In Memory of the Savior's Love

There's a lot of pride to go around in the on-field accomplishments of two of Woodward Park's own. First, Tayler Williams and her softball team from Central High School played in the Division I Valley Championship softball game on Thursday afternoon against Clovis High School. Central fell to Clovis, 8-4, ending Tayler's high school softball career as a member of the Valley's second-best high school softball team.

Later today, John Hollett's Selma baseball team will play in the Division III Valley Championship baseball game. John's team has to go to Bakersfield to play South High School, but after talking with John on Thursday, he is very confident in his team's chances. In fact, John told me he'd motivated his team throughout their playoff run with a motto from something I'd said in a sermon earlier this year: "It is hard to discourage someone who is focused." John, after you guys bring home the title later today, I'm expecting to get a championship ring!

As a die-hard baseball fan, it is exciting to see our people being rewarded with great success!

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This weekend marks the 50th Anniversary of Yosemite Bible Camp in Oakhurst, California. There is a reunion at the camp this weekend. I am excited about speaking to the assembly at the camp on Saturday evening at 7:00 p.m. Mark McInteer, the Executive Director of the 21st Century Christian Foundation in Nashville, will be the keynote speaker on Sunday. The theme for the weekend is "Come Home to God's Mountain" and all the messages center around a significant mountain-event in Scripture. I have been assigned "The Mount Of Olives: Talking to God."

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Also this weekend, my family will be blessed to have John Wiegand with us. John is the outstanding song leader for the Pleasant View Church of Christ in Pleasanton and the editor for the Praise for the Lord hymnal, published by 21st Century Christian.

In addition to our shared passion for ministry, we share a passion for the game of baseball. John will be with us at Woodward Park all day on Sunday to lead singing for both of our assemblies.

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Keep several of us in your prayers this morning as we will be meeting with the director of a Women's Shelter in Fresno for at-risk women/mothers. There are 48 units in this facility, all of which are filled with mothers and children from abuse situations. Our desire is to begin a Wednesday evening program at that facility where members from Woodward Park will go down to provide Bible studies/classes for the women and the children. It is another opportunity before us to expand our witness throughout Fresno and I ask you to pray specifically that the director will receive our proposal with an affirmation for this ministry opportunity.

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Finally this morning, I hope you'll find some time this weekend to reflect on the ultimate memorial -- the memorial to the memory of Jesus Christ. As believers, we are privileged each first day of the week in our worship assembly to remember Jesus through the taking of the bread and the cup.

The irony of the Lord's Supper -- a memorial to Jesus, instituted by Jesus himself -- is that it stands in stark contrast to all other memorials. For instance, the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. is in memory of one of our nation's greatest Presidents, who has been dead now for 142 years.

The Lord's memorial, in contrast, is in memory of our Savior's love -- a Savior who is not dead but alive! What a blessing we have each Sunday to remember, not only the death of Jesus that provides for our redemption, but the life of Jesus who is reigning even now at the right hand of God. In memory of the Savior's love, we keep the sacred feast, not to a dead Savior but to a living One!

The Good Old Days are Now

Life is good.

The WPCoC softball team improved to 3-0 with a 21-3 win on Friday night. Attendance Sunday surpassed the 800 mark for the fifth time in the last eight weeks. Esteban Parra was baptized into Jesus. Eight others recommitted their lives in some way to Jesus. The ministry downtown resumed on Saturday with a food and clothes give-away to the homeless. Our new youth minister, Paul Cartwright and his wife April, arrived to begin their new ministry among our teens.

Life is good.

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My little sis has joined blogdom. She has some great pictures of my little niece and nephew poolside yesterday afternoon. I can't wait to finally meet those two personally one month from today!

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I'm rereading one of my favorite little baseball books written by the voice of the Giants and ESPN Sunday Night Baseball, Jon Miller. In his book, Confessions of a Baseball Purist, Miller tells about "what's right and wrong with baseball as seen from the best seat in the house."

In one chapter, he talks about how waxing nostalgic seems to inevitably result in looking upon preceding generations as superior while looking with extreme cynicism on the current state of things; of looking at the present as inferior.

It happens within baseball. It happens in politics. It certainly happens within churches.

That cynical belief that twenty, thirty, fifty years ago were the "good old days" and that in every way, today doesn't compare with yesterday. Time has a way of magnifying our nostalgia, resulting in a bigger-than-life memory of yesterday that might not be in tune with the reality of yesterday. Miller calls it a "blind spot" -- the cynicism that today must always be viewed as inferior to yesterday.

And when it comes to baseball, that means seeing yesterday's game as superior in every way to today's game. For example, here's a sampling of quotes Miller injects into his book:

"The great trouble with baseball today is that most of the players are in the game for the money" (Ty Cobb in 1925).

"Baseball today is not what it should be. It makes me weep to think of the men of the old days and the boys of today. It's positively a shame -- and they are getting big money for it, too" (Bill Joyce, 1916).

"The present crop of big leaguers does not think enough. He feels he has arrived. The result is less intelligent baseball and a bit of laziness" (Tris Speaker, 1926).

"There is no doubt at all in my mind that the old-time ballplayer was smarter than the modern ballplayer. Now the game is all power, lively balls, and shorter fences" ("Wahoo" Sam Crawford, who retired in 1917, offered this opinion in 1960).

Miller's point? Well, twenty, thirty, fifty years from now, folks will look back upon today and, waxing nostalgic, talk about it as "the good old days." Since the good old days are now, Miller asks, shouldn't we enjoy them?

Jesus calls us away from gazing at tomorrow because today has plenty to command our attention (see Matthew 6.25-34). Paul reminds us that yesterday and cannot command our focus (see Philippians 3.12-16).

As the words of the old proverb say: "Yesterday is history, tomorrow's a mystery. Today's a gift, that is why it is called the 'Present.'"

So have a great day...living in the "good old days."

Preaching Priorities

Thanks to my good friends, John Wiegand (Editor of the Praise for the Lord hymnal) and Mark Guy (Minister for the Pleasant View Church of Christ in Pleasanton), I was privileged to take in the Monday evening Giants/Mets game from AT&T Park. It was a perfect end to a perfect weekend!

An unseasonably warm night in the City by the Bay made it ideal for baseball. The Giants won the game 9-3 and we were able to witness history as Giants catcher, Bengie Molina, hit two home runs in the same inning, the first Giant to do so in 30 years.

My first night game experience at AT&T was awesome and the new Hi-Def scoreboard and video boards, obviously installed in anticipation of the All-Star game at the ballpark, are incredible!

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I am coming to a place in my life where my preaching priorities are undergoing a radical reorientiation.

It all began with an invitation around Christmas to my mentor, Dale Mannon, to speak at our Spiritual Growth Workshop in the fall. Dale is one of the best preachers I know; a brother of immense sincerity, depth and wisdom. As I pressed Dale for a commitment to be one of our speakers, he shared with me honestly, "Jim, I'd love to come...but not if it means I miss my son's football game on Friday night."

We were able to work the schedule around Dale's commitment to his son and he will be with us, speaking three times on Thursday. He'll catch a flight home to Lubbock, arriving at 3:00 pm allowing him ample time to make his son's game on Friday night.

I wonder sometimes, in the era of celebrity, about the celebrity factor within the church. I wonder about those who, at all cost, seek out invitations to speak as a means of promoting their latest book. I wonder about the heavy PR emphasis on promoting materials in addition to promoting Jesus. I wonder how deeply ingrained the mission of Paul might be among my colleagues today: "We do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your servants for Jesus's sake" (2 Corinthians 4.5).

What refreshed me -- and reoriented my priorities -- was Dale's unashamed commitment to his children. Did he want to come to Fresno to participate in our workshop? Absolutely, but not at the expense of teaching his son that his career in ministry meant more to him than the commitment he'd made to his son.

As Mark Guy and I visited at the game on Monday night, he relayed to me an incident when a church was interviewing him for their vacant preaching position. He was asked by the search committee about his commitment to ministry. His reply? "This church will have many ministers long after I'm gone but my children will only have one daddy. I believe my first priority must be to my children."

I respect that. I admire that. And I want to be like that -- not driven by the desire of the next out-of-town speaking opportunity but driven by the desire to be faithful and focused at home.

The Glory of Preaching

I'm juiced. Pumped. Psyched.

This afternoon, Mandy and I are joining up with two other couples from Woodward Park for a journey to Los Angeles. Tonight, we are going to catch the Dodgers/Padres game. David Wells (0-0, 2.70) will toe the rubber for the Padres against Dodgers' ace Derek Lowe (1-1, 5.73) at 7:40 PST.

One of my many quirks throughout my ministry life has been a propensity to schedule my travels around baseball season. Doing so has afforded me the privilege of sharing the good news of Jesus in many neat places and catching a game at many wonderful stadiums.

Tonight, I get to add another stadium -- a famed and historic stadium at that -- to my list. Tonight, it's all-you-can-eat Dodger Dogs and baseball at venerable Dodger Stadium.

I'm pumped!

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Last night, I had the wonderful privilege of filling in for Randy and John who teach our 3rd-6th grade boys on Wednesday nights. They've been studying the life of David but I wanted to talk to them about the glory of preaching.

When I was a kid, I developed an interest in preaching. As I grew, that interest grew also until I determined to go to college to learn skills, service traits and study habits that would allow me to serve God full-time to the best of my ability.

That growth came despite the fact I was rarely offered the opportunity to preach in my home church. The preacher in my home church during my teen years was an older gentleman with a kind heart who seemed to have little interest in sharing the pulpit. Consequently, young guys like myself had to search for neighboring churches to try our hand at preaching. Thankfully, in my life, the Johnson Street Church of Christ in my hometown of Benton always gave me an open invitation. To this day, I consider their investment in my ministry to be one of the dearest gifts in my life. The lessons I learned from their preachers, Willie Hill and Cedric Finley, continue to influence my thinking and my ministry.

I write all that for this purpose: very early in my ministry, I determined that the pulpit where God granted me the opportunity to preach full-time would always be open and available to any young men desiring to try their hand at preaching. Anytime one of our young men shows an interest in preaching, I will help them prepare and practice and will allow them the opportunity to preach their sermon on the Sunday of their choosing.

So, last night, I simply tried to fan a potential flame in the hearts of those young me. Maybe one day (soon), one or more of those guys will seek me out wanting to preach.

I'm praying for that to happen.

The future of the church depends on good men willing to forgo more financially lucrative careers in other fields to commit their lives to the glory of preaching.

Diamond Notes

Don't forget to pray for all the Woodward Park'ers down in Mexicali, Mexico over Spring Break. A contingent from Fresno is down there helping with the first-ever Vacation Bible School our at mission church.

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Florida versus Ohio State. Who's your pick?

I've had Florida v. Ohio State since the beginning of the tourney, with Florida winning.

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I love the Pacific Time Zone. Big sporting events are always over before bedtime out here.

Tonight, though, I'll have the tube trained not on the NCAA Hoops final but on the Rangers season opener with the Angels (ESPN-2, 7:05 PST). Can't wait to see Michael Young, Hank Blalock and Tex swing the sticks again!

Last night, though, I did find one drawback. After a wonderful day with God's family at Woodward Park, culminated by a counseling session, I arrived home to watch the Cardinals/Mets season opener.

It was over.

Thankfully, I had DVR'd the game and was able to watch it quickly last night. Just hearing the voices of Jon Miller and Joe Morgan was like balm on a wound. It's amazing how slow those 6 months without baseball seem to pass. But now, with the opening of the season, all is right with the world again!

Here are my picks for the '07 season:

AL East -- Yankees
AL Central -- Indians
AL West -- Angels
AL Wild Card -- Red Sox
NL East -- Mets
NL Central -- Astros
NL West -- Padres
NL Wild Card -- Phillies

World Series -- Yankees over the Mets in a Subway Series.

I've Given my Heart to San Francisco

Back at the beginning of Spring Training, I solicited the opinion of my readers for advice on choosing a National League West team to follow during the 2007 baseball season. My passion remains the Texas Rangers and even though this summer means I'll only get to see them on the road, in their away grays at Oakland and Anaheim, I nevertheless intend to keep my loyalty firmly in the corner of the Rangers.

Nevertheless, living in central California means three options for NL West teams: the Padres, the Dodgers and the Giants. I immediately eliminated the Padres (too far and little media exposure in Fresno), resulting in a choice between the Dodgers and the Giants.

The feedback was overwhelming. I'm not sure any one post on this blog has ever generated as much as my solicitation on whether to follow the Giants or the Dodgers.

But with the start of the season just three days away -- the Mets and Cardinals kickoff the season on ESPN Sunday night baseball at 5:00 PST -- it is time to make the decision.

Drumroll, please...

I've settled on the Giants.

Now, from a purely baseball standpoint, it is foolish to pick the Giants over the Dodgers. The Dodgers are younger, deeper, and have a much higher ceiling heading into the '07 season than the Giants.

My reasons for picking the Giants are these:

(1) Mike Avedikian threatened to take all future Fresno State game tickets away from my family if I didn't choose the Giants.

(2) The legal squabble over the Extra Innings package means my DISH subscription will likely limit my baseball watching to FSN-Bay Area and the KTVU feed of the Giants games over the local Fox affiliate.

(3) The Giants AAA-farm team plays in Fresno.

(4) The concession fare at AT&T Park is superior to any baseball stadium I've ever been to.

(5) AT&T Park is closer to Fresno than Dodger Stadium and the Bay setting of the stadium is unmatched, with the possible exception of PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

(6) The broadcast team of Jon Miller, Dave Flemming, Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper is peerless. Those guys can paint the scene better than any in baseball.

(7) KNBR, the Giant flagship in San Francisco, comes in crystal clear in Fresno 24 hours a day.

(8) Did I say Mike Avedikian threatened to take away all future Fresno State game tickets from my family if I didn't choose the Giants?

So there you have it...I really had no choice! I have officially aligned myself for the 2007 Major League baseball season with the Black and Orange.

Giants or Dodgers? Part Two

The thing I've noticed about living in California is people here are passionate about baseball. I like that.

On Tuesday, I solicited opinions on which National League West team I should choose to support. My first love will always be the Texas Rangers and that is non-negotiable. Living in central California, however, means I should choose an NL West team to follow. The Giants and Dodgers are both an easy drive, traffic notwithstanding, from Fresno.

For the pro-Giant side, I offer up the following email:

"Joe (our Minister of Evangelism/Outreach at Woodward Park) is a Dodger fan. Do you really want to run with that crowd? Take another look at the pictures on your blog from the recent visit to San Francisco. What does LA have? A photo of an old sign that used to say Hollywood." No contest!

About the stadiums, Dodger Stadium may be historic because its old, but that's about it. It's in a ravine- a ravine is what we call a "wash" back home. Is that where you want to go to see a ball game? In San Francisco, you can see the Giants, see the bay and the Bay Bridge. An old stadium means old ways of parking; no routing of cars- everyone heads to the one exit all at once! What a mess! Also, there's no public transportation in LA. In the Bay Area, you can park your car in Livermore and take the BART all the way into Frisco all for a couple bucks (less than parking fee in LA!) Also, if you're on the BART, that's more time to spend with family/friends visiting instead of driving and white-knucklin' the traffic.

The Dodgers are the Prima Donna's of Cali -- nobody likes the prima donna.

If you choose the Dodgers, I'll question your sanity...just like I do Joe's!!!!"

And now, there's this email, espousing the pro-Dodger side. As you can tell from the passion and thought given to these emails, baseball is huge here. Anyway, nibble on this from a Dodgers loyalist:

Having been born and raised in Southern California, (Santa Barbara), I grew up with my ear to the radio, listening to Vince Scully and Jerry Dogget broadcasting the Dodger ballgames.

Comparing the Dodgers and Giants, brother, is like the proverbial case of trying to compare an apple and an orange: Good and evil, light and darkness, truth to lies. God's favorite color has always been blue, (skies, oceans, my wife's eyes), and Dodger Blue is a heavenly shade of blue. And my friend, have you ever eaten a "Dodger Dog?" Most people will agree that they are better than Tri-tip with potato salad and watermelon.

Then there's the weather - It's always cold and foggy in S.F. during the spring and summer, and almost always around 75 to 85 degrees at Chavez Ravine, where you and the girls can enjoy the ballgame in a T-shirt and shorts. When you go to a ballgame in L.A. plan on spending the night too, because you'll want to go to Disneyland the next day! By the way, if you are a people watcher, there are always Hollywood stars in the audience at a Dodger game.

As you know, Jim, S.F. is a modern day Sodom, and no place for a C of C preacher. On your way home, come up the coast and spend a day going through Santa Barbara. You'll find it to be the most beautiful and charming town on the West Coast.

I rest my case!

As you can tell, a lot of thought and insight have gone into the email response I've received thus far. As of yet, I haven't made a decision. You can continue to send your email pitches to jim@wpcoc.com and remember, no pro Oakland A's or Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim emails will be accepted!

Giants or Dodgers?

Beginning this week, pitchers and catchers report to Florida and Arizona for the beginning of Spring Training. I've always loathed the lull between the end of the Super Bowl and the beginning of baseball season (sorry, but basketball just doesn't do it for me like football and baseball). It is a tough withdrawal.

That brings me to the essence of my blog today. I will forever be a passionate fan of the Texas Rangers. I love the Rangers, despite the fact they've been mired near the basement of the AL West since the Doug Melvin/Johnny Oates era ended. With Major League Baseball's awful decision to sign an exclusive agreement with DirecTV for the Extra Innings package (we are DISH subscribers), I either have to switch satellite providers to get the Extra Innings package in order to watch my beloved Rangers or add an NL West team to my favored list.

I'm leaning toward the latter option.

Who should I choose? The Giants? The Dodgers? The Padres?

The Padres get little to no press in Fresno, their games aren't broadcast either, plus it's too far to travel in one day, so they are eliminated despite the fact there is a significant Rangers' connection with the Padres front-office. That narrows the choice down to the Giants and Dodgers. Both teams broadcast their games into the Fresno market. Both teams have exemplary voices calling their games (the Giants have Kruk, Kuip, Flem and Jon Miller; the Dodgers have the legendary Vin Scully and Charley Steiner). Both teams have beautiful ballparks (the Giants play in scenic AT&T Park; the Dodgers in historic Dodger Stadium). Both teams draw over 3 Million fans per year. And both teams are notorious rivals.

I'm opening the floor today for your feedback. I'll choose to follow one NL West team during 2007. Should I choose the Giants or the Dodgers?

Email me today at jim@wpcoc.com with your best pitch (and please, no emails pitching the A's or Angels).

Only 18 Days

Until Texas Rangers' pitchers and catchers report to the Spring Training complex in Surprise, Arizona.

Baseball is right around the corner...

Yeah!

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Also this morning in my links, I added Kerry Williams' blog. Kerry is the Preaching Minister for the Sherrod Avenue Church of Christ in Florence, Alabama and a dear friend. Give Kerry's blog a read today. You will be blessed.

Have a great day and remember, Jesus sends you into your world as salt and light.

Gaining Approval

So Cal Ripken, Jr. and Tony Gwynn were both voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame yesterday. My question is: how did those two not amass 100% of the vote? Ripken garnered 98%; Gwynn 97%. While their vote totals are the two highest totals ever in the history of Hall of Fame voting, I'd be curious as to who did not vote them in?

Whoever it was should immediately have their Hall of Fame voting privileges banished.

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I love Paul's letter to the Galatians. It is chock-full of practical theology on the simplicity and sufficiency of the gospel to justify mankind in the eyes of God. What Jesus accomplished at Calvary -- signified by his declaration, "It is finished" from the cross -- was the turning point in all history; the moment when the redeeming work of man was done.

Throughout Galatians, Paul's principles ring truth into the hearts of men and women, calling them outside of themselves and their comfort zones for the sake of the gospel. Galatians is a radical call away from cultural and national imperialism -- evidenced by Paul's adamant stance against imposing the requirements on Moses upon disciples of Jesus -- as Paul makes clear the salvation found in the gospel is available to all mankind.

Galatians also calls us out of ourselves and our incessant quest to win the approval of our peers. As disciples of Jesus, our aim should be righteousness in the sight of God, even if that quest prompts some social disapproval along the way. Consider these words from Scot McKnight

"We need to examine ourselves to see if we are 'seeking to gain the approval of men' or succumbing to social and peer pressure (see Galatians 1.10). Probably no feature of life is more difficult than this: discerning where our own line of approval is actually going. Is it going in the direction of God or is it being rerouted through the approval of human leaders, spouses, and friends? Are we doing what we think is right or are we trying to be diplomatic or political? This rerouting can be subtle indeed: from the glance of a spouse during a conversation to a letter to a Christian friend. When the conviction of our own faithfulness to truth and the apostolic gospel gives way to the desire of approval from a friend, we have joined the ranks of those whom Paul attacks.

There is a fine line between being approved by others and having such approval as our motivation. Our motivation must always be to please God and him alone; if others disapprove of us when we know God approves of us, we must disregard their disapprovals. Our fear must be of God, not of humans" (The NIV Application Commentary: Galatians. Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1995. p. 67-68).

The Hot Stove

Major League Baseball's Winter Meetings kick off next week (December 4), so on the heels of the second greatest season in sports, here's some hot stove banter for today:

*Does Mark McGwire belong in the Hall of Fame? If you're a Hall-of-Fame voter, do you vote for him?

*This offseason saw new managers hired in Texas (Ron Washington), San Francisco (Bruce Bochy), San Diego (Bud Black), Oakland (Bob Geren), Florida (Fredi Gonzalez), Chicago ( Lou Piniella) and Washington (Manny Acta). Which hire most impresses you?

*With talk heating up of the possibility of Manny Ramirez going to the Giants and Mike Piazza going to the A's, where does Barry Bonds play in 2007?

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"Glory, I've learned, is what God is all about. His essential being. Whenever you talk about his character or attributes -- like holiness, love, compassion, justice, truth, or mercy, that's God's glory.

So how is it that you and I can glorify God? It happens every time we reveal his attributes in the course of our daily lives. Every time you share the good news of Christ with another. Every time you reflect patience in the middle of an upsetting or perplexing problem. Every time you smile from the heart or offer an encouraging word. Whenever those around you see God's character displayed in your attitudes and responses, you are displaying his glory.

God's glory isn't reserved for a temple of stone or some heavenly vista. It can shine out clearly while you're changing a flat on the freeway, or counseling an angry co-worker, or lying in a hospital bed, or balancing two crying babies in the church nursery" (Joni Eareckson Tada).