Ministry and Rocky Balboa

I've been feeling kind of down and so I thought I'd rent something off iTunes. Something that kind of fit my mood. So I ended up watching Rocky Balboa. It's a movie that I've seen several times and own the DVD back home. It's a movie that is one of my favorites. At where I'm at in my life right now, the story resonated.

I think the scene that really stuck out with me was the one with Rocky and his son. His son confronted him after he found out about the fight with Mason Dixon and talked about all the struggles he's having to go through being under the shadow of his father and being considered a joke. Rocky then reminds him about watching him grow up and telling about how he would be great and that he'd be his own man. But in that he lost being who he was and instead starting blaming others.

The key point is how Rocky talks about how life hits and how it hits hard. The key lines are these: "It ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward."

I would say the past two weeks I've been taking some real hard shots. The kind that are like ones right to the face. If anyone has ever been hit in the face, especially in the nose, you know how it messes you up. You get dazed, you stagger around a bit and you lose your balance a little. You pretty much can't keep from being really affected by it. It hurts. I think that would pretty much sum up the past two weeks.

That's the way following Jesus is. Sometimes there will be times when you get hit and get hit hard. It will hurt and it'll hurt bad. That's the life we're called to. Throughout the Bible, it talks about how those who followed Jesus had to deal with rough times but they kept going because 1) they knew that following Jesus was worth more than not and 2) they had the presence of the Holy Spirit to comfort them in those times.

It's like Rock said, you have to take the hits and keep moving forward. It may take a little time to shake off the hurt but you keep moving forward. That's what a follower of Jesus is called to.

Reflections on Sports Video Edition #1

Reflecting on Steve McNair

I was on the phone with my dad (10:30pm local time in Krakow) when he told me about the death of Steve McNair. My first reaction was shock. Complete and utter shock. It's one of those things you don't expect to hear. As more information has come out, it has been more tragic in nature.

I thought as I reflected on this I'd look at both the negative and positive. The negative being that it looks more and more like a murder-suicide also involving a 20 year old girl. This girl also was arrested earlier in the week for DUI in a Escalade co-owned by Steve and her. It's sad to hear given the fact that Steve is married and has four kids and for all intents and purposes in apperance was happily married. If there was cheating involved, it is tragic. It reflects how a bad decision can have bad consequences, and in this case really tragic ones.

On the positive side, he will be remembered as a tough quarterback. When the team came to Tennessee in 1997, he was the starting quarterback. For the "hometown" team, he was the QB. He was the epitome of perseverence and toughness and no matter what injury he had and how much practice he missed, you expected to see him out on the field on Sunday. I remember last year blogging right after his retirement about memories I have of his playing days with the Titans. It was a sad day when he retired, it's a sadder day that he passed away.

My thoughts and prayers go out to his family. I hope that Steve followed Jesus and I hope that his family does and that they can turn to Him for comfort in this time of hurt. Steve, you will be missed.

American Football in Poland

It has been awhile since my last post. For those that don't know, I have been in Poland for about a month now serving as an intern. I've been getting my sports fix from keeping up online with scores and video highlights (cause of the 7 hour time difference).

Today, however, was a cool experience. I went to an American Football game here in Krakow. One of the people that I'm working with is helping coach a team here and helped to get the program going. The team is called the Krakow Tigers and they play in a league against other teams in Poland. Today they played against their crosstown rivals, the Krakow Knights. On top of that, I was put in charge of helping to film for the game cause the one who normally does it is out of the country on vacation.

It was really interesting watching a game that I love being played here in Poland. The fans that were there were into the game. There was a public address announcer that would describe the action (he was rooting for the Tigers, it was a home game for them) in Polish and then get people to chant "Let's go offense" or "Let's go defense" in English. The wave was done several times and at halftime, there was a throwing competition and a kicking competition with some fans from the stands.

The game itself was pretty good. There was some sloppy plays on both sides with multiple false starts and offsides along with several personal fouls called. There were also some cool plays such as an onside kick recovered by the Tigers. They also took the opening kickoff of the second half all the way back for the touchdown. In the end, the Tigers were too much for the Knights as they ended up winning 44-8.

It was a cool experience and it has me excited for when I get back to the States and for football season to get started.

Fifth Royals Game...In Review

On Thursday, I went to my fifth Royals game of the year. This one was planned before I went to the one on Tuesday. This one was to be the last one I got to before I left for overseas mission for two months. It turned out to be a pretty good time. The weather was great (sunny, high 70s/low 80s). It was a day game matchup and Zack Grienke was pitching. Some highlights:

*Before the game, me, Kyle, Tyler and Dr. Cardoza (one of the profs at Midwestern) got to the park early and did some tailgaiting. This was the first time I ever tailgated at a professional game. It was pretty cool.

*The game itself was pretty good...except for the fact that Cleveland won. The Royals had a lead when Grienke left and the bullpen/defense let him down and cost the Royals a win.

The record of games I go to now stands at 3-2. The next game I'll be able to go to will be in August when I get back from being overseas. Hopefully at that point, the Royals will still be hanging around.

One of the Greatest MLB Games I've Been To...Fourth Royals Game in Review

Yesterday, I went to one of the best baseball games I've ever been to. The whole story behind it and the game itself was great and one worth retelling.

To preface, on Monday afternoon I was playing Star Wars: Epic Duels with some guys (Tyler, Kyle and Stephen) in the dorm lobby. While we were playing, Allen walked over and said something to the effect of "I know that you three (me, Tyler, Kyle) would probably be interested in this...I got some free tickets to the Royals game tomorrow night, would you like to go with me?" When I heard this, my immediate reaction was of course. Turns out, Dr. Roberts (president of the seminary) got these tickets from some unknown benefactor and gave them to Allen. These tickets were initally going to be given away during the Royals Chapel but weren't available then. So it ended up being me, Allen, Kyle and Stephen who went (Tyler had to pick up a friend at the airport that night and couldn't go).

So yesterday afternoon, the four of us headed out to the "K". On the way, looked at the tickets and found that there was free parking too. When we got to the stadium, it was several hours early. It was plenty of time to walk around the Outfield Experience, along with getting our free t-shirt (it was T-Shirt Tuesday so we got a free Royals t-shirt). It was a beautiful day at the ballpark and a perfect evening for baseball.

Since the rest of the stadium wasn't open yet, I suggested we walked down to the Pepsi Party Porch and watch batting practice taking place. We were early enough to see the Royals taking BP. It was the first time I had been out there and it was surprising how really low the porch is to the field. As we were standing out there watching, there was a ball hit on the field near where we were standing. One of the Royals pitchers (Ron Mahay) who was out on the field gently tossed the ball up to some fans about a few feet away from me. They missed catching it and it landed back on the field. I stood there and didn't see where the ball went. Suddenly I see a ball come flying up in the air and a little behind me. I turn back and took about two steps and with my right hand I caught it bare handed. It was completely unexpected and totally cool.

When the opened the rest of the stadium up, we decided to head over to our seats. On the way I saw someone signing autographs by the Royals dugout. I figure why not and decided to try and get my baseball that I just got signed. As I got about halfway down the steps, I saw that it was Trey Hillman, the manager signing autographs. I got down there and stood in a short line and waited for my turn. When it was my turn I handed him the ball and my Sharpie pen. As he was signing it I said "I wanted to thank you for coming to Midwestern Seminary last month." He said "You're welcome, I had a good time there." I then said "It was a real blessing." He then replied "Thank you, I appreciate that." as he handed me the ball and my pen. I walked away with a smile on my face.

I got over to where the other guys were sitting and saw the view from our seats. We were in the Dugout Plaza section, it was lower level behind the first base dugout near home plate, just right underneath the second level. They were some of the best seats I've ever sit in at a baseball game. It was an awesome experience and the game hadn't started yet.

The Royals were playing the Cleveland Indians. This was my second time this year seeing this matchup. Unfortunately, Trevor Crowe was not there as he is in AAA right now. The pitching matchup was Brian Bannister vs the reigning AL Cy Young Winner Cliff Lee. The game was a fairly close one. There was some back and forth going on and some exciting plays. One included at collison at the plate which resulted in the Indians player getting booed the rest of the game.

The game seemed to go the way of the Indians when they hit a 3 run homer in the 6th to make the score 5-1. The Royals scored a run and in the 9th were down 3 runs with the score 5-2. In between the 9th inning, me, Kyle, Allen and Stephen got on Crown Vision (the big screen). It was really cool and I was able to get a picture of it.

The bottom of the 9th was simply crazy. The fireworks started with one out and Mike Jacobs at the plate and Kerry Wood, the Indians closer on the mound. Jacobs worked the count to 3-2 and then proceeded to take a pitch out of the park. The solo HR made the score 5-3. The very next batter was Mark Teahen. On like the first pitch of the at-bat, Teahen takes Wood yard as he hits a home run of his own. The back-to-back solo HRs made the score 5-4. Miguel Olivo was the next batter and proceeded to take a walk. The Royals send in a pinch runner (Mitch Maier) and then have David DeJesus at the plate. DeJesus then hits a triple which scores Maier and ties the game at 5-5. The next batter was Willie Bloomquist, former Mariner and a favorite of mine. Bloomquist hits a deep pop out which allows DeJesus to tag up from third and score the game winning run. The Royals win in dramatic fashion 6-5.

The crowd was loud right after Jacobs hit the HR and kept getting louder and louder. It was a tremendous atmosphere. It ranks up there as one of the best MLB games I've ever been to. With that win, the Royals are 3-1 in games I've been to. It's the time of game that definitely is worth retelling the story.

Running Journal for Royals Chapel 2.0

Last month, Midwestern Seminary hosted the second Royals Chapel. Once again, manager Trey Hillman and GM Dayton Moore came and spoke in a dialogue format with the president of the seminary, Dr. Roberts. It was a similar format to last year's chapel.

It started off with a little humor as they were asked some things they were thinking on recently. Trey said that Dayton said to him "I'm the boss, you go (first)." Trey mentioned how he had been thinking a lot about family and the importance of being the spiritual head of his household. He also made mention of his wife being the glue that holds things together.

Dayton mentioned about how he was encouraged about the good start the team has done but that he wasn't satisfied. He also mentioned about there was harmony within the organization and the importance of that.

Trey followed up by saying that it is easy to feel excitement like the way the fans feel lately. He had two really good quotes at this point. One was one he mentions a lot to his team "Without hope and faith, we're lost as human beings." The other was "God bless critics. If we didn't have critics, we wouldn't have anyone to prove them wrong."

Dayton mentioned that he felt more pressure from ownership than the media and that Trey has more of a challenge with the media than he does.

Trey talked about how he is more at peace this year. He also mentioned something that was interesting. He said that "Sometimes its better to keep your mouth shut for the better of the group." He also mentioned about carrying a "reporter's notebook" where he writes down some of his favorite verses and thoughts that God has laid on his heart.

When asked about his greatest moment in a baseball uniform, Trey mentioned the championship parade that he was in after winning the Japan World Series. He also talked about his time in Japan where he was able to help with several missions groups that came to the country and how his position as manager there was a way to share his faith.

Dayton talked about how winning games was more of a relief than anything. He mentioned that his team is at home (meaning his family). He talked about how he tries to make a difference in the lives of family and the people he associates with.

They wrapped up by giving prayer requests. Dayton mentioned about maintaining being the leader God wants him to be while Trey mentioned balance in his life and also for his family.

After prayer, there were giveaways. Unfortunately, didn't get anything this year. Hopefully, they will do it again next year and I look forward to it.