The Life of Tannim

It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted, and I apologize for that.  Coaching t-ball this year has put my mind back in this mode, and given me plenty of material.  I’ll try to keep posting this year, even after t-ball season is over.

OK, I’m not sure if this is going to come out of my head and to the keyboard the way I envision it, but here goes.  Picture yourself on the bleachers of a Little League game, preferably Minors or Rookies, because the analogy misses something in t-ball, and usually doesn’t look the same in Majors or above.

Now, in this game, the pitcher is God, the batter is a person’s first impression of God, religion, the church, etc.  The ball is an unsaved person.

Our game is a little backward.  When you get an out, it’s a person saved.  If they make it home, it’s a life lived without Jesus, ending in Hell.

I know, as saved people, we associate home with Heaven, and in most of my posts, that’s the way it works, but this a different scenario.

Let’s put the ball in play.

God pitches and our person is hit into the field of believers, to convert.  The Short Stop is watching for the ball, but he dives and misses.  He told our lost person about Jesus, but didn’t have an immediate impact.  The left fielder , however, was on it, backed him up, fired the ball off as the runner is now nearly at second.  He spoke into this person’s life a little more, and something happened because of it.  The second baseman catches the ball, sweeps down for the sliding base-runner, and tags him out.  He made the conversion!

It took all three players to get that one.  You could say the Short Stop didn’t have any impact, and in a baseball game, it’s easy to see who did and didn’t have an impact on a play, but not so in life always, so we’ll give him credit for the attempt.

While the Second Baseman got the out, it took the work of other team members to make the play.  He could not have fielded the ball in left field and made the tag at second alone.

Sometimes, you’ll get a pop fly, and it’s a one-man out.  No one else has ever spoken to this person about the Bible, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, or religion in general.  He’s never seen a televangelist, never heard a single Scripture.  You are the first person to ever make contact with him in regards to spiritual things, and the Holy Spirit enables you to make the play.

OK, really, where are you if you have that opportunity, the Amazon?  That just doesn’t happen in the world we live in today.  There is always someone assisting on the play; maybe years before you spoke to this person, but there was someone there ahead of you.  It may even have gone very badly in the past, but there was someone there.  At some point, this person heard or saw something relating to God.

This correlates directly to John 4:35-38.  There, Jesus tells the disciples that they will reap where another has sown.  Someone else has prepared the ground and planted the harvest.  The crops are ready to be harvested.

That’s what we’re saying here.  You will get the out where another has chased down the ball, and thrown it to you.  All you have to do is catch it, and make the tag.

Sometimes, though, you’re not the one who gets the tag.  You’re one of the people along the way who will get the assist on the play.

It doesn’t matter where in the play you are.  What matters is that you’re out there, playing defense.  You have your glove on, and you’re ready when God sends a ball your way.  If you’re in on the play, you’re in on the win.

In Exodus 20:8, we are commanded to “Remember the sabath day, to keep it holy”.  God actually told Moses to tell the people to take a day off EVERY week.  Why did He do that?

OK, I’m not arrogant enough to say I know how God thinks, but I do have a basic understanding of how baseball thinks, especially where it comes to pitchers.

Pitchers are required, in Little League, to take a certain amount of days off, depending on how many pitches they throw.  They’re also limited as to the number of pitches they can throw in a game.  There are a few reasons we do that.

First, we’re trying to prevent injury.  Hurling that ball at full speed wears on the shoulder and the elbow, even if your form is perfect, and nobody’s form is perfect.  We pull pitchers off the mound, and rest them, to give their bodies a chance to recuperate.

Second, we rest pitchers so they have a chance to reflect on their last plate appearances.  They can examine what they did well, and what they could have done better.  Why didn’t that curve break?  What happened in the delivery that caused that ball to hit the batter?  Why did that fastball hit the dirt?  How, exactly, did I get that slider to break that hard, and get the batter to swing right by it?  How did that sinker happen?

Third, we rest pitchers so they understand that the game doesn’t revolve around them.  There are other kids who can do the job.  They may be good, but we can get through the game if they’re not there.

So, let’s look back at what God’s telling us.  Perhaps, what baseball tells us isn’t too far off.

Does God tell us to rest so we don’t hurt ourselves?  How common are things like carpal tunnel syndrome?  This type of injury happens by doing the same thing over and over again, without proper rest and recuperation.  That’s why they’re called repetitive motion injuries.  We need to take that rest so that our bodies can recuperate.

Does He want us to reflect?  We do a lot that doesn’t quite turn out the way it should.  Perhaps, God wants us to take the opportunity to figure out what went wrong so we can make adjustments.  I think He also wants us to take a look at what went right, though.  Only by truly examining the steps that led to the outcome can we consistently repeat the results.

One thing’s for sure.  God wants us to remember that it’s not all about us.  He wants us to take ourselves out of the game one day a week so we can see the Earth still revolves without our efforts.  There are necessary things, like feeding children, that still have to be done, and there is no law against that.  The trick is figuring out what’s really necessary, and what’s “necessary” to you.

I think there’s something else in God’s commandment to take a day off.  One, we were designed to be social, not solitary.  Two, He wants us to take time to meditate on Him.

God gives us the gifts of children, friends, family, spouses, and other people to spend our lives with.  If we are always working, and we take no time to rest, we’re not taking time to nourish those relationships.  Those relationships are important.  God gave us the responsibility of raising our children to honor Him, and to care for our spouses.  How can you do that if you’re always laboring?

We need to take time to meditate on God.  If we don’t take the time to soak in who and what He is, we soon fall out of touch with Him.  He hasn’t gone anywhere, but our focus has.  The only way to get that focus back on God is to take the time to reacquaint ourselves with Him.  We simply can’t devote the time to Him that we should if we’re constantly working.

Remember, as you go through your week, God has blessed you immensely.  Take a day, every week, to remember all that God has done, and all the gifts He has blessed you with.

Exodus 20:7 — Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Looks pretty straight forward, doesn’t it?  Let’s take a closer look, though.  When the Bible says “name of the LORD”, is it really just talking about using God’s name as a swear word, or is it talking about something more?

Your name is more than a simple appelation.  It’s also your reputation, your character, and your authority.

From 1973-2010, George Steinbrenner was the owner of the New York Yankees.  His name carried (and still does) a certain weight.  If someone came in Steinbrenner’s name, he carried the same authority Steinbrenner had.  His reputation worked for you, or against you, when you worked for him.  When his name was mentioned, people instantly knew who being spoken of, and had an idea of the kind of person they thought he was.

If someone started damaging his reputation by misusing his name, it wouldn’t take long for that to get around.  If someone started using his authority in New York in a negative manner, it would tarnish his name.  Who he was was tied to his name.  If someone slandered him, and it was believed, that damaged his name.

So it is with God.  His Name is not just what He is called.  It signifies who He is, what He stands for, His authority.

If we, His people, use His name to intimidate (if you do this, God’s going to punish you), that’s how people will view God.  They won’t see the just, loving Father we have, but an abusive stepfather.

If we, His people, claim His name and then go out and live sinful lives, then God is seen as a hypocrite, because His people are hypocrites.

There is much more to taking the Lord’s name in vain than using it to swear and curse.  Think a moment about all your name means to you.  How do people associate your name?  How do people associate God, and His name, by what they see in you?  That’s a truer and more complete view of whether you’re guilty of taking the Lord’s name in vain than just whether or not you use His name as a swear word.

A lot of people consider the Second Commandment to be more like Commandment 1(a).  They seem to be almost two parts of one whole, but, in truth, they are actually different.  In fact, it’s possible to break the Second Commandment while focusing very intently on keeping the First.

Suppose you’re a rookie baseball player who’s just been drafted.  You’ve seen your coach, trainers, agent, player rep, etc., but you haven’t gotten a look at the team owner.  You start asking around.  Has anyone seen this guy?  What’s he like?  What does he look like?

You start gathering some information, and think you’ve got a pretty good idea.  You really want a visual, though, so you pick up your chisel or your pencil, and you set to work.  You create what you believe to be a likeness of the owner, and that is who you play for.

Is your image correct?  Maybe, maybe not.  One thing is absolutely certain, though.  That image is NOT the team owner.  Whether it’s a good likeness or not doesn’t matter.  It still isn’t the man who signs your paycheck.

In life, what you did in our example is called making an idol.  It doesn’t matter if that idol is a picture of an artist’s idea of what Christ looked like when He walked the earth, or a trout, or a six-armed woman, or a cute, little, fat man.  Whatever it is, it is not God.

If you look at it as though it is God, though, it becomes your god.  Whatever it is, it will never be God, but can easily replace God in your heart, as you begin to look at it as though it is.

You see, the First Commandment is joining a different team, which can happen unintentionally, as we discussed last week.  The Second Commandment, as you can see here, is more like creating an image of the team owner in your mind, and playing for him, instead of truly playing for Him.

Next week, we look at taking the Lord’s name in vain, or using the Team Owner’s name as a swear word.

Today was different than most.  It was a single service, instead of the double service we usually run, one after the other.  It was New Year’s Day; a time when we expected rather low attendance.  The attendance was much higher than we anticipated, and the chapel was completely full.

That’s not what made it different, though.  It also wasn’t seeing Mr. Mike sitting and taking notes, instead of preaching, either.  It wasn’t listening to Brad preaching his first message in the main service, either.

Maybe it was seeing the new families.  Maybe it was the spirit of newness.  I don’t know, for sure, what it was, but something was different.

When we made our rounds of greeting and handshaking, there seemed to be an energy level that was so much higher than usual.  Normally, this is a joyful time, when we really enjoy greeting one another, and quickly catching up, but it was something more this week.

When “Family of God” played, and we were all slowly making our ways back to our seats, I got a chance to really look at what was happening, from my usual post by the doors, and what I saw touched me deeply.  The thought hit me, “This is my team.  These are the people who, when something goes wrong, will be the first to comfort, lift up, and re-assure any other one of us.”

Many people think of this concept of family, and rightly so, as we are the family of God, but I think more in terms of baseball, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.

Every one of us has batted lead-off, introducing someone to God and His mercies.  We have all batted clean-up, bringing that person to Christ.  We all cover each other in the field.  When one of us has a bad inning, the others are in the dugout, ready to encourage him or her.

When a member of our church is sick, injured, or recovering from surgery, we take it upon ourselves to help them with meals, cleaning, transportation, or whatever is needed.  We don’t wait for the coach to draw up a line-up card, we take the field on our own.

We all act as trainers, helping each other to grow in areas where we are deficient, and we don’t wait Mr. Mike to tell us to do it.  We see where one of our teammates is struggling, and we step in, and help him work it out.

This is what a team does.  We all, as members of God’s team, need to remember that we have teammates who don’t meet in our clubhouse.  Some meet in other clubhouses, some are on the inactive list by choice, some are on the disabled list, but we are all on the same team.

God doesn’t have a farm system.  We don’t start in the minors, and hope to make it to the majors, one day.  From the moment we’re drafted, we’re starters in the bigs.

We don’t all have the same position, or the same duties.  Some are coaches, some are trainers, some are batters, some are pitchers, and some are catchers.  Some work the outfield.

I’ll get into what each of those positions means in our spiritual lives as the year progresses, but, for now, just remember that, if you have claimed the name of Christ, and believe on Him, in faith, you are on the team, and you are called to make a difference, not excuses.

In the new year, I pray you will grab your bat and your glove, get off the inactive roster, and take your place in the dugout and on the field.

Hey, gang.  This post is a day late, because I took a day off for Christmas.  I hope your Christmas was as blessed as mine.

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OK, imagine you’re back at Coors Field. It’s the bottom of the 9th.  Rockies are down by one, with bases loaded, and two outs.  Betancourt is at the plate, with two strikes.  The pitcher fires a fastball right across the numbers, and he just stands there, with his bat on his shoulder, losing the game by not even taking a swing.

This happens every day, in real life.  God puts opportunities in our path on a regular basis, but we miss them because we’re standing in the box, with our bats on our shoulders.

Sometimes, we don’t swing, because we’re waiting for a different pitch.  We expect a pitch that hitting will put us in a different company, when we were waiting for a pitch that would put us in a higher position in our company.

Sometimes, we’re afraid to get hit the ball.  God throws you a curve, putting someone in your path, when you really don’t feel like witnessing, and they look angry with life, and like they’re just waiting for a reason to unload.  We do what any major leaguer would do when the ball comes right at them, we jump out of the box.  We watch as the ball curves, and crosses the plate in the strike zone.

We just missed an opportunity to bring another man in, because we were afraid to be hit by the ball.  Yes, I’ve been hit by the ball, and, yes, it hurts.  If we allow ourselves to be hit, however, there is a reward, provided, of course, we don’t charge the mound.

If we had stood in the box, and kept our eyes on the ball, we would have seen the curve and gotten the hit.  It may have been a single, or it may have been a homerun.  We may have just planted a seed, or we may have brought someone all the way to Christ.

God may not always give us the pitch we want, but He always gives a pitch to hit.  Even when He hits us with a pitch, we are rewarded, if we stay in the box.  If we lose our nerve, however, and jump out of the box, we lose the potential reward He had for us.

We may miss the mark, even if we swing.  It is entirely possible to swing at a good pitch, and whiff it.  Like I tell my Little Leaguers, however, it’s much better to go down swinging, then to get caught looking.

Until next week, Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. — Deuteronomy 31:6

There are people in baseball, like Ken Griffey, Jr, who spend their time encouraging and lifting their teammates.  When the team’s down by three, at the bottom of the ninth, with two outs, and no one on base, these guys are still cheering for whoever picks up the bat next.

Then, there are people like Carlos Zambrano.  He gives up five runs, then fires two inside pitches at Chipper Jones (speculation he was trying to hit Jones — he has too much ball control to make that mistake twice in a row).  He’s ejected for attempting to hit a batter, goes to the locker room, clears out his locker, and walks out.  He had a bad game, and walked out on his team, because he was throwing a temper tantrum.

How about Vicente Padilla, who is so despised by other players on his team, that, after he beaned a former teammate twice in one game, they insisted the team put him on waivers, which allows them to dump him, if another team shows enough interest.

Manny Ramirez, an admitted juicer, who raged on nearly everybody, and is currently under a 50-game suspension from MLB, is another example of a locker room cancer.

There are, unfortunately, quite a few cancers in baseball.  Maybe not as many as there are in basketball (imho, that league is more cancer, than not), but there are many.

There are more good guys in baseball than Griffey.  He’s just the guy that instantly comes to mind when you mention a good sport in baseball.

The vast majority of players are neither Griffeys, nor Zambranos.  They’re just regular guys, who do their job, and go home.  That’s ok for the average guy.

We, however, who claim the name of Christ, were not called to be average.  We were called to be peculiar, to be the salt that flavors and preserves the world, and the light that exposes and pushes back the darkness.

Cancers don’t push back darkness, they embrace it.  They may flavor the world (like boiled spinach that sat way too long), but they sure don’t preserve it.

Let’s be honest for a minute, though.  We all have a bit of Ramirez in us, when we take a good look in the mirror.  I’m not immune; none of us are.  We all have days when we just want to take our ball and go home, or bean someone with, hopefully, a verbal fastball.

The trick is to not give in to that urge.  The more you give in to the urge to be a locker room cancer, the easier it gets.  Conversely, the more you fight it, and find ways to remain positive, encouraging, and uplifting, the harder it gets to be a cancer.

As you go through your week, and the opportunity to be a good guy or a cancer arises, choose to be a Griffey, or a Casey Blake.  Be the encourager, the uplifter, the salt, and the light.  The way you treat the guy who has just messed up, and has given you the perfect the opportunity to rip into him, will appreciate it, and it will flavor his day.  It may also be the only point of light he sees that day.

As we take those opportunities that God gives us, and we behave in the way God would have us behave, we glorify God, and others see it.  As we take those opportunities, and behaving in a manner that opposes God’s will, people see that, as  well, and it portrays, not just us, but God, in a negative light.

God bless you and keep you safe in the coming week.

Imagine, for a moment, you’re at Coors Field.  As you look into the outfield, you see one man standing on the mound, Todd Helton.  I know, Helton’s a first baseman, not a pitcher, which works even better for this illustration.

Helton hurls the ball to the batter, and runs behind the plate, throwing on the catcher’s gear as he gets there.  The batter connects, sending the ball into deep center field.  Helton strips out of the pads, switches gloves, and sprints for center.  As he reaches the ball, the batter’s rounding third.  Helton now rushes for the plate, and the runner scores.  Helton returns to the mound, preparing for his next pitch.

OK, come back here, now.  That was insane, wasn’t it?  No one man can play every position.  Notice, in our illustration, Helton never got to his own position, the one place on the field where he excels — his niche.

We would never dream of putting one man on the diamond, but many of us believe we can play a different team sport individually, and that’s worship.  Now, I’m not saying you have to have a worship leader, a music leader, an a/v specialist, a tech team, a head greeter, a refreshements host, etc.  I am saying, however, you need other people on your team.

Who are those people, then, and why do you need them?  You’ve got your pastor.  It’s his job to get the message of Jesus Christ out in an understandable and applicable manner.  He’s your pitcher.  Your small group leader, who takes what the pastor pitches, and leads a discussion on the subject, helping you to really dig into the material, and understand how it applies, is like the relief pitcher.  Your small group members, and other members of the larger congregation, are like the outfield and infield.  They’re in support positions for you, and you’re in a support position for them.  You all work together to help each other, not only to gain a deeper understanding of God’s Word, but to apply that Word to your life.

Not only do we help each other in those ways.  We also help each other in times of need.  In the First Century church, the people met each others’ needs.  If a man needed bread, one of his brothers was there.  If his child died, his brothers were there.  If he broke his leg and couldn’t maintain his fields, his brothers were there.

Unfortunately, in the modern world, too often, our brothers are not there.  We’re not lifting each other up the way we should be, and the way our forefathers did.  We’re not even allowing those who would be there for us to be there, because we’re trying to do it all alone.

One thing we need to remember, as we go through our lives:  the Church is a body.  The body does not work as individual parts.  Here’s a real quick exercise.  Smile, using only one muscle.  In fact, don’t use any muscles; just your lips.  Just one lip.  Can’t do it, can you?  No part of the human body can operate completely independently of the other parts.  It’s even more true when you look at members of the Body of Christ.  None of us can operate without the others, any more than your one lip can smile without the rest of your face.

Until next week, God bless.