A Lot To Write About

Sometimes things just happen in the world around me that make me think a lot, and when I think a lot, I have a tendency to want to write about it. It's a good thing I have my own blog. I sit here now just a day removed from one of the worst tragedies in American history and just two days after a celebration of one of the greatest victories in American history. The former, of course, is no mystery to anyone by this time, but the latter may not be familiar to everyone.

Sunday was deemed "Jackie Robinson Day" by Major League Baseball. It marked the 60th anniversary of when Jackie Robinson became the first black man to play baseball in the major leagues. It was certainly a day celebrated in my home -- so much in fact, that my wife and I actually sat down and watched most of "The Jackie Robinson Story" that aired on ESPN2. We flipped to the Dodgers game in between commercials where the entire evening was dedicated to Jackie, and each player on the Dodgers wore the #42 (and one player from each of the other teams also wore #42), and ESPN was doing fascinating interviews with people such as Robinson's widow, Hank Aaron, Don Newcombe, and others. So why am I writing so much about baseball on this blog? Well, because there's a greater issue at hand that just sickens me when I think about it -- of course, the issue of racism. How is it possible to say that a man can't play baseball because of the color of his skin? And this went on for years and years. When I look back, I am so thankful that baseball finally got it right. There have been some great players in baseball history who happened to be African-American, and the two dearest to me are Kirby Puckett and Torii Hunter, who between the two of them have patrolled almost every game in CF for my Twins since I can remember. I love baseball. I always have, and I always will, but the racism and pure ignorance that once plagued our country (and still lingers) just burns me to no end. How can a country founded on Christian principles go so awry? When I think of racism, I immediately think of Jesus' parable of the good Samaritan in the Scriptures. Awesome, Torii Hunter just hit a grand slam homerun as a I took a 5 minute intermission from typing. Anyway...

Luke 10:29-37 - " But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.' Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" He said, "The one who showed him mercy." And Jesus said to him, "You go, and do likewise.""

What's often left of out this wonderful parable is the serious racism that is going on. For starters, the man who was beaten was probably a Jew (or least the people hearing the story would probably think so), and Jews, in general, looked down on Samaritans and considered them half-breeds of some sort. The priest and Levite (the upper class elite at the time) who passed by obviously couldn't recognize the man in his beaten condition, so they weren't sure if the man was their "neighbor." So instead of risking defilement, they passed on by and had no mercy. Then, the Samaritan, also risking defilement, not only helps the man but helps a social enemy. How in the world did we miss the boat for so long in America? Sure, it's better now, but we still have a long way to go, don't we? The answer isn't in affirmative action or in using politically correct terms -- the answer is love. Christians, especially, should love people. After all, its what Jesus says we should be known for. For me, Sunday was great to see the love for Jackie Robinson in the baseball world after he endured so much hate for so long.

Now, on to Cho Seung-Hui and the Virginia Tech massacre. Sure, there has been plenty to say about this already, and just about everyone has much more insight than I ever could. I think I want to write about it mainly for myself - to get some stuff out. I know that so often when these things happen, the only response we can often give is something to effect of 'my hearts and prayers go out the victims and the families.' Sure, that's true. But the people in the United States of America should do more that offers prayers and thoughts. We need change, and I'm not going to get into a political debate about gun control or campus security or anything like that. I want to say something about a bigger issue at hand: we as a people have evil hearts, and our country is in a severe moral decline. Now Christian reader, don't you dare for a second think that you are any better than this depressed and disturbed 23 year old college student who just heartlessly wiped out 32 of his classmates. Is it terrible? Sure it is. Do these actions make one worthy of hell? Sure they do. But don't let us forget what the Bible says.

Before the flood, God said this in Genesis 6:5 - "The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." After the flood, God said this in Genesis 8:21 - "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done." Or how about when Jesus dropped this bombshell on us in Matthew 5:21-22 - "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell." One more from Matthew 5:43-45 - "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven."

The point of what I'm trying to say is this: the actions of a certain individual yesterday are reprehensible and nearly unforgivable and just utterly evil in tis grossest sense, but shame on us if that's all we see. Shame on us as individuals if we don't for a second heed the warnings in Scripture about the conditions of our own hearts. Shame on us if we look on the scene at Virginia Tech and feel morally righteous because we wouldn't do something like that. Are you so sure? What if the grace of God was removed from you for just a moment, what are you capable of? What am I capable of? What are we as a country capable of? You think 32 innocent victims being murdered in cold blood is a gross and evil thing? What about the 42 MILLION + abortions that have occurred in our country since 1973? Some will mock me and say that's it not the same thing. True, it's not the same thing. But murder is murder, and it's almost always for selfish reasons in which the murderer places his or her own interests over the lives of his or her victims. Most of the reasons for abortion are very selfish in nature. I was going to post the statistics, but my writing was getting very angry, so I'm forcing myself to refrain from posting the top reasons of why people have abortions. Here's a hint: selfishness, lack of abstinence, and a lack of sense.

I really don't want to get into political debates on this blog. But abortion shouldn't be a political debate but a moral dilemma. We have a rapidly deteriorating sense of morality in our country, and the horrible school shooting yesterday is just another example. At least people are still shocked by such a tragedy. But it's also a tragedy that we're not shocked that over a million babies are being killed every year. I saw my 10 week old baby in an ultrasound last week. And he/she looked like a baby -- and even had a heartbeat! Come on. Wake up America. And get over yourselves while you're at it. Our hearts are evil. Repent. We all need Jesus. Only he can make us right with God and right on the inside.

Can't Think of a Title --- Twins 5, Yankees 1

Ok, so I'm coming off a night with only about 5 hours of sleep, and it's going to be midnight before this post is over (all you new parents out there probably think I'm lucky to get that much sleep), but the last hour has been swell, and I wanted to share a little with my millions of readers -- even if it means being dead tired all day tomorrow!

I stumbled across a most interesting blog tonight. It's sort of crazy how I got there, as I starting bouncing from one baseball blog to another and somehow came across a blog written by a homeless guy in Nashville. The site seems pretty legit, and in the last couple of days, he has made some outstanding posts concerning the faith I hold dearly. Of course, he's trying to raise enough money to get a place to live so that he'll have an easier time getting a job. I guess I haven't really thought about the situation that much....it's probably hard for a homeless guy to get a job. I bet it's hard to find a lot of companies that want to hire a possibly uneducated unkempt individual without a stable home environment. Anyway, the 45 minutes I spent reading the blog really tugged at my heart some. Should I be doing more to solve the country's homeless problem? I didn't donate any money yet, but I may do so in a day or so...making sure I'm not under compulsion first. Sadly, even if I gave up my entire paycheck tomorrow to this Kevin guy on the streets of Nashville, I hardly think it would even scratch the surface of the types of things I should be doing more of; I think our time and prayers are more valuable than money, but to do none of the above is frightening. And to think I actually complained about spending 17 hours this weekend working on my back yard! At least I have a back yard! (But I sure would like some grass to grow.)

Now, stay tuned for some great input from John Owen on mortifying sin:

Do you mortify;
do you make it your daily work;
be always at it while you live;
cease not a day from this work;
be killing sin or it will be killing you.

If sin be subtle, watchful, strong, and always at work in the business of killing our souls,, and we be slothful, negligent, foolish, in proceeding to the ruin thereof, can we expect a comfortable event?

Not to be daily mortifying sin is to sin against the goodness, kindness, wisdom, grace, and love of God, who has furnished us with a principle of doing it.

The saints, whose souls breathe after deliverance from [sin's] perplexing rebellion, know there is no safety against it but in a constant warfare.

I think Owen said all that I needed to hear tonight. Tomorrow, I have a long and fierce battle to fight. Kill or be killed.

Random Good Friday Thoughts

Well, I'm back from vacation, and I suppose 4 days of work just flew by. Thankfully, I have Good Friday off this year, but I don't think that's the case the next three years or something like that. Oh well, I'll probably just take that day off anyway. If you read my blog on Martin Luther King Day, you'll know that I wrote about him on that day. I try to focus at least 15 minutes of a holiday on the reason for the holiday. Today was easy to take a few minutes to think on Jesus. For a Christian, every day is really a Good Friday + Easter celebration, but at least I don't have to go to work. I've just been chillin' this morning listening to JJ Heller, writing a letter to my friend in rehab (see post below), doing a little reading, and working on the links for this blog (see revamped links on the right). I now have four categories of links: "Sanctifying Links," "Musical Influences," "Blogs By Those I Call Friends," and "Other Blogs Worth Reading." I limited the "Other Blogs Worth Reading" section to spiritually-based blogs, leaving all the great baseball blogs out there off of my link list.

Ultrasound Report: Whitney and I went in Tuesday for our first ultrasound. This time, things were a lot better! Not only did our baby have a heartbeat, but everything else was normal! The doctor said that the chance of miscarriage goes down considerably when seeing the heartbeat. I didn't have the heart to tell her that the chance of miscarriage depends entirely on the will of God - but things sure do sound good. Whitney was physically, emotionally, spiritually, and visibly relieved at the sight of what could soon be our first child. Based on the length of the little nugget on the ultrasound, we are supposed to be due November 15th, but we think that the real due date may be a little sooner.

Book Review: I finally finished the book on Elijah by A.W. Pink. Outstanding book. Really. I know it took me forever to read it, but I couldn't stop until I was all the way through it. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is going to study 1st or 2nd Kings or especially Elijah. Pink has a phenomenal ability to take just a few words in scripture and make profound observations entirely for the glory of God and personal sanctification.

Book Preview: Also like I mentioned before, I started "Overcoming Sin and Temptation," a compilation of three books by John Owen rewritten into understandable English. I can tell already that this book is going to be life changing and very impactful. The Owen quote used often at the beginning of the book is, "Be killing sin, or it will be killing you." That quote alone is worthy of deep reflection and prayer. And it's true. As Christians, we absolutely must fight sin daily. If I could get one thing across in the duration of this blog -- it's the fact that Christians are in a war against sin and Satan, and we must fight or die! I think what I'm going to start seeing while reading this book is that sometimes it's the "little" sins can be killing me, slowly but surely, and I must learn to mortify them as well. Jesus went through way too much pain and suffering for me to take sin lightly. It was my sin that put him up on that cross on Good Friday long ago.

Rejoice with me, dear friends, that our redeemer lives. Boast in the cross today.

Letter 3 to Friend in Rehab

Today for me is Good Friday. I have the day off, so I’m taking some time now to write you what will probably be my final letter. I’ll be visiting in three weeks for your graduation, and I’m looking forward to it. I said at the beginning that my third letter would be on the person of Christ. I can’t think of a better day than Good Friday to write on such a person! When I was in second grade, I asked my teacher why Good Friday was called “good” when Jesus died on that day – I told her that I thought it should be called “Bad Friday.” Unfortunately, she didn’t have a good answer for me, and I went several years without truly understanding the necessity of Christ’s death and how it was good for me. What I understood even later in life was that it wasn’t just that Christ died for my sins that made it Good Friday, but it was so much more. A wise man once said that one should judge a religion not on the people who follow it but on the person who founded it. I implore you and everyone else who may look at Christianity to take eyes off of the hypocrites and the fakes and even the common everyday sinners like myself when judging the religion, but instead, take a look at Christ! That’s what I’m going to do today in this letter.

John 8:1-11 – “But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" "No one, sir," she said. “Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."”

What we see here is Christianity at its finest. The religious people at the time, the Pharisees, find a woman caught in adultery. She may have even been a prostitute, but the bottom line is that this behavior was deemed extreme at this time, and the punishment by law was to be stoned to death. They tried to trap Jesus by asking him what to do. What Jesus does is remarkable – in just a few words, he gets the Pharisees and all who read this story to look at themselves for a moment and the sin that plagues everyone. Then he basically says that anyone who has lived a sinless life has the right to condemn the woman, but those of us who have sinned have no right whatsoever to bring down condemnation on even a more wretched sinner such as this woman. Then Jesus, who did lead a sinless life and did in fact have full authority to judge and bring down condemnation on this woman, did not. He instead chose to love her, forgive her, save her, and give her the power to lead a holy life.

This is in large part is what is missing in a lot of so called Christianity today. Suddenly, mainstream Christianity has become a religion that condemns abortion doctors and homosexuals and murderers but doesn’t stop and think that we’re all sinners in need of God’s mercy. Three of God’s best instruments in history (Moses, David, and Paul) were all murderers. Jesus said on his sermon on the mount that hatred in the heart towards a person is the same as murder. There is no escaping the way of sin except through Christ. This is what he wants us to see. It doesn’t matter what a person has done because Christ’s death is sufficient for even the vilest of sinners. And no person here on earth has a right to condemn anyone because no person here on earth can claim to have lived a sinless life. Jesus is the true and living judge, and he offers eternal life to those who trust in him and turn from their former ways of sin.

One more thing before I close – look at what Jesus last said to the woman. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” This is crucial to understanding Christianity. Before a person trusts in Christ, it isn’t possible to leave a life of sin. The Bible says repeatedly that we are slaves to sin, dead in our transgressions, and unable to save ourselves or do anything about our wretched condition. But when Jesus meets a person where he or she is at, stares their sin in the face, and says, “Then neither do I condemn you,” then a person has received more grace and mercy that one can imagine and now has the power to leave a life of sin and enter a life of the pursuit of holiness. If the woman here in the story was to leave her meeting with Jesus unchanged and then continued on the same path of sin without a struggle, then there was no conversion in this story. But when Jesus truly changes someone, he changes them from the inside out, and while it is always a struggle and a daily war to fight off sin, a person who is truly a Christian will leave a life of sin and pursue a life pleasing to God.

I don’t know where you are at spiritually today. Perhaps this time in rehab has given you time to think over things and given you time to hear God calling for your soul. I’m not sure. I can only pray that my letters make sense and convey a clear understanding of Christianity and that you won’t live another day without knowing the love that God has for you. If Jesus can rise from the dead and claim victory over sin and death, then you can rise from your former life and live a new life – one of joy and purpose. Why is Good Friday called “good?” Because of Easter. Christ’s raising from the dead is good news to all that he has the power to conquer sin and death – and so shall we if we only trust him and leave our life of sin. I pray that God does a mighty work in your life because someone as intelligent and gifted as you would be valuable to the kingdom and could have a great testimony. See you in a few weeks.