Nobody’s Perfect

One of the rarest feats in baseball is a perfect game. This is when a pitcher retires all 27 batters he faces during a nine-inning game. Not only does the pitcher have to show exceptional skill but also his teammates. If one of them commits an error, that wipes away the perfect game. In major league history, only 23 perfect games have occurred. Another one would’ve made the record books if it weren’t for a blown call by an umpire.

On June 2, 2010, Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers retired the first 26 Cleveland Indians he faced. The 27th batter, Jason Donald, hit a ground ball to first base. Miguel Cabrera fielded it and threw it to Galarraga, whose foot hit the bag before Donald’s did. But umpire Jim Joyce, a 21-year veteran, ruled that Donald was safe. Replays clearly showed that Donald was out. Jim Joyce later acknowledged he missed the call and said, “I just cost that kid a perfect game.”

Last year, many ministers prophesied Donald Trump would be reelected President of the United States. A handful of them has since said they missed it. One named Jeremiah Johnson even shut down his ministry. However, others are still standing by their prophecies. One prophet who I consider a friend predicted the military would remove Joe Biden from the White House and reinstate Trump by April. That didn’t come to pass. Hopefully, my friend will issue some kind of retraction. I don’t want to see him branded a false prophet.

What happens when you mess up? Are you humble enough to say you made a mistake?

“A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful. But if he confesses and forsakes them, he gets another chance.” - Proverbs 28:13 (Living Bible)

Accused and Excused

Major League Baseball is currently in the midst of its playoffs. Having lived in Minnesota most of my life, I’m rooting for the Twins who (at the time of this writing) need to make a miraculous comeback to finally get past the New York Yankees and possibly play in their first World Series since 1991. Baseball has been called America’s National Pastime. However, the sport became tainted 100 years ago due to the infamous Black Sox Scandal. 

The Chicago White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds faced each other in the 1919 World Series. The White Sox were heavily favored to win but lost the best-of-nine series five games to three. It was discovered some White Sox players intentionally played poorly to receive money from gamblers. The “Black Sox” moniker reportedly came from the dirty White Sox uniforms. Tight-fisted owner Charles Comiskey refused to pay for having his players’ uniforms cleaned.

Despite being acquitted in a public trial, eight of the White Sox were banned from professional baseball by newly-appointed commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis. One of those players was Shoeless Joe Jackson (pictured here), who continued proclaiming his innocence until his death in 1951. His defenders point out Joe had the best batting average (.375) among all the players during that World Series plus he didn’t commit any errors. Joe knew about the fix but never met with the gamblers. He was often taken advantage of because of being illiterate.

The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution states that defendants in a court of law are “innocent until proven guilty.” Sometimes people are imprisoned for crimes they didn’t commit. An advantage we have as believers is God can supernaturally vindicate us. One example is Joseph in the book of Genesis. He was imprisoned for two years under false rape charges but was exonerated after Pharaoh learned he could interpret dreams. Proverbs 18:16 says, “A man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.” God elevated Joseph from the pit to the palace.

Revelation 12:10 says that Satan is the accuser of the brethren. Are you facing accusations for things you didn’t do? Trust in the Lord and His blood to declare you publicly “not guilty.”

“But the king shall rejoice in God; Everyone who swears by Him shall glory; But the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.” - Psalm 63:11

42

A friend once invited me over to his place to watch “42”, a biopic about Jackie Robinson. The title comes from the uniform number Jackie wore. When he became the first African-American to play Major League Baseball in the modern era, Jackie initially faced all kinds of discrimination and persecution. His courage and playing abilities opened the door for other black athletes to play on the professional level. Nowadays, Jackie’s uniform number is retired by every Major League Baseball team except during the annual “Jackie Robinson Day” on April 15th when every single player wears #42.

A couple weeks before seeing the movie “42”, I learned of another fact involving that number. One morning I made my usual trip to Caribou Coffee. They offer a 10-cent discount for correctly answering a trivia question. The question that day was, “What is the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything?” I answered “Jesus Christ.” That wasn’t the answer the Caribou employee sought. Instead, it was “the number 42.” This is according to the science fiction novel “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”

Numbers in the Bible have symbolic significance. The number 42 is connected with the Antichrist. Revelation 13:5 says the Beast will hold dominion over the Earth for 42 months. In 2 Kings 2:23-24, bears mauled 42 youth after they mocked Elisha for his baldness. On the other hand, the Gospel of Matthew lists 42 generations in the Genealogy of Jesus. It’s also interesting to point out the Gutenberg Bible is known as the “42-line Bible” because it contained 42 lines per page.

Incidentally, I still received a discount on my coffee. I stated the number 42 wouldn’t help anyone get into heaven. The only true “Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything” is Jesus Christ.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.” – John 14:6

The Name of the Game

I enjoy watching football and baseball games on TV…especially if the Vikings and Twins are playing well. But one thing I loathe is the increasing number of sporting events and stadiums named after businesses. 

During the 1980’s, organizers of college bowl games started giving corporate sponsors “naming rights.” All these games used to have simple names like the Rose Bowl and the Cotton Bowl. Now we have games such as the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl and The Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas. What’s really confusing is many of these games change their name every few years. For example, this year’s Belk Bowl (to be played at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina) was previously called the Meineke Car Care Bowl, the Continental Tire Bowl, and before that the Queen City Bowl.

Nowadays, most major league teams play in venues named after a corporate sponsor. In 1990 when the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves announced their new arena would be called Target Center, I was surprised. That sounded more like a shopping mall than a sporting venue. Until two years ago, the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis hadn’t succumbed to this trend. The stadium has since been renamed Mall of America Field. I could accept the name change if the Metrodome was part of the largest shopping center in the U. S. But the Mall of America is located ten miles away in the suburb of Bloomington.

Even the players now are offering money to get their names recognized at stadiums. E.J. and Erin Henderson of the Minnesota Vikings recently made a $20,000 donation to have a new scoreboard installed at their old high school in Aberdeen, Maryland. In exchange, the two brothers asked for their family name to be displayed on the scoreboard. The Aberdeen School Board denied their request. For one thing, the total cost of a new scoreboard is actually $50,000.

Look at what Jesus said in Matthew 6…

1“Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2 Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.”

Some churches have miniature plaques or bricks acknowledging the names of donors who contributed to causes such as a building project. If a pastor chooses to honor these donors, that’s between him and the Lord. But congregation members shouldn’t seek public recognition for their giving.

So the next time you are about to give in an offering or fundraiser, examine your motives. God wants us to be generous but with no strings attached.

“A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, loving favor rather than silver and gold.” 
- Proverbs 22:1