Take A Stand

Look at these two young men. They look different, yet they are the same, yet they are different. Confused yet? Let's clear things up.

Both men played for the same baseball team (LA/Brooklyn Dodgers) in the 50's and 60's. Both men were pitchers and played in multiple World Series games, winning several championships.

Their differences? The guy on the left, Don Drysdale, was a right-handed pitcher and the guy on the right, Sandy Koufax, was a lefty.

There is another little known difference between the two - Sandy Koufax was Jewish and his faith has everything to do with today's story. This is from William Choslovsky, JNS News:

"60 years ago on Oct. 7, 1965, that Koufax, a Jew, sat out game one of the World Series because it was Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar."

What? He was the best pitcher on the team and he opted out of starting game Game 1 of the World Series? Yes. Because of his faith in God.

Koufax went on the pitch two shutout games in the series that year and the Dodgers became league champions.

That makes me ask myself, "What are MY priorities when it comes to worshiping God?

"I didn't go to church on Sunday because the Packers were playing at Lambeau and I had to set up for the tailgate party."

"We would have been there but Johnny had a baseball tournament."

"I was scheduled to work that weekend."

"We were on vacation."

What will our excuse be next time? Sandy Koufax probably missed many trips to the synagogue on the Sabbath due to his baseball schedule, but he chose not to miss the holiest day of the year. That says something. It speaks to his life's priorities.

What are OUR priorities? 🤔

“The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present a food offering to the Lord. ²⁸Do not do any work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord your God." - Leviticus 23:27-28

Sandy Koufax Story - JNS News

The Last Shall Be First

(photo: Krystle Baumgarten)

I witnessed something kind of cool this week. Our dinky little town of 6,080 (2010 census) won the boys Division 2 state baseball championship! That was pretty cool. But on that day I experienced something even cooler than that. It all started with a phone call from my daughter.

"Hey . . . umm, you wanna go watch the Comets play?" she asked.

"Well, I'm at work." I replied.

Then I thought for a few seconds. Hey! The Comets are playing for the state title!!!

"Let's go!"

The Comets were playing Milwaukee Lutheran. It was small town against the big city. An incredible story, just waiting to unfold. And unfold it did. I'm not going to give you the box score here, or the play-by-play. I'm going to give you new meaning to an Old Testament Bible verse.

"6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." - Proverbs 22:6

(photo: Krystle Baumgarten)

In your mind's eye, zoom back from the field of play until you begin to see people in the stands. The first thing you noticed that day was all the uniforms. There were dozens of them. They were everywhere. And I'm not talking about the adults or the booster club. Every Little Leaguer from Waupaca was there! Watching. Observing. Learning.

Behind the other dugout there were also parents of the players and a small contingent from Milwaukee to cheer their team on - the defending state champions. There were few kids but here was tiny Waupaca, our fans outnumbering the opposition 4-or 5-to-one.

(photo: Krystle Baumgarten)

I watched as Kronk (that's the coach nickname) worked with his players. Clapping hands, encouraging them, very calm in his demeanor. He placed his arm around the shoulder of one of his players, explaining how the runner had missed a sign. Not yelling, but teaching. He's mighty good at teaching his "children" as it says in Proverbs.

One more thing I noticed. Before the game began the coach walked over to the stands. His son was standing there, holding the coach's granddaughter. It was easy to tell the priorities in this man's life. Others.

There were times in years gone by when the Comet baseball team had been last. This year they finished first. But all that pales, I think, to where his players, and our children, finish in life.

Go back up to the top of this page and take a second look at that first picture. Yes, the coach is excited. But not at anything HE has done. And guess who he's looking at. Go on . . . guess.

He's not looking at his adoring, cheering crowd. He's looking at his wife and his kids. And all the Waupaca Little Leaguers? They were looking at him.

"6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." - Proverbs 22:6

Someone trained Kronk pretty good too, I thought. And, as I turned my head and looked at my daughter sitting next to me, I thought her mom and I did pretty good as well. Our children are the future. Wise parents train them in such a way that they one day will lead . . . by following.

God writes amazing stories and this one was no exception. You see, this was Kronk's very last game as their coach. What a fitting end to an amazing career. But the teaching and the training of his children will always go on.

Waupaca Comets Win First State Baseball Title - Post Crescent

Safe!

I haven't really been watching the World Series with all that's been going on around here. I did manage to watch the Packers beat the Vikings Sunday night but that's about it sports-wise. However I WOULD like to use a few sports analogies in this post today to make something clear to a young friend of mine.

During the Packer game Aaron Rodgers threw a short little pass to Jordy Nelson. It was a simple crossing pattern across the middle of the field. But God has gifted Jordy with tremendous running speed and it wasn't long before Jordy was celebrating a touchdown in the end zone.

Prior to his scoring that touchdown, Jordy was running hard. He had to elude some would-be tacklers on his way to ""the promised land." And only after Jordy crossed the goal line did he finally have time to relax and celebrate. What joy for Packer fans everywhere!

Have you ever seen a baseball player, rounding third base and headed for home? I'm not talking about someone who has just hit a home run and is simply trotting around the bases. I'm talking about the guy who is not sure whether he is going to make it home safely or not.

He is the guy who is extremely focused on what he is doing and is running as fast as he can. He knows there is going to be a play at the plate and he REALLY wants to arrive there ahead of the ball.

Maybe he's run past the third base coach's signal to stop. The coach isn't sure whether the runner is going to make it or not. But the runner is focused. As the base runner gets near the plate maybe he sees one of his teammates behind the plate flapping his arms and yelling for him to "SLIDE!!!"

The catcher receives the ball and begins to turn as the base runner begins his slide. The crowd stands and the look to the umpire . . . the final deciding authority, for the signal.

SAFE!!!

Our lives are a lot like that. We spend our time running around, totally focused our our lives and our jobs, that we forget all about OUR final judge, Jesus.

Did you know that God (Jesus) transcends time? He was there when the world began and will be there when it ends. He saw you get born and he has already seen you die. Time means nothing to him.

Did you ever see the movie The Matrix? That scene with the lady in the red dress? All the people are scurrying around, doing the same thing day after day. Focused on their own lives. But then Morpheus says "Freeze it!" Then he tells Neo, "If you are not one of us, you are one of them."

Sounds a lot like the words of Jesus . . .

"Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters." - Matthew 12:30

Matrix Training Video

God transcends time.

How easy would it be for someone to score a touchdown if all the other players were suddenly frozen in place like the people in the street in The Matrix. Baseball player wouldn't have to slide, hoping to score a run. He could just stroll up to the plate, touch it with his toe and head for the dugout. Simple.

It's that easy to be safe in God's Kingdom. It doesn't take much effort at all. Read this from the book of Matthew . . .

"23 And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 27 Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” 28 Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first." - Matthew 19:23-30

We must repent of our sins, realizing there is nothing that we can do on our own to earn our way into heaven. We must acknowledge Jesus as our Lord and our savior. It is our faith in Him and our making Him Lord of our lives, surrendering ourselves to His will, that allows Him to save us. We must humble ourselves and submit to Him is every area of our lives. And in that way . . . as the scripture says, the last shall be first.

"12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” - Acts 4:12

"23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." - Romans 6:23

"8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - 9 not by works, so that no one can boast." - Ephesians 2:8-9

Fall

I find it interesting, how God works. It's seldom in a way we would expect. Yet it is ALWAYS in a way that brings Him glory and praise. And here I am, writing about how God has placed me in front of this keyboard today to tell you a story of pain and suffering that transformed itself into a story about grace and mercy. Of love and of hope.

It's fall right now where we live. Leaves are turning colors. The temperature is at or near the freezing mark most mornings. We and the sun get less and less face-time. All the plants are either going dormant or are just downright dying. And baseball season winds down to it's "fall classic" - The World Series. Fall can be a very beautiful time of year but it also can be a very depressing time of the year.

Recently, a friend of mine sent me a text message, telling me the cancer she and her doctors had
battled a few years ago was back. I went to visit her and her husband this past weekend. What a blessing that visit was.

My friend, her husband and I visited for over an hour. Talking about surgeries, and treatments, our children and life. We laughed, recalling stories from our childhoods and from our children's childhoods. We had a great visit, long overdue.

As I was leaving, I glanced back at my friends, a loving husband helping his wife, still sore from her surgery, back up the steps to their home. What a picture of love and compassion and grace. Their family has certainly endured their share of pain and suffering in this life, yet more is on the way for my friends. They will need our prayers.

Maybe it was the visit with my friend and the cancer that has taken so much from her life. Maybe it was the coming World Series about to begin. But my thoughts turned to a baseball player and a story I vaguely remembered from 25 years ago. The story of Dave Dravecky.

Dave Dravecky led the San Diego Padres to the World Series in 1987. In 1988 he was traded to the San Francisco Giants. He was an All-Star, and led the Giants to the playoffs. Then he noticed a lump forming on his pitching arm. It was cancer.

Surgery followed where the tumor, and 50% of his deltoid muscle, was removed. Doctors told him he would never pitch again. They didn't know Dave Dravecky very well.

Soon he was soft-tossing, then came a minor league assignment. On August 10, 1989 he returned to the Giants, pitching eight innings. The Giants won 4-3 that day. His next start in Montreal was the last game he would ever play. He pitched three no-hit innings but then, in the sixth inning, during a pitch to Tim Raines, Dravecky's arm shattered. He was taken from the field on a stretcher, receiving a standing ovation from the Montreal crowd. The cancer has returned.

Doctors had to amputate his pitching arm and shoulder. His career as a baseball player obviously was over. His childhood dream, removed, along with his arm . . . his livelihood. More than enough to induce depression in ANY one. But . . . I think I forgot to tell you something. Dave Dravecky . . . is a Christian.

Followers of Jesus are not immune to pain by any means. It might actually increase. Certainly there is more persecution, more martyrdom. The thing about Christians is what they have been known to do with the hardships they encounter. It's what they do as they face the pain in their lives.

Dave Dravecky now travels the country as a motivational speaker. He has written a few books about his life, the cancer that ended his career, and the God who gave him hope during the darkest of times.

My friend, the one I visited the other day, is still recovering from her second cancer surgery. She told me during my visit that one of her nurses called her inspirational and that my friend had changed the nurses life, simply by how she handled herself during her whole ordeal.

"5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." - John 1:5

I really encourage you to watch this video. It's a short video about Dave Dravecky and how Jesus led him through the darkest of times. But it is also a story about what Dave has done AFTER those dark times. He has shone his light, the light of Christ, for all to see. We should consider the lives of these two Christians, Dave and my friend, and follow their example. Our pain and suffering may not be as great as theirs, but we can still shine. Shine On!

Dave Dravecky Interview

 

This story is dedicated to Ali and Dave, to Sara, and to Dave and Jan Dravecky

 

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