At the tender age of eight, my son Jesse is a sports fanatic. He will run through a wall. He picked up a book about Ichiro, the Seattle Mariners right fielder, from the school library for a “little light” reading. When Jesse comes to the plate for batting, he sticks out his arms and pulls up his sleeve just like Ichiro.
Several years ago an Ichiro rookie card was worth $200; I’m not sure of its value today. The Assemblies of God Missions Department records eight converts for every dollar spent in Assemblies of God missions. That same $200 could be used to see 1600 Chinese converts find Christ. Which would you rather have? Converts credited to your life or the need to work hard to protect the safety of a baseball card? You would have to constantly instruct your kids to “be careful with the card.” Your wife would roll her eyes every time you brought the card out in a social setting. Come on honey, not the card.