Back on the Blog

Well it's been almost 5 months and a full fall semester since my last post on here. When I last posted it was actually on my birthday when I was baptized at the end of our summer mission trip with Athletes in Action. What an amazing experience that summer mission trip was for me. I was able to live and grow with a whole team of baseball players who not only had a love for the game but also a passion for knowing Jesus Christ. I know our whole team really enjoyed and connected with one another through our summer together in California and Alaska. We were living together, playing the game we loved, and also learning a little more everyday about our creator who loved us before we even knew who He was. At the end of the summer when we parted ways, most of us not only parted ways with a summer ball team but also the greatest spiritual high we had ever experienced. As soon as we landed back in the lower 48 we all were going back to our regular lives. This was something our head coach and discipleship leader had warned us about; the burst of our bubble. We had been living in close community for 2 months now and consistently and constantly growing spiritually. What would happen to this close bubble we had lived in as we entered our normal lives and went back to where we all started? Well I know for most of us it's been tough, going back to where you started can difficult. Especially if everyone around you isn't striving for the same goals and life track of following Christ that we all desired.

When I started back up at school at NC State in the fall I was given a great opportunity. Our FCAIA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes in Action) leaders Russ and Mary Throckmorton asked me to be a part of a team they had envisioned as being the FCAIA servant team. This team would be a leadership team designed to live in close community with each other, grow spiritually together, and then ultimately serve those around us with the love that Christ has shown each of us. I was extremely excited about the opportunity and looking back it was definitely the highlight of my semester.

I plan to continue writing on what God has been able to show me not only through my summer in Alaska but also through our FCAIA servant team at NC State.

Baptized for my 21st

Wow, what an amazing summer. I really couldn't of asked for a better ending to such an awesome experience. I had the opportunity today after our last game to be baptized a couple hours before my 21st birthday. I know it's pretty typical to celebrate your 21st birthday with alcohol but I really wanted to celebrate the life I've been given in Jesus Christ.

It's been a really crazy week finishing up and I'm really looking forward to sitting down and reflecting on everything I've had a chance to encounter and experience this summer.

The North Pole

We're back up in Fairbanks for our last stretch of the summer and a lot of us got new host familys. We were staying in some dorms at the university of alaska when we were here before but since they found some host familys we are no longer in the dorms. The new host familys just happen to be at the North Pole though. It's a decent drive up here but were definitely gracious to have familys that are willing to take us in. It really is crazy to see how God works in so many different ways and just all over the world. I'm all the way up in North Pole, Alaska and there are people living their lives to serve Jesus Christ. It's really been a great experience to meet people with completely different backgrounds, that live totally different life styles but still have the drive and passion to serve God in everything they do.

I'm having to post from my phone so I do apologize for any spelling or grammatical errors. We don't have internet at our host familys house right now but I'm working on a way to post from my computer and get a lot more up.

Love

How often do we use and hear this word in our lives? I think we use this word so often it can make us lose sight of what it really means. What does love really mean anyways? When you hear the words God loves you, it might not mean anything special to you. I think that might happen if we don’t understand what love really is. The love that we know as humans is usually based off of emotions or feelings. The circumstances surrounding us often will dictate our love. This idea is something far from what the bible tells us love really is. The love shown in the bible that God has for us is an unconditional love. It isn’t based off of feelings, circumstances, or anything that we could of possibly done.

1^st Corinthians 13:4-7 says 4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

The idea that God has this type of love for us is something almost impossible to understand. The fact that we make so many mistakes in our lives but yet it doesn’t change the way God loves us is really a crazy idea. Another verse that really shows the power of Gods love for us is shown in

Romans 8:38-39 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

There’s absolutely nothing in this world that can separate us from how much God loves us. How often do we find ourselves looking for love? Why is it we look in all the wrong places for something God has told us we can only find in Jesus Christ? Why do I look towards baseball, my relationships, or what people think of me for happiness and acceptance? It’s so easy to miss the love that could change our lives when we look in all the wrong places. 

Here's a picture of some of us at the field.

Left to Right

Colby, Marc, Matt, Chad, Harrison, and myself

OIA

We have a term we like to use up here in Alaska. OIA, which stands for Only In Alaska. It’s a beautiful place but you can certainly find some strange things. This picture is with a fans car in the parking lot of one of our games.   

Why follow Jesus?

What would make someone want to devote their life to following Jesus? What makes following Jesus different from other religions like judaism, buddhism, atheism, agnosticism, or humanism? Depending on what you believe or where you stand this question can be very confrontational. I was actually asked this question by a good friend of mine over a year ago and I wasn't sure what the best answer really was. This summer I've learned a lot about why following Jesus is something more real than I could have ever imagined. One point that was brought up to me that I wanted to share was how the world actually views Jesus Christ. In Islam, Jesus is viewed as one of the most important prophets from Allah. Buddhism views Jesus as an enlightened teacher. Other religions view Jesus as merely a man but a great teacher and one of the most influential people in history. Here's the point that was brought up to me that made a lot of sense. When Jesus Christ lived, He openly and repeatedly claimed that He was God. If Jesus claimed He was actually God and the Son of man there are really only 3 options on how He could be viewed. 

1) The first option on how to view Jesus is that he is crazy or psychotic. If a man claimed to actually be God, the creator of the universe, most people would think he's crazy. 

2) The second option of how Jesus could be viewed is as a liar. If a man claims to be God himself in the flesh, I'm sure a lot of people would think he's obviously lying. 

3) The third option of how Jesus could be viewed if He claims to be God himself is  that He's actually right and truly the Son of God. 

It's really weird to me how so many religions or people think of Jesus in a positive light but don't believe He is the Son of God. Claiming to genuinely be God is a pretty bold proclamation. If He's not right about a claim as bold as being God himself, it makes sense he's either crazy or a liar. The other major religions and vast majority of people don't view him negatively though. This really made a lot of sense to me and showed me another reason why Jesus Christ is 100 percent true in everything He says. 

How do you personally view Jesus Christ? If He really was right and is the Son of God, shouldn't we at least read and learn what else He said? If He really was right and there is a God, shouldn't we figure out what He wants from us?

The good news is God wants what's best for you and wants you to be truly happy, and that comes through a relationship with Jesus Christ. God already loves you even if you don't know Him yet. 

If you want to learn more or even decide whether or not Jesus Christ is the Son of God, I challenge you to read the book of John. When I read and started to understand the book of John, it changed my life.

Games in Kenai and Palmer

While we're in Alaska we travel all over to play the different teams of the Alaska Baseball League. We spend most of our time in Anchorage and Fairbanks but travel to a couple other places as well. The first stretch of games for us was in Anchorage. We then traveled to Palmer for a couple games and then Kenai for a series of games as well. The weather in Anchorage was pretty warm but when we went to Palmer it was a different story. The field was surrounded by snow capped mountains and let's just say it wasn't exactly warm. Heres a few pictures of a game we played in Palmer.

Arriving in Alaska

Taking pictures of the landscape really doesn’t do justice to how beautiful it really is here. The huge snow capped mountains and ocean shorelines certainly make fore great views. We flew into Anchorage and are staying here for a couple days with another host family. This time I’m staying with 5 other guys on the team with a very gracious host family who is housing all 6 of us.  I think the most interesting thing about Alaska so far definitely has to be that it stays light for like 20 or 21 hours a day. It’s been pretty weird playing 7pm games and having the sun out for the entire game.  

Here are some pictures of the landscape on one of our drives.

San Francisco

We were able to make the drive over to San Francisco while we were in California on our off days. We went as a team and visited a lot of different places in the city. I was actually fortunate enough to go back the next day with my host family and Tyler and go to a Giants game to watch Tim Lincecum pitch. Here are some pictures from the two days.

Cows by the Church

We found some cows on the side of the road in California next to our church. Justin got some video footage as we tried feeding a couple of them.

Golfing on an off day

On one of our off days in California we got an opportunity to go play golf. One of the guys on our team (Marc) and his host brother (Jeff) took my roommate Tyler and I to go play one of the local courses. It was great to go relax and some of the views were pretty awesome. Here are some pictures from the outing.

Last couple days in California

It has been a really great experience at training camp for the short time I’ve been here in California. It has really been an awesome experience in itself just being able to stay with a host family who represents Christ’s love so well. Our host mom who was pregnant and expecting within the next couple weeks actually went into labor two days before we left. Even in the midst of going into labor she was still quite possibly one of the nicest people I have ever met. The last night we were in Morgan Hill we headed over to San Francisco to watch the Giants play with our host dad. We got to see Tim Lincescum pitch and experience a game in ATT Park. It was a great ending to a great stay in California.

Heres a picture of Tyler and I's awesome host family in California.

Playing Baseball

This isn't a term I've been able to use very much in the last couple of months. Some of you may know but I had an emergency appendectomy and fractured a rib in the beginning part of my college season. I have been side lined for quite a while now and actually just got cleared not too long ago. I was able to play a couple games here in California and it was pretty awesome just to be out there playing the game I love. It will definitely take a lot of hard work to get back in playing shape but I am very happy that my health is back in order. I really enjoy all of my team mates and think we are going to get a long great this summer.

Heres a picture of a field we played at in California and one of my at bats.

  

The Prison Visit

Wow! There's not a better word to describe the experience we were able to have in the prison. I definitely wasn't sure what to expect but I don't think I could of prepared myself for it anyways. When we walked in we instantly stuck out (which I'm sure was because we were all in our baseball uniforms), but attention was immediately drawn to us and the softball field. We began to warm up and get ready for the double header softball games and inmates started to come up to us asking questions about where we were from. I think a couple of the inmates thought we were actually prisoners from another prison coming to play softball. As the game started and the day went out we started feeling more comfortable and having conversations with a lot of the prisoners. We started to learn that these inmates weren't so different than us and everyone else in the world. It really made me realize how often we as a society or even christians can look down on these people in prisons and look at them as lower than ourselves. I certainly did when I entered the prison. It took me coming into their environment and getting to know some of them to learn that I was completely wrong. The reality is that we all make mistakes and the only difference between a lot of those guys and the rest of the world is that they were caught. It made me realize as a christian that God views every single one of those guys the same as the rest of the world. We've all made mistakes and we have all fallen short of the glory of God but He still loves us all the same. Unfortunately it's really easy to jump to conclusions about people and try and write them off as lower than us. I think the truth is we are all really the same and the fact that we have a God who still loves us regardless of the mistakes we have made in our past is pretty awesome.

Heres a picture of Chuck taking a nap on the bus ride back after the game.

Witnessing to a prison

One of the really cool experiences of this summer is that as a team we will be going to a local prison to share our personal testimonies and the gospel with the inmates. We actually play them in a competitive game of softball for most of the time in the prison. Our coach told us we will spend time hanging out with the inmates and play with them in their actual prison. It won't be in a specialized area made for visitations, we will actually be where the prisoners are held. I'm not really sure what to expect but I am definitely looking forward to the experience.

Arriving in California

I just arrived in California for training camp a couple days ago. The city we are staying in is Morgan Hill, California. It's about 30 minutes outside of San Jose. We are going to spend some time here getting ready for our summer in Alaska. We play a few games here against some California summer collegiate teams and also spend a lot of time with discipleship. Everyone stays with a host family here in California and usually with another a player. I am staying with another player named Tyler who is a pitcher from The Masters Academy. We have a really nice host family that has two young kids. They have a little boy named Dominic who is almost 4 and a daughter named Bethany who is almost 2. Our host family mom is also pregnant and expecting in the next couple weeks. We might end up having a new room mate before the trip is over.