The Foul Line of Christ

A three inch straight white line runs from home plate to the outfield fence 355 feet away. Though this line may not seem overly important it controls a large aspect of the game of baseball. This line is known as the foul line. The foul line determines which hit baseballs are in play, fair, or out of play, foul. Every day before a baseball game a member of the grounds crew, who helps take care of the baseball field, re-chalks the foul line so that it's perfectly straight and bright white. Because this bright white, and straight chalked line runs over the brown dirt and green grass of the baseball field it really sticks out so everyone on the field or in the stands know what is fair and what is foul.

      Like the foul line our Savior, Jesus Christ, has set before us a straight path, or line, to follow his teachings and our Heavenly Fathers commandments. Alma 37:44 says "give heed to the word of Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss." This straight course, or line, of the word and commandments determines what is good or bad, fair or foul, in this life. This line will determine a large aspect of our lives whether in this "game" or the "game" to come.

     Along with that just as the ground crew member keeps the foul line chalked straight and white our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have appointed a Prophet as his crew member to re-chalk and remind us of the teachings and commandments that our Father wants us to follow. Likewise as the white chalked line stands out on the field our Heavenly Father's commandments will stand out above what those of the world are doing. This helps everyone know, as Nephi said in 2 Nephi 33:9, to "walk in the strait path which leads to life, and continue in the path until the end of the day of probation.", or game. As we continue to follow God's commands of what is fair and what is foul we will be able to get a "hit" of eternal life!
 

The Sandlot #2: The True Beast, Satan.

In the movie The Sandlot, Squints tells of the legend of The Beast.

 He says"The legend of the Beast goes back a

 long time...before any of us could even pick up a baseball.

Back to a place called Mertle. It all started about, mmm, 20 years ago, when thieves kept stealing junk from Mertle's Acres junkyard. So Mr. Mertle, the guy that used to own the place, got him this new pup from the dog pound. He fed him whole sides of beef...and turned the pup loose in the junkyard. And the pup was grateful. And so, in a few weeks, the pup grew into The Beast. And he grew big, and he grew mean...so that he could protect the junkyard with only one thing on his mind: to kill everyone that broke in. And he did, and he liked it! The Beast was the most perfect junkyard dog that ever lived. A true killing machine. But after a while, the cops started getting phone calls from people...reporting all the missing thieves, the ones The Beast had killed. They never found a single body. Not one. Some people say they all got away. But we all know what really happened. The Beast ate them. He ate them bone and all. The Beast was too good at his guard dog job, so the police said he had to be retired. My grandpa, Squidman Palledorous, was police chief back then. He ordered Mr. Mertle to turn his backyard into a fortress...and chain up The Beast and put him under the house... where he could never get out to eat children and stuff. That's where he's been for years. And that's where he'll be for the rest of his life. Because Mr. Mertle asked the cops how long...he had to keep The Beast chained up like a slave, they said until forever. Forever. Forever. Forever. Forever. Forever. And so, The Beast sits there under that lean-to, dreaming of the time when he can break the chain and get out, dreaming of the time he can chase and kill again." Click to Watch Clip

   As the Sandlot gang continued to play baseball near The Beast's territory they quickly learned how to avoid him because of their fear of him. They learned that they needed to do their best to keep their baseballs out of his possession if they wanted to keep playing because once in his possession you don't get it back, it's history, and kiss it goodbye. 

   Everything changed though the day they found out that Smalls had allowed an autographed Babe Ruth baseball to get into The Beasts possession. As they attempted to help their friend get the ball back they realized the power of The Beast as he foiled every attempt and technique from vacuum cleaners to Erector sets. The plan that eventually worked was Benny pulling a sneak attack on The Beast and running for his life as The Beast chased him through town. Eventually The Beast was stopped and they soon realized he and his owner weren't so bad after all. 

Not the cute little character this attempts to portray

     Moses 4:5 says "And now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which I, the Lord God, had made".  If you thought The Beast from The Sandlot was bad then this scriptures shows you that the serpent, Satan, is worse. Satan, like The Beast, will do everything in his power to make our lives miserable. He will do a lot more than take baseballs away from us. Satan tries to use his tactics to foil our Heavenly Father's plan for us and our lives. He will lie, cheat, and do every foul thing out there to make make us unhappy as he is. He wants us to kiss a happy life full of blessings from our Heavenly Father goodbye. Elder L. Tom Perry said "As we take a long, hard look at the world today, it is becoming increasingly evident that Satan is working overtime to enslave the souls of men." The Beast eventfully was found to be good but Satan will never be found for good or doing good. His attacks will be many but we have no need to fear. If we will follow our Heavenly Father's commandments, learn Satan's tactics and how to avoid them and, like Benny, run for our lives from Satan and into our Heavenly Father's care we will be able as it says in Romans 16:20 "bruise Satan under your feet shortly."

    

   

    

The Sandlot: Knowing Jesus Christ

In the classic baseball movie "The Sandlot" the main character, Smalls, finds himself and his buddies in what he calls "the biggest pickle of his life".
The Sandlot gang was in need of a baseball one day in order to be able to play. Smalls, who was new to the game of baseball and its history, went home and swiped his step-dad's autographed baseball so they could play. What he didn't realize at the time was that he was taking an autographed baseball signed by non other than the iconic baseball player Babe Ruth . Despite his friends constantly talking about "The Great Bambino", aka Babe Ruth, all the time Smalls, not wanting to look foolish, always plays it off that he knows who this is. This really comes back to hurt him though.
   As he brings the ball to his buddies they tell him you got the ball you get to bat. Smalls amazingly hits his very first home run off of the first pitch sending his step-dad's autographed baseball flying over the fence and into the infamous Beast's territory behind the ball field. As the team rejoices in the home run Smalls is struck with fear. In his mind his step-dad is going to kill him for what he's just done. As his buddies circle around Smalls to see what's wrong Smalls tells them that that baseball wasn't his. Click to Watch Scene They quickly learn that Smalls never really knew who "The Great Bambino" was and the also quickly realize that a Babe Ruth autographed baseball has just landed in the Beast's possession.

    How many of us are like Smalls? Smalls kept saying he knew who "The Great Bambino" was but truth be known he didn't. This lead to some serious trouble as they attempted to get the ball back. How many of us say we know Jesus Christ when we really don't? Are we just saying we believe in Him not to look foolish around our peers? John 17:3 says "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."
   If one of our main purposes in life is to truly know Christ we better strive to be able to say as Job said in the Bible "I know that my Redeemer liveth (Job 19:25).
  We need to gain a strong knowledge and faith in Him so that we aren't just saying we believe to please others. We need to know who Jesus Christ is and what He has done for us. If we will come to know Him in this way we won't find ourselves in the biggest pickle of our lives on judgement day.



To view another Sandlot/gospel blog by Sister Weir Click here.

The Gospel of Baseball Part 2: First to Second through Repentance

The first to Second principle of the Gospel of Baseball is Repentance. The Bible dictionary states that repentance is a change of mind, a fresh view about God, oneself, and the world. As a baseball player now that we've had sufficient faith to get on base through our faith and our works, hitting the ball, we need to refocus and have a change of mind. Our primary goal is no longer to just get to first base but to make it home and score. We now have a fresh view on the importance of getting to second base. Luke 12:3 says "except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." In other words if we don't shift our focus to now getting to second base we will surly perish and get tagged out.
   Likewise in our lives once we've gained faith in our Heavenly Father it will cause us to have a desire to make a change in our lives. We will have the desire to repent of our wrong doings and, like the baseball player, get onto Gods base path to our heavenly home. And when we do this we feel freed from our mistakes and we are ready to rededicate ourselves to following our Heavenly Father.

  But this repentance, to make it to second base and eventually home,  can only be accomplished with the help of a team mate, Jesus Christ. In order for us to make it to second base he lays down a sacrifice bunt of himself to move us over as he gets thrown out at first base. Without our Savior, Jesus Christ, and this sacrifice bunt of the atonement we would have no way to overcome our mistakes and make move onto second base. I am so grateful for the sacrifice of my Savior, Jesus Christ, for me. It allows me to have a change of heart and mind, rededicate myself through repentance, and return home someday.

The Gospel of Baseball Part 1: Home to First through Faith

The first base principle of the Gospel of Baseball is Faith. The book of Alma, in the Book of Mormon, chapter 32 verse 21 states "faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true." As a baseball player you stand at home plate you know nothing about what will happen next. The goal is to get a base hit but there are a lot of different scenarios that can play out before that happens. You could strike out, get walked, ground out, or even get hit by a pitch. But you have to have hope that you can get a base hit and make it to first. This hope is also faith. Alma 32:27 states "if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words." So in order for us to experiment on the word, or in this case if we're going to get a base hit, we need to grab our bat, take a practice swing or two, and step up to the plate. And by doing so we are showing we have at least a desire to make it to first base. And over time that desire and faith builds, through diligence and patience, in us until we believe we are going to get a base hit every time.
   This same principle of faith is the first principle in Christ's Gospel too. Just like the baseball player can't see if they're going to get a hit or not, we can't see God, we don't know if He is there through sight. But if we will show a desire, have faith and experiment, through scripture study and prayer, we can come to know if He really is there. Through that faith we can come to know that He is our Father in Heaven, He hears and answers our prayers, and He loves us, just like the baseball player knows he'll get on base as the ball Cracks! off his bat and he reaches first base safely.