and we offersome snacks and drinks and a
quick little catch up How'severybody doing?
And then a small kind ofdevotional, or you can call it
maybe a sermonette, right.
That will speak to the physicaland the spiritual is the concept
(11:21):
and that's our weekly rhythms,right?
And so, outside of that, wethen also kind of the next step
with 11th element is gettingplugged into our community
nights, and our community nightswe try to run on a monthly
cycle and that that is a littlebit more where 11th element
(11:43):
exists as kind of an expressionof church instead of just like a
small group devotional Right.
So so at our community nightswe have, we have worship and we
have sacrament that's where weare, you know, taking Lord
supper.
We have baptisms and then moreof an actual sermon, right yeah,
(12:04):
and there's no workout, likehey, let's just hang tonight,
you know, and that's kind of our, our rhythms for for community
night.
And then we have, you know, wehave partnerships with, with
other more traditional localchurches, and if we see somebody
kind of progressing down thesesteps and they're interested in
a traditional local church, thenoh yeah, go check out.
(12:25):
Fill in the Blank.
And we have we have ourpartnerships that we can kind of
point them to, and so so thiskind of like a progression,
almost like a funnel right wherewhere our, our main like bread
and butter, our evangelistic,like outreach kind of where we,
I would say, spend our, themajority of our like time and
(12:49):
resources and effort, is is the,are those weekly gatherings in
the, in the particular gym andfitness centers.
And the way that we do that Idon't, I don't travel around to
all all the different gyms thatwe have partnerships with I try
to identify and then train andequip and then and then plant
what we call location directorsin each of those fitness centers
(13:12):
.
Okay, and so those people are.
They go through our, ourleadership development pipeline.
We have a process where wherethey get trained up, mainly
theologically, a little bitpractically, but mainly the
other.
We want to make sure that we'reon the same page.
Do you offer?
Aaron O'Connell (13:30):
that on on your website?
I do.
I was scouring that website andI saw that there's all these
videos and it was like free, youknow and I was like this is
something that I might goconsume.
Logan Poirer (13:40):
Yeah, it's all, it's all free and it's all great
stuff.
Yeah, man, even I mean I don'tI don't think it really plays a
difference your background inyou know, your spiritual or
theological training or whatever, like it's good stuff, it's
really good stuff.
And it's going to.
It's going to help you be ableto share the gospel and express
(14:04):
the bad news of sin, the goodnews of Christ, and in a way
that's contextual.
It fits the culture right and,and you can, you can mold it and
shape it to deliver it to theperson how they need to be, need
to be delivered, and and soit's a really cool tool, but but
anyway, so we take thoselocation directors, train them
(14:25):
up, and then we plant them inthe particular gym.
We want them to buildrelational equity.
That's more than just like, hey, we're dropping in to, so, and
so is Jim, yeah, and we'rehosting this workout.
No, like you're there all thetime, like you need to be, you
need to be a part of thatcommunity.
Yeah, almost almost like longbefore you even try to to start
(14:47):
bringing in, you know this, thislike gospel outpost.
Aaron O'Connell (14:51):
Like no, like you just go in there and just be
a be a human before, before youtry to be, like you know, the
savior, like just go in thereand just hang out, get to know
People like that, because thatoftentimes we skip that.
Oh yeah.
Logan Poirer (15:05):
In the evangelistic approach you know,
we're just.
We're just so fired up andwe're hungry to get out there
and tell people about Jesus andthat's great.
But but there are so manypeople who have had poor
experiences with church and andeven just go on like social
media or the news and you'llhave you'll have a really bad
(15:28):
taste of spirituality orreligion in your mouth real
quick.
Aaron O'Connell (15:34):
When I think of Christianity, I think of
accepting, I think of love, Ithink of caring the most
tolerant people, right, but ifyou go look into the news,
you're going to think of themost judgmental, the most
bigoted, bigoted people, themost hated people, you know like
they're the people that hateeveryone, because there are
those bad players in there andeven the, the failure, the moral
(15:55):
failure of pastors is like athing.
Well, that just is.
I believe that's the devil.
Just saying, anytime a pastorfails, let's highlight that, and
it gets highlighted, and butthat's because it's.
It's that 5050 viral story thatgoes ha, I told you, this was
all fake.
One side, Right, you know, andthe other people trying to
defend it but can't reallydefend it, you know.
(16:16):
So it's like a catch 22 for thechurch of like ha gotcha.
Logan Poirer (16:20):
Yeah, exactly.
But if we're able to go intothese places and build a
relation and then they thesepeople, realize oh you're,
you're just like a normal dude,yeah, that's cool, yeah.
Oh, by the way like, let meintroduce you to this, this God
of scripture, this Jesus, whocan change your life.
Aaron O'Connell (16:37):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And it just reminds me, I think, of John Maxwell that says no
one will value what you sayuntil they they feel that you
value them Right.
Logan Poirer (16:47):
Or there's another version of that and I won't be
able to attribute it to anybody,but I didn't come up with it.
No one cares how much you knowunless they know how much you
care.
Yeah, yeah.
Aaron O'Connell (16:59):
Exactly, exactly, and I really love that.
That way that you you mentioned, you're bringing value to the
gyms, you're bringing value tothe churches you're partnering
with, because so oftenChristians at least, what I've
kind of noticed is that it'salmost like they're scared to
give that message, even thoughit's good news, it's literally
(17:22):
good news, to go tell everybody.
It's the same thing as like,hey, they're having a free
giveaway, giving away free carsright around the corner.
Just go get one, right, it'seven better news than that,
right, but yet we're scared.
If we, if that was actuallyhappening around the corner, we
wouldn't be on this podcast.
We'd be going and getting us afree car, and there's not one
person in the world thatwouldn't be doing it.
But the news that Christian hasis actually that much better, is
(17:45):
that much more powerful.
It's not just going to rust,it's not just going to break
down.
You know, and we're almostscared, but that's because so
many times I see that the peoplein front of them it's almost
like, hey, we're trying to Takesomething from you.
Please give us an opportunityto give the the gospel.
(18:06):
Well, what do I get in return?
You know, like You're in cominginto my gym, what do I get you
know, like you're just gonnacome after my members, that I
already have Sounds like somepeople are gonna get turned off
and no one's really gonna becoming.
But when we can look at thatand partner in ways that we are
providing First love or value ofhey, I'll be bringing new
(18:28):
people in, I will be, I will bebringing your, taking your
message and sending it outFurther by my resources, then
it's that just.
It's just that much moreconducive to say well, welcome
in right.
Logan Poirer (18:42):
Oh yeah, yeah, we want to.
We want to be a value add.
Yes to the gym owner yeah, andif there's a gym owner who's a
who's a believer.
Aaron O'Connell (18:49):
And then it's just slam dunk.
Yeah, but but for those whoaren't?
Logan Poirer (18:53):
yeah, you know, we are bringing a value add and
and you know whether it's for abeliever who's in the gym, who
would be interested in such acommunity, or whether it's just
to like if, like we were justsaying, bringing new faces
Through the door and they'regetting to experience the, the
offering that you have as afitness facility, mm-hmm, so, so
I want to take this time andshift gears a little bit into
(19:17):
your values that are reallyrunning the company, and the
first Value that you guys willhave listed is integrity.
Aaron O'Connell (19:25):
So how does the 11th element manifest integrity
and its operations andinteractions with the fitness
community?
Logan Poirer (19:32):
yeah, man.
So so this is, I think, spawneda little bit from like.
We're just talking about thelike, the moral failures from
pastors, and, and, and and man,there's just no See how do I say
this.
No one is is exempt, yeah,right, and and you know, I think
(19:58):
that we need to be putting,putting the correct
accountability and guardrails,and I mean being, way you know,
above reproach right.
Yeah, we need to be way ahead ofof, maybe even the like the
cultural norm as far asintegrity goes, and and so what
(20:21):
we try to do is is set up these,like these avenues through
which people are, locationdirectors and myself that we can
run through, that, that havethe, the structure necessary in
order to keep the integritywhere it needs to be.
And you know, going just goingback a couple minutes ago, we
(20:42):
were saying how the, thenon-believer or or the
non-churchgoer, they, they havethese, maybe bad experiences
with church, or or they see thenews at all and and, and we want
to be able to provide the Like,the outward expression of our
(21:04):
integrity, like, like they can.
They can look at us and know,okay, like this guy, he has
integrity, like I can tell bythe way he's living his life, he
has integrity, and that'ssomebody that I'm willing to
listen to, whereas, you know, ifif we're, if we're just
flipping with our lives andwe're not, we're not holding to
a certain standard, then I thinkit's much easier for people to
(21:26):
just dismiss us as the next guywalking around the gym because
when your integrity goes,everything goes.
Aaron O'Connell (21:32):
That's like what we said when the pastor has
that downfall, it's gonna takeyears just to get that back.
Get back that trust.
Yeah, and Proverbs 11 3 saysthe integrity of the upright
guides them, but the unfaithfulare destroyed by their duplicity
.
And One thing that that remindsme of in what I think that the
(21:52):
world kind of gets a wrong tasteof Christians is because
Christians quote air quotes.
Christians, ones that areplaying the game Sunday, you
know Sunday the warmer, you knowSunday players, but that's
about it type of thing.
Right, they like to put on theChristian mask.
They, they love what God doesfor them, they love that there's
(22:16):
great people around them, butthey don't really want to get
dive in their word.
They're the Bible.
They don't really want to pray,they're not really seeking
after God's face, they're notdying to self.
So when they get in front of acrowd, when they get on a
platform, when they are doingtheir good deed of the day, they
put Christian mask on and theygo and serve.
(22:38):
They go do all these things.
So, or post this post of like,hey, I'm giving my life to God.
You know, god, god's in controlall these other things, putting
Christian mask because it'smaking them feel good, like they
they're doing what needs to bedone, but in all reality they're
still living for selves.
And because then the next postis all about them getting drunk
(22:58):
at a Concerts, you know, or atsome some place like that.
So that duplicity right there iswhat I believe is also
destroying a little bit of thatChristian name.
Because the Bible says it looksclear, luke warm gets spit out
Because if you're cold, you canactually Make people so
(23:20):
distasteful to your coldness,your evilness, that they will go
.
I don't want any part of thatand they end up on the good side
.
Yeah, if you're on the goodside, you just attract people to
the good side, the warm side orthe hot side.
But that Luke warm, when you'reclaiming one thing but living
in the other, that's when you go.
Well, I don't want anything todo with Christianity, because
look at that guy, right, youknow, and I think that's what a
(23:42):
lot of it's coming.
And do you have?
You have the training for your,for your ambassadors, but do
you guys host like Meetings toreally be talking about?
Like how connected are yourambassadors after they get
trained up, after you let themgo into the gyms.
How often are you guys meetingso you can almost feel the pulse
(24:03):
that's going on in the mall?
Logan Poirer (24:05):
Yeah, so so I.
I have created a like a cohortof People who provide the soul
care for our location directors.
So so this, this soul carecohort, will meet with their
respective location director ona regular basis and that that's
(24:28):
that's at least monthly andthey're they're gonna be kind of
touching base, keeping a pulseon that person, and not just
like a performance review, yeah,well.
Well, of course we want to knowhow your location is going, but
we also care far more aboutlike you as a person and how
you're doing spiritually, howyou're doing personally,
emotionally, mentally,physically, and then that can
(24:52):
get like Recorded away and wehave a little bit of a record as
far as like how, how thatperson is doing.
Okay yeah, and I would love Justto touch on that I would love
to create we haven't done thisyet, but I'd love to create an
annual like retreat for thelocation directors where we can
all go somewhere together.
We've we've pseudo done this ata conference in Orlando called
(25:17):
exponential conference.
It's like a it's a big churchplanting conference, right, and
we had gone up there a coupleyears ago as a group really, and
it was.
It was great and I think thatcould be a cool, maybe, maybe
spot or something like that,where it's a hybrid between Some
other organization is puttingon a conference where we can all
be poured into.
But it's also like teambuilding, for for us as a, as a
(25:42):
group of 11th element hmm,that's awesome.
Aaron O'Connell (25:45):
That's awesome.
And when, when they're faced,either you or Ambassadors are
faced with times of adversity,because true integrity is
revealed in times of adversityEven Job, in the midst of all of
his trials, declared till I dieI will, did not deny my
integrity.
So when that, when there'sthose little times of you know
(26:10):
falling or those, whatever itmay be that, those adversity
times, how do you go abouthandling that?
Like, do you, is that where thefaith, the people that you
instill on the ambassadors Kindof come in?
Or do you come in there?
Or like, how does that kind ofwork?
Logan Poirer (26:26):
Yeah, I mean we haven't had anything Significant
on that regard.
Yet good, fingers crossed,right, yeah, let's pray.
I pray never right, but but ifyou know, if, if something came
to light, the the soul careperson who's responsible?
for that individual.
They they are equipped to beable to Handle whatever that
(26:51):
situation right.
So it's not as though the soulcare person it is like my best
friend from high school, likeit's somebody who I have
complete confidence in in theirministry experience and
Education to be able to speakinto that and handle it.
If it needs to be brought to myattention, that's fine.
(27:12):
But but again, you know, we're,we're hoping that the process
Through which somebody goesthrough to become a location
director and run 11th element intheir respective gym, that they
would Be following these youknow or values and be above
(27:33):
reproach and ideally, you knowagain, we pray that we'll never
have to deal with anysignificant you know failures or
issues like that.
Aaron O'Connell (27:45):
Yeah.
So let's switch to your next,your next value, which is
accuracy, which is highlightedboth for physical fitness and
spiritual teachings, whichyou've already kind of nailed on
the head.
How you're getting thespiritual teachings out?
Through the accuracy of that,through the training program
that's found on your websitethat you've, that you developed,
having those soul care peoplein there.
But how does 11th elementensure accuracy and is
(28:07):
approached like the physicalfitness to prevent injury?
Because, let's be real, there'sa lot of CrossFit Instructors
out there.
I, when I talked to WilsonBailey, he said one of the
biggest downfills of theCrossFit coaches are lack of
education.
They don't, they just don'tknow you.
They get their firstcertification, whatever it may
(28:29):
be.
They become this coach.
A lot of times they're theirown athletes and then they're
just constantly pushing, pushingand you know there's a, there's
a stigma of CrossFit that thatform go, it kind of goes out the
window, right.
So how do you, as somebodythat's taking that next step,
that is caring for theIndividuals, that isn't just
(28:50):
about getting members throughthe door, that isn't just about
putting the name of competitorsin your gym, whatever is, or or
just Just Romping on the, on the, on the people, that is like oh
wow, I got such a good workout,it's so.
I'm so sore, you know, becausethat's not always the biggest,
best sign of a good workout.
How do you really care for theindividuals that are coming in
(29:12):
to do these group workouts?
And or even, how do you pickthose, those instructors, to
make sure that they're accuratewith their approach to physical
fitness?
Logan Poirer (29:22):
So I think the the first step is the the fitness
Facility as a whole first like,first and foremost.
So we want to partner with, withgyms that prioritize that very
thing.
And and yes, crossfit certainlyhas a stigma of you know like
it's too easy to get certifiedto be a coach and you know pride
(29:46):
Takes over and everything elseto throw out the window, and you
know but, but you know so.
So, for example, we're atCrossFit point-and-beach right
now, we're sitting in the officehere and, and it starts with
the ownership and excellentowners names Alex for Jerry, and
, and he will, he will onlybring in coaches that that he
(30:11):
knows and trusts will, first ofall, lead by example, but also
Prioritize the accuracy and thesafety of each of the people
that walk in the door.
And that will include CrossFitgames, athletes, and you know
the, the 55 year old Mom, yeah,who's just trying to like be
(30:35):
healthy, and then everybody inbetween, right and so.
So you have to have, you haveto have a experienced and
well-educated coach in order toto be able to coach each of
those two athletes and everybodyin between, and, and that's
what we have here at this gym,so, so, so again, first thing is
like the gym itself is going toexemplify the like, the correct
(31:00):
form and accuracy when it comesto coaching, and then for us,
for our location directors inthese gyms, we actually build
into the budget a line for themto receive further education if
they need it to, in order to beaccurate with their coaching and
teaching.
(31:22):
So not everybody needs that.
But if somebody does need thatwhether it's from my perspective
or from their own perspective,or maybe it's from the gym
owner's perspective hey,so-and-so needs some more
education, then we can foot thebill and be able to train them
up with their training practicesso that they're able to keep
(31:45):
everybody safe and healthy.
Aaron O'Connell (31:47):
Yeah, I love that I do, and I would suppose
then it takes a lot morehands-on work to really then
it's not just finding the oneindividual that is gonna be an
ambassador for you, that is onfire for God, that has a desire
to bring the word to their gym,that is in the culture, all that
(32:07):
stuff.
You not only have to vet thatperson, make sure they're
trained up spiritually, they'retrained up physically.
They're gonna be inspiring allthat stuff, but you're going and
taking a lot of the land of allthe way to the owner that may
not even be a Christian Rightyeah, yeah, because they're
(32:27):
going to ultimately, I think, bethe main representative of that
particular facility.
Logan Poirer (32:37):
And so, yeah, we and that's kind of a part of the
process that we establish withthe gym owner at the beginning
is like hey, are you willing to?
We have a little gym owneragreement contract that they'll
sign allowing us to come in anddo our, host our gatherings and
all that.
And it's a part of that processwhere you can start to realize
(33:01):
is this person the right guy orgirl?
For this organization, or forus to partner with or not.
Aaron O'Connell (33:09):
So what have been some of the biggest
challenges that 11th Element hasfaced to either get it off the
ground, to get it into a gym, toexpand.
What have been those challenges?
Logan Poirer (33:23):
I think I think maybe the biggest challenge is
finding the right person for thelocation director position, and
what I mean by that is you canfind somebody who loves to coach
(33:45):
fitness classes, right, and youcan find somebody that loves to
share the gospel, and you caneven find somebody who loves to
do both of those, but they'renot willing to go through the
processes that we have or thesystems in place.
Like they don't wanna go throughthe leadership pipeline or they
(34:06):
don't want to do thiscontractual, like this contract
over here.
They don't wanna have to likethe background check or you know
what I mean.
Like there's we have thesesystems and processes in place
and ultimately I think it's agood thing because we're able to
kind of weed out some peoplewho are like all on board and
(34:28):
then they're like, oh wait, Ihave to read this book.
Like no, I'm not gonna do that,because ultimately, what we're
doing with that is we're showingthe legitimacy of the role and
the seriousness of what we wantthese people to walk into.
So it's not like, hey, you'rejust gonna lead a Bible study
(34:50):
and that's great too.
But from our perception and ourview, it's much more than that
and you need to have not justthe passion but the calling into
this particular kind ofministry in order to, I think,
be successful.
And so I think that's been ourbiggest like hiccup or sticking
(35:15):
point, cause we have, you know,we have gyms that would be on
board for us to come in, butwe're still trying to fill those
places with, you know, theright location.
Director.
Aaron O'Connell (35:32):
Do you have like key performance indicators
that you're that you kind of areaiming for within 11th element,
like whether it be membershipof the weekly gatherings, or how
does 11th element measure thesuccess that is happening with
(35:54):
not only the ministry as a wholebut also, let's just say,
individual locations?
Yeah, that's a good question.
Logan Poirer (36:02):
So you know the a lot of times a traditional
church will measure the butts inseats right how many people
show up, how much money iscoming in and how many
salvations or baptisms yeah, Ithink it's butts, budgets and
(36:23):
baptisms or something.
Aaron O'Connell (36:25):
I haven't heard that, but it sounds right on.
Logan Poirer (36:30):
And there's only a number of these things that we
have like significant influenceover.
Okay, scripture's clear it'snot us that can save somebody,
it's not me, it's not you.
Now, of course, we are thevehicle, like God can use us, in
(36:52):
order to share the gospel andhelp somebody come to know the
Lord, but ultimately it's thespirit that's gonna be changing
that person's heart.
So for me to say hey, likewe're only successful if we hit
a certain number of salvationsor baptisms, you know again, I
don't think that's really fairon ourselves or on our location
directors.
(37:12):
So the one key metric that wetry to track is what we call
gospel conversations.
So how many people are you ableto share at least an element of
the gospel with on a weeklybasis?
And and that can be Ideally,it's lost people, like how many
(37:34):
lost people are you able toshare the gospel, at least a
part of the gospel, with, onthis weekly basis?
I like that, and you know again, because to like our, I can
have a location that gathers 20people on a weekly basis and
maybe most of them are, maybe 18of them are already believers,
(37:56):
two of them or not.
So they're still, you're stillbeing able to have a gospel
conversation with these twopeople, or I can have another
location who has three peopleshow up.
One's a Christian and two arenot, so they're having two
gospel conversations as well.
The same same number of gospelconversations with lost people.
The same evangelistic Return oninvestment so to speak right,
(38:20):
but they're, but they're.
Their actual attendance numbersare way different.
So so again, yes, we want toknow how many people showed up.
That's cool, that's great, butwe really, we really are gonna
celebrate how many, how manylost people were you able to
share at least an expression oran element of the gospel?
Aaron O'Connell (38:38):
I really like that because I've been really
plays into your desire for yourambassadors to really be part of
the area that they are goinginto, because you could then
have those conversations evenwhen you're not doing a formal
week weekly gathering.
Right, you could get somebodythat, yes, like you said, gets
(38:59):
four people.
I'll say three of them areChristians, one of them is not.
But because they're there andthey're on mission, they then
talk to 30 people that aren'teven Part of that.
I don't really plan to go inthere, but they're, they're
planting those seeds, you're,you're right on point.
(39:20):
Yeah, that's exactly the yeah,the goal because that's with
that, because my key performanceindicator, for the podcast as
well, is as much as I can'treally have any bit of
measurement, because I'd love todo listeners, but then I would
just get upset of myself, views,I'd get upset with myself.
But it's, how many people aream I actually Affecting?
Right?
(39:41):
And I see that through comments, I see that through people.
Be a gill man.
You know those those little atchurch Conversations.
Man, I listen to your podcast.
Wow, you are changing the way Isee things.
Like those little things rightthere.
Like, and I'm doing the rightthing because, let's be real, to
lead just one more person toChrist is huge.
(40:01):
Like, there's so manyChristians out there that are
actually Christians, right, ifyou ask them when was the last
time you shared the gospel?
I Bet you an overwhelmingmajority be.
I can't remember, right, howmany people have you led to
Christ?
And during your time,overwhelming majority is
probably next to zero.
So if you look at just yourimpact, one person starting 11th
(40:25):
element and the in the rippleeffect that's happening of how
many, how many people are gonnabe in heaven saying, hey, I'm
here because of you, logan,starting 11th element that's
huge, right, it's super huge.
Oh, and I love that, you'realso creating hospitality, which
is your third value within notonly these places, bringing food
(40:45):
, snacks, drinks, whatever butdid I not see that coming up
soon?
You're also doing a 5k, right,and yeah, so do you do events on
top of that of?
On top of the meetings, on topof the full-on chapels, all that
stuff?
You guys are low, partneringwith the community as well and
putting on your own events, suchas 5k and all that's what other
(41:07):
kind of things that you'redoing?
Speak to that a little bit.
Logan Poirer (41:09):
Yeah, so.
So we do like to, we like topartner with, with local,
whether it's like localcompetitions or events that that
are geared around fitness right.
So you know, there's some localCrossFit competitions that we
have Either just been a part ofwith, like comp, like competing
or we set up a booth in a tentand we represent ourselves there
(41:30):
, or we just show up wearing ourshirts.
You know, and I hey, this is whowe are is what we do.
But we, in regards to more ofthe hospitality stuff, yeah, we,
we host our annual 5k.
It's our fundraiser, and thatthis year is December 16th,
which is a little bit furtherback than normal.
(41:51):
Typically it's like right now,but we're it's gonna be in
December this year and but, yeah, it's a.
It's a really cool opportunity.
Once again to Last year, therewere so many people who showed
up just because they're 5krunners, not because they're,
they have anything to do withthe 11th element?
Yeah, but they're like oh,another another cool 5k.
I'll check it out and and whilewe're hosting this 5k, we're
(42:14):
able to Share the gospel.
Yeah, you know like we geteverybody's attention and like,
hey, we're about to start therace, want to share something
with you real quick, boom, andand you never know like where
that's gonna go, and so we dothat, and and then I was
thinking of one more like eventthing that we do and I lost it.
(42:37):
It'll come back to me.
Aaron O'Connell (42:38):
That's all right, it's just.
I love that you focus on thathospitality part, not only to
the people that are in it, but,throughout all the events, to
strangers, because Hebrews 13, 2says don't forget to Share
hospitality with strangers,because you may have been
entertaining and showinghospitality to an angel and you
didn't even know it.
Right, you know, and you neverknow that opportunity that could
(42:59):
be there, that just justbecause someone feels valued,
just because people want to beseen, yeah, and that's why
there's so many views and somuch people spend time on social
media, because they just wantto feel valued and seen.
Like one of the I back when Iwas in college where I still am,
but when I was getting mybachelors, um, I was in an event
(43:21):
planning class and the teachersaid hey, the most beautiful
thing that anyone can hear isthe sound of their own name,
because then it shows thatsomeone actually cares right
like, how, like, how many peoplejust say hey, what's your name?
and they can't even recite ittwo seconds later.
Too many people, you know.
But if it's a cute girl or acute boy that you're liking, or
whatever, I bet you, the firsttime you hear that name, you
(43:44):
never forget it, because yousaid it 20 billion times in your
head, because they mattered toyou.
Right, you were attracted tothem.
There was this next level thing, and when you show that you are
valuing, showing hospitality,going that extra mile, that
could be the difference betweensomebody saying hey, hey, what
is it that that you're offering,what is it that you're telling?
And them just using you forwhatever it may be right now.
Logan Poirer (44:10):
That's, that's great.
Um, the the thing.
I just remembered what I wasgonna say.
We we have done in the past afew uh, like community service
days, right where we've goneInto the gyms that we have
partnered with and we've donelike a, like a deep clean.
You know, hey, let's clean upthe whole gym, or you know, so
(44:31):
like little things like thatwhere we've been able to give
back a little bit To thecommunity.
It shows again the.
That's part of the value addthat we're trying to bring to
these gyms is like hey, we'renot just trying to use you like.
This is a partnership.
You're allowing us to come inand we want to.
We want to take care of you too.
That's awesome.
Aaron O'Connell (44:49):
What looking ahead, what are 11th elements
aspirations and goals for thecoming years?
Like, how do you expect toexpand it, it's influence,
within the community and just atlarge?
Logan Poirer (45:01):
Yeah, you know so.
So the way that we've dealtwith expansion and growth so far
is Is that we've let it be veryorganic and spirit led so.
So there's, there'sopportunities that we could have
had, and we kind of take a stepback because we realize it's
not, it's not really where thespirit's leading us to go.
(45:21):
Yeah, and so that that goeswith Location directors or
getting into new gyms.
We, we want to make sure thatwe're doing it in a way that's
organic and spirit led, and andwe just need the infrastructure
To be there in order for us toto grow and and so that's a
that's a slow process, whetherit's financial or even um
personnel, like kind ofadministrative personnel, like
(45:45):
like behind the scenes people,that that kind of stuff needs to
be in place before we justcontinue to blow up right.
Yeah and so, uh, so myaspirations, my, my goal is
moving forward, is that we wouldcontinue to to grow and expand
and go into the places that godwants us to go, but in a way
that is responsible and andagain, being a good steward of
(46:06):
this opportunity that we've beengiven.
Where, uh, where we are Like,like the organization, is in a
healthy spot before we'reentering into, you know this,
this other season of growth orexpansion, um, but I, but I
definitely see so just a coupleweeks ago, we started our first
(46:27):
Uh 11th element on a universitycampus and we met at uh that we
started it, a location on thecampus of Mississippi State
University, and so to me, that'sa really cool expression of
11th Element going out into adifferent kind of community.
They had a great turnout.
Aaron O'Connell (46:51):
And so things like that.
Logan Poirer (46:52):
I can see us continuing to kind of just
infiltrate these little pocketswhere God wants us to go.
Aaron O'Connell (46:57):
I really love that.
I just love 11th Element andjust all of it, because so many
times people think that worshipof God and just obedience in God
is like a Sunday affair.
But it's not just a Sundayaffair.
It's a lifestyle that weintegrate that worship into
everything, into our workouts,into our jobs, into our
organizations, all those things.
(47:18):
And because they enhance it.
They enhance not only as yourspirit, the spirit of worship,
and what God has for you isgoing to enhance your job, but
your job when you bring it intothe house can be enhanced as
well, because you are giventalents that other people do not
.
If you are an accountant thatloves God and you're an amazing
(47:39):
accountant, you may be able totake those and be work pro bono,
whatever for a strugglingchurch, because finances are
huge within the church.
They have tight budgets, so youmight be able to use your gifts
whatever God has given you,those passions, and I just love
how you're doing that through11th Element.
(47:59):
And I was really wondering ifyou had any advice for people
who inspire to integrate theirfaith into their professional or
community initiatives.
Logan Poirer (48:11):
Yeah, man, short answer is go for it Just do it,
yeah right.
But it takes faith, but it alsotakes a combination of it's a
responsible step of faith.
So there is such thing asirresponsible behavior that can
(48:36):
be under the guise of well, it'sjust a step of faith, and you
got to be careful to take thatstep in a way.
That's and your level ofresponsibility is going to
differ.
Whether you have a family andyoung kids and a mortgage, or
(48:56):
you're living at home with yourparents, single, there's
different levels of risk you cantake or not, and so I would
encourage you to first of all,just immerse yourself in the
scriptures and in prayer andpray for the Lord to reveal what
(49:17):
that next step could be.
And then, if you feel likethere's a responsible step you
can take, but the only thingholding you back is your fear of
what comes next, then you justgot to take that step and you're
probably going to have to starttaking steps before you see the
(49:41):
end of the road.
You're not going to be able tosay, okay, hold on, I'm going to
stay right here and then I'mgoing to wait to see how God
opens all the rest of the way.
What's it going to look like 10years from now?
And then, once I see that and Ilike it, then I'll take the
step.
That's not how it works most ofthe time.
(50:01):
I think that you're going tohave to take this step because
that's what God has you to do,and then you're going to see
okay, this is what he has for me.
Next, take that next step.
Aaron O'Connell (50:13):
Okay, this is what he has for me, you know
what I mean, Like he's going toreveal as you go type of thing
and again, that takes faith.
Logan Poirer (50:19):
But for sure, but we have to.
We have, it's pretty clear manlike we have.
We have the scripture tellingus that God cares so much about
us, as His sons and daughterslike, as His people, Like He'll
provide, and it doesn't meanhe's going to provide in the way
(50:40):
that we always think.
Like, but He'll provide thethings we need if we're staying
faithful to the call in ourlives.
Aaron O'Connell (50:51):
So I love that.
So to anyone that is listeningor watching on YouTube or
anything that may want to getinvolved with 11th element, you
said you're working organically,but let's just say that my
podcast does take off.
And you know and it all of asudden, there's people that want
to reach out to it.
(51:11):
Is there a process of beingable to reach out to you, Like,
even like what if they're in adifferent state?
Like, how does that go?
Logan Poirer (51:19):
Yeah, yeah.
So the different state thing, itjust, it just creates a longer
on ramp for somebody to getplugged in, because we have to
establish our legal presence inthat state and, of course, just
the geographic distance betweenmyself and somebody else is
going to create a little bit ofa longer runway, but it doesn't
(51:44):
mean that we're not about it.
Like, we're definitely aboutthat.
You know, wherever, whereverGod and I certainly feel like
this podcast can be that organicspirit vehicle to bring
something together, so I'm allin on that.
You know, the first thing Iwould say if you wanted to get
plugged in as a potentiallocation director, then on the
website there's a, there's anapplication.
(52:06):
It's real short, quick, sweetlittle application right on the
website.
Aaron O'Connell (52:11):
And that's 11th elementorg, that's right.
Logan Poirer (52:15):
Yep, and you'll fill that out and then I will
get that application sentdirectly to me and I'll be able
to reach back out to you.
Thanks for filling this outLike here's.
Here's the next couple steps ofthe process.
If you want to just like reachout, shoot me an email.
It's just Logan at 11thelementorg Okay.
And you know we'd love toconnect in that way as well.
Aaron O'Connell (52:38):
And you're also on Instagram at 11th element,
right so?
Logan Poirer (52:41):
it's 11th underscore element underscore.
Okay, that's the.
That's the Instagram for 11thelement.
My Instagram's on there.
It's just Logan poyer.
Yeah, we've Americanized it, bythe way, so it's really so, so
I say poyer, but but if somebodyknows it's really poyer, you
know, then they're going tocorrect me.
You actually said it right.
Aaron O'Connell (53:03):
Excellent, excellent, yeah, because I just
want people to be able to reachout to you and you know, have
have this grow, because we needthis, we need the light.
There's so much darkness withinthe and selfishness within the
fitness industry.
I really I say it all the timeon the podcast I really believe
that it is one of the biggest,if not the biggest, trojan
(53:25):
horses that Satan is using.
That is posing itself is alwaysgood Right.
When you say I did a two a day,everyone high fives you.
Right If someone says you're onthis extreme diet and you're on
it.
You look like you're doing thisgreat thing.
But if it's all for selfishvanity, right, it's yet another
(53:46):
idol.
Yep, you know, you are offeringfood to idol when you're it
foods to idols when you'reeating that certain diet just
because you don't feel goodenough.
But instead to look at and be,we're doing something to glorify
God.
We're doing this to take careof our temple.
We're, we're working out,because we have the ability to,
because I'm so grateful for thisbody that is made in God's
(54:08):
image, that I then can, I wantto go to do that next step, like
, well, just go, look at all thepeople of the Bible.
They had to go walk.
How far right?
Right, you know they were.
You know the fat people werethe kings that didn't move
around.
Yep, you know.
But everyone else, you know,had to make do with their little
bits.
Like even Paul says, is likeI've learned the secret of life
(54:28):
how to live with a lot, how tolive with a little.
You know how to go with richand how to be poor.
Because through guys, throughChrist, I can do all things, and
a lot of people forget thatpart.
They just want the power ofChrist that they can do all
things, but they don't look atthe part that says wait a minute
.
I need to learn the secret.
I need to be able to be okay ifI'm at my CrossFit gym and I'm
(54:50):
working out, or if, all of asudden, I get called to take
care of my grandma for threeweeks and I can't touch a weight
.
Right, but how many people themoment they can't come into this
gym?
Go crazy.
Logan Poirer (55:01):
Yeah.
Aaron O'Connell (55:02):
Do they go that crazy if you took your Bible
away from them?
Logan Poirer (55:05):
Right.
Aaron O'Connell (55:05):
They better, you know I do like are they into
it that much more?
And it's just, it's so easy tomake fitness and health and
image a false God and I lovethat you are becoming that light
in right now in Florida goingover to Mississippi Now you said
and just just expanding.
I just pray that it justexpands.
(55:27):
Yeah, is there?
Is there any last little bit ofadvice or anything else you'd
want to depart on the listenersbefore we head off?
Logan Poirer (55:37):
Oh man, um, I would say, if you are somebody
who's maybe not into fitness, um, but you feel, maybe, a
conviction to kind of get alittle bit more into it, um, I
(55:58):
would say that you, I would justencourage you to, to explore
something, whether it's 11thelement or or some other method
or mode of of movement andexercise, um, because we touched
on it briefly at the beginning,but, uh, but this, like the
science, is coming out more andmore now where, where movement
(56:19):
and exercise plays such a hugerole in the mental, of course,
the physical, the physiological,the emotional, uh, all these
different aspects of our bodies,um, and and if we are truly
going to strive to to be thebest stewards of our lives, I
(56:42):
think that there has to be somesort of of movement, um
expression in the way that welive.
Yeah, so, Well we're.
Aaron O'Connell (56:52):
We're made in God's image and God worked, yeah
, and created us for work, andhe created us to be like him, in
his image, to create.
And when we are sitting stillfor so long, like you said, the
science is coming out.
Our brains don't want to thinkas much, we don't make as many
neural pathways, our bodiesaren't even capable to carry out
(57:13):
the things that we want to dobecause we don't have the energy
to do so.
That's right, so that we're.
What?
Are we answering God's call?
When we are being more active,when we are, when we are taking
care of our bodies, when we'removing and being capable for,
like I said, to be capable foranything that God, the devil or
life throws your way?
The last thing you want to dois get caught with your tail
(57:35):
between your legs and say Ican't answer the call of God
because I'm too fat, right, Idon't have the energy to.
It's not going to be a goodexcuse.
That flies, you know, to God,you know, yeah, so I love that.
Logan Poirer (57:47):
Yeah, and, and you don't have to like you were
alluding to this, but you don'thave to to dedicate your life to
the gym.
Nope, and you know you don'tneed the six pack and you don't
need some crazy chiseled body,but but there's a line right
Like that you just, you justwant to be healthy man, you just
(58:07):
want to be healthy.
And healthy looks a bunch ofdifferent ways, it's not.
It's not about the way you look, necessarily, but but just
exercise, move, get out.
Aaron O'Connell (58:19):
I always look at it as, like hey, offer your
body as a living sacrifice.
Be real with what you're doing.
If you haven't lifted, ifyou've never lifted, if you
can't even walk around yourblock without huffing and
puffing, the next step probablyisn't going into a crossfitch,
right?
You know, even though a lot ofpeople do that.
It's like they're overweight,all this of them.
They hire the personal trainer.
(58:39):
They don't know what they'redoing, they bash them over the
head with squats and all thesethings.
It's like they barely can walk.
And I always say be real withyourself.
Take a lot of your land andjust look for the next step.
Look for that next step andwithin no time you're going to
be able to go up those stairswithout huffing and puffing.
You're going to then be able torun up those stairs, you're
(58:59):
going to be able to chase afteryour kids for more than an hour
or 20 minutes, and it's going tobe that next step.
Just have that desire to pushyour the physical limits, cause,
let's be real, we've seen somecrazy things in the physical
world now with the CrossFitgames.
Logan Poirer (59:16):
Yeah, yeah.
Aaron O'Connell (59:16):
You know when you got these guys being able to
do 500 pound squats, run fiveminute miles, all within the you
know, right, almost back toback, and then all the handstand
put like there's just so muchcrazy stuff that women and men
are showing that the human bodyis capable of.
We don't have to be that far,but it just goes to show how
well we can adapt.
(59:37):
That's right.
Yeah Well, thank you so muchfor being on this podcast, Logan
, and I know my listeners aregoing to be thanking you as well
, because you imparted a lot ofwisdom.
I hope it really does inspireyou.
Mind if I close this out insome prayer.
That'd be great.
Dear every father, I just thankyou for this day and this
ability to talk with Logan todayand just really be able to
showcase that fitness goes handin hand with spiritual fitness.
(01:00:02):
Lord, you created us to be ableto work, to be able to create,
lord, and I just want to justpray a special blessing over
Logan and 11th element and allthe ambassadors Lord, that you
begin to shine brighter than youhave ever shined in them.
That they may be able toradiate like Moses's face when
he saw you on Mount Sinai.
Lord, that you give them thewisdom to be able to talk in
(01:00:25):
context that isn't too religious, lord, but in a way that is
palpable for gym goers, thatshowcase that this is fun, that
the best way is you.
You are the way, you are thetruth, you are the light, lord,
and I just pray that you put theburning desire and all the
people that come across the 11thelement to just be able to just
(01:00:47):
want to know you more, open uptheir eyes, open up their ears
to be receiving of you.
Bless Logan, bless his family,and in Jesus' name I pray.
Amen.
Logan Poirer (01:00:57):
And then have a good one.
Thank you so much, Logan.
Appreciate it.
Thank you.
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