Welcome to the Marine Corps

“Sometimes God’s children must be blinded before they can see, wounded before they will fight, and crippled before they can walk.” – Os Hillman

I invite you to join me in the “wayback machine” as we revisit May 1981. I had just graduated Summa Cum Laude from Temple University and thought I had the world by the tail. The only problem was that the world wasn’t very interested in me or my skills and so, I endured a 10-month job hunt during which I had to accept whatever menial positions that were offered to me such as working in an arcade and driving a floral delivery truck. As you can imagine, that didn’t set too well with Mr. Most Likely to Succeed.

To compound matters (and my misery), the girl I had dated for three years – and was ready to propose to – decided that she wanted to see other guys. Ouch! Trust me; there’s nothing more humbling than having to return an engagement ring to the jeweler that you bought it from.

It was truly one of the lowest points of my life…

And yet, that is exactly where God met me. Spending 10 days in Florida with some Christian students from the University of Delaware the following spring turned my life around. I went from being a lukewarm Christian to being on fire for Jesus Christ!

Around that time, people began asking me what I wanted to do with my life… and my answer was simple. “I want to load a bunch of Christian ballplayers onto a bus and barnstorm around the country, telling people about Jesus.” Guess what? Five years later, that’s exactly what I started doing – and kept doing – for the next 35 years.

All it took was for God to wound me deeply enough to rid me of my pride, arrogance, and self-assurance. Just like the U.S. Marine Corps, He broke me down so that He could build me up, this time in the image of His Son.

“Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.” Proverbs 18:12 (BSB)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President