My Wordle

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I saw this thing called a "wordle" and decided to make one, I am sorry that you don't get the picture on this post, it was working fine a while ago, but there is a link and if you click on the link you go directly to my wordle. It's neat to see how often I use certain words, although I had always thought that the main focus of my blog was on the Bible and not so much on sports, I guess for a New Year's resolution I can focus my life and attention more on God than on other things.

Red Sox Updates

Starting Roster as of now

C: Victor Martinez
P: Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, John Lackey, Dice-K, Clay Buchholz, Tim Wakefield
1B: Casey Kotchman
2B: Dustin Pedroia
SS: Marco Scutaro
3B: Kevin Youkilis
LF: Mike Cameron
CF: Jacoby Ellsbury
RF: J.D. Drew
DH: David Ortiz
Bench: Jason Varitek (C), Mike Lowell (3B, DH), Jeremy Hermidia (OF), Jed Lowrie (Utility).

Personally I wouldn’t mind dealing for Adrian Gonzalez (unlikely) and getting rid of Lowell, that way Kotchman can be an excellent backup, that way their infield would be really solid defensively and offensively. Also it looks like either Cameron or Ellsbury will start in left because Bay is headed to NY (don’t worry it’s just the Mets).

By Faith

I saw this verse a while back when I was reading Hebrews and it occurred to me that while wanting to post about it I never did, so here are my thoughts on Hebrews 11: 1. I wrote many posts on faith this past year, sometimes too many but it was on my mind and that’s what a blog is for right, writing my thoughts? Well here's one more. So here is the verse, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” In other words it means sureness of something, not knowledge, not a compilation of evidence, not a picture, just sureness in our hearts. I used to want God to come down in a heavenly host with angels and whatnot so I could whip out my camera and save the picture for a rainy day. I now realize that is highly unlikely and that God came down to me in other ways. On way He connected with me was through books, tons of books just appeared to me out of nowhere, like I’d be sitting in church and it would be there, or I’d be in school and it would be there. God have me hope in the summer, hope for a better day and He gave me faith, faith that in the future He would be there. That’s faith; holding on to what you believe and know is true in your heart. I know I already used the example of 2004 Red Sox, but think of all those fans holding on to the hope of a better year yet not having the physical evidence to “prove” that the Sox will end their World Series drought. Following this verse there is a list of people who lived by faith, who had the strength to devote their lives to God, holding on to His promise.

Always There

I was reading my Bible yesterday I came across a verse in 2 Peter in chapter 3, it is verse 9, and “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to repent.” I was shocked by that verse, in a good way. Often times when I sin I feel really, really, bad; of course I should feel guilty about sinning, but one thing I forget is the amazing power of grace. Sometimes I fear that God might leave me, it’s foolish I know, but after my “faith crisis” that fear still persists in my heart. It takes me back to that scene in Jurassic Park where the little girl crises to Dr. Grant asking him not to leave because the wimpy lawyer guy left earlier. I know it’s not the best analogy, but it’s still true. There are times in life when we lose people, or people just plain leave for some reason, but God is there no matter how we act. Now, this is not a license to sin, repaying pure and honest love with abuse and evil is cruel, even crueler than the actual sin itself. What it does mean though, is that we need not worry, while God is a judge He is not out to get us, in contrast He is up there “rooting” for us so that we may come back to Him and repent.

It's all in Your Head

Well I said I would write about hitting so here are more of my tips. For now I will write a little bit about the mental aspect of the game, mainly being a smart hitter. Some people when they here “mental aspect” think “Huh, that’s not important I’ll just wait ‘till he posts about the mechanical parts” but hitting is mainly all up in your head. Having not played much baseball I am constantly learning new things every game and in between seasons, I am constantly making up all these theories about hitting and putting them into practice. Ted Williams wrote about guessing and I wrote a little in my last post but here I am going to go a little deeper. One thing I have tried to do this past year is watch the pitcher, for example what’s his fastball like, when and where does he usually throw it, what’s his curve like, how much does he have off his changeup, does he have a set pattern, is he wild, how tall is he… the list goes on and on, but it is surprising how big the percentage of your at-bat is spent on the bench. I used the example earlier about the kid throwing first pitch fastballs, but there also was one time that I noticed a kid couldn’t get his breaking ball over for a strike, so I told everyone and tried to lay off when it came, or another time I noticed the umpire had an unfairly high strike zone and the kid liked to put his fastballs there, so I struck out looking in my fist at bat, and then made sure to swing away in my next. Then there is guessing, this is a little more complicated and hard to put to practice effectively but it is basically thinking like the pitcher. Let’s say you strike out on a curve in your first at bat, the count is now 0-2, what do you think is coming? A curve of course. Now let’s say the count is 2-0, you’re on top now, a fastball is most likely coming so as to give the pitcher an edge, and remember he has to throw a strike when he’s behind. Lastly a few notes on the 2-strike count. One thing I had trouble with was thinking in the box, I would swing away and throw away quick at-bats instead of grinding them out. When the pitcher is on top 0-2, the pitch doesn’t necessarily have to be a strike but you need to swing if it’s close, even if you don’t like it foul it off and wait for your pitch. If you’re up 2-0, 3-0, or 3-1 you can wait for your pitch but remember that the pitcher must and will throw a strike and most likely the pitch he either has most confidence in or the most control over.

Hitting Tips

I recently got a great gift for Christmas; it was a book, The Science of Hitting written by Ted Williams. I haven’t posted about hitting for a while and I am not going to write a lot now, but I will say that Ted’s book has a ton in it and is a very in depth analysis of the most perfect swing, or at least the one that got Williams to hit .400. Interestingly enough the book is not so much about the physical aspect of hitting as it is mental. And it’s true hitting is all up in your head, it’s about being smart in the batter’s box and taking notes on the bench. Here’s a story, in the summer I watched the pitcher and saw that he could throw some heat! But he also always threw a first pitch fastball, always, so what did I do? I told my teammates and coach (I doubt they really listened) but when I stood up at bat I was geared up for his fastball and I hit a hot grounder up the middle – right to the shortstop. But the point is I noticed a pattern in the game and was ready. Ted calls this guessing and while many coaches tell you “DON’T GUESS!” You need to, that’s what I did and I was actually too ready for it. I’ll elaborate on this later and write a ton more about working on my swing and the adjustments I made in between the summer and fall seasons that blew my productivity through the roof.

A Merry Christmas for All

In my Bible the Old and New Testaments are separated by a few pages, but in reality they were separated by about 500 years. Think about that, 500 years and not a peep from God, gosh, I can barely go 500 seconds without talking! When Jesus came to earth that night it was the first time God had contacted anyone, but something I thought was interesting is the guests at Jesus’ birthday. Think about it, first King Herod wants to kill Him, then the only people that show up to witness His birth are a couple of shepherds, barn animals, and some wise men. The thing I noticed is specifically that, an event that has been predicted for 500 years and that is the welcome wagon! I don’t know what the imperial reception for a king was at the time, but I bet it wasn’t that; Jesus was a King, I know that for sure, but He was a different kind of King. In my Chinese class we watched this touristy video about the “forbidden city” in China which was where the emperor resided, and even now way after the last emperor a lot of stuff is off-limits. Jesus was not off-limits; in contrast He welcomed everyone, even the obscure people. The Shepherd was not a rich or esteemed man, and wise men is really code for astrologer, think about that, people that may have not even believed in the Christ traveled at their own risk to see His birth. Jesus was not off-limits that night, there were not velvet ropes and no sign that said “No flash photography”, no, instead He held out His arms and called us to Him.

Super Cool

I’m not much for the whole “proof for God” thing, I see faith as a gift from God that must be used and overcome our doubts, but I recently learned some really cool stuff in physics about the universe. Basically the universe we live in is extremely complicated, so complicated in fact that even the smartest scientists out there cannot fully explain every detail. The mere shape of the universe is complicated, gravity, space-time, light, all that, it would take years of reading and diagrams and learning to absorb it all. Also the universe is so vast and massive, to think we are but one galaxy in an infinitely growing expanse that has been doing so since its creation, it’s mind boggling and really cool when you sit down and think about it. I’m not going to give a lesson in astronomy (besides I know nothing about it), but I will say that our world, not just outer space but down here on earth is so complicated that it is physically impossible to be created at random. The laws of physics and math and even philosophy are just too complex to have been made out of thin air by nothing. If I threw a bunch of scrabble letters out on to the floor, I would hardly produce a coherent sentence, let alone a single word! But if I sit down at a computer (like I am now) and fit letters together to not only write paragraphs but also a piece of writing with meaning and logical progressions! I just think it’s so cool how God made our universe, and to think that He knows all about it, all those complex ideas that we haven’t an inkling about God designed, how cool is that? Anyway, those are just some thoughts of mine after my physics class.

The True Gift of the Season

As Christmas approaches and we all try to get some last minute Christmas shopping in and on the side wonder what we are getting, I ask that we remember the greatest miracle in the history of the world, Jesus’ birth. While miraculous in itself, one thing we tend to forget is how amazing it is that Jesus came down here to earth, it’s like the Cubs winning the World Series times 1,000,000 (sorry Cubs fans). It used to be that people would go up to the temple and make sacrifices to get rid of their sins, and there was also a strict separation between God and man with the high priest being the only one allowed in the presence of God. But when Jesus came and died on the cross that was all redone, God calls it His “New Covenant” (the first one was with Moses). The author of Hebrews writes about this in an interesting way, he writes “When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, He went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not manmade, that is to say, not a part of this creation…. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!” Hebrews 9:11, 13-14. Wow is all I can say, if the blood of mere animals can cleanse us, how much more can Christ, wow, it’s a cool thing to think about, and while getting presents on Christmas is great, this is the gift that we really need, the gift that will last in the long run.

Sox News

I heard the news about the Sox signing John Lackey so that’s really good for them. Now they have a rotation of Lester, Beckett, Lackey, Dice-K, and Wakefield, so their pretty much set pitching wise. Now all they need to do is resign Bay, and get Adrian Gonzalez at all costs. As great as Beltre is as a defender he can’t hit all that well which is what the Sox need, hitting. Gonzalez is a great defender and an amazing hitter which will add a ton to an already good team. Hopefully the Red Sox can start up in 2010 and show the Yankees whose boss on opening day.

In an Ideal World

Considering all that’s going on in trades, here is my ideal opening day lineup (despite it not being realistic)

C: Victor Martinez
P:
1) Jon Lester
2) Josh Beckett
3) Roy Halladay
4) Dice-K
5) Tim Wakefield
1B: Adrian Gonzalez
2B: Dustin Pedroia
SS: Alex Gonzalez (they should’ve kept him!)
3B: Kevin Youkilis
LF: Jason Bay
CF: Jacoby Ellsbury
RF: J.D. Drew
DH: David Ortiz, Mike Lowell (also on the bench)

The Living Word

I was reading Hebrews this morning and saw this verse “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4: 12. I’ve always loved this image of the Bible, as God’s living word working through us when we read it. There are a lot of people my age, and older or younger, who look at the Bible as this old, dusty book that doesn’t mean much, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth! When we read the Bible God kind of speaks to us through the words, like what I said earlier about a passage jumping out at me. It also works in us, we change at that moment and grow closer to God, and if we apply those words we become “imitators of Christ”. But another thing happens and this has happened to me a lot, a lot of the times if I’m in a bad spirit, let’s say I had a bad day, or things just aren’t going right, God’s word “penetrates” me, it digs down deep and stirs me up, and it’ll be like “Oh…I really shouldn’t have acted that way to so-and-so” (or something like that). While the truth can hurt, it also helps us and works in us to transform us ultimately making us better. The thing I love so much about the Bible is that it is not just a history book, or some account, or a list of miracles, it’s that when you let it, it speaks to you, it works in you, and you change. It’s like me going to the batting cage, I get a tune up, I get better, stronger. I don’t know what everyone does for devotions, but what I recommend is spending a few minutes every morning and just sit down and read one chapter (or more, or less) and let it speak, let it work on you. When you really stop and think that the Creator of the entire universe stopped to transfer His thoughts to us, it’s really, really cool.

Winter Meetings

Here’s an update on the Sox in the meetings so far, oh wait, there’s nothing to say because they have yet to make any kind of respectable trade at all! From what I’ve heard it sounds like the next few years will be “rebuilding years” meaning Sox fans can watch the Yankees win every time while our team lags far behind in third place. I seriously doubt the sell-out streak will continue with the way things look, essentially all the Red Sox have done is let players go and watched others get signed, well that isn’t a fair accusation they did sign a few nobodies over the past few days. But hey, just wait for four years for a team that can compete, that will put the whole team now past their prime. From what has gone on so far it doesn’t look good for Red Sox nation next year.

Gifts Part 2

An interesting thing I learned last week was that the book of James was actually inconsideration for being left out of the Bible. Yep, that’s right, one of my favorite books in the New Testament was almost left out (I’m glad God stopped them). The reason being that people incorrectly interpreted his “faith and deeds” passage to mean we need good works to get into Heaven. This couldn’t be farther from the truth and it also pertains to my gift analogy by answering the question of how are we to react to this gift we are given. James essentially says (it’s a long passage so I’ll summarize), that faith is no good without our good works to back it up. This is entirely true and it is found all the time in our daily life think if I want to apply for a loan but have no credit, is my word that I will pay it back good enough? This doesn’t mean we need to earn our salvation, but James is asking us to live it out. This goes back to how are we to respond to our gift from God? Should we just say a quick “thanks” and then forget about it and let it collect dust long after the holidays? NO! God gave us this gift of life so that it could be used, we have Jesus so that we can actively seek God everyday of the year, and the evidence of the seeking will be our good works. Think, if I work out the whole winter and really fine tune my swing then it will show in the spring, the same goes for our life with God, if we work hard and seek God first it will show in our works and our gift of life will be well used. This year try not to let this gift get away, instead of collecting dust with all the other stuff we get I say we actively pursue God this Christmas season, and every day afterward.

Gifts Part 1

As we journey forth into the Christmas season, I think back to last Christmas. Last year I got a really great gift, a new baseball bat. My old one was one to the cheaper models and while it got me through the year, it wasn’t a great bat. And to my surprise on Christmas morning I opened up a package with a brand new, top of the line, Demarini baseball bat! I was so shocked; I didn’t know what to say so I mumbled a “thank you” and gave my parents a hug. Looking back on that year there was a lot of stuff I did to not deserve that great gift. While I try my best to be a respectful and loving son/brother, there still are days when nothing seems to be going right and I take it out on the people I love most. Now, multiply that scenario by 1 million (no really, I did the calculations) and you get what it was like on a Christmas morning roughly 2000 years ago. There was nothing we as a people did to earn the gift God gave us, looking at the Israelite history/prophets you see that there was a ton they did to deserve the opposite. But the crazy thing is, is that God loves us so much. He didn’t have to give up His Son, and Jesus never had to die on the cross, the amazingly beautiful thing about is that it all happened! My dad asked me if I wanted a new baseball bat and I said no, Id didn’t want to give him any of the trouble of buying me a new bat, besides my old one was fine. But my dad did despite the fact that he didn’t need to. While getting caught up in the swirl around us this time of year, I say we try once to step back and focus on the real meaning of this magnificent holiday, that while we give and receive gifts from our friends and family, we also receive the greatest gift of all, a life with God through His Son.

Middle Ground?

Well the Christmas season is finally upon us after a long year, and to kick it off I tuned in to the Christmas station on the radio. I listened to some of my personal favorites, but one thing that shocked me is the lack of “religious” Christmas carols. One thing I’ve wondered it where the middle ground is, I mean I always hear two sides to Christmas, side A says “It is a religious Holiday, and the “secular” carols and movies are bad” and side B says “C’mon Man! Have a little fun, don’t be so stiff.” I think I have a reasonable approach to my dilemma. In 1Corinthians: 8, Paul deals with a pretty big issue in the Church. At the time it was common for the Greeks to sell meat sacrificed to idols. Some Christians said “Ha! Those idols are fake, what does it matter to me whether or not I eat this meat?” Some others said “Gosh, I can’t eat this, it is de-sanctified!” Paul replies that idols mean nothing; God is Lord over all, so in the end it doesn’t really matter. Now what does this have to do with Christmas? Paul then adds, “But not everyone knows this”. “Some people are still accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and their conscience is weak, it is defiled.” Paul then ends with “Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.” Basically what Paul says can be applied to my situation. Listening to the “secular” carols/movies is perfectly fine, but the catch here is that it is only okay if my heart is set on God and God alone. If I am weak, and if these songs/movies distract me then they come between me and God, but if I am strong and I can toss them to the side when it comes to my focus on Jesus then they are perfectly fine. Anything that comes between us and God while on its own may be a good thing, turns into a bad thing, even something as simple as a song or movie. While it is fun to watch all the Christmas movies that are on, let us not forget the true gift of the season, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Red Sox News

Well I heard some scary news today, there’s a report that the Red Sox’ new shortstop could be (drum roll), Dustin Pedroia, yep that’s right, let’s move Pedroia to short and find a subpar second baseman to fill in. I can just imagine the conversation that went on, “Dustin Pedroia please report to the front office.” Theo: “Hey Peddy, we got some new plans for the team, how would you like to play short stop full time?” Dustin: “Yeah sure but why me?” Theo: “Well Dustin that is very simple, I missed the boat and am struggling to even pull a mediocre team together.” Dustin: “Oh that’s okay, just wondering.” Theo: “That reminds me, I’ve got some great plans for next offseason, I know 09 was a dud and I can never seem to find my checkbook, but just wait till 2012 and 2013!” I guess the curse of the “Great Garciaparra” continues.