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Illustration
(C, P)
An old adage says: "You can't argue with success." By the same token, the greatest witness we have for the power of the risen Christ is present incontrovertible witness to faith in his name.
He was a young man, a junior in High School, average scholar, quite popular with his peers and a better-than-average softball player. He was a pitcher on one of the school intra-mural teams. He was good, with command of several deceptive pitches. He could throw a fast ball that would rise or sink. Sometimes he would mix in a tantalizing curve ball that would seem to take forever to reach home plate and then swing way out of reach. One fault kept him from becoming a great pitcher -- he had a bad temper and was therefore really rattled by comments chattered from the bench of the opposing team.
This young man accepted Christ as his Savior, repenting of his sins, and especially of his bad temper. Not long after that, an important ball game was played and he was the starting pitcher for his team. Not only did he play a great game, but what startled the opponents and even members of his own team was that, in spite of the ceaseless chatter attempting to disturb his concentration, he never once got rattled. There was no angry display of temper. Amidst the congratulations at the end of the game was the repeated query: "What in the world has happened to you? We have never seen you like this before!" I was that young man. That was really the beginning of my career of bearing witness to the saving power of Jesus Christ.
- Fegan
An old adage says: "You can't argue with success." By the same token, the greatest witness we have for the power of the risen Christ is present incontrovertible witness to faith in his name.
He was a young man, a junior in High School, average scholar, quite popular with his peers and a better-than-average softball player. He was a pitcher on one of the school intra-mural teams. He was good, with command of several deceptive pitches. He could throw a fast ball that would rise or sink. Sometimes he would mix in a tantalizing curve ball that would seem to take forever to reach home plate and then swing way out of reach. One fault kept him from becoming a great pitcher -- he had a bad temper and was therefore really rattled by comments chattered from the bench of the opposing team.
This young man accepted Christ as his Savior, repenting of his sins, and especially of his bad temper. Not long after that, an important ball game was played and he was the starting pitcher for his team. Not only did he play a great game, but what startled the opponents and even members of his own team was that, in spite of the ceaseless chatter attempting to disturb his concentration, he never once got rattled. There was no angry display of temper. Amidst the congratulations at the end of the game was the repeated query: "What in the world has happened to you? We have never seen you like this before!" I was that young man. That was really the beginning of my career of bearing witness to the saving power of Jesus Christ.
- Fegan
