About Fit For The King

At Fit For The King, we view fitness as a means to an end. We need to steward our physical bodies so that we are available to enjoy God more, so that we can love, bless and serve others in our lives more effectively, and glorify God by accomplishing all He has purposed for us to do.
This desire is contained in our defining statement:

Since 2013, Fit For The King has been developing and publishing books, blogs, media, events, church-based group fitness classes, and one-on-one coaching/discipleship relationships with the goal of helping the Church develop a balanced and biblical approach to body stewardship in an increasingly unbalanced culture.

Along with a growing team of Christian trainers, nutritionists, certified counselors, and health practitioners, founder David Bush is working to develop gospel-centered tools and resources that will equip the church to live lives that are increasingly available to love and serve God and others.

Dear Reader,

I want to share the story of how Fit For The King ministry came into being. It’s a story that I believe needs to be shared for you to understand my heart and desire for helping my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. My purpose in sharing isn’t to be boastful of my accomplishments (there’s not really much to boast about), but rather to give you a peek into how I witnessed God revealing one of His divine purposes for my life and why I feel compelled to share it with the american church.

I have always had a passion for fitness and I learned at an early age the confidence gained by being physically fit. I was a high school wrestler and pole vaulter, but never a star athlete. I did well because I worked harder than others who had more skill or experience, but I do not have the awards and competitive accomplishments that are important to many. When you know what it’s like to be in great physical shape, and have a life defined by “yes” and “I can do that” in so many regards, it’s living the way God intended and that is worth way more than any trophy or medal. My story is one of consistency and discipline. What might have evidenced as aspects of vanity in my early years has increasingly morphed into a desire to not put any roadblocks in the way of what God might want to do in my life. I don’t want to be in a position of saying, “I think You’d like me to do this, God, but I’m not available for that.”

My father was a pastor and my mom a Bible teacher and nationally published Christian author of four books and Bible studies. I guess you could say that ministry and writing runs in the family. As mature as they were in their faith, and as effective as they were in their ministry, they did not steward their health well. The last 15—20 years of their lives were increasingly spent dealing with the many issues that arose from chronic disease. Their ministry went by the wayside as they dealt with the repercussions of their largely lifestyle-influenced diseases. Watching that struggle was difficult and it stirred a desire in my heart to help others remain engaged in ministry into their latter years when they could be incrementally more effective. I came to the realization that I could help pastors and the Church at large avoid this kind of story by gaining a biblical understanding of their bodies. This would include understanding God’s purpose for their Christian life (transformation to Christlikeness), gospel-centered motives for good health, and the call to counter-cultural living we have as Christians.

While a pastor, I led the two owners of my fitness club to Christ. One was Joe Tewell, who had spent most of his life trying to gain acceptance through sports and fitness pursuits. Upon coming to Christ and entering the church culture, he was shocked at how little people seemed to care about their physical bodies. He didn’t know it at the time, but his impressions were correct as surveys indicate the church is 10% more obese than the obese culture at large. Along with this statistic comes all of the chronic diseases that accompany obesity. Joe’s questions during our times of discipleship led me to deeply investigate what the Bible actually teaches about our physical bodies, and how our health plays into accomplishing His main purposes for our lives (transformation), as well as His main commands of our lives (the Great Commandment and Great Commission). My first book, Fit For The King: Your Health and God’s Purposes For Your Life, came out of this, along with the INSPIRE conference, and the  Fit For The King Workshops Joe and I presented at many local churches. Joe’s extensive training and experience have left an indelible mark on the nutritional and physiological content of this initial book and the workshops that were developed after its release. I have appreciated his friendship and support through the years as this ministry has developed.

These three things form the foundation for this ministry that I am so passionate about: my own fitness journey/story, my mom and dad’s tragic ministry curtailment, and my relationship with a gym-owner whose life and perspective on fitness was transformed by Christ.

I am thankful for the opportunity to be able to help as many pastors, church staff, ministry leaders, and Christ-followers as I can to further the effectiveness of the american church and give Christians as a whole the ability to say, “Lord, I am available to say ‘Yes!’ to Your call on my life.”

—David

Hear more about David’s story on Faith Radio.