When I grow up...

When I was a kid, I had several favorite Major League players. One of those players was Fred Lynn, a rookie centerfielder with the Boston Red Sox in 1975. To this day, he is the only player to win the Rookie of the Year award and the Most Valuable Player Award in the same year. I spent hours in my backyard trying to make amazing catches jumping against our fence like Fred Lynn jumping against the wall in Fenway Park.

Like many kids, I had a dream to be a Major League Baseball Player and I wanted to be one like Fred Lynn. No one had to tell me to practice like Fred Lynn or imitate his style of play. I did it because I was in "10 year old awe" of Fred Lynn.

I've pretty much given up on my dream of being a Major League Player. At 41, I'm not expecting anyone to call and offer me a contract. But these days, I have a dream of being like someone else. I dream of being like Jesus.

Early on in my following of Christ, someone told me I was supposed to become like Jesus. Romans 8:29 teaches that God is conforming all of Christ's followers to the likeness of Christ and my job, I was told, was to cooperate with God in this process. I honestly wanted to do this. It seemed like the least I could do since He died for me. It was the right thing to do for a follower of Christ and I wanted to do the right thing.

Something changed a few years ago though. Becoming like Jesus became something I deeply wanted more than something I was just supposed to do. By God's grace, I have come to the realization that Jesus lived "the good life". I don't mean this in a moral sense, though Jesus lived a perfect moral life. I mean this in the sense that He lived with more joy, peace, love and generosity than anyone that has ever lived. He showed that real living is about giving. He lived a fulfilling life. He loved life and lived it the way the Heavenly Father created it to be lived.

I'm not jumping into fences anymore. I am jumping into the Word of God to discover how I can be like Jesus and I am asking my Heavenly Father for grace to help me on the way.

Two Baseballs (Part 2)

The closest player in this picture is Wily Mo Pena, the Red Sox player who threw the ball to my son after pre-game warmups. Wily Mo did something unique before the start of the game we attended. Just before the first pitch (while Curt Schilling was standing behind the mound saying his usual pre-game prayer), Wily Mo walked out to the warning track and wrote with his finger in the dirt. Since we were standing by the centerfield wall, I could see clearly that He wrote "Jesus". What a cool surprise!

Of course, it would be easy to write about how each of us needs to make our mark for Christ, but Wily's action makes me think of something else first. It makes me think of Jesus writing in the dirt in the story of the adulterous woman (John 7:53-8:11). We'll never know in this life what Jesus wrote in the dirt. What we do know is that after Jesus finished writing, all the religious leader dudes, who were sadly anxious to stone this woman, walked away one by one. My guess is Jesus wrote down specific examples of their sin with names attached and they wanted to leave before more of their dark secrets got out.

The most important part of the story is that Jesus did something we are not very good at doing. When we see sin in other people, we either condemn them for it or we ignore it in the name of acceptance. Jesus did the hard work of accepting the woman while still showing He did not approve of her sin. We know this because of Jesus' words, "Neither do I condemn you, go now and leave your life of sin." It's amazing to me that the "worst" of sinners (let's not get into a sin grading conversation here) felt comfortable around Jesus, but sinners feel awkward around most professing Christians. We need God's grace to live a life like Jesus that authentically welcomes people and encourages them to leave their sin to pursue righteous living in Christ. We can learn to do both with God's help. It's a satisfying way to live and love.

Two Baseballs (Part 1)

When I traveled to Boston with my two boys a couple weekends ago, my youngest son had something very unusual happen to him. He received a baseball from two different players. The first came from Wily Mo Pena, the new Red Sox outfielder received in the Bronson Arroyo trade.** We arrived early to our game to watch the Red Sox warm-ups. Both of my boys were leaning on the back of the Red Sox dugout and after warm-ups, Wily Mo (that's like "Willy, not Wile, like the coyote) tossed a ball in their direction. Both boys scrambled with others for the potential treasure and my youngest came up with it. There's more to this story, but I'll save that for next week's blog.

He received the second ball from another new Red Sox player, utility man Willie Harris. Harris came into the game to pinch run and stayed in at centerfield, ironically replacing Wily Mo Pena. After between inning warm-ups, Willie threw the ball into the stands. My boys were standing at the rail, but the ball traveled over their heads. My boys thought they missed their chance and came back to their seats. A few seconds later, one of the ushers motioned to Bryan and brought him to the man who caught the ball. The man wanted to give the ball to Bryan!

Here's the connection to the spiritual. Jesus came to give us the gift of abundant life, or as The Message puts it, real life. I love the word "real" because it points to the direction that what we see and touch is not as real as the what we can't see and touch. Since this is not a philosophy blog, I'll stop there, but I will say that every one of us knows there is more to life than meets the eye. Jesus said, "a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." (Luke 12:15) The greatest treasure, Jesus says, is the kingdom of heaven and this treasure only comes as a gift to those who put their trust in Jesus, the king of the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 13:44-46)

The sad truth is that if I am left to myself, I won't seek this treasure of treasures. I will keep digging in the dirt looking for less than spectacular trinkets instead of grabbing onto Jesus and His kingdom. Jesus said that no one can come to Him unless the Father draws him (John 6:44). In other words, I need the Father to "usher" me to Jesus so I can receive Him as my treasure of treasures.

Just as my son needed the usher to lead him to his baseball treasure, we need the Father to usher us to Jesus. The good news of the gospel is that the Father does not want anyone to perish in their trinket seeking (2 Peter 3:9). Instead, He desires to lead all of us to discover the treasure of Christ. Hear the quiet but steady voice of your usher and follow Him to Jesus.

**Red Sox fans are split on the value of this trade, I think Pena has great potential, especially if we can keep him through the Post-Manny Ramirez years which start in 2009, or sooner if the Sox finally trade him. I put this paragraph at the end because some of you are thinking this is a little too much information for you, but hey, it's baseball and baseball is all about the details. If you don't think so, just google "baseball statistics" and you'll be overwhelmed with statistical details beyond your imagination... stats like Jason Varitek has hit a home run on May 20th for 5 years in a row. Will this be the sixth year? I'm happy to hear about things like this, but it is beyond my comprehension that people get paid to research this stuff . That sounds like another blog for another day.

It's Atmosphere, Baby!

I love the ballpark! There's nothing like it. It's atmosphere sucks me in...the crack of the bat; the smell of hot dogs; perfectly groomed grass (completely unlike my yard); the 7th inning stretch; fans scrambling for foul balls; the rising roar when a batter has two strikes; the collective breath taken when a hit has the potential to be a home run and the eruption when it is.

This picture is from this past weekend in Boston at the king of ballparks, Fenway Park. My wife and I gave my boys tickets to a Red Sox game for Christmas. (Of course there was a ticket for me too...somebody has to drive them up there! And that's our friend Jared in the picture with us. He lives just North of Boston and let us sleep at his place for two nights. Thanks, Jared!)

Everything about our experience at Fenway lived up to my expectations. The weather was perfect. It was a night game in which you could feel baseball in the air. Our favorite pitcher, Curt Schilling, pitched. The Red Sox won and their star slugger, David Ortiz, had a game winning, three run double. To top it all off, my youngest son got two baseballs, but that's another blog on another day.

If you've read the gospels, you may have noticed the atmosphere around Jesus was always different than anywhere else. Yes it was swirling with commotion, sometimes swarming with people looking for a miracle for themselves or just to see one for someone else. There was controversy with the religious establishment. But to me, there is one major difference beyond all that. That difference was peace. Winds of commotion and controversy, but Jesus was the eye in the storm.

I believe that peace in the daily storm of life is available to his followers if they are willing to learn how to live life the way Jesus lived it. He didn't just live for His Father or under His Father, He lived life with His Father. By Father, I mean Heavenly Father, of course.

I think most people want to live with peace. We want to see life clearly and make decisions that are good for us and those around us. We want to help others. Yet, we have to admit that life just keeps coming at us. It doesn't seem to let up. But I know we can learn to "do life" with Jesus. With His Spirit's help, we can practice His presence with us and we can transform our thinking with His truth. Peace, joy and goodness can grow in our lives. If we cooperate with His presence in our lives, Jesus has the power to transform the atmosphere of our lives from chaos to calm.

Sometimes I wish I could bring the atmosphere of a pro baseball game to one of my little league games. I'm thinking that is not going to happen, but it would be cool. Jesus, however, invites all of us to live life with Him and when we accept His invitation, He brings His "eye of the storm" atmosphere with Him.

Baseball, Jesus and the Good Life

It's the bottom of the ninth inning, two outs, two strikes, the winning run is on second base and the fans are on their feet. How in the world does a batter stay focused enough to deliver the game winning hit? He has to be thinking about hitting the ball. He can't worry about striking out. He can't worry about what the fans will say if he makes the last out without driving in the winning run. He can't let his mind wander to times when he failed in situations like this before.

Is there really much difference from this batter's moment and the moments we face everyday? Every day we make choices that affect the rest of our lives. And every day, the pressures and worries of life can distract us from making the best choices. We can't worry about making the wrong choice. We have to believe that with God's help, we can make the best choice. We can't worry about what people will think if they don't like the choice we make. We can't be distracted by our past failures to make good choices. To make the most of the moment and make the best choices requires focus and a clear vision of the pitches life is throwing at us and where we want to go with the pitch.

Will we choose to serve ourselves or serve others? Will we seek to build Christ's kingdom, the only thing that will last forever, or our own, which can change with the wind? Will we accept Christ's invitation to walk with Him or try to live life in our own small strength? Will we invest time in our kids' development or watch another TV show? Will we pray or get busy? Will we fill our minds with useless information or be transformed by filling our thoughts with God's truth. Will we focus on what we can get or on what we can give?

This is day one in blogging world for me. My first love is Jesus Christ. After that comes my family, my church family, my friends and those I hope to introduce to life with Jesus. Somewhere down the line is baseball. I have loved this game since before I can remember. My earliest baseball memory is watching the early 70's Red Sox, featuring Carl Yaztremski, Carlton Fisk, George Scott and Luis Tiant, with my friend Jeffrey. During commercials, we would change channels (manually of course, no one I knew had a remote) and watch pro wrestling with Chief Jay Strongbow and Haystack Calhoun.

I'll write about some of my baseball memories here, along with my current opinions and perspectives on baseball, because my plan is to use this blog to connect baseball, and sometimes other fun stuff, to ideas about living life with Jesus at the center.

I have always been what professionals call a "conversational thinker". I'm sure professionals have other ways to describe me as well, but being a conversational thinker means I learn best when I am writing down my words or talking with others. I have believed in my heart for a long time that Jesus came to bring us the good life that we long to live and that we can learn to enjoy this good life by learning to "do life" with Him. My hope is that this blog helps me, and those who read it and post comments to it, to take steps with Jesus who will lead us in the good life that He wants to share with us. Let's play ball!