iPopCulture.NET

“What if $21 was the difference in someone hearing the gospel?”

That question has been running through my head all weekend. If I really thought $21 would make a difference in someone hearing the gospel, would I give it? Absolutely. While that may seem like a hypothetical situation, it’s not far from the truth.

Following a December board meeting, the board of Free Will Baptist International Missions made a difficult decision: In an ongoing effort to end financial shortfalls and rebuild cash reserves, the board voted to postpone sending all new missionaries—as well as veteran missionaries currently on stateside assignment—to their fields of service until “cash reserves reach a sustainable level of 10% of the operational budget (fwbgo.com).

What does that mean? It simply means this:

As of the Summer of 2012, there will be 18 missionary families that cannot serve in their field because of a lack of funding.

It’s not due to a lack of willingness. It’s not due to a lack of accommodations. It’s simply because of a lack of money. Families are ready and willing to go overseas to share the good news of Jesus Christ…we simply haven’t provided them with the financial resources to do so.

But it doesn’t have to be that way!

Let me introduce you to Pledge21K, an initiative to get missionaries back on the field.

Pledge21k is challenging 1,000 Free Will Baptists to give $21 per month to send these missionaries back to their field and the gospel to the ends of the earth.

Simple math will tell you that 1,000 people giving $21 = $21,000 a month and $252,000 a year.

Does that sound crazy and impossible? Absolutely. But our God does the crazy and impossible for His glory.

So here’s your challenge: Get involved with Pledge21K. How do you do it? Simple:

1) Visit the Pledge21K Cause group by clicking on this link. Join the Cause.

2) Click on the “Give” tab and sign up to give $21/month.

3) Invite your friends to join the initiative and tell them about what is happening.

4) Use Facebook, Twitter, blogging, etc. to spread word about Pledge21K.

5) Pray for our missionaries and pray for financial supporters.

6) Follow @Pledge21K on Twitter for updates.

This is a great day for Free Will Baptists and God’s Church.

I am 1 of the 1,000. Will you be one?

I woke up this morning and realized yesterday wasn’t a bad dream. It was true: Albert Pujols signed with the Anaheim Angels. I also realized something else: any anger and frustration I felt yesterday had turned to sadness.

I can’t blame Pujols for heading to Anaheim. He was offered a ridiculous contract that could make or break a franchise. I also can’t blame the Cardinals for not matching the contract. I will always hold a franchise above a player, and I never want to see a player cripple a team for 10 years because of a bad contract.

But I’m still sad.

Why? Well the answer to that probably seems obvious, but let me explain some reasons that go a little bit deeper than the surface.

Since I have been alive, the St. Louis Cardinals have always had that “iconic” player who was a future Hall of Famer. From 1982-1996 it was Ozzie Smith. From late 1997-2001 it was Mark McGwire (and if steroids wouldn’t have gotten involved he’d be in the Hall today). And from 2001-2011 it was Albert Pujols. These three guys have been the face of the franchise as long as I have been alive. With the exception of a short stint in 2007, one of these three guys has always worn a Cardinals jersey for the lifetime of my generation.

Until now.

I woke up this morning questioning, “Who is the face of the St. Louis Cardinals?” To be honest, I don’t know. There is no one on the roster right now who is guaranteed a spot in Cooperstown. Maybe Adam Wainwright will bounce back and become the best pitcher since Bob Gibson. But I don’t know. Maybe David Freese will continue where he left off in the World Series and become the next Redbird batting champ, but there are no guarantees.

It’s sad to say, but there is no “face” of the Cardinals right now, which is shocking to say since the team won the World Series less than 50 days ago.

I know someone will step up and take that role. Maybe it will be Holliday. Maybe it’s Wainwright. Maybe Yadi or Freese. It will happen. But for the first time in almost 30 years, Cardinal fans are asking, “Who will it be?”

Cardinal fans were blessed to see the greatest hitter of this generation play in St. Louis. By the end of things, he may be one of the three greatest hitters of all-time. And I think that’s why it hurts. We’ve seen the best and know there will never be another Albert Pujols. If baseball history repeats itself, we know we will never see another hitter like him in our lifetime. And so we begged and pleaded for him to wear the birds on the bat just several more years so we could see one of the greatest in history do what he does best. And yet we now realize that won’t happen. Not this year. Not next year. Never again.

Reality has set in. We’ve realized the best has been taken away from us.

And so we’re sad.