God & Baseball

I wish I could take the credit for what follows...but I'm just sharing.
I was taking my 2 youngest kids to school the other day and was listening to a CD by Bob Bennett. He has a song called, "A Song About Baseball". I've had this CD for several years now and still love it. Bob is a great songwriter and has not been given due credit in the Christian music industry. He is a master storyteller and the smoothness of his voice, as well as awesome acoustic guitar playing, just make it a major treat to be able to listen to him. I got to see/hear him about 15 years ago with Michael Card...don't even get me started on the brilliance of Michael Card.

Anyway, it was only about 2 years ago that I really listened to the Baseball song. He talks about himself, growing up playing Little League and watching games...he grew up "when the Angels still played in LA". He talks about baseball cards & bubble gum, saying "I think there's a hole in my glove", swinging with eyes closed holding his breath, dying on the way back to the bench. But then he says something that, again, after listening to this song for over 10 years, hit me...and it hit me again this morning.

"None of it mattered after the game, when my father would find me and call out my name. An ice cream, a sno-cone, a candy bar, a limousine ride in the family car...he loved me, no matter how I played...he loved me."

Life, like baseball, is not about the "game"...it's about the experience. It's about what happens after it's over. What happens if you lose in baseball? There's another game around the corner. What happens when you lose a battle in life? There's another one around the corner. What we do and how we handle it afterward is the main thing. Who we turn to can make all the difference in the world, both figuratively and literally.

I have a friend who subscribes to this blog. We have known each other for a long time. They have recently given up on God as they have known Him and they are searching...and I want to encourage them in their search, because if they are really searching, they will come full-circle and find Him, this time as He really is, not as a denomination has instructed them to see Him.

It doesn't matter if you swing and miss, it doesn't matter if, in the outfield, you lose the ball in the sun and miss the catch. It doesn't matter if you fall down running down the baseline or if you're thrown out at first...because none of it matters after the game, when your Father will find you and call out your name.

Think about it.

DANCING ON THE FEET OF GOD

If you are the Daddy of a little girl or if you are the little girl of a Daddy, then you probably have experienced the joy dancing with each other in a unique way.

My girls are now 17 and 9 years old, so we don’t do this much anymore, and I must say I miss it, but when they were smaller we would have music playing and we would dance. Sometimes just a silly jig, sometimes mimicking square dancing, but the most fun was when they would place their little feet on top of mine while holding onto my hands. We would then waltz around the room like the finest of ballroom dancers. Not that I am an experienced dancer...by no stretch of the imagination could I be called even an amateur, but, we had fun none the less. The fun for them was to move about the room without exerting any force; Daddy moved them around, Daddy lifted their feet, Daddy made the moves, Daddy’s strength was what enabled them to dance.

When we said “Yes” to God, having accepted His Son, Jesus, as our Savior, we became His children. We start our prayers, just as Jesus taught His disciples, with “Our Father”.

If we have been honest with ourselves, we have understood that we are helpless in our sin condition. We can do nothing to make it better...of ourselves.

You see, God has a dance that He is quite fond of; it’s called righteousness. It is a way to live, a way to be, a way to exist. It is also a way beyond our grasp as sinful humans. Through no fault of their own, when my daughters were little, they didn’t know the dance steps. In order to dance the dance they had to rely on Daddy. And guess what? Daddy didn’t mind. Daddy didn’t get mad and say, “Because you don’t know how to dance our relationship is over!”  No, Daddy took his little girl by the hands and said, “Stand on Daddy’s feet, sweetheart, and Daddy will make you dance!”

God is not mad at us, not even people who have no relationship with Him. But, He cannot deny Who He is and what His standard is, His Dance. This Dance must be danced by everyone who would see Him. Enter the Lord of the Dance, Jesus. Jesus showed how the Dance was done. He knew/knows the steps because He is the choreographer as well as the composer of the music that goes with the Dance. He is also the dance teacher, but better yet...He is our Daddy.

He says to us, “Stand on Daddy’s feet, sweetheart, and Daddy will make you dance!”

Think about it.

Listening to God

For the past few weeks I've been asking God the same question -

             "What do you want me to do for You?"

I teach from time to time in a class that is really a great bunch of people. Very diverse folks...people way on the left and people way on the right and people who either are truly moderate, or just aren't sure, which is OK, too.

So, I get an email from a someone who I don't know very well, but consider her a friend nonetheless. I knew her husband before I knew her and his parents are friends who sit in the class that I mentioned. Anyway, she extended an invitation to my family and me to move to Texas and be a part of a core leadership team to plant a church. I was blown away by the invitation, and was also taken aback. Was this God answering my question?

A week or so later I got a phone call from the brother who seems to be the one who spearheads this church planting dynamic. We talked for about 30 minutes or so and had a very good conversation. I told him that I (we) were willing to go wherever God wants us to go, but He would have to make it VERY clear, leaving no questions or doubts about it.

The past 2 years (give or take a couple of months) have been difficult for my family. We have experienced some serious financial difficulties, but thanks to some incredible friends, we stayed solvent. We experienced no loner being a part of a business/ministry that seemed to go in a direction that was not part of the original plan. This was partly my fault and partly our partners. I have had questions for God with no answer. I have been angry with God with no response from Him. This last Friday our washing machine went down for the count, so my wife had to run to a local laundromat to wash some clothes. So I went to the garage to check out the washer...to no avail. So I started on a rant to God..."What are doing to us? What have we done to deserve all this crap that's happened? God, if You don't show up soon, I'm just gonna walk away!" The whole time I was just angry and spoke out of that anger...so it didn't mean much...just the ramblings of an idiot.

Later, after my wife got home and I had calmed down, I received the phone call from the ministry guy I mentioned earlier. Very good, calming conversation. After the call I stepped outside for fresh air. It was nice, but cloudy, so cloudy that even in the dark you could see the clouds...except directly over my head. I looked up and there was a hole in the clouds and centered in the hole was the Big Dipper. I smiled as saw it and heard in my head, "I'm going to pour out a blessing on you." Just like that.

I don't pretend to know what that meant, I'm not even sure what it could mean, but it was real...more real than the lunatic rant I went on only a couple of hours before. He made me aware of His presence and interest in my life and that He has something planned. I write this for those of you who may be in the same situation as I've been in the past couple of years.

He's there...He cares...and He has something for you.

Think about it.

The Search for God and Guinness by Stephen Mansfield

Guinness is a name that is synonymous with beer, but Stephen Mansfield shows that there is more to the famous family than just the black stout that bears their name. The founder of the world renowned brewery, Arthur Guinness, was a godly man who

truly loved his fellow man as well as a pint. He felt that brewing a stout beer was a service to his fellow man by offering

a healthy beverage, but he also believed it was a calling upon his life by God. The bane of Irish society at the time

was gin and whiskey drinking, which was tearing families apart. Most people considered beer to be the answer to 

this problem. Enter Arthur Guinness. The good that was done by Guinness for over two centuries, is recorded by Mansfield

with plenty of historical documentation. 

I was very curious about the angle of this book. I mean, I never would have thought to put God and beer in the same sentence,

let alone read an entire book about it, but here it is.  It was very interesting, and I am not even a beer drinker. My father was

a beer man and I have only recently even drank wine, but the way Mansfield presents the history of beer, going back thousands of years to Mesopotamia and then going straight to the pubs of 1700's Dublin, he gives us an interesting read. He also points out the social aspects of "having a beer" and how people have always bonded over the drink. The family history of the godly character of the Guinnesses was of great interest, especially how they cared about the brewery employees and the neighborhoods of Dublin during a time of poverty, pestilence and filth.

Personally, I have a hard time agreeing with Mansfield's idea (which was also the idea of most brewers) that beer was/is

a gift from God, a symbol of His grace. With that being said, I did enjoy the book and would recommend it to the curious Christian as well as the beer drinker who may or may not be a Christian as well. Well written, engaging and full of interesting information, especially about the clergymen who were Guinnesses. It almost made me want to go to the corner public house and down a pint.

A Blazed Trail

When I was a kid, I had a friend who was a boy scout. I belonged to a similar group at my church, but we didn't always do the cool stuff they did, one of them being, trailblazing.
You know, someone would go ahead and plant subtle clues like placing stones in a formation to guide you to the next clue, such as a broken twig hanging off a bush or something.
If you knew what to look for and if you were observant, you would make it to the end by following the clues. The trail was clearly marked for those who were really into the "game".

When I heard God leading me & my family away from the denomination of my childhood (for that matter, my whole life up to this point!), I had no idea where He was take us. I thought that He would simply nurture us at home with each other while still maintaining contact with other Christian brothers & sisters. I felt a lot like Abraham who was told to leave his father's household and go where he was shown, not knowing where, just going.

I had been a teacher for sometime. I had taught a class most of my adult life, and at this point I had been teaching out of Romans. I knew I had to tell this close knit class that it was time for me & my family to leave. Little did I realize what lay ahead.

A closer relationship with a couple of friends, opening a Christian bookstore & cafe, being able to minister to believers, (new & "old"), being a safe place for anyone - believer or otherwise.

Times have been a bit rocky, financially speaking, but we're still here. By God's grace, we're still here.

Love & Peace