Sometimes things just work out. We were rooting for the Atlanta Braves in the World Series:

• We’re National League fans in our family…my dad pitched in the NY Giants (National League) minor league system back in the late 1920s.
• We have one son that lives in Atlanta and often goes to games.
• The Houston Astros are documented cheaters.  In 2017, the year they won the World Series, they were stealing signs by illegal means and signaling to the batters what pitch was coming by banging trash cans. (You can’t make this stuff up!) No players were punished, and the four current Astros infielders all took part. (Which is a shame since Altuve, the second baseman, is a fantastic baseball player.)

If you follow baseball, you know that the Braves, improbably, won the Series in six games, despite having the least number of regular season wins among all playoff teams. But they had the best record in baseball in August and September.

Here’s what’s interesting:

• The Braves won 44 games prior to the all-star break. 
• They won 44 games after the all-star break (in fewer total games)
• They won the World Series on Tuesday, November 2, in the 44th week of the year.
• The great Hank Aaron, who broke Babe Ruth’s lifetime home run record in 1974, played for the Braves wearing what number? You guessed it: 44.

Sometimes God does seem to care about sports! 

Two hometown men were on the team: Freddie Freeman has been with the Braves organization since he was 17 years old, playing for the Braves at the Major League level since he was 19: 12 years with the team. Here’s a snippet of a NY Times piece:

HOUSTON — The friendliest man in baseball is a champion. Freddie Freeman, the Atlanta Braves’ slugger known for smiles, small talk and soft serve ice cream hit the last home run of the season and caught the throw from shortstop for the final out of the World Series. Nice guys finish first. 

Freddie is so friendly, other players can’t help but like him:

Another home-town boy playing for the Braves was Dansby Swanson. On October 30, 2021, Swanson hit the game-tying home run in Game 4 of the 2021 World Series. Jorge Soler followed with a solo home run to provide the Braves a 3 games to 1 lead in the World Series. Swanson also hit a two-run home-run in Game 6, giving the Braves a 6-run lead. He fielded the last out as well. He said:

Destiny, I guess. The good Lord, he has blessed me with so much. Wouldn’t be here without him. Just the peace that he gives me, it’s remarkable. Especially in moments like this, you can never go wrong trusting in that. Like I said, I’m just so thankful to be here, truly. – Sports Illustrated

Sometimes the winners give God good press, and that’s nice to see. Apparently, “whatever you do” includes baseball!

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3.17, ESV)

And there’s always a basic lesson from sports:

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (1 Corinthians 9.24 – 27, ESV)

We close this little series on Jeremiah with one of my favorite, and perhaps most obscure, quotes. Jeremiah is talking to his assistant Baruch. Previously, Baruch wrote a scroll at Jeremiah’s dictation, and when it was read to the king, the king burned it, section by section (see Jeremiah 36.1 – 26). And what was the next step in that parade? More work for Baruch!

Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them. (Jeremiah 36.32, ESV)

This throws Baruch into a twit, which you can read about in Jeremiah 45. The section closes with this simple sentence, perhaps good for all of us:

And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not. (Jeremiah 45.5, ESV)

That will preach! How does the Lord’s Prayer start?

Our heavenly Father, may the glory of your name be the center on which our life turns. (Luke 11.2, TPT)

Yes. The glory of HIS name – not the glory of mine.

He must increase, but I must decrease. (John 3.30, ESV)

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. (John 17.1 – 5, ESV)

Yesterday we looked at some verses in Jeremiah, particularly those that talk about settling down and getting to work even during the captivity.

Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters…multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile… (Jeremiah 29.4 – 7, ESV)

Live life. This will be a 70-year captivity. Someone asked, what if COVID lasts for 70 years? Best we be about what we’re supposed to be doing within COVID constraints.

Now on to a conversation in Jeremiah I find fascinating, recorded in Jeremiah 42. The people who are left behind in Jerusalem after many have been taken captive to Babylon ask Jeremiah whether or not they should go to Egypt for safety. And they pledge to do as the Lord says:

Then all the people from the least to the greatest came near and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Let our plea for mercy come before you, and pray to the LORD your God for us, for all this remnant—because we are left with but a few, as your eyes see us— that the LORD your God may show us the way we should go, and the thing that we should do.” Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Behold, I will pray to the LORD your God according to your request, and whatever the LORD answers you I will tell you….Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act according to all the word with which the LORD your God sends you to us…We will obey the voice of the LORD our God…” (Jeremiah 42.1 – 6, ESV)

So Jeremiah prays, and the word of the Lord is clear, “Whatever you do, don’t go to Egypt.” (See Jeremiah 42.7 – 22.) And what’s the response of these people who said, “We will obey the voice of the LORD our God.”?

When Jeremiah finished speaking to all the people all these words of the LORD their God, with which the LORD their God had sent him to them, [they] said to Jeremiah, “You are telling a lie. The LORD our God did not send you to say, ‘Do not go to Egypt to live there…’ So …the commanders of the forces and all the people did not obey the voice of the LORD, to remain in the land of Judah. But [they] took all the remnant of Judah…also Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah. And they came into the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of the LORD. (Jeremiah 43.1 – 7, ESV, emphasis mine)

You can’t make this stuff up. June is studying discernment right now: how do we know what God’s will is? This passage teaches that, at a minimum, it doesn’t matter if we can discern God’s will if have no intention of obeying it.

If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. (John 17.7, ESV)

I’m still following the annual through-the-Bible-in-a-year plan, and I realized I’ve just finished Jeremiah and written nothing about it except a quote from Jeremiah 23 supporting James 3. So here’s one containing a few of my favorite takeaways from a book that, unfortunately, is overall depressing: predicted in the first chapter.

Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD.” Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” (Jeremiah 1.4 – 10, ESV)

Jeremiah was sent, but the overall effect would be the destruction of Jerusalem. The people would be against him; therefore, he needed God’s promised protection.

And despite God sending the Israelites into exile he gave them this promise:

Then the word of the LORD came to me: “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down; I will plant them, and not pluck them up. I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. (Jeremiah 24.4 – 7, ESV)

In the meantime, they were to live life well in Babylon – not just yearn for their return to the land:

Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. (Jeremiah 29.4 – 7, ESV)

And then the promise from Jeremiah 24 is repeated:

For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. (Jeremiah 29.10 – 14, ESV)

Wow. There’s more hope here than I thought…and more takeaways! To be continued tomorrow.

Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts. (Jeremiah 15.16, ESV)

Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? (Jeremiah 23.29, ESV)

This is the last of the highlights of my time with friends of my friend Terry. We heard from terrific guys, following Jesus wholeheartedly, some despite difficult circumstances.

The third speaker was Joe, a track star when he was in college. Joe’s theme was “people help you get through life and grow in your faith.” Unlike many of the men, Joe’s collegiate discipleship training was not with The Navigators but with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). He said, “FCA was not nearly as hardcore as Navigators!”

Joe said that a verse that really helped him was Proverbs 3.4 – 6, which he quoted from The Living Bible:

If you want favor with both God and man, and a reputation for good judgment and common sense, then trust the Lord completely; don’t ever trust yourself. In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success. (Proverbs 3.4 – 6, Living Bible)

He said another FCA concept that helped him came from Colossians 3: FCA called it “total release.”

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters. (Colossians 3.23, NIV)

As Joe rose through the ranks in the military, he encountered an officer who was being considered for promotion to brigadier general, but who honestly didn’t care whether he was promoted or not or whether he retired or not. (I have written about this before under the theme “indifference.”) The brother shared this verse with Joe, which ended up helping him later:

For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another. (Psalm 75.6, 7, KJV)

Later, at the peak of his career, while a student at the Air War College (attended by the best of the best), Joe was diagnosed with cancer. His flying career was over. He fell back on Psalm 75.6, 7, and also this affirmation from the Apostle Paul:

…a thorn was given me in the flesh…Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12.7 – 10, ESV)

Joe said, “God has used the cancer for good and his glory” and ended with this excerpt from a poem:

Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, 
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision.

Taken from The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions, edited by Arthur Bennett.

I don’t know why this is the only “holiday” in which the “eve” gets more attention than the day! Halloween = “All Hallows Eve” or the Eve of All Saints’ Day.

All Saints’ Day is a celebration of all Christian saints, particularly those who have no special feast days of their own, in many Roman Catholic, Anglican and Protestant churches. In many western churches, it is annually held on November 1…It is also known as All Hallows Tide, All-Hallomas, or All Hallows’ Day.

And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 11.32 – 12.2, ESV, emphasis mine)

I interrupt this brief series on my friend Terry’s gathering for an important announcement. We’ll finish the series on Tuesday after Monday’s All Saints Day post. The departed saints just received a new member: my friend and Navigator colleague Roy Fitzwater, about whom I wrote on October 22, passed yesterday, October 30, 2021.

Shortly after the update I reported in that blog, I sent Roy and Margaret this email:

June woke up this morning thinking about Roy and then about this song, which she first heard when we were staying with her sister and brother-in-law in North Carolina back in 2019. It was a profound spiritual experience for her, and she used the song in her quiet times for months after. 

Here Comes Heaven 

Lyrics are here. It’s a Christmas song, but it looks like Roy is going to get an early Christmas present. (Us, not so much. ☹)

I sang a little louder in church yesterday because my first awareness of Roy was his congregational singing in Bible Study Fellowship. On the rare occasions when I played the piano, he would sit near the front so we could make music together. It has been an honor and a joy working with you both. [Roy loved to sing and could do so loud and on key!]

Love, Bob (and June)

I didn’t expect a response, but they wrote:

Bob and  June,

Thank you for taking the time to write and for your prayers and encouragement. I haven’t heard that song and it really blessed me.  It is a Christmas song but I’d say there’s a good chance I’ll be there by then. 

Thank you for your investment in our lives both before and after joining Navs. It has been significant to us! We’ll never forget when we were checking out [The Navigators] and found your name in the staff list and being able to call you. You always said if it was a good hire you’d take credit. 😃 It sure has been from our perspective.

We love you and pray God blesses you both with many more years of fruitful Ministry.

Roy and Margaret 

At the time of the wedding, Roy had had a cough since about April that was finally diagnosed as cancer in late December 2019.

This is part of today’s CaringBridge post:

Chris and Stephen here. We wanted to reach out to all our dear family and friends and let you know that our dad, Roy, went home to be with the Lord, Saturday afternoon. Dad took his last breaths while sharing fond memories with Mom and Stephen, and Chris and Melissa via skype. Early Saturday morning, one of Roy’s last things he asked for, was Mom to read Psalm 23 from the Message. In addition, he asked for us to play This is the Air I Breathe by Joe Mettle performed by Michael W. Smith.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEDcKZB7r2A This song was particularly important to both Dad and Mom as the song happened to come on the radio while Mom was on the drive down the pass to meet Dad before his lung biopsy last January. Mom called Dad once hearing it and told him to listen to it. He had just heard the same song on the radio prior to her call. His passing was much faster than anyone expected, but it was peaceful, surrounded by loved ones.

Rest in peace, my brother.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12.1, 2, ESV, emphasis mine)

I’m continuing to share highlights of my time with friends of Terry. It’s always fun to see “laymen” following Jesus wholeheartedly, living out the discipleship principles they learned in college.

Here are some highlights from Chuck’s testimony. I didn’t get all of Chuck’s bio, but he was an Air Force pilot and flew for Southwest Airlines. He also pastored some small churches.

• Chuck’s theme was “legacy.” Legacy is something received from an ancestor. What will my legacy be? What am I transmitting? 
• Chuck grew up knowing about God but, in his words, not actually knowing God. He had “religion” but not a “relationship.”
• He received Christ at a retreat while in high school along with “a cute cheerleader” – who later became his wife.
• He did Bible study with my friend Mike Schmid while they were both in college.
• God has “put eternity in their hearts” (Ecclesiastes 3.11) – not in their bodies! We are learning that our bodies decay, and we are experiencing the “ugliness of death.” But death is not all there is.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4.16 – 18, NIV)

• Therefore, we need to invest in things that last: God and the souls of men and women.
• He closed by quoting Jim Elliot:

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? (Luke 9.23 – 25, NIV)

My friend Terry invited me to a gathering where some of his friends shared their testimonies and lessons learned in a life of following Jesus. It’s always uplifting to be around quality people.

The men shared some inspiring thoughts worth passing on, which I will do over the next few days.

The first speaker was Jack.

Jack talked about his own faith journey, having to decide if he was really going to follow Jesus while he was in college. His father noticed his son’s faith, wished he had it, but remained an unbeliever. Finally, 10 months before his dad died, Jack was able to once again encourage his dad to follow Jesus. The conversation went something like this:

• Dad: “I’d like to believe, but I’m not 100% sure that Jesus is who he claimed to be.”
  • Son: “Since when has any of us ever been 100% sure of anything? Besides you always taught me to be decisive! You didn’t get to be a CEO by waiting to be ‘100% sure.’ What does the evidence tell you?”
• His father then sifted through the evidence he knew such as fulfilled prophecy. He believed.
• Dad: “What a fool I’ve been all these years. The evidence is overwhelming.”

That grabbed me: “Since when has any of us ever been 100% sure of anything?” With Jesus, the evidence is overwhelming if anyone is willing to look at it.

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. (Luke 1.1 – 4, ESV)

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20.30, 31, ESV)

A friend responded to my blog on James 2 in which I wrote:

There is often confusion on this simple concept. After all, “We’re saved by grace, right?” A friend of mine’s extended family members are hard over on this. Anything somebody suggests something they might want to DO as believers is rejected out of hand as “works righteousness.” 

He told me about a fellow who is like the people I wrote about:

One of the guys I am discipling is like this. I can’t EVER say anything to him that sounds like obedience without him making an immediate disclaimer like, “I know that if I do ‘_______’ in my ‘flesh’ I will always fail.  So I need God’s grace to walk in the Spirit.” … And I want to say, “OK, I get that … I believe what the Bible says about walking in grace by the Holy Spirit just like you do … but can we just DO what God tells us to do without the theology lesson each time we read something that sounds like obedience?” Deuteronomy 30:14 (RSV) says, “But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.”

My friend went on to cite Philippians 2.12 – 13:

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2.12, 13, ESV)

He writes:

As you know, Philippians 2.12 – 13 covers both sides of the equation.  We have “our work” – obey, work out our salvation, and God has “His work” – He works in us so that we “will” and “work” to please Him. However, God does His work in us without us first asking Him to do it.  So, when I choose to obey, the work of grace is already done. Because of this, from the believer’s perspective, obedience is a “one-step” process, not a “two-step”, like my/your friends imply: i.e. (1) I “walk” in the Spirit, and then (2) I “obey.”  However, from our friends’ perspective, there is a “thing” called “obedience in the flesh.”

It’s amazing how many excuses (sometimes disguised in theological language) we can come up with to NOT do what God asks us to do. “I can’t do that – it would be works-righteousness. OR “I can’t do that without it being obedience in the flesh.” In the meantime, who is going to take those freshly-baked cinnamon rolls over to our neighbor’s house?

But why do you call Me “Lord, Lord,” and do not do the things which I say? (Luke 6.46, NKJV)