My Favorite Yankee Now that baseball season is well underway, I am taking my normal amount of ribbing for being a New York Yankee fan. The Yankees are like liver - you love liver or you hate liver, nobody is neutral. So, also for my Yankees, the team of my childhood- hated or loved, everyone has an opinion! Yet, despite these strong opinions, there is one player on the Yankees for whom everyone shares a common admiration: Mariano Rivera. Quiet, unassuming, humble - nobody who has met the man has ever had a bad word to say about him (except batters! Arguably, he is the greatest relief pitcher of all time). Who is Mariano Rivera? An immigrant, things were not always easy for him. He spent years in the minor leagues - and in his fourth year of minor league baseball, things were particularly difficult. It was then that Mariano turned not to himself for strength, but to Jesus Christ. From that moment on, he says, "following Christ is the most important thing in my life." His favorite verse - "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength" (Philippians 4.13). Next time you see Rivera entering the ninth inning of a baseball game with winning runners on base and 60,000 fans cheering/jeering depending on their allegiances, you will know from whence his strength cometh. Quiet, unassuming, humble ... he walks the walk!
In faith,
Pastor Tim
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