The Flake

"I will not serve that in which I no longer believe whether it call itself my home, my fatherland or my church: and I will try to express myself in some mode of life or art as freely as I can and as wholly as I can, using for my defence the only arms I allow myself to use -- silence, exile, and cunning." -- Stephen Dedalus in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

The ever-reliable Urban Dictionary website defines a flaky person as one who is "unreliable." Unreliability infers that a social contract was agreed upon between two parties with one of the parties failing to adhere to all it's requirements. This doesn't happen just once for an unreliable party, but multiple times.

Now, when we think of an unreliable individual, we usually think of their external unreliability -- their blatant disregard for an understood or physical social contract. But in the case of Stephen Dedalus, he breaks the internal contract between his heart and his mind. Throughout his life, from childhood to young adulthood (the end of the book), his mind drafts passionate contracts between itself and the heart . Over and over, they bind with an ideal, only for the eventual rupture of the contract.

We see him consumed with his father's nationalistic pride, yet we see him overtly rejecting nationalism. We see his religious fervor, yet we see his denial of God in his trouncing of the priestly order. Both his adherence to nationalism and religion, and his subsequent rejections of both, show his renunciation of his familial ideals. As the quote above says, he will no longer serve that which he does not believe -- home, country, church. The expression of himself will no longer rely upon those three contracts. His new contract is toward "unfettered freedom," which he believes to be obtainable through "silence, exile, and cunning."

From this point on, we do not know if Stephen finds satisfaction in this new contract. The book pretty much ends with the quote above. But what we do know is this: each contract was made with the assumption that its contents were true. Stephen believed that as the mind and heart were in harmony with its current perception of truth, then the eternal soul would be at peace.

Not too long ago, a person I love (cough mom cough) called me a flake. Her assertion might cause vitriol for some, especially in light of Stephen's flakiness, but I knew she was right. She has called me that before, along with other people, but after this most recent comment, I decided to spend some time reflecting upon it.

During this reflective season, I began reading the Songs of Ascent (Psalm 120-134) in a book/bible study with Wonder Voyage. We are examining each Psalm through the lens of Eugene Peterson's A Long Obedience in the Same Direction.

Psalm 121 is a Psalm we hear referenced in many worship songs: "I look up to the mountains / does my strength come from mountains? / No, my strength comes for God, / who made heaven, and earth, and mountains." Peterson's The Message makes an interesting distinction that is not found in the translation I usually read (NASB). The NASB reads as follows: "I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; / From where shall my help come? / My help comes from the LORD / Who made heaven and earth."


When I initially heard or read Psalm 121, I never viewed the Psalmist's response to his own question as a negative, like Peterson does with his use of "no" in is answer. The first two lines did not seem to be exclusive to me. They seemed inclusive. When the Psalmist finds his help and strength in God, the creator, I assumed he recognized God's help through the Romans 1 model of knowing God through his created nature. 


But Peterson brings to light an important historical note about pagan worship during the author's time to bring clarity to the Psalm:


"Much of this religion was practiced on hilltops. Shrines were set up, groves of trees were planted, sacred prostitutes both male and female were provided; persons were lured to the shrines to engage in acts of worship that would enhance the fertility of the land, would make you feel good, would protect you from evil."


His insertion of the word "no" causes us to orient ourselves back to God. The word "no" tears the gaze of our eyes from the instantaneous strength and help promised by the pagans onto the actual Creator, as the Psalmist later sings, who actually "guards your very life / he guards you when you leave and when you return, / he guards you now, he guards you always."


I find myself, in my flaky nature, always looking up to the mountains for help. I hope that through some new theological discovery, my soul will find the peace it is always looking for. My intellectual and spiritual curiosity has led me from the likes of Miller and Driscoll, to Lewis and Bonhoeffer, to Merton and Manning, to Peterson and etc....


But where is the Lord, the one who gives strength and help to those who ask?


I, in no way, recommend myself or anyone to remove themselves from theological thinkers and writers. But what I am saying is that I think I need to assimilate Louise Rosenblatt's transactional reading theory into my study of scripture. Rosenblatt states there are two different types of texts -- efferent and aesthetic. Efferent texts are ones you read for the sake of knowledge and understanding. Efferent texts would be history text books and computer manuals. Aesthetic texts move or transform the individual who encounters it, such as poetry and novels. 


I tend to look at scripture and read it efferently. What can I learn from it? What can I figure out about the mechanisms of God? I am always asking questions and examining definitions and sentence structures so I can have a fuller understanding of the author's meaning and purpose. And what a beautiful thing to do!


But am I reading the living and breathing word of God aesthetically? Do I engage its characters? suffer with them? love with them? serve with them? Do I activate my imagination in order to participate in its transforming ways? Not often...


Because I forsake the aesthetic pursuit of scripture, my house's foundation cracks. Where does my help come from? How can I fix the crack on the ceiling or the shifting tile in the kitchen? I hear the Maker of heaven and earth is pretty good at foundation repairs.


I will always search for the Truth like Stephen Dedalus did. My mind and heart will always make contracts with the hope of some sort of intellectual and spiritual satisfaction. But my ultimate joy and satisfaction does not rest in the knowledge I obtain about God, but it comes with the knowledge that he is my help; he is my strength; he is the one that guides me through life, even when I stray far from him.  


Praise God for his consistency in the midst of my flakiness!

Mission Trips to Oregon and Belize

Dear family and friends,

To serve through the avenue of Missions is a way one abides, remains, or continues on in their love of God.  As they serve, by the Grace of God, they reflect more and more the Image originally intended for them.

“…and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit…Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me.”  (John 15:2, 4)

            This summer I am working for an organization called Wonder Voyage. Wonder Voyage is a non-profit, ecumenical, pilgrimage organization. Throughout the year, they lead mission trips and pilgrimages for youth groups and adults from over 14 different denominational backgrounds. Their philosophy is for pilgrims to experience the wonder of God’s presence, to dedicate selves to listening, learning, praying, and playing, and to give them the opportunity to serve on a specific mission defined by their leadership (Wonder Voyage Website).

I will be volunteering on two different trips. From June 16-22, I will be serving on a trip to Oregon, and from June 25-July 2, I will be serving on a trip to Belize. The total cost of both trips is $1800. 

I am raising support two ways. One way is through the traditional mission trip fundraising model which asks others to prayerfully consider giving their money to a cause they believe in. The other way is through the selling of coffee. If you would like, you can purchase a pound of coffee from me for $12.95. $4.00 of every pound sold will help fund my trips, while the other $8.95 goes to overseas missions, a church planting initiative in the U.S., and ministry to the broken, downtrodden, and the poor in the U.S. Each pound of coffee will be labeled individually for my trips so that as the coffee sits on your countertop, you will be reminded to pray for the students and leaders on the trips.

I humbly ask you to consider one or both of the options above. If you would like to partner with me by way of a “lump sum,” please send a check, written out to Wonder Voyage with my name in the “memo” line, to:  

Wonder Voyage

P.O. Box 2135

Coppell, TX 75019

If you would like to partner with me by purchasing a pound (or two or three) of “Justin McGee Mission Trip Coffee,” please fill out this quick and easy order form. http://tinyurl.com/7ovw6b3. As soon as I process it, I will send you an email confirming your order.

The first coffee pickup/delivery day will be Saturday, April 14th! Please place your orders with me through the order form above by Sunday, April 1st so I can let my coffee suppliers at Phoenix Community Coffee know the exact amount of coffee to pack. More information can be found on the order form.

            As much as I need money for these trips, I desperately need your prayers. Without the strength, power, and energy that emanates from the prayers of His people, my ability to lead and serve would suffer. Please lift up Wonder Voyage and the pilgrims as we serve and experience God through the mode of pilgrimage.

Through His Grace,

Justin McGee

The Yoke of Christ

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your soul. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30).”


-------


One of my roommates and I were talking the other night about a host of things as the day wound down. One recurring topic centered on our task to follow Christ in some tangible, quantifiable way -- a way in which we can jot down each instance and point to God and say, "Look at what I have done for the Kingdom! The world is changing and changed because of this!" Praise God for the transformation of his people, through the work and efforts of those following him!

Skye Jethani refers to this posturing of the soul as a life lived for God. For most of us, this reality is seen as the ultimate telos (end) of existence. Once we reach this status (we believe), we finally become who God created us to be. We emphasize terms such as mission(al), evangelism, and social justice when we discuss the portrait of a Christian. Most likely, our hearts long for Africa or Asia or maybe even the homeless in our own community. Jesus and his disciples were on mission for the poor, so we must do the same. We must pine for those whom he pines for.

Personally, my soul usually remains in this state of being. I find myself, in moments (minutes/hours/days) of despair, reflecting upon my effectiveness as a tool of the Gospel. "Why don't I know more customers at Starbucks?" "Why am I not pouring into more students at TCA?" "Why am I not more social? I am missing opportunities because of introversion." "Why did I not help that homeless man on the street corner? I mean, he only asked for a buck."

The commonality in each question that swims through my head is the subject "I." The yoke of Christ, which should rest so gently upon my weary, sinful shoulders, weighs me down in the same way the stones weighed down Virginia Woolf. In reality, the thing in which I think is the yoke of Christ is really something else. It is the yoke of my perception of the Christian life. Work for the kingdom is accomplished.

"Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife...What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice (Philippians 1)."


Even though my missional activity bears itself initially in my envy, strife, and pretense, Christ is still proclaimed. While I ponder and beat myself over the questions above, somehow and someway God uses me. I lead a life so unaware of my fellow man, yet by His grace, others occasionally see Christ in me.  


So...


Do I allow my soul to continuously and solely pursue the life for God posture, even though he uses us in it? By no means! 

The distinction needs to made that our end is not to live for God, but to live with God. A life with God can not flow from a life for God, but a life for God can most definitely flow from a life with God. Because we live so much within the for posture, we forget that "We were made not primarily that we may love God (though we were made for that too) but that God may love us, that we may become objects in which the Divine love may rest 'well pleased' (C.S. Lewis -- Problem of Pain)."


The recognition of God's love for us only drenches our soul by way of his gift of Grace. This realization shocks, yet soothes, the anxiety ridden life for God. Then, all of the sudden, with the sweat and blood still fresh from our toil, the yoke is virtually non-existent. You still work, but it is restful.


Have you ever met someone who laughed or scoffed at the notion that his job resembled our cultural definition of "work?" You know, they find so much joy in their labor that they lose themselves completely in their task and desire nothing more than to continue their task day in and day out?


So it is with the work derived from the yoke of Christ. You lose yourself to the point where you live out God's will unconsciously. Your desire to live for God fades away. All that remains is a soul that is with God, united at last, for a few breaths. 


Oh, but what a sweet few breaths!


Just as a breath comes and goes without any cognizant recollection of its existence, so does this yoke of Christ. For "perfect joy is possible only when we have completely forgotten ourselves. And it is only when we pay no more attention to our own deeds and our own reputation and our own excellence that we are at last completely free to serve God in perfection for his own sake alone" (Thomas Merton -- New Seeds of Contemplation). One within a life with God does not even realize they are in that posture. Their souls absorbs and reflects his love to such a degree that they move about their day unaware of themselves. The joy overflows and covers all aspects of their self, leaving them completely blind to their self.


But, in our fallen nature, we really pine for the yoke powered by our own strength. We love the tangibility of it. Yet, as our souls become tattered and beaten from our exhausting selves, God infuses us with his ever peaceful Grace. As Thomas Merton says:


"there are times in the life of a man when [living a life for God] can become an escape, an anodyne, a refuge from the responsibility of suffering in darkness and obscurity and helplessness, and allowing God to strip us of our false selves and make us into the new men that we are really meant to be."

This idea of losing yourself upon the restful yoke of Christ seems so ambiguous and mysterious, yet at the same time, in its unintelligible transcendence, it allows us to truly be -- a soul with God.

Unchurched -- A Personal Reflection on the Eucharist (Part 1)

In a previous post, who knows how long ago, I referred to a French movie I saw called, "Of Gods and Men." In this movie, we view the internal struggle between a band of monks who live in a dangerous Algerian city. Radical Muslims begin to infiltrate the town and kill anyone who come in the way of their objectives. These monks, who have dedicated their entire lives to the service of the Algerian people, must decide if they should flee the scene to save themselves, or stay and risk their lives for the people's sake. About half of the monks shrink at the thought of purposefully condemning themselves to martyrdom by remaining while the others feel they would be condemning the Algerians by leaving them to the wolves. Eventually, through prayer and deliberation, all of the monks chose to remain in their monastery and serve the Algerians. But in doing so, they fully realize their mortal lives will soon cease to exist.

Towards the movie's end, the audience finds the monks sitting around a dinner table together. Around this table, they break bread and drink wine; they laugh and they cry. No words are spoken. They aren't needed. They know; they know the end is near. Yet, they rejoice, bound and filled by the body and blood. As their Clocks begins to wind down, the joy of spiritual and interpersonal Communion out weighs and over powers their natural propensity to fear....

January showed up a little over a month ago. Whenever January comes to town, she forces people to think on the past and project toward the future. Usually I do whatever it takes to deliberately escape from her mighty hand, but this year, maybe because of my old age and failing limbs, she fetched me as I broke for it. So, I dwelled upon the previous calendar year, and really, the previous years.

Throughout our life, we are always trying to piece together the brokenness, whatever we deem it to be. Once the brokenness becomes a whole, we believe that our greater and overarching brokenness, the brokenness seeded within us, will no longer be present. As January acknowledges this relationship between our external and internal brokenness, does its external fusion really lead to an internal satisfaction?

I came to recognize that ever since college began, I have had no church home. I know and love many people within the church, but my frustration and laziness paralyzed me from giving my heart to any particular physical church. I was repulsed by the thought that I had been in "pastoral" roles over students, yet I deprived myself of Christ's nourishment through his Church. I also understand that faith and growth occurs outside the physical institution but to intentionally forsake it reeks of pride. Well, as soon as January came, her suffocating grip gently urged me toward a decision and allowed me no more freedom to banter with her rationale.

As I prayed and sifted through the endless possibilities, I was introduced to a small Anglican church in Farmers Branch. Now, I bring this whole topic up not because of the church itself (I say that, but the people and the place has been an incredibly gracious gift of God's), but instead because of a solitary act they participate in each week: the Eucharist.

Ever since I went to UD and I went to my first mass, I have been enamored with the Eucharist. I was shocked to find that the centrality of the Mass was the body and blood and not the sermon/homily. My protestant and evangelical background centered their "mass" around pastor and his sermon. The Lord's Supper, as many evangelicals refer to it, was a symbol, a representation of Christ's redemptive sacrifice for mankind. Many churches only take of the Lord's Supper once a month.

I remember talking to one of my friends back home after my first experience at a mass while studying in Rome. I remember trying to put into words the beauty of a service completely dedicated to Jesus' precious, yet hideous sacrifice. I remember being outside, along the outer wall of our classroom, pacing back and forth and forth and back -- my heart racing from its power -- and I wasn't even allowed to take it!

As I participated in this small Anglican service that meets in a somewhat aesthetically strange warehouse space surrounded by furniture stores, I took of the Eucharist with a broken, searching, empty heart. They gave; they blessed; I took; I ate; I drank; I prayed.

Almost instantaneously, God granted me a sense of unity with His Spirit and his people. Comfort, peace, and thanksgiving overwhelmed my dry soul. The music failed to soak it; the prayers contained less moisture than a morning dew; the sermon was only a mirage in the middle of the desert. But the Eucharist brought forth the rain water from the firmament, enriching the desperate, broken earth.

Now, I'm not to the point where I subscribe to the Catholic Church's doctrine on the Eucharist, but I can honestly say that I don't subscribe to the Evangelical perspective either. Many of the Church's confusing doctrine comes down to this simple and beautiful conclusion: divine mystery. This same mystery lead the monks' in Algeria to find complete peace in their martyrdom. While my experience pales in comparison to the monks from the movie, this experience of mine is all that I can glean from.

The beauty and grace that consumed me can only be described as a mysterious gift that rights my wayward heart toward the shore of the one who's body broke and who's blood shed for me. Every time I take of the bread and wine, I gaze upon the wind-filled sail and thank God for blowing me in his right direction.

Obtrusive, Filthy, Beautiful Grace -- A Eulogy...of Sorts

"Jesus!" the old lady cried. "You've got good blood! I know you wouldn't shoot a lady! I know you come from nice people! Pray! Jesus, you ought not to shoot a lady. I'll give you all the money I've got!"....

"Jesus was the only One that ever raised the dead." The Misfit continued, "and He shouldn't have done it. He thrown everything off balance. If He did what He said, then it's nothing for you to do but throw away everything and follow him..."

-- A Good Man is Hard to Find -- Flannery O'Connor

The Misfit, a criminal on the run, has this old lady on the ropes. His buddies have already wiped out the rest of the family: the ladies son, daughter-in-law, and three grandchildren. She seems to be next on the list. She begs and pleads. She appeals to his bloodlines and social dignity. How could someone with his blood intentionally murder someone with her ladyship?

Her initial rhetoric fails to work. Appealing to societal norms didn't budge this convicted criminal from his stance. 

A spiritual plea! Yes, this must work! She calls him to reach down into the depths of his core, the very part that drives each one of us, either consciously or unconsciously, and asks him to examine the truth. Misfit -- pray! Ask Jesus to help guide you to the bottom of your frustrations and sins. But still, don't shoot a lady! Its not proper!

The lady, in her last moments, with a chance to "throw away everything and follow him," could not give up her earthly dreams and desires. Societies code consumed her core, her very essence, her soul, and drove her to call upon the name of the Lord in a way that failed to be sincere, reeking of blasphemy and dishonor. Her weakest moment could have been her finest hour, whether on earth or in heaven.

At this pivotal moment of grave weakness, when she lost all control of her life, The Misfit gave her a choice: "to be real, or to be unreal", as Thomas Merton said. To be real, meaning "The secret of my full identity is hidden in [Christ]. He alone can make me who I am, or rather who I will be when at least I fully begin to be."

My grandfather, my mother's father, passed away today. He lived much of his life like the lady in Flannery O'Connor's short story. But...

When The Misfit came masked as liver failure, his greatest strengths evolved into his greatest weakness's. He couldn't physically overpower The Misfit, like he could have in the past. His intelligence, which was great, couldn't confound and confuse him into submission. He only had one choice between the two options that remained -- to be real, or to be unreal. And the question for us became, "what will he choose?"

I am immediately drawn to St. Augustine's Confessions. Augustine's mother bothers her priest incessantly about her wayward son. She spends every hour of every day in grief because of her son's spiritual condition. After many discussions about her son's soul, the priest wearily tells her to "leave me and go in peace. It cannot be that the son of these tears should be lost." 

Well, I can only speak for my mother, but her tears did not go unnoticed by our Father. 

"It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but the sinners to repentance." -- Luke 5:31-32

A few months ago, during the middle of the night when sleep escaped him, he listened to the words of Billy Graham on a late night television program. The words of God's grace reigned down upon his once deaf heart and overwhelmed his sick and tired soul to repentance. Its as if, after years of wrestling with the nature of truth and whether or not God and his plan of redemption through His son Jesus Christ really existed, this fresh perspective on God's love, from a mouthpiece not relationally connect to him, allowed him to "simply relax in the presence of God [he] half believe[d] in and ask[ed] for a touch of folly" (Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel). 

Before he passed on to be in the presence of his new Father, the one who loves him in spite of all his past sin and in spite of all the beautiful things he created, he was able to cry to the Lord, not in the way the lady did, but in all reverence and sincerity, and asked to be taken from this world. His peace with his Creator had been made. His peace with my mother had been made. He could go home, now -- to a place void of pain, sickness, and vanity.

Once and for all, at the exact moment it mattered most, he decide to be Real.

Praise God for his obtrusive, filthy, beautiful Grace.

The Changing of the Seasons

There is no season better than winter -- the brisk breeze, the lingering clouds, the dark natural tones, and the frigid temperatures that require layer upon layer of clothing. Winter always seems to draw my mind and spirit into reflection. On this Thanksgiving weekend, it is something I am incredibly grateful for, yet leery of, as well.

As I sit on my parents' back porch out at Lake Kiowa (my "black rock", so to speak), with the temperature hovering around 50 degrees with a somewhat strong north wind telling me, "You like the winter, well, here She comes," I can't help but notice the season's implicit reflection of life. To be more specific, the life of Faith.

The life of Faith can be broken down into four distinct, but sometimes overlapping, parts: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter. Spring is the time when your faith is growing and new. God's revealed nature becomes known to you in some new and fascinating way. Most likely, you have heard this beautiful truth before, but for one reason or another, the seed never planted firmly in your soul until this moment. The Holy Spirit, to your utter surprise, continues to refresh your soul with these "new" truths. Praise and thanksgiving burst forth from your heart in the same way a flower blooms under the cool, but not cold, beautifully bright, blue sky.

Next comes Summer. With Summer, comes the active participation of the truths revealed to you in the Spring. The transformation of the soul in the Spring now overflows and becomes an outpouring to others. During this time, you are more than likely not even thinking about the truths you learned. Your entire focus has shifted away from the union between yourself and God to the union between others and God. This shift occurs subconsciously. Bonhoeffer refers to this state as a "hidden righteousness." It is hidden from yourself but completely revealed to those around you. By the grace of God, your natural self has been denied and the cross of Christ rests lightly upon on your shoulders.

But as we know, the glories of Spring and Summer do not last -- Nothing Gold Can Stay. Oh, the Fall. The sun shines a little less, and the trees, leaves, and grass begin to fade and fall. Remnants remain of the truths sprung up by the Spring and lived out by the Summer; mere bits and pieces -- fragments -- slowly wither away. Soon, the fragments will remain no more. The wind will blow them away. If you allow your heart to dwell on the Fall, you will see the leaves tumbling fervently and furiously across the yard. You want to still their movement. You aren't entirely hopeless, though, because the remnants, albeit few, still remain.

Then the winter storms in. The landscape is desolate. The sun hides for days. Nature ceases to mature. The precipitation does not nurture but veils what remains from Fall. Your hope is all but gone. You long for the Spring, the refreshing of the Spirit in the same way it brought comfort and joy to you before. You live completely out of the moment, hoping and longing for something other than the present. Time is your enemy because you have no control over it. The remnants of truth are gone and you can barely remember what they were and how they changed your life. But....

"In this greatest perfection of faith the infinite God Himself becomes the Light of the darkened soul and possesses it entirely with His Truth. And at this inexplicable moment the deepest night becomes day and faith turns into understanding." -- Thomas Merton

This moment of Winter, and even Fall, is entirely necessary and a part of the faith process. This movement from Spring to Summer to Fall to Winter is not a movement from the greatest good to the worst good, but instead, a continued renewal of Faith and recognition of the Light for our darkened soul. At some point, because of our nature, we will forget the joys of God revealed during Spring and manifested in Summer. As we forget, we have two choices: allow God to continue his work via the Fall and Winter, or live in a falsified Spring and Summer brought about by your own works and knowledge that is completely void of God. The former is filled with Grace, and the latter is filled with self.

Yes, the Winter is a bleak time for our soul. None of us desire that sort of anxiety and desperation. The human tendency is to escape suffering -- mental, emotional, physical, spiritual -- at all costs. But running towards the latter only increases true pain and disunity from God because you chase your fake self, the one outside relationship with God. But the suffering of the Winter has a beauty of its own. It lies in the fact that it is a preparation for the Spring. Without the Winter, the Spring can't come. Without the Winter, Grace does not abound. Without Grace, there is no communion with the Father.

For me, I incessantly long for the Spring and Summer, yet reign in the Winter. My Winters seem to last months and even years. My longings, at times, for other seasons take the place of God infused Grace. I seek my own transformation, outside the bounds of God actually transforming. Merton simply and truthfully claims that, "It is not we who choose to awaken ourselves, but God who chooses to awaken us." Praise God!

As Scot McKnight explains in his book, "The Jesus Creed," some of us are like Peter, who seems to have had more Winters than Springs, while some of us are like Paul, who seems to have had one Spring moment with the rest of his life being one long Summer. But in both instances, they are incredible tools of God. I praise God for the two weeks he allowed me to experience a Spring and the two weeks he allowed me to experience a Summer this past year. I praise God for being a "Peter" type. And I also force myself to praise him for my Falls and Winters.

Praise God, not only for the Seasons dictated by the laws of Nature, but also for the Seasons dictated by the Grace of our Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord!

The AL Champion Texas Rangers

So I decided, with the Rangers in the World Series again, to post the article I wrote for the University of Dallas Newspaper back in 2008 on the organizational philosophy of the Texas Rangers. I had the privileged of interviewing the General Manager, Jon Daniels, for the article. After looking back over the article, I realize the writing is not strong but the ideas of Jon Daniels back in 2008 have really come to life since then.

 Along with posting the article itself, I am including the entire interview transcript for any interested baseball nerd.

For all you baseball types, I hope you find it interesting.

ARTICLE

For a house to stand strong, it must be built upon a firm foundation. A firm foundation gives stability to the house bringing it sustained longevity.

In this new millennium, the house of the Texas Rangers has been built upon a foundation of sand. When Doug Melvin was ousted as the general manager after the 2001 season, John Hart was hired to bring the Rangers back to their glory days of 1996-1999. His plan was to build the Rangers around free agent acquisitions and trades that would put the team in a position to win now. Hart doled out large contracts to Chan Ho Park and Alex Rodriguez that ultimately inhibited the team from signing other quality players. This caused the Rangers to be a mediocre team during the John Hart era. After 4 unsuccessful seasons, Hart resigned and handed his job over in 2005 to the assistant GM at the time, Jon Daniels. When he was hired, Daniels was the youngest GM in the game at 28 years old.

Jon Daniels’ first year and a half looked a lot like Hart’s 4 years in the organization. Inheriting Mark Teixeira, Hank Blalock, Alfonso Soriano, Chris Young and Michael Young, Daniels felt like he had a core of players in which he could build a contender around immediately, either through trading a few of them to obtain other quality pieces or keeping a few of them to ultimately build around.

“When I got the opportunity at the end of ’05,” Daniels recounts, “We said ‘Hey, if x, y, and z go right we would have a chance.’ We made some moves and stepped on the gas.”

First, Daniels spun 2B/OF Alfonso Soriano to the Washington Nationals for OF Brad Wilkerson, minor league pitcher Armando Galarraga, and OF Terrmel Sledge. While this move was controversial at the time, the acquisition of a power/on base threat in Wilkerson was needed in the Rangers lineup. Next, Daniels traded SP Chris Young, former 1^st pick in the draft 1B Adrian Gonzalez and newly acquired OF Terrmel Sledge to the Padres for the tease known as SP Adam Eaton, RP Akinori Otsuka and minor league catcher Billy Killian. Neither of these trades worked out well for the Rangers with Otsuka being the only player to play consistently well for the club.

Daniels notes, “I think, looking back at that point, if we said, ‘if all these things go right and we have a chance, but the odds are still against us, lets start building this foundation today, and build for the long term,’ we would be in a better position today than we are now,”

With these trades not working out like the Rangers had hoped, the Rangers decided to move in another direction. Daniels describes this direction as a “building process.” This building process focuses more upon building the organization from the ground up. What that means is acquiring talent within the minor leagues that will either directly help the major league club or the talent will be spun off for players who are already prepared to help the big league club immediately.

“You look at the different models that different clubs have gone about it, and the number one constant is that they have had success developing their own players,” Daniels observed. “Even the Yankees and the Red Sox, who people talk about how they just spend money, Well you look at the teams and you look at the roles of where these key guys have come from and you look at the Red Sox: [Dustin] Pedroia, [Jonathan] Papelbon, [Jon] Lester, [Clay] Buchholz, [Kevin] Youkilis, they have played key roles on that team. [Jacoby] Ellsbury also comes up. [Josh] Beckett, a huge player, they go out and they get him by trading Hanley [Ramirez], one of their key guys. So, even the best teams today, you can not win without developing your own players.”

The Rangers attempt to follow suit. For the Rangers, their perpetual problem comes in their lack of quality pitchers. Since the Rangers have taken the approach to build through their minor league system, they have focused on acquiring pitching talents with the potential to be a major league ace.

“We are only going to go as far as our pitching goes,” Daniels said. “It is so difficult to find upper rotation starters, the legitimate #1 and #2 guys. There are only what, 8 or 10 legitimate, true #1’s in the game. And then #2’s, how many are there really?”

Here a few names for you to keep an eye on within the Rangers minor league system. Neftali Feliz (#5 in the Rangers system according to Baseball America), who came over from the Braves in the Teixiera deal, can throw in the 94-97 mph range with ease while touching 99 on occasion. His curveball and change up flash the potential to be very good major league pitches as well. Being only 19, he has time to refine his game and secondary pitches. Wilmer Font, a 17 year old right handed pitcher out of Venezuela who stands at a measly 6-4 237 pounds, can throw his fastball anywhere from 93-98. His secondary pitches are a work in progress but he is only 17 and has plenty of time to develop. In the 2007 draft, the Rangers drafted Blake Beaven in the 1^st round out of nearby Irving High School. Beaven already has two potential devastating major league pitches in his fastball and his slider. He can throw his fastball anywhere around 92-96 and his slider, his best pitch, in the mid-80’s. Feliz, Font and Beaven have the potential to be a #1 pitcher that Daniels and the Rangers are looking for and have been looking for since the days of Nolan Ryan. And this is just to name only a few of the guys the Rangers have stockpiled.

“We’ve got to develop our own guys and you aren’t going to develop those guys by taking nice, safe guys that maybe have a chance to get there a little quicker,” Daniels notes. “You are going to have to take some risks and hopefully through having enough of a stable of these guys, you can withstand the inevitable injuries and some of the other things that are going to happen.”

By acquiring all of this talent, the Rangers now have the #4 farm system, according to Baseball America, in all of baseball. From Feliz, to Beaven, to Font, to RHP Michael Main, to 1B/OF Chris Davis, to SS Elvis Andrus, and to LHP Kasey Kiker, the Rangers have a stable of players to carry them on in the future. All of them will not pan out but the more you have, the better opportunity for a handful of them to make it.

“We are not done adding talent to the system,” Daniels assures. “The bottom line is we might have 20-30 exciting prospects but out of those 20 or 30, we are hoping to get 5 or 10 who have a chance over the next 5 years to really impact the team.”

5 to 10 guys can make a difference. Just look at the Red Sox.

This new era run by Jon Daniels is not built upon the sand of the John Hart years but it is built upon the rock.

The Rangers finally have a wise home builder. Be patient, a good house is not built in one day. 

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT

Q: What is the Rangers plan?

A: We are definitely in a building process. I think pretty much every team is somewhere, baseball is kind of a cycle. It is very cyclical game. Every team is somewhere on the cycle. Even the Yankees and Red Sox people talk about these teams and how they just spend money and do this. Well you look at the teams they have taken and you look at the roles of where these key guys have come from and you look at the Red Sox: Pedroia, Papelbon, Lester, Buchholz, Youklis play key roles on that team and Ellsbury comes up, key role on that team. Obviously Beckett, huge role and they go out and they get him by trading Hanley one of their key guys. So, you, even the best teams today, you can not win without developing your own players. I mean, obviously, they are much further along in the process along the cycle than we are. But you look at different models that have different clubs that have gone about it and the number one constant is that they have had success developing their own players and they develop different kinds of players. The Braves have developed, you know, players that have one kind of skill set or one thing in common. Oakland, they believe in something a little different. Minnesota, Cleveland, all these different clubs, you see, you can tell when you look at Minnesota, it is a Twins type of player. When you look at Oakland, it is an Oakland type player. What we have to do is develop our identity. When you walk, you know when other scouts come through they say “that’s a Rangers type player.” That’s what we are trying to do right now. A lot of that is going to come from being relentless in talent acquisition and pouring as much youth into the system and talent into the system as possible teaching them how we want them to play the game and how we want them going about being a professional and attacking this thing. But at the end of the day, you know, they are going to sort themselves out as far as who is the most deserving of an opportunity at the big league level.

Q: So what is a Rangers type of player?

A: You know, that is a tremendous question. I think, from a pitching staff, we are going to try to keep things real simple. You know, the one thing you have is throw strikes. You have to throw strikes and our starters have to pitch innings. Especially in the heat in Texas, you have to prepare to be durable and go our there. Nolan Ryan talks about and one of the questions I first asked him “when you came to Texas” he was at the later stage of his career “did you change your mindset pitching in the heat, pitching in an environment?” “The only thing I tried to do was every day when I went out there, my mindset is, I got to stay out here longer than the opposing starting pitcher. When you do that and I accomplished that I’m going to have to be efficient and I’m going to have to throw strikes” and that is what we are trying to get our guys to do. Have them develop that mindset that they forget what the scoreboard says, your job is to outlast the opposing starter to give us a chance to win the game and try to develop, you know, as much as anything, it is about conditioning and developing that mindset. For position players, you know, one of our philosophies is we aren’t going to give up free bases. Whether it is walks, stolen bases, wild pitches, passed balls, errors, letting the trail runner advance because he threw it to the wrong base. We are going to try to play a very fundamental game. Offensively, we are going to grind it out. We are not going to be looking for the walk, our guys are free to but in certain, when the game dictates it, in a game situation, we have got to be able to play that situation. Those are some of the things that we are stressing.

Q: How far along are the Rangers in this process?

A: Its hard to kind of give a, quantify it exactly. If it is a five step process, we are probably somewhere around step 3 or 4. I mean, I think we still have a couple of things we need to do as far as pushing some of our younger guys and getting them to the big leagues and then once they are there, getting them over the hump to where their not just checking a box, happy to there but that they are a productive big league player and winning big league players,  and playing the game the right way. And we are not done adding talent to the system. The bottom line is we might have 20-30 exciting prospects but out of those 20 or 30, we are hoping to get 5 or 10 but we have a chance over the next 5 years to really impact the team. We need to do better than that.

Q: Why has the focus been on young, high ceiling players?

A: At the big league level now and with some of the prospects coming up, especially that upper level group, we are going to put a good position player club out there and I think a better one than we have had than the last 2 years, quite frankly. But we are only going to go as far as our pitching goes. It is so difficult to find upper rotation starters, the legitimate #1 and #2 guys. There are only what, 8 or 10 legitimate, true #1’s in the game. And then #2’s, how many are there really. You saw what Arizona gave up to get Dan Haren and you saw how pricey it was for the Mets both in dollars and talent to land Santana and they were only one of a couple teams who had a chance to do that. Those guys don’t come available very often. We’ve got to develop our own guys and you aren’t going to develop those guys by taking nice, safe guys that maybe have a chance to get there a little quicker. You are going to have to take some risks and hopefully through having enough of a stable of these guys you can withstand the inevitable injuries and some of the other things that are going to happen. So we have focused on, Latin America has been an area. You go into big league free agency and you try to acquire players it is extremely pricy, the barrier of entry is tough because a lot of the best players don’t get there because they get locked up before hand. You go to try to trade for these top end pitchers and again, some of these prices but also very few of them come available. You try to draft them, you can do that, but only Tampa Bay had the opportunity to draft David Price. You only pick once every 30 picks. But in Latin America and the international market, you can sign as many guys as you want. Your only limit is your own budget and how hard you work at it. So this is where we say this is an area where we can make some head way. A.J. Preller and his department has really gotten after it.

Q: Is there a specific team the Rangers model their organization after?

A: The Indians are a club that I look at. You know, if you look at the 2007 media guide, that the very front, the picture of Larry Dolan, their club president and you read through his bio and at the bottom right it talks about their mission statement and also a quote about what they want to do. The Indians are primarily, a big league payroll about 25^th to 28^th, 22^nd-28^th, somewhere in that lower third and that is not where they are going to have their competitive advantage. But what they do try to do, every year they are top 5 in terms of investing and development and scouting and amateur signing bonuses. That is kind of what we are trying to do. We are probably going to be a bottom half, bottom third payroll, at least until our revenues get to a point where it makes more sense to do something else. But what we are going to do, we are going to spend big in our infrastructure, we are going to invest in our infrastructure, hire more scouts, hire the best coaches and sign more players. That is something we need to get and to continue to build on.

Q: What mistakes and successes from the past has brought you and the organization to this point?

A: When I got the opportunity at the end of ’05, we said “hey, if x, y, and z go right, and we position of the club, we would have the chance.” We made some moves and stepped on the gas and we probably weren’t ready to do so as a club. I think, looking back at that point, if we said, if all these things go right we have a chance but the odds are still against us. Lets start building this foundation today, and build for the long term, we would be in a better position today than we are now. And what I want to do, obviously, you are never waving the white flag, you are always focused on the season at hand and want to put the most competitive team on the field you can and give yourself a chance to have those things fall in line like Arizona or like Colorado did last year but the bottom line is for it to be sustainable the only way it is going to work for us is to keep the eye on the prize and to continue looking long term and develop these young players and hold on to as many as possible.

Q: Purpose of short term deals?

A: First things first, you want to sign these guys hoping that they are going to be a productive piece for the team and kind of fill a hole that we are not able to fill internally until some of our better young players are able to step in. I think, that is the first hope. Then also, the hope that maybe Milton or Jason really click and we think hey this guy can be here long term. They are both 29 or 30 years old or whatever they are and we can sign these guys to multi year deal and have them be here and we know we added a core piece when we didn’t necessarily have one. But in the back of your mind, you have to be realistic and say, if this doesn’t work out, we are not able to commit to them or vice versa then at least you do have one year guys without big contracts and those are typically the guys who are attractive at the deadline and we could be in the position again where we can add some pieces but you try not to think about that too much because obviously you don’t want to be sellers in March.

Q: What players do you feel like you are going to give them a shot in the big leagues to see if they fail or succeed?

A: I don’t know if I have any players off the top of my head. I think the key thing there is not every player gets that same opportunity. We have to make decisions not just once they are given an opportunity whether we are going to keep them or move them on but also who deserves that opportunity. Sometimes it is a rough business and guys don’t necessarily get a chance at the big league level with the organization that brought them up. But hopefully they do. Sometimes, you are just stacked up at a position or the timing is not right and so not everybody gets the same opportunity, you know, part of our job is to evaluate who are the most deserving and who will give us the best chance going forward