Millions of men and women love sports. In fact, many are obsessed with their favorite sports teams. I understand this because I am the same way. I am obsessed with my favorite sports team (the New York Yankees and New York Jets). Unfortunately, many times in our love of our sports teams, we forget the importance of loving God. So I write this blog as a reminder to focus first on loving God, before we love our sports team.
You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress
a shelter from the storm.
-Isiah 25:4
That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
-Romans 10:9
My prayers go out to all those people who suffered, and are continuing to suffer, as a
result of Hurricane Sandy. I felt
blessed that my house suffered no damage and we never lost power. I praise God
for that. I was very concerned about trees on both sides of my house coming
down. But I was spared any
hardships. The same cannot be said for
many of my friends and family. I am
proud to say that I have some family members (my in-laws in particular) who maintained
a loving, thankful and serving attitude through the whole experience. Maintaining a loving attitude
in the midst of adversity is no small feat. It is during adversity that some
become depressed and resigned.
However, for those who know Jesus and know God loves them,
you will see a loving and hopeful attitude. My mother and father in law have
maintained that type attitude and also taken people into their home, even when they had no power themselves. I am sure they drew on the strength of the Lord and His assurances to accomplish this. People who know Jesus are blessed with the ability to handle adversity well. I am not
saying that we always do- because we are all sinners and are not perfect. But I am saying that if you know Jesus, you will have the ability to handle adversity well. God loves us and will protect us through any
storm- whether it results in loss of power, home or even life. It is a blessing to understand that, and to
know that God is with us – no matter what. My in-laws know that, and many
others who focused on God during the adversity of the storm know that. If you
would only believe in Him, you would too.
The great part is that it is free and easy.
The Bible says: "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in
your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved".
If you do this you will know there is no storm, unexpected difficulty or emotional pain that you
cannot handle with Jesus.
I am not sure this New York Jets team can handle a storm or
adversity. I originally gave up on this team after being badly beaten by the
San Francisco 49ers. However, they came back and played a good game against the
Houston Texans (6-1), they beat the Indianapolis Colts (6-3) and lost a
heart breaker to the New England Patriots (6-2). I foolishly began to feel this
team could actually be good. However, true to form the New York Jets then get
trounced by the Miami Dolphins (and a back- up quarterback). This team will no
longer fool me. They are not good, they do not have a lot of talent. I have
been a supporter of Rex Ryan, but his team was not prepared to play against the
Dolphins. They will not be prepared to play the Seattle Seahawks and they will
be badly beaten. If some miracle happens and they win, they will then loose to
at least two poor teams after that. But the bottom line is they will not beat
the Seahawks- I wish I was wrong, but I won’t be. Ricky Sapp will not all of a sudden become a dominant pass
rusher. They were better off with a young Antonio Allen on their team (than on
the practice squad). I think the only thing to look forward to is to see how
players like Quinton Couples, Kenrick Ellis, Muhammad Wilkerson, and Demario
Davis develop on defense. Offensively watching the development of Jeremy Kerley
,Stephen Hill and yes Austin Howard should be fun. Unfortunately, the New York
Jets so far have done nothing to support the development of Mark Sanchez (as
evidenced by no investment in the offensive line and overpaying and Santonio
Holmes, etc), so there is no reason to think they will support the development
of these offensive players. I repeat this team will lose badly to the Seattle Seahawks. I would pray that I am wrong- if I still prayed for sporting events :-)
There has been a lot of talk about what the New York Yankees should do this off- season regarding right field with Nick Swisher leaving. I will miss Swisher during the regular season. He was consistent, fun to watch and yes- clutch. However, the New York Yankees are about the post-season and he was the opposite of the two latter in the post-season. Unfortunately, he was consistently bad in the post-season, so when October comes I will be glad he is gone. First of all, I think Ichiro is one half of the answer for right field. Tori Hunter would work if he is willing to split time with Ichiro/ the other two left hand hitting outfielders. He would be pretty much guaranteed to play every time a left hander pitched(Girardi could also use match-ups based on numbers) and would be able to keep his 37 year old body fresh.
But the position I really want to see filled is the right handed DH spot. I think Delmond Young would be a great fit. He and Raul Ibanez at the DH spot would be formidable. Most importantly, Delmond Young is a professional hitter who can hit in the post season, something Nick Swisher could never do.
Now that I got that off my chest -time for a devotional and prayer before bed
But the position I really want to see filled is the right handed DH spot. I think Delmond Young would be a great fit. He and Raul Ibanez at the DH spot would be formidable. Most importantly, Delmond Young is a professional hitter who can hit in the post season, something Nick Swisher could never do.
Now that I got that off my chest -time for a devotional and prayer before bed
