 And we're so glad that we are able to do life with you here on Hope Today. I'm here with Tom Hollis and Matt Cogley, and we're going to have an incredible conversation with someone. So Tom, tell us who's coming up in a moment. Yeah, you know, you would think you see someone playing professional baseball, major league baseball. You think, well, they've got everything together. They've got they've got their dream. Well, Jason Grimbley is going to be with us. He's written a book called Cross Stitch, One Man's Journey from Ruined to Restoration. And you're going to find out that Jason, even though it seemed like he had everything, including Jesus, there was a lot of ruins to come in his life. And guys, I just love his story. And I love how he says in the book, he's like a hundred miles an hour all the time. And that's that that comes across in the book. That's his personality. He's going for for it a hundred miles an hour. And sometimes a hundred miles an hour, you end up wrecking into things. So and that's that's part of his stories. It's really good. It's going to minister to everybody today. Yeah, it's incredible. You know, thinking about a hundred miles an hour, you may or may not have heard, but there's that revival going around on a lot of these college campuses and God is moving at a hundred miles an hour, which is really incredible. And especially this one recently went in Cedarville. I love in the article talked about, I think it was the president of the college. He said, we don't know what we're going to do tonight, but it's up to God. You know, how many times do we just kind of have to live our lives that way? Sid is just like, I don't know what to do today, but it's up to God. And look what happens. A revival breaks loose that is spreading at a hundred miles an hour. And I think like even what's going on. I just see like across the world is that we are definitely in a move of God. I think we've like, I think God is doing a new thing. And so we have to be open. We have to be receptive. And it's about saying, you know what, God, I'm going to lay down my agenda. I'm going to lay down my plans and I'm going to watch you move. I mean, I've been hearing so many like, you know, prophetic words about just like what God is doing, that 2023 was going to be different. And I think the one thing that we have to realize is when it gets increasingly dark, we know that this is the time that the light has to shine. That something has to move forward. That something has to break. And so we're just seeing God move in amazing, powerful ways. I mean, I always say like on TikTok, I'm telling you like I've been watching things of just people getting delivered, people getting set free. I mean, it's it's a whole different paradigm. So I think we have to be open. We just know that God wants to move. And I just declare and decree right now that one thing I've even been hearing is that in the families, God is about to move in our families. He's moving in our communities. And so let us be like, come Holy Spirit. I even heard, I think I believe James Gall said it's like try and do this. Open the door to your house and say, come in Jesus just as a prophetic act to allow Holy Spirit to come in and to do a new thing in your world. You know, I was it's interesting on the Cedarville revival, the president and you can go to the Cedarville website and find out about it. Find the article that I read and he said a few things that were interesting. He said, I'm not charismatic in any way, but I felt the tangible presence of God in this meeting. And you know, that's just not the kind of stuff that I think he would normally say even the way he wrote it. But he talks about so much about what what revival does in people's lives and how it changes. It's about the church really. It's about the church getting close to Jesus. That's like the main thing. And then out of that comes this incredible like outpouring of salvation too. Yeah, I mean, I think it's just evident. But like you said, I think the key is we just open up the door, right? Our willingness and our obedience opens up God to revive things in our lives. And I think today we're seeing that take place. And especially in this year, I think we're going to see doors open like crazy. The floodgates of heaven pouring on our lives, on our families, on our businesses, our careers. Whenever we're willing and obedience to Christ. Yeah, definitely. I think it's like one thing we just want to encourage you as well is that maybe today that you need revive. Maybe you're going through a really dry season. Maybe you're going through a really rough time in 2023 has been hard. I know for so many people, they have lost loved ones. It feels like there has been an onslaught. But we just want to let you know that we are here for you 247. So you can give us a call at our prayer line at 888-665-4483. Tom. Absolutely. Well, you know, former baseball player Jason Grimsley had a very successful 15-year career pitching in the majors that included two World Series Championships with the New York Yankees in 99 and 2000. His career was highlighted by many ups, but also came with many hardships. And in Jason's new book, Cross Stitch, One Man's Journey from Ruin to Restoration, he opens up about his struggles and proves that God can take a broken person. I love this and put them back together. Jason, welcome to Hope Today. Yeah, thank you for having me. So tell us, we kind of gave everybody a little taste there about who Jason Grimsley is. We said you're 100 miles an hour. You say that in the book, kind of 100 miles an hour when you do things. Tell me about, just acquaint us with who you are, who you grew up to be. Well, before we get going, something Sydney said earlier sort of struck a chord with me. She said, across the world, and I think if you just break those words down, A, cross in the world, you know, that's what's going on right now. You know, you can see it everywhere. You know, evil is getting stamped out left and right. You know, and I just think it's an amazing thing. What you guys are doing, you know, I appreciate the love that you're passing forward and passing on. And, you know, God bless all of you for what you do and how you dedicate your lives to it. You know, I think a lot of us can learn a lot from that. That comes from just relationships. And I believe what you guys are doing are forcing those relationships not only with other people, but with the Lord. And that's why I wrote the book. That's what I'm doing. I'm just a redneck from East Texas that can throw a baseball hard. Didn't know where it's going half the time, but I can still throw it. And I thought that was my purpose for a long time. And I grew up in a real small town and just outside of Cleveland, Texas. And you told me I was going to play in the big leagues out of Lafdatch. But another thing I think out of Lafdatch is if you told me that I was writing a book that was Jesus Christ centered. And I was on this show and. Being able to tell my story and my story actually have having the ability through Jesus to be able to help somebody. That would have been even more laughable earlier in my life, I believe. But it just shows you the greatness, the glory, the love that God has for each and every one of us. Yes, that's what I'm trying to pass on. Well, you know, I'll enjoy your book so much and I read a lot of Christian books for this show. And this one is as about a real and raw as any that I've read, including lots of very flowery language in here. And very straightforward. You did it again, 100 miles. All right, you didn't hold back much in this book. Yeah, no, you know, I had my wife and I after after we put it down. I talked to a few mentors of mine, George McGovern. He's the chaplain with the Yankees and other teams in New York. Bo Mitchell is a pastor in Colorado, another mentor, both of them great friends of mine. And, you know, they they advise that we take the colorful language so to speak out of it. And I agreed with them. And I went back and reread some things and you know what that as bad as it sounds, I just doesn't really sound authentic or like me. So I'm you know, we took some of the really colorful language out and we were able to sort of keep it. I guess sort of read a friend to an extent. But I just I really well after we thought about it right about I want to be as real and as authentic. I could net book and show where I was and how I was living at the time. And I think a bit of a language that language shows where I was broken and where I was where I was that particular time. Not to say that those words don't slip out of my mouth there. Once one I think I dropped the net bomb speaking in church one time. I didn't go to well. Well, don't do it now, please. Okay. I don't want to get in trouble with the FCC. You don't have that button. Yeah, Larry, Larry, I have you figure on the button up there, Larry, but so but let me let me ask you. So where was Jesus in your life here? I mean, I know you gave your life at one point to Jesus. Talk about your relationship with God and what that was like in baseball and then how it kind of changed leaving baseball. Well, I was baptized in 1999. George McGovern, Andy Pettit, Scott Brochus, Ted Curtis, Bernie Williams, Mariano were huge in my in in leading me to Christ and in my walk. And I was on fire in 1999. I thought there was something I had to do. I had to read the Bible every day. I had to do my devotionals. I had to go to go to Bible study. I was I was on the path of performance. Instead of the path of realizing there was nothing I can do with my salvation. There's nothing I could do to improve my standing with my savior. And it was it was basically a performance. And, you know, the worst thing that could have one of the best things that happened to me or the worst thing at the same time is one of the world series in 99 and ego got in the way. And I looked at I looked back and I thought, look, look what I did. It was more that, you know, you got, you got the notoriety, you got the parade. You got the the moniker being a World Series champion. And, you know, that that old prideful self selfish ego. Wormed its way back back in and as close as I was to God. I fell precipitously over the next few years further and further away. Then baseball and in the way it did me just walking away with the Mitchell report and the FBI raid in the house and me just walking away from baseball left a big hole right in the middle of it. I was so far removed from God and his love. And I was basically ashamed of who I was and what I'd done. And then I felt like I was beyond redemption. Not only with with the Lord, but with my family and that I came to a head in 2015. I was living multiple lives at the time. You know, when I was home, I was a dad and a husband. When I went at home, I was as far removed from a Christian as you could possibly be. You know, I was I was trying to numb everything with drugs and alcohol and came to a point where I didn't want to exist. I thought everybody better off without me and look a bunch of cocaine and a bunch of alcohol. Three days that didn't work. So someone do it right. When out of the woods, put a pistol to to my face, pulled the trigger and it ended off. And I was I was I was so mad and I guess I didn't have the guts to do it again. And I just I was the point was, all right, you won't let me live. God, you won't let me die. What do you want me to do? And that began a slow walk back instead of a fast burn where I thought there was something I could do for the Lord and him saying, oh, there's nothing you can do. It's my love. You have it. I'm giving it to you. I'm not going to take it away. Now, let me let me show you how to walk this walk. Then Grace really came in through my wife. Like I said, I figured my kids would be better off without me. My wife wouldn't. I still had that in my mind. And I was getting ready to move out of the house. My wife came to me and said, Jason, this doesn't work without you. I love you. I forgiven you. God loves you. He's forgiving you. Now you got to forgive yourself and love yourself. And the grace that she showed me opened me the door to to the Lord's grace and His grace and I actually felt it in that moment. And you know, the miracle, that miracle, the miracle of all the bullets I dodged literally and figuratively earlier in my life, it all came to a point and said, okay, this, this is, this is why you expressed what you experienced. So you could speak to it. You can reach people. And, you know, that's where the idea for the book came about. Here we are. You know, Jason, it's kind of amazing to hear you share your testimony there and how God was able to keep you even through it so that you can share that and you can learn from it, right? So that other people can benefit through the things that they might face. And, and I'm just thinking about your time in the major leagues. You know, one thing I'm learning is just, and I've learned that the environments and the people you surround yourself by can mold you and shape your future if you're not careful. And maybe, you know, just with your experience and what you've learned, you could speak to that a little bit. You know, what was your time like there? And, and because we can't, some people can't help the environments that they're in, right? But they can choose how they deal with it and who they surround themselves by. So maybe in your own personal experience, what you've gone through, you could speak to what you've learned and what you could have done differently to help somebody else out. Oh, yeah, definitely. When I, when I got to baseball in 1985, if you were a Christian, you were considered weak. You weren't a competitor. You weren't a man. And, you know, that was, that was sort of the theme throughout a lot of my career. And another reason I think God led me in this direction was to be able to define what, what a, what a Christian man, whoever you are, wherever you are, looks like. And that's just, that's, that's, that you love the Lord. You know, he's created every one of us unique. We're all different. We're all individual works of art and no two are alike. That goes with personality looks. I don't, I don't care what faith you throw in there. Every one of us is totally different. We don't think the same way. We don't act the same way. We don't have the same interests. And we're all still loved by our creator. And, you know, he made me this way for a reason. And, you know, I'm starting to be okay with that. Whereas when I was a Christian, when I first became a Christian, I thought I had to change who I was, who he created me to be. And I think that conflict helped or added to the fall away because I thought I had to be a totally different person, personality wise, interest wise. And I tried to completely change who God attended me to be. And so that wasn't authentic in any way, shape or form. And I think it's made me realize that it's okay to be me. I'm flawed, I'm known flawed. And some people are going to really like me and some people might not. And that's okay. I don't have to please everyone. There's only, there's only one. I'm not pleased. That's my Lord the Savior on a daily basis and my wife, obviously. But, you know, that's, I think that was, that was one of the biggest things is that I, that I took away from it is it's okay to be, you're going to fail miserably on a daily basis. We all are, you know, not one of us is worthy. And I think that's being able to accept that and know that and love that fact that, that no matter how many times we fail, he loves us regardless, you know, and being a parent, I see that more and I get that more now. You know, no matter, it doesn't matter what my kids do or what they did, there's an unconditional love there that will never go away. And through that relationship with my kids and my wife, you know, I'm starting to be able to grasp the hold of the love that the Lord actually has for us. You know, I love what you said about, you know, being yourself because I can remember looking up as a young man, looking up to a person in ministry that I knew and I was like, well, someday I want to be like him. And it never, that day never came. You know, it was like, because I wasn't him. I wasn't meant to be like him. I meant to minister and live the way God made me. And you know, one thing that I really liked about the latter, I think it might have been the final chapter or close to the final chapter of your book is you had, you put the reaction, you let your family write the reactions that they were going through. What was that like here in their side of the story? You were out in the woods there. Nobody knew where you were and it's all related to that day there where you try to take your life. What was it like here in their side of the story? The first time, I was in the room when the gentleman that helped me write the book, Jason Clark interviewed him. I had no idea what they said. I wasn't part of it. And to read that, you know, it probably took me 45 minutes to read all of them because I'd break down. And it's amazing the insight they had, the love that they had and just the goodness that God has placed in them and the love that they have. You know, I think there's, in my daughter's story, she was on a mission in Guatemala and she was actually sharing my story and her relationship with me with a group of people down there and a gentleman came up to her and he had tears in his eyes and said, I want the relationship that you have with your dad. And she prayed over him and come to find out his dad was having serious drug problems and the guy wanted to know how to love on his dad and through my daughter and her story, she was able to bring that gentleman to Christ and just the fact that you never know how God's going to use anyone, any of us. And you know, that story is just, it's powerful to know that my daughter through that horrible time in her life was able to use the love that she has for me and the love that she has for the Lord and bring that to someone else and bring them to Christ through a story from a redneck from East Texas that they got to throw a ball for a living. And it just shows you how great our God actually is. You know, Jason, I just love just hearing about your story is truly that God has given you and your family beauty from the ashes and I just, you know, can you just take a moment to speak to that person who's watching, who knows exactly and is in the same place can identify where you've been wanting to end their life feeling like they're hitting rock bottom with their addiction and knowing that their family things are in ruin. Can you just take a moment to speaks that person may be watching today that feels like they're at the end of their rope? Yeah, I just, I just want to know there's hope and the biggest lie that you're told is that you're worthless, that you don't have any meaning that what you've done is unforgivable regardless. Not going to be easy, but the easy part is allowed God to love on you and after that moment I don't care what happens afterwards you're going to be okay. There's not a rehab facility that's going to fit you. There's not a doctor. There's not a pill. There's nothing that's going to cure you of the disease you have. The only way through this is our Lord and Savior. There's nothing you can't do. You're a beautiful creation. You're made in God's image. You have value and God has a plan for you going forward. Jason, thank you so much for that. I just want to say to anyone who's identifying with what Jason just said God loves you. He wants to rescue you. He wants to put his life in you. You can call that number on the screen. You can pray with one of our prayer partners. Talk to them. Let them encourage you in the word of God. Jason, thank you so much for being with us and being open and sharing your story. I love the book Cross Stitch, One Man's Journey from Ruin to Restoration. Jason Grimsley, thank you so much for being with us today. Thank you guys. I appreciate you having me on. God bless you and hope the Pirates have a little better season this year. Praise the Lord, brother. I know you got I mean, it's miracles happen all the time. But praise the Lord. Thank you, Jason. Well, including that miracle, we'll be praying for you and believing God for you right after this break. Jeffrey was suicidal when he first called our 24 seven prayer line paralyzed from a surgical error. He felt hopeless. Our prayer partner Clayton was able to minister to Jeffrey for the next three years by listening, praying and speaking God's word. Jeffrey died a couple of days before Christmas. A changed man. He was happy and kind and he shared the love of Jesus with those around him. He said he never would have known Jesus so deeply if he had never been paralyzed. Praise God for saving Jeffrey's life through our 24 seven prayer line. When you give your faith and generosity, stir up miracles this month. When you give will send you 30 days to taming the tongue. Let us speak words of love and see life transformed to request yours. Give online at ctbn.org slash donate or call us at 888-665-4483. Hope happens here. We're so glad that you've been with us during our conversation. We just wrapped up with Jason Grinsley talking about redemption and the power of what God can do in the midst of our brokenness. And we know that during that conversation there was a lot of heavy things that were discussed and that were talked about when it comes to addiction, possibility of suicide and we're very sensitive and we just really feel the Holy Spirit is just reaching out to you today. Maybe you're watching and you can really identify with that place. We get calls all the time into our prayer line that people who are desperate, people who have hit rock bottom and people who feel like they are without hope. But we want to encourage you today. If that is you. That you feel like you're without hope that the voice keeps talking in your ear just to end it all. This is your sign. Stay here with God. He has a plan. He has a purpose for you. And even though it may be so hard and weeping may endure for a night. We know that joy comes in the morning. So friend, hold on. Don't let go of God. He is holding on to you. Matt, I know we have a scripture that ties into today to talk about. You know, here in Jason's testimony and maybe wherever you are, we need this fresh reminder. It reminds me of what it says in 1 John that we love because he first loved us. This means after our mess ups, before our mess ups, our shortcomings, whatever it is that we're struggling with or dealing with. Then we're able to love ourselves first and foremost because God first loves us. Can I encourage you watching at home regardless of whatever it is that you're going through? Can you remind yourself God truly does desperately love you? He'll move everything out the way just for your time, just for your attention. His love cast out all fear. His love cast out all anxiety. His love brings the greatest healing and restoration like we're talking about today in our lives. We're able to love ourselves and others because God always loves us first. I want to remind you of that. Can you share with those watching at home that his love truly does restore us? What does and think about the testimony we just heard from Jason Grimsley. I mean, Jason should have been dead. I don't know how many times I heard him say that he lived more, he's used up his nine lives and he's on his next round because so many things could have happened but God had a plan and purpose. We say it all the time. God has hope for you today. God's got a plan, a will, a purpose for you today. And so often that can get clouded and that can get distorted and things can come against you and things of despair can come against you. And I'm here to say that is not what God wants for you today. God has those plans and purposes. It's not a slogan. It's the word of God. It's true. It was true when it was written 3,000 years ago. It's true now. God has that plan and purpose for you. So trust in him and you say, I haven't seen it Tom. Well, Jason didn't see it for a long time either but he got to the place where God broke through, healed, delivered him from his shame, delivered him from his destruction and gave him new life. You know, just as you were talking, Tom, I just heard God saying that somebody's watching right now. Excuse me. And it says you're feeling like there's a mess in your miracle. How's God going to make this out of a miracle? And I just want to tell you right now that God is saying that there's breakthrough when usually when you're about to come on the other side when there's a breakdown, the next thing is a breakthrough. So today, stand on that begin to declare and things, declare things over yourself. Remind yourself of the word of God because he is not a man that he should lie nor son a man that he should repent. If he has said it, will he not do it? It is true for you. It is true for all of us. And that's what we want you to cling on to today. That's what we want you to hold on today. So hold on to that, that great hope, that great love it's only found in Jesus.