The 700 Club with Pat Robertson


AMAZING STORY

Major League All-Star Worships on the Field

By Tom Buehring
The 700 Club

CBN.com-Chase Headley is among baseball’s new, emerging all-stars. “I’m not flashy by any means. I would say serious, hardnosed, passionate, and I cherish the moment. I love what I do.”

He’s had to! The San Diego Padres third baseman survived four major league seasons before finally delivering on his long-awaited potential. “It’s a learning curve. You come into the league and obviously you’re confident. You know what you can do but you’re also playing against the best players in the world every day. It takes awhile to get used to that. You’ve got to keep working. You got to be diligent in your work, and improve a little bit each and every day.”

Chase had a career year last season, hitting 31 home runs and leading the National League in Runs Batted In. He’s now among the game’s elite – both offensively and defensively – becoming just the 8th National League third baseman ever to win both the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger award in the same season. “It was a breakout year for me. It was what I always thought I could do. I hadn’t shown it in the big leagues, but it felt great to get there.”

So what makes this major league silver slugging third baseman unique? For Chase Headley, it’s his power source. Where is comes from and how he uses it. “God didn’t make us to be a passive and timid people. Baseball for me is a form of worship and I expect to go out there and win and compete and play as hard as I possibly can.”

Tom Buehring, 700 Club Reporter: “Circle back to that. Explain that. How is it an act of worship?

“Worship isn’t just singing songs. Anything that we do can be an act of worship. I think it’s important that we realize that. And those days you go out there and you don’t feel good and you’re a little bit tired and you don’t feel like being there on the practice field, you know, that’s where I go to. I say, ‘Hey Man, I’m doing this for God today!’ Whatever it is, I’m taking ground balls on the backfields, ‘Hey I’m doing this for Jesus’. And that gives me that little extra drive to stay focused.”

That focus first came as a high school freshman, when a neighbor and teammate invited Chase to his house for a Fellowship of Christian Athletes event.The message was on salvation, I just felt a spiritual pull in that direction. It was clear I was supposed to be there at that time, and really turned my life over to Christ that night.”

Chase’s reputation as a team-first player and locker room leader is respected among teammates, coaches and opponents. “You have a chance to be a light. It’s the relationships you build. It’s caring about other people; how you deal with adversity or with failure. And the best thing is when you don’t say anything about it and somebody approaches you and says, ‘Hey man, I see something a little bit different about you. You know, just the peace that you have to deal with ups and downs. Each and every day you’re a consistent influence in our clubhouse. What is it?’ Then you get the opportunity to open up and say it.”

The baseball veteran is using his platform to encourage and inspire others. “For me, it’s just to share the Gospel. I mean, I think that’s the most important thing I can do. I think God put me in this position for that purpose, and I just want to live that out for Him.”

His recent success is making a name for himself, but he’s quick to deflect the credit, even with a post-home run gesture.

Tom Buehring: “When you circle the basis, (and you point heavenward), what’s going through your mind? What’s going through your heart?”

“Thanking God for giving me the opportunity to play this game, to have an impact. Again, it’s a worship, saying ‘I love You’. This is about You. This is not about me. I look at it to take the spotlight off me and to put it on God and that’s where I want to be a mirror. I want it to, whoever looks at me to see Christ.”

His profession rewards with notoriety and money, but Chase has grabbed a faith that empowers his life and career.

“For me I always thought, ‘Man if I could ever make it to the Major Leagues, my life is going to be complete.’ I can tell you it’s not any different than it was before, other than the fact that I have Christ in my life. That’s what completes me. That’s what gives me the sense of peace, my sense of purpose. If you’ve done something so bad that nobody can forgive you? Well, there’s one Person that can forgive you and that’s Jesus Christ.”

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