Baseball Slugger Josh Hamilton Gets Right With God

August 4, 2012 By 1 Comment

BASEBALLER JOSH HAMILTON CITED HEBREWS 12:4-5 AND JOHN 3:30 IN HIS STATEMENT.

Texas Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton has suffered through a two-month slump, batting barely over .200 since June 1.

There was rampant speculation as to what was ailing Hamilton, the five-time All Star, the 2010 American League Most Valuable Player. Some thought marital problems. Some others thought a relapse into the drug and alcohol abuse with which the 31-year-old struggled in a past life.

But the Rangers basher ended the speculation yesterday, releasing a statement in which he attributed his recent problems at the plate to his disobedience to God. More specifically, his failure to quit chewing tobacco.

Hamilton’s statement elicited predictable derision from those who do not share his Christian faith.

Like the snarky writer for Dallas Magazine who mocked, “So God is punishing Hamilton for using tobacco, and that’s why this year he’s been swinging at more pitches outside the strike zone than anyone else in the majors?”

Hamilton should not expect such nonbelievers to understand. “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,” the Scripture advises, “but to those who are being saved it is the power of God.”

Hamilton is being saved by God’s grace. He has been convicted by the Holy Spirit.

Clearly tobacco is a stronghold in the baseballer’s life; a threat to return him to the life of substance abuse he overcame. God is seeking to protect the young man from the demons that previously enslaved him.

Those of us who are Christ followers empathize with Hamilton. For there is none righteous among us. No, not one.

We all have strongholds in our lives: Habits, behaviors, practices that, if not sinful, lead us into temptation. And they are different for every Christian.

In Hamilton’s case, it’s tobacco, which, for him, is a gateway to hard drugs and alcohol. For another believer, it could be the love of money. And for still another, the stronghold could be pornography.

A former pastor of mine mentioned a man who told him that the Holy Spirit moved him to drop out of his fantasy baseball leagues. That’s right. He was so obsessed with his hobby that it got to the point that he was neglecting his wife and kids.

Now that Hamilton is addressing his personal stronghold, now that he has renewed his commitment to crucify the flesh daily, I expect the slugger’s performance at the plate to improve.

For whom the Son sets free, is free indeed.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The Death and Life of Whitney Houston

February 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

TROUBLED SONGSTRESS DEAD AT 48

I’ve been thinking about Whitney Houston, whom I first met nearly 20 years ago. It saddened me to hear the news yesterday that the 48-year-old songstress died yesterday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, on the eve of the Grammy Awards. 

I’m not especially curious to learn the exact cause of her premature death.

Perhaps she overdosed on Lorazepam, Valium, Xanax or some other prescription medication, as TMZ suggests on its web site. Maybe she fell back into smoking crack or abusing other illegal drugs.

It really doesn’t matter now. Whitney is no more. And the only question that concerns me, not as a one-time acquaintance, but as a Christian, is where she will spend eternity.

It may be a comfort to her friends, family and fans to believe that Whitney has gone to a better place. That she is now a featured singer in that great heavenly choir in the sky.  But I am not so sure.

Indeed, the one widely accepted doctrine of my Protestant faith that I have the most difficulty embracing is the notion of “once saved always saved.”

In other words, if at some point in a person’s life, she or he or gave her or his life to the Lord, there is nothing that person can do to lose her or his salvation.

Well, I’m pretty sure that, as a young girl, Whitney asked Jesus to be the Lord of her life. She was baptized. She sang in her church choir. She was a committed Christian.

But, as Whitney was blessed with fame and fortune, it seems obvious she stopped living for the Lord. She succumbed to the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. She fell prey to the demons of substance abuse.

If, as many (if not most) of my Christian friends believe, Whitney’s commitment to Christ at a tender age forever secured her salvation, then her friends, family and fans have nothing to grieve about.

But I am not persuaded that the scripture guarantees that once saved, always saved. It seems to me that more is expected of those who truly are born again. They must not only give their lives to Christ. They must also abide in Christ.

What that means is,  just because a person commits her- or himself to Jesus as a teen-ager or young adult, she or he doesn’t get a free pass for the rest of her or his life.  They can’t unabashedly break God’s commandments and expect to spend eternity inParadise.

 They can’t be an unrepentant idolater or adulterer or murderer or even drug abuser and expect that a commitment they once made to Christ, but subsequently reneged upon, will ensure their salvation.

 I have absolutely no way of knowing if Whitney repented her sins against God; if, in the  final years, months, weeks or days of her life, she truly was abiding in Christ.

 If she was, she went to be with the Lord yesterday. If not, may God have mercy on her soul.

Filed Under: Popular Culture, Public Figures Tagged With: , ,
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