David Murphy

via

The one bright spot in an otherwise horrendous weekend for my sports teams was the Texas Rangers earning a spot in the World Series for the second year in a row. Incredible. I heart the Rangers and my favorite player is David Murphy. He's a Baylor alum, graduated the year I did and he's a pretty clutch player too. What I love most about him though is not the fact that he bleeds green and gold, or the fact that the Rangers are 5-0 when he starts and 1-2 when he doesn't. No, the reason I love Murph is the fact that he has a heart for Christ and openly shares his faith. He uses his fame and talent to share God's love. What an example. Here's his story in case you haven't seen it:

"I want to win and I want to succeed. I am passionate about the game of baseball and when you are passionate about something, you desire to be successful. I’ve lived baseball since pretty much the day I was born. I’ve loved it since I was 2 or 3 years old. It would be great if everyone knew me as David Murphy the all star, or David Murphy the World Series champion. I would love to be all those things and everything that comes with them; but if I set my priorities straight, I would love to be looked at as David Murphy, the man of God.

I pray during the national anthem before each game and one of the things that I pray is that I am playing for His glory. Baseball is a difficult game and it can drive you crazy. It can create a lot of worry, but in the end there is confidence in Him or there is fear, and I pick the confidence in Him.

I don’t have to worry about going 0 for 4 or having a terrible game or being in a slump, because that’s not the big picture or the most important thing. God blessed me with this talent for a reason, and the game of baseball should be my ministry. Why not use every opportunity you can to spread the word?

A lot of people come to Jesus because they are at crossroads in their lives or something devastating happens, but that wasn’t the case for me.  I just knew I had a hole in my heart and I figured out that the only thing that could fill that void was Jesus.  At first I thought my testimony was my story about how I was saved and that night and praying the prayer; but the more I grow in Christ, the more I realize that my testimony is my life.
My name is David Murphy and I am Second."

http://www.iamsecond.com/seconds/david-murphy/