Pitching the "Bait" of Grace

This is part of a post I made on another blog page, but I thought I would share it here as well.  It is my pitch for the day!

My reason for this post is to look at the verses and gospel truths in the Bible where Jesus uses fishermen and talks about being “fishers of men”.  In Matthew 4:18-22, Jesus calls his first disciples.  This comes at the start of His ministry.  He walks beside the Sea of Galilee and goes to Simon Peter and Andrew, both fishermen.  Jesus calls them to drop their net and follow Him and he will make them “fishers of men”.  He then went on to call James and John, also fishermen. 

We have all heard this story growing up and may have looked at it in our maturity, but I have never heard this story with a grace-alone mindset.  Jesus didn’t make these disciples fishers of men by giving them a to-do list or five-step program to catching Christians for the Kingdom.  He worked on these born fishermen by changing their hearts and minds by grace.  He showed them how all of Scripture points to Him.  He healed broken people before their eyes.  He preached the gospel unashamedly in the synagogues.  He gave them Grace!  By Jesus being able to live the gospel out amidst Peter, Andrew, James, and John he changed their hearts and opened their eyes to Him.  Jesus made them fall in love with Him.  They constantly saw His mercy, forgiveness, devotion to the Father’s Will, and grace in practice. 


In chapter 4 of Matthew, Jesus calls them.  Then in chapter 5 he gives His Sermon on the Mount.  This preaching was not to be a self-help manual.  It was to break any self-righteousness the people might have been holding on to.  This sermon was meant to make these folks run to Jesus, for His righteousness.  When seen the right way, the Sermon on the Mount is about freeing the captives of sin.  If you may have slipped through by not understanding parts of the Sermon, thinking you are doing ok, the end should be the wall you crash into.  Jesus says therefore “Be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect”.  As humans, in total depravity, we can’t do that.  Thank God for Jesus fulfilling the Law and satisfying the things seen in the Sermon on the Mount for us!  When we grasp the gospel more and more we then feel free to obey God and be “Christ-like” out of a joyous, thankful heart.  There is no freedom in works-righteousness, trying to please God by obeying the Law. 

The topic at hand is being “fishers of men”.  Our role in others’ salvation is just to tell them about God’s grace found in the life-death-resurrection of Jesus.  As these “fishermen”, we are to make folks wish the gospel was true and then show them that it is.  We can’t live out the gospel, even a little like we need to, to be like Jesus.  What we can do is tell of His grace and mercy as faithful believers changed by the Good News.  This is the “bait” that will change hearts through the Holy Spirit. 

My prayer is that we can believe this better.  The truth of the gospel needs to be believed in all aspects of our life.  My hope is that the Spirit will work in me where I bring this from my home to the bank and from the bank to my baseball lessons.  Everyone needs grace and the life-giving freedom that it brings.  As I deal with my wife, kids, customers, friends, young ballplayers, parents, and family members, these gospel truths should be the center of my thoughts and actions.  So to be fishers of men is to give people the truth of the gospel:  that our sin is big, but God’s grace is bigger.  You can’t outrun His love for His children.  Bring this to wherever God has you right now.  That is your mission field, given by His sovereignty.  We are empowered and freed, as Christians, to live our life as "sent" people within our culture (John 17:17-19).  That is living in light of the gospel.  There are people around you, including yourself, that need it everyday!  Amen.
That is my pitch for the day.

My All-Time Roster

1927 New York Yankees (110-44)

On Pitching the Gospel most posts are gospel-centered.  Some have had baseball themes but most have been based on topics of scripture and grace in our life.  This one will be different.  Nolan and I have recently been looking at legends of the game, as I stated in a previous post.  That led me to tie in this vintage baseball to God's unchanging, "vintage" gospel. 
Today's post will be about my official All-Time Major League Baseball Roster.  The picture above is the team photo of the '27 Yankees, widely thought of as the greatest team that ever played.  They dominated the whole season, finishing 19 games ahead of the second place team.  Of course they went on to win the World Series by sweeping the Pittsburgh Pirates that year.  The roster included 7 future Hall of Famers, if you include manager Miller Huggins.  Highlighted in this lineup were Yankee greats Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.  Since they are the only two that made my starting lineup and played on the same team during their careers, I figured I'd give a shout out to that great ball club of the past. 
I will start off by listing my Starting Lineup.  Although, there shouldn't be too much debate on some of these selections, I know that a couple will be questioned.  I will offer some reasoning on my picks in the summary below.  Also included will be a few subs and the rest of my pitching rotation.

Mitch's All-Time MLB Roster:

1.     Ty Cobb              LF                   Reserves:
2.     Honus Wagner     SS                   Rogers Hornsby     IF
3.     Willie Mays          CF                  Albert Pujols          1B
4.     Babe Ruth            RF                  Stan Musial            OF
5.     Ted Williams        DH                  Hank Aaron          OF
6.     Lou Gehrig           1B                   Ivan Rodriguez       C
7.     Chipper Jones      3B
8.     Johnny Bench       C                    Remaining Rotation:
9.     Eddie Collins        2B                  Christy Mathewson, Greg Maddux,
--     Walter Johnson     P                    Cy Young, Nolan Ryan
CL   Mariano Rivera     P


Playing Left Field and leading off for my starting lineup is Ty Cobb.  I think it is debatable, but he could be the best all-around baseball player of all-time.  Over 4,000 hits and showed some power in the Dead Ball era, he was no doubt one of the best hitters of all time.  Also, his base running and love for the game was unmatched in history.  He is the perfect lead off man for my squad.  It also helps that he is from Georgia!

Batting second is my shortstop Honus Wagner.  He is best known for having the most valuable baseball trading card because of its rarity and age.  He was a very versatile player and was always the best defensive player on the field.  He didn't look athletic, but could run well and play any position.  He led the league in hitting EIGHT times and even Ty Cobb himself said he thought Wagner was maybe "the greatest star to ever take the diamond".

My third hitter is Willie Mays.  This 24 time all-star had it all.  Speed (330 SBs), Power (660 HRs and 1900 RBI) and Average (.302 for his career), and Great Defense (12 gold glove awards).  I'd be pretty happy having him roaming center field for me.

Babe Ruth needs no explanation.  He is THE best power hitter of all time and possibly the best hitter.  He was doing things during his career that no one had ever seen.  He is my clean up hitter and right fielder.

If I get a DH, and I do because this is my team, it is Ted Williams.  A pure hitter with average and power.  He was one of the toughest outs in major league history so I have to put him in my lineup.  His defense is said to be sub-par, so we will just let him bat fifth and watch Cobb, Mays, and Ruth play defense out there.

First baseman Lou Gehrig had maybe the most impressive career of all.  His RBI totals were amazing and had he not had a shortened career due to illness, he may be a career leader in most categories.  I don't think there is any debate that he is the greatest first baseman of all-time.

Batting seventh and playing third base, from YOUR Atlanta Braves, Chipper Jones!  One of my favorite players ever deserves this spot.  His career has been amazing, even including his high number of injuries.  No one can take away that '95 World Series ring either.  Most people would argue that Mike Schmidt deserves this spot, but I just can't agree with that being a given.  Chipper has a career batting average of over .300 and Schmidt's is a lousy .267.  Yes, Schmidt was a little more solid defensively and had more Power than Chipper, but Jones is probably the second or third best switch hitter of all-time.  I want him in my lineup, so he is.

Johnny Bench was the leader of one of the greatest teams of all time, The Big Red Machine.  He was also a great defensive catcher.  Bench was one of the best power hitters during his career as well.  Easy choice behind the dish for me. 

Second base is where I had to do the most research.  The first names that came to mind were Rogers Hornsby, Joe Morgan, and maybe Pete Rose (who played some 2B) but further digging gave me Eddie Collins.  This man was a defensive gem waiting to happen and his career fielding percentage was an outstanding 97%.  He was a part of over 1,200 double plays.  Collins was also a terrific hitter with a career average of .333.  He holds the career record for sacrifice hits, which is important to any team.  He had 512 of them during his career.  To add to all of this great performance, he stole 741 bases and scored over 1800 runs in his career.  We are talking about a ballplayer who was a part of 4 World Series Championship teams.  He wins the spot as my starting second baseman.

My number one starting pitcher had to be Walter "Big Train" Johnson.  He threw sidearm, so I have a little bias to that.  He also played his entire career with the Washington Senators.  He piled up over 400 Wins, 530 complete game, and also a record 110 of those were shutouts.  His career 2.14 ERA is remarkable.  He won over 30 games twice along with two MVP awards.  As you'll see with the rest of my rotation, I like workhorses on the mound.  Walter Johnson may have been the best workhorse ever. 

The closer for this team has to be Mariano Rivera.  Of course his regular season stats are tremendous but nobody comes close to what he did in the post-season.  A champion on and off the field.
The rest of my starting staff is Christy Mathewson (.67 Win%), Greg Maddux (4 CyYoungs & 18 GoldGloves), Cy Young (511 Wins and 749 CGs, both records), and Nolan Ryan (7 No-hitters and over 5,000 career strikeouts).  Like I said they are all workhorses that wanted to throw complete games every time they took the mound.  They all racked up outs, innings, and Wins with very little damage.
 
My reserves are as follows:  Rogers Hornsby as my utility infielder because of his versatility and great hitting ability (almost a .360 career hitter with over 300 homers!).  My outfield subs are two of the best hitters of all-time and I couldn't leave them off the team, Hank Aaron and Stan Musial.  I had to add one more current star and that is my back-up first baseman Albert Pujols.  The man has hit over .300 with over 30 HRs and 100 RBI in every single season he has played.  He is on his way to being a legend in the game.  Lastly, my back-up catcher is Pudge Rodriguez.  Arguably baseball's best defensive catcher ever.  Plus, he hit over .300 for his career.

There you have it, my All-Time Roster.  Feel free to debate it through the comments.  It was fun to come up with this and I'm sure if I kept looking I'd have the urge to add to or edit possibly.

That is my pitch for the day.  Thanks.

Independence Day

Yesterday was July 4th, 2012.  Our Nation is now officially 236 years old after declaring Independence.  Looking through some posts yesterday I came across a quote from John Quincy Adams that provoked some more thought about Independence, but even more Dependence.  Here it is:

"Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the World, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day [July 4th]? . . . Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer’s mission upon earth? That it laid the corner stone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity. . ?"  -John Quincy Adams

These are some great questions he brought up.  One of the main reasons for declaring Independence was for religious freedom.  So in short, they were declaring Independence from a government and big church structure, so that they could proclaim Dependence on the "Savior of the World".  God designed humans to be free.  This spiritually speaking as well.  Jesus came to set the captives free.  We, as Americans, can understand the impact of this.  Over time our Freedoms as citizens has been lost slowly but surely, but also our Freedom in Christ have been forgotten or overlooked in religion.  We need reform in many ways right now.  Very important is the reform we need in Washington back to how our Founding Fathers designed this government through the Constitution.  But most importantly, we need a reformation to continue to grow individually and in the churches in the U.S.A.  We must get back to the Five Solas from Scripture that pushed on the Protestants of old and started the Reformation in the past.  We need a New Reformation.  Those five things are summarized in one sentence:  In Scripture Alone, we see that we are saved by Grace Alone through Faith Alone in the finished work of Christ Alone to the glory of God Alone!  Enjoy your freedom because of Jesus' blood shed for it.  He accomplished what we couldn't.  As Christians, we can rest under the banner that reads "It is Finished".  As Americans we hope to rest free from Tyranny or an oppressive, intrusive Government.

I wrote a letter to an unnamed soldier that I would like to share.  It relates God's plan and work through Jesus to what our American Soldiers do, and have done, for us and our country.  I hope you enjoy it.

             Dear Brave American Soldier:

I write you from the security blanket you help provide here back home in the United States.  I am a Christian and this letter will reflect how I feel about your work for our country in that context.  I can’t send a generic thank you letter; it has to come from the heart. 

            You are part of a force for Good in this world.  Freedom is not free.  The life of a U.S. soldier demonstrates the highest Christian virtues.  Your selflessness and grace for the citizens of our great nation is much appreciated.  With the current problems our nation faces at home and the constant bickering and even some negative voices towards our military, the citizens and leaders don’t deserve this kind of sacrifice you give.  But you do it anyway.  You do it out of a love for us and the greatest country God gave the world. 

            My dad served in this way in the Vietnam War.  He is a great reason for my support of the military apart from what our government’s motives are.  I am so thankful for the Patriots like you and my dad that God raised up to sacrifice their life and limbs.  Feel certain that I will pray for you as an unnamed soldier.  I will leave you with the encouragement that only can come from a merciful, loving God shown in Jesus Christ.

            Jesus can be your source of Power, Courage, and Hope needed.  He knows War; He left the impenetrable stronghold of heaven to face a million enemies who hated Him.  The odds were against Him, but He won.  He conquered.  He died and rose again.  His death ultimately undid the world’s brokenness and provided a way to mend the brokenness of our hearts.  We don’t see War and Death done away with yet, but we will!  Jesus resurrected after His crucifixion and ascended back to heaven.  We now await His return to ultimately do away with this broken world and officially usher in a Peaceful everlasting Kingdom. 

            I see this paragraph’s thoughts are what you, as a soldier, do for us.  It’s Grace.  It’s laying down your life to fix and protect something you love.  Too many times we hear about what we need to do to get right with God or what we need to do to impress God or earn His love.  It’s not the truth.  His love and salvation is by Grace alone.  We can’t earn it.  It’s the same with you.  I haven’t earned what you are doing for me and my family.  You do it out of Love for our country and I sincerely thank you and love you for it.  Know this for now, God is more near than we know.  He is making all things new and using you and your fellow soldiers to do this.  Tell them thank you for me.  It goes for everyone doing this great work for our country.

           

From the Heart-

Andy



That is my pitch for the day.  Go in Peace and Freedom!  Amen.