Fast Pitch

I saw one for the first time when I was in 4th grade. It was a hardball. I know that we use the term “hardball” to differentiate a baseball from a softball, but this was no baseball, it was a true hardball. A kid named Chris brought it to school; he was the guy with the crew-cut hair and the hands stained from playing in red-clay dirt. A group of us were playing tag when Chris showed up with this thing in his hand. “Who wants to play?” he asked. If I remember correctly, we tried to run away, after all, it was a hardball.
It was a little smaller than a baseball, but was not made of a leather-cased, rubber core wrapped with twine. This ball was solid, with a seam running around it like an equator, and was scarred from impacts against brick walls and gravel driveways. This was no toy; it was a miniature planet…a world of hurt. He held it up in the sun for us to see and chided us for our cowardice.
“What if it hits one of us?” a friend asked.
“Do you know how much that would hurt?” said another. Someone suggested that we roll the ball to one another. Others nodded with enthusiasm, rolling seemed so much safer. Chris snorted, “You throw hardballs.”
And that’s what we did. At times, seeing that ball drop down from a blue sky toward you, the only thing you could think was, “It’s going too fast. It will slip through my fingers and hit my head.” And sometimes you would sidestep the hurtling little planet and watch as it thumped against the ground leaving a sharply-defined crater near your feet. But, at other times, you would step up, stretch out your hands, and catch it.
God plays hardball. He is a loving God, a God of comfort, and a merciful God, yet He is a God of truth. He plays hardball. John gives us the response of some of Jesus’ disciples after hearing Him teach on the subject of His coming death; “Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?" (John 6:60). John goes on to write in verse 66 “From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.” The hardball was pitched, and they stepped out of the way.
Having taught high school English for a few years before going into the ministry, I had developed one unit about knowing and acting upon the truth of a matter. I would always ask at the beginning of that unit the same question, “Would you rather hear the hard truth, and possibly have to make corrections to your life, or believe a “soft” lie, and remain comfortable, not having to change anything?” Many, many students chose the second: the comfortable, soft, non-challenging lie. That’s what Jesus encountered. “Don’t give me the truth, give me something easy.” His followers wanted the comfort of the miracles, but cared little for the core of the message. Sidestep the hardball, let it fall to the ground; it’s safer that way.
Perhaps God is playing hardball with you. Maybe you’ve been reading His word and He has pitched a ball to you. You are in the game, but then you see it dropping out of the sky, and think, “I should step aside.” Or maybe you would say, “God, why don’t You roll the ball to me? It’s safer.” Maybe you’ve grown so scared and discouraged that you’ve stepped from the game. Don’t step aside, don’t complain, and get back in the game. Step up to the truth, even if the corrections you face are painful. Remember, His goal is to make you like Him; “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:17).

Crossroads Series for February: Habakkuk

A Few of My Favorite Things 2

Hummus...Some say it's merely ground chickpeas and olive oil (well, that is true), but it's so much more than that. Sabra is the creamiest hummus I've ever had (and I've had a lot). By far, the best.

Sometimes when I'm out to eat, and I see hummus on the menu, I like to say, "Bring me a hummus, and make it a Sabra."

Okay, no, I don't really do that...

But you should really try this stuff...it's great.

(By the way, I'm getting nothing for heaping such accolades upon this noble product...But, People of the Sabra brand (or Sabra-ites/Sabrans, whatever you may be called there at the company) if you happen to read this and feel compelled to send me some of your hummus, I shan't turn it away.)

More Timely After 30 Years...

"The Mush God has been known to appear to millionaires on golf courses. He appears to politicians at ribbon-cutting ceremonies and to clergymen speaking the invocation on national TV at either Democratic or Republican conventions. The Mush God's presence is felt during Brotherhood Week and when Rotarians come together. He is the lifeless deity President Carter was referring to when suggesting peace might come to the Middle East because the Egyptian president and Israeli prime minister both worshipped the Great Mushy One.
"The Mush God has no theology to speak of, being a Cream of Wheat divinity. The Mush God has no particular credo, no tenets of faith, nothing that would make it difficult for believer and non-believer alike to lower one's head when the temporary chairman tells us the Reverend, Rabbi, Father, Mufti, or So-and-So will lead us in an innocuous, harmless prayer, for this god of public occasions is not a jealous god. You can even invoke him to start a hooker convention and he/she or it won't be offended.
"God of the Rotary, God of the Optimists' Club, Protector of the Buddy System, the Mush God is the Lord of secular ritual, of the necessary but hypocritical forms and formalities that hush the divisive and the derisive. The Mush God is a serviceable god whose laws are not chiseled on tablets but written on sand, open to amendment, qualification, and era-sure. This is a god that will compromise with you, make allowances and declare all wars holy, all peaces hallowed."

Nicholas Van Hoffman (1978)

Something to Ponder

"Rome fell September 4, 476AD. It was overrun with illegal
immigrants: Visigoths, Franks, Anglos, Saxons, Ostrogoths,
Burgundians, Lombards, Jutes and Vandals, who at first assimilated
and worked as servants, but then came so fast they did not learn
the Latin Language or the Roman form of government. Highly trained
Roman Legions moving rapidly on their advanced road system, were
strained fighting conflicts worldwide. Rome had a trade deficit,
having outsourced most of its grain production to North Africa, and
when Vandals captured that area, Rome did not have the resources to
retaliate. Attila the Hun was committing terrorist attacks. The
city of Rome was on welfare with citizens being given free
bread. One Roman commented: 'Those who live at the expense of the
public funds are more numerous than those who provide them.' Tax
collectors were 'more terrible than the enemy.' Gladiators provided
violent entertainment in the Coliseum. There was injustice in
courts, exposure of unwanted infants, infidelity, immorality
and perverted bathhouses. 5th-Century historian Salvian wrote:
'O Roman people be ashamed... Let nobody think otherwise, the vices
of our bad lives have alone conquered us'." ---William Federer

A Few of My Favorite Things 1

I've decided to share a few things I've found along my way that I like, enjoy or find generally amusing for some reason.
To begin, the scent that I like and wear often: Idole by Lubin.
People smell it and say, "Oh, that smells like..." and trail off into confusion.

For those of you into that sort of thing, here's the breakdown:
Top Notes-
Rum Absolute, Saffron, Bitter Orange Peel, Black Cumin.
Middle Notes-
Doum Palm, Smoked Ebony, Sugar Cane.
Base Notes-
Leather, Red Sandalwood.