A The Baptist Deacon

Okay, before you read too deep and say this is just another post on baseball how could this possibly tie into anything from God or the bible. You will just have to bear with me for a few moments. I promise God is going to tie this together.

I have known all week that I was going to write this I just didn’t have the words until this morning. I was also not as close to God this week as I should have been. As those of you that keep up with what I write know I am a volunteer baseball coach. You might want to click on this link to catch up: http://deaconfarley.christianblogsites.com/blog/post/2008/04/25/put-me-in-coach

My son Adam and I are nearing the end of our seventh season together. This year we moved up to “the Babe Ruth League” and we will be there for the next three seasons. The boy’s ages in this league range from 13 years old to 16 years old, with a pitching restriction on the 16’s.

Stay with me I am getting to the point. I have coached some very good Little League teams. Two of those teams won the League championship, one was a runner up.

This year the team I coached was an expansion team, which means I had to build the team from the ground up. I drafted ten boys. Three were fourteen years old the rest were 13’s (all of my 13’s made the all star team and I will tell you more later in this post). I had the youngest team in the league. The rest of the teams had a good balance of 14, 15 and 16 year olds.

There were several games where we were beat so bad that I didn’t even bother to look at the score, believe me those teams walked over us. Through all of the “spankings” we took, the boys never got down. They kept smiling and having fun. What’s more is they kept coming back even with impossible odds. We managed to win three games one (the last game of the regular season) against a good team, one of those that walked over us the first time we played them. A good sign for next year I hope. This has been the best team I have ever had the opportunity to coach beatings and all. I was blessed with and by this team this year. I also learned a very important “life lesson”.

Last Saturday we had a cookout for the team. I was given a card from one of my 13’s that really touched me. Before I tell you what was in the card I will tell you that this little boy has played ball the same amount of time in the same leagues with my son. I have never had the opportunity to coach him until this year. It became apparent at the first practice that he had been pushed to the side, played the minimum amount that the league required and he suffered. Please do not think that I am bragging I’m not. I worked with this little boy personally.  He improved very quickly and before you know it he was no longer a bench player, a sub but a starter and he was playing entire games.

I’m still getting to my point don’t leave you’ve made it this far you may as well stick it out until the end.

This year the league gave me the 13 year old All Stars, which is a traveling tournament team. I again had the responsibility of putting a team together. All the 13’s that were on my season team made it. That’s right the little boy that had been left out, pushed aside and left to learn what he could on his own made the team.

When I asked him in front of his mother to be a part of the tournament team I couldn’t tell you who was happier, his mother (who I thought was going to cry) him or me. I told him that I wanted him to be an alternate and that he might not see any playing time at all. His mother said that didn’t matter. That he had never been on a traveling team before and she was thankful that he made it, that someone actually took an interest in her son and made him feel like he was a part of a team.

We begin a double elimination tournament tonight in Livingston Tennessee. We are looking for a birth in the State tournament. You may have guessed this already but this little boy is going to start tonight and he earned it.

As I just said it is a double elimination tournament which means we are only guaranteed two games. We have prayed with or teams before each game for the last few years, we have never asked for a win, just help, strength and safety. I find myself today very excited and I don’t want it to end, not just for the sake of the little boy that has never been on a tournament team, but because I have really enjoyed being around this group of boys and there parents and I don’t want it to end… oh said that already. I have really been blessed this season.

I find myself asking God for more than two games this morning (which I believe we will get). I’m not asking to win the tournament, but if we do we as a team will praise God just the same as if we loose (which God showed me this morning we had not been doing). Help me pray for more that two games if that doesn’t seem selfish.

Now back to the card I received. Please don’t look at this as me bragging or showing off, I’m not, but I am extremely proud.  It was a thank you card with a bible verse in it. The verse if from Ephesians 1:16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; this is from the KJV version of the bible. The way it was written in the card is like this: I do not cease to give thanks for you and is from the RSV version, but it made its point.

The child’s mother wrote “It is a tremendous blessing when God puts someone in your childrens lives whom builds their confidence and inspires them! I thank God greatly for sending you our way!!! Thank you. Thank you… for everything!

Then the little boy wrote Thank you for being a good coach.

This card brought a tear to my eye when I read it. It made the last seven years as a coach worth it, even with disgruntled parents, (which I did not have this year) good teams and bad teams. Then God spoke to me and said much like the little boy who had been pushed aside Christian people are leaving young converts to Christ to learn what they can by themselves.  Ah the point at last. Do you try and help a young Christian learn, do you show them things by the way you live your life? Much the same way a non Christian looks at your life a young Christian will look at you as well. Are you confusing them or are you leading them in the path of righteous? This was a long post just to get to this I hope and pray you got a blessing from what was put on my heart.

God Bless you!

Did I tell you that I’m not ready for this season of ball to be over?

Thank you for those who help pray. God saw fit to call Elder Donald Howard home today around 11:45am CST.

I now ask that you help pray for the family as they have some hard days ahead.

Death is not the end, but it is only the beginning of praising God around his throne.

Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

His body was week during the last few weeks of his life. This must have been God’s plan.

God Bless You!

I am making a quick post this evening with an urgent call for prayer. My brother's father - in - law is at the point of death.

He has had some kind of blood disorder with a kidney disorder that there is not a cure. He has been a Christian for years. An Elder in the church, a preacher and a pastor. A great man. It would appear that unless God steps in he will make his journey home. He may leave by the end of this week or by the end of the month, but he will leave for sure unless God cures him.

Death is not an easy thing for anyone. I ask that you pray for my sister - in - law, her mother and her brothers. That God's will can be accepted no mater what the outcome.

Thank you... God Bless You!

As I sat down to write this morning my heart is filled with sadness. A dear brother a deacon in a sister church passed away this weekend. I am not sad for the brother because he is no longer in any pain I am happy for him for to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Even though being "absent from the body" is not as good as being in the future resurrection body, it is still something to be anticipated by the Christian with joy, for "to depart, and to be with Christ...is far better" (Philippians 1:23). "To die" for the Christian "is gain" (Philippians 1:21). In heaven with Christ, our spirits--though without physical bodies--will be distinct and recognizable, in some way still bearing our likenesses. For example, this was true of the spirits of Samuel and Moses (1 Samuel 28:11-14; Matthew 17:3), and also, in Christ's parable, of the spirits of Abraham and Lazarus (Luke 16:22-25). KJV Defenders Study Bible.

Romans 12:15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.

John 16:20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.

I do weep with them that weep because physically they have lost a loved one. My heart goes out to the family. I pray that they will find strength in the Lord and that he would heal the bereaved heart.

The lady I requested prayer for last week will find out the results of her test today, I ask that you continue to remember her.

I am weak in the body today. I am battling something I thought was allergies, but I believe it is something more that that. It seems lately that every bug that comes through I catch. One of my boys is also battling the same thing. If you have a few extra moments today and run out of anything else to pray for I ask that you would remember my family and me in your prayers.

Most importantly I ask that you pray for the lost. No matter what affliction, injury or sickness we may have to go through in this life if we are saved we have everything to gain. The lost have everything to lose. They don’t realize how desperate there situation is. They don’t realize that hell is eternal and will one day be dumped into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.   The lies the devil tells down plays how they will suffer. There will be no un – believers in hell.

In Rev2220 blog he brings out that the redeemed of the Lord need to say so.  This is his link: http://letmebefrank.christianblogsites.com/blog/

Praise God I am redeemed, I’m saved by the wonderful grace of God, not perfect (yet) just forgiven.

God Bless You!

Brent

Good morning everyone. I just want to let you all know that I have a lot on my plate for the next couple of weeks. I will probably be unable to post more than once hopefully twice a week. I hope things get back to normal for me the first full week of May.

I plan to still check the site each morning and read as many post as I can and even make a few comments as before, so don’t worry too much if it seems that I am not as active on Christianblogsites as normal.

I do have a prayer request this morning. A lady in our church has to have a medical procedure on Thursday April 24^th. The doctor she goes to found a mass and they are going to do a biopsy to find out what it is. I was told that it could be one of three things. Two of the possibilities are not bad, but the cancer possibility is what is so scary.

My family is very close to this lady and her family. I have had the privilege to coach her son in Little League and this year he moves up with my son to Babe Ruth Baseball, and I have the privilege of once again coaching him.

An illness in any family is serious, but it seems when it is someone close to you that you tend to worry and hopefully pray a little more.

I have had prayer request before that I posted and I believe that those who read my site have prayed so once again I ask prayer for this lady, her husband and sons that God’s will, will be done.

I will leave you with this verse today: 1 Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

Until next time may God Bless You.

Earlier this week I wrote about being distressed. I received several comments which I really appreciated and drew strength from. One comment really stood out. It was from http://loreelle044.christianblogsites.com/blog/ and here is the comment: i know He sees your heart and hears our prayers, joined in agreement with you, my friend. He is faithful to answer and show you. this reminds me of some stories about words. luke 12:12 He will show you...

Here is the scripture: For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.

I think I have things set in motion to meet with the man who asked the question that caused me to be distressed. Now I am not going to argue with him, I just want to be clear on his question and maybe between the two of us we can find an answer.

The verse above applied specifically to the witnessing of the disciples in the period before the New Testament was written. It also applies to us today. It does not excuse negligence in preparation through study and prayer before such encounters, but the principle still applies. The indwelling, guiding, energizing Holy Spirit is always there, assuming we have done our part, to speak through us as needed. We must keep ourselves where we need to be with God if we expect to have power with him. I seek knowledge, truth and a greater understanding of the Holy Sprit.

Thank you all for your prayers I appreciate them. Unless God changes my mind my next post will come from Romans chapter 14.

God Bless You.

"See, O LORD, how distressed I am! I am in torment within, and in my heart I am disturbed, for I have been most rebellious. Outside, the sword bereaves; inside, there is only death.

The above verse is from Lamentations 1:20. How often are we distressed in our souls? Maybe not for being rebellious but it could be from a conversation you have had with someone or a group.

I had such a conversation over the weekend with people a group of seven whom I have know either all my life or a most of my life. These people I regard as my brothers and sisters in Christ. I left the conversation with my soul in distress. I have more questions than I have answers. It was almost as if there were people there who wanted to disagree. Is that possible among Christians? Yes it is. Is it correct to want to argue? No.  Now let me clarify they did not argue, but there was a disagreement that could have gone to a heated argument if time would have allowed.

It is as if they did not want to agree. What? How can Christians not want to agree? I don’t claim to understand it. I have talked to my pastor about it and most importantly I have talked to GOD about it.  I pray that I will be able to speak to the person who asked the initial question so that I can be clear on what was asked and I pray that GOD will give me the answer(s) that I may need in order to speak with this man, who is a very close friend.  

But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish. – 2^nd Peter 2 verse 12. I do not want to blaspheme but I do seek understanding. Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its vomit, and, "A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud." 2^nd Peter 2 verse 22.

I try very hard each day to live the life that God will be pleased with. I seek wisdom and understanding. I seek to be bold I want to be instant in season as well as out of season. I seek answers. I seek truth.

Please help by praying that I will be bold, that my questions will be answered and that I may speak with boldness, wisdom and answers to my friend. Let me be clear. I was not involved in the disagreement nor do I wish to be involved but I do feel that I must pursue this farther and be the peacemaker (if that is possible).  I feel that is what God wants me to do.

God Bless You.

Good morning. I hope and pray each of you had a good weekend and were blessed in your church services on Sunday.

James Chapter 5:  ¹⁶Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. ¹⁷Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. ¹⁸And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.  

There is power in prayer so with that said I have a prayer request for the readers of Christian Blogsites. Saturday evening during our monthly business conference for the church when the service was just about over a young mother asked prayer for her son. He is not three years old yet and he has a speech problem. He can only make noise no words yet. His mother is convinced that there is a problem and she and her husband have taken him to different specialist, but so far no one has been able to help.

She has asked prayer many times before for him, but this time it was different or maybe I saw something different. I saw a good Christian mother scared that something was wrong with her child. She looks worn out and almost to her wits end and it is from the stress of worrying about her son.

There are a couple of people on Christian blogsites that are going through different trials in there life, we also need to remember those people as well.

I ask a special request for this family that the mother will gain strength, that the dad will remain strong, that the older sister who is 5 will continue to be healthy and especially that the little boy will be able to speak and one day tell his mother “I love you”. This is important.

May God Bless You!

A side note any scripture I use is always from the King James Version.

Good morning. This will be a short post. I wanted to let you know that I have not forgotten about the series on Creation. I was under the weather last week and I am having to play catch up at work. Hopefully the second post dealing with dinosaurs and how they figure into creation will be posted later this week. I have a little more catching up to do and a little more research before I can post.

This flu, sinus infection, sore throat or just miserable cold has just about run through my entire family. My son woke up with a fever this morning and had to stay home.

It is always bad to be sick, but when it is one of your children that makes you feel bad. Sometimes there is nothing you can do to help them, but let it run its course.

If you have a few moment please pray that the sickness will be run out of my household. Also please pray about my post on Creation. I want it to be exactly what God wants it to be. I want Him to get the glory.

Yours in Christ

Good morning all. I hope and pray everyone had a good weekend and great services on Sunday.

I just have some random scattered thoughts today and a couple of prayer request.

First of all God is good. Just look at the beauty he created, yes God created it (see my last post as well as a future post hopefully later this week).

Yesterday during our church service a sister requested prayer for a young child 2 years old who has a disease that will eventually rob him of his eye site.  One of the fastest way to get me worked up is children especially children who are suffering. I know that it makes us want to question. I don’t understand why something so pure would have to go through any type of suffering or get any dreaded disease. Now don’t send me comments saying that maybe the mother or dad have sin in there life’s and are paying for it through there child. This may be the case but sometimes we just have to accept bad things happen to good people. It just fits into God’s plan. We have to trust him that it is for the best even though we can’t see the whole plan. Help me by praying for this family, I don’t know there name but I do realize that there is a need and as a parent myself I have a soft spot for children and if I were in there situation I would want each child of God to be in prayer.

As long as I am making request this morning I ask that you pray for my daughter. I think she may have the flu. My wife has taken her to the doctor and as I sit here and write this morning they are still waiting, so I don’t know for sure what she has. My youngest son had something similar last week, but he bounced back after a day and only had a fever for a little while. My daughter on the other hand has had a fever for over a day now. Help me by praying she shakes this bug or whatever it is quickly.

Let’s be in prayer for our country. This is an election year so pray that the people God wants in office get in. Pray for our troops that are fighting for our country whether we agree with the situation or not. Pray for the sick, the bereaved, the homeless, the hurting, and the helpless.

Most importantly pray for the lost. I can think of nothing worse even sick and hurting children than for any man woman boy or girl to die in a lost and undone state. We need to pray that God will extend his grace and people will be saved, that they will be able to work out there salvation on gospel terms without interference of man, even if we have the best of intentions. We don’t want to be guilty of deceiving someone.

In John Chapter 3 Jesus tells Nicodemus that you must be borne again. I may be paraphrasing but that is the meaning. You must be borne again. That is for each one of us. There will be no exception to this.

My Pastor made a statement yesterday and he said something that made a lot of sense. He said there are only two kinds of people; those that are saved and those that are lost. It is a true statement. From conception until the age of accountability you are saved. From the age of accountability until you are saved you are lost.

How sad it is that people are turning God away and dieing in a lost and undone state. It’s too late then. You are lost for eternity you will go to a devils hell which will be poured into the lake of fire. Judgment day will be sad when our Lord and our Savior looks at the lost and says “Department from me ye workers of iniquity for I never knew you”.

We need to be about our Fathers business spreading the good news which is the gospel of Jesus Christ and that there is a way to go to heaven and miss a devil’s hell.

I wasn’t quite sure where this post was going but I believe it has been directed by the inspiration of God.

I pray you get a blessing just for reading this.

Later this week I plan to post the second in my series on creation. Help me to pray about that as well.

Until next time may God Bless You!