The crowd was not so much interested in them, they wanted him.

As I walked up #18, I imagined what it might be like to take that walk up the hill to the green with a 2 stroke lead and laying 3 on the front of the green with a tough pin placement. The grass felt good under my feet, almost like carpet. The air just had that smell, the smell of fresh cut grass and excitement! There was a buzz all around the grounds. He was here.

Mark and I walked on up to the practice green outside the Clubhouse. There were lots of spectators encompassing the green. As we edged closer to see who was practicing, we found ourselves standing about 2 persons deep from the ropes. There were lots of players out rehearsing their putting swing, so that they may keep the scores low on Thursday. There is still lots of whispering..."He's here somewhere..."and " there is his caddie, Steve". All the while the crowd continued to grow behind us. Something big was about to happen and everyone wanted to see.

Davis Love III, Craig Stadler, Stuart Appleby, Pad Harrington, Jeff Sluman, Sergio Garcia, Freddie Couples, Chris DiMarco, and many others were there. All of them working on their putting stroke, trying to stay consistent for the competition to come. The crowd was not so much interested in them, they wanted him.

From our left, we see the crowd start to part. Sharply dressed in all black with a white hat and shoes. The crowd was quiet, waiting for a reaction. He walked over to his golf bag and pulled out his putter. His caddie tossed out some balls and Tiger Woods practice had begun. I looked behind me and the crowd was now about 10 to 15 people deep completely around the putting green. It was crazy. Tiger Woods is like a rock star. Everyone was focused on him. All of the other golfers at that moment took a backseat to Tiger. Tiger commands attention, but he doesn't ask for it. He smiles. Tiger shakes hands with other players and begins his warm up regiment. I must say he is a very fit individual. He is very intimidating as a player, I think it is his structure. He practiced the exact same 4 foot putt for almost 20 minutes. He is a machine.

I was standing right next to his golf bag, admiring his signature Nike golf clubs I started thinking about the impact that Tiger Woods has on the crowd that was gathered there at the Master's grounds. They watched his every move. They waited for him to make a putt, tell a joke, smile, laugh, shake a kids hand. The spectators at Augusta just wanted to be near Tiger, to be associated with greatness. I think Tiger understands this, he is a smart man. My friend Steve had a great post about a local high school athlete that is getting the same type of attention in our area. Read it here. This is nowhere near the magnitude of Tiger Woods, but I am sure they have similar feelings on the matter.

Over the next 75 minutes, I stood and watched Tiger. I honestly started to imagine how I would handle that type of fame. How would I treat people if I were that powerful? This is what it was...power...influence. Tiger has a tremendous amount of influence! What ever Tiger wears, people want to wear. What ever Tiger drinks, then everyone in the golfing world wants to drink it too. People watch what he does and then try to be like Tiger Woods. There are lots of people through out time that have had this sort of influence. In my lifetime, it has mostly been sports figures that wield such influence. Michael Jordan was one of those types of people. So was Jesus. I could not stop thinking about how Jesus had that sort of influence. He had crowds of people hanging on every word. People were watching Jesus's every move. Waiting for him to heal, to cast out demons and teach about this new Kingdom of God.

The crazy idea in my head was not to compare Tiger Wood to Jesus, but to understand Tiger's influence. What if Tiger was a man of God? What if Tiger used his popularity to give him a stage to share the Gospel? What if Tiger lived a life like Christ? I could not stop thinking about this notion. If Tiger were a Christian, would anyone be able to witness his life? Could he live a life as if Christ lived and anyone be a witness to it? He has no privacy, but people only get to see his life as a golfer. Could he really love people? Could he afford to love people?

As I stood there playing all of this out in my head, I asked myself, "What if I had this type of influence?" What would I do with a stage that big? What sort of effect could I have on peoples lives, if I were as big as Tiger Woods? At that moment, the answer came to me in an instant! In God's eyes, I am like Tiger Woods. My role is just as big as Tiger's role in life. My influence can be just as great as Tiger's influence. I may not be able to make an impression on people that changes the way the dress, what they drink, or what type of car they drive. Tiger has that sort of power, but does that glorify God? I do know that I can show people the love of Christ through my actions, just as Tiger could if he so chooses. We both carry that same responsibility. We both have that power. It was given to us by Christ and what we do with it should glorify God. I fall short. Tiger falls short. We are both hitting from the same tee box, on the same course, with the same set of clubs, and trying to reach the same green. I am playing golf with Tiger Woods and we both have the same handicap! Our only shot at reaching the green in regulation is by dying to ourselves and coming alive in Christ.

This was a great day for me. I got to watch an amazing golfer and what appears to an outstanding individual. I love where God took me with my thoughts and I am thankful that He gave me this once in a lifetime opportunity. Tiger may or may not live a life centered around Christ, we will probably never get to witness that side of Tiger. Today, the gallery surges ahead, waiting to see Tiger's next perfect swing. What a day will it be when the crowd is not so much interested in them, but they want Him.

was a good day....

Today was a good day in the life of Marty Ford. I had taken a few days off to enjoy a little road trip. I should say thank you to my wife for allowing me to spend money we did not have to experience something I may never get to experience again in my lifetime. I spent the day walking the the fairways of Augusta National at the Master's Golf Tournament. It is a day I will soon not forget. This course is amazing! Amen Corner is breathtaking...it is where the small par 3 #12 hole tees off across the water and #13 comes back up the right side. The background is littered with Azelias in full bloom and is where many of the Master's greatest moments have taken place.
I watched some of the great golfers of the present skip balls across the water on #16, it is a tradition during practice rounds they say.. Again, this was probably a once in a lifetime opportunity for me. Thanks Jen.

On Wednesdays of the Master's, they have a Par 3 Tournament. This is a very relaxed 9 holes of golf that is by invitation only. Previous Master's Champions and promising young amatuers fill the card for the invitiational. It is a round of golf where, trick shots are played out of the bunkers, 10 year old sons and daughters are caddies, and unsuspecting kids are pulled out of the gallery by the likes of Fuzzy Zoeller to putt in his last shot on the 9th green. It is fun, it is special and it is a time for autographs, pictures and wholesome goofing around. My new friend Mark Johnson and I found ourselves sitting just off the tee box on the 9th hole on this beautiful Par 3 Executive course on the grounds of Augusta National. We got to there around 1:45 just as the first trio made there way off of # 7 and on to #8. We were about 10 feet away from the action. The view to the green across the pond was perfect. We woudl call out the shots...."thats left...","come on, bite baby...", or "thats right at the pin...". There were many nice shots, a few shots went in the drink, and even one or two that I think I could have hit just as well. Here are a few highlights from some of my favorite golfers...

Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco were very playful with all of there kids. Mickelson hit a sweet shot about a foot from the hole. Nick Faldo was still in fantastic shape, his shot was off to the right and he sank about an 8 ft. putt with the putter between his legs and backwards to finish the round. Mark O'Meara left his shot about 4 inches from the cupp. Ian Poulter had a great shot, but an even better golf outfit that would make ChiChi Rodriguiz happy. My favorite was when the trio of Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, and Jack Nicholas walked up to tee off. That was history! I think that group has 11 Green Jackets between them! Nicholas and Player are still striking the ball really well. Palmer's back appeared to prevent him from swinging the club with any power. After hitting two balls in the water and not even coming close to the green, Nicholas suggested letting his caddie hit for him. I believe that Arnold Palmers caddie was his grandaughter. She did not want to hit the ball, but the crowd jeered her on. She approached the ball and took a practice swing...the prettiest golf swing I had ever seen, the gallery went nuts! She hit the ball across the water, and left it on the right fringe of the green. This hole was playing about 110 yards to the pin, and 90 yards of the shot was over water.

Augusta National has history, is immaculate and is Mecca for most golf fans. This is a day that I will be talking about for days, and will never forget in my life. It is not often you get to watch 3 of the greatest golfers of all time, play in the same group from about 10 feet away. It was a very good day. It was a Master's day.

tonight was a horrible night bowling...

I bowl as a substitiute on a team that Chris Moore sponsers. I am horrible. I have a 138 average with no sign of improvement. Tonight was no exception to that, i basically bowled my average. The guys on the team are great. They harrassed me about lot of things. I eat Bills pizza. Ok it was Jamie's pizza, but Bill usually eats his left overs...and I ate it instead. Jamie was laughing, because Bill was eyeing me eat his pizza.

Tonight was horrible. The team we bowled against was in last place, yet they gave us pins? It was not right, they covered our handicap quite quickly and beat the tar out of us. Until the last game, they finally bowled like normal people and we tied. So here is the kicker...I finally got on a roll on the third game, I had 4 stikes in a row...then it happened...I sort of ...well...I threw 2 gutter balls in a row! It was embarrassing...all i could do was laugh at my self, because every one else was laughing at me too. I finished the game with a 144, not great! If I would have knocked down just one pin, we would have won! I am depressed now.

After bowling, Chris, Bill and I went to Steak and Shake to drown our sorrows in a milk shake. We had a great conversation. We discussed some lingering church issues and got carried away. We were there an hour or so and I am sure we are all three in trouble. We talked through a few things that really needed to be discussed. I feel really guilty about a few things and found out that I shouldn't. Things were happening long before I showed up. So it was a conversation I needed to have and Bill needed to vent a little bit and it was good. Chris asked for prayer. Wow, it was our very own little accountablility bowling group :) They made me forget all about the 2 gutter balls....for the most part.

ok..so I am still stalking Crowder....

Ok, most of you know that I am a huge David Crowder Band fan! So I have been reading his blog daily. He and the band are hanging out in his barn (recording studio) and putting together his latest CD. I can't wait! So Crowder is sharing little details of his daily agenda, giving us insight on how the project is coming and sharing little tidbits that some might find interesting.

He has gone into great detail about lunch, including before and after pictures of meals that have been eaten. I imagine that lunch is a pretty big deal. I compare his lunch crew with our lunch crew at work. Lunch becomes more than just a break during the noon hour that we enjoy delicious morsels. It is a time to breakdown the day, the week, and our lives. Lunch is a portion of time recaptured and put to good use solving the problems of our world. It is way more than just about eating. It is about our sanity. I believe that Crowder and the guys treat lunch that same way. It is a time of fellowship. It is a time for laughter. Lunch is a break from the tedious details of recording a cd, writing songs, singing lyrics, playing guitar riffs, and tracking a phat beat. It is about consuming life with friends and a Dr. Pepper.

Crowder shared a few days ago that they ran into an interesting character while eating at a local establishment. TED NUGENT! How funny is that? I am sure the Crowder band got all geeked out with the opportunity to meet a fellow rocker. The very next day, Ted showed up at the BARN! I know they had visions of Mr. Nugent jumping in on a song and lending some classic nostalgia to the next Crowder disc. It was so exciting for them...this is all Crowder could blog about that day....

so here's what has happened thus far today:

1. ted nugent came to the barn.

Awesome!

So then it happened. Crowder blogged today and announced:

no freaking way! ted nugent, aka: the nuge, terrible ted, deadly tedly, theodocious atrocious, uncle ted, sweaty teddy, great gonzos, the motor city madman, the nuge, wait i said that, anyway, he's coming to the barn again. this time he's bringing his guitar. he'll have his bow (as in bow and arrows) with him too but he told us he never leaves home with out that, but yes, he's bring a guitar. his backup songbird is what he told me on the phone. sometime this afternoon, like 3 or 4. we're going to have him play on "we won't be quiet." yes, the one that already has one bar of harmony lead guitars. this is too good. "we won't be quiet" featuring the nuge. when we asked him if he'd play on a tune he said, and i quote, "sure. you guys pick out the vehicle and i'll come over and turn it into a four wheel drive." might be a great opportunity for some monumental screen grabs.

This has to be a great time for David Crowder and the Band. They are living a dream that millions of others would love to be living. They are impacting lives with the gifts that God has given to them. Yet, they are still so down to earth that they get totally excited about an aging Rock Star from their youth that could probably care less about their ministry, but humors them just the same, because Ted Nugent is just as normal as the Crowder band themselves.

You got to love that!

Here is to great lunch crews!

still more....

Louie you gave me just way too much to think about, I could hardly sleep last night.

So what do you get when you look into the core of the Whirlpool Galaxy?

Check this out...

http://imgsrc.hubblesite.org/hu/db/1992/17/images/a/formats/full_jpg.jpg

Your the center of the Universe, everything is made for You...thank you Charlie Hall!

back to the feeling small thing....

Ok, there is more..much more. More than i can cover in just one post. Ok..so if the earth is a golf ball, the sun is 15' in diameter! That is big...but then you look at the VY Canis Majoris (which is the BIG DOG star) :) which is very far away from us! Read more on the W! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VY_Canis_Majoris This is the largest know star. Here is a picture that tries to scale our sun with VY Canis Majoris.... http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3b/Sun_and_VY_Canis_Majoris.png Incredible! Louie Giglio reminded us that in Genesis our God spit this from His mouth! Indescribable, uncontainable!

ok i feel very small......

Last night Louie Giglio really helped me understand just how small I really am. Although I am really small in comparison to the illustrations he used, it still did not help me feel better about how big my belly is becoming :) But if you take a look at our structure, we are made up of millions of cells. Here was the cool part....all of these cells are connected, held together by this binding agent, it is called Laminin! WOW, Louie that was awesome...Laminin! It is what holds us together! It was a God moment when he showed us what Laminin looks like...WOW!

...Christ in me, Christ in me, Christ in me the hope of glory...You are everything!
Everything by Tim Hughes and Matt Redman