October 19, 2024 • 31 mins
One from the archives. Recorded in July 2019.
Have you ever wondered how faith can weave its way through the world of sports and beyond? Join us for this captivating episode featuring Jacob Preece, a former relief pitcher for the Edmonton Prospects, who shares his inspiring journey from the baseball diamond to the realms of law and wildlife conservation. Guided by his steadfast faith, Jacob's story is one of transformation—rooted in the values instilled by his parents and the spirituality he embraced along the way. As he reflects on his career shift and newfound passions for hunting and fishing, Jacob paints a vivid picture of how his beliefs have shaped his path and allowed him to connect deeply with the natural world.
Listen as we explore the powerful connections between faith, sports, and the outdoors, delving into Jacob's life as a conservationist and outdoorsman. We discuss how his upbringing influenced his values, paving the way for a life filled with purpose and integrity. His journey offers insights into the importance of balance and staying true to one's core beliefs while navigating life's many transitions. Through this conversation, you'll gain an appreciation for the divine beauty in nature and the significance of maintaining that splendor for future generations.
We also touch on the pivotal role of family in fostering a strong foundation of humility, respect, and hard work. Jacob recounts the freedom his parents gave him to explore and ultimately embrace Christianity at a crucial crossroads in his life. This episode is brimming with hope and encouragement, as we highlight the potential of sports to inspire and uplift, especially for those seeking guidance and connection. Join us for a heartwarming conversation that underscores the power of faith in charting a meaningful path and inspiring others to live with purpose and integrity.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Welcome to the Gospel in the Game sports podcast.
I'm your host, dan Dramarski,and usually with me is Dave
Dawson.
But today we're bringing you avery special episode, another
edition of From the Archives.
Today we bring out an episoderecorded in the summer of 2019
with baseball player JacobPreece.
(00:30):
Jacob Preece was a reliefpitcher at the time, previously
with the Western CanadianBaseball League, playing for the
Edmonton Prospects.
Jacob was very vocal about hisfaith and still is, and being
involved in sport.
He took this as an opportunityto share about his faith and
still is and being involved insport.
He took this as an opportunityto share about his faith with
not only his teammates, but alsowith those around him.
(00:51):
Enjoy this episode, give ussome feedback, let us know what
you think.
Here now is our episode withJacob Preece.
Welcome back to the Gospel inthe Game.
I'm your host, dan Demarski,with me is Dave Dawson, and
today we are interviewing JacobPriest.
Jacob, how are you doing today?
Speaker 2 (01:12):
I'm doing great, happy to be here Awesome.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Now, Jacob is a former sidearm pitcher, Played
up here in Edmonton, Alberta,Canada, for the Edmonton
Prospects for a year.
Played up here in Edmonton,Alberta, Canada, for the
Edmonton Prospects for a year.
Played a little college balland the gospel and the game.
It's about the two things thegospel and the game.
And so, Jacob, we have you onto share a little bit of your
(01:35):
testimony on what your life hasbeen involved in the game of
sport, and baseball inparticular, and how the Lord has
allowed you to be encouragedand used throughout that process
.
Where are you at right now,Jacob?
Now, I mentioned that youplayed here, but you're retired,
(01:56):
aren't?
Speaker 2 (01:58):
you.
Yeah, so later in my careeractually the season after, later
in my career, actually theseason after so I was in
Edmonton in the summer andshortly after I got injured I
injured my UCL and so can I lovea play, but it was a great
experience while I was there andthen.
(02:25):
So right now, you know, I'mactually currently in law school
and I'm working for a placecalled the Quality Deer
Management Association.
It does a lot of conservationwork and I absolutely love that.
I like to tell people that Igot to live a dream playing
baseball up in Edmonton and nowI get to live a dream doing this
, so it's really great.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Edmonton and now, you know, I get to live a dream
doing this, so it's, it's reallygreat.
So the first question for it Ithink it's, you know, for maybe
people who follow baseballprobably familiar with who you
are to follow that realm.
But a great introductoryquestion for everybody,
regardless of who we have on, iswho are you, who is Jacob
priests?
If you introduced yourself, beit maybe a faith conversation or
anything that, who, who isJacob Priest?
(03:06):
How do you fill in that?
Who are you sentence?
Wow.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Give us a second.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Let's hope they get easier from here.
That's a tough question rightthere, it sounds like, since
you're in Moscow.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
I should ask you, like the, the algebra questions,
or like the really really hardones, or where were you on the 9
to the 4?
Yeah, exactly, and then we'llwork our way down.
Yeah, right, or maybe somethingmore unexpected, anyway, yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
I think for me, gosh, obviously a man of faith I mean
that's got to to be number one.
A family man that's got to beup there too Now at this point
in my life.
A conservationist I work reallyhard at that An outdoorsman,
(03:57):
gosh.
The outdoors mean so much to meand it shaped me as an
individual and has shaped me asan individual Right now.
That's who Jacob Preece is, youknow.
And gosh, I'm unbelievablyblessed and you know I can't
reiterate that enough, but Ithink that's the best way to
answer your question right now.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
For me personally, Now, before you dive into the
next one that you're itching at,dave, I said to my son I said
usually guys that are athletesare either in the summertime
they're busy fishing, or they'rebusy golfing, or you do a bowl.
And so Jacob's an avidfisherman.
If you go to his social mediaand by conservationist, you know
(04:43):
what, what you love yourwildlife and you care for it,
but you are a fisherman oh yeah,I love to fish, I love to hunt,
I love to be outside.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
You know, I like to tell people that you know
sportsmen and women.
They're the originalconservationists and there's
nobody connected to the landmore than those people, and so
to get to represent those peopleand do what I do at KDMA is
really great and, like I said,it is living another dream for
me, so it's been awesome.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Well, why don't we tackle the baseball portion
first and we can kind of jumpfrom there now?
You know, growing up a youngman in the?
U in the us, what I understandabout you doing my research and
baseball is that you know it'samerica's game, right, you go
out, you're playing ball.
The dream is to play the high,some sort of high level ball.
(05:39):
Um, what, what was that processlike for you, getting into that
and then moving on from thegame?
How did that make you into theperson you are?
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Yeah, so getting into the game, you know I played
when I was really young GoshT-Ball.
When I was, I think, four yearsold or five years old, I
started with that and I fell inlove with the game and from a
very early age I played nothingbut baseball.
That was it, that was all Iplayed and I focused entirely on
that.
I got to high school and it wasbaseball year-round.
(06:11):
It was, you know, when snow wason the ground here in Ohio.
You know I was inside atbaseball camps.
You know I give a lot of creditto my parents who drove me
around to these things all thetime.
You know I live gosh 45 minutesoutside of Cleveland, ohio, and
you know a lot of those campswere in downtown Cleveland, you
(06:33):
know, and they drove me whetherit was, you know, on a Thursday
night and they had work in themorning.
They drove me there.
So I went from that to you know.
So that developed my love forthe game and it was kind of, you
know.
So that developed my love forthe game and it was kind of, you
know, helped by my family andmy parents, their support and,
you know, they put me in thebest position to succeed and
(06:53):
have an opportunity to playcollege baseball.
And then I got, you know, Iwent out and, you know, got into
the recruiting process, chose acollege, went to the college of
Worcester to play, playedbaseball there and then you know
, it was kind of uh, you knowthat was kind of a learning
(07:13):
experience and then ended up inEdmonton, kind of off a whim
really, because it was.
I was looking for summer teamsand you know the the head coach
then was Ray Brown.
I reached out to him and I saidhey, I'm a sideline pitcher from
Ohio.
(07:34):
What do you think?
Speaker 1 (07:36):
He said, Send me a video.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
So I sent him a recruiting video and it was just
a video of me pitching and RayBrown took a chance on me and I
owe a lot to that guy because hekind of he knew my pitching
style and he knew how to utilizeme and I was really in a good
system there.
And you know, he took a chanceon me and and it worked out and
(08:02):
I learned an unbelievable amountof information while I was
there.
But you know, as Dan can tellyou, I fell in love with that
city.
I fell in love with that city.
I fell in love with the peoplethere.
Edmonton will always have aspecial place in my heart.
It was truly an unbelievableexperience.
And then coming out gettinginjured was unfortunate.
(08:23):
But, like I said, you know Godhas a plan and you know, truly
an unbelievable experience.
And then coming out gettinginjured was unfortunate.
But, like I said, you know godhas a plan and you know, I got
to live a dream while I was upthere at edmonton and now I get
to live this one and it's justbeen been surreal.
So, yeah, that's that's kind ofmy journey.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
That's cool, appreciate you sharing that.
Now there are a lot of layersand levels in there and I really
appreciate you being vulnerablenow.
The pastor in my church here inEdmonton has this thing where
he says Faith is spelled R-I-S-Kand often you look through the
Gospels, you look throughScripture, you know the Lord.
I think nobody is removed fromtimes where you're on shaky
(09:00):
ground and you don't know whattomorrow looks like, and some of
the different athletes thatwe've talked to on this podcast
that's familiar to it.
What does risk look like inyour faith journey and how has
the lord guided you through someof those risky situations,
maybe even going from the usa tocanada?
Speaker 2 (09:19):
oh yeah, that's actually.
That was actually the example Iwas going to use because, look,
being completely honest withyou, my college season, before I
went up to Canada, I wasvirtually benched on my college
team.
I wasn't seeing a lot of time.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
But, like I said, ray Brown took a chance on me.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Now I say he took a chance on me because you're not
guaranteed a roster spot, andfor me it was going up and
taking a chance, it was taking arisk.
But you know what, at the endof the day, I knew that God had
a plan and that, you know, Icould rely on that.
And so I went up and I said tomyself I'm going to give you
everything I got, I'm going toput everything I can into this
(09:59):
and let's see, maybe we'll maketwo weeks out of it, maybe we'll
make it two weeks and I'llenjoy this experience.
Well then, I made it two weeksand then I was like, let's make
it a month and I'll enjoy thatexperience.
I made it a month and then,after a month, it became clear
that I was a part of the systemand that I was going to be able
to stay here the whole time.
So that risk of going up intoanother country not knowing
(10:21):
anybody, I knew nobody when Ilanded in Edmonton.
Ray Brown picked me up from theairport.
That was the first time I hadmet the guy.
So you know I came up knowingnobody and just taking that risk
, taking that chance, because inmy mind, if you work hard, you
never give up, you trust in God,you can do anything.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Now.
You were very much vocal withyour faith when you were part of
the image of prospects.
My boys love the fact that youhave bible verses inside your
hat and tell us a little bitabout that.
What did it mean to be anathlete that was vocal with
their faith?
Speaker 2 (11:00):
yeah, yeah.
So even when I played baseball,even now, I always wanted to do
something bigger than myself.
I always want to have an impactbigger than myself.
Edmonton gave me the pedestal.
Edmonton put me in thespotlight, it put me in front of
a lot of people, and so I wasable to Show my faith and I was
(11:22):
always a player that wore myemotions on my sleeve.
I was always that player.
You were going to know who Iwas.
I wanted to be genuine ineverything I did whether it was
after the game, signingautographs for kids.
Whatever it was I wanted to begenuine.
I was not bigger than the game.
I was not bigger than thepeople who were there, the fans,
(11:44):
anything like that.
I wasn't bigger than that.
So I wanted to make sure thatpeople knew who I was, and part
of that is a man of faith.
And so to be able to sit thereand go through my pregame
routine on the mound and pointmy finger up to this guy and say
, you know, to have that publicprayer moment, that was just me,
(12:05):
that's me and that's who I am,and I'm going to be genuine.
I'm not going to be somebodythat I'm not.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
And part of that is speaking about the person before
the athlete and your identitybeing found in Christ, and
that's absolutely perfect and Ithink a lot of times that is
forgotten where we seeprofessional athletes whether
it's on an amateur level orminor league level or
(12:30):
professional level and we seethe athlete and so often it's
just a refreshing thing to seethe person and the humanity
behind it.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
For sure I was going to ask you.
So you have that platform,you're playing baseball, you
took that risk.
The Lord gives you a place toplay ball, you're in the
community.
Then that gets taken away fromyou, then you have an injury.
What's that process like foryou, where you have that
platform and then it's notnecessarily gone, but you're
(13:05):
going through those emotions ofokay, what's next?
Speaker 2 (13:09):
right.
So that's where, that's where alittle bit of my upbringing and
faith come into play.
So faith in that I knew god hada plan.
I knew there was a reason forwhat happened upbringing in that
I, my parents, had, theybrought me up in a way that I
had.
You know, baseball was don'tget me wrong baseball was my
(13:31):
life, that it surrounded, itconsumed me.
Part of it kind of had to.
You were always playing, youwere always practicing, you were
always committed, you were abaseball player.
That's what you were.
But I took comfort in the factof God having a plan and I also
took comfort in the fact that,okay, I got to live a dream up
there in Edmonton.
I got to play in front ofthousands of fans and got to
(13:55):
meet amazing people and grow myfaith.
And now I have the opportunityto grow elsewhere and I have the
opportunity to really dedicatemyself to things that kind of I
couldn't before.
I couldn't dedicate myself tothose things before.
So that included hunting andfishing in the outdoors, where
baseball took a lot of my summer, so I couldn't go do those
(14:15):
things as much where now I havethe opportunity.
So you know, you make the bestof your situation.
So was it unfortunate?
Yes, but did that open the doorto other opportunities for me
to have an impact bigger thanmyself?
Yes, it did and honestly, Iwouldn't change it, because I
love this, I love what I'm doingnow.
I love the memories that I havewith Dan and with the fans
(14:39):
there and Edmonton and gosh,meeting those families Dan,
yours included, gosh they'reamazing.
So you know the experiences Iwill have for the rest of my
life.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
So what does the day-to-day of your faith look
like now?
Being involved as aconservationist and being, you
know, being involved in the gameof fishing?
I love the idea that there aremany sports where God puts
believers in.
I have a buddy who's a believerin a stand-up comic where, if
you think of that's kind of likea sport.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Yeah, exactly Sidebar .
Speaker 3 (15:12):
But it's interesting that you think of different
industries where God's got allof his people lined up, and then
there are temptations and thereare ways that you're like you
could go this way to get peopleto really like you, or instead
you can dial it back a bit, soto get people to really like you
, or instead you can dial itback again.
So what does your day-to-daylook like as a conservationist
and what do some of yourinteractions with your faith
(15:32):
look like in sharing the gospeland living in faith?
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Right.
So I talk about the connectionto the land a lot.
Right, and that is reallyimportant to me as a sportsman
is connection to the land okay,and that comes also with my
belief system and also aconnection to faith Okay, so
that connection to the land alsois a connection to faith and a
(15:55):
connection to God.
You know, and we have greatopportunities.
Look, I get to go out sometimessome mornings, and I get to see
God's work right there, rightthere in front of me, and that's
an amazing, amazing, you knowexperience to see what, you know
, god had a hand in and that isjust unbelievable to me.
And so that's, you know,talking about day to day, you
(16:18):
know, and being aconservationist, you're
continually motivated by that.
You're continually motivatedbecause what you want to do is
you want to ensure that thosepeople who come after me have
those same opportunities toexperience god's work and have
the same opportunities toexperience what I have been
fortunate enough to experience.
(16:38):
When I go out there and I sitwhether it's in a, you know,
whether it's a tree, stand aduck blind, wherever I'm at in a
river, I want to make sure thatthose people have those same
opportunities, because it's anexperience that I can't put into
words and probably will neverbe able to put into words.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Yeah, so true, jacob.
You mentioned the buildingblocks, those developing years
where your parents were engagedand involved, and you talk about
having a great upbringing.
Talk to the parents that arelistening to this.
What are some great things thatyour parents did that you can
(17:16):
see now.
Maybe you might not even haveagreed with it at the time, but
you see now as well.
Those were solid buildingblocks that were really
important for my mom and dad todo.
That really developed me nowgosh, there's.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
There's so many things that they did for me.
I there's no way that I'll beable to mention them all, but
you know, it's just just bethere.
That that's fundamental.
That's fundamental in itself.
Just be there for your kids.
I think that's huge.
That was what was so great tome.
To be able to look at myparents over there in the stands
(17:52):
watching my games wasmotivation.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
That was motivating for me because I wanted to do
well for them.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
I know they care, they care about me, and so to
see them over there, knowingthat they want me to do well,
that was motivation, you know.
And also, I think my parentshave always taught me humility,
and I think humility is huge.
Not only do I think humility ishuge in, you know, in my faith,
(18:19):
but also my parents in theirupbringing of me teaching me
humility and not making me outto think that I am above anybody
or anything, that you know Ishould have.
Respect for the game, for mycoaches, that's that was also
really important.
Respect for myself, uh, youknow, just, they continually,
(18:44):
continually told me theimportance of working hard and
that has instilled not only inme when it came to sports, but
now after sports.
All of these things that theytaught me that related to sports
have helped me after sports.
Humility, respect, working hard, gosh, those are just
fundamental things.
But ultimately, as a parent, assomebody who has played and had
(19:09):
their parents at their gamesand driving them across the
country to go see games, just bethere for your kids.
That means so much to them andI know it meant so much to me.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
We often ask on the show, going back to your
16-year-old self, what would youtell a 16-year-old Jacob priest
?
And the caveat to that I'mcurious of is where did that
faith become yours during thatnavigation process and when did
you adopt that?
And we often get that parent,you know, raised in a Christian
home, went off to college somesort of like whoa like wake-up
(19:45):
moment.
You know, raised in a Christianhome, went off to college some
sort of like whoa like wake upmoment.
You know Jesus has to be mine.
Now.
Where did that interaction comefor you?
Where, like okay, this is myown faith.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Right.
So that actually came.
That actually came a little bitlater in life for me, because
my parents, growing up, uh, wedidn't, we didn't necessarily we
didn't, we didn't go to churchtoo much, but faith was always
important.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
So faith was always important, but it didn't become
my faith until later, because myparents allowed me to learn by
myself what was best for me,because that's what my parents
want is what's best for me, andI applaud them for that.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
So when I was about 18 years old, I kind of came at
a crossroads in my life and Isaid what type I knew.
I wanted to be a Christian.
I was raised a Christian.
It made sense to me.
But as you know, there aredifferent denominations
different beliefs within theChristian faith.
So I had to ask myself what kindof Christian did I want to be?
(20:46):
Well, I came to realize that,you know, for me, Christianity
as a faith is so much more about, so much more than just the
separate denominations.
It's about love, it's aboutacceptance, it's about how you
treat one another.
So that was when I reallydiscovered look, not only do I
(21:09):
want to be a good man, because Iwas 18 years old, I was coming
up, I was making my morals.
I was trying my best to become aman and, with the help of my
family, friends, I discoveredthat, look, I didn't want to
just be a man, I wanted to be agood man of God.
Discovered that, look, I didn'twant to just be a man, I wanted
to be a good man of God.
And that was when that wasreally when I kind of decided
(21:30):
that that was the path I wantedto take.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Okay, so you've decided now that you're a
follower of Lord Jesus Christ,decided after your commitment to
Christ.
How do you put an exclamationmark on that so that you can
impact and influence the kidsthat are watching the next
generation?
So I'm asking almost a reversequestion.
(21:53):
Sometimes we ask, going backfurther than that, talk to your
five, six, seven-year-old selfwhat do you want the Lord to do
with your life so that, all of asudden, these kids that are
watching this young man enjoythings like fishing, things like
baseball, things that are cool,but yet, at the same time, I
(22:15):
want them to see Christ, becauseChrist is a little bit more
important.
What do you do?
What do you put thatexclamation mark on?
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Well, I'm doing it right now.
I mean, I have these podcasts.
I mean what you guys are doingright now, you're giving me a
platform through things likethis.
That's the easy part, right,you're giving me a platform and
I can speak and I can say look,jesus Christ has done this in my
life and I like to tell peopletoo that I'm a believer in Jesus
(22:42):
Christ, because I've seen whathe can do.
I'm a living example, becausewithout him I wouldn't be here
where I'm a believer in JesusChrist, because I've seen what
he can do.
I'm a living example becauseyou know, without him I wouldn't
be here where I'm at, you know.
So I think you know that is,first and foremost, a way in
which I can kind of proclaim myfaith is using things like this
and teaching people through this, this type of podcast.
(23:03):
You guys are in a greatposition to do a lot of great
work in that regard.
But beyond this podcast, it'sliving your life by example.
It is living your life as anexample of what Jesus Christ
would want you to live your lifeby.
It's being a good person, it'sbeing a man of faith.
(23:24):
You live by example, you dogood things, you do good deeds.
It's being a man of faith.
You live by example, you dogood things, you do good deeds,
you have humility and respect,and that is how you show people.
Look, jesus Christ helped meget here.
He helped me.
I'm living my life for him, andso that's how I try to do it,
the best I can.
I think that's the best way todo it.
Speaker 3 (23:46):
Now, men and young men today are inundated with a
lot of different struggles.
Women this generation, thefatherless generation.
Right, there's a number of andGod bless single moms out there
who do an incredible job, but Ibelieve that they were never
intended to do that on their ownand everyone needs a dad.
Yeah, absolutely, yeah,absolutely.
(24:07):
So how has your father made animpact in your life to make you
into the man you are today?
And what do you tell some ofthe younger men out there,
inundated with sexual temptation, with anger or other addictions
or frustrations, or maybe justidentity, who am I?
I need to go find it in money,either go find it in this or
(24:30):
that.
You know, how do you, as ayoung man, navigate through that
?
And how did your father helpaffirm your identity as who you
are, making you the guy you are?
Speaker 2 (24:41):
today, right right.
So my dad has had anunbelievable impact on my life.
Speaker 3 (24:46):
My dad is he's a deputy sheriff so he gets to go
be a hero for other people andthen gets to come home and be my
hero.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
So you know it's he has taught he has been the
cornerstone of respect andhumility.
I talked about respect.
I talked about who respectedhumility throughout this entire
podcast and a lot of that senseof him.
Um, you know, and I think thatyou know, I also talked a lot
about hard work and that manworks hard.
(25:14):
He works hard for me and my momand my brother to make sure
that he gives us.
He'll always tell us he wants abetter life for us than he had
and he had a great, you know, itwasn't really a bad life but he
just wants us to do better thanhe did.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
And I think that's every parent's goal.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
I know your question's about my father, but
I'd be remiss to not say that mymother's had an unbelievable
impact in my life as well.
So I realize that a father isextremely important.
That being said, you know, Ithink your mother can also have
an unbelievable impact onpeople's lives, because I know
my mom has as well.
She has also taught me how towork.
(25:53):
So those people that maybe haveare struggling with you know,
because it may be a man orsomething like that you can
fight through things that areput on your plate, that might be
(26:14):
struggles through.
I always tell people throughthree things you can never give
up.
You gotta work hard and trustin Jesus Christ and he will
bring you through it, and I am aliving example of that.
I really am.
So I think that's the bigthings you've got to focus on
for that type of thing.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
Amen.
And you know, having thatframework and that model, and
you know, some families they'reblessed with both parents.
Some young men, young ladies,they lose parents too soon or
maybe they don't have a mom ordon't have a dad and often
they'll latch on to someone whocould be a father figure,
someone who could be a motherfigure, and those things are
(26:54):
just really important.
And, like you kind of just said, more importantly, someone that
models Jesus Christ.
That's a pivotal thing forevery young man and young woman
and I think every coach, I thinkevery, every parent in the
crowd.
That's our role.
That's our role, isn't?
It is the model Jesus Christ.
So what would Jesus do if hewas a parent to the crowd?
(27:18):
What would Jesus do if he was acoach?
If he was a baseball player, itwas.
He was a fisherman, now being afisher of men.
That you are, no pun intended.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
Pun intended, Pun intended.
He was like I'm going to haveJacob on the podcast.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
I'm going to build it all to that.
That's right Now that we've hitthe pinnacle.
What's your favorite Bibleverse, jacob?
Why don't you share it with us?
Speaker 2 (27:47):
I think, my favorite.
So there were two Bible versesthat I wrote in my hat and
they're pretty hard todifferentiate.
They're pretty hard to pick oneover the other.
I guess One of them is so it'sa little cliche because I think
a lot of people use it, butthat's okay.
It's good that people have averse to go to, but it's
(28:12):
Philippians 4.13.
And so it's.
I can do all things throughChrist, who strengthens me.
A lot of truth in that.
But the one I want to focus onreally is Romans 8.31, which
says that if our God is for us,then who can be against us?
And that goes back to trustingin God.
And that's why it's my favorite, because I think if you place
your trust in Jesus Christ, youreally can't go wrong, because
(28:34):
he is going to work out for you,he is going to put you on that
path of success, he's going togive you those opportunities.
You just got to go out and takethem and live your life, like I
said, the best way you can toexemplify Christianity.
And I think that's why thatverse is so special to me and
(28:56):
it's really affected my life,that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
Now, jacob, I want to thank you for being on the
Gospel in the Game podcast andyou know, you just kind of you
nailed it right on the head whenyou laid it out and just said
you know, if you got Jesus, youwin.
That's the game plan, isn't it?
Speaker 2 (29:19):
If you got the.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
Lord, not too many other things matter.
We have two conditions on ourshow.
One is we get to have you backand we get to follow up with you
and we get to interview again.
How many other things matter?
We have two conditions on ourshow.
One is we get to have you backand we get to follow up with you
and we get to interview againand we're going to follow up
with Jacob Priest and find outwhat he's doing and what he's
learned and what the Lord isdoing in his life.
And the second thing is is,before we go, we're going to
take a moment and we're going topray for you Jacob.
(29:45):
Yeah, of yeah, of course, ofcourse.
Heavenly father, we thank youso much for this time we've been
able to spend with jacob and wejust pray that you would
continue to use him and that youwould bless him and all that
you would have him do.
Lord, may his testimony beheard, and lord, that the words
that were spoken today would beencouraging to those lives that
would hear them.
Or we think of many young menand many young ladies that don't
have father figures or motherfigures, but, lord, they have an
(30:09):
opportunity to know you astheir Lord and Savior.
And, lord, we pray that throughthe words spoken today, that
they would be drawn closer toyou and that they would know you
and trust in you.
In Jesus' name, we pray, amen,amen, pray, amen, amen.
You've just listened to anepisode from the archives with
Jacob Preece, baseball playerand now actually he is a
(30:31):
conservation officer in Ohio.
Really interesting to see howthe Lord changes the path and
uses sport in order to encourageothers.
If you are encouraged by thisepisode, give us some feedback,
follow us online.
You can also follow us onsocial media and you can listen
to us anywhere podcasts arefound.
I'm Dan Jomarski for anotheredition of Gospel in the Game
(30:54):
from the Archives We'll be rightback.
Welcome to the Gospel in the Game sports podcast.
I'm your host, dan Dramarski,and usually with me is Dave
Dawson.
But today we're bringing you avery special episode, another
edition of From the Archives.
Today we bring out an episoderecorded in the summer of 2019
with baseball player JacobPreece.
(00:30):
Jacob Preece was a reliefpitcher at the time, previously
with the Western CanadianBaseball League, playing for the
Edmonton Prospects.
Jacob was very vocal about hisfaith and still is, and being
involved in sport.
He took this as an opportunityto share about his faith and
still is and being involved insport.
He took this as an opportunityto share about his faith with
not only his teammates, but alsowith those around him.
(00:51):
Enjoy this episode, give ussome feedback, let us know what
you think.
Here now is our episode withJacob Preece.
Welcome back to the Gospel inthe Game.
I'm your host, dan Demarski,with me is Dave Dawson, and
today we are interviewing JacobPriest.
Jacob, how are you doing today?
Speaker 2 (01:12):
I'm doing great, happy to be here Awesome.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Now, Jacob is a former sidearm pitcher, Played
up here in Edmonton, Alberta,Canada, for the Edmonton
Prospects for a year.
Played up here in Edmonton,Alberta, Canada, for the
Edmonton Prospects for a year.
Played a little college balland the gospel and the game.
It's about the two things thegospel and the game.
And so, Jacob, we have you onto share a little bit of your
(01:35):
testimony on what your life hasbeen involved in the game of
sport, and baseball inparticular, and how the Lord has
allowed you to be encouragedand used throughout that process
.
Where are you at right now,Jacob?
Now, I mentioned that youplayed here, but you're retired,
(01:56):
aren't?
Speaker 2 (01:58):
you.
Yeah, so later in my careeractually the season after, later
in my career, actually theseason after so I was in
Edmonton in the summer andshortly after I got injured I
injured my UCL and so can I lovea play, but it was a great
experience while I was there andthen.
(02:25):
So right now, you know, I'mactually currently in law school
and I'm working for a placecalled the Quality Deer
Management Association.
It does a lot of conservationwork and I absolutely love that.
I like to tell people that Igot to live a dream playing
baseball up in Edmonton and nowI get to live a dream doing this
, so it's really great.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Edmonton and now, you know, I get to live a dream
doing this, so it's, it's reallygreat.
So the first question for it Ithink it's, you know, for maybe
people who follow baseballprobably familiar with who you
are to follow that realm.
But a great introductoryquestion for everybody,
regardless of who we have on, iswho are you, who is Jacob
priests?
If you introduced yourself, beit maybe a faith conversation or
anything that, who, who isJacob Priest?
(03:06):
How do you fill in that?
Who are you sentence?
Wow.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Give us a second.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Let's hope they get easier from here.
That's a tough question rightthere, it sounds like, since
you're in Moscow.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
I should ask you, like the, the algebra questions,
or like the really really hardones, or where were you on the 9
to the 4?
Yeah, exactly, and then we'llwork our way down.
Yeah, right, or maybe somethingmore unexpected, anyway, yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
I think for me, gosh, obviously a man of faith I mean
that's got to to be number one.
A family man that's got to beup there too Now at this point
in my life.
A conservationist I work reallyhard at that An outdoorsman,
(03:57):
gosh.
The outdoors mean so much to meand it shaped me as an
individual and has shaped me asan individual Right now.
That's who Jacob Preece is, youknow.
And gosh, I'm unbelievablyblessed and you know I can't
reiterate that enough, but Ithink that's the best way to
answer your question right now.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
For me personally, Now, before you dive into the
next one that you're itching at,dave, I said to my son I said
usually guys that are athletesare either in the summertime
they're busy fishing, or they'rebusy golfing, or you do a bowl.
And so Jacob's an avidfisherman.
If you go to his social mediaand by conservationist, you know
(04:43):
what, what you love yourwildlife and you care for it,
but you are a fisherman oh yeah,I love to fish, I love to hunt,
I love to be outside.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
You know, I like to tell people that you know
sportsmen and women.
They're the originalconservationists and there's
nobody connected to the landmore than those people, and so
to get to represent those peopleand do what I do at KDMA is
really great and, like I said,it is living another dream for
me, so it's been awesome.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Well, why don't we tackle the baseball portion
first and we can kind of jumpfrom there now?
You know, growing up a youngman in the?
U in the us, what I understandabout you doing my research and
baseball is that you know it'samerica's game, right, you go
out, you're playing ball.
The dream is to play the high,some sort of high level ball.
(05:39):
Um, what, what was that processlike for you, getting into that
and then moving on from thegame?
How did that make you into theperson you are?
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Yeah, so getting into the game, you know I played
when I was really young GoshT-Ball.
When I was, I think, four yearsold or five years old, I
started with that and I fell inlove with the game and from a
very early age I played nothingbut baseball.
That was it, that was all Iplayed and I focused entirely on
that.
I got to high school and it wasbaseball year-round.
(06:11):
It was, you know, when snow wason the ground here in Ohio.
You know I was inside atbaseball camps.
You know I give a lot of creditto my parents who drove me
around to these things all thetime.
You know I live gosh 45 minutesoutside of Cleveland, ohio, and
you know a lot of those campswere in downtown Cleveland, you
(06:33):
know, and they drove me whetherit was, you know, on a Thursday
night and they had work in themorning.
They drove me there.
So I went from that to you know.
So that developed my love forthe game and it was kind of, you
know.
So that developed my love forthe game and it was kind of, you
know, helped by my family andmy parents, their support and,
you know, they put me in thebest position to succeed and
(06:53):
have an opportunity to playcollege baseball.
And then I got, you know, Iwent out and, you know, got into
the recruiting process, chose acollege, went to the college of
Worcester to play, playedbaseball there and then you know
, it was kind of uh, you knowthat was kind of a learning
(07:13):
experience and then ended up inEdmonton, kind of off a whim
really, because it was.
I was looking for summer teamsand you know the the head coach
then was Ray Brown.
I reached out to him and I saidhey, I'm a sideline pitcher from
Ohio.
(07:34):
What do you think?
Speaker 1 (07:36):
He said, Send me a video.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
So I sent him a recruiting video and it was just
a video of me pitching and RayBrown took a chance on me and I
owe a lot to that guy because hekind of he knew my pitching
style and he knew how to utilizeme and I was really in a good
system there.
And you know, he took a chanceon me and and it worked out and
(08:02):
I learned an unbelievable amountof information while I was
there.
But you know, as Dan can tellyou, I fell in love with that
city.
I fell in love with that city.
I fell in love with the peoplethere.
Edmonton will always have aspecial place in my heart.
It was truly an unbelievableexperience.
And then coming out gettinginjured was unfortunate.
(08:23):
But, like I said, you know Godhas a plan and you know, truly
an unbelievable experience.
And then coming out gettinginjured was unfortunate.
But, like I said, you know godhas a plan and you know, I got
to live a dream while I was upthere at edmonton and now I get
to live this one and it's justbeen been surreal.
So, yeah, that's that's kind ofmy journey.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
That's cool, appreciate you sharing that.
Now there are a lot of layersand levels in there and I really
appreciate you being vulnerablenow.
The pastor in my church here inEdmonton has this thing where
he says Faith is spelled R-I-S-Kand often you look through the
Gospels, you look throughScripture, you know the Lord.
I think nobody is removed fromtimes where you're on shaky
(09:00):
ground and you don't know whattomorrow looks like, and some of
the different athletes thatwe've talked to on this podcast
that's familiar to it.
What does risk look like inyour faith journey and how has
the lord guided you through someof those risky situations,
maybe even going from the usa tocanada?
Speaker 2 (09:19):
oh yeah, that's actually.
That was actually the example Iwas going to use because, look,
being completely honest withyou, my college season, before I
went up to Canada, I wasvirtually benched on my college
team.
I wasn't seeing a lot of time.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
But, like I said, ray Brown took a chance on me.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Now I say he took a chance on me because you're not
guaranteed a roster spot, andfor me it was going up and
taking a chance, it was taking arisk.
But you know what, at the endof the day, I knew that God had
a plan and that, you know, Icould rely on that.
And so I went up and I said tomyself I'm going to give you
everything I got, I'm going toput everything I can into this
(09:59):
and let's see, maybe we'll maketwo weeks out of it, maybe we'll
make it two weeks and I'llenjoy this experience.
Well then, I made it two weeksand then I was like, let's make
it a month and I'll enjoy thatexperience.
I made it a month and then,after a month, it became clear
that I was a part of the systemand that I was going to be able
to stay here the whole time.
So that risk of going up intoanother country not knowing
(10:21):
anybody, I knew nobody when Ilanded in Edmonton.
Ray Brown picked me up from theairport.
That was the first time I hadmet the guy.
So you know I came up knowingnobody and just taking that risk
, taking that chance, because inmy mind, if you work hard, you
never give up, you trust in God,you can do anything.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Now.
You were very much vocal withyour faith when you were part of
the image of prospects.
My boys love the fact that youhave bible verses inside your
hat and tell us a little bitabout that.
What did it mean to be anathlete that was vocal with
their faith?
Speaker 2 (11:00):
yeah, yeah.
So even when I played baseball,even now, I always wanted to do
something bigger than myself.
I always want to have an impactbigger than myself.
Edmonton gave me the pedestal.
Edmonton put me in thespotlight, it put me in front of
a lot of people, and so I wasable to Show my faith and I was
(11:22):
always a player that wore myemotions on my sleeve.
I was always that player.
You were going to know who Iwas.
I wanted to be genuine ineverything I did whether it was
after the game, signingautographs for kids.
Whatever it was I wanted to begenuine.
I was not bigger than the game.
I was not bigger than thepeople who were there, the fans,
(11:44):
anything like that.
I wasn't bigger than that.
So I wanted to make sure thatpeople knew who I was, and part
of that is a man of faith.
And so to be able to sit thereand go through my pregame
routine on the mound and pointmy finger up to this guy and say
, you know, to have that publicprayer moment, that was just me,
(12:05):
that's me and that's who I am,and I'm going to be genuine.
I'm not going to be somebodythat I'm not.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
And part of that is speaking about the person before
the athlete and your identitybeing found in Christ, and
that's absolutely perfect and Ithink a lot of times that is
forgotten where we seeprofessional athletes whether
it's on an amateur level orminor league level or
(12:30):
professional level and we seethe athlete and so often it's
just a refreshing thing to seethe person and the humanity
behind it.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
For sure I was going to ask you.
So you have that platform,you're playing baseball, you
took that risk.
The Lord gives you a place toplay ball, you're in the
community.
Then that gets taken away fromyou, then you have an injury.
What's that process like foryou, where you have that
platform and then it's notnecessarily gone, but you're
(13:05):
going through those emotions ofokay, what's next?
Speaker 2 (13:09):
right.
So that's where, that's where alittle bit of my upbringing and
faith come into play.
So faith in that I knew god hada plan.
I knew there was a reason forwhat happened upbringing in that
I, my parents, had, theybrought me up in a way that I
had.
You know, baseball was don'tget me wrong baseball was my
(13:31):
life, that it surrounded, itconsumed me.
Part of it kind of had to.
You were always playing, youwere always practicing, you were
always committed, you were abaseball player.
That's what you were.
But I took comfort in the factof God having a plan and I also
took comfort in the fact that,okay, I got to live a dream up
there in Edmonton.
I got to play in front ofthousands of fans and got to
(13:55):
meet amazing people and grow myfaith.
And now I have the opportunityto grow elsewhere and I have the
opportunity to really dedicatemyself to things that kind of I
couldn't before.
I couldn't dedicate myself tothose things before.
So that included hunting andfishing in the outdoors, where
baseball took a lot of my summer, so I couldn't go do those
(14:15):
things as much where now I havethe opportunity.
So you know, you make the bestof your situation.
So was it unfortunate?
Yes, but did that open the doorto other opportunities for me
to have an impact bigger thanmyself?
Yes, it did and honestly, Iwouldn't change it, because I
love this, I love what I'm doingnow.
I love the memories that I havewith Dan and with the fans
(14:39):
there and Edmonton and gosh,meeting those families Dan,
yours included, gosh they'reamazing.
So you know the experiences Iwill have for the rest of my
life.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
So what does the day-to-day of your faith look
like now?
Being involved as aconservationist and being, you
know, being involved in the gameof fishing?
I love the idea that there aremany sports where God puts
believers in.
I have a buddy who's a believerin a stand-up comic where, if
you think of that's kind of likea sport.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Yeah, exactly Sidebar .
Speaker 3 (15:12):
But it's interesting that you think of different
industries where God's got allof his people lined up, and then
there are temptations and thereare ways that you're like you
could go this way to get peopleto really like you, or instead
you can dial it back a bit, soto get people to really like you
, or instead you can dial itback again.
So what does your day-to-daylook like as a conservationist
and what do some of yourinteractions with your faith
(15:32):
look like in sharing the gospeland living in faith?
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Right.
So I talk about the connectionto the land a lot.
Right, and that is reallyimportant to me as a sportsman
is connection to the land okay,and that comes also with my
belief system and also aconnection to faith Okay, so
that connection to the land alsois a connection to faith and a
(15:55):
connection to God.
You know, and we have greatopportunities.
Look, I get to go out sometimessome mornings, and I get to see
God's work right there, rightthere in front of me, and that's
an amazing, amazing, you knowexperience to see what, you know
, god had a hand in and that isjust unbelievable to me.
And so that's, you know,talking about day to day, you
(16:18):
know, and being aconservationist, you're
continually motivated by that.
You're continually motivatedbecause what you want to do is
you want to ensure that thosepeople who come after me have
those same opportunities toexperience god's work and have
the same opportunities toexperience what I have been
fortunate enough to experience.
(16:38):
When I go out there and I sitwhether it's in a, you know,
whether it's a tree, stand aduck blind, wherever I'm at in a
river, I want to make sure thatthose people have those same
opportunities, because it's anexperience that I can't put into
words and probably will neverbe able to put into words.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Yeah, so true, jacob.
You mentioned the buildingblocks, those developing years
where your parents were engagedand involved, and you talk about
having a great upbringing.
Talk to the parents that arelistening to this.
What are some great things thatyour parents did that you can
(17:16):
see now.
Maybe you might not even haveagreed with it at the time, but
you see now as well.
Those were solid buildingblocks that were really
important for my mom and dad todo.
That really developed me nowgosh, there's.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
There's so many things that they did for me.
I there's no way that I'll beable to mention them all, but
you know, it's just just bethere.
That that's fundamental.
That's fundamental in itself.
Just be there for your kids.
I think that's huge.
That was what was so great tome.
To be able to look at myparents over there in the stands
(17:52):
watching my games wasmotivation.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
That was motivating for me because I wanted to do
well for them.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
I know they care, they care about me, and so to
see them over there, knowingthat they want me to do well,
that was motivation, you know.
And also, I think my parentshave always taught me humility,
and I think humility is huge.
Not only do I think humility ishuge in, you know, in my faith,
(18:19):
but also my parents in theirupbringing of me teaching me
humility and not making me outto think that I am above anybody
or anything, that you know Ishould have.
Respect for the game, for mycoaches, that's that was also
really important.
Respect for myself, uh, youknow, just, they continually,
(18:44):
continually told me theimportance of working hard and
that has instilled not only inme when it came to sports, but
now after sports.
All of these things that theytaught me that related to sports
have helped me after sports.
Humility, respect, working hard, gosh, those are just
fundamental things.
But ultimately, as a parent, assomebody who has played and had
(19:09):
their parents at their gamesand driving them across the
country to go see games, just bethere for your kids.
That means so much to them andI know it meant so much to me.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
We often ask on the show, going back to your
16-year-old self, what would youtell a 16-year-old Jacob priest
?
And the caveat to that I'mcurious of is where did that
faith become yours during thatnavigation process and when did
you adopt that?
And we often get that parent,you know, raised in a Christian
home, went off to college somesort of like whoa like wake-up
(19:45):
moment.
You know, raised in a Christianhome, went off to college some
sort of like whoa like wake upmoment.
You know Jesus has to be mine.
Now.
Where did that interaction comefor you?
Where, like okay, this is myown faith.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Right.
So that actually came.
That actually came a little bitlater in life for me, because
my parents, growing up, uh, wedidn't, we didn't necessarily we
didn't, we didn't go to churchtoo much, but faith was always
important.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
So faith was always important, but it didn't become
my faith until later, because myparents allowed me to learn by
myself what was best for me,because that's what my parents
want is what's best for me, andI applaud them for that.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
So when I was about 18 years old, I kind of came at
a crossroads in my life and Isaid what type I knew.
I wanted to be a Christian.
I was raised a Christian.
It made sense to me.
But as you know, there aredifferent denominations
different beliefs within theChristian faith.
So I had to ask myself what kindof Christian did I want to be?
(20:46):
Well, I came to realize that,you know, for me, Christianity
as a faith is so much more about, so much more than just the
separate denominations.
It's about love, it's aboutacceptance, it's about how you
treat one another.
So that was when I reallydiscovered look, not only do I
(21:09):
want to be a good man, because Iwas 18 years old, I was coming
up, I was making my morals.
I was trying my best to become aman and, with the help of my
family, friends, I discoveredthat, look, I didn't want to
just be a man, I wanted to be agood man of God.
Discovered that, look, I didn'twant to just be a man, I wanted
to be a good man of God.
And that was when that wasreally when I kind of decided
(21:30):
that that was the path I wantedto take.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Okay, so you've decided now that you're a
follower of Lord Jesus Christ,decided after your commitment to
Christ.
How do you put an exclamationmark on that so that you can
impact and influence the kidsthat are watching the next
generation?
So I'm asking almost a reversequestion.
(21:53):
Sometimes we ask, going backfurther than that, talk to your
five, six, seven-year-old selfwhat do you want the Lord to do
with your life so that, all of asudden, these kids that are
watching this young man enjoythings like fishing, things like
baseball, things that are cool,but yet, at the same time, I
(22:15):
want them to see Christ, becauseChrist is a little bit more
important.
What do you do?
What do you put thatexclamation mark on?
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Well, I'm doing it right now.
I mean, I have these podcasts.
I mean what you guys are doingright now, you're giving me a
platform through things likethis.
That's the easy part, right,you're giving me a platform and
I can speak and I can say look,jesus Christ has done this in my
life and I like to tell peopletoo that I'm a believer in Jesus
(22:42):
Christ, because I've seen whathe can do.
I'm a living example, becausewithout him I wouldn't be here
where I'm a believer in JesusChrist, because I've seen what
he can do.
I'm a living example becauseyou know, without him I wouldn't
be here where I'm at, you know.
So I think you know that is,first and foremost, a way in
which I can kind of proclaim myfaith is using things like this
and teaching people through this, this type of podcast.
(23:03):
You guys are in a greatposition to do a lot of great
work in that regard.
But beyond this podcast, it'sliving your life by example.
It is living your life as anexample of what Jesus Christ
would want you to live your lifeby.
It's being a good person, it'sbeing a man of faith.
(23:24):
You live by example, you dogood things, you do good deeds.
It's being a man of faith.
You live by example, you dogood things, you do good deeds,
you have humility and respect,and that is how you show people.
Look, jesus Christ helped meget here.
He helped me.
I'm living my life for him, andso that's how I try to do it,
the best I can.
I think that's the best way todo it.
Speaker 3 (23:46):
Now, men and young men today are inundated with a
lot of different struggles.
Women this generation, thefatherless generation.
Right, there's a number of andGod bless single moms out there
who do an incredible job, but Ibelieve that they were never
intended to do that on their ownand everyone needs a dad.
Yeah, absolutely, yeah,absolutely.
(24:07):
So how has your father made animpact in your life to make you
into the man you are today?
And what do you tell some ofthe younger men out there,
inundated with sexual temptation, with anger or other addictions
or frustrations, or maybe justidentity, who am I?
I need to go find it in money,either go find it in this or
(24:30):
that.
You know, how do you, as ayoung man, navigate through that
?
And how did your father helpaffirm your identity as who you
are, making you the guy you are?
Speaker 2 (24:41):
today, right right.
So my dad has had anunbelievable impact on my life.
Speaker 3 (24:46):
My dad is he's a deputy sheriff so he gets to go
be a hero for other people andthen gets to come home and be my
hero.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
So you know it's he has taught he has been the
cornerstone of respect andhumility.
I talked about respect.
I talked about who respectedhumility throughout this entire
podcast and a lot of that senseof him.
Um, you know, and I think thatyou know, I also talked a lot
about hard work and that manworks hard.
(25:14):
He works hard for me and my momand my brother to make sure
that he gives us.
He'll always tell us he wants abetter life for us than he had
and he had a great, you know, itwasn't really a bad life but he
just wants us to do better thanhe did.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
And I think that's every parent's goal.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
I know your question's about my father, but
I'd be remiss to not say that mymother's had an unbelievable
impact in my life as well.
So I realize that a father isextremely important.
That being said, you know, Ithink your mother can also have
an unbelievable impact onpeople's lives, because I know
my mom has as well.
She has also taught me how towork.
(25:53):
So those people that maybe haveare struggling with you know,
because it may be a man orsomething like that you can
fight through things that areput on your plate, that might be
(26:14):
struggles through.
I always tell people throughthree things you can never give
up.
You gotta work hard and trustin Jesus Christ and he will
bring you through it, and I am aliving example of that.
I really am.
So I think that's the bigthings you've got to focus on
for that type of thing.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
Amen.
And you know, having thatframework and that model, and
you know, some families they'reblessed with both parents.
Some young men, young ladies,they lose parents too soon or
maybe they don't have a mom ordon't have a dad and often
they'll latch on to someone whocould be a father figure,
someone who could be a motherfigure, and those things are
(26:54):
just really important.
And, like you kind of just said, more importantly, someone that
models Jesus Christ.
That's a pivotal thing forevery young man and young woman
and I think every coach, I thinkevery, every parent in the
crowd.
That's our role.
That's our role, isn't?
It is the model Jesus Christ.
So what would Jesus do if hewas a parent to the crowd?
(27:18):
What would Jesus do if he was acoach?
If he was a baseball player, itwas.
He was a fisherman, now being afisher of men.
That you are, no pun intended.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
Pun intended, Pun intended.
He was like I'm going to haveJacob on the podcast.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
I'm going to build it all to that.
That's right Now that we've hitthe pinnacle.
What's your favorite Bibleverse, jacob?
Why don't you share it with us?
Speaker 2 (27:47):
I think, my favorite.
So there were two Bible versesthat I wrote in my hat and
they're pretty hard todifferentiate.
They're pretty hard to pick oneover the other.
I guess One of them is so it'sa little cliche because I think
a lot of people use it, butthat's okay.
It's good that people have averse to go to, but it's
(28:12):
Philippians 4.13.
And so it's.
I can do all things throughChrist, who strengthens me.
A lot of truth in that.
But the one I want to focus onreally is Romans 8.31, which
says that if our God is for us,then who can be against us?
And that goes back to trustingin God.
And that's why it's my favorite, because I think if you place
your trust in Jesus Christ, youreally can't go wrong, because
(28:34):
he is going to work out for you,he is going to put you on that
path of success, he's going togive you those opportunities.
You just got to go out and takethem and live your life, like I
said, the best way you can toexemplify Christianity.
And I think that's why thatverse is so special to me and
(28:56):
it's really affected my life,that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
Now, jacob, I want to thank you for being on the
Gospel in the Game podcast andyou know, you just kind of you
nailed it right on the head whenyou laid it out and just said
you know, if you got Jesus, youwin.
That's the game plan, isn't it?
Speaker 2 (29:19):
If you got the.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
Lord, not too many other things matter.
We have two conditions on ourshow.
One is we get to have you backand we get to follow up with you
and we get to interview again.
How many other things matter?
We have two conditions on ourshow.
One is we get to have you backand we get to follow up with you
and we get to interview againand we're going to follow up
with Jacob Priest and find outwhat he's doing and what he's
learned and what the Lord isdoing in his life.
And the second thing is is,before we go, we're going to
take a moment and we're going topray for you Jacob.
(29:45):
Yeah, of yeah, of course, ofcourse.
Heavenly father, we thank youso much for this time we've been
able to spend with jacob and wejust pray that you would
continue to use him and that youwould bless him and all that
you would have him do.
Lord, may his testimony beheard, and lord, that the words
that were spoken today would beencouraging to those lives that
would hear them.
Or we think of many young menand many young ladies that don't
have father figures or motherfigures, but, lord, they have an
(30:09):
opportunity to know you astheir Lord and Savior.
And, lord, we pray that throughthe words spoken today, that
they would be drawn closer toyou and that they would know you
and trust in you.
In Jesus' name, we pray, amen,amen, pray, amen, amen.
You've just listened to anepisode from the archives with
Jacob Preece, baseball playerand now actually he is a
(30:31):
conservation officer in Ohio.
Really interesting to see howthe Lord changes the path and
uses sport in order to encourageothers.
If you are encouraged by thisepisode, give us some feedback,
follow us online.
You can also follow us onsocial media and you can listen
to us anywhere podcasts arefound.
I'm Dan Jomarski for anotheredition of Gospel in the Game
(30:54):
from the Archives We'll be rightback.
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