Wood vs. Aluminum Part 2

I would like to revise an earlier post about the wood vs. aluminum bat debate. I now prefer wood overall, after swinging a wood bat for a few months my swing has cleared up, and I am actually hitting much better than before. Also to add to that I used to swing an ash bat but now I prefer maple, it’s a little more expensive and heavier but it will last longer and I feel that a maple bat gets a little more pop on the ball. And to all those who read my blog, Happy Thanksgiving.

Great Faith

If I could only name a handful of people in the Old Testament that demonstrate great faith Joseph would have to be one of them. Joseph’s story is a long one, it takes place in chapters 37-50, and I don’t really want to write all that (and I don’t think anyone has time to read it) so I’ll summarize. To put it simply Joseph was spoiled, his father Jacob (also used to favoritism) favored Joseph who in return let everyone know it. Joseph had eleven brothers who didn’t like the way he showed off, so they came up with a plan to kill him, but instead sold him to a caravan which led to a life of slavery in Egypt.
There are three events I want to signal out in Joseph’s life that can be used as an example of faith, the first one is in chapter 39. Joseph was working for a man named Potiphar, and as Joseph worked he earned respect and trust. Potiphar had a wife who liked Joseph (in simplest terms) and how did Joseph react? He ran, he separated himself from sin to the point of making an effort to not be around the situation. One day Potiphar’s wife grabbed Joseph and he ran out of her grasp even leaving his cloak behind. That is what we are to do when the devil comes up to us tempting us to sin, we are to run. It may not seem like the macho thing to do, but it is what we are to do. When the devil tempts us we are to get away from the tempter, we are to leave the tempting situation so that our hearts may not be compromised.
After the incident with Potiphar’s wife things went sour. Joseph was in such a hurry that he left his cloak in her hand which she kept for the day and when Potiphar came home she lied and said Joseph attacked her. Potiphar didn’t like that so he threw Joseph in jail. Joseph was sitting in jail when the pharaoh’s cup bearer and baker we sent in. They both had dreams and Joseph interpreted them. Pharaoh had a dream some time later and because Joseph had the reputation of interpreting dreams, he sought him out. Joseph was wrongly sent to prison for who knows how many years. He was accused of a crime he prevented from happening his whole life and from where he was sitting didn’t have much to look forward to. God gave him an opportunity, a chance to be lifted up. All Joseph’s life he was spoiled, and then through the ultimate humiliation was humbled and God looked down and lifted him up.
Joseph rose to a very powerful position and was in charge of food during a famine met up with his brothers. Joseph’s brothers didn’t recognize him and after what seems an endless back and forth Joseph reveals himself. Fast-forward to when Jacob dies and we see Joseph’s brothers afraid that they will be killed and Joseph says one of my favorite verses “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good…” Genesis 50:19. Joseph was in a position to get back at his brothers, but he instead praised God for His plan, and forgave his brothers for what they did.
Sometimes things go wrong, sometimes we are wrongly accused of something we didn’t do, or are treated unfairly and we always sin. But we should look at Joseph as an example of faith; he ran from temptation, accepted God’s opportunity, and forgave his brothers. Joseph was a man of faith and it should in his life. Before we have God in our lives we can be like the younger Joseph, we can be selfish and annoying, but when we accept God in our lives, when we humble ourselves and live for Him amazing things can happen.

White as Snow

One thing that always gets me is God’s unconditional love and grace. The fact that He sees everything we do, every righteous and sinful act is seen by God. From the time we were born on to now God has seen our entire lives, every sin we committed, every time we were dishonest or mean He has seen it all. But the amazing thing is despite this fact He loves us anyway! His love never runs out, His supply of grace never diminishes; He loves us just the same. God forgives us in an odd way we couldn’t understand. While we get angry and “need time to forgive” God never hesitates He never says no, the Bible says “’Though your sins are like scarlet they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson they shall be like wool’” Isaiah 1: 18. Our souls have been stained by sin, big splotches are spread out for God to see, but here He tells us that they shall be as white as snow. Have you ever looked at the snow on a winter morning when the sun is shining on it and walked inside and everything seems dark? It is so bright that we need to squint to look at it; and that is what God can make us, that is what He will do! I am not saying God doesn’t like sin, and am no way saying sin is okay, we are not to sin, and definitely not to use God’s grace as a free pass through life, but we are told that even though we sin, even though we mess up at times we are still loved and treasured by God.

Wood Vs. Aluminum

Well I was doing some research and I saw that there is a huge debate as to whether aluminum bats are better than wood bats. Personally I think wood bats are better. I know we all love to hear a loud “ping” and see homeruns shoot over the leftfield wall, but what is the cost? First off wood bats are better because they teach strong mechanics, you can get a cheap hit off an aluminum bat but a wood bat won’t forgive you for that so it forces you to get a perfect swing. Second aluminum bats tend to create a wide sweeping swing while wood bats force you to conserve energy and have a compact swing. You will get the outside pitch all right but with a big swing you don’t have much of a chance getting the inside pitch. Third wood bats are heavier so they increase your power and bat speed. And fourth, how can you replace the classic cracking sound as the ball jumps off the bat with a hollow ping? Some people use wood bats all the time, or only in training, personally I use my wood bat for training (tee work, BP, drills) and my aluminum bat in actual games.

We Need To Empty Our Glasses

It has occurred to me that I have not written a post on the Old Testament, and for that I am sorry so that’s why this post is on a passage in Genesis, one of my favorite books in the Bible. This is a sometimes looked over passage in Genesis 11 verses 1-9 about the tower of Babel. The story jumps out of a distribution of nations, some people thought it was a good idea to build a large tower and then God scattered them. Why is this here? The key is when one guy steps up with the idea and says “’Come let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the earth’” Genesis 11:4. The people of Babel thought they could reach heaven by piling bricks up, they were proud and thought they could be near or like God, and as we’ve seen with the Pharisees God doesn’t like that. The people of Babel were proud and their descendants the Babylonians were just the same. Well how did God respond to this? He spread them out and confused their language. When we’re proud we walk around as if we don’t need God, as if we’re on top of the world as if in our minds we are our own God. And God can’t use proud hearts; He can’t use a full person. Have you ever tried to fill a glass full of water with water? Well it’s pointless when you pour more water in it pours out because the glass is already full, it’s the same way with our hearts God can’t use a person who is full of plans and ideas, someone who says this is exactly what I want and when, no He needs someone who will seek His kingdom and say “What do you want?” The people of Babel had a plan a way to lift themselves up so they may be exalted but that is a place only God should be in.

Batter Up!

My favorite baseball player has only been my favorite for about half the season, and even before that I’ve never heard of him. What may be surprising is that he is not on my favorite team (but when he’sa free agent the Sox should get him). The guy I’m talking about is Josh Hamilton from the Texas Rangers. Before the past few years Josh Hamilton was stuck in a rut, he was addicted to drugs and very far from God. He was suspended from baseball and from where he was it looked like he had nowhere to go. And now he finished his second major league season with 130 RBI’s, and he’s closer to God than ever. Why am I writing about Josh Hamilton? Because not only is a great baseball player, but also a picture of God’s grace. Before Josh Hamilton was nothing, and then he accepted Jesus, and his life is not only restored but better off that it was back when he was in the minors getting ready for his first major league season (and he broke a record hitting 28 homeruns in the first roun dof the 2008 homerun derby). Before we accept Christ in our lives we don’t have much, and we don’t deserve much either. There is no way we can talk, buy, or work our way into Heaven, the Bible says the wages of sin is death, but then something amazing happened, Jesus came down to become our way into Heaven. We did nothing to deserve it; we didn’t do anything to get God to give us this gift He gave it out of His love for us. “For God so loved the world that He gave is one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” John 3: 16.

New Addition

Hi, I just added a new thing to the blog, if you look at the bottom of each post you see an envelope with an arrow, this makes it easier to email blog posts to friends/family- I hope it makes it more convenient for you. I also hope you like my tribute to the Celtics, hopefully they will have another great year (especially since the Red Sox lost in the ALCS).

Take The Sun Glasses Off

One of my favorite miracles in the gospel is the one where Jesus walks on water. The most descriptive account is in Matthew chapter 14, verses 22-32. I used to read this story and say “Oh that was cool, imagine seeing that,” but I reflected on it very little, but now I look at it and see it in a different light. To understand where I am going with this you’ll need to imagine yourself in the disciple’s place. Imagine you are in a medium sized sail boat, at night, in a huge storm. You try to sail and row to shore, but the wind and the waves are slamming into the boat, you remember how Jesus calmed the storm and you wonder where He is. Suddenly you see a man walking on the water towards you, walking over the waves as if they were flat ground. The man yells out to you that He is Jesus, and one of the men in the boat steps out and walks towards Him, but once he sees the wind and waves he starts to sink! Jesus then grabs him out of the water and gets in the boat and immediately the storm stops. Well now that I got your attention (you can stop imagining now) I can go on. I sometimes think of the world as a pair of sunglasses to our “faith vision”. The troubles of the world, sin, suffering, money, war, the list goes on and on- they all cloud our view of Christ, they dim His light in our lives. The same thing happened to Peter- the man who got out of the boat. Peter had his eyes on Jesus, He was focused and ready, he wanted to live for his Master. Peter in an act of great faith got out of the boat (imagine getting out of a boat at night during a storm), and walked towards Jesus, but when Peter saw the wind and waves, the troubles of the world, the distractions that block our view of God, he fell through the water. Peter didn’t fall because he simply didn’t believe. He fell because he wasn’t focused on Jesus, he looked at the waves and realized what he was doing, he didn’t trust the love of God and the world dimmed his vision so much that doubt crept into his heart and he fell through the water. When we set our eyes on Jesus, when we wake up and live for Him, nothing can stop us; nothing can separate us from His love. But when we put our “sun glasses” on, we fail to see our savior in our world, we lose sight and begin to fall, and we doubt His love and protection. Though there is chaos and confusion in the world, though there is sin and suffering, we can’t let that dim our vision of the light of Jesus.