Rev. Rick Stoops, Superintendent Maine District UPCI
Isaiah 48:22 records, “There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.” and Isaiah 57:21 says, “There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.”
Whenever something is repeated in the Holy Scriptures you can believe there is a principle that must be doubly important. Twice Isaiah was prompted to say, “There is no peace...unto the wicked.” One definition of wicked is “going beyond limits”. If someone says, “That pitcher throws a wicked fastball.” It means that fastball is going beyond limits. In my opinion, this is a very good definition of “wicked” in Isaiah 48:22 and 57:21.
Peace is found by those who willingly walk within the parameters and perimeters that God has forever established in His Word. Isaiah 9:6-7 records, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” Notice the last part of Isaiah 9:6 and the first part of 9:7, The Prince of Peace…Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.
According to Isaiah 9:7, the level of peace you have is directly related to your submission to His government. As your submission and trust in His government, his rule, and his authority INCREASES, YOUR PEACE INCREASES! The more I submit to God’s authority to rule over me, the more Peace I have. This is why the devil enjoys watching a frustrated Christian attempting to serve God in a selfish and independent manner.
Here’s a little secret that the Devil does not want you to know about. It is found in James 4:7. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” You have authority over the devil when you are submitted to God’s authority.
In Nashville, Tennessee, during the first week of January 1996, more than 4,000 baseball coaches descended upon the Opryland Hotel for the 52nd annual American Baseball Coaches Association Convention. That year Coach John Scolinos was one of the featured speakers. John Scolinos was a Hall of Fame College Baseball Head coach who coached at Pepperdine University from 1948 to 1960 and Cal Poly Pomona University from 1962 to 1991. Scolinos totaled 1,198 victories.
While coaching Cal Poly Pomona, he won Division II national championships in 1976, 1980 and 1983, six California Community College Athletic Association championships and was named Division II coach of the year three times. He was the pitching coach for the 1984 U.S. Olympic Baseball team. In 1996, Coach Scolinos was 78 years old and five years retired from a college coaching career that began in 1948. He shuffled to the stage to an impressive standing ovation, wearing dark polyester pants, a light blue shirt, and a string around his neck from which home plate hung—a full-sized, stark-white home plate.
“You’re probably all wondering why I’m wearing home plate around my neck. Or maybe you think I escaped from Camarillo State Hospital.” “No,” he continued, “I may be old, but I’m not crazy. The reason I stand before you today is to share with you baseball people what I’ve learned in my life, what I’ve learned about home plate in my 78 years.”
Several hands went up when Scolinos asked how many Little League coaches were in the room. “Do you know how wide home plate is in Little League?” After a pause, someone offered, “Seventeen inches,” more question than answer. “That’s right,” he said. “How about in Babe Ruth? Any Babe Ruth coaches in the house?” Another long pause. “Seventeen inches?” came a guess from another reluctant coach. “That’s right,” said Scolinos. “Now, how many high school coaches do we have in the room?” Hundreds of hands shot up, as the pattern began to appear. “How wide is home plate in high school baseball?” “Seventeen inches,” they said, sounding more confident. “You’re right!” Scolinos barked. “And you college coaches, how wide is home plate in college?” “Seventeen inches!” they said, in unison. “Any Minor League coaches here? How wide is home plate in pro ball?” “Seventeen inches!” “RIGHT!” “And in the Major Leagues, how wide is home plate in the Major Leagues?” “Seventeen inches!” “SEV-EN-TEEN INCHES!” he confirmed, his voice bellowing off the walls. “And what do they do with a Big League pitcher who can’t throw the ball over seventeen inches?” Pause. “They send him to Pocatello!” he hollered, drawing raucous laughter.
“What they don’t do is this: they don’t say, ‘Ah, that’s okay, Jimmy. You can’t hit a seventeen-inch target? We’ll make it eighteen inches, or nineteen inches. We’ll make it twenty inches so you have a better chance of hitting it. If you can’t hit that, let us know so we can make it wider still, say twenty-five inches.’” (Pause.) “Coaches …” (Pause.) “…what do we do when our best player shows up late to practice? When our team rules forbid facial hair and a guy shows up unshaven? What if he gets caught drinking? Do we hold him accountable? Or do we change the rules to fit him, do we widen home plate? The chuckles gradually faded as four thousand coaches grew quiet, the fog lifting as the old coach’s message began to unfold. He turned the plate toward himself and, using a Sharpie, began to draw something. When he turned it toward the crowd, point up, a house was revealed, complete with a freshly drawn door and two windows.
“This is the problem in our homes today. With our marriages, with the way we parent our kids. With our discipline. We don’t teach accountability to our kids, and there is no consequence for failing to meet standards. We widen the plate!” (Pause.)
Then, to the point at the top of the house he added a small American flag. “This is the problem in our schools today. The quality of our education is going downhill fast and teachers have been stripped of the tools they need to be successful, and to educate and discipline our young people. We are allowing others to widen home plate! Where is that getting us?” Silence. He replaced the flag with a Cross. “And this is the problem in the Church.”
People are running from the very thing that will bring them peace and satisfaction. They are so afraid to say totally yes to God. They are so afraid to surrender their all lest somehow they might miss out on something fun and be unhappy and unfulfilled. Not realizing the Biblical principle of Isaiah 9:6-7. JESUS is The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.
The Church must not surrender to fear and apathy and vainly attempt to widen the plate. An old man with home plate strung around his neck had learned something about life. As a leader I must hold myself and others accountable to that which I know to be right, lest our families, our faith, and our society continue down an undesirable path.
“If I am lucky,” Coach Scolinos concluded, “you will remember one thing from this old coach today. It is this: if we fail to hold ourselves to a higher standard, a standard of what we know to be right; if we fail to hold our spouses and our children to the same standards, if we are unwilling or unable to provide a consequence when they do not meet the standard; and if our schools and churches and our government fail to hold themselves accountable to those they serve, there is but one thing to look forward to …”
With that, he held home plate in front of his chest, turned it around, and revealed its dark black backside. “… dark days ahead. Coaches, keep your players — no matter how good they are — your own children, and most of all, keep yourself at seventeen inches.”
Isaiah 48:22 records, “There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.” and Isaiah 57:21 says, “There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.”
Whenever something is repeated in the Holy Scriptures you can believe there is a principle that must be doubly important. Twice Isaiah was prompted to say, “There is no peace...unto the wicked.” One definition of wicked is “going beyond limits”. If someone says, “That pitcher throws a wicked fastball.” It means that fastball is going beyond limits. In my opinion, this is a very good definition of “wicked” in Isaiah 48:22 and 57:21.
Peace is found by those who willingly walk within the parameters and perimeters that God has forever established in His Word. Isaiah 9:6-7 records, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” Notice the last part of Isaiah 9:6 and the first part of 9:7, The Prince of Peace…Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.
According to Isaiah 9:7, the level of peace you have is directly related to your submission to His government. As your submission and trust in His government, his rule, and his authority INCREASES, YOUR PEACE INCREASES! The more I submit to God’s authority to rule over me, the more Peace I have. This is why the devil enjoys watching a frustrated Christian attempting to serve God in a selfish and independent manner.
Here’s a little secret that the Devil does not want you to know about. It is found in James 4:7. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” You have authority over the devil when you are submitted to God’s authority.
In Nashville, Tennessee, during the first week of January 1996, more than 4,000 baseball coaches descended upon the Opryland Hotel for the 52nd annual American Baseball Coaches Association Convention. That year Coach John Scolinos was one of the featured speakers. John Scolinos was a Hall of Fame College Baseball Head coach who coached at Pepperdine University from 1948 to 1960 and Cal Poly Pomona University from 1962 to 1991. Scolinos totaled 1,198 victories.
While coaching Cal Poly Pomona, he won Division II national championships in 1976, 1980 and 1983, six California Community College Athletic Association championships and was named Division II coach of the year three times. He was the pitching coach for the 1984 U.S. Olympic Baseball team. In 1996, Coach Scolinos was 78 years old and five years retired from a college coaching career that began in 1948. He shuffled to the stage to an impressive standing ovation, wearing dark polyester pants, a light blue shirt, and a string around his neck from which home plate hung—a full-sized, stark-white home plate.
“You’re probably all wondering why I’m wearing home plate around my neck. Or maybe you think I escaped from Camarillo State Hospital.” “No,” he continued, “I may be old, but I’m not crazy. The reason I stand before you today is to share with you baseball people what I’ve learned in my life, what I’ve learned about home plate in my 78 years.”
Several hands went up when Scolinos asked how many Little League coaches were in the room. “Do you know how wide home plate is in Little League?” After a pause, someone offered, “Seventeen inches,” more question than answer. “That’s right,” he said. “How about in Babe Ruth? Any Babe Ruth coaches in the house?” Another long pause. “Seventeen inches?” came a guess from another reluctant coach. “That’s right,” said Scolinos. “Now, how many high school coaches do we have in the room?” Hundreds of hands shot up, as the pattern began to appear. “How wide is home plate in high school baseball?” “Seventeen inches,” they said, sounding more confident. “You’re right!” Scolinos barked. “And you college coaches, how wide is home plate in college?” “Seventeen inches!” they said, in unison. “Any Minor League coaches here? How wide is home plate in pro ball?” “Seventeen inches!” “RIGHT!” “And in the Major Leagues, how wide is home plate in the Major Leagues?” “Seventeen inches!” “SEV-EN-TEEN INCHES!” he confirmed, his voice bellowing off the walls. “And what do they do with a Big League pitcher who can’t throw the ball over seventeen inches?” Pause. “They send him to Pocatello!” he hollered, drawing raucous laughter.
“What they don’t do is this: they don’t say, ‘Ah, that’s okay, Jimmy. You can’t hit a seventeen-inch target? We’ll make it eighteen inches, or nineteen inches. We’ll make it twenty inches so you have a better chance of hitting it. If you can’t hit that, let us know so we can make it wider still, say twenty-five inches.’” (Pause.) “Coaches …” (Pause.) “…what do we do when our best player shows up late to practice? When our team rules forbid facial hair and a guy shows up unshaven? What if he gets caught drinking? Do we hold him accountable? Or do we change the rules to fit him, do we widen home plate? The chuckles gradually faded as four thousand coaches grew quiet, the fog lifting as the old coach’s message began to unfold. He turned the plate toward himself and, using a Sharpie, began to draw something. When he turned it toward the crowd, point up, a house was revealed, complete with a freshly drawn door and two windows.
“This is the problem in our homes today. With our marriages, with the way we parent our kids. With our discipline. We don’t teach accountability to our kids, and there is no consequence for failing to meet standards. We widen the plate!” (Pause.)
Then, to the point at the top of the house he added a small American flag. “This is the problem in our schools today. The quality of our education is going downhill fast and teachers have been stripped of the tools they need to be successful, and to educate and discipline our young people. We are allowing others to widen home plate! Where is that getting us?” Silence. He replaced the flag with a Cross. “And this is the problem in the Church.”
People are running from the very thing that will bring them peace and satisfaction. They are so afraid to say totally yes to God. They are so afraid to surrender their all lest somehow they might miss out on something fun and be unhappy and unfulfilled. Not realizing the Biblical principle of Isaiah 9:6-7. JESUS is The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.
The Church must not surrender to fear and apathy and vainly attempt to widen the plate. An old man with home plate strung around his neck had learned something about life. As a leader I must hold myself and others accountable to that which I know to be right, lest our families, our faith, and our society continue down an undesirable path.
“If I am lucky,” Coach Scolinos concluded, “you will remember one thing from this old coach today. It is this: if we fail to hold ourselves to a higher standard, a standard of what we know to be right; if we fail to hold our spouses and our children to the same standards, if we are unwilling or unable to provide a consequence when they do not meet the standard; and if our schools and churches and our government fail to hold themselves accountable to those they serve, there is but one thing to look forward to …”
With that, he held home plate in front of his chest, turned it around, and revealed its dark black backside. “… dark days ahead. Coaches, keep your players — no matter how good they are — your own children, and most of all, keep yourself at seventeen inches.”
