Nashville Sounds first baseman Wes Clarke was baptized by a teammate in a horse trough after their sport towards the Memphis Redbirds final Saturday, an occasion captured by Christian sports activities media ministry Sports activities Spectrum.
Throughout Clark's public show of religion in Christ, each teammates wore “Jesus Received” shirts. The Sounds — the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers — received the sport 4-1.
Clarke, a 24-year-old drafted within the fortieth spherical of the 2018 MLB Novice Draft out of Liberty Christian Academy in Lynchburg, Va., took to Instagram the next day to reminisce in regards to the spotlight of the night time earlier than.
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“Had the dignity of being baptized on the pitch by certainly one of my good mates @brewerhicklen yesterday after our sport,” Clarke wrote. “Thanks, Jesus, for this glorious second in my life. I’m extremely blessed to be surrounded by so many supportive folks. It was such a particular night time!”
His baptist, outfielder Brewer Hicklen, advised Sports activities Spectrum that he had deliberate for the christening to happen after his membership's Religion and Household Evening earlier than crew officers nixed the concept on account of a scarcity of time to make preparations. The officers then accepted his proposal for baptism sooner or later.
Saturday's christening was scheduled for one more teammate — shortstop Vinny Capra — till Capra was promoted to the foremost leagues simply days earlier than the sport.
Hicklen, who hit a house run in Saturday's sport, mentioned the crew rallied round Clark in assist of the milestone.
“We had a crew assembly earlier than the sport and I used to be like, 'Hey guys, possibly you're a Christian, possibly you're not; possibly you assist what we're doing, possibly you don't. However I believe it could be actually cool when you have been there to they supported Wes as a teammate,” he mentioned. “Everyone was like, 'Yeah, man, we're into it.' In order that was fairly cool.
“We even had some guys from the opposite crew.
Hicklen and a few dozen different crew members are taking part in a crew Bible examine at present analyzing Ephesians and definitions of Christian manhood. The gamers as a crew and individually used their platform as witnesses for Christ.
“Assistant GM [Doug Scopel] it was like, 'Man, I've been doing this for 25 years and I've by no means seen this earlier than,'” Hicklen mentioned. “He was pleased with it. GM [Adam English] he wrote me afterwards and mentioned, 'Man, that was superb.' It was fairly cool. Just a few followers emailed me. It was cool; it was a strong second.”
When the time got here, making the second occur was straightforward sufficient. The gamers stuffed the horse trough with water from the stadium grounds whereas half of all followers stayed behind to observe, Hicklen advised Sports activities Spectrum.
The baptism was a solution to prayers for Hicklen, who God gave him the “everlasting connection” amongst his teammates that he prayed for six months in the past, he mentioned.
Clarke's baptism comes after a number of different skilled athletes, entertainers and celebrities have professed their religion to hundreds of thousands.
Comic Russell Model was baptized in April and referred to as it an “unbelievable, profound expertise”. About two years after her much-publicized conversion to Christianity, TV character Kat Von D took the plunge final October.
Former wrestler Hulk Hogan was christened final December and described it as “the best day [his] life' and 'give up' to Christ.
Equally, Clarke, ranked among the many Brewers' prime 30 prospects, calls himself a “follower of Christ” on his Instagram profile and a “Man of God” on X.
Each stories confer with 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, which says, “Rejoice all the time, pray frequently, give thanks in all circumstances, for that is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.”
