Do Your One Thing

            I’m not a Boston Red Sox fan. But I was thrilled to watch what happened back in the 2004 divisional series between the Red Sox and the New York Yankees. The winner would go to the World Series.

            New York got ahead three games to zero in the series and seemed poised for a sweep. No team had ever come from behind after another team led 3-0.            

            Boston trailed by one run in the fourth game, and future hall of famer Mariano Rivera was called in to close it for the Yankees. Rivera was unhittable. However, he walked Kevin Millar. Millar was slow, so Boston’s manager decided to put in a pinch runner—Dave Roberts.

            Dave Roberts was traded to Boston from Los Angeles in July of that year. He had hardly played in the two months he had been with Boston, and he had not played in the two weeks leading up to that ballgame.

            Yet, there was one thing Dave Roberts could do well—run. Suddenly, he was thrust into a very difficult situation. He was called upon to use his discretion to steal a base.

            It was cold that October night in Boston; the temperature was probably in the 40s or 50s. Roberts had little opportunity to stretch, having sat on the bench for almost nine complete innings. However, Roberts had studied Rivera. He knew his moves to first base and home plate. After Rivera had tossed three balls to first base to hold Roberts to the bag, Roberts made his move.

            It was a critical moment. Sportswriter Peter King later asked him, "Were you nervous?''

            "Well,” Roberts replied, “it was one of those things where one side of my brain is saying, 'Go for it!' And the other side of my brain is saying, 'Take it easy, now. If you get thrown out, you'll be exiled from this city for life. And it'll be another year of Red Sox failure.' They're doing battle. But I just thought it was something I had to do. The game depended on it.”

            He was safe. Iconic Yankee shortstop, Derek Jeter, took the catcher’s throw. After the play, he offered his tribute, “I don't know how you sit in this weather for eight innings and come in and steal a bag like that. Good job.”

            Shortly thereafter, Red Sox batter Bill Mueller hit a single to score Roberts and tie the game. Boston won in the twelfth inning.

            Boston went on to win game five and then games six and seven in New York. They did the unthinkable—they defeated the Yankees four games to three after being behind three games to none. Unprecedented.

            The Red Sox went on to sweep the St. Louis Cardinals 4-0 to win the World Series—Boston’s first since 1918. The curse of the trade of Babe Ruth had been broken—if you believe in curses.

            Dave Roberts did not play in the World Series. He had hardly played at all in Boston the entire time he was with the team. Yet, if Dave Roberts had not done that one thing—steal a base—Boston would not have been World Champions.

            That one thing had to be done, and he did it.

            You may be reading this post, gifted by God to do one thing and one thing only. Are you willing to offer God that one thing?

            That one thing could make an eternal difference in the Kingdom.

4There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but they all come from the same Spirit. 5There are different ways to serve the same Lord, 6and we can each do different things. Yet the same God works in all of us and helps us in everything we do.    7The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others (I Cor. 12:4-7.) CEV

Five Things I Think I Think (with a nod to Peter King for this idea)

1. I can’t wait to read Thom and Jess Rainer’s new book—THE MILLENNIALS CONNECTING TO AMERICA’S LARGEST GENERATION.

2. I recently received a complimentary copy of the magazine, THE WEEK. I liked it a lot. Were I not already reading so many “mags” and journals, I think I would subscribe. Perhaps in the future.

3. I think I appreciate more and more the talent and personality of Justin Timberlake. Here is a quote from the aforementioned THE WEEK regarding the beginning days of his old band, ’NSync, and their serving as opening acts for heavy metal rock bands, “[One concert] it was literally raining beer cans and glass bottles the whole time from 500,000 people who wanted to see AC/DC and not [me.]”

4. Still waiting for a review from my mom on the new movie THE HELP. The previews looked good.

5. This week Judy and I take our first born, Haleigh, to college. For almost a year, I have used the Beatles song SHE’S LEAVING HOME as Haleigh’s ring tone on my cell phone. I guess I’ll have to replace it. Maybe I need to go back and look up the lyrics to the old HALL AND OATES song, “She’s Gone.” That might work.

Hidden Warfare

Remember the anthrax scare shortly after 9/11?

George W. Bush writes in his new book, DECISION POINTS, about an event that took place in that context a little over one month after 9/11. He and members of his team traveled to Shanghai, China for an economic summit. They spent the night at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, and the next morning squeezed into a blue tent designed to protect national security briefings from electronic surveillance. Inside the tent were the President, Secretary of State Colin Powell,  National Security Advisor Condi Rice, White House Chief of Staff, Andy Card, and the CIA briefer.

They were able to participate in a video conference with Vice President Dick Cheney, who was in a special booth at an event in New York City. Cheney told the team, “Mr. President, one of the bio-detectors went off at the White House. They found traces of botulinum toxin. The chances are we've all been exposed.”

Botulinum toxin is one of the world's most poisonous substances. President Bush and his team remained silent. Finally, Powell asked, “What's the time of exposure?” He was mentally attempting to calculate if his exposure had been recent enough, and the amount of toxins sufficient enough, to kill him and everyone else who had been in the White House.

The only way to know if there would be survivors was to take the substance found and apply it to mice in an FBI lab. If the mice died within 24 hours, the humans would know their death would shortly come. If the mice remained alive, President Bush and his team would know that their exposure was minimum and they would be fine.

President Bush and members of his team went to their meetings that day, awaiting results. The next day, national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, received word that her deputy was on the phone. She and everyone else knew the call would tell her the results of the lab experiment.

Can you imagine what went through their minds as they waited for Rice to complete her call? Fortunately, the word was the mice were very much alive. Still, this was life in the new world of global terrorism and biological warfare.

When I read the president's account, I could not help but think about another global war. Like the terrorists, much of the work is done by figures that remain hidden. Paul writes Ephesians chapter six: 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. NIV

I respect the devil and his minions, as they seek to sabotage the work of God and destroy all Christians. To not do so would mean failure. 

My prayer is that we are diligent in our participation against the devil and his schemes in this all too real war.

Five Things I Think I Think (with a nod to Peter King for this idea)

1. As you know, Don Meredith died recently. Consequently, I have read several articles about him. One was written by a fellow named Bob Greene.

He tells about watching a movie that earned only $19,348 at the box office. That movie was called THE OPEN ROAD. What captured my attention was the fact that the movie was written by Don Meredith’s son, Michael.

The movie stars some well-known actors including Academy Award winners Jeff Bridges and Mary Steenburgen. It also included Justin Timberlake, in a major role.

Greene caught my attention describing the movie. He summarized the plot as being about a charismatic, retired major league baseball player nicknamed “Lone Star” (he’s from Texas) and the distant relationship he had with his son, who was struggling on the Minor League circuit.

Timberlake plays the son; his mother is dangerously ill and facing surgery. She insists that her son find his dad, by now long divorced from his mom, before she will agree to undergo the operation.

The son must travel to Columbus, Ohio to find his father at a card show. His arrival surprises his dad, who agrees, at last, to accompany the son back to Texas and the mother’s bedside.

The problem is, is some ways, the father is the child and the child is the father. “Lone Star” is a funny, appealing man (to one adoring fan, he breezily says, "Number 11 in your program, Number One in your heart"), but he is also a self-centered individual, who long ago learned how to manipulate life to get his away. Passively and aggressively, “Lone Star” sabotages the journey to the point that his arrival is seriously in doubt.

It is at this point the movie reaches it climax. “Lone Star” creatively escapes from his son at an airport and hides away in a hotel in Memphis. The son tracks him down. A scuffle ensues. Father and son wrestle to exhaustion, both physical and emotional.

It is at this point that the son tearfully asks, “Why didn’t you ever love us?”

“Lone Star”, wiped out, moans out an answer.

When I heard it, the light bulb switched on in mind. “Lone Star’s” answer is the reason for much of the brokenness I have seen in families, marriages, and church relationships in my thirty years of ministry.

When asked by his son, “Why didn’t you ever love us?”, “Lone Star” answers, “I did. I just loved myself more.”

I found THE OPEN ROAD on instant streaming on NETFLIX. I watched this movie, which was quite good, because of my fascination with Don Meredith and the fact that he inspired the character of “Lone Star.” (The movie, however, was not biographical or autobiographical.) I was blessed with a profound insight into human behavior, which was encapsulated in a single sentence.

2. Good news. I found out the MLB NETWORK is making Game 7 of the 1960 World Series on DVD.

3. Matt Flynn, you made Tyler proud last night against New England. Well done.

4. I took the plunge and bought the computer software DELICIOUS LIBRARY to organize my books. Here’s to hoping it works.

5. I am so sorry, Lesa Landers Monday, that you have been diagnosed with cancer. My prayer is, with God’s help, you conquer it.