WHY to Fitness

The Eleventh Element Experience with Logan Poirier

• Aaron O’Connell / Logan Portier • Episode 28

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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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Logan Poirer:

There is such thing as irresponsible behavior that can be under the guise of well, it's just a step of fate. We cannot be a good steward if we're not living healthy lifestyle. No one cares how much you know unless they know how much you care. How many lost people were you able to share at least an expression or an element of the gospel that they had?

Aaron O'Connell:

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 checked that beforehand. But on the podcast with me and he is the founder and the executive director of Eleventh Element. How are you doing today?

Logan Poirer:

I'm doing well. Man, I appreciate you having me on.

Aaron O'Connell:

This is a great time, oh of course, it's a pleasure to have you on. Eleventh Element is actually a unique initiative that came to life in 2019 and you saw the need to bridge the gap between the physical and spiritual health within the fitness community. Could you share the story like how you founded Eleventh Element in there and what inspired you to combine the physical and spiritual health?

Logan Poirer:

Yeah, absolutely. To share the story of how it was founded, we have to go back a little bit and we have to look at the early years of my life. I think I grew up at a local church here in South Florida called Spanish River Church and they're a big church, planting church and they've planted over 500 churches worldwide and that's part of their bread and butter is like hey, we want to focus and put a significant amount of money towards planting new expressions of church throughout the world.

Aaron O'Connell:

And you say church, are you talking about brick and mortar churches, that they did 500? Are you talking like Echolestia gathering of people within, like a CrossFit gym like we are in now?

Logan Poirer:

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 so narrow that it was not really going to include things like church in a CrossFit gym. So it was no, like this is how we do it and we're going to plant churches in these buildings. And maybe it wasn't. Each church was going to have its own brand new facility, but like meeting in the local middle school or high school auditorium.

Logan Poirer:

That's how most church starts Right, and so that was their model and that's how I grew up and so I was very kind of well versed in the process of this church planting. And then I worked at that church in the student ministry for about eight years and I got to experience kind of the ups and downs, the good and bad of church planting and of even kind of the larger church model and systems and procedures that exist within those churches, that style of church. And then, while I was a student ministry pastor, I started coaching CrossFit. Just, I had been doing it for a number of years and I enjoyed it and I started thinking, man, it would be really cool to somehow combine my passions for fitness and ministry, because I loved coaching people in the CrossFit gym, I loved seeing people progress and learn new things and just become more fit, and that was awesome.

Logan Poirer:

So I said well, but I still, of course, have this calling and passion for ministry and seeing people grow spiritually and come to this realization of who Christ is and how that can affect and change your entire life. And so the very initial step was how can I combine these two things and still make a living and provide for my family? And the vision definitely just continued to develop and I think we'll talk about that in a second. For sure, and that was really the first step was kind of this call, this push, and it lasted for a while before I did anything about it.

Logan Poirer:

I just kind of sat there and I kept thinking, well, this is just a fling, that's going to go away. But God was persistent and he kept that vision just right in the front of my mind for months before I said anything to anybody, like even my wife. It took me a while to even say something to my wife, but eventually I did. And then I can remember the day, like it was yesterday, when I walked into the executive pastor's office at Spanish River. At the time, ron Tobias and I knew that I was going to share this with him and I knew what it meant. It essentially meant I was giving him my letter of resignation because Ron, he was an incredible, incredible man just recently passed away. But he was so kingdom-minded that I knew, if I told him that I had this vision and God was placing it on my heart, that he was going to do whatever he possibly could to make it happen.

Aaron O'Connell:

Sounds like a great guy, great mentor.

Logan Poirer:

And so that's how I knew when I told him that I wasn't going to be the youth pastor anymore. So eventually I did, I told him, and that's what got the whole ball rolling.

Aaron O'Connell:

Wow, that's amazing. I love that you're marrying those fitness and spiritual fitness together, because that's what the Y2 Fitness podcast is all about. Because I was a personal trainer for a really long time and, although I'm not staying in that actual hands-on training physical part, because there's so many ways to skin the cat, crossfit isn't for everybody, working out in the gym is not for everybody. You can be walking, you can be doing Tai Chi, you can be doing whatever it may be, as long as you are staying active and ready and capable for anything that God, the devil or life throws your way. So that's why I brought this podcast to life, because I understood, hey, there's so much more to fitness than just the working out.

Aaron O'Connell:

I'll let those people take care of that, but even just harboring unforgiveness in your heart can make you unhealthy. If you're experiencing relationship problems, financial problems, whatever it is, what is the first thing that usually goes when you're going through a hard time? 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 source and start trying to tackle that and try to illuminate that, hey, health is so much more than just diet and exercise.

Logan Poirer:

It's all encompassing, right.

Aaron O'Connell:

It really is, and it reminds me of 1 Timothy 4-8, which says physical training is of some value. There is value in it. The Bible even says physical training has some value, but spiritual training has benefits in this life and the next. And I really looked at that and God just heard God calling me, saying hey, you're about the spiritual training. Yes, everything is going to boil back to physical, because I'm here to bless you in the physical and that will be when you're walking spiritually in line with God. That's when you're going to have the most peace and you're going to be the healthiest you possibly can be, because stress is what really brings you down.

Logan Poirer:

Yeah, yeah, no, that's great and to echo on that, it's so. I think most people oftentimes have no concept of how related these things are and we'll talk about this more, I think, later on as well but just the idea of being a good steward of your body, your physical body and your physical life on this earth. We can't do that, we cannot be a good steward if we're not living healthy lifestyles, and by healthy, I think the tip of the iceberg is movement.

Logan Poirer:

It's not crossfit, it's movement and nutrition, and then it just goes from there and there's more and more and more.

Aaron O'Connell:

Yeah, 1 Corinthians 6-19 tells us that our bodies are the temple that the Holy Spirit is living in, and you don't want to be bringing trash in there. Look at all the laws that the Old Testament had about regards to the temple and how to split up the food, how to put all these sacrifices in there. We have these same principles that happen with our own body. Get enough protein to repair the muscle. Get enough energy and calories so you're not in a constant deficit, so you can be ready and capable for things. Don't be going just to, don't be like the Pharisees and be all whitewashed, tuned, but be completely to have death inside of you. You know there's all these things that I kept reading the Bible and I'm like this applies to health and fitness. This is where it's at. This is what people are missing, but I love that you were actually being the boots on the ground, going into the gyms and bringing the word. So tell our listeners just a little bit of the concept of 11th element and how you're penetrating the land in the community.

Logan Poirer:

Yeah, so the concept is that we partner with a local fitness facility, a local gym. It doesn't have to be CrossFit CrossFit was where we started because that's where I was. So we partner with a local facility. They allow us to come in and host a weekly community style workout. So it's a workout that is free for non-members to come in and experience the gym. So there's a benefit for the gym right there.

Aaron O'Connell:

It's a benefit for the gym they're getting people in the door.

Logan Poirer:

You're marketing for them, right? We've seen people buy memberships from hanging out with 11th element, but it's not its own class. Ideally it's coupled with a previously existing class so that there are the regular members of the gym are also welcome to attend this same work. It's just part of the schedule of the gym already. And then after that workout we will have a time of fellowship where, hey, if you're interested, we have this 15 minute, 20 minute hangout, wherever it is Maybe it's around back, maybe it's in the corner and we offer some snacks and drinks and a quick little catch up How's everybody doing?

Logan Poirer:

And then a small kind of devotional, or you can call it maybe a sermonette, right.

Logan Poirer:

That will speak to the physical and the spiritual is the concept and that's our weekly rhythms, right? And so, outside of that, we then also kind of the next step with 11th element is getting plugged into our community nights, and our community nights we try to run on a monthly cycle and that that is a little bit more where 11th element exists as kind of an expression of church instead of just like a small group devotional Right. So so at our community nights we have, we have worship and we have sacrament that's where we are, you know, taking Lord supper. We have baptisms and then more of an actual sermon, right yeah, and there's no workout, like hey, 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, we have partnerships with, with other more traditional local churches, and if we see somebody kind of progressing down these steps and they're interested in a traditional local church, then oh yeah, go check out. Fill in the Blank.

Logan Poirer:

And we have we have our partnerships that we can kind of point them to, and so so this kind of like a progression, almost like a funnel right where where our, our main like bread and butter, our evangelistic, like outreach kind of where we, I would say, spend our, the majority of our like time and resources and effort, is is the, are those weekly gatherings in the, in the particular gym and fitness centers. And the way that we do that I don't, I don't travel around to all all the different gyms that we have partnerships with I try to identify and then train and equip and then and then plant what we call location directors in each of those fitness centers. Okay, and so those people are. They go through our, our leadership development pipeline. We have a process where where they get trained up, mainly theologically, a little bit practically, but mainly the other. We want to make sure that we're on the same page. Do you offer?

Aaron O'Connell:

that on on your website? I do. I was scouring that website and I saw that there's all these videos and it was like free, you know and I was like this is something that I might go consume.

Logan Poirer:

Yeah, it's all, it's all free and it's all great stuff. Yeah, man, even I mean I don't I don't think it really plays a difference your background in you know, your spiritual or theological training or whatever, like it's good stuff, it's really good stuff.

Logan Poirer:

And it's going to. It's going to help you be able to share the gospel and express the bad news of sin, the good news 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 the person how they need to be, need to be delivered, and and so it's a really cool tool, but but anyway, so we take those location directors, train them up, and then we plant them in the particular gym. We want them to build relational equity. That's more than just like, hey, we're dropping in to, so, and so is Jim, yeah, and we're hosting this workout. No, like you're there all the time, like you need to be, you need to be a part of that community. Yeah, almost almost like long before you even try to to start bringing in, you know this, this like gospel outpost.

Aaron O'Connell:

Like no, like you just go in there and just be a be a human before, before you try to be, like you know, the savior, like just go in there and just hang out, get to know People like that, because that oftentimes we skip that. Oh yeah.

Logan Poirer:

In the evangelistic approach you know, we're just. We're just so fired up and we're hungry to get out there and tell people about Jesus and that's great. But but there are so many people who have had poor experiences with church and and even just go on like social media or the news and you'll have you'll have a really bad taste of spirituality or religion in your mouth real quick.

Aaron O'Connell:

When I think of Christianity, I think of accepting, I think of love, I think of caring the most tolerant people, right, but if you go look into the news, you're going to think of the most judgmental, the most bigoted, bigoted people, the most hated people, you know like they're the people that hate everyone, because there are those bad players in there and even the, the failure, the moral failure of pastors is like a thing.

Aaron O'Connell:

Well, that just is. I believe that's the devil. Just saying, anytime a pastor fails, let's highlight that, and it gets highlighted, and but that's because it's. It's that 5050 viral story that goes ha, I told you, this was all fake. One side, Right, you know, and the other people trying to defend it but can't really defend it, you know. So it's like a catch 22 for the church of like ha gotcha.

Logan Poirer:

Yeah, exactly. But if we're able to go into these places and build a relation and then they these people, realize oh you're, you're just like a normal dude, yeah, that's cool, yeah. Oh, by the way like, let me introduce you to this, this God of scripture, this Jesus, who can change your life.

Aaron O'Connell:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it just reminds me, I think, of John Maxwell that says no one will value what you say until they they feel that you value them Right.

Logan Poirer:

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 know unless they know how much you care. Yeah, yeah.

Aaron O'Connell:

Exactly, exactly, and I really love that. That way that you you mentioned, you're bringing value to the gyms, you're bringing value to the churches you're partnering with, because so often Christians at least, what I've kind of noticed is that it's almost like they're scared to give that message, even though it's good news, it's literally good news, to go tell everybody. It's the same thing as like, hey, they're having a free giveaway, giving away free cars right around the corner. Just go get one, right, it's even better news than that, right, but yet we're scared. If we, if that was actually happening around the corner, we wouldn't be on this podcast. We'd be going and getting us a free car, and there's not one person in the world that wouldn't be doing it.

Aaron O'Connell:

But the news that Christian has is actually that much better, is that much more powerful. It's not just going to rust, it's not just going to break down. You know, and we're almost scared, but that's because so many times I see that the people in front of them it's almost like, hey, we're trying to Take something from you. Please give us an opportunity to give the the gospel. Well, what do I get in return? You know, like You're in coming into my gym, what do I get you know, like you're just gonna come after my members, that I already have Sounds like some people are gonna get turned off and no one's really gonna be coming. But when we can look at that and partner in ways that we are providing First love or value of hey, I'll be bringing new people in, I will be, I will be bringing your, taking your message and sending it out Further by my resources, then it's that just. It's just that much more conducive to say well, welcome in right.

Logan Poirer:

Oh yeah, yeah, we want to. We want to be a value add. Yes to the gym owner yeah, and if there's a gym owner who's a who's a believer.

Aaron O'Connell:

And then it's just slam dunk. Yeah, but but for those who aren't?

Logan Poirer:

yeah, you know, we are bringing a value add and and you know whether it's for a believer who's in the gym, who would be interested in such a community, or whether it's just to like if, like we were just saying, bringing new faces Through the door and they're getting to experience the, the offering that you have as a fitness facility, mm-hmm, so, so I want to take this time and shift gears a little bit into your values that are really running the company, and the first Value that you guys will have listed is integrity.

Aaron O'Connell:

So how does the 11th element manifest integrity and its operations and interactions with the fitness community?

Logan Poirer:

yeah, man. So so this is, I think, spawned a little bit from like. We're just talking about the like, 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 that we need to be putting, putting the correct accountability and guardrails, and I mean being, way you know, above reproach right.

Logan Poirer:

Yeah, we need to be way ahead of of, maybe even the like the cultural norm as far as integrity goes, and and so what we try to do is is set up these, like these avenues through which people are, location directors and myself that we can run through, that, that have the, the structure necessary in order to keep the integrity where it needs to be. And you know, going just going back a couple minutes ago, we were saying how the, the non-believer or or the non-churchgoer, they, they have these, maybe bad experiences with church, or or they see the news at all and and, and we want to be able to provide the Like, the outward expression of our integrity, like, like they can.

Logan Poirer:

They can look at us and know, okay, like this guy, he has integrity, like I can tell by the way he's living his life, he has integrity, and that's somebody that I'm willing to listen to, whereas, you know, if if we're, if we're just flipping with our lives and we're not, we're not holding to a certain standard, then I think it's much easier for people to just dismiss us as the next guy walking around the gym because when your integrity goes, everything goes.

Aaron O'Connell:

That's like what we said when the pastor has that downfall, it's gonna take years just to get that back. Get back that trust. Yeah, and Proverbs 11 3 says the integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity. And One thing that that reminds me of in what I think that the world kind of gets a wrong taste of Christians is because Christians quote air quotes.

Aaron O'Connell:

Christians, ones that are playing the game Sunday, you know Sunday the warmer, you know Sunday players, but that's about it type of thing. Right, they like to put on the Christian mask. They, they love what God does for them, they love that there's great people around them, but they 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 not dying to self. So when they get in front of a crowd, when they get on a platform, when they are doing their good deed of the day, they put Christian mask on and they go and serve. 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 control all these other things, putting Christian mask because it's making them feel good, like they they're doing what needs to be done, but in all reality they're still living for selves. And because then the next post is all about them getting drunk at a Concerts, you know, or at some some place like that.

Aaron O'Connell:

So that duplicity right there is what I believe is also destroying a little bit of that Christian name. Because the Bible says it looks clear, luke warm gets spit out Because if you're cold, you can actually Make people so distasteful to your coldness, your evilness, that they will go. I don't want any part of that and they end up on the good side. Yeah, if you're on the good side, you just attract people to the good side, the warm side or the hot side. But that Luke warm, when you're claiming one thing but living in the other, that's when you go. Well, I don't want anything to do with Christianity, because look at that guy, right, you know, and I think that's what a 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 to really be talking about? Like how connected are your ambassadors after they get trained up, after you let them go into the gyms. How often are you guys meeting so you can almost feel the pulse that's going on in the mall?

Logan Poirer:

Yeah, so so I. I have created a like a cohort of People who provide the soul care for our location directors.

Logan Poirer:

So so this, this soul care cohort, will meet with their respective location director on a regular basis and that that's that's at least monthly and they're they're gonna be kind of touching base, keeping a pulse on that person, and not just like a performance review, yeah, well. Well, of course we want to know how your location is going, but we also care far more about like you as a person and how you're doing spiritually, how you're doing personally, emotionally, mentally, physically, and then that can get like Recorded away and we have a little bit of a record as far as like how, how that person is doing.

Logan Poirer:

Okay yeah, and I would love Just to touch on that I would love to create we haven't done this yet, but I'd love to create an annual like retreat for the location directors where we can all go somewhere together. We've we've pseudo done this at a conference in Orlando called exponential conference. It's like a it's a big church planting conference, right, and we had gone up there a couple years ago as a group really, and it was. It was great and I think that could be a cool, maybe, maybe spot or something like that, where it's a hybrid between Some other organization is putting on a conference where we can all be poured into. But it's also like team building, for for us as a, as a group of 11th element hmm, that's awesome.

Aaron O'Connell:

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 adversity Even Job, in the midst of all of his trials, declared till I die I will, did not deny my integrity. So when that, when there's those little times of you know falling or those, whatever it may be that, those adversity times, how do you go about handling that? Like, do you, is that where the faith, the people that you instill on the ambassadors Kind of come in? Or do you come in there? Or like, how does that kind of work?

Logan Poirer:

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 if you know, if, if something came to light, the the soul care person who's responsible?

Logan Poirer:

for that individual. They they are equipped to be able to Handle whatever that situation right. So it's not as though the soul care person it is like my best friend from high school, like it's somebody who I have complete confidence in in their ministry experience and Education to be able to speak into that and handle it. If it needs to be brought to my attention, that's fine. But but again, you know, we're, we're hoping that the process Through which somebody goes through to become a location director and run 11th element in their respective gym, that they would Be following these you know or values and be above reproach and ideally, you know again, we pray that we'll never have to deal with any significant you know failures or issues like that.

Aaron O'Connell:

Yeah. So let's switch to your next, your next value, which is accuracy, which is highlighted both for physical fitness and spiritual teachings, which you've already kind of nailed on the head. How you're getting the spiritual teachings out? Through the accuracy of that, through the training program that's found on your website that you've, that you developed, having those soul care people in there. But how does 11th element ensure accuracy and is approached like the physical fitness to prevent injury? Because, let's be real, there's a lot of CrossFit Instructors out there.

Aaron O'Connell:

I, when I talked to Wilson Bailey, he said one of the biggest downfills of the CrossFit coaches are lack of education. They don't, they just don't know you. They get their first certification, whatever it may be. They become this coach. A lot of times they're their own athletes and then they're just constantly pushing, pushing and you know there's a, there's a stigma of CrossFit that that form go, it kind of goes out the window, right. So how do you, as somebody that's taking that next step, that is caring for the Individuals, that isn't just about getting members through the door, that isn't just about putting the name of competitors in 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.

Aaron O'Connell:

I'm so sore, you know, because that's not always the biggest, best sign of a good workout. How do you really care for the individuals that are coming in to do these group workouts? And or even, how do you pick those, those instructors, to make sure that they're accurate with their approach to physical fitness?

Logan Poirer:

So I think the the first step is the the fitness Facility as a whole first like, first and foremost.

Logan Poirer:

So we want to partner with, with gyms that prioritize that very thing.

Logan Poirer:

And and yes, crossfit certainly has a stigma of you know like it's too easy to get certified to be a coach and you know pride Takes over and everything else to throw out the window, and you know but, but you know so.

Logan Poirer:

So, for example, we're at CrossFit point-and-beach right now, we're sitting in the office here and, and it starts with the ownership and excellent owners names Alex for Jerry, and, and he will, he will only bring in coaches that that he knows and trusts will, first of all, lead by example, but also Prioritize the accuracy and the safety of each of the people that walk in the door.

Logan Poirer:

And that will include CrossFit games, athletes, and you know the, the 55 year old Mom, yeah, who's just trying to like be healthy, and then everybody in between, right and so. So you have to have, you have to have a experienced and well-educated coach in order to to be able to coach each of those two athletes and everybody in 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 to exemplify the like, the correct form and accuracy when it comes to coaching, and then for us, for our location directors in these gyms, we actually build into the budget a line for them to receive further education if they need it to, in order to be accurate with their coaching and teaching.

Logan Poirer:

So not everybody needs that. But if somebody does need that whether 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 the bill and be able to train them up with their training practices so that they're able to keep everybody safe and healthy.

Aaron O'Connell:

Yeah, I love that I do, and I would suppose then it takes a lot more hands-on work to really then it's not just finding the one individual that is gonna be an ambassador for you, that is on fire for God, that has a desire to bring the word to their gym, that is in the culture, all that stuff. You not only have to vet that person, make sure they're trained up spiritually, they're trained up physically. They're gonna be inspiring all that stuff, but you're going and taking a lot of the land of all the way to the owner that may not even be a Christian Right yeah, yeah, because they're going to ultimately, I think, be the main representative of that particular facility.

Logan Poirer:

And so, yeah, we and that's kind of a part of the process that we establish with the gym owner at the beginning is like hey, are you willing to? We have a little gym owner agreement contract that they'll sign allowing us to come in and do our, host our gatherings and all that. And it's a part of that process where you can start to realize is this person the right guy or girl? For this organization, or for us to partner with or not.

Aaron O'Connell:

So what have been some of the biggest challenges that 11th Element has faced to either get it off the ground, to get it into a gym, to expand. What have been those challenges?

Logan Poirer:

I think I think maybe the biggest challenge is finding the right person for the location director position, and what I mean by that is you can find somebody who loves to coach fitness classes, right, and you can find somebody that loves to share the gospel, and you can even find somebody who loves to do both of those, but they're not willing to go through the processes that we have or the systems in place.

Logan Poirer:

Like they don't wanna go through the leadership pipeline or they don't want to do this contractual, like this contract over here.

Logan Poirer:

They don't wanna have to like the background check or you know what I mean. Like there's we have these systems and processes in place and ultimately I think it's a good thing because we're able to kind of weed out some people who are like all on board and then they're like, oh wait, I have to read this book. Like no, I'm not gonna do that, because ultimately, what we're doing with that is we're showing the legitimacy of the role and the seriousness of what we want these people to walk into. So it's not like, hey, you're just gonna lead a Bible study and that's great too. But from our perception and our view, it's much more than that and you need to have not just the passion but the calling into this particular kind of ministry in order to, I think, be successful. And so I think that's been our biggest like hiccup or sticking point, cause we have, you know, we have gyms that would be on board for us to come in, but we're still trying to fill those places with, you know, the right location. Director.

Aaron O'Connell:

Do you have like key performance indicators that you're that you kind of are aiming for within 11th element, like whether it be membership of the weekly gatherings, or how does 11th element measure the success that is happening with not only the ministry as a whole but also, let's just say, individual locations? Yeah, that's a good question.

Logan Poirer:

So you know the a lot of times a traditional church will measure the butts in seats right how many people show up, how much money is coming in and how many salvations or baptisms yeah, I think it's butts, budgets and baptisms or something.

Aaron O'Connell:

I haven't heard that, but it sounds right on.

Logan Poirer:

And there's only a number of these things that we have like significant influence over. Okay, scripture's clear it's not us that can save somebody, it's not me, it's not you. Now, of course, we are the vehicle, like God can use us, in order to share the gospel and help somebody come to know the Lord, but ultimately it's the spirit that's gonna be changing that person's heart. So for me to say hey, like we're only successful if we hit a certain number of salvations or baptisms, you know again, I don't think that's really fair on ourselves or on our location directors. So the one key metric that we try to track is what we call gospel conversations.

Logan Poirer:

So how many people are you able to share at least an element of the gospel with on a weekly basis? And and that can be Ideally, it's lost people, like how many lost people are you able to share the gospel, at least a part of the gospel, with, on this weekly basis? I like that, and you know again, because to like our, I can have a location that gathers 20 people on a weekly basis and maybe most of them are, maybe 18 of them are already believers, two of them or not. So they're still, you're still being able to have a gospel conversation with these two people, or I can have another location who has three people show up. One's a Christian and two are not, so they're having two gospel conversations as well. The same same number of gospel conversations with lost people. The same evangelistic Return on investment so to speak right, but they're, but they're.

Logan Poirer:

Their actual attendance numbers are way different. So so again, yes, we want to know how many people showed up. That's cool, that's great, but we really, we really are gonna celebrate how many, how many lost people were you able to share at least an expression or an element of the gospel?

Aaron O'Connell:

I really like that because I've been really plays into your desire for your ambassadors to really be part of the area that they are going into, because you could then have those conversations even when you're not doing a formal week weekly gathering. Right, you could get somebody that, yes, like you said, gets four people. I'll say three of them are Christians, one of them is not. But because they're there and they're on mission, they then talk to 30 people that aren't even Part of that. I don't really plan to go in there, but they're, they're planting those seeds, you're, you're right on point.

Aaron O'Connell:

Yeah, that's exactly the yeah, the goal because that's with that, because my key performance indicator, for the podcast as well, is as much as I can't really have any bit of measurement, because I'd love to do listeners, but then I would just get upset of myself, views, I'd get upset with myself. But it's, how many people are am I actually Affecting? Right? And I see that through comments, I see that through people. Be a gill man. You know those those little at church Conversations. Man, I listen to your podcast.

Aaron O'Connell:

Wow, you are changing the way I see things. Like those little things right there. Like, and I'm doing the right thing because, let's be real, to lead just one more person to Christ is huge. Like, there's so many Christians out there that are actually Christians, right, if you ask them when was the last time you shared the gospel? I Bet you an overwhelming majority be. I can't remember, right, how many people have you led to Christ? And during your time, overwhelming majority is probably next to zero.

Aaron O'Connell:

So if you look at just your impact, one person starting 11th element and the in the ripple effect that's happening of how many, how many people are gonna be 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're also creating hospitality, which is your third value within not only these places, bringing food, snacks, drinks, whatever but did 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 top of the full-on chapels, all that stuff? You guys are low, partnering with the community as well and putting on your own events, such as 5k and all that's what other kind of things that you're doing? Speak to that a little bit.

Logan Poirer:

Yeah, so. So we do like to, we like to partner with, with local, whether it's like local competitions or events that that are geared around fitness right. So you know, there's some local CrossFit competitions that we have Either just been a part of with, like comp, like competing or we set up a booth in a tent and we represent ourselves there, or we just show up wearing our shirts.

Logan Poirer:

You know, and I hey, this is who we are is what we do. But we, in regards to more of the hospitality stuff, yeah, we, we host our annual 5k. It's our fundraiser, and that this year is December 16th, which is a little bit further back than normal. 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, there were so many people who showed up just because they're 5k runners, not because they're, they have anything to do with the 11th element?

Logan Poirer:

Yeah, but they're like oh, another another cool 5k. I'll check it out and and while we're hosting this 5k, we're able to Share the gospel. Yeah, you know like we get everybody's attention and like, hey, we're about to start the race, want to share something with you real quick, boom, and and you never know like where that's gonna go, and so we do that, and and then I was thinking of one more like event thing that we do and I lost it. It'll come back to me.

Aaron O'Connell:

That's all right, it's just. I love that you focus on that hospitality part, not only to the people that are in it, but, throughout all the events, to strangers, because Hebrews 13, 2 says don't forget to Share hospitality with strangers, because you may have been entertaining and showing hospitality to an angel and you didn't even know it. Right, you know, and you never know that opportunity that could be there, that just just because someone feels valued, just because people want to be seen, yeah, and that's why there's so many views and so much people spend time on social media, because they just want to feel valued and seen. Like one of the I back when I was in college where I still am, but when I was getting my bachelors, um, I was in an event planning class and the teacher said hey, the most beautiful thing that anyone can hear is the sound of their own name, because then it shows that someone actually cares right like, how, like, how many people just say hey, what's your name?

Aaron O'Connell:

and they can't even recite it two seconds later. Too many people, you know. But if it's a cute girl or a cute boy that you're liking, or whatever, I bet you, the first time you hear that name, you never forget it, because you said it 20 billion times in your head, because they mattered to you. Right, you were attracted to them. 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 between somebody saying hey, hey, what is it that that you're offering, what is it that you're telling? And them just using you for whatever it may be right now.

Logan Poirer:

That's, that's great. Um, the the thing. I just remembered what I was gonna say. We we have done in the past a few uh, like community service days, right where we've gone Into the gyms that we have partnered with and we've done like a, like a deep clean. You know, hey, let's clean up the whole gym, or you know, so like little things like that where we've been able to give back a little bit To the community. It shows again the.

Logan Poirer:

That's part of the value add that we're trying to bring to these gyms is like hey, we're not just trying to use you like. This is a partnership. You're allowing us to come in and we want to. We want to take care of you too. That's awesome.

Aaron O'Connell:

What looking ahead, what are 11th elements aspirations and goals for the coming years? Like, how do you expect to expand it, it's influence, within the community and just at large?

Logan Poirer:

Yeah, you know so. So the way that we've dealt with expansion and growth so far is Is that we've let it be very organic and spirit led so. So there's, there's opportunities that we could have had, and we kind of take a step back because we realize it's not, it's not really where the spirit's leading us to go. Yeah, and so that that goes with Location directors or getting into new gyms.

Logan Poirer:

We, we want to make sure that we're doing it in a way that's organic and spirit led, and and we just need the infrastructure To be there in order for us to to grow and and so that's a that's a slow process, whether it's financial or even um personnel, like kind of administrative personnel, like like behind the scenes people, that that kind of stuff needs to be in place before we just continue to blow up right.

Logan Poirer:

Yeah and so, uh, so my aspirations, my, my goal is moving forward, is that we would continue to to grow and expand and go into the places that god wants us to go, but in a way that is responsible and and again, being a good steward of this opportunity that we've been given. Where, uh, where we are Like, like the organization, is in a healthy spot before we're entering into, you know this, this other season of growth or expansion, um, but I, but I definitely see so just a couple weeks ago, we started our first Uh 11th element on a university campus and we met at uh that we started it, a location on the campus of Mississippi State University, and so to me, that's a really cool expression of 11th Element going out into a different kind of community.

Logan Poirer:

They had a great turnout.

Aaron O'Connell:

And so things like that.

Logan Poirer:

I can see us continuing to kind of just infiltrate these little pockets where God wants us to go.

Aaron O'Connell:

I really love that.

Aaron O'Connell:

I just love 11th Element and just all of it, because so many times people think that worship of God and just obedience in God is like a Sunday affair.

Aaron O'Connell:

But it's not just a Sunday affair. It's a lifestyle that we integrate that worship into everything, into our workouts, into our jobs, into our organizations, all those things. And because they enhance it. They enhance not only as your spirit, the spirit of worship, and what God has for you is going to enhance your job, but your job when you bring it into the house can be enhanced as well, because you are given talents that other people do not. If you are an accountant that loves God and you're an amazing accountant, you may be able to take those and be work pro bono, whatever for a struggling church, because finances are huge within the church. They have tight budgets, so you might be able to use your gifts whatever God has given you, those passions, and I just love how you're doing that through 11th Element. And I was really wondering if you had any advice for people who inspire to integrate their faith into their professional or community initiatives.

Logan Poirer:

Yeah, man, short answer is go for it Just do it, yeah right.

Logan Poirer:

But it takes faith, but it also takes a combination of it's a responsible step of faith. So there is such thing as irresponsible behavior that can be under the guise of well, it's just a step of faith, and you got to be careful to take that step in a way. That's and your level of responsibility is going to differ. Whether you have a family and young kids and a mortgage, or you're living at home with your parents, single, there's different levels of risk you can take or not, and so I would encourage you to first of all, just immerse yourself in the scriptures and in prayer and pray for the Lord to reveal what that next step could be.

Logan Poirer:

And then, if you feel like there's a responsible step you can take, but the only thing holding you back is your fear of what comes next, then you just got to take that step and you're probably going to have to start taking steps before you see the end of the road. You're not going to be able to say, okay, hold on, I'm going to stay right here and then I'm going to wait to see how God opens all the rest of the way. What's it going to look like 10 years from now? And then, once I see that and I like it, then I'll take the step. That's not how it works most of the time. I think that you're going to have 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:

Okay, this is what he has for me, you know what I mean, Like he's going to reveal as you go type of thing and again, that takes faith.

Logan Poirer:

But for sure, but we have to. We have, it's pretty clear man like we have. We have the scripture telling us that God cares so much about us, as His sons and daughters like, as His people, Like He'll provide, and it doesn't mean he's going to provide in the way that we always think. Like, but He'll provide the things we need if we're staying faithful to the call in our lives.

Aaron O'Connell:

So I love that. So to anyone that is listening or watching on YouTube or anything that may want to get involved 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 a sudden, there's people that want to reach out to it. Is there a process of being able to reach out to you, Like, even like what if they're in a different state? Like, how does that go?

Logan Poirer:

Yeah, yeah.

Logan Poirer:

So the different state thing, it just, it just creates a longer on ramp for somebody to get plugged in, because we have to establish our legal presence in that state and, of course, just the geographic distance between myself and somebody else is going to create a little bit of a longer runway, but it doesn't mean that we're not about it. Like, we're definitely about that. You know, wherever, wherever God and I certainly feel like this podcast can be that organic spirit vehicle to bring something together, so I'm all in on that. You know, the first thing I would say if you wanted to get plugged in as a potential location director, then on the website there's a, there's an application. It's real short, quick, sweet little application right on the website.

Aaron O'Connell:

And that's 11th elementorg, that's right.

Logan Poirer:

Yep, and you'll fill that out and then I will get that application sent directly to me and I'll be able to reach back out to you. Thanks for filling this out Like here's. Here's the next couple steps of the process. If you want to just like reach out, shoot me an email. It's just Logan at 11th elementorg Okay. And you know we'd love to connect in that way as well.

Aaron O'Connell:

And you're also on Instagram at 11th element, right so?

Logan Poirer:

it's 11th underscore element underscore. Okay, that's the. That's the Instagram for 11th element. My Instagram's on there. It's just Logan poyer. Yeah, we've Americanized it, by the way, so it's really so, so I say poyer, but but if somebody knows it's really poyer, you know, then they're going to correct me. You actually said it right.

Aaron O'Connell:

Excellent, excellent, yeah, because I just want people to be able to reach out to you and you know, have have this grow, because we need this, we need the light. There's so much darkness within the and selfishness within the fitness industry. I really I say it all the time on the podcast I really believe that it is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, trojan horses that Satan is using. That is posing itself is always good Right. When you say I did a two a day, everyone high fives you.

Aaron O'Connell:

Right If someone says you're on this extreme diet and you're on it. You look like you're doing this great thing. But if it's all for selfish vanity, right, it's yet another idol. Yep, you know, you are offering food to idol when you're it foods to idols when you're eating that certain diet just because you don't feel good enough. But instead to look at and be, we're doing something to glorify God. We're doing this to take care of our temple. We're, we're working out, because we have the ability to, because I'm so grateful for this body that is made in God's image, that I then can, I want to go to do that next step, like, well, just go, look at all the people of the Bible.

Aaron O'Connell:

They had to go walk. How far right? Right, you know they were. You know the fat people were the 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 like I've learned the secret of life how to live with a lot, how to live with a little. You know how to go with rich and how to be poor. Because through guys, through Christ, I can do all things, and a lot of people forget that part. They just want the power of Christ that they can do all things, but they don't look at the part that says wait a minute. I need to learn the secret. I need to be able to be okay if I'm at my CrossFit gym and I'm working out, or if, all of a sudden, I get called to take care of my grandma for three weeks and I can't touch a weight. Right, but how many people the moment they can't come into this gym? Go crazy.

Logan Poirer:

Yeah.

Aaron O'Connell:

Do they go that crazy if you took your Bible away from them?

Logan Poirer:

Right.

Aaron O'Connell:

They better, you know I do like are they into it that much more? And it's just, it's so easy to make fitness and health and image a false God and I love that you are becoming that light in right now in Florida going over to Mississippi Now you said and just just expanding. I just pray that it just expands. Yeah, is there? Is there any last little bit of advice or anything else you'd want to depart on the listeners before we head off?

Logan Poirer:

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 a little bit more into it, um, I would say that you, I would just encourage you to, to explore something, whether it's 11th element or or some other method or mode of of movement and exercise, um, because we touched on it briefly at the beginning, but, uh, but this, like the science, is coming out more and more now where, where movement and exercise plays such a huge role 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 the best stewards of our lives, I think that there has to be some sort of of movement, um expression in the way that we live. Yeah, so, Well we're.

Aaron O'Connell:

We're made in God's image and God worked, yeah, and created us for work, and he created us to be like him, in his image, to create. And when we are sitting still for so long, like you said, the science is coming out. Our brains don't want to think as much, we don't make as many neural pathways, our bodies aren't even capable to carry out the things that we want to do because 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're moving and being capable for, like I said, to be capable for anything that God, the devil or life throws your way? The last thing you want to do is get caught with your tail between your legs and say I can't answer the call of God because I'm too fat, right, I don't have the energy to. It's not going to be a good excuse. That flies, you know, to God, you know, yeah, so I love that.

Logan Poirer:

Yeah, and, and you don't have to like you were alluding to this, but you don't have to to dedicate your life to the gym. Nope, and you know you don't need the six pack and you don't need some crazy chiseled body, but but there's a line right Like that you just, you just want to be healthy man, you just want to be healthy. And healthy looks a bunch of different ways, it's not. It's not about the way you look, necessarily, but but just exercise, move, get out.

Aaron O'Connell:

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, if you've never lifted, if you can't even walk around your block without huffing and puffing, the next step probably isn't going into a crossfitch, right? You know, even though a lot of people do that. It's like they're overweight, all this of them. They hire the personal trainer. They don't know what they're doing, they bash them over the head with squats and all these things. It's like they barely can walk. And I always say be real with yourself. Take a lot of your land and just look for the next step. Look for that next step and within no time you're going to be able to go up those stairs without huffing and puffing.

Aaron O'Connell:

You're going to then be able to run up those stairs, you're going to be able to chase after your kids for more than an hour or 20 minutes, and it's going to be that next step. Just have that desire to push your the physical limits, cause, let's be real, we've seen some crazy things in the physical world now with the CrossFit games.

Logan Poirer:

Yeah, yeah.

Aaron O'Connell:

You know when you got these guys being able to do 500 pound squats, run five minute miles, all within the you know, right, almost back to back, and then all the handstand put like there's just so much crazy stuff that women and men are showing that the human body is capable of. We don't have to be that far, but it just goes to show how well we can adapt. That's right. Yeah Well, thank you so much for being on this podcast, Logan, and I know my listeners are going to be thanking you as well, because you imparted a lot of wisdom. I hope it really does inspire you. Mind if I close this out in some prayer. That'd be great.

Aaron O'Connell:

Dear every father, I just thank you for this day and this ability to talk with Logan today and just really be able to showcase that fitness goes hand in hand with spiritual fitness.

Aaron O'Connell:

Lord, you created us to be able to work, to be able to create, lord, and I just want to just pray a special blessing over Logan and 11th element and all the ambassadors Lord, that you begin to shine brighter than you have ever shined in them. That they may be able to radiate like Moses's face when he saw you on Mount Sinai. Lord, that you give them the wisdom to be able to talk in context that isn't too religious, lord, but in a way that is palpable for gym goers, that showcase that this is fun, that the best way is you. You are the way, you are the truth, you are the light, lord, and I just pray that you put the burning desire and all the people that come across the 11th element to just be able to just want to know you more, open up their eyes, open up their ears to be receiving of you. Bless Logan, bless his family, and in Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Logan Poirer:

And then have a good one. Thank you so much, Logan. Appreciate it. Thank you.

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