Earlier this week I received one of those phone calls that you never forget. Thankfully it wasn’t because of a deep sadness connected to the other end like so many of those unforgettable calls. It was the exact opposite.
On the other end of the line was one of my “kids” from White House. Many of you know that I was a youth minister for a very short time for the White House Church of Christ in White House, TN from July of 1999 until February of 2000.
This particular young man was a middle schooler when I left. It had been more than 11 years since I had talked to him.
“Mr. Brent,” he said very respectfully. “Over the last couple of years I’ve experienced an awakening in my life. Looking back I realize God used you very specifically at a very specific moment in my life to help bring me to this point. I was going into surgery at Vanderbilt and you put your hand on me and prayed for me. I remember how fervently you prayed for me. In that instant I knew there was something more to you. Now that I’ve had this awakening I want to learn more from you.”
As I listened, with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat, I tried the best I could to remember anything about the chain of events he was describing.
I couldn’t remember any of it.
I hadn’t sat with him and studied the Bible at length. I hadn’t taken his confession of faith and immersed him into the waters of baptism. I wasn’t his counselor at camp. Quite honestly, I hadn’t done much of anything I could remember with the middle school students when I was there. Most of my time was spent with the high school students.
God took the tiniest of seeds that I had unintentionally sowed with the least amount of effort and thought on my part. He kept it alive in the heart of that young man for many years. Then he sent others to water and cultivate it. Now it’s growing and producing a crop.
What a thrilling, humbling, encouraging and challenging moment that God allowed me to experience!
What seeds are you sowing?
“….Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.” Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” – Mark 4:8-9
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” – 2 Corinthians 4:7
Almost there,
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My friend Jeff Hunter taught me how to read the Braves box scores in the Tennessean newspaper. I started collecting baseball cards and was a regular at E-Gad’s Baseball Card Shop at Harding Mall in Nashville. Dale Murphy, two-time MVP outfielder for the Braves, was my hero. Multiple Murph posters were tacked up in my room including my favorite entitled “Power Alley”. I collected over 200 different Dale Murphy baseball cards, often trading away much more “valuable” cards to acquire a Murph card I didn’t have. I kept a scrapbook of every picture and mention of the Murph I could find.
Family trips and church youth group outings introduced me to Atlanta’s Fulton County Stadium, home of the Braves. Most of the time the Braves lost and there weren’t many folks there to see it. One game I remember in particular was a game against the San Diego Padres. Rick Mahler was pitching for the Braves, Eric Show for the Padres. There couldn’t have been more than 4,000 people there to see it. I think just about everyone in our group got a foul ball that day. I always tried to get autographs from Braves players but never succeeded. We always got there too late. One time we did get there early enough to get autographs from some of the Houston Astros who were getting off their bus. Some guy named Nolan Ryan signed a 1985 Topps card for me that I traded later on that night for a Jose Canseco rookie card.
I was a Braves fan long before their run of 14-straight divisional titles. The Braves averaged only 65 wins per season from 1985-1990, finishing the last year of that span in last place. My first Braves heroes weren’t Chipper Jones, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz , Andruw Jones and Greg Maddux. They were Dale Murphy, Glenn Hubbard, Claudell Washington, Rafael Ramirez, Bob Horner and Bruce Benedict.
My second start against St. Xavier out of Illinois came at the end of a long Spring Break trip in Daytona Beach, Florida. We had used up all of our pitchers that week and so it was up to me to log some innings. I had never thrown any harder than I did that day. I was still throwing in the upper 80’s in the 8th inning. Only later did I learn that I had thrown 133 pitches in the game – probably 50 more than I should have in my second start of the young season. When I woke up the next morning my arm was toast. I couldn’t brush my teeth or comb my hair without excruciating pain in my shoulder. I had surgery to repair a torn labrum muscle in my shoulder and tried to make a comeback, but my 90 mph heater had been replaced by a 74 mph batting practice delight. I was cut from the team in the fall of 1994. I cried like a baby. My dream was shattered.
About an hour before the game I was asked to make my way to the field with my wife Emily and our public relations director, Matt Toy. CBS Evening News and Gospel Music Channel wanted to interview me before the game. After waiting in the seats behind the Braves dugout for several minutes we were asked to sit in the Braves dugout while we waited for the reporters to finish interviewing Derek Schiller, the Braves senior VP of sales & marketing. We sat in the Braves dugout for more than 45 minutes – right up until game time. I chatted with Glenn Hubbard, the Braves second baseman from my childhood and current first base coach. Catcher Todd Pratt, starting pitcher Jason Shiell and shortstop Edgar Renteria all made their way past us as we waited in the dugout.
The Braves lost the game 6-1 but what happened in the two hours following the game was anything but a loss. More than 3,000 people filed into the area behind the left field wall designated for the concert – many more than we expected. It was a sultry day game on a Thursday in the middle of July against the Marlins – not exactly the most church-group friendly set of circumstances. I met John in the Braves dugout to make last second preparations. One of the Braves security guards drove John and me in a golf cart out to the stage in left field.
I served as the emcee for the event. I took time to recognize a very special friend, Russell Hendricks who was at the game with his family. The former Georgia Southern University pitcher stayed with our family one week when I was a teenager as part of an Athletes in Action tour. He taught me how to throw my 12-to-6 curve ball and was the first baseball player I’d ever seen give his personal testimony to a group of complete strangers after a game. That made a lasting impression on me.
John spoke for about 20 minutes about the importance of not having a “no-decision” when it comes to choosing Jesus as Savior. He talked about the moment in his life in 1995 when he decided to totally give his life to the Lord. I was amazed at how still and quiet a crowd of 3,000 could be for so long, even in the 95 degree heat. They hung on John’s every word and gave him a standing ovation when he was done. Aaron Shust performed his #1 hit My Savior, My God as a large percentage of the crowd sang along. The Afters followed up with a rocking end to an amazing day.