This morning I went to the Dallas Leadership Prayer Breakfast as a guest of my good friend Pete Schenkel. I arrived early to go and speak with the guest speakers of the morning, Colt and Brad McCoy. As I talked with Colt's dad, Brad, he informed me Colt had a serious stomach bug. He was in Florida doing something with NFL Films and got so sick he is on an I.V. With his Pro Day at UT next Wednesday getting well has become top priority #1. Word is that his arm is strong and he is ready to throw.
So Brad spoke gave us four really solid points to ponder as we go through this week. It was one of the best speeches in Prayer Breakfast history and will bless you as well. These points are especially powerful for fathers to pay attention to:
1. "Prepare your child for the path--NOT the path for your child." He went on to say that most parents map out a life path for their kids--and make life too easy on them and too smooth. They want the coach to play, "The ten best players and their son." But what kids really need is to experince adversity.
2. Prepare Your Child to be the Best. Encourage them to do thier best and play to win--"Play to win; Expect to Win." Too many settle for good enough and are never challeneged to greatness.
3. Be a Leader- Daily thoughts should be to tell your children to do thier best and be a leader. Lead in the home, in your daily thoughts and example--and in the way you inspire others. Colt's theme for 2009 was "Thoughts become Themes" so stay positive, certain and faithful.
4. Prepare for Open and Closed Doors- The Rose Bowl for Colt was an Open Door that quickly closed. He used it to glorify God and stand on the Rock--and we should too. Make sure our positive energy is greater than the negative. Let Certainty triumph over doubt. Listen to Faith and not Fear. And leave a legacy of Faith, Love and Service.
Colt McCoy and Jordan Shipley had a theme verse around their apartment and with the team, "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him." Jeremiah 17: 7 It was the verse Jordan quoted that inspired the kicker to make the last second, game winning field goal for the Big Twelve Championship. It was also the verse that inspired Colt to be gracious in injury and in defeat at the National Championship.
We too will be blessed if we place our confidence firmly on the Rock today--no matter what.
Scott Sager
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
A New Game Called Basketball...
“Blogging at the Intersection of Faith and Sports”
On this date in 1892 the first public viewing of basketball took place in Springfield, Massachusetts. The game was invented by James Naismith for cold Massachusetts winters, with ties back to the games of his youth. Naismith was an orphan early in life and was raised by his uncle in Almonte, Canada to be a priest. However in college he discovered sports and dropped out of priestly studies to be a teacher at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield.
There he was challenged by the YMCA staff to invent a new indoor game that was physical, athletic and geared for the indoors. He started work on it in December 1891, and modeled it after games of the Aztec and Mayan Indians as well as the cleanup from the “Duck on a Rock” game of his youth (he remembered throwing the rocks back in the bucket between rounds was as fun as the game itself.) That day, he asked his class to play a match that was 9 versus 9-- using a soccer ball and two peach baskets. The players could not move with the ball: they had to pass it, without dribbling around or past the opponents, as is common today. The peach baskets were closed, and balls had to be retrieved manually (using a ladder). Later they cut a small hole in the bottom of the peach basket and poked the ball out using a stick. Only in 1906 were metal hoops, nets and boards introduced.
Someone proposed to call it “Naismith Game”, but he answered "We have a ball and a basket: why don’t we call it basketball?” So they did; the world of sports was never the same again.
Naismith took the challenge to do something new, fresh and exciting—he took the dare and made something fresh for life. Maybe we need to hear that same challenge again today from Jesus Christ—“Create something new, fresh and exciting that will make the world a better place.” Jesus once said, “Behold, I am making everything new…. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end” (Rev. 21: 5-6).
If he is making everything new that means he’s doing it for us, in us and through us. So don't be afraid to make the world a better place!
Scott Sager
On this date in 1892 the first public viewing of basketball took place in Springfield, Massachusetts. The game was invented by James Naismith for cold Massachusetts winters, with ties back to the games of his youth. Naismith was an orphan early in life and was raised by his uncle in Almonte, Canada to be a priest. However in college he discovered sports and dropped out of priestly studies to be a teacher at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield.
There he was challenged by the YMCA staff to invent a new indoor game that was physical, athletic and geared for the indoors. He started work on it in December 1891, and modeled it after games of the Aztec and Mayan Indians as well as the cleanup from the “Duck on a Rock” game of his youth (he remembered throwing the rocks back in the bucket between rounds was as fun as the game itself.) That day, he asked his class to play a match that was 9 versus 9-- using a soccer ball and two peach baskets. The players could not move with the ball: they had to pass it, without dribbling around or past the opponents, as is common today. The peach baskets were closed, and balls had to be retrieved manually (using a ladder). Later they cut a small hole in the bottom of the peach basket and poked the ball out using a stick. Only in 1906 were metal hoops, nets and boards introduced.
Someone proposed to call it “Naismith Game”, but he answered "We have a ball and a basket: why don’t we call it basketball?” So they did; the world of sports was never the same again.
Naismith took the challenge to do something new, fresh and exciting—he took the dare and made something fresh for life. Maybe we need to hear that same challenge again today from Jesus Christ—“Create something new, fresh and exciting that will make the world a better place.” Jesus once said, “Behold, I am making everything new…. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end” (Rev. 21: 5-6).
If he is making everything new that means he’s doing it for us, in us and through us. So don't be afraid to make the world a better place!
Scott Sager
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
The Modern Marathon and Us
On this date in 1896 Charilaos Vasilakos of Greece won the 1st modern marathon in 3 hours and 18 minutes. The 1896 Olympics were the first of the modern era, and the premier race of those Greek Olympic Games was to be the 26.2 mile journey into Athens and Olympic Stadium. Vasilakos won the inaugural race and the right to represent Greece in the Olympics, but then finished 5th at the Olympic Games to a Greek water-carrier named Spiridon "Spiros" Louis. Yet with his monumental run, the marathon became the standard for long-distance runners everywhere.
The name "Marathon" comes from the legend of Pheidippides, a Greek messenger. He was sent from the battlefield of Marathon in 490 BC. to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon (in which he had just fought.) Pheidippides ran the entire 26.2 mile distance around Mount Penteli and into Athens without stopping and burst into the assembly, exclaiming "Νενικήκαμεν" (“'We have won”) before collapsing and dying. The account of the run from Marathon to Athens first appears in Plutarch's On the Glory of Athens in the 1st century AD.
The Apostle Paul, a fellow sports enthusiast, also wrote about running in the 1st century. Paul loved the Greek games, the celebration of sports and even the obsession with winning: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air (Paul liked boxing too!). No, I buffet my body and make it my slave so that after I have spoken to others about Christ, I myself will not be disqualified from the prize.” (I Corinthians 9: 24-27)
The choice is up to us whether we run the race or sit in the stands while others compete for Christ. But the decision ultimately comes down to preparation and this question: “Do we buffet our bodies with discipline and training or merely buffet them with ‘all-you-can-eat’ consumption”?
Let’s join those in the arena and run!
Scott Sager
The name "Marathon" comes from the legend of Pheidippides, a Greek messenger. He was sent from the battlefield of Marathon in 490 BC. to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon (in which he had just fought.) Pheidippides ran the entire 26.2 mile distance around Mount Penteli and into Athens without stopping and burst into the assembly, exclaiming "Νενικήκαμεν" (“'We have won”) before collapsing and dying. The account of the run from Marathon to Athens first appears in Plutarch's On the Glory of Athens in the 1st century AD.
The Apostle Paul, a fellow sports enthusiast, also wrote about running in the 1st century. Paul loved the Greek games, the celebration of sports and even the obsession with winning: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air (Paul liked boxing too!). No, I buffet my body and make it my slave so that after I have spoken to others about Christ, I myself will not be disqualified from the prize.” (I Corinthians 9: 24-27)
The choice is up to us whether we run the race or sit in the stands while others compete for Christ. But the decision ultimately comes down to preparation and this question: “Do we buffet our bodies with discipline and training or merely buffet them with ‘all-you-can-eat’ consumption”?
Let’s join those in the arena and run!
Scott Sager
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
The Day the Babe Walked Away
“Blogging at the Intersection of Faith and Sports”
On this date in 1936 the great Babe Ruth did the unthinkable, the unimaginable, the incomprehensible thing in today’s sporting world--he walked away. He actually declined the Cincinnati Red’s invitation to make a final heroic comeback. Can you imagine Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali or Brett Favre declining a comeback when a wealthy owner is dangling money in front of their face?
Yet Ruth retired, walked away from the game—and didn’t listen to the inner-voice telling him he could still summon the strength, skill and talent to do it one more time. Nothing is harder for “the greatest” than to turn off the competitive juices and admit the game they love has passed them by. Sports is cruel in that way
George Herman Ruth, Jr. best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935. Ruth originally broke in with the Boston Red Sox as a starting pitcher, but was sold to the New York Yankees in 1919, and converted to a full-time right fielder and one of the league's most prolific hitters. Ruth was a mainstay in the Yankees' lineup that won seven pennants and four World Series titles during his tenure. Without a doubt, Ruth was the greatest baseball player of all-time.
After a short stint with the Boston Braves in 1935, Ruth retired. While Ruth could still hit, he could do little else. His conditioning had deteriorated to where he could do little more than trot around the bases. His fielding was dreadful; at one point, three of the Braves' pitchers threatened not to take the mound if Ruth was in the lineup.
But on May 25, at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Ruth went 4-for-4, drove in 6 runs and hit 3 home runs in an 11–7 loss to the Pirates. These were the last three home runs of his career. His last home run cleared the roof at the old Forbes Field—he became the first player to accomplish that feat.
Five days later, in Philadelphia, Ruth hurt his knee and walked away from the great game for good. There would be no talk of a comeback the next year with the Reds—it was over.
The wise King Solomon reminds us all that “there is a season for everything under heaven.” There is a time be born and die, a time laugh and mourn, a time to dig deep to give your all and a time to hang them up and retire. Solomon then says this, “And God makes all things beautiful in their time” (Ecclesiastes 3: 11).
Here’s wishing you enough faith to believe God’s timing for your life is better than your own.
Scott
On this date in 1936 the great Babe Ruth did the unthinkable, the unimaginable, the incomprehensible thing in today’s sporting world--he walked away. He actually declined the Cincinnati Red’s invitation to make a final heroic comeback. Can you imagine Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali or Brett Favre declining a comeback when a wealthy owner is dangling money in front of their face?
Yet Ruth retired, walked away from the game—and didn’t listen to the inner-voice telling him he could still summon the strength, skill and talent to do it one more time. Nothing is harder for “the greatest” than to turn off the competitive juices and admit the game they love has passed them by. Sports is cruel in that way
George Herman Ruth, Jr. best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935. Ruth originally broke in with the Boston Red Sox as a starting pitcher, but was sold to the New York Yankees in 1919, and converted to a full-time right fielder and one of the league's most prolific hitters. Ruth was a mainstay in the Yankees' lineup that won seven pennants and four World Series titles during his tenure. Without a doubt, Ruth was the greatest baseball player of all-time.
After a short stint with the Boston Braves in 1935, Ruth retired. While Ruth could still hit, he could do little else. His conditioning had deteriorated to where he could do little more than trot around the bases. His fielding was dreadful; at one point, three of the Braves' pitchers threatened not to take the mound if Ruth was in the lineup.
But on May 25, at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Ruth went 4-for-4, drove in 6 runs and hit 3 home runs in an 11–7 loss to the Pirates. These were the last three home runs of his career. His last home run cleared the roof at the old Forbes Field—he became the first player to accomplish that feat.
Five days later, in Philadelphia, Ruth hurt his knee and walked away from the great game for good. There would be no talk of a comeback the next year with the Reds—it was over.
The wise King Solomon reminds us all that “there is a season for everything under heaven.” There is a time be born and die, a time laugh and mourn, a time to dig deep to give your all and a time to hang them up and retire. Solomon then says this, “And God makes all things beautiful in their time” (Ecclesiastes 3: 11).
Here’s wishing you enough faith to believe God’s timing for your life is better than your own.
Scott
Friday, March 5, 2010
Trust Tiger's Caddie!
This week in sports we hear out of New Zealand that Tiger Wood’s caddie, Steve Williams, knew nothing of the Tiger’s nocturnal escapades. “I knew nothing, that’s my answer. I do not have to clarify or extend that answer; I knew nothing.” If this were Hogan’s Heroes then Williams would be Sargent Schultz. He knew nothing. Do you believe him?
I honestly do.
Williams went on to say he is angry and hurt like many others, but also frustrated so many thought he knew of the cheating and did nothing to grab the Tiger by the tail. “Every person believed that I should know or did know or had something to do with it,” he said. Instead, he was mad and upset when he heard the news, “I’m close with his wife and he’s got two lovely children and he let them down.” If he had known, maybe the man who helped Woods select a club and line up a putt could have helped him keep his home life on the right course and not out of bounds or in a hazard somewhere. But Tiger did not want to let him in on the secret of his wild side—why not?
Woods loves Williams and respects him as a colleague and friend. Williams loves Woods and has stood up to him on club selection at critical times in his career. But the reason Tiger Woods kept Steve Williams in the dark on his sex life is because Woods loved the way Williams looked at him. Everyone needs a few friends who see us the way we want to be—not the way we are. We need a few friends who inspire us to our highest and best—and who cheer us to reach lofty heights. I have a brother like that. He sometimes wonders why he is the last person to know a friend is an alcoholic or has a gambling addiction. It's not because he would be judgmental; it's because people like the way he sees them. He believes the best in folks and that optimism inspires and invigorates a soul.
Notice the kind of friend Williams aspires to be, “When you’re a true friend of somebody, that’s when somebody needs your support and needs you the most. That’s when you don’t walk away. Tiger’s one of my closest friends and he needs my support right now and I’d never think of walking away.” So while others make the jokes, point the fingers and talk of how the mighty has fallen, Tiger’s friend who sees Tiger the way Tiger wishes he was continues to stay loyal. “When a guy’s having a tough time, it is not up to me to beat him with a stick right now. He’s getting enough grilling from everybody else.”
The Bible says it this way, “A friend loves at all times, and there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 17:17, 18:24)
Tiger Woods is discovering that a friend who stands by you in the tough times is far more valuable than all the corporate endorsements his golf game ever lined up.
I honestly do.
Williams went on to say he is angry and hurt like many others, but also frustrated so many thought he knew of the cheating and did nothing to grab the Tiger by the tail. “Every person believed that I should know or did know or had something to do with it,” he said. Instead, he was mad and upset when he heard the news, “I’m close with his wife and he’s got two lovely children and he let them down.” If he had known, maybe the man who helped Woods select a club and line up a putt could have helped him keep his home life on the right course and not out of bounds or in a hazard somewhere. But Tiger did not want to let him in on the secret of his wild side—why not?
Woods loves Williams and respects him as a colleague and friend. Williams loves Woods and has stood up to him on club selection at critical times in his career. But the reason Tiger Woods kept Steve Williams in the dark on his sex life is because Woods loved the way Williams looked at him. Everyone needs a few friends who see us the way we want to be—not the way we are. We need a few friends who inspire us to our highest and best—and who cheer us to reach lofty heights. I have a brother like that. He sometimes wonders why he is the last person to know a friend is an alcoholic or has a gambling addiction. It's not because he would be judgmental; it's because people like the way he sees them. He believes the best in folks and that optimism inspires and invigorates a soul.
Notice the kind of friend Williams aspires to be, “When you’re a true friend of somebody, that’s when somebody needs your support and needs you the most. That’s when you don’t walk away. Tiger’s one of my closest friends and he needs my support right now and I’d never think of walking away.” So while others make the jokes, point the fingers and talk of how the mighty has fallen, Tiger’s friend who sees Tiger the way Tiger wishes he was continues to stay loyal. “When a guy’s having a tough time, it is not up to me to beat him with a stick right now. He’s getting enough grilling from everybody else.”
The Bible says it this way, “A friend loves at all times, and there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 17:17, 18:24)
Tiger Woods is discovering that a friend who stands by you in the tough times is far more valuable than all the corporate endorsements his golf game ever lined up.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Pee Wee Reese and the true Hall of Fame
On this date in 1984 the great Pee Wee Reese was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. He played for the Brooklyn and L.A. Dodgers from 1940-58 and was a ten-time All-Star shortstop. The nickname “Pee Wee” was given to him as a boy in his racially segregated hometown of Louisville because of his prowess at marbles (the smallest of the marbles is called a “pee wee”). After graduation in 1937 he pursued a career in baseball taking time out to serve his country in the Navy from 1943-45.
Long before Avery Johnson was termed “the little General”, Pee Wee was dubbed “the Little Colonel” and was such a leader as the Dodger’s team captain that he, not the manager, brought the line-up card to home plate before all games. Reese scored more runs than anyone in Dodger history, he was a homerun threat from the shortstop position (a rarity in those days) and ranks in the Top 10 all-time in put outs and double plays. These records earned him entrance into the Hall of Fame, but in reality none of them matter much anymore.
The event that earned Pee Wee Reese a place in the annals of greatness occurred in the spring of 1947. Jackie Robinson was brought up to the Dodgers as the first African-American player in the 80 year history of the Major Leagues. Although Reese had no previous interactions with people of color (Jackie Robinson was the first black man he had ever shaken hands with) he had no prejudices either. Perhaps that was because of the day as a youth when his father made him aware of racial injustice showing him a tree where a lynching had occurred. Perhaps recalling this, Reese refused to sign a petition threatening a boycott if Robinson joined the team.
But it was later that spring in Cincinnati, Ohio that Reese’s leadership, integrity and charity came into full view. The fans of the Reds were heckling Jackie Robinson with a round of “boos”, racial slurs and expletives never imagined in America’s great game. As the taunts and barbs came raining down upon young Jackie, team captain Pee Wee Reese walked over, engaged him in conversation and placed his arm around Jackie’s shoulder. It was the gesture of support that silenced the crowd and turned the scales of justice in Robinson’s favor. Later that year as others still taunted him, Pee Wee once told Robinson, “Some people hate you because you're black, and others just because you’re good.” The duo of “Reese to Robinson” went on to be one of the most dynamic midfields in the history of baseball.
Joe Black, another of Major League Baseball’s black pioneers, said these words at Reese’s funeral:
"Pee Wee helped make my boyhood dream come true to play in the majors, to play in the World Series. When Pee Wee reached out to Jackie, all of us in the Negro Leagues smiled and said it was the first time that a white guy had accepted us. When I finally got up to Brooklyn, I went to Pee Wee and said, 'Black people love you. When you touched Jackie, you touched all of us.' With Pee Wee, it was No. 1 on his uniform and No. 1 in our hearts."
Note: Pee Wee Reese’s gesture is depicted in the book, Boys of Summer, and in a bronze sculpture of Reese and Robinson, created by sculptor William Behrends, that was placed at Key Span Park in Brooklyn and unveiled on November 1, 2005.
Long before Avery Johnson was termed “the little General”, Pee Wee was dubbed “the Little Colonel” and was such a leader as the Dodger’s team captain that he, not the manager, brought the line-up card to home plate before all games. Reese scored more runs than anyone in Dodger history, he was a homerun threat from the shortstop position (a rarity in those days) and ranks in the Top 10 all-time in put outs and double plays. These records earned him entrance into the Hall of Fame, but in reality none of them matter much anymore.
The event that earned Pee Wee Reese a place in the annals of greatness occurred in the spring of 1947. Jackie Robinson was brought up to the Dodgers as the first African-American player in the 80 year history of the Major Leagues. Although Reese had no previous interactions with people of color (Jackie Robinson was the first black man he had ever shaken hands with) he had no prejudices either. Perhaps that was because of the day as a youth when his father made him aware of racial injustice showing him a tree where a lynching had occurred. Perhaps recalling this, Reese refused to sign a petition threatening a boycott if Robinson joined the team.
But it was later that spring in Cincinnati, Ohio that Reese’s leadership, integrity and charity came into full view. The fans of the Reds were heckling Jackie Robinson with a round of “boos”, racial slurs and expletives never imagined in America’s great game. As the taunts and barbs came raining down upon young Jackie, team captain Pee Wee Reese walked over, engaged him in conversation and placed his arm around Jackie’s shoulder. It was the gesture of support that silenced the crowd and turned the scales of justice in Robinson’s favor. Later that year as others still taunted him, Pee Wee once told Robinson, “Some people hate you because you're black, and others just because you’re good.” The duo of “Reese to Robinson” went on to be one of the most dynamic midfields in the history of baseball.
Joe Black, another of Major League Baseball’s black pioneers, said these words at Reese’s funeral:
"Pee Wee helped make my boyhood dream come true to play in the majors, to play in the World Series. When Pee Wee reached out to Jackie, all of us in the Negro Leagues smiled and said it was the first time that a white guy had accepted us. When I finally got up to Brooklyn, I went to Pee Wee and said, 'Black people love you. When you touched Jackie, you touched all of us.' With Pee Wee, it was No. 1 on his uniform and No. 1 in our hearts."
Note: Pee Wee Reese’s gesture is depicted in the book, Boys of Summer, and in a bronze sculpture of Reese and Robinson, created by sculptor William Behrends, that was placed at Key Span Park in Brooklyn and unveiled on November 1, 2005.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
The Naming of a Stadium
On this date in 1959, baseball’s San Francisco Giant’s renamed their baseball field “Candlestick Park.” Candlestick Park derived its name from nineteenth century locals who thought the burning of nearby abandoned ships and their flaming masts in the bay resembled lighted candlesticks at night. Situated on Candlestick Point on the western shore of the San Francisco Bay, the stadium site was the cheapest plot of land available in the city that was suitable for a sports stadium.
Before the state-of-the art stadium was built, the site was a 170 acre landfill the Navy had plans for at the close of WWII. It was abandoned by the Navy after the war, abandoned by the Giants for the new AT&T Field, and will soon be abandoned by the NFL 49’ers in 2012. The location being abandoned is one of the most scenic and beautiful in all the country. It attracts families for picnic, strolls on the beach, days in the sand and wind surfing. What the site cannot attract is corporate dollars, corporate sponsors and the big money teams desire in order to compete.
There is a lesson in this for all of us: San Francisco has lost its Candlestick due to the desire for the state-of-the-art stadium, the money for corporate sponsors, the luxury boxes the elites require and the need to literally “keep up with the Joneses” (the ones down in Dallas with the Cowboys). What was once a place of beauty, family fun and community reclamation is now an enterprise for corporate greed and big money. The stadium no longer serves the people—the people serve the stadium and its owners.
In the book of Revelation Jesus warned us to watch out for greed and the selling out of the church to big money and corporate greed. Speaking to the church he said, “You say, ‘I am rich—I have acquired wealth and am in need of nothing’, but you do not recognize that you are wretched, poor, pitiful, blind and naked.” (Revelation 3: 17) The temptation for stadiums and churches is to bask in the brilliance of big, new, shiny state-of-the-art facilities and never realize something significant might have been lost to get us there. Jesus’ counsel to churches was this, “Remember your first love and the height from which you’ve fallen; change direction and get back to the things you did at first.”(Revelation 2: 5).
What have we lost in our pursuit of big money? And what’s at stake if we lose our first love? Simply put, Jesus says, “If you do not change I will come and take your candlestick away!”(Revelation 2:5)
In 1967 , the White Sox were first given permission to use a semi-DH in training camp with home club permission (use of pinch hitter twice in same game). This was the beginning of what some religious folks call, “The slippery slope” and what others might call a “Progressive improvement.” The answer lies in the eyes of the beholder.
The Batter's Box
On March 2, 1874 organizers of the great game decided they needed a batter’s box around home plate for the hitters to stand inside. Evidently this was never an issue in English Cricket as the strike zone in baseball makes where one can stand more significant. So the commissioners and owners of America’s Pastime decided to gather and adopt a rule to put limits and constraints on a batter’s location. Why adopt a new rule? Why put an additional limit on the player’s freedoms? The answer: Because a good rule makes the game more fun, fair and enjoyable for everyone.
Have you ever noticed how good rules make the game more fun? It’s the same way with God’s rules and life in general. We often wonder why God gave us the Ten Commandments and “all those other rules.” However, if you read things carefully you notice they were given “so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess” (Deuteronomy 5: 33) In other words God dropped a batter’s box and some other rules into our game of life as good rules that make the game more fun, fair and enjoyable for everyone.
When Jesus came along in the New Testament he could sense people were beaten down by the rules. That’s the way I sometimes feel about all the rules in golf—who can remember them all? So Jesus commented on the rules of the Old Testament and said… Just in case you can’t remember them all just do this, “Love God with all your heart and love your neighbor” (Luke 10: 27) That’s the summary of how to have fun in life—whether playing the Great Game or working in the office.
God made the great rules for the game of life—follow them and life will be more fun, fair and enjoyable for everyone. Religion has come along and added an extra layer of rules that often suck the life and the fun right out of life. That’s why Jesus was so hard on the religious leaders—they were taking God’s great game and draining the life right out of it for everyone.
So today let’s consider the rules by which we are playing God’s great game. If we are following the ones he laid down as our commissioner then your life today should be fun, fair and enjoyable—and so will the lives of those around you.
Note: Two other events on this day deserve special mention: 1) In 1927 Babe Ruth became the highest paid player in baseball making $70,000 a year—more than the U.S. President. When asked about making more playing baseball than the president Ruth replied, “I should. I had a better year last year than he did!” and 2) Wilt Chamberlin scored 100 in an NBA game—a feat only matched by that Christian School in Texas that routed its opponent and saw the coach get fired over it.
Have you ever noticed how good rules make the game more fun? It’s the same way with God’s rules and life in general. We often wonder why God gave us the Ten Commandments and “all those other rules.” However, if you read things carefully you notice they were given “so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess” (Deuteronomy 5: 33) In other words God dropped a batter’s box and some other rules into our game of life as good rules that make the game more fun, fair and enjoyable for everyone.
When Jesus came along in the New Testament he could sense people were beaten down by the rules. That’s the way I sometimes feel about all the rules in golf—who can remember them all? So Jesus commented on the rules of the Old Testament and said… Just in case you can’t remember them all just do this, “Love God with all your heart and love your neighbor” (Luke 10: 27) That’s the summary of how to have fun in life—whether playing the Great Game or working in the office.
God made the great rules for the game of life—follow them and life will be more fun, fair and enjoyable for everyone. Religion has come along and added an extra layer of rules that often suck the life and the fun right out of life. That’s why Jesus was so hard on the religious leaders—they were taking God’s great game and draining the life right out of it for everyone.
So today let’s consider the rules by which we are playing God’s great game. If we are following the ones he laid down as our commissioner then your life today should be fun, fair and enjoyable—and so will the lives of those around you.
Note: Two other events on this day deserve special mention: 1) In 1927 Babe Ruth became the highest paid player in baseball making $70,000 a year—more than the U.S. President. When asked about making more playing baseball than the president Ruth replied, “I should. I had a better year last year than he did!” and 2) Wilt Chamberlin scored 100 in an NBA game—a feat only matched by that Christian School in Texas that routed its opponent and saw the coach get fired over it.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Because two things I love to discuss are Jesus Christ and sports
Friends, every morning I am torn between my passion to spend time in God’s Word and to spend time reading the Sport’s Page. Maybe you feel this tension as well? Ever since my days as a paperboy, reading the Sport’s Page early in the morning has been a part of my daily ritual. I like knowing what just happened, what will happen—and talking about it with others throughout the day. I often surprise my un-churched friends with my ability to match them stat for stat on things they think a “man of the cloth” would be too busy to consider. But hey, God made me with a love for sports—and I enjoy being passionate about them.
Yet at the same time, I do know that The Wide World of Sports cannot hold a candle to what God is doing in our world today. Faith is more powerful than steroids; Jesus is a mightier King than King (LeBron) James; the Lion of Judah is a better role model than the Tiger of Nike and the Eucharist does more to restore my soul than Gatorade ever could. Champions come and go, newspapers get recycled and sports records are made to be broken. But in the midst of it all Jesus remains that one ever present hero who has never yet lost a match or let me down.
So what if there is a way to use sports to see God more clearly? Maybe we can celebrate the human instinct of competition as a driver than can be harnessed to lead us towards Christ. Maybe sports is a part of the Incarnation of God—and we can actually see God working in, with and under the stuff on the Sport’s Page in a way that can inspire our living. Maybe reading the Sport’s Page through the lens of the Bible can give us a perspective on life that could inspire us to be bolder, go further and risk more for the cause of Christ.
That is the quest of this blog—to read the Bible and the Sport’s page and see what God might have in store for us. That’s my aim—let’s hope I’m a good shot.
Yet at the same time, I do know that The Wide World of Sports cannot hold a candle to what God is doing in our world today. Faith is more powerful than steroids; Jesus is a mightier King than King (LeBron) James; the Lion of Judah is a better role model than the Tiger of Nike and the Eucharist does more to restore my soul than Gatorade ever could. Champions come and go, newspapers get recycled and sports records are made to be broken. But in the midst of it all Jesus remains that one ever present hero who has never yet lost a match or let me down.
So what if there is a way to use sports to see God more clearly? Maybe we can celebrate the human instinct of competition as a driver than can be harnessed to lead us towards Christ. Maybe sports is a part of the Incarnation of God—and we can actually see God working in, with and under the stuff on the Sport’s Page in a way that can inspire our living. Maybe reading the Sport’s Page through the lens of the Bible can give us a perspective on life that could inspire us to be bolder, go further and risk more for the cause of Christ.
That is the quest of this blog—to read the Bible and the Sport’s page and see what God might have in store for us. That’s my aim—let’s hope I’m a good shot.
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