My Shield

Psa 3:1 Lord, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me.

Psa 3:2 Many there be
which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah.

Psa 3:3 But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.

Psa 3:4 I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah.

Psa 3:5 I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me.

Psa 3:6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about.

Psa 3:7 Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.

Psa 3:8 Salvation belongeth unto the LORD: thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah.

 

Ever have one of those days that seem to stretch into one of those weeks, months, or years? It is inevitable that hard times will come to us at some point in life. There are two primary reasons for those times. The first is chastisement. The second is persecution from the father of lies. Satan under authority of God is sent to try our lives. If you do not believe this, then read the book of Job. It is this second idea that I wish to address in this writing.

Often it will seem that persons or circumstances are stacked against us. They are pressing in and bringing us trouble. They surround us and their numbers are multiplying. It is at these times that we will feel it is time to surrender or that there is no help. This is the voice of Satan telling you that God is not there for you. Do not listen to the father of lies. Hold fast your faith with a good conscience. In this passage God gives us some real quantifiable aspects upon which to anchor this hope.

Number one, God is your shield. I remember as a young child being so afraid of the baseball that I could hardly stand in the batter's box without trembling so uncontrollably that I could not hit. The pitcher would start his windup and I would start moving my feet back. My father, earthly that is, decided to help me with this problem (I would never endorse this training method). He put me in the box and promised that everything would be alright. I had a helmet on and he could throw the ball anywhere he wanted. He went to the mound, he began his windup, I stood firm, he let the ball go, and he hit me in the helmet and knocked me down. He then stood the six-year old me on my feet and laughed. He said, "See the helmet works and you are alright. I told I could throw it anywhere I wanted. Now since you are ok I want to you to remember this, the protection works, and no you face will throw the ball this hard." From that time I had confidence, because I knew the helmet worked. It was my shield. Now I know I just compared God to a helmet, and He is far better. What I am saying is God is my shield. I step up in life and I face down troubles day in and day out. Many look like wild pitches ready to take my head off, but my Father (heavenly one) is there to protect me and give me strength.

Next, God is my glory. There is a verse that says the glory of an old man is his gray hair, and the glory of the young man is a strong body. When God is our glory we do not have to be strong or wise. We can rest in the Lord.

Next, He lifts up our heads. No need to walk head down in defeat. These things cannot remove our eternal life. They cannot remove our God's love. They cannot remove anything in our lives without God's approval. So hold your head up.

Finally, God hears you. Let Him know how you feel. Let him know what is going on in your life. He knows but He still wants to hear your prayers. It does you good to vent to the only one who can change anything in this universe.

So relax, rest, and know God is behind you. Trials will come and they are never pleasant but God can do mighty works through your life.

Concentrating on the Fundamentals

Psa 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

Psa 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

Psa 1:3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Psa 1:4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

Psa 1:5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

Psa 1:6 For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

 

As you know from the last blog I recently went to the Dominican Republic on a baseball outreach (short-term mission trip). While there we everyday normal guys got to mingle with some not so normal everyday guys. These were professional baseball players and while they turned out to be as normal in their Christian life as any one else they are still professional baseball players. Therefore, as a high school coach I picked their brains for ideas and stories for the boys. One player told of his time with Alex Rodriguez while playing for the Texas Rangers. It was this player's rookie season and he tells us that Alex taught him about visualizing the fundamentals.

He said Alex had a nightly routine where he would take imaginary batting practice and talk to himself as he swung the "bat." He would coach himself through each fundamental movement of a textbook swing. When asked why he did this Alex responded that your brain is like a computer you program and the body does what the computer tells it to do. Alex asked this player if he had ever been out in a mall and ran into someone you know you know but you cannot think of their name, but then a few days latter the name comes to your mind. That is because you have not placed the name into the brain enough for it to come back immediately. Well when I hit my mind does not have to reach deep to know how to hit properly because I keep it near the front by repeating the steps to a perfect swing every night.

As I was thinking about God's word this morning and this passage this story returned to my mind. You see we are consistently putting things in our mind. We take in everything around us: sights, sounds, smells, and touches. We store these for memories both good and bad. You are in a food joint and music is playing. This music is not godly but you are having a good time with friends, the food is good, the service is good, the music may be stored as good because it is background and you did not tell your mind the music is bad but the other stuff is good. Therefore, we must be alert to not allowing the counsel of the ungodly, the way of sinners, or the sounds of the scornful to piggy back into our minds on good thoughts. Every heard a prayer gossip request but forgot to remind yourself that it was more gossip than prayer request? That is the idea here. Often we do not create this block because we do not realize we need to block these parasites.

That brings me to point number two: If we meditate day and night, like "A-Rod's" routine, on God's word we will recognize the song because our conscience will be assaulted. Then we can block that as the counsel or way of the ungodly. God's word will be foremost and not some random wolf thoughts in sheepskin memories.

When we do this we are promised to be blessed by God. If a professional baseball player can use this mental exercise to play a game and be better, should we do any less as Christians dealing with eternal matters?

Visualize God's way today!

The Dominican Republic Report

Last week I had a special opportunity to travel to the Dominican Republic with Score International on a short term mission trip. The trip was designed around the Dominican's love for baseball. You need not travel far within a community to see either the face of a Dominican player like Albert Pujols on a poster or to see a group of kids playing a pick up game (sometimes using makeshift equipment). The trip also offered opportunities for visiting with local orphans and some site seeing. Conducting ministry can be spiritually draining so the trip also involved morning devotions and evening worship services. Here is my experience.

Pre-Trip: Some wonderful friends who love Christ made this trip possible. Many people contributed financially to this trip and I am not aware of all of them. Therefore, I just want to say thank you and I know God will bless you for your part in the events of last week. Many students and Sunday School members helped gather flip-flops and toothpaste for the orphans. You will have rewards in heaven for your true Christianity.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008:

I left home at 2:30 in the morning for a 6 AM flight to Miami, Florida. While at the gate in Raleigh International I noticed a group of men wearing baseball caps and shirts. As we were about to board I did not get an opportunity to visit with them or to ask where they were headed. I had a good idea so I waited until we landed in Miami.

In Miami I ran into one the men and asked if they were headed to the Dominican. Ed Naylor told me they were in fact headed to the Dominican and introduced me to their group leader, Kenny Dickerson. I recognized Kenny as an umpire we had last year at a game in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. We had spoken about this very trip and it was real neat to meet up with him. I was traveling alone so they asked me to tag along with their group. God is great, especially since I was nervous about meeting people. These guys would keep an eye on me the whole trip. They are a bunch of awesome men who love Christ. What impressed me most about the group was the fact that it included two teenage boys, John and Zac. I pray these young men never lose their love for Christ and people.

Fast forward about four hours and we are in the Dominican arriving at our hotel. When we arrived we discovered to the Tony (a member of the Rocky Mount guys) did not have a room for whatever reason. Since I had been traveling alone, I was supposed to be accompanied by Michael Shelton (Brazil messed up his passport) who did not get to come, Tony became my roommate. He is an awesome man with a very large heart for Christ, his family, and kids. So off we go to get settled in. We had to learn how to work the lights in the room (they kept shutting off after a minute), unpack, and get ready for dinner.

After dinner, we had an awesome worship service, and then were divided into our teams. Before we were placed in our teams we were visited by the Minster of Sports for the Dominican Republic. He thanked us for bringing the news of Jesus Christ to his country and baseball to the kids. When he finished speaking; we were divided up and I was placed in "Group 4-Infield" under the leadership of Aaron Ledesma. Aaron is a former major league player and current coach in the Yankees organization. He is also a man very conscience of God's power in a person's life. This was evident from our conversation in the airport but also in the way he would lead in prayer beginning that night.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008.

Breakfast was served at 6AM and the morning devotion was given at 7AM. By 8AM we were on busses headed to our different locations. My group was off to a neighborhood in Santo Domingo. I soon discovered that each day we would share testimonies to help us get to know one another. Through this I was able to discover many men and coaches who love Jesus, love baseball, and have every day struggles like all people. The reason I say this is because many were team owners, college coaches, and major league players. These are the men who have "arrived" from a human perspective and I guess I was a little star struck. However, these men were so humble and honest about their walks with God and the pressures of being in the "upper levels." They shared how they cope by having their own email circles and team Bible studies.

An hour later, we were arrived to a baseball field that was a glorified sandlot field. On the field waiting for us was the Minister of Sports and about 500 kids, coaches, and parents. We conducted clinics for the outfield, infield, pitchers, catchers, and hitters. They kids were divided into these five groups and rotated every 20-30 minutes. We even had an umpire clinic with us that day for the coaches and would be adult umpires. Following the clinics all these people piled into one set of stands, and the earth in front of the stands, to hear a local missionary preach a gospel message. I did not understand all that he said but I looked into these kids faces and I saw God working. I cannot explain it but I saw God at work. In the end about 200 came forward to receive a decision paper and to make a public profession of Christ. The day could have ended there but it is not over.

We returned in time for lunch and then at 2PM I went to Ninos de Cristos, an orphanage in La Romana. Here we were able to give to these children the shoes collected and the other gifts we brought. We spent two hours playing and spending time with kids ranging from 16-years old to infants. At 18 the girls and boys are forced to leave the orphanage and begin a life. Until recently this has been very hard since most lack a good education. Thanks to the Pujols Family Foundation these children have an education space and better materials to begin their adult life better prepared. When it came time to leave I am not sure who wanted us to stay more, the kids or us.

The evening brought another wonderful service and we left exhausted but pumped for the next day.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Another round of early morning breakfast and devotions, and then it was off to San Cristobal (2 hours away). It was drizzling so we did not know if we would get to conduct a clinic that day. However, when you drive that far the weather can change. We had a great set of clinics for about 200 kids. Another missionary spoke and we had close to 60 kids come forward to make a public profession for Christ.

Since we traveled so far we missed lunch and the opportunity to go sight seeing that day. I was really hungry that night and made a poor choice on food selection. I did not know it right away.

Friday, November 21, 2008

I lay in bed, when I could, suffering from food poisoning. The sickness subsided long enough to get help after the morning devotion (which I got to hear-while seeing one of the doctors on the trip) and to make the evening service feeling weak and tired. That night we heard the testimony of Tony Fernandez, Dominican Short Stop, who played 18 years in the majors. What a powerful testimony.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Still not eating but feeling better. We went to our final devotions, and then headed to San Pedro de Marcois for a rally. There were about 8,000 people there. When all was said and done, every little league team received new equipment, all received the message of Christ, and about 1,000 made public professions for Christ.

All that was left to do now was go back to the hotel, grab my bags, and head to the airport.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

2:00 AM –I arrived home.