Kid's Devotion - Judging People

Watch the following Doug video

 

 

1. Doug trivia - What was Doug's aunt's name. What city did she work in? What was the channel number and 4 call letters of the station?

2. How did Doug feel initially about being on TV? How did he feel after finding out what show it was? Why?

3. Tell something that you do that you are embarrassed for your friends to find out.

4. Who found out? What was he going to do to Doug? Why do you think he would do that? How should Doug have responded?

5. Why didn't Roger carry out his plan?

6. Read Romans 2:1-3  http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%202:1-3&version=NLT  and  Matt. 7:1-5  http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matt%207:3-5&version=MSG   How do these verses relate to Roger?

7. Have you ever made fun of, or accused someone of something that you have done also? Give an example. Why did you do it? How do you think God feels about this?

 

Note to parents:

 

In this episode, Doug does something for someone that he is embarrassed about. Note that he was willing to make a fool of himself out of respect for Aunt Betty Ann (channel 12 WBLT Bloatsburg) which was a very noble thing for him to do. Ask the kids if they would have done that. Doug should have a good enough self - esteem that he doesn't care what others think but unfortunately like most kids his age they don't want to be laughed at.( Maybe do this devotion tomorrow  http://thoughtsfromtherightbrain.blogspot.com/2011/11/kids-devotion-risking-being-laughed-at.html )  Encourage your kids that they are awesome and God thinks so too and chances are that the kids making fun of them have done the same thing but have too little self confidence to admit it and feel better about themselves by making fun of others.

The Bible verses talk about judging. We as Christians have a tendency to pick on and accuse people of the very things we do. Of course we forgive ourselves for doing it because we had a legitimate excuse but they don't. They are sinful, we were tired. I heard a pastor say that when we stand before God, He could judge us without the Bible. He could take off the invisible tape recorder around our neck that records every time we judge someone and then use it to judge us using our own standards of right and wrong that we have placed on others. God desires mercy not judgment (James 2:13). Lets not be hypocrites. Lets leave the judging to God and leave the forgiving and mercy to us in order to lead them to the mercy of God found in Jesus death on the cross.

 

   

Milwaukee Brewers Top Prospects 2014

Here is my list of top prospects at each position (a 25 man roster) based only on 2013 hitting and pitching stats (I haven't seen them play) for the Milwaukee Brewers.

1B  Of course the obvious are Morris and Rogers but their Batting averages just aren't that exciting. I think it is another year in the minors for each which will be interesting because Rogers needs to be at AAA where Morris is. I predict a trade or a position change. Therefore my pick for top 1B prospect is
        21y/o  Adam Giacalone  L/R  .336/.429/.874 at Helena. Doesn't strike out much. Needs to get stronger.
        I am still hoping Mat Gamel will have an injury free season in 2014 and be our 1B for the future

2B  Scooter is here to stay so who cares. However,

        Eugenio Velez. .377/.437/.960 . OK it is hard to consider a 31 y/o career minor leaguer a prospect, but with this kind of year at AAA, this switch hitter certainly deserves another chance and a September call up which we wont do because we want to keep guys like Figaro, Gonzalez, Francisco, Betancourt, Maldonado, Bianchi  on our 40 man!

SS  Segura is our guy for the future but just in case we can't sign him long term, I'm going to give you 2 who are a distance away. Besides, with a 25 man team, I need to give you a utility fielder so one of these guys fits the bill.

        Gregory Munoz  19y/o LH .292/.376/.738 in his 1st year in professional ball leading our Dominican team in hitting

         Steven Halcomb 23 y/o RH  .317/.406/.760 in his first professional year drafted out of Gonzaga playing with the Arizona rookie team

3B   Nathan Orf 23y/o RH  .313/.452/.872 in his 1st year drafted from Baylor playing in Helena. What can you say about a .452 OBP? Most people don't do that in softball.

 C    I'm going to give you two because all teams carry at least 2 catchers

    Robinson Diaz - OK, once again it is hard to consider a 30 y/o a prospect but with a .328/.375/.833 at AAA he certainly should be up in September replacing the highly overrated  Maldonado being outhit by most of our pitchers.

    Clint  Coulter - 20 y/o RH   .350/.409/ 1.026 in Arizona . Unfortunately, he has been my biggest disappointment of the year because he has failed in Wisconsin and Helena and I'm wondering if he can make the jump

OF   Because of injuries and suspensions, we have depleted our upper level prospects bringing up Gindl and Schaefer well before their time of never. Khris Davis shows promise but runs hot and cold too much. So here are my 5 prospects who admittedly are a distance away.

    Michael Ratteree  22y/o RH 1st year at Helena  .327/.405/1.013  This is my position player prospect of the year. I hope he moves up quickly.

    Omar Garcia 20y/o RH 1st year in Helena .316/.433/ .780   Needs to get more power but hard to argue with a .433 OBP

     Elvis Rubio  19y/o RH in Arizona from DSL  .314/.386/.867

     D'Vontrey Richardson 25y/o RH in Brevard  .325/.372/.778  Admittedly this guy isn't anywhere on the Brewers radar screen so watch for him to be unprotected and have another team steal him. The closest hitter to him on BRV hit .258! Either BRV was terrible or it was a pitching rich league. Either way, he deserves attention and I hope the Brewers have him move quickly at the age of 25.

    Take your pick for #5 - Tyrone Taylor, Mitch Haniger, or Victor Roache. I'm not as sold on them as the Brewers because Doug Melvin overvalues HR's and MPH and lets contact hitters and finesse pitchers languish in the minors for years. Mitch had a great AFL campaign so he is moving up on my radar.

 P  Starters

     Jimmy Nelson -  24y/o RH  3.25 ERA HVL and Nashville  152 innings 163K. Only fear - a fair number of walks. Batters hit .241 against him

     Johnny Hellwig - 24 y/o RH 3.15 ERA   12-5 on a terrible AAA team. Fear - didn't make the major league transition well and loses his release point frequently because of his height.

     Austin Blaski - 23 y/o RH 2.01 ERA hitters batted .207 against him at A ball

    Tyler Wagner - 22 y/o RH  3.21 ERA 116 K at A ball

     Tyler Cravy - 24 y/o RH  2.04 ERA hitters batted .207 against him in high A

      Long relievers/starters

       Clint Terry LH  21 y/o LH 1.54 ERA  .99WHIP  hitters hit .211 against him

       Tristan Archer  RH 22 y/o 3.16 ERA in Helena (a hitter friendly park) but the most impressive thing - 3 walks in 37 innings!!

       Short relievers

    Tyler Spurlin  22 y/o RH .90 ERA  .90 WHIP 2 walks in 23 innings in Arizona. MOVE HIM UP

    Hobbs Johnson 22 y/o LH .86 ERA 21IP  4BB 32 k  in A ball. MOVE HIM UP

    Tyler Alexander  21 y/o LH at Helena 1.88 ERA 14IP 3BB 25K.  MOVE HIM UP

    Now for my 2 pet peeves. How bad has our bullpen been this year in the majors? In the last homestand we lost 7 games in a row due to relief . Yet - maybe because these guys are under 6 foot and don't light up the radar gun, Doug Melvin has forgotten about them.

     Jesus Sanchez 25 y/o RH 2.83 ERA Nashville who has dominated AA last year and AAA this year gets picked over by Figaro, Badenpop, Gonzalez. Hand??? Come on Doug. Bring him up NOW! Addendum - dropped from 40 man. Watch us lose him like Mat Gamel.

     Eric Marzec  25 y/o RH at HVL all year. This guy has dominated at every level yet isn't getting moved up in a pitching poor farm system.  6-0 1.95 ERA.

As you can see, most of our prospects are a few years away thanks to very poor drafting. Maybe it is time for a complete overhaul of our scouting dept. because I would say the Brewers have one of the, if not the worst farm system in all of baseball.

Kid's Devotion - Treating Everyone The Same

1. Watch the following Doug episode

2. Doug trivia.
     What is the name of the school team?
3. Why was Patty wearing a disguise? 
4.  Look at this definition of prejudice from Websters on line dictionary
       preconceived judgment or opinion (2) : an adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge
  an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, a group, a race, or their supposed characteristics .  What are some common prejudices today?

5. Who was the coach prejudiced against? What were some of the coach's sexist statements or behaviors?
6. Read Gal.3:28,29.  http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians%203:28-29&version=MSG . What were 3 groups that had prejudice against each other? Why did Paul say that this was a sin?
7. Read John 1:45,46.  http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%201:45-46&version=NLT  What was Nathanael prejudice against? How do we do this? What does Phillip say is the remedy?
8. Read Numbers 12:1. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2012:1&version=NET . Who were Miriam and Aaron prejudiced against? Is this an issue today?
9. Who have you been prejudiced against? Confess it to the Lord and ask for deliverance.
Note to parents
    In this episode we see Patty having to disguise herself because the coach thought boys were superior to girls. The coach is a very unlikeable character which is good because sexism, racism, etc. make a person very ugly. We experience this all around us where women get less job opportunities and less pay, African Americans (Cushites from Num. 12:1) still fight an uphill battle, and Hispanics are disliked for" crossing the border and taking our jobs" (I just heard that this week) Also, we tend to have a lot of pride in where we are from, which is good, but not when we think people from other nations, states, cities are inferior to us. Just look at the fights at High School football games and most of them come from Nathanael like statements. We need to realize that God made all of us and He loves us all equally. Technically, we are all related to Noah so we are all relatives. Phillip said, "Come and see" to Nathanael's prejudicial remark. Maybe that's what we need to do; get out of your bubble and get to know people from other areas. Maybe you will find that they are no different from you!

Donkeys and Walking Sticks

 "Jair of Gilead, led Israel twenty-two years. He had thirty sons, who rode thirty donkeys. They controlled thirty towns in Gilead, which to this day are called Havvoth Jair. When Jair died, he was buried in Kamon....  After him, Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon, led Israel.  He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. He led Israel eight years. Then Abdon son of Hillel died and was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites."  Judges 10:3-5, 12:13-15

   I'm always amused by these verses - to go through life and be known for how many donkeys you owned and where you were buried seems to me such a waste of a life. I recently was reminded of this in a personal way. My dad died and as we arranged his burial, the funeral director, knowing that my dad loved to hike to Mt. LeConte asked if we would like to have his walking stick buried in the casket with him. He stated that he has even buried motorcycles with people. Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying that he was wrong by offering this; if so I am much more guilty for offering prenatal testing for birth defects (it's one of those things the profession requires) - but I was horrified to think that my dad's life might be remembered by his hiking. Sure, that was enjoyable for him but it wasn't WHO he was anymore than I would want to be buried with a Doctor's bag or a scalpel and be remembered for being a doctor.
     What would my dad have wanted to be remembered for? What do I want to be remembered for? Let me illustrate it this way. Do you know how the gospel came to Korea? In the 1800's a British missionary to China, Sir Robert Thomas, felt deep compassion for Korea, a country that was hostile to outsiders. He learned a little Korean and bought a bunch of tracts and Bibles, mainly in Chinese and convinced an American trade ship wanting to establish relations with Korea that he could be their interpreter. The ship got attacked in the waters off shore Korea and was set fire. As the crew abandoned the ship and were quickly killed, Robert Thomas was said to have abandoned the ship with an armful of Bibles throwing them to the Koreans while yelling "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus" while he was clubbed and speared to death. The killers noticed something different about this man and thought that his "book" must be very important. When people who could read Chinese later came to Korea they translated these Bibles and now South Korea is one of the most Christian nations in the world.
      What would my dad have wanted to be remembered for? What do I want to be remembered for? I want to be remembered for having a passion for and sharing God's word. I'm comforted to know that even if I am as unqualified as giving Chinese Bibles to Koreans, God can use a willing servant. And I want to be known as a person who constantly spoke of Jesus till my last breath. That's what I want. That's what my dad DID. Isn't that what you want to be remembered for?
  

A Diagnostic Question For Hidden Sins

Kids' Devotion - Jumping to Conclusions

1. Watch the above Doug episode
2. Doug trivia - What is Skeeter's favorite dessert?
3. What wrong conclusion to Skeeter arrive at?   What bad things happened as a result of him assuming this without getting all the facts?
4. Have you ever jumped to a wrong conclusion before knowing all the facts? Explain. Did something bad happen because of it?
5. Read Joshua 22  http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua%2022&version=MSG  and explain what happens in this little known passage of scripture.
6. Read Prov. 13:16.  http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=prov%2013:16&version=NIV
   How does this relate to this Doug episode.

Note to parents
     In this episode, Skeeter gets partial information and jumps to wrong conclusions. Because of this he causes pain to his parents, causes his best friend great grief, causes himself harm (misses his favorite dessert) and causes others to lie for him. In the passage of Joshua, a civil war is almost caused because 9 tribes (probably just a few people riled everyone up) misunderstood 3 tribes' noble actions. We should always gather all the facts before thinking something bad has happened or is going to happen and always assume the best of someone. If you assume the best of someone, then if you get partial information that casts a bad light you can say "I know they are a good person and obviously we don't know all the details. Lets give them the benefit of the doubt." Your mind, if left alone, can imagine and fabricate a whole scenario that is completely erroneous. We need to have minds that always think the best.

Jesus is the Remedy

      In John 14:6, Jesus declares, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me." Back in my zealous days for the Lord, maybe over zealous - maybe Pauline, I used to paint Bible verses on the windows of the conversion van as we went on family vacations because I was going to turn the self indulgent time off into a mission trip to the beach whether my wife protested or the kids cowered under the windows for 11 hours - or 9 if I sped.( I never figured out if I witnessed to more people by passing them or letting them pass me) Anyway, on one occasion I painted this verse on the window and was amazed by all the indecent gestures I received. The apostles also declared the narrowness of salvation in Acts 4:12 and Paul reiterated it in 1Tim. 2:5.Jesus also said the way was narrow and few would find it in Matt. 7:13,14. This infuriates non christians because to them it is saying, "If we don't believe like you then we are going to hell as are the Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Moonies, etc. I can't believe in a God like that. I believe that you can believe whatever you want and if you are sincere and are a "good" person we will all go to Heaven."
      I got to thinking about that the other day. In the picture below, you will see 8 different medicines

from my drug closet at work. From left to right you see an anti-inflammatory, a constipation medicine, an asthma medicine, prenatal vitamin, a hormone, an antihypertensive (blood pressure), a pill for bladder urgency (gotta go, gotta go) and a probiotic (bowel health). Now suppose a patient came in for high blood pressure which causes strokes and heart disease and is a leading killer in the U.S. What would I give him/her? Pill #6 - Bistolic- an antihypertensive. What if he said, "Naw, any pill will do if I faithfully take it - I think I will take pill 4." He can be as sincere as he wants but a prenatal vitamin will just grow his fingernails at best. Not only that, but they will all be harmful because they will delay treatment and some could cause ulcers,  diarrhea, increase his blood pressure, or how can I say this delicately - change his upper anatomy. There is "good" in all the pills (still think probiotics are voodoo) but only one pill will cure his disease.
            Hopefully the analogy is clear. Jesus is the remedy for sin and death. Everything else distracts us from the truth and harms mankind. Those who say that Christianity is exclusive, bigoted, and narrow - don't have an issue with Jesus as much as they do with recognizing their condition. They think we are basically good with a few flaws that any placebo taken, if believed in, can fix us. Christianity states that we are dying in our sins and need a drastic cure. Tim Keller gives the following illustration ;Picture this-You have been weak, no energy, losing weight, having stomach pains and you go to the doctor and he says, "take vitamins and change your diet and you will be fine." Unfortunately it doesn't work so you go to another and she gives you a shot of B12 and probiotics - ha. It still doesn't work. The next one tells you to exercise and get more sleep and take Omega 3 fatty acids. You go to 6 other doctors and get similar advice without success. Finally you come to a doctor who says, "You have cancer in your abdomen and need it cut out immediately or you will die." Do you leave saying, "Who does he think he is? How dare he say everyone else is wrong! How narrow-minded!" Or do you leave thinking, "Wow, what if she is right?" What was different between this doctor and the other 9? The diagnosis. The one doctor saw you as having a deadly disease and therefore a singular cure while the others thought that it was a minor problem with multiple solutions to make you feel better. When people get upset for saying Jesus is the only way you could probably counter by saying, "You believe that mankind is basically good don't you.We believe the Bible teaches that we are sinful headed for an eternity apart from God and the only hope is to have our sins taken away and no other religion addresses that but Jesus does."
          The Bible says in Romans 1:32 that mankind knows we are sinning and deserve death yet we suppress it and then celebrate it. I have a number of patients who refuse to get tests because they are afraid we will find something. Foolish? Maybe, but Paul says that humanity is doing it with not just this life in the balances but eternity. Please, people. Get your head out of the sand, accept the diagnosis and receive the remedy - Jesus took your disease on Himself on the cross. Now just receive Him into your life and be healed!