Jesus and Baseball

I was playing baseball with my 3 boys today.  For me this is one of the joys of being a father of boys. We got dusty, we got hit by balls, we spit, we yelled.  We played baseball.  Maybe not well, but a little better than last time.  I am truly living the dream.    I wonder if Jesus played baseball (or whatever sport they played in ancient Israel) with his father.  Did he yell and scream? Did he spit?  Did he try to show off for the girls that were watching?  It reminded me of a great song by the late Rich Mullins.  Lyrics included.  Enjoy.

Mother's Day and My Humiliation

I was playing HORSE with my twins today, (in case you think I'm speaking of some strange equestrian game, it's when someone makes a basketball shot the next person has to make the same exact shot or they get an "H".  First person with HORSE is out.  No offense, but if you didn't know that you need to get out more. Seriously.)

So, I'm playing HORSE with my twins and if you've played this game with adults only, than you haven't REALLY played. Because with normal people, the goal is to make a difficult shot that YOU can make, but the other person can't.  Pretty straightforward.  But with two almost 9-year old boys, that is only a means to a much greater end.  Because in their little insane, cruel minds the goal is to actually heap untold humiliation on the person who comes after them.  And if they make the basket, they have succeeded.  What do I mean? The clue is in my description above. The person has to make the same EXACT shot. EXACT SHOT.  What this means is that if the person before you happens to cluck like a chicken, sing a horrible rendition of Yankee Doodle Dandy, goose step while making fart sounds, AND saying over and over again, "I love the Dallas Cowboys" in a little girls voice, all as he is approaching the basket, then MAKES the basket.  You guessed it.  The person next has to do the exact. same.  thing.  Let's just say my boys have gotten alot better at basketball than I remember.  And I was made a fool of yesterday to the utter delight of my boys and their mom who got to witness her husband being OWNED by her two boys.  That alone would make any mothers' day a Happy Mothers Day! I had a blast, although I'm not sure this is what Christ meant when he said we must "become like little children."

The Terminator and Scripture

Just recently, I started getting my 8 year old twin boys up at 6:45 to introduce them to the concept of meeting with God in the morning.  (like David (Psalm 5:3) and Jesus (Mark 1:35).....) Well, since they are 1) boys and have the attention span of a Jack Russell hopped up on espresso (yes, I know dogs don't drink coffee...but, work with me people!) and 2) they are 8 years old...and have the attention span...OK, you get it. Anyway, I have limited their time to 15 minutes.  I have them read a couple of verses that I choose then we turn out the lights and I have them be quiet for a minute or two and ask God to teach them something about what they just read.  

Well, so far it has been fairly uneventful, although I think they are relishing this new benefit of "becoming all growed up" like Dad.  It truly has been fun so far, seeing their tired enthusiasm.  They are troopers.  Not a single complaint yet about waking up early.

Well that all changed this morning...not the complaining part, the uneventful part.  I forgot to find a verse for them to read, so I had them read a favorite Psalm of mine...Psalm 63. I mean I figured it was safe. It really is a beautiful picture of God's love and our need of His love.  Of course, as we Christians are wont to do, we remember the glorious parts, but conveniently forget about the parts that make us squirm....so of course I forgot about those two pesky verses near the end about God destroying Davids enemies...you see where this is going.

So, the boys are done and I ask them to share what God taught them from this Psalm.  Of course, I expected to hear something about God's love, or our soul clinging to Him, or some high epiphany in the realm of them being moved by this Psalm so much that they want to go to the Middle East or Africa to share Christ with the huddled masses.  But what came falling out of their 8 year old mouths was, more like a scene out of Terminator (I can even hear Ahnuld's voice)...and I quote: Coleman: "God will throw his enemies into the depths of the earth", and Caleb (giggling) "Jackals will eat God's enemies eyeballs". Sighhhhh!   

I wonder if the 12 year old Jesus was in the Temple reminding the priests and lawyers about those pesky verses.