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Greetings. It has been a while since we last spoke. I am broken with remorse. You don’t deserve to be treated that way, so, I will soon say all the things I’ve needed to say and you’ve needed to hear. 

But not now.

Have you ever seen or heard something and had your attention captured by an idea? I’m inspired. To say I’m bewildered or enchanted by a thought would be an overstatement. But my attention is devoted to this idea of the way we discover things through direct comparison. You know light because of darkness. You perceive worthlessness only because you have previously experienced something meaningful. The list goes on and on, wetness vs. dryness, comfort vs. pain, good vs. evil, and so on. It’s natural, though. We just overlook it. It’s so natural to define an object, a feeling, an idea only because there is something related to it, an inverse of whatever that item is through which we can interpret its meaning. 

What does this mean? To what end does this idea of comparing and contrasting lead? Glorification. I don’t think I need to explain, but I will in the case that I’m making too big of a jump.

We glorify the aspects of life that we appreciate. I appreciate hot showers. It is possible that I have an understanding of the inherent value of hot showers, but how much greater is my appreciation of a hot shower after I’ve experienced a cold one? omg, so much greater, u don’t even kno. 

Maybe until now, you’ve disliked how pretentious and wordy I tend to be when writing, but you didn’t have a chance to appreciate it until the final sentence of my last paragraph. Apply this to your faith, follower of Christ. Why would all-powerful, all-supreme Lord allow evil into this world that He created? Why would all-loving God allow you to experience suffering/hardship? He allows this that He may be glorified! 

God is glorified through comparison. Think of the person you love the least. The person that you dislike the most and feel totally justified in doing so. Consider your depraved nature. You are born in enmity against God. If anyone is justified in hateful opposition towards another, that is God towards you and me. But that isn’t the case. You have been shown mercy, grace, and love. How much greater does God’s love shine with infinite worth than in the light of our disdain towards other human beings? It’s pretty sick, man. The sweetness of God’s grace is exemplified through contrasting it against the bitterness of sin. God’s justice is better understood through the existence of injustice. Jeez. I feel like I’m just talking to myself now and I don’t care. God is great.

Above all else at a low-point in our country’s moral condition, how much more can you boast of the goodness of God after this tragic shooting at a Connecticut elementary school? I hope that’s not too raw for me to mention. I am trying to handle this topic with the utmost grace and maturity. What I just said was not a license to use this event to throw the Gospel in the faces of the people who were effected. What I just said was not my permission to condemn the man responsible for this act, for that is nearly as despicable as the act itself. At least, from a Christian viewpoint it is.

But in the light of the tragedy, I urge you to consider how marvelously good our Father in Heaven is. The extent of His goodness is just that much more magnificent when you have a perception of what true evil looks like. That sucks, though. I’m gonna stop.

But that’s interesting to me. The finite state of our minds finds definition through sensation/experience. That’s just how it is. If my mind was infinite, that wouldn’t be the case. I would also be God. I’m not God. 

Hello, all. In the spirit of Batman, I am rising from the ashes of my writing hiatus and returning, in heroic timing, to give you a mediocre piece on a topic that’s grabbed ahold of me recently. I’m here today (in my room, but in your hearts) to address sin. If you don’t want to hear about it, then go back to your Twitter now. Conner don’t care.

Let me preface this by admitting that I am not perfect. There, I said it. At times, I may write from a stance of someone who sounds like he has it figured out, but that is false. I, simply, have had truth invested in me and I am now regurgitating it for your benefit and mine. I am slowly succeeding at killing some sin that I struggle with and I ask that you pray for me in the process. Also, this blog may not be for the very spiritually advanced, but maybe the spiritually young and the spiritually eager. So, if you’re too cool for school, leave now for you are dead to me.

It also seems crucial to note here that the primary interest of God in history is to glorify Himself. He loves us, yes, but sin is here and sin was triumphed over on the cross, because God’s chief desire is exalt Himself as Lord and to make His radiant glory shine above all other things. Please keep that in mind as well as you proceed.

We don’t talk about sin too in-depth anymore. In my godly, southern-Baptist home I’ve always known about sin and why I shouldn’t do it. It’s displeasing to God. It makes Him frown. But there’s so much more to sin than the literal action of it and the emotional consequence. There is a gravity of sin to understand. There are depths to explore. Not so much secrets about sin, but stuff they (the man) assume we’ll figure out on our own. Let’s jump in, shall we?

Mmkay, so Genesis. You know Genesis, right?  In Genesis, we see a historical account of the fall of man (Genesis 3). Man was made in perfect fellowship with God, he was tempted by a speaking serpent (Nagini?), he sinned, and he was cast out from the Garden of Eden. Well, technically, it was woman who sinned first. Thanks a lot, girls! LOL. Nonetheless, man fell.

What are the consequences of the fall? Man, lacking in moral perfection, is removed from direct and holy fellowship with the perfect Lord God. Then some of the physical ramifications are things like death and painful childbearing. That sucks. That first consequence can’t be understated. Man was designed to be in fellowship with God. That was meant to be the source of his peace and his joy, so now man is left to misery and toil and death because he wasn’t satisfied with what he had. He wanted more. Man, wanting to be on the same level as God, ate of the only thing that was forbidden to him and the ramifications were deadly and painful. Man is dead (Ephesians 2:1). Synopsis: God is still righteous; man is utterly and completely not righteous. He is dead apart from God.

Who is fallen? Everybody. Romans 3:23 stated that all have fallen. Neat verse if you’re into depravity, I guess. Now, those born are born apart from God and need a way to reconcile with Him in order to escape the full weight of His wrath in judgment.

What’s the remedy? I’m not well-versed on salvation in the context of the old testament, but I know faith in God and the coming Savior as well as an element of sacrifice played into the salvation of Old Testament man. New Testament man is an entirely different story. He has access to grace by the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. Man was imperfect and needed a perfect Savior, so God, in the interest of His glory and our good, sent His Son to live a sinless life, in order that He may go to the cross and bear the weight of sins past, present, and future, so that the Father may be glorified in His unfathomable mercy. The point of grace is that it can’t be earned. The attempt to reach God through religious behavior and works diminishes the radiant glory of His mercy and is therefore of no value. That is supported by Ephesians 2:4-10. Recap: All men were dead and all needed grace, so God, to exalt Himself, provided a means for grace. We were in slavery to sin, but Jesus paid the ransom in order to release us. No ordinary human could do this, but God in Jesus, did. It seems important to note here that Jesus is God. He is three in one and He is one of the Trinity. My brain hurts.

Let’s dig a little deeper. Sin has a root. My class got asked in Sunday school one time what the first sin was. We all kind of agreed that it was the eating of the fruit, but the answer our teacher looked for was Lucifer’s fall from heaven. Trick question. What a douche. Anyway, we have the “first sin,” but there is a deeper root that caused that sin. My buddy C.S Lewis and I would argue that it’s pride. Lewis describes pride as the “complete anti-God state of mind.” It was through pride, through the misconception that he deserved the same power and glory as God that the Devil became the Devil. This is a different kind of pride than say a pride for your country as they compete in the summer Olympiad in London. This is the kind of destructive, ego-centric pride that led to what I believe was a very real spiritual battle between heaven and the fallen angels. It also led to sin entering the world. Now, was this God’s plan? Was sin a part of the grand scheme by which God was glorified? Those are deeper theologies that I’m scared o jump into because I’m dumb.

Did God create sin? No. Instead of expounding on this myself, I will rely on the deeper thoughts of theologian John Calvin:

“The Lord had declared that “everything that he had made … was exceedingly good” [Gen. 1:31]. Whence, then comes this wickedness to man, that he should fall away from his God? Lest we should think it comes from creation, God had put His stamp of approval on what had come forth from Himself. By his own evil intention, then, man corrupted the pure nature he had received from the Lord; and by his fall drew all his posterity with him into destruction. Accordingly, we should contemplate the evident cause of condemnation in the corrupt nature of humanity-which is closer to us-rather than seek a hidden and utterly incomprehensible cause in God’s predestination.”

Aaaaand here’s an extra tidbit from John MacArthur:

“It is helpful, I think, to understand that sin is not itself a thing created. Sin is neither substance, being, spirit, nor matter. So it is technically not proper to think of sin as something that was created. Sin is simply a lack of moral perfection in a fallen creature.”

Hokay, back to me now. What role does man play in sin? He is enslaved to sin from birth. He loves sin. He is responsible for his sin. Through God’s grace, he can be released from the bondage of sin and by the power of God, he may overcome the temptation to sin. Who tempts man? Does God tempt man? Haha NO.

The Devil is the great tempter. He is evil. However, don’t forget God is sovereign over sin. God planned for evil from the beginning, whenever that was. It didn’t take Him by surprise. God is good and He hates evil, but God uses evil for His glory. He allows evil agents to work for His holy purposes. You may ask, “Conner, why does God allow evil to exist? If He’s sovereign over it, why doesn’t He just make everything good?” Good question. I’ll let you know as soon as I’m God.

“Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases. (Psalm 115:3 ESV)”

Let’s wrap up with something a little more practical. Sin has no place in the life that’s been redeemed by grace. However, it occurs (1 John 1:8). The point of sanctification is continually becoming more like Christ and that doesn’t happen the moment you get dunked in the baptismal pool. That’s also not an excuse to sin. The apostle Paul urges the early church over and over to put to death the things of the flesh and to kill the fleshly desires (Romans 8:13, Galatians 5:24, Ephesians 4:22, Colossians 3:5), so that is something we passionately and sacrificially strive to do as followers of Christ.

Why do we sin? I sin because I’m dissatisfied with God. I don’t outwardly say that, but that is absolutely what I express to God when I sin. I say “The fullness of being in God’s fellowship is not enough to satisfy my soul, so I will seek the momentary pleasure that this world offers” and I pray that the Holy Spirit destroys me every time I make that expression.  Here’s what’s cool to me about pleasure. God doesn’t command us to avoid pleasure; He gives us significantly greater, eternal pleasures to pursue. It’s not sacrificial when you consider that the pleasures we’re refusing are being replaced by pleasures that are magnificent beyond words. It is the pleasure of being reunited in fellowship with the loving and glorious Creator of the universe. Rules without relationship don’t work. You can’t give someone guidelines without providing the purpose for the guidelines. God does not want to destroy your pleasure; He wants to be your pleasure. He is glorified when you enjoy Him! He tells you not to walk in covetousness, because He wants you to walk in contentment. He says not to live in anger or worry, because He wants you to live in kindness and joy and peace. In Paul’s second letter to Timothy, he exhorts Timothy to flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, etc. We’re commanded to delight ourselves in the Lord (Psalm 37:4). Don’t mistake that accepting grace means forfeiting pleasure; nay, it would be in direct disobedience to God’s Word if we didn’t pursue the pleasure that is found in the refuge of the Lord. I’m ranting now. I should stop. Recap: Why do we sin? We’re dissatisfied in the pleasure that the Lord offers. Rather, we’ve not yet experienced the fullness of joy found in God because of our own laziness. How is that counteracted? Flee youthful passions. Pursue righteousness, faith, love, joy, and peace. Delight yourself in the Lord. God’s glory and our pleasure are directly intertwined.

Habitual sin under grace is a contradiction in terms. It is a lie (1 John 1:5-6). The redeemed man does not walk in sin. He stumbles, but he is being sanctified and constantly strives to put to death his sinful ways. If I claimed to be saved, but walked in constant sexual sin or I lived some miserable life filled anger and bitterness or self-righteousness and pride, I would be telling you a lie.  The grace-filled life has no room for habitual sin. But don’t read that and question your salvation. If you’re worried about it, I would say that’s a good sign that you’re redeemed.  Recap: The saved man doesn’t sin out of habit. He stumbles and falls, but God in His infinite grace has forgiven us and allows us to walk upright in Him again and again and again and again and again.

Sin is more powerful than me and I will never defeat it. Not on my own, at least. When we accept grace, through the wisdom and power of God and through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, He fills us with His Spirit. This is maybe the best news I can relay concerning sin. In our battle against sin, we are helped by the Spirit of the One who triumphed over it? Whoa. It’s a lame and overused analogy, but it’s like if basketball was conquering you and then you were filled with the spirit of Michael Jordan or something stupid like that. Who better to help than the one who defeated it? Although our bodies are dead because of sin, once the gift of grace is accepted, our soul is regarded as holy and blameless in the sight of God because of the Spirit who dwells within us (Romans 8:9-11). That is fabulous. Sooooo, the Holy Spirit helps us. He convicts us of sin and leads us to truth (John 16:7-15).

I’ll wrap up now. Let’s summarize: Man fell. Man is inherently dead. Grace through Jesus’ atoning blood is the remedy. Pride is at the core of sin. Man must be humbled to accept grace. Sin still occurs, but not habitually. We kill sin by the self-denial of worldly pleasures and the pursuit of godly pleasures. That happens through submission to God and allowing you to be emptied of yourself and filled to the brim with the Holy Spirit.

Yay. We’re done. Sorry if my thoughts jumped around a lot. I enjoyed writing this, so I don’t really care if you enjoyed reading it. I don’t know, I guess I hope you took something away from this. If you found it interesting, get at me. I’d love to converse about sin sometime and let you correct what I said that was wrong. If you want to, you can pray for me in my quest to shed my dead self to make more room for the Holy Spirit to take hold of me. Hey, I love you and God bless you for reading this junt. Peace, grace, and mercy to you, playa.

#kony2012. At last, it seems there is a campaign that my apathetic generation will get behind. A movement where people are finally striving to be heard. Ironically, the movement which looks like a political campaign caught fire on Super Tuesday and I sincerely doubt many of these new, staunch social activists even took the time to vote. However, that’s an entirely different blog post.

Back to topic. Joseph Kony is ruthless. If you’re still reading this, you likely already know who he is, so I won’t take the time to explain. Simply put, this guy is bad news.

Invisible Children, which is a shady organization at best, made a very stirring short film detailing the social injustices going on in Uganda, how it has affected one particular individual, and how they plan to use you and me to stop this guy.

Within 24 hours of the film’s release, Twitter went into a frenzy. My timeline was laden with advocates for the cause, riled up and ready to hunt the man down themselves. As with any trend, I came across the occasional cynic or butthole who refuted the cause. Don’t confuse the two, though. When I say cynic, I mean someone who has gathered information or reasoning to question the motivation or the willingness of the people to execute the movement. When I say butthole, I mean someone who is upset that his Twitter feed has too much #stopkony and not enough Brotips. I’m simultaneously enraged and heartbroken at the cultural priorities that my society has set, but again, that’s a different blog post.

I would place myself somewhere in the middle between cynic and advocate. Maybe even butthole. There was an article by a student at Acadia University named Grant Oyston that was rather illuminating, albeit very biased. Grant’s article pointed out several flaws in the financial priorities and gray accountability of Invisible Children. For example, the regime they support that would replace Joseph Kony is also a little dirty. Allegations include raping, looting, etc. He also points out that Kony hasn’t even been in power since 2006. Granted, I’m taking this one man’s word for it, but this entire cause’s foundation is blind trust in what someone is telling us. So, my cynical side tells me that it isn’t as bad as we think and the alternative to Kony in power isn’t that much better.

Now, for butthole. Everybody is on board with making this guy famous. I am so curious to see how many people are just as passionate when the next step, whatever that is, comes around. A friend of mine (cynic, butthole) said that if we announced that a plane was leaving tomorrow to go try to find this guy, we’d be very disappointed at the amount of people who are willing to go make something happen. Agreed. I hate saying that, though, because I’m so happy to see so many people fired up about something real. It’s just the sad reality that after this week, the drive behind this cause will greatly diminish for some. Hey, I hope I’m wrong.

Hang with me, though, it’s about to get better.

Here’s my advocation. Joseph Kony is a despicable man who’s done despicable things and he deserves to be brought to justice. I struggle with capital punishment, but that would probably be the case if he were found and arrested. Nonetheless, he’s committed crimes and if he is found and tried and convicted, that man will never even have the chance to hurt another child in his lifetime. THAT is important and that is why I am behind the cause. I am just as behind justice to Kony when he is out of power as when he is in power and if justice prevails, he will never see power again. Now, this army that Invisible Children currently supports isn’t the ideal option either. In fact, they sound like scum as well. However, I firmly believe it’s a better alternative to the Lord’s Resistance Army ever rising up again. But you’ll just tackle that issue after you’re done with Kony, right, activists?

Pray for Joseph Kony. The man has lived a life of brutality and cruelty, but no sinner is beyond being ransomed by the blood of Christ and being redeemed by His grace. Praise God for that. Pray for those kids. Pray for their safety.

Thank you for reading. God bless you.

Edit: My thoughts on Invisible Children’s financials. 68% of their budget goes to salary, travel, and film-making. You say, “Whoa, Conner, only 32% of their budget goes to direct services? Isn’t that an injustice in itself?” No. It is not. Travel is expensive. Full time charity workers are expensive. Film is the foundation by which they raise awareness of their cause. I have no problem with that huge chunk of their budget being devoted to overhead. If you disagree with me, you’re probably wrong.

The #stopkony2012 video can be found here: http://vimeo.com/37119711

The Invisible Children critique by Grant Oyston can be found here: http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/post/18890947431/we-got-trouble

Invisible Children’s response to critique can be found here: http://s3.amazonaws.com/www.invisiblechildren.com/critiques.html

On May 6th, 2012, there will be a hole in my heart the size of a baseball. I’ve been playing this sport since I was 5 years old and in 25 days, I’ll play my last first game. If you know me at all, you know that I’m a rather sentimental person, so naturally, I can’t help but be emotional about what’s coming up.

This spring is shaping up to be the greatest spring of my life. Without fail, Monday/Wednesday/Friday are the best days of my week. At 11:45, I walk into Memphis Baseball Academy and see the beautiful face of Alex Smith and the much less beautiful face of Thomas Vanzant. This initial sight is truly bittersweet. If you’re reading this, Thomas, you’re an idiot. By 12:15, we’ve finished stretching as a team and we circle up to commit the following three hours of hard work to the Lord. I feel humbled, yet incredibly privileged to be able to do that every practice and I hope our team always understands how blessed we are to be able to do that. Until 3 o’ clock, there’s a symphony of beautiful sounds to take in. The ping of the metal, the crack of the wood, the pop of the glove from the bullpen, and the gorgeous accent of Coach as he instructs and tells us to rotate stations (no homo). I wish we could practice twice as long and twice as much as we do, but this is a disadvantage of being the homeschooled team. Nonetheless, all of this work is leading up to February 16th.

In 25 days, we will play our first game of the season at Marshall Academy, the most back-woods, hick private school in the United States. From memorable car rides to incompetent umpires, I’ve experienced it all traveling to Marshall. I will miss baseball, but I treasure the thought that I will never again step foot on that school’s grounds.. Unless, I have a little MHS Eagle someday.. I can’t wait for this day. I won’t break down. I won’t tear up. I will soak every moment in from the second I get out of the car until the second the umpire says “ball game.” It’s gonna be legend- wait for it -dary. I couldn’t ask for a better group of guys to experience it with.

Dustin Rhea, Christian Graves, Levi Pennington, Austin Roberts, Griffin Harrison, Alex Smith, Thomas Vanzant, Andrew Coy, Zach McCormick, Sam Hawkins, Jesse Pierce, Thomas Miller, Chris Fleming, Adam Grant, Jason Baker, Micah Kendall, Micah Kivelle, Josh Hill, Seth Grant, Adam Sanderlin, Wil Gordon, Ryan Guyton, Jeremiah Clark, Colin Chandler Thomas Brady-Mattix, and Camden Nephew. I’ve never played baseball with a more different, but more unified group of guys. So many of my close friends and teammates graduated last year, but I’ve never had as much fun playing baseball as I am now. It’s possible that my sentimentalism is causing me to appreciate it more, but regardless, this year is special. I’m glad to know all of you, even though some of you annoy the piss out of me. We’re gonna have a great year. 

Being homeschooled, we don’t have as many opportunities as school teams do. We don’t have as many resources. We don’t have as much talent. But I would not change a single thing. I could have gone to Arlington High School and been a loyal fan or best case, rode the bench all of the way through high school and it would’ve been for a great program. But I just can’t see an alternate reality where I would’ve had as much fun or built up as many great relationships as I have in this actual reality. I’m blessed to be homeschooled and I’m blessed to play for the Memphis Homeschool Eagles. If you’re a teammate of mine, I hope you feel the exact same way. If you’re just a friend who likes reading my thoughts, feel free to ask me for a schedule so you can come watch us play this year. Either way, God bless you for reading this. I love you and goodnight.

I am a senior in high school. The legitimacy of this is shady due to the fact that I’m homeschooled, but nonetheless, I’m 18 years old and I’m almost grown-up. Like what? First semester came and went and now my Christmas break is departing until we meet again next year. Forgive me for being completely cliché, but where did the time go?

I went to lunch today with a few close friends, but I sat next to the closest friend I have, David Cobb. I’ve known him for 13 years now. Lunch was chock full of stories beginning with the words “remember when.” David and I influenced each other in countless ways since we met on the Bellevue playground #3 in 1998.

I met David at a Bellevue daycare while our moms attended their Tuesday morning Bible study. We didn’t meet conventionally. There was no polite introduction that lead to a long and fruitful friendship. I met David during our playground time. I can still see it in my head. This curly-headed munchkin was on the balance beam, placing one foot in front of the other with the precision of an Olympic gymnast. I, being incredibly charming and outgoing, started my attempt to blow David off of the balance beam in the style of the Big Bad Wolf.

I huffed and I puffed and I pissed David off. He got off the beam and told me to stop. Don’t you worry, the bad blood between us didn’t last long. By next week’s free time, we were playing games of imaginary football on playground #3, our stomping grounds. We went undefeated that year. It’s funny how easy it is to win with no opponents. Or a ball to play with.

From the childish daycare, we moved on to RA’s. Short for Royal Ambassadors, RA’s is just Christian boy scouts. Not ours, though. At Bellevue, our perception of RA’s was to show up at 9, do our Bible story for an hour, go to the gym at 10, come back and eat lunch at 11, then get picked up by our moms around 12. It was just a more mature daycare. I’m not complaining, though.

The gym was where it was at. We were blessed with the greatest athletic generation in RA’s history. Imaginary football was a thing of the past. We were playing tough, high scoring, gritty two-hand touch football. From grades 1-6, RA’s football was dominated by people like me, David Cobb, David Golding, John McDaniel, Evan Meadows, and many others. I will never forget gym time. Gym time produced my thirst for competition. From grade 1 until right now, I have played 6 years of organized basketball and 9 years of baseball. That leads me to my final beginning.

Tomorrow afternoon, I will begin my 10th and final year of baseball. I grew up on baseball. If it wouldn’t turn this essay into a novel, I would tell you everything about baseball and what role it’s played in my life, but it would, so I won’t. Tomorrow.. I will drive down Germantown Parkway and pull into the Memphis Baseball Academy parking lot and walk in the door for my last first baseball practice. The last first practice that I will walk in and hear the beautiful northern accent of Coach Ron Hobar. I love playing for Ron and I’m so thankful for all he’s done for us as a team and all he’s done for me as an individual.

Being an MHEA Eagle, I have learned what losing feels like, but playing for them has provided me some of the greatest experiences of my lifetime. Riding to Marshall county with the boahs, occasionally upsetting a private school team, practicing at the most ghetto field in Memphis, spending a week in Florida with my teammates, and playing for the team with the most ejections in the city every year. I love being an Eagle.

Above all, I will miss my boahs. David Cobb, Steven Gordon, David Golding, Elliott Doyle, and Andy Kirk l graduated last year and it’s gonna be so different playing without them. It’s not gonna be worse, but it’ll be different. I love those guys and I’ll always appreciate the times we had the last few years as teammates and friends. I promise that in their absence, no will work harder to make this team win than I will (Cue teary-eyed Tim Tebow press conference).

Thanks for reading this. You know me a little better now. I truly wish that you had the merriest Christmas and I’m so glad to be your friend. Yes, YOU! Have an incredible 2012, Megan, Chelsea, Alex, Bekah, Graham, Kristen, Andy, or Hannah. You da best. Goodnight and God bless your little heart.

I am a part of a group of gentlemen being discipled by my brother, Tyler. Every time we meet, with occasional exception, my brother has made it a point to pray for a particular nation of the earth. This is done through a resource entitled “Operation World.” Operation World is, essentially, a prayer guide for the nations. It gives numerous statistics on population, religion, rates of literacy, life expectancy, and many others. In addition to this, it gives specific answers to prayer as well as specific ways to continue praying for that nation. It’s an incredible resource and as I pondered it, I became more excited about the idea of sharing the resource with others. 

I only have a handful of followers on Tumblr and you all are some of my closest friends. You know me and you know my heart, so I hope you know I am not whoring out my spiritual life for the sake of bettering my reputation. I know you guys and your heart for extending God’s glory to all nations, so I’m bursting with excitement in asking you to pray for nations along with my discipling brethren. 

On occasion, I will be posting the handouts that we pray through when we meet. You will find those here: http://ourinheritance.tumblr.com/. They’ll contain some simple stats about that particular country and some ways that you can be praying for it. Thanks so much for reading this and please join in praying for the world. I love you all so much and hope you have an incredible Christmas! Goodnight and God bless you!

For more on Operation World, visit: http://www.operationworld.org/.

If you possess a twitter, you were slapped in the face with news of Albert Pujols signing a 10 year/250 million dollar contract with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Part of me hates it for my many friends who are Cardinals fans, but I love baseball getting all shaken up. Reyes, Heath Bell, and Mark Buehrle to the Marlins? Awesome. Pujols and C.J. Wilson to the Angels? Amazing. Prince Fielder to WeightWatchers? That’s actually false, but it may help his free agent stock a bit. I love the change.

I’m writing about Pujols from the outside looking in. I am not a Cardinals fan and I only pretend to be when they’re about to win the world series. The news of him leaving has received some mixed reactions though. Some respond with class and wish Albert the best and some feel betrayed. Let’s engage.

Why would Albert leave?

1. Statistically speaking, Albert will make around $38,000 per at-bat (Statistics provided by Graham Inman in partnership with Faith Stats, Inc.). For someone who gets intentionally walked the majority of the time, that’s pretty solid. I would be making it rain all the way down the 1st base line, but Albert is classier baseball player than I, so I wouldn’t expect to see that.

2. Tony La Russa retired after obtaining his 3rd world series ring. In my humble and completely correct opinion, La Russa was the best manager in baseball and I could understand leaving because of that. Don’t forget that the Angels manager is Mike Scioscia and he is an incredible manager with a world series under his belt as well.

3. Finally, who wouldn’t want to play baseball on the west coast? Unfortunately, this is completely indicative of the way NBA players operate. It seems that the popular thing to do now is to play for big money in a big market. I don’t like it, but that’s the way the athletic world is moving.

Alright. We’ve done our speculating. Now, my question.. Why on earth would Albert want to leave?

1. Let’s compare offers. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the Cards offered Albert 10 years/220 million dollars. 22 million per year v. 25 million per year. Sounds obvious, right? You take LA’s offer and Mrs. Pujols can get the breakfast nook she’s always dreamed of. I spoke with my financially keen older brother about this. Taking into account the cost of living in Los Angeles, Albert Pujols would actually be making more money had he stayed in St. Louis. Boom roasted. Next?

2. You can’t replace La Russa. Former MLB catcher Mike Matheny will be taking the reigns. Fun fact: Mike is currently the youngest manager in the MLB at 41 years old. What?! Not Terry Francona? Not *other elite coaching candidate*? Yes. Mike Matheny. Before you poop yourself, the Cardinals front office isn’t comprised of a group of elementary schoolers. They know what they’re doing and I’m sure Mike will have a successful career, especially with the talent he’s inherited.

3. I actually can’t refute the location aspect. Los Angeles sounds better than St. Louis. I mean, St. Louis has that really cool arch and a six flags and the 2nd highest murder rate in the U.S. However, Pujols will not get the same kind of fan support anywhere that he did in St. Louis. He was worshiped at Busch Stadium and would have been for all ten years of that contract. He will not receive the same treatment in LA. He could do no wrong in the 314 (St. Louis area code [I’m cool]). He will be treated like a baseball player in LA, not a hero.

In summary, I don’t understand why he left. Maybe there’s more to the story and if there is, you’ll hear about it on Twitter fifty times. But anyhoo! The Angels are gonna be solid. They get Pujols and add C.J. Wilson to the rotation with Dan Haren and Jared Weaver. Baseball is gonna be good next year. Until then, I hope you have a Merry Christmas or a Happy Hanukkah. Goodnight and God bless you for reading this long thing.