Great Ballplayers, Great Prophets, Same God
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
“We do our Lord an injustice when we suppose that He performed all His mighty acts and showed Himself strong for those in the early time but does not perform wonders or lay bare His arm for the saints who are now upon the earth.” – C.H. Spurgeon
I belong to several baseball fan groups on Facebook and enjoy the back-and-forth banter that takes place between group members. Usually, I’ll just click “like” and move on when a member posts something of interest, but if it’s some type of poll I may opt to weigh in with my opinion as a longtime fan.
And therein lies the rub…
Judging by some of their answers, it seems like the vast majority of group members think that baseball began in 1960, or 1980, or even 2000. For instance, the poll may ask who was the most dominant pitcher ever over a period of four or more years? Half of the group members will say that it was Sandy Koufax from 1963 to 1966, and the other half will insist that it was Pedro Martinez from 1997 to 2000.
Now, to be honest, both hurlers had terrific runs (although I would give the nod to Koufax between the two), but I can’t help chiming in. “What about Christy Mathewson’s 11-year period of sheer brilliance from 1903 to 1913 or Walter Johnson’s 10-year stretch of pure dominance from 1910 to 1919? And then there was Grover Cleveland Alexander’s 7-year stretch from 1914 to 1920, when “Ol’ Pete” was virtually unhittable.
My point is that the old-timers were pretty darn good, too!
Taking Spurgeon’s quote into consideration, we do God a disservice when we think that He only performed “mighty acts” in the days of Noah, Abraham, and Moses… or during the times of the great prophets like Elijah and Elisha… or when Jesus walked the earth… or during the apostolic age when Peter, John, and Paul were on the scene. The truth of the matter is that God is still in the miracle-working business today; we just have to know where to look.
There have always been great ballplayers – past and present – and there will always be great men and women of God. Maybe you are one… or will be some day!
“For I, the LORD, do not change…” Malachi 3:6 (NASB)
- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President
