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    God's Rookie of the Year: The Preacher Man
    God's Rookie of the Year: The Preacher Man
    God's Rookie of the Year: The Preacher Man
    Ebook140 pages2 hours

    God's Rookie of the Year: The Preacher Man

    By John A. Mercurio

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    Rodney is a teenager who got caught up in drugs and was helped by God-loving people. When he thought he could not be forgiven for his sin and no one could ever love him, he found Gods love by reading the Bible. Now he was torn between his love for baseball and God. He was invited to spring training with the New York Yankees, but he also wanted to preach. After each game, he walked the streets of New York, preaching on every corner. He drew huge crowds and converted so many people that pimps and drug dealers threatened his life and beat him in their attempt to get him off the streets. But Rodney would not stop preaching and was willing to die, if that was Gods will.

    The Yankees won the pennant, and Rodney was their starting pitcher in games one, four, and seven in the World Series. The death threats never stopped, and Rodney could have been killed at any time, but he was sure God would protect him. His courage and faith led thousands to Christ as a result. When the rapture came at the end of game seven, Rodney was the first to meet Jesus in the air, followed by thousands of others who were believers.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWestBow Press
    Release dateApr 13, 2012
    ISBN9781449746209
    God's Rookie of the Year: The Preacher Man
    Author

    John A. Mercurio

    I am the author of six published books, but this book came to me from God Himself. After publishing five baseball books and one novel, I prayed that God would inspire me to write this book. How I know it came from Him is that next morning I began with a blank page and asked God what He wanted me to write about. Thoughts flooded my mind day after day. I continued, not knowing how it would end but just kept writing as if I were taking dictation.

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      Book preview

      God's Rookie of the Year - John A. Mercurio

      GOD’S ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

      THE PREACHER MAN

      JOHN A. MERCURIO

      SKU-000542272_TEXT.pdf

      Copyright © 2012 John A. Mercurio

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      WestBow Press books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

      WestBow Press

      A Division of Thomas Nelson

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.westbowpress.com

      1-(866) 928-1240

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      ISBN: 978-1-4497-4620-9 (e)

      WestBow Press rev. date: 4/9/2012

      At the age of 12, Rodney was the best little league baseball player in New York City. By the age of 13 he was hooked on drugs and hopelessly lost. Fortunately, Rodney’s coach was a Christian who convinced the court to put him in his custody. The coach showed Rodney God’s love and guided him through his high school years which led to Rodney being signed by the Yankee and invited to spring training with the big leaguers. Not many out of high school had ever made it to the majors but Rodney was one of the exceptions.

      Rodney had given his life to Christ and wanted to become a Preacher. But now he had to decide between his love for God and his love for baseball. He decided to do both. In baseball, he was like Babe Ruth, playing centerfield when not pitching and as a rookie, he astonished the baseball world by leading the league in hits, home runs and wins by a pitcher after his first month of the season. As a Preacher, he was another Billy Graham. After each game, he would walk the most dangerous streets of the city spreading the gospel. His popularity as a player drew huge crowds who marveled at his knowledge of Christianity and he was the talk of the town. But he was hated by drug dealers and pimps as he was converting sinners by the thousands. Death threats and beatings followed which caused Rodney to miss many games. The Yankees wanted him to stop preaching but Rodney said that God comes first and that he would die for his faith.

      The Yankees assigned bodyguards to protect Rodney but still he spent many a day in the hospitals. When the season ended, Rodney had only played half the games but still led the league in every pitching and batting category. Yes, he was that good. But he was even a better Preacher. Thousands were giving their lives to Christ and filling Yankee Stadium at every game.

      It was game seven of the World Series with Rodney on the mound. He could have been killed by a sniper at any time but he was putting his life in the hands of God who was watching every pitch. Rodney won the game but that was the least exciting part of what was next to happen.

      There was the sound of a trumpet and a shout that silenced the roaring crowd. Jesus appeared in the clouds with arms outstretched and the most unbelievable smile on His face. He was taking his children home and Rodney was the first to meet Him in the air. Half the fans were left in their seats while the other half joined Rodney with Christ in the air. The Rapture had begun!

      Rodney was a thirteen year old problem child from the poorest part of New York City. He had been invited to attend a free summer baseball camp run by Doc Finley. Besides wanting to teach under privileged kids to play baseball, he also wanted to instill high moral character and good sportsmanship. His only rules were, no drinking, bad language or drugs.

      Everything was going well in for the first month during which time Rodney emerged as one of the most outstanding players. As a pitcher he possessed a super strong arm, a blazing fastball and a dynamite curve. As a shortstop he had great hands and extraordinary range. In addition, he was one of the fastest runners and could steal bases at will. He had everything going for him until he got mixed up with some bad kids in the city who introduced him to drugs.

      Doc Finley’s brothers’ Joe and Angelo, would take turns driving into the city to pick up the children in the morning and drive them home in the afternoon. Doc had just retired and built a ball field behind his home which had an Olympic-size in-ground swimming pool which the players were allowed to use at the end of the day. The city kids loved the camp which also provided free lunches. It was a perfect way for them to get out of the city during the hot summer months.

      They had finished their daily intra-squad game and were headed for the swimming pool. To cool off after a long hot day of baseball was truly a treat for them and there was also plenty of snacks and cold drinks. On this particular day, Rodney who was usually one of the first ones in the pool was missing..

      Where is Rodney? As anyone seen Rodney? asked Doc.

      I think he said he had to go to the bathroom, answered Joey.

      After waiting a reasonable amount of time, Rodney had still not come out of the house so Doc followed by his dog; Brillo, went into the house looking for him. Brillo’s keen sense of smell led him to the bathroom door.

      Rodney! Rodney! Are you in there? yelled Doc, as knocked on the door.

      After calling several times, doc became concerned and tried the door but it was locked. Doc hurried to his tool box and secured a crow bar and quickly broke open the door. Rodney was lying unconscious on the floor. In his hand was a funny looking cigarette and the stud of a used one on the floor. Doc’s hollering brought some of the players in from the pool and they were frightened.

      Rodney! Rodney! Are you alright? yelled Doc as he lifted his head.

      Rodney attempted to open his eyes but they just rolled back and he slumped into Doc’s arms.

      Doc’s brother Joe, was a retired policeman, he recognized the symptoms quickly.

      This doesn’t look good brother, he’s loaded, surmised Joe. We’ve got to report this."

      Yes, I suppose your right, hand me a cold cloth, will you? asked Doc who applied it behind Rodney’s neck.

      Why does Rodney look so sleepy? asked Billy.

      Oh man, I told him not to fool around with that stuff, proclaimed Jake. See, he wouldn’t listen to me!"

      Oh, oh, oh, what happened? Where am I? asked Rodney as he regained consciousness.

      You’ll be okay, you’ll be okay, just relax, answered Doc.

      Oh man, I don’t feel so good Doc, what happened? asked Rodney.

      This is what happened Rodney! You’ve been smoking pot! Why Rodney? Why? You had everything going for you. Everything was going so well. And now we’ve got to deal with this!

      Oh man, I guess I messed up. I’m sorry Doc, I’m sorry, cried Rodney.

      Everyone was upset. They knew this meant Rodney would get kicked out of camp but they had no idea how bad it would be. Brother Joe had put in a call to the police department and their sirens could be heard as they pulled into the driveway.

      What? The cops are here? asked Joey. No, no! You didn’t call the cops on Rodney did you?"

      This had to be reported, replied Joe. Rodney has broken the law and we have to deal with it now."

      Let this be a lesson to the rest of you, said Doc. You don’t want to be fooling around with this stuff. It can really mess up your life."

      Is this the lad Doc? asked the police officer.

      Yes, look, give me a minute to phone his parents, I want to go downtown with you. Don’t worry Rodney, everything will be alright, assured Doc.

      No Doc! You can’t have Rodney arrested! You can’t send him to jail shouted Joey.

      We have no choice Joey, he broke the law, there’s nothing we can do about it, answered Doc. I don’t like this anymore than you do. This breaks my heart!"

      The police officer handcuffed Rodney as Doc notified his parents. The city kids were horrified Rodney was ashamed and could not look them in the eye.

      Oh man, I don’t want to go to jail. I ain’t done nothing, stammered Rodney.

      Come on son, I’m going with you, said Doc.

      We’ll follow you, said brother Joe.

      Some of the boys were crying. It was not pleasant seeing one of their friends being handcuffed and taken away.

      Don’t worry Rodney, everything will be okay! yelled Jake.

      Dog gone it! Everything was going so well. Why did this have to happen? asked Angelo.

      It was Angelo’s turn to drive the city kids home so he asked them to get out of their bathing suits and get ready. Happy times had turned to gloom.

      What will happen to Rodney now? asked Joey.

      They must detoxify him, answered Angelo. That usually takes thirty days and then most likely he will be released into his parents custody."

      Thirty days? That means he’ll miss most of the camp, said Billy.

      Makes no difference, replied Joey sadly. He’ll probably get kicked out anyway."

      The ride back to the city was dismal. Camp would not be the same without Rodney. Angelo did the best he could to cheer the boys up and assure them Rodney would be okay and get his life straightened out.

      This hit Doc hard. He had grown to love these kids. This was something he didn’t want to deal with. But he had no choice, he had to kick Rodney out of camp.

      When the boys returned to camp the next day, Doc gave them the bad news.

      Boys…you know the rules we have here. It breaks my heart by Rodney broke the rules and as much as I have grown to love him, I must kick him out of camp.

      No, no, please give him another chance! begged Joey. He won’t do it again."

      I’m sorry boys, if I give in this time, there will be no way for me to enforce the rules the next time. This is the most difficult thing I have ever had to do. But I must do it.

      Camp was continued but it was not the same without Rodney. Doc tried his best but the attitude toward him had changed. The Doc Finley they had come to love, had become Doc Finley, the rat.

      On the next day of camp, half the city boys did not show up. Not only was the camp not the same,

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