President Bush and Vice President Cheney welcomed the World Champion Red Sox to the White House this week. Here two players present the President and Vice President with their own Red Sox jerseys. Photo courtesy of the White House.

1. Did you know that President Bush had a big and important meeting with the governors of all the states last week? In fact, it was actually an official "state dinner" (play on words intended), so this is a great time to pray for the governors of all 50 of our states and the governor of your state. Pray that they will always want to do the right thing in God's eyes and that they will serve the people of their state well.
2. Our country's Secretary of State, Dr. Condoleezza Rice has been having a lot of meetings with leaders from other countries in order to make our friendships with those countries stronger. So pray that she will be very successful in building up our relationships with other nations, and that she will have God's great help and wisdom as she serves our nation.
3. President and Mrs. Bush are starting another round of meetings with foreign leaders next week, so we can pray for them as they host Their Majesties King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway for lunch on March 7 and Romanian President Traian Basescu on March 9. When these leaders meet, they will talk about the plan to spread democracy and freedom in the world as well as tackling some of the big problems that are troubling people in Sudan, Sri Lanka and elsewhere.
4. As always, we want to remember to pray for our troops as they follow orders both from the Pentagon and their Commander-in-Chief, that God will protect them with His care and love. As you pray for the troops, remember that each person represents a lot of other people who love and care about them, including family, neighbors and friends—and probably some kids!

Director of National Intelligence— John Negroponte (Newly appointed)

Photo courtesy of the White House.

Did you know that our country has 17 different intelligence agencies? Remember when we learned that "intelligence" is information that is gathered about an enemy or an enemy's efforts to bring harm?

President Bush has recently created the new position of Director of National Intelligence as a way of getting all the different intelligence-gathering agencies in our country working together. Although he still has to be approved by the Senate and sworn in to office, Ambassador John Negroponte is already thinking about how he will coordinate all the intelligence gathering agencies and help them share information so that our country can be safe. Ambassador Negroponte will also brief the President every morning on any threats to America's security that are revealed by our intelligence efforts. He will also decide how much money each of the different intelligence agencies can have to do their work every year.

In the mean time, Ambassador Negroponte must decide where to locate his office, choose the people he wants on his team and start building good relationships with the leaders of each of those 17 intelligence agencies! That gives you some great ideas on how to pray for him in the coming weeks. How many of our country's 17 intelligence agencies can you name? Hover here for full list:

Ambassador Negroponte was born in London, England and is a graduate of Yale University. He is married to Diana, and they have five children.

Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act. Don't worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.
—Psalm 37:7

If you are a baseball fan, you know that it's spring training time! If you don't care that much about baseball, stay with us anyway, because we have lots of great things to learn from baseball and the great tradition of spring training! We'll also get to know two special baseball players from history.

Billy Sunday's baseball card when he was with the Chicago White Stockings. Image Courtesy Library of Congress

What would you think about hearing from a preacher who was once a record-setting baseball player? That's Billy Sunday! He's a great American to get to know, because he used his fame and influence for lots of really good things. He not only spoke before millions of people, hundreds of thousands of them decided to begin a friendship with God through Jesus Christ. He also influenced the culture of his day, bringing change and revolution to many communities from small towns in the Midwest to the biggest cities in America!

Billy Sunday's baseball card when he was with the Pittsburg Alleghenys. Image Courtesy Library of Congress

Billy Sunday was a very famous evangelist who lived at the end of the 1800's. Billy was known for his very enthusiastic style of preaching that captured peoples' attention and kept it. He spoke to thousands at a time before the days of microphones or public address systems. He was especially concerned about alcohol and often preached against it—in part because he had seen the very bad things that happened in the lives of people who were addicted to alcohol.

Billy Sunday was born in Iowa in 1862. His father died while fighting for the Union in the Civil War when Billy was only one year old. This caused quite a hardship on his mother, so Billy lived in an orphanage until he set out on his own at age 15. A very fast runner, Billy dreamed of becoming a professional baseball player. He was eventually discovered and played for the Chicago White Stockings starting in 1883.

This photo shows the Chicago White Stockings of 1886. Just 12 players! Teams have many more players than that today! Do you know how many? Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Billy also played for the Philadelphia Athletics and the Pittsburg Alleghenys, but he had developed ties to Chicago. He was the first player to run the bases in 14 seconds and broke records for stealing bases.

The Pacific Garden Mission south of Chicago's Loop as it looks today. Photo courtesy of the Pacific Garden Mission.

The world of professional sports was very different in those days, but some things were the same then as they are today. Young men made more money than every day workers, and they faced all kinds of temptations when they traveled to games. One evening in 1886, Billy and some friends were drinking in a part of Chicago with a lot of taverns and bars. A local mission had posted their "Gospel Wagon" at the corner of State Street and Van Buren and members of the mission were singing and sharing the Good News of God's love for all people. Billy and his friends stopped to listen to the music and Billy later accepted the invitation to go back to the mission with the volunteers.

Here Billy is seen with Jack Pickett. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.

It was there he heard powerful preaching about Jesus. Billy felt convicted of his sin and realized that he was spending too much time with alcohol and other pursuits that were neither good nor pleasing to God. He soon decided to give his life to Christ. Things changed for Billy Sunday, and he never looked back.

Billy was eager to learn the Bible, and he soaked up all he could. Soon he was telling others how Jesus had saved him and helping them to find new life and grow in their faith. Meanwhile, Billy was trying to keep his baseball career going. In fact, a few different teams were luring him with offers of large salaries. But Billy didn't care about making $400 a week. He wanted to be involved in growing God's Kingdom! He soon took a job for $83 a week at the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) in Chicago.

Billy also met and married his wife, Helen, who quickly became known as "Ma." Billy and Ma were a great team, and she helped with his work in many ways.

It wasn't long before Billy was preaching to crowds of his own in big cities across the country. His flamboyant personality and athleticism led to a preaching style that was loved and criticized alike. Billy was known for moving around and striking dramatic poses as he preached. Here are some photos that show his crazy style:

All photos courtesy of billysunday.org.

Billy also took what he'd learned from his life before Christ and applied it to his evangelistic efforts. He realized that people would be more likely to come to his meetings if he had something unique to offer them. So Billy added music and promotional efforts like advertising in local newspapers, keying off his background as a famous baseball player. He built a team that helped him as he traveled to each city, including Ma and trombonist Homer Rodeheaver. Some prayed, some led music, many did follow-up on those who made commitments to Christ, referring them to churches where they could grow in their faith. Billy also made sure that he worked with the local pastors and interested businesses wherever he preached.

Billy Sunday wanted to help everyone know about God's love for them, and he was willing to do just about anything to get the Good News out. His approach was a lot like the Apostle Paul's. Can you think of a place in the Bible where Paul explains this?
Hover here to read:

This photo shows the tabernacle that was built for Billy Sunday's Chicago revival in 1918. Notice Navy Pier, still a popular Chicago attraction, in the background. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Billy's popularity reached its highest point during World War I. He was traveling a great deal and was very popular with the press, with Hollywood and many colleges and universities. When he traveled to large cities, a temporary building called a tabernacle was sometimes built for him. The floor of the tabernacle was covered with the sawdust left from its construction. This led to the term "Hitting the Sawdust Trail" as a way of referring to coming forward to receive Christ into one's life. Billy invited people to come down the aisle and shake his hand if they wanted to repent of their sins. When Billy left a city after many weeks of preaching and revival, the tabernacle was taken apart and the lumber sold to get back some of the funds spent in building it.

Billy did all kinds of goofy things to draw attention to his crusades and to win people for Christ. Here is playing around with a giant baseball. Do you think anyone has a glove big enough to catch this ball? Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Billy's energetic preaching style was also a part of his popularity. He was known to move all over the platform performing acrobatic feats and throwing imaginary baseballs to convince his audience to "pitch over the plate for Christ." He spoke out very clearly against the things that troubled people during his day—drinking, gambling, using bad words and not honoring the Sabbath. In fact, wherever he went, he spoke out against alcohol, and many feel that his powerful influence with popular culture and the press led to the enactment of the 18th Amendment in 1919. Do you know what the 18th Amendment was about?