Josh Hamilton...

I set an August 1st deadline for myself to return to blogging. Obviously it was a soft deadline because here I am on August 10th writing my first 'real' entry in about a month.

As I was checking my usual sites on Saturday morning I came across a link on deadspin.com that showed photos Josh Hamilton in a bar, in January some time, in some compromising positions with several young ladies.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Josh Hamilton this isn't just another athlete in a bar having fun. Josh Hamilton is a recovering addict who was the story of baseball last year. He also credits his faith and relationship with Jesus for changing his life.

You can watch his testimony here.

You can read more about his story of addiction and where he was before January here.

"And it's a different man from the coked-out Josh who lost nearly four full seasons to drugs before getting clean and winning reinstatement. This Josh emerged from the shadow of death last season when the Rays lost him in the Rule V draft to Cincinnati, where he was comeback player of the year. He was traded on Dec. 21 to Texas, and his play has been stunning."

This is a link to the post at deadspin (not safe for work)

Josh Hamilton claims he's been sober since October 2005. Since then he's rejuvenated his career, saved his marriage, devoted himself to Jesus, and become America's flawed, homer-derby hero. Last winter, while he was alone in Tempe, Arizona, Hambone kinda slipped.

http://deadspin.com/5332801/the-devil-is-still-in-josh-hamilton-update/gallery/

Reactions were obviously mixed -

My initial reaction was a little bit of surprise though it shouldn't have been. My thoughts then turned to all of those who were going to enjoy the fact that a man who was so public about his faith and relationship with Jesus was now like 'all the other hypocrites'.

Here is a sample of the comments from readers of deadspin. -

"Maybe if he hadn't profited so much off the born again. With the book and all the other, he put himself up there."

"I don't think anyone is happy to see an addict fall off the wagon, but the fact that he became such a soldier of Christ and then gets blasted, sucks down shots and whip cream off random chicks, and then just goes about his business for however long makes him a giant hypocrite. I doubt he admitted his lapse to his family before this."

"The only thing Josh has done is profess his faith, which he feels strongly about, and he's admittedly done so quite often. In no way has he ever implored others to join him, or condemned others for not sharing his beliefs. He hasn't forced you to listen. But somehow you guys try to act as if he has, or as if his message is now less true or less valuable. If you knew what his message was you would know that this is not only false but it's poor reasoning."

"You are a real (butt)hole for writing that article on Josh Hamilton. I hope you get hit by a truck and die. Who cares anyways whether he is out having drinks? All you are doing is trying to hurt him and other athletes with your stories. The media and paparazzi suck."

This was Josh Hamilton's statement -

"I'm embarrassed about it, personally, for the Rangers, for my wife, my children and my family. It reinforces one of the things that I can't have is alcohol. It's unfortunate that it happened. I was out there getting ready for the season and took my focus off the number one factor in my recovery - my relationship with Christ. I hate that this happened...

"I wasn't mentally fit or spiritually fit," he said. "It just crossed my mind ‘Can I have a drink?' Obviously, I can't. One drink leads to two and two drink leads to 10 or 12. When I was in AA, one saying I heard was one drink is too many and 1,000 is never enough. Alcohol just doesn't mix well with me."

It didn't surprise me that he turned out to not be perfect. I've also had a pretty good view of someone struggling with addiction over the past few years. It shouldn't have surprised me that he relapsed, and it won't surprise me when he does again.

As a follow of Christ it hit home too. Some people want to see people of faith fall for whatever reason. There are a lot of reasons, some self-inflicted by Christians, that people don't get that we aren't perfect. I know that I am not better than anyone else and neither is Josh Hamilton. We are just two sinners who by grace, mercy and forgiveness get through every day. It did remind me that when I put my faith out there for people to see there are people who are waiting for me to mess up.