I have been amused by the baseball controversy surrounding Pete Rose. Rose is one of the all-time greatest baseball players who ever played the sport, but was banned from baseball for life because he gambled on baseball games while he was a manager of the Cincinnati Reds. Baseball fans in general feel it is stupidity not to allow him into the Baseball Hall of Fame because many other baseball stars have been inducted into it whose character was less than exemplary, and Rose got more hits than any baseball player. But not management, they have an obligation to keep gambling and gamblers out of sports. The powers that be have resisted their fans stating that they do not want to succumb because Pete Rose would not admit that he did it despite incontrovertible evidence. We have been in a stalemate because Rose would not admit it for years and adamantly stuck to his deny, deny, and deny strategy for fourteen years. Now he has admitted it. He stated that he had bet on baseball games and that he had made a mistake. I was watching the IMUS show and they were discussing it and the sports announcer was railing for ten minutes about why Pete Rose should still never be allowed access to baseball again, etc. etc. even in spite of his confession. He explained the evils of lying, the evils of betting, and the despicable probability that he still may not be telling the entire truth about it. It was right about then that IMUS made a statement that really struck to the heart of the matter in my opinion, he said, Isnt he entitled to a second chance? The answer to that for many is, that no matter what Pete Rose does he should be banned for life from baseball for gambling, he has committed the unpardonable sin as far as they are concerned; others say, give him a second chance.
Coincidentally I just watched a Dark Heart Iron hand episode on TV whereby a sadistic murderer tortured, sexually abused and then killed his fianc. He found religion while in prison and claims that he is now a born again Christian. He now wants people to forgive him. He may be released from prison soon due to a technicality based on double jeopardy issues. His plan is to start a prison ministry. He was interviewed and asked if he thought that God had forgiven him for his horrendous crime. He replied. Well of course! Dont you believe that God forgives?
Would you forgive Pete Rose? How about the sadistic sex predator? The Bible is clear that judgment is the job of God, not us. Im glad of that. Grace is hard to understand. Im glad that God is my judge and jury and that Jesus Christ Himself is my Advocate, arent you? Judgment is serious business because the Bible unequivocally claims that everyone who has reached the age of accountability is guilty of sins that are so grievous to righteous God that He must sentence us to everlasting banishment from His presence in Hell, unless, we repent of our sins and accept His Son Jesus Christ, whose blood sacrifice wiped our sin slate clean. God knows your heart and mine. He knows everything! No Dream Team of high-powered attorneys will get anybody off, regardless of net worth. He will execute righteous judgment with unerring precision.
1 Peter 4:17
For the time has come for judgment
to begin at the house of God;
and if it begins with us first, what
will be the end of those who do not
obey the gospel of God?
Now If the righteous one is scarcely
saved, Where will the ungodly and the
sinner appear?
How well do you know the Bible?
The Bible tells us to Judge not that we be not judged. It goes on to tell you why. Why?
Matt. 7:1-6
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Second chance
Jan
06
2004
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Jan
06
2004
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