Opening Day/Predictions

March 30^th, April 1^st is just two days away and with it (other than a good prank) comes the long awaited beginning to the 2011 season. It seems that this offseason was both the shortest and the longest in a while. It flew by in that there was so much action starting from day one of the offseason to now. Yet it was the longest in that ever since I saw the names Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford in the Boston Globe I just couldn’t wait to see the opening day lineup. Well, my predictions are always wrong, but here are a few. 1) Red Sox win over 96 games and face either the Phillies or the Giants in the WS. 2) Lester wins 20 games (maybe more with the revamped bullpen) and the CY Young. 3) Gonzalez wins batting titled, hits .320+ with 35+ HR’s and 120+RBI’s. 4) Beckett and Lackey bounce back, with Lackey having the better season. 5) Crawford and Ellsbury drive opposing catchers crazy with 110+ steals between the two of them. 6) Salty makes us realize that he is the catcher he was advertised to be since he was drafted. 7) Papelbon loses his job as the closer, platoons with Bard. Well there are some no brainers and farfetched predictions for you, until then two more days until the first pitch, never looked forward to spring this much.

Hope

Lately I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about hope. 1 Corinthians 13:12 says “And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.” Well I’ve blogged a lot (and I mean a lot) about faith, and have been trying to write more about love, but what about hope? Well I haven’t really given much thought to hope, life’s been pretty good to me, what have I needed to think extensively about hope for? Well these past two years have been a roller coaster for me, lots of high points down to very low points, and now I’ve seen my need. I wouldn’t say I lost hope, but like my faith I stumbled a bit. But what is hope, how can it be defined? Using my trusty thesaurus hope is similar to “expect, desire, rely on, depend on, count on, await, pray, believe, hold on to, faith, dream…” To keep it simple lots of words. To be honest I don’t really like these words. While hope definitely is looking forward to something and waiting for an event, that’s more like “Gee I sure hope…” The hope I’m thinking about (and the one Paul was writing about) is the strength you get when you’re in a tough spot, that joy that permeates through the bleak times, the light that shines in the darkness. Now when I say I lost hope I don’t mean I was hopeless, I just never gave hope much thought and was really put to the test, and still am in some ways. Yet, over the past year I’ve come to realize how important hope really is, because without it you lose your faith in God, and your love for Him and those around you. A lot of things went wrong at the same time for me, but I never let go of that joy that can only come from God, I never gave up strength in Him, and that is what lasted me through. While things may still go wrong and will (hey life’s never perfect) you can’t lose hope, because without hope you eventually lose faith and love. If I had no hope I would have lost my faith entirely and would have lost myself in the process, they all build each other up.

Pure Joy

Working part time in a baseball facility has given me a unique vantage point in viewing young athletes. I see all kinds of people come in, young kids with parents, older kids training in the winter, and men well past their primes in hitting leagues. One thing I’ve found jarring is that a good many people seem angry, upset, or distressed. I used to take baseball very seriously; I zeroed in on myself as an athlete and strove to be the best at all costs. The thing is this; it took all the fun out of the game. Instead of relishing the fact that I was playing a great sport among friends during the best season of the year all I could think about was how I looked and how high my average was… Now this sport isn’t just about baseball, it’s about joy. Joy is much more than happiness, joy, I believe, is something we experience when we come close to God. Happiness depends on circumstance but joy can be attained at any time. So what does this have to do with baseball? Well I didn’t used to get joy out of playing baseball, in fact my endless practicing often ended in anger. Now as I face my last chance to make the varsity team I find myself with a feeling of peace. I’ve come to realize that in the end it is just a game and there are far more important things in my life, like family, God, and blogging. Joy comes from nearness to God, it doesn’t have to happen in a church pew although it very often does, but in doing an activity we love and doing it in praise of God we can have joy. Another example from baseball is blogging. I’ve often thought to myself, why do I write on this blog so often? I have tons of work to do each week, and more academic (if it can be called that) is just not what I would immediately want. Yet I blog because it gives me joy, because by writing I feel closer to God and am lifted up much higher than mere happiness could provide. So what am I saying? Do things, not just because you love them (for you could love them for many reasons) do them because they give you joy, because in doing them you do not finish in anger but happiness.

Prayer for Japan

Sorry it's late, but here's a prayer for Japan. May the people of Japan not lose faith but instead stay true to God and call out to Him. Very often in times of suffering it is difficult to find the reason or purpose behind it. Until then may the purpose be that the people of the world, no matter race or religion, reach out to Japan with a helping hand. May those who are lost be found and families reunited. May God's love be evident through these tough times and may His blessing be upon the people of Japan. God, we don't know why you let these things happen, but please let us see your love no matter what and not lose faith, and instead of crying out against you may we cry to you and take on your message of love to the people of Japan and those around us. Amen.

Red Sox Update

Adrian Gonzalez will play his first spring training game today which is very encouraging. For those who don’t know, Gonzalez injured his right (non-throwing) shoulder which has restricted his movement and hindered his ability to hit. Gonzalez had surgery and has been working out and hitting but now will take full speed swings in a game. He probably won’t be in for long as it is his first game, but it should be very exciting to watch him play. Just a few more weeks until Opening Day!

Don't Look Now But Baseball Is On NESN

He look at the Sox Gadget to the right, the Red Sox are 7-5. Here are some Spring Training thoughts as the weather and baseball talk heats up. So far the Sox look good as the pitching has come around after initial rust shaking off and the offense looks good too. Beckett seems to have kept his word by bouncing back, and Buchholz looks determined to prove Bill James wrong in projecting him with a 3.5 ERA. Adrian Gonzalez should start some time soon which will be very exciting to see and hopefully Crawford will appear on TV so we can finally see him play. While some performances might be good, some not so good as Dice-K seems to be back to his subpar form (don’t worry folks he’s just as bad as last year). While it is spring training and way too early to pass judgments (let’s save them for his first start), it isn’t encouraging to see him have an ERA over 11. Anyways those are some notes/thoughts; it’s going to be a tough year but a good year in which I hope the Sox come out on top. With 4 good starters, a stacked bullpen, and A+ lineup, the Sox have a great chance of going all the way, let’s see the season play out and if they can get there.

Lent Post

Well yesterday was Ash Wednesday marking the beginning of lent, so here’s a post about, you guessed it, Lent. I’ve been doing some thinking, and instead of reiterating the whole “It’s not always about giving something up…” post, which is boring to do, I’ve got some more ideas. The whole point of Lent comes from Jesus’ journey into the desert in which he fasted for forty days. When tempted by the devil He kept to his fasting and at the end was refreshed by angels after His ordeal. Well the point of Lent isn’t to just give something up (while that is what you do), it’s to grow closer to God. Well, I’ve been doing some thinking, what does growing closer to God even mean? I’m a numbers guy (note not a math guy) I like statistics and measurements (like in baseball) so is there a way to measure closeness to God on a spiritual barometer? Well, yes and no. I used to think of our journey in faith as a sort of stepping away and towards God. Meaning that if I sinned I took a step away from God and by doing “good things” I took a step toward Him. Well the thing I’ve realized is that is not always true. While it is true that you can take steps away from God that doesn’t mean you are X distance from Him and to overcome it you need to take X steps back. Instead it’s more like this, when we accept Jesus and walk with God and are forgiven we are right there with Him. Now if we fall back and revert to sin we are farther from God, but when we are forgiven we are brought right back with Him. James writes “Draw close to God and He will draw close to you.” Growing close to God doesn’t mean we need to do good things to keep score. Instead it is making a daily choice to live as God commanded (going back to my earlier post on choices). If you think that every choice you make defines who you will be later in life then it makes more sense where you end up in relation to God than the keeping score idea. Think about it, if I never became a Christian I wouldn’t have this blog, who knows what I’d be doing! Thus the choices we make impact our closeness and relationship with God and also our lives. Instead of viewing Lent as a time to give up stuff (thus needing Mardi Gras to indulge in every possible thing before said giving up) we should focus on Lent, and  everyday life as making a conscience choice to simply apply the words of the Bible to our actions, then naturally we give things up, but willingly.

Final Thoughts on Jeremiah

I have finished reading Jeremiah and have a few thoughts. I haven’t written much about Jeremiah, mainly because it can be pretty harsh and not many people (myself included) jump for joy at harsh messages/posts. But really when you boil it down it’s God asking the people of Israel to make a choice: Him or whatever else they want. And while grace is readily available in the end it comes down to a choice. Choose God or the world. And that grace is meaningless when you accept it but ignore the message behind it by leaving God. God’s love is limitless, there is no doubt about that, yet the main message of Jeremiah is this: I still love you but as evidenced by your actions you don’t love me and if you don’t love me this won’t work. It sounds simple and it is and it astounds me that the people of Israel never seemed to get it. But then, do I get it either? While there is no chance that I’ll ever be perfect do I too accept grace and love but ignore it through sin? In the end it’s a choice, and that choice is not perfection or imperfection. Instead it is striving to live for God or living as you were. That’s the point and that is what God asks in Jeremiah. He’s not saying “You sinned so I’m leaving.” He’s saying “You left me, now I know where we stand.” I guess with a deeper look the message of Jeremiah is not as harsh as it is brutally honest, at times emphasis on the brutal. God still loves us but a decision has to be made, God or world. Perfection is not the point; it’s your intentions behind your actions.

Gray (Grey?) Areas

Today my pastor was talking about gray areas in Christianity and how we as people of faith should approach them. Looking at my list of favorite movies they aren’t exactly “clean” so the question I should as is this, is that a problem. Well the answer is yes and no, and added to that it depends. (Wow that’s confusing). Some may say the hit movie Harry Potter is evil and should not be watched, and while I may be tempted to say “relax it’s only a movie, for some people it’s not.” In 1 Corinthians 8 Paul writes about food sacrificed to idols. It’s a long passage, but the gist is that people of strong faith who do not care about eating food sacrificed to idols should not do so in front of people with weak faith who care. Paul writes “be careful, however, that this exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.” 1 Corinthians 9. So what is Paul saying? Well he’s talking about gray areas, and that when a situation is not described explicitly in the Bible, like movies, then it all depends on what you think. There are things like cursing, excessive drinking, and murder which are clearly defined but back in the old days Paul couldn’t whip out his I-phone 4 with its 5 g’s (whatever that means) and surf the web. Back to my movie question, is it wrong that I have a propensity to watch movies that are not 100% clean? Well for me it is not so much a stumbling block, I can skip over the worse parts or watch with a godly friend. But let’s say that I am with a godly friend who had a problem with movies moving in on his faith (sorry for the pun). Well then it would be inappropriate to do so as it is not courteous to my friend. So what do we do with gray areas? Well we live at a crossroads, but a sound rule to follow is this, does this move me away from God or closer to God and in the end is it worth it?

More than Broken Windows

Today a local church made headlines, but not in a good way. Newton Presbyterian Church was vandalized as its 200 year old stained glass windows were shattered. Apparently a group of people threw multiple stones at one of the stained glass windows, causing $20,000 worth of damage. At first I was outraged, I love NPC and see it not just as a church but a home. ‘How dare they do such a thing!’ I thought, ‘Good thing I wasn’t there or they’d be in trouble!’It’s reasonable right? I mean, it’s a hate crime against a church shouldn’t I be angry? Well, while they may throw stones may I remember Jesus’ words and not throw them myself (metaphorically speaking). The thing is, the windows aren’t the only things that are fragile and broken, our souls are too. Those people need compassion and love, not anger and retaliation. Instead of having thoughts of vengeance I should have thoughts of prayer, I should think ‘Lord forgive them for they are lost and know not what they do.” Instead of pushing them away they should be invited in, welcomed, loved, just as I was. I never was a religious person, but upon meeting Jesus and feeling God’s love my anger melted away and hope that can only come from the Lord replaced it. We live in a distressing world, full of hate and anger. Christians are killed in the Middle East, arrested in China, and ridiculed here in America. But instead of returning hate, I say we follow God’s message and return love. Hate can’t cure anything, but God’s love can heal our wounds.