The Consistency of Mike Gartner

Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

1 Corinthians 4:2

Wayne Gretzky won five goal-scoring titles, eleven Art Ross trophies, and won the Hart nine times. He had an NHL record 92-goal season, another eighty goal season, and two more 70-goal seasons, and is tied with Mike Bossy for the most 60-goal seasons (5) and 50-goal seasons (9). Gordie Howe led the NHL in goals five times, won six Art Ross, and won six Hart Trophies. Brett Hull had three consecutive 70-goal seasons (scoring 86 in one of them) and won the Hart Trophy in 1991. Jaromir Jagr has five Art Ross trophies, a 62 goal season in 1995-96, won the Hart in 1999 and the Pearson on two other occasions. Marcel Dionne won the Art Ross in 1980 and won the Pearson twice. Phil Esposito posted the first 70-goal and first four 60-goal seasons in NHL history. He led the league in goals six times and won the Art Ross five. He won two Hart Trophies and won the Pearson on another occasion.

You're probably wondering what I told you all of that. Well, I told you all of that to tell you this: despite the fact that Mike Gartner never did any of that, he is the only other member of an exclusive club that includes all of the names above. They are the only seven players in NHL history to score at least 700 goals in their careers. His highest single season goal tally was 50, and he hit that only once. He never finished higher than fifth in the league in goals or tenth in points. He never finished any higher than fourth among right wingers in all-star balloting. How then, did he manage to score so many goals?

Remarkable consistency was the secret to Gartner's success. From the 1979-80 season through the 1993-94 season, he never failed to score at least 30 goals. After the lockout-shortened season that followed snapped his streak, he managed two more such seasons, bringing his total to 17. The consecutive and total 30 goal seasons marks are both NHL records. Mike Gartner was never among the game's elite players and he was never considered to be a super star, but his nearly unmatched level of consistency meant that he was dependable. Year in and year out, you knew what you were going to get from Mike Gartner. That earned him his spot among that elite company and in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

When people look at our lives and our Christian service, they should have the same feelings about us. "But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil." The way we live should be a matter of what you see is what you get. You don't have to be the best at whatever you do, but God does expect you to faithfully serve Him to the best of your ability.

Last night, my church had a watchnight service to welcome in the new year. The final preacher of the night is a member of the church, and when our pastor introduced him to the pulpit he said that he was going to give him the best compliment that he could think of to give to any Christian: he's faithful. Our measure of success in the Christian life is just that. The only thing God expects us to do is be available to Him. As it has been said, the best ability is availability. As the hymn "Our Best" reminds us, "our talents may be few, these may be small, but unto Him is due our best, our all.

It doesn't matter if you're a great singer, or a great teacher, or a great musician, or a great anything by the standards of your fellow man. It is true that your service should prove to them that you are dependable and faithful, but none of us should strive to impress any other person. We should strive to impress God. Mike Gartner's career is a good model as to how to do that. Don't try to match anyone else's best. Simply go out day by day and give your all to the Lord. It might not be noticed on earth, but it is noticed in Heaven. God will always reward faithfulness.

Things I'd Tell My Younger Self

Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

Ecclesiastes 12:1

The title of this post might be the strangest one you ever see written by a guy who's not quite 32 years old. You hear plenty of people much later in life talk about things like this, but as strange as it might seem, it's something I've been thinking about lately. You see, in a very short period of time, my thinking about what is important and my priorities have changed drastically. If I could travel back in time, even just a couple of years, I'd like to set myself straight on a few things. I can't do that, of course, but perhaps there's someone out there who is like me who could benefit from reading them. I've decided to share them here in the hopes that they might accomplish that. This post is long, but please don't allow that to stop you from reading. These things are important.

#1: The things you think are so important really aren't.

If you read this blog much at all, you know I'm a hockey fan. Further, you probably know that I enjoy studying the sport's history. I enjoy watching hockey, the occasional college football game, and I must admit that I enjoy working the sidelines of local high school sporting events as a journalist. However, that's a long way from how I used to approach sports. I used to watch any and every sporting event that I could. In short, if I wasn't obsessed (and I probably was), I was very close. Furthermore, when it came to college football, I would sometimes even get angry when something didn't go my way.

I think back on that now and can't help but shake my head in disbelief. I don't think there's anything wrong with being a sports fan, though there is something very wrong with the way many people -- my former self included -- approach it. Much of the time I wasted on things like that -- and it was wasted time -- would have been better used applied to things of more eternal importance. My attitude was certainly wrong, and I'm not alone in that. Your problem might not be with sports. It could be any number of things. Trust me, though, one day, you'll learn that it's not as important as you think it is, and you'll regret much of it. You'll learn that God is far more important.

#2: The problems you're dealing with aren't really such a big deal.

But I don't know what you're dealing with, right? That may be true, but it doesn't really matter -- I don't have to know. I'll explain why in just a moment. You see, if I were to try to pin down my worst personality trait, it would be my tendency to worry. It's something that I've had to fight throughout my entire life. I've said before that I can think of anything that can possibly go wrong in any situation. If that's not bad enough, once I had thought of them, I'd dwell on them. That led to many dreary days, and restless nights. A life built around worry isn't the greatest life. What's more, it's a life of sin.

I can't say that I never worry now, though I'm quite glad to say that I do it far, far less than I used to. The best thing about it is that it makes life much more joyful. I learned something through experience that helped turn it around. The fact is, God truly does know everything that can possibly go wrong, but more importantly, He knows what's going to happen. Beyond that, everything that happens is within His hand. He doesn't simply know the future, He controls it. If you struggle with worry, you'll be far better off if you'll learn to fall back into the arms of God and trust in Him when difficulties arise. Your problems are tiny when compared to the size of your God.

#3 Be careful when you choose your battles, and be careful how you fight them.

It's one thing to be well-intentioned, but it's another thing to be wise. It's another thing still to do things in the right spirit. It's important to stand up for what's right, but it's also important to be discerning in when and how we do it. It is possible to be too nitpicky and aggressive, and so far from accomplishing something worthwhile, possibly do damage. We can also find ourselves at fault by looking for fights.

Grace is important when we deal with others. No one is perfect. It's usually much easier to see the faults of others than to see our own. It can be highly discouraging when someone points out every minor flaw in our lives, so why should we expect that it would be any different for others? We can't expect anyone to be perfect, and we can very easily hurt them by doing so. Before we enter into any confrontation, we should first determine whether doing so is necessary. Are we doing so just because we want the battle? Is fighting the battle something that will do good? If so, are we fighting it in a right spirit because we want to see righteousness win or simply because we want to be right?

#4 You're going to deal with things you never thought you would, but they're for your good.

My life now is far different that it was just two years ago. My life then was far different that it was five years ago, and my life then was far different that it was 10 years ago. Most of those changes took place because of things I would have insisted never would have happened in my life. It would be inappropriate to go into the details here, but suffice it to say that they are things that couldn't be classified as good. In fact, if not for the fact that I have learned to trust more in God through what has happened, they could have been absolutely devastating.

The future is a complete mystery to us. It's easy to assume that certain things couldn't happen to us, but that's not the way life works. None of us is immune to any kind of tragedy or disaster. When those things strike, we often can't understand how or why. However, if we'll allow God to use them in our lives, we'll be amazed at what He does. Speaking for myself, while I have to admit that there are aspects of the things that happened that I do wish had never taken place, I can honestly say that I wouldn't change the effects that they have had on me personally. God has used them to make me a better person and draw me closer to Him.

#5 It's all about God.

This is the most important one, and I guess it's fair to say that everything above falls under this one umbrella. What place does God hold in your life? Most give Him little more than lip service. I want to give a caveat to what I say though. I truly think that many of those that give God nothing more than lip service mean well, but simply don't understand what it means to truly give God first place. They want to serve God, but they really don't know how.

I'd say I once fell into that category, and it's something that I'm still growing out of. In fact, if I don't continue to grow out of it for the rest of my life, something's wrong. To be able to serve God properly, we must know God. The more we know Him, the better able to serve Him we'll be. To get to know Him better, we have to spend more time with Him. We have to spend time in the Bible and in prayer. We have to meditate on God and the things of God. If we do that, we'll understand better what it means to say that it's all about Him, and we'll have a greater desire to make it all about Him.

I apologize for the length of this post, but I pray that it will be a blessing to someone. I don't know if my younger self would listen to my current self, but I'm convinced that it would have done him a lot of good.

God Sees a Cross

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

Let's face it: we're not as lovable as we'd like for people to think. I know very well what's in me, and trust me, it's not a pretty picture. I also know what's in you (though maybe not in as much detail), and that's not a picture I'd want to frame and put on the wall either. I hope that doesn't give the impression that I'm trying to insult anyone, because I'm not. It's simply a fact of human nature that the Bible confirms. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"

I certainly hope that you've seen yourself in that light at least once in your life. No one can be saved without seeing their sin for what it is and realizing their need of the Saviour. If you have seen yourself in that light though, it probably causes you to wonder the same thing I have: if I'm so bad, how can God love me?

There is a part of me that disgusts me, as it well should. Though the Lord saved my soul over a quarter of a century ago, my flesh wasn't included in that deal, and it still loves to sin as much as it ever did. That's not something for any of us to be proud of. I fact, we should all be repulsed by the way our flesh wants to go through life. So, if our sin is disgusting to us, how must it appear to a holy, righteous God?

Well, quite frankly, it disgusts Him more than it does us. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible makes it clear that in God's eyes, our sin makes us worthy of death. Fortunately for us, God is a God of mercy. That mercy is something for us to rejoice over. "I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations." But that creates another question: how can God's mercy and righteousness coexist?

That certainly seems to be a paradox, but there is a solution, and it's all about the cross. The very first prophecy of the cross was made by God Himself, spoken to Satan, immediately after the fall. "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."

On the day that Adam and Eve sinned, God looked through time and saw a cross. When Cain killed Abel, God looked through time and saw a cross. When Moses killed the Egyptian, God looked through time and saw a cross. When David sinned with Bathsheba, God looked through time and saw a cross. And every time you and I sin, God looks back in time and sees that cross. When Jesus hung on that cross and shed His blood, He allowed the righteousness of God and the mercy of God to meet.

That said, while God did all of the work, there's still something you and I have to do. We have to accept that offer. We have to turn to God for forgiveness of our sins. The people mentioned above weren't saved simply because Jesus died. They had to accept His gift, and there's reason to believe that one of them did not. We never see any evidence of Cain's repentance, meaning he is likely in Hell today.

Don't join Cain. God loves you, and He has proven it. He has done what was necessary to make His mercy available to you. If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Saviour, why not do so today? I have, and I can rest with the assurance that when God looks at me, He doesn't see my sin. Instead, God sees a cross.

Amazing, Marvelous, Wonderful Grace

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.

Titus 2:11

I'm someone who at times likes to just sit and think. I haven't really had a lot of time to sit lately, because I've had a lot going on to say the least. Even so, there's something that has been on my mind a lot over the last two or three days. The thing that has been on my mind is grace.

I guess it started on Sunday night. Over the last two or three months, I've been working with one of the teenage girls at my church to form a new duet. We sang together in a service for the first time Sunday night, and we sang the song "No Other Word for Grace but Amazing." We had been working on it for some time, but it seemed to lodge in my mind that night. Since then, I've been thinking about grace, listening to songs about grace, and meditating of Bible verses that deal with grace.

I think that all too often grace becomes little more than a buzzword to many Christians, but it's an incredibly deep subject. The simple definition of the word is unmerited favor. That's an outstanding definition, but what does it really mean? How undeserving are we, and how big is the favor?

Let's consider where we all begin. We all start out guilty. We all start out facing the death penalty. "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." There is one trait that everyone of us inherited from our fathers: sin. That can be traced all the way back to Adam. That in itself condemns us, but beyond that, we willingly choose to sin. We've all been confronted with a decision between right and wrong and knowingly and willingly done the wrong thing. Even further, we choose to persist in that sin. Therefore, we're all sinners by birth, by choice, and by practice.

We can't free ourselves from that snare. There is Someone who can, but He is the one that we have offended with every single one of our sins. Even when we feel that our sins are no big deal because they're "victimless crimes," every sin is an affront to God. "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:  There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one." We have all broken God's righteous law and turned against Him, and He's the only One that can forgive our sins.

That should seal the deal, right? For all intents and purposes, we have all spit in the face of the Judge. We have insulted the only One who has the power of grace in His hands. Therefore, the grace should be out of our reach. Not so. "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

We could not be any less deserving because of Who was offended by our sins, but the favor also couldn't be any greater because He paid for it. He paid for it with the blood of His own Son. We're all losers in the game of life, failing more spectacularly than anyone has ever done in any sort of competition we've ever seen, but the grace of God still hangs a gold medal around the neck of anyone who will accept the gift.

God's grace is amazing. It's marvelous. It's wonderful. Then again, it's not. It's not, because human language completely fails in attempting to describe it. That's because it's not human. It's Divine. But the experience is also indescribable. There is nothing greater than the knowledge that our sins are forgiven. But as great as that is, the depth of the grace of God makes it an even more incredible thing.

Joy to the World

And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

Revelation 11:15

Joy to the world, the Lord is come,
Let earth receive her King.
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven, and heaven and nature sing.

The hymn "Joy to the World" is heard almost exclusively during the "Christmas season." It is universally included in the advent hymn section of our hymnals. However, this is based more on a misunderstanding of the lyrics of the song than reality. A close examination of the words of the song reveal that it was actually written in anticipation of the second coming of Christ.

To be sure, the first coming of Christ was an occasion of great joy. The shepherds glorified and praised God for the things they saw and heard during their visit to the manger. A couple of years later when the wise men visited the young Saviour, the Bible says that they rejoiced with exceeding great joy when the star led them to His location. We too should find joy in the fact that Jesus came the first time, because He came to die for us.

Still, the second coming will be a time of even greater rejoicing. Considering what the first advent meant to us, it seems strange to say that the second advent will be ever better, but there are several differences that make it so.

A couple of those differences are discussed in the song "Joy to the World." One of them is found in the third verse. It is the fact that the curse on creation will be lifted, and once again, the earth will be as God intended it to be and created it when He placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The second is the way that He will come. As the first verse above says, the second time around, He'll come as King.

While it's true that He has always been the King of the universe, He was not received as such the first time. He didn't come in a palace the first time -- He was laid in a manger. In fact, although people talk about His birth taking place in a stable, the truth is, we don't read in the Bible that there was a stable. When He came the first time, He wasn't wrapped in a regal robe. Rather, Mary wrapped Him in grave clothes. The first time, He came in meekness to be a sacrifice. The second time, He'll come in power to sit on the throne of David.

After Jesus comes back the second time, there are several things that will change forever. Revelation 21:3-4 tells us about them. "And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."

The day that Jesus came the first time was a great day, and truly one that brought joy, but when He comes the second time, that joy will be magnified -- at least it will be if you know Him. For those who don't, His second coming will bring doom and the second death in the lake of fire. Is your name in the Lamb's book of life? When you think about the second coming, does it make you sing "Joy to the World?"

One Man Doesn't Make a Team

From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Ephesians 4:16

As the 1988-89 NHL season began, the city of Los Angeles was truly buzzing about hockey for the first time. The league had put down stakes in the city over two decades earlier, but had been little more than a side note on the city's sports pages during all of those years. Now, celebrities who had long made appearances at Los Angeles Lakers games were being spotted rinkside. What made the difference? One man: Wayne Gretzky.

Most fans consider "The Great One" to be the greatest player in the history of the sport. He holds too many NHL records to count, the most visible being his 894 goals, 1,963 assists, and 2,857 points. In fact, Gretzky's assist total alone is big enough to make him the NHL's all-time leading scorer. He had four 200+ point seasons in his career. No one else even has one. He won nine Hart Trophies as league MVP. Even "Mr. Hockey," Gordie Howe can only boast six. Probably most importantly at the time, however, is the fact that Gretzky was the face of the Edmonton Oilers dynasty.

Gretzky and the Oilers had just won their fourth Stanley Cup in five years the season before. At the beginning of the season, Gretzky was still just 27 years old. That meant that Kings fans could expect a dynasty of their own, right?

Before I answer that, let's take a step back and look more broadly at those Oilers rosters. In addition to Gretzky, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, Paul Coffey, Glenn Anderson, and Grant Fuhr all suited up for Edmonton -- an impressive list of Hall-of-Famers to be sure. Gertzky might have been the most famous -- even most talented -- member of the roster, but sole credit for the dynasty did not belong to him. In fact, two years after the trade that sent Gretzky from Alberta to California, the Oilers won yet another Cup.

It was not until Gretzky's fifth season in Los Angles that the Kings made it to the Stanley Cup Finals. By this time, Kurri and Coffey had joined him, but neither posted numbers that were at all reminiscent of the production north of the border. The team also had Luc Robitaille and Rob Blake, but there could be no question that top to bottom, the roster wasn't nearly as good as those Oilers teams. In the 1993 Finals, the Kings were summarily dispatched 4-1 by the Montreal Canadiens. As it turned out, his fourth Cup in Edmonton would be the last of Gretzky's career.

Why didn't Los Angeles end up with a dynasty like Edmonton had? I think the answer is simple: one man doesn't make a team. I mean no offense to any of the talented men who played alongside Gretzky in Los Angeles. The fact that they were in the NHL speaks volumes about their talent. Still, when Gretzky arrived, many thought that meant the team was headed to the promised land. Gretzky was going to do it all.

Far too often, I think that mentality prevents churches from being champions for the Saviour. "The new pastor is such a great preacher. Our church will grow as long as he's here." "The music director is doing a great job with the choir. As long as we have that kind of music service, our church is in fine shape." "We have the best Sunday school teachers around. That should draw in a lot of new people." All of those things may be true, but if 90% of the members of the church are content to simply take their place on the pew and let "Wayne Gretzky" do all of the work, the church will never be all that it can be.

Here's my question: what are you doing? Are you playing your part? Maybe the world doesn't look at you as a superstar, but if God has placed you in a church, he has a job for you to do in that church. Are you doing it? No church will ever be all that it can if its members don't do their parts. Maybe you can't preach or teach, sing or play, but there are things you can do. Do you pray for your church? Do you invite others and tell them about Jesus? If not, you're not playing your part and allowing someone else to carry the load, thus reducing their effectiveness.

You don't have to be Wayne Gretzky. You simply need to play your role to the best of your ability. Don't expect the pastor, the deacons, or the Sunday school teachers to do it all. Embrace God's calling on your own life, and you just might see your church turn into a champion.

When the Story of My Life Is Told

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Matthew 22:37-39

A couple of months ago when legendary hockey coach Al Arbour died, I wrote a post on this blog that asked the reader to consider the story he is writing with his life. That general thought is on my mind again, thanks to having heard the song in the video above on the radio on my way home from church today. That song is one that makes me think of the life lived by the man in the photo above. He's the greatest man I've ever had the privilege to know, and I'd like to tell you about him and the example that he set for me and many others.

Many who are reading this likely knew him, but for those who don't, his name was Herschel Bragg, Sr. He was my pastor for seven years, and had many more years of influence on me after he retired from that position. He passed away a little over two years ago, but his legacy lives on. His influence can be seen in the lives of more people than you can imagine. His story is one of a "witness so bold," and it does say that he kept the faith until his dying day.

My family joined Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church in 1993 when I was nine years old. At that point, Bro. Bragg had already been the pastor of the church for 21 years. He was so loved and respected that it made him feel like a larger than life figure. But not long after, we had a church fellowship, and Bro. Bragg walked over to the table where I was and sat down across from me and started talking to me. I have no idea what we talked about now, but at that moment, whatever I wanted to talk about was the most important thing in the world.

I believe that was the moment that Bro. Bragg began to teach me one of the most important lessons I've ever learned. He didn't do it by sitting me down and giving me a lecture, but by the way he lived. That night, his actions said that I was important and that he cared about me. He might not have actually cared about the subjects we talked about that night, but his concern for me was no act, nor was the concern that he showed for everyone else who crossed his path.

That concern that he had for people was never more obvious than on the day of his funeral. The sanctuary of the church was filled with hundreds of people that had been touched by his life. As it was said that day, the packed house was not just evidence of how many people loved him, but how many people he loved. Bro. Bragg's story is one of love. It's the story of his love for the Saviour whom he faithfully served for so many years and of his love for everyone around him.

That love can be well summed up by some of the words from the last prayer I ever heard him pray. "Lord, if you're ready for me, I'm ready to go, and I'm ready to see you. But, if it's all the same to you, I'd like to hang around for a little longer and see a few more folks get saved."

That's what you and I should strive to be. We should have the kind of love for the Saviour that causes us to want to be with Him and that causes us to love others. Like Bro. Bragg, we should live a life that reflects the love of God to those around us. One day, when people tell the story of my life, that's the type of story I hope they tell. That's the only kind of story that displays a truly successful life. If I've ever known anyone that entered Heaven and heard, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant," it was Bro, Bragg. When the Lord sees fit to put someone like him in your life, take advantage of it and learn from the example. People like him can help show us who we should be, and one day , we can use that to show others the same thing.