My two sons taught me to love baseball. Like most of the boys growing up around me, I had played some up through junior high. I played pickup games around the neighborhood with boys of various skill levels. I played on little league teams and school teams. There were two things that I couldn’t handle. One was a curve ball and the other was playing bunt defense 30 feet from home plate. (I had a graphic image of a batted ball imbedded in my forehead.) Watching my sons play with passion and skill inspired an attraction for the game that hasn’t ebbed.
I’m reading a biography of one of the sport’s great legends – Lou Gehrig. Gehrig was known as a shy, clean cut, talented Yankee who was a stark contrast to Babe Ruth and his flamboyant, carousing lifestyle. He was known for most of his life as a mama’s boy. He had a lifelong affection for the strong, stable, self sacrificing woman that raised him. In fact, for several years, he supplied a hotel room for her so she could stay in Florida for the Yankee’s spring training.
The author of this biography tells a story about Gehrig that is such a contrast to most of today’s players that it bears repeating. (Even if a player was disposed to duplicate this, I don’t know if today’s fans would cooperate.) The following story is told about his 1927 team described by one sports writer as “the frolicking, rollicking, walloping Yankees.”
When the Yankees were in New York, he would spend most nights at home with his parents. On days off, he might go fishing, alone or with his father. He sometimes traveled by himself to Rye Beach, where he would ride the roller coaster alone for hours. Only rarely would he accept an invitation to socialize after hours with his teammates.
“He used to come up to the apartment Benny Bengough and I shared and sit around waiting for us to introduce him to girls,” [Mark] Koenig once said. “He would wear a nice new suit, perfectly pressed by his mother, and would sit on the sofa with his hands in his lap. When a woman was introduced, he usually found it too difficult to speak.”
He took some teasing for his shyness, but he never let on if it bothered him. The more he hit, the more his teammates accepted his idiosyncrasies. No one on the team took the game more seriously or worked harder to improve. He loved baseball so much that he sometimes went home after a game, rounded up a few of the kids from the neighborhood, and played in the street until dark. [Without lights at the stadiums, every game was a day game.]
Lou Gehrig is perhaps best known for the disease named after him – Lou Gehrig’s Disease (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS).
Admittedly, Gehrig’s reticence at joining his teammates in after-game activities was due to shyness more than anything else. But, there is still a lesson here for me: It’s possible to get distracted by many things. Some of those would be fun things. Others might be interesting things. Some might even be good things. The question we should be asking is: What’s God’s plan? Paul wrote “this one thing I do.” It’s possible for me to get sidetracked very easily and lose focus of the main thing or the prime directive. In my case, that’s working to see that the great commission is fulfilled. Will I get that done? Will I fulfill it? Of course not! But, God says that one day the Great Commission will be fulfilled. I have a part to play in the fulfillment and need to continue to focus on my role. What is my role?
1. Work in the Northwest to mobilize people and resources to help fulfill the great commission, and
2. Work internationally to train nationals strategies to multiply churches among their people.
Will you pray for Suzanne and me that we’ll complete our portion of the task?
Ministry Report:
Korea: Bob spent a week in Korea training four men who will train other pastors and church planters. The sessions went very well and we are optimistic about the future for the denomination we work with – Korean Evangelical Holiness Church (KEHC). They are planning a conference for pastors in June that we’ll attend and assist them in the training. The four trainers are committed to the 2 Timothy 2:2 model of training leaders who will train others. I also had the blessing of preaching in two churches. It’s difficult to know how things go with a sermon that’s translated, but I think it mostly went well. There was one time when I shared something not in the notes and thought as soon as I said it that it might be too culturally tied to the US. As I turned, I knew that to be the situation as soon as I saw the translator’s face.
Japan: Suzanne joined me in Japan for a week working to build relationships with the Japan Holiness Church (JHC). Our desire is to develop a program in Japan to train leaders in multiplication of churches. The percentage of Christians in Japan is very small – less than .1%. We believe that a multiplication strategy holds the key to reaching this nation for Christ. We attended the denomination’s annual pastor’s meetings and spoke informally with several who wanted more information about training pastors and laity in this strategy. It was also a blessing to be able to renew our acquaintances with the OMS team in Japan. They are a dedicated group and need your prayers to work in a difficult place.
Future Activities:
Suzanne’s and my primary task in the next few weeks will be to recruit ministry partners. We’re making appointments to talk with people and share our story about our role in fulfilling the Great Commission. We travel to the Spokane area after Easter and then on to Seattle. Bob leaves for meetings in Indiana the first week of May connected with ministry in Japan and Korea. Please pray for the next international trip scheduled for the end of May to the middle of June. Bob is expected to attend school board meetings in Central Asia and then move on to Korea and Japan. Our goal is that Suzanne will be able to make the same trip.
It is a great privilege to know that people are praying and giving to make this ministry possible. May God bless you for your part in fulfilling the Great Commission.
