I have said that April Fools is for Royal’s fans who think our team has a chance… but this year – as owners and players fight and games are cancelled – it seems all baseball fans are the fools.

And the most frustrating thing is that their fight isn’t about fixing baseball. The sport is losing popularity because of real problems. Too many teams are tanking, purposely losing to get better draft picks. Games are too slow. There is an umpiring problem that technology could help (like a system to better call balls and strikes).

Yet the Baseball Commissioner called the World Series trophy just a “piece of metal”. So why would he worry about fixing the game? Instead he is concerned with the precious metals in our pockets. The whole fight, billionaire owners vs millionaire players, is over money – our money…

As I watch this unfold – in a world coming out of pandemic and watching true sacrifice in Ukraine – the owners and players are completely missing the point. Baseball is a business, but to get the money you still have to produce the product. The product is America’s Pastime. When work is finished, we want a moment to escape. To enjoy. To cheer. The world is full of fighting. Full of money chasing. If baseball is just more of this… rich fighting over money… I should watch more soccer.

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The season of Lent began yesterday. The season can be a moment of fasting, of repentance, of sacrifice. But do not miss the point of Lent. The purpose of the season is preparation for Good Friday and Easter. Some years we need a fast, to break habits and see clearly. In this moment, after two difficult years, I believe it should be a time of addition. We should increase friendship and family relationships. We should seek out people who bring us closer to God – closer to being who we were created to be.

One positive of the baseball strike… I have more time for friends!

^{John 15:11} I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. ¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 

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Join us this Sunday at 10:30 as we start the Lent series Fulfilled. We dive into OT passages that point toward the coming of Jesus. This week is Ezekiel 37. Also join our daily readings, click here for a list.