06/28/10
06/28/10 |
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14th Annual Christian Heritage Breakfast On Tuesday morning, April 13th at the Crowne Plaza Resort the Presbyterian Men of the Church (MOC) in conjunction with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) hosted the 14th Annual Christian Heritage Breakfast. The grand ballroom was filled to capacity, all anxious to hear PGA Tour professional, Lee Janzen, share his testimony. The breakfast was served promptly and Levon Stephens provided background music. As everyone was finishing up, Christian Heritage Breakfast (CHB) Chairman, Mike Brock gave a five-minute warning that the program was about to begin. Everyone went back to their discussions. That is, almost everyone.. If you were watching the dais, you would have noticed that Lee Janzen, Jim Esary (Director, FCA Golf Ministries) and Jose Alvarez (national golf tour chaplain of the FCA) privately bowed their heads in a brief prayer. It was such an encouragement to watch these three men put God first in their lives. Mike welcomed everyone and thanked the sponsors who made it possible for our local youth to attend the breakfast. The whole purpose of the breakfast is for our youth to see firsthand that even in the realm of professional sports there are men who put God first. So often we are exposed to the dark side of professional athletics and we lose sight that there are a plethora of God-fearing men in the ranks. These men not only have God at the center of their lives, but they are quick to share their faith and testimony. Although I lost count, there were at least 15 tables of 10 kids who were there due to generous contributions of men and women in our community. The following were some of the groups attending.
I approached a well-dressed group young men and women at table 34 and asked them who they were and why did they come? They told me they were from Hilton Head Christian Academy. They were out of school on break and yet were excited to be able to attend and listen to Lee Janzen. A couple of them approached Lee and politely asked him for his autograph and he willingly obliged. In attendance from HH Christian Academy were Dan Calhoun, Evan Hill, Caleb Lewis, Ryan Smith, Devin McGuiness, Wesley Cooler, Melissa Whitton, Katie Boysen, Andrew Proctor, and Mary Hannah Lewis. Mike invited Rev. Jan Cook of First Presbyterian Church to open the program in prayer. This set the stage for Jim Esary, Director of FCA Golf Ministries. Jim shared that he just returned from Ireland with 10 other folks from FCA. There, they conducted a golf camp for 30 Irish youth who had a passion for golf and God. Jim said the weather went from windy, to rainy, to still, to sunny, and back again. He said that was just the first day. Nonetheless, these youngsters enjoyed the camp and loved Jesus. Jim said that it was the goal of FCA to have a similar camp held in Hilton Head by 2011. In the meantime, Jim welcomed everyone to similar camps being held in St. Augustine, Florida. For more information, please visit - http://www.fcagolf.org/juniorgolfcamps
Jose Alvarez then took the microphone for some Q&A’s with Lee Janzen. Jose
was a pitcher in the Atlanta Braves organization in the 1980’s and later
became the Chain for the FCA national golf tour. Jose was asked to compare
life on the PGA Tour with that of Baseball. He said he thought the baseball
minor leagues was difficult traveling from city to city by bus, but said the
life of a player on the Nationwide Tour was even harder. He said that only
about 25 of the 125 people on the Nationwide Tour make the PGA Tour each
year. He said that many players go back and forth between the tours every
year. He told the story of one player who found himself in this situation.
At one tournament, he brought his family and had his son in a day school
while he played. At the end of the week, the teacher told the boy how much
she enjoyed him being in the class and told him she looked forward to seeing
him next year. The boy replied, “Uh un, I will not be back next year
because my daddy will be on the PGA Tour”. The teacher then said, “Too bad,
we will mss you”. The boy retorted, “That’s o.k., I’ll see you the year
after”. So is the family life on the PGA Tour. He said that players are
not He asked Lee about his faith life and he said he was involved in a men’s group at the First Baptist Church in Orlando. He said he was able to be active for only about half the year. He did make a profound statement however. He said, “If you are not in a small group, you should be”. He says while on the tour, he has bible study with his fellow players. When questioned about how he became a Christian, he said that when he was young his family attended church irregularly. He said when he was a teenager, golf became his passion and on Sunday’s he was on the course and he never went to church. He said he had a brother that was a minister and still l did not have much of a faith walk. After he got married and started a family, he started to think more about God. He kept questioning himself, “How good do I have to be to go to heaven?” The answer always came back, “not good enough.” His wife finally gave him the answer. She said, “You don’t have to worry about it. The price has already been paid through Jesus Christ”. From that point forward, his spiritual walk became deeper and stronger. Jose asked Lee if he had any advice for the young people in the audience. Lee looked out and said to them, “Your personal identity has no correlation to your performance.” Be true to yourself. The quality of your character is not based on the scores you achieve or the amount of money in your back account.
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