Batter Up!

It's spring or almost spring! That means May flowers, spring showers, and baseball among other signs of spring! That is especially true in Pittsburgh when the Pirates are really on their game!

One essential of playing baseball is the batter.  Without someone up at bat, there isn't much of a game. Actually there is NO game at all!

I'm not planning to play baseball any time soon, but I find myself up at bat all too often!  There are many variations on this theme: there are two kinds of people in this world - the batters/players and the bench warmers!  I don't care who you are or what you do; you are one or the other!

It's the people who aren't afraid to get in the game, to take their turn at bat, to play their position who make a difference in the game of life!

Once a lady in Pittsburgh (native Pittsburgher) said to me, O, I know all about you Southern girls!  You just take to your bed for three days when you get a little headache.  Now, mind you:  She hardly knew me and SHE CERTAINLY DID NOT KNOW ME!!! 

Well, after I picked my jaw up off the floor, I looked her straight in the eye and said, O, you must not know there is more than one kind of Southern gal - There's the Southern Belle and then there's the Steel Magnolia!!!

It is so interesting from a people-observation perspective and also so sad from a Christian world-and-life-view that there are actually Christians who find being a bench sitter good enough, thank you very much!  I don't think so!  The Apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 3:17:  ¹⁷ And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.  My Jesus and His name deserve MUCH more than warming a bench!  ONLY my best will do, and that's my best in EVERYTHING!

Now, bench warming is much less risky!  Chances are that bench warming will net you FAR less criticism on a grand scale, but it also won't get you to 1st base!  It won't even get you up to bat!

I don't care where you live and walk; it's a choice: Batter Up! or warm the bench!  There isn't much wear and tear to bench warming.  Batting, pitching, catching, running the bases and the field cost: time and energy and can tug on your heart big time! BUT that's where the game of life is played - IN THE GAME - NOT on the bench!  Being a player participating in the game may be messy and challenging, but it's worth it every time!  Especially because that's the ONLY way to do EVERYTHING in the name of the Lord Jesus to hold Him up before the watching world! Just sayin'!

Roger Clemens, Trainer McNamee, Steriods and LIES

I'm not much of a baseball fan. I think I prefer to watch paint dry. Roger Clemens is a name I have heard somewhere here and there. I have certainly not followed his career and know little or nothing about the man.

Roger Clemens is in a heap of trouble at this point in time. The trouble centers around whether or not Mr. Clemens chose injections of HGH (human growth hormone) or other steroids to enhance his performance as a baseball player.

I just watched a few minutes of the FOX News coverage of the live House hearing related to the accusations and their credibility. I have no idea where the truth lies or whether the real truth will ever be known.

There are, however, some very interesting and disturbing aspects to this situation. The trainer McNamee looks for all the world to me to be a lier who is almost enjoying the notoriety his lies are bringing to him and to his former client, Roger Clemens. In the space of less than five minutes watching these hearings, Rep. Dan Burton from Indiana brought up discrepencies in things Trainer McNamee has sworn to in statements. In each case, Rep. Burton read a statement (all of which run counter to what McNamee is now claiming) and asked, "Is this a lie?" Each time (almost with glee) McNamee asserted that "Yes, that was a lie but now isn't." (my words not his)

I look forward to catching one of the "body language pundits" on various news analysis programs and what he or she has to say about both Mr. Clemens' body language and McNamee's.

Whether Mr. Clemens used steroids or not speaks to his integrity as a professional athlete and there are certainly ramifications to his betraying that trust if he has. Many young girls and boys make heroes from sports figures. When one falls due to lack of integrity, it is a serious matter

If Mr. Clemens used steroids, then he is wrong and guilty as charged. He is also lying in the testimony he is giving to Congress and others. However, looking at the two men my guess is that Roger Clemens is the more credible. He certainly has the most to lose.

In earlier testimony according to FOX News, McNamee said, "I have no reason to lie, and every reason not to. If I do lie I will be prosecuted," he said. "All that I was ever told was to tell the truth to the best of my ability, and that is what I have done. I told the investigators that I injected three people, two of whom, I believe, confirm my account. The third is sitting at this table."

YET inside the space of less than five minutes, I heard McNamee confess to Congressman Burton over and over again that what he said before and what he was saying now are not the same and that he lied before but is telling the truth now. Congressman Burton read directly from transcripts statements McNamee once said and now denies as to their truthfulness. At the very least, McNamee is not a very credible witness nor is he very believable.

So, who is the liar? I certainly don't know. Maybe both men are not telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Clearly - by his own admission McNamee is a liar over and over again.

However, the point of this post has nothing to do with baseball and steroids except as a focus for emphasis. The real point is that lies are destructive. Anyone can lie and destroy another's reputation. Once the lies are cast into the wind the damage is done.

Roger Clemens knows this. "No matter what we discuss here today, I am never going to have my name restored, but I've got to try and set the record straight," Clemens said with his chief accuser (Brian McNamee) sitting at the same table.

People who lie and destort truth to gain their own ends with no care for the destruction they do to the reputation of another person may never have to answer for their lies in this life. But God doesn't take such destructive lies lightly. God sees the heart. God knows the intent of the heart. The lying heart shows itself in lying words and actions. God says, "A good name is more desirable than great riches ... " (Prov. 22:1)

Regardless of how the congressional hearings conclude regarding Roger Clemens, he is probably correct that his name will be tainted with these accusations forever whether they are true or not.

Lies wreck awful destruction on the reputations and lives of people against whom they are directed! It is ugly and often unfair, but God is in the business of working ALL THINGS for our good and the ultimate glory of His kingdom.

God's grace is big enough for even the intentional and untrue destruction of a person's reputation. The consequences of such lies may be severe indeed. Those consequences may last for a lifetime, but the truth is that God's grace can bring beauty even from such ashes as a deliberately destroyed reputation.

God is in the business of building His Kingdom. To do so, He uses sinners every time. God can only use sinners who know their hearts are desperately in need of God's loving restoration. God uses sinners who have experienced God's grace and restoration to reach out to others with the message that God is in the business of restoration!

God is looking for hearts needing restoration. They are the building stones God will use to build His Kingdom here on earth.