The Road Church Pastor Steve Holt speaks about his new book "Breakthrough Courage" at the Wholehearted Men's breakfast on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Colorado Springs, Colo. Holt promoted his book by breaking the Guinness World Record for the most push-ups in a minute by a man of age 66. (Parker Seibold, The Gazette)
When the Rev. Steve Holt goes big, he goes biblically epic.
In a parting-of-the-Red-Sea way of making a point, the 66-year-old pastor of The Road Church at Chapel Hills in northern Colorado Springs unofficially became a new world record setter Tuesday by completing 88 pushups in a minute's time.
The current Guinness World Record for 65 years and older is 61 pushups in 60 seconds.
The feat happened at his church's weekly men's prayer and fellowship breakfast, which typically draws 450 men of all ages and in the winter begins before the crack of dawn.
Holt's message: "I feel like I need a symbol this year for all of us to have breakthrough courage," he told the crowd.
"I challenge you this year to slow down a little, hang out with some good men who you can be real with, men who have our backs and who won't judge us," the pastor said. "What we need is acceptance, love and courage."
A timer and a counter joined him near the stage as Holt tackled his longstanding personal goal.
Against a backdrop of whoops, cheers and shouts of "you got this," Holt pushed through the 61 needed to accomplish his self-imposed physical endurance test and kept going.
As the counter announced 88 pushups, Holt gave his straining muscles a rest, yelled, "glory to God" and thanked the crowd for their encouragement.
"Begin with two to three things you need for breakthrough courage this year," Holt said to attendees. "Use that as a discussion starter."
"Breakthrough Courage" is the title of Holt's new book that was released Sunday on Amazon. The subtitle is: "9 Habits to Conquer Fear and Build a Brave Heart."
The habits Holt came up with pertain to mental, emotional, spiritual, relational and physical health, based on a biblical verse from Mark that advises people to love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength. It's considered the first and greatest commandment in the New Testament.
"As a pastor, we tend to think mainly spiritual, but I tend to be more holistic," Holt said.
A former college athlete in gymnastics for the University of Georgia, Holt said he learned how to improve his fitness in every way.
That's why he ushered in 2025 by challenging his nondenominational congregation of about 2,000 members to adopt resolutions not only around physical stamina but also develop resolves for spiritual power, mental toughness and relational connections, for complete growth.
The method makes sense, said breakfast regular Randy Burrows, who accepted Holt's WholeHARD 45 challenge in December and just completed it.
"In so many ways the biggest thing is the routine of actively getting in God's word and tying it together with how we're taking care of ourselves," he said. "You figure out that one goes with the other."
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Burrows said he can tell he's grown spiritually, emotionally and physically stronger by following Holt's advice to take on a "breakthrough courage" attitude and carry it forward. The initiative includes a daily checklist, such as doing a random act of kindness.
"It's made a difference in my life," Burrows said.
Many people struggle with fear because of experiences endured during the COVID-19 pandemic, Holt believes. Fear bred and spread from government mandates, deaths, uncertainty, worry and isolation.
Several authors in the Bible refer to the idea of being "strong and courageous," when facing a river of doubt or what seem like insurmountable odds, Holt said.
He quoted the late British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, who said, "Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision" -- meaning that though fearfulness is a natural human response, acting amid fear constitutes real courage.
Holt examines how "living an effective life is not for cowards; it's for those who recognize their fears and still choose bravery."
"My contention is to be lion-hearted every day," Holt said, asking attendees to cultivate the nine habits he created because positive habits build new character and harness purpose.
"Just being a good person and a godly man is not good enough," he said. "We need men who'll go to the battle with us and fight with us."
Holt began working out at least 30 minutes every day during the pandemic to naturally boost his immune system and has continued the practice.
"Working out your problems" became a chapter in his new book, which he started writing four years ago as the pandemic fully set in. Another chapter he embraced is "Soulitude" -- restoring the soul by being alone and quiet in a meditative way and letting God in.
He says he saw a recent study that said as many as two out of three people struggle with fears, 90% of which are related to how people think and act in their daily routines.
By the time he reached the worship center's stage Tuesday morning, Holt was fairly confident he could break the world's record for pushups for a man of his age.
When he was a kid he had tried to top the world record, which for his age bracket stood at 121 pushups at that time.
"I could do 119 or 120, but I couldn't break past 121," Holt said. "It was always this nagging feeling. Today I wanted to encourage people to break through courage even as you get older."
He applied to Guinness World Records, and a videotape of Tuesday's attempt that he'll send to Guinness proves he succeeded.
Holt challenges all El Paso County residents to become their healthiest self in every facet of their lives.
Breakfast newbie Erik Cooper said he found the event "pretty solid" and "inspirational for a bunch of guys."
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