There is a verse of scripture in Genesis 5:24 that has always intrigued me. It says: Enoch walked with God, then he was no more because God took him. How could it be that someone could have such a close walk with God that God would say you don’t belong down there, so come up here with me? And surely, that is ancient history, and not something that happens today. I have had the good fortune to have known many incredible Christians in my lifetime. My life has been blessed by many Godly men & women, but none quite like Justin Sullivan.
Justin is my sister’s son which makes me his uncle. I was an eye witness to an incredible life, and am compelled to write down some of the things that I witnessed. Outwardly, as Justin was growing up he appeared to be a just normal kid, somewhat quiet, and polite, but even early on we got some glimpses into who he really is. I have never seen a kid who had such a strong physical, emotional, and spiritual reaction to evil. Any type of evil, as simple as someone being treated badly by another person, or a group of teenagers all dressed in black produced a noticeable troubled spirit, and a host of questions to his mother, which I witnessed several times. Justin had the privilege to grow in a Christian home, and very naturally gave his life to Christ at an early age (I believe that he was 8) As he got older, I began to notice how Justin shunned all types of evil, and placed only good things in his life. Philippians 4:8 instructs us to dwell on “whatever is true, whatever noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things”. Some of the good things he placed in his life were other Christian friends, a commitment to be in the lords house on Sunday, daily bible study, and prayer, lifting weights, and eating only good food, and of course baseball. He was what can only be described as a passionate- perfectionist about baseball, having his nightly bible study, and brushing his teeth. We all have heard many stories from his baseball team, how on road trips with the team, at 2 am or 3 am teammates would be yelling at him to turn off the light, close the bible, and go to sleep! You see Justin was like my grandmother in that he did not require much sleep, and rarely got more than 4 hours per night in his high school days. During his high school years, Justin always, always ended his day with his time in bible study & prayer, and walking into his parents room to tell them that he loved them; usually waking them up to do so. The last 6 months of his life, he journaled this daily walk with God. Believe it or not he never missed a day! (This is the source of the material that Chris is using to write his book-Justin’s nightly bible study). My brother, and I both have commented. Who does this? Most of us are faithful to a bible study for about 3 weeks, and then get distracted. Four years without missing a day- Who is this guy? He was up to date in his most current journal. The only blank was June 3, the day he was killed. But bible study was not the final thing-then he had to brush his teeth. This is the way his day ended-with winding down by brushing his teeth for 15 minutes. His mom or dad would wake up at 2 am, and see Justin wandering around brushing his teeth, and have to tell him to please GO TO BED. Passionate-perfectionist-YES-but without a doubt this was the source of Justin’s strength. That is -the time he spent every night with the lord in bible study & prayer, not brushing his teeth. Then more often than not he was up at 5:30 am and off to the baseball field to run (A bizarre conditioning method that Justin did not like, but endured.)
Undoubtedly what draws so many people to Justin’s story is his baseball prowess, but baseball was just one of many things that Justin was passionate about. I failed to mention that before he even started his bible study, he had finished his homework. Justin finished 3rd in his class of 2002, and pursued academic excellence, as well as excellence on the baseball field. Besides baseball, God was growing in Justin’s heart a desire to help people, and as early as his sophomore year he was already talking about medicine, and possibly wanting to become a surgeon. No doubt the other two doctors in the family (Zack & Richard) were nurturing this along, and everyone was curious to see if Justin would pursue medicine or baseball. The first couple years of college I’m sure he was going to do both. I would not, and could not keep a pace like Justin did, (I require more sleep) but I witnessed these things in his life, and was amazed like everyone else. Justin took that same passionate-perfectionist tendency that he had with bible study into baseball. He could not get enough! Anyone who has ever thrown batting practice can testify to this (just one more, just one more). Justin truly had an incredible year of baseball his senior year. Some of his honors include All State Catcher, Academic All -Stater, Second Team All American, Daily Oklahoman Player of the year, Coaches Association Player of the Year, And Jim Thorpe Player of the Year. I remember that his batting average his senior year was 492, and he lead the team in almost every hitting category, including 9 Home Runs, 52 RBI’s, and 16 Doubles. He set new school records for most career hits (167), and most career doubles (45). These honors are widely publicized, but some of the things going on behind the scenes are just as impressive to me. Justin always offered to pray with the pitchers that he caught before every game. One game when the starting pitcher was announced, most of the team let out a sigh, and said; Not him! Justin fired back- You guys be quiet & support him. He needs to prepare for the game. This wasn’t the only time the team had seen Justin’s temper. They also saw it one time when a sexual remark was made about his sister Sydni. Someone almost lost their head to a 90 MPH fastball! Two of Justin’s pitchers, and 1 other player on the team that I am aware of accepted Christ as Savior shortly after his death.
It seems more than an incredible coincidence that the day after Justin was named High School Player of the Year by The Oklahoman, Justin was killed in a traffic accident. An axel broke, and a huge set of tandem wheels came loose from an 18 wheeler. The wheels came through the windshield, and crushed his side of the car. In Sunday’s paper, he was Player of the Year. In Tuesday’s paper he was dead. One second Justin was here with us, and the next second he was in the presence of Almighty God, and our Savior Jesus Christ. It was clear that Justin did not suffer, he was just gone. The music playing on the radio at the instant of the accident was a Christian song by Third Day called When the Rain Comes. Just another coincidence? Justin’s two friends that were in the car with him, walked away from the accident virtually un-harmed. Was it just a coincidence that in Sunday’s paper he was pictured in the middle of a bunch of flowers, and a week later he was surrounded by flowers at Council Road Baptist Church as we had his funeral? The headline for the Sunday Sports section read something like “Late Bloomer is this year’s Player of the Year”. Well, all of us who knew Justin could only laugh because he was NO late bloomer. The day that he stepped on a high school baseball field he was a standout. I guess the paper needed “an angle” for a story even though it was certainly inaccurate. The sports writer who wrote the article later called my sister to apologize for not doing his homework. None the less the picture was very prophetic to me since the following day he was killed. We were all amazed at how humble Justin was through this newspaper experience. I think part of the misunderstanding in the story was because from day one of his baseball career Justin neither sought after the spot light nor quite knew how to handle it when he was in it. His nightly journals bear witness to his spiritual struggle with being in the lime light. Micah 6; 8 was selected as the theme of Justin’s funeral, and it says: “He has shown you O man what is good. And what does the lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God”. Justin certainly walked humbly with his God.
Looking back on the last few months of Justin’s life there were some rather amazing things going on. Justin grew up with a Labrador retriever named Gunner. Gunner was 9 years old at the time Justin was killed, and was always a good companion. He always slept near Justin’s bed, or on the cool laundry room floor, or outside. For some strange reason, the last 4 months of Justin’s life, Justin would wake up in the morning to find Gunner sleeping in bed with him, as close as he could get to him. Just another coincidence? It is interesting to look back at all of the pictures of Justin that the family has the month before he was killed. With very few exceptions, he is wearing a white shirt, unless of course he has on a baseball shirt. In many of the pictures the sun is hitting his blonde hair, and in connection with the white shirt, he sort of glows. I hadn’t noticed that before. He wore a white robe for graduation due to his Valedictorian Status. Just another coincidence? Another prophetic thing that happened during these last months was my sister’s behavior. She is normally a very right brain-very analytical-good decision maker-and not particularly emotional type person. The last month of Justin’s life, the whole family noticed how emotional she was. Justin was being recruited by Rice University, Yale, Nebraska, Southern Nazarene University, University of Arizona, and Oklahoma Baptist University. Justin was leaning toward Rice, and we just thought she was sad & emotional about Justin leaving home. Every time that we saw her she was taking pictures, and teary eyed. Justin certainly noticed his mother’s unusual behavior, and in many of his journal entries he is praying for Juliann’s happiness! We thought her intense emotional and spiritual behavior was because Justin was going to college, but looking back she says that the Lord was preparing her for Justin’s departure from this earth. Could it be that she was super strong, a rock, and an encouragement to the rest of us in the days immediately following Justin’s death because the Lord had prepared her for it? The Lord had one of his servants, another incredible Christian lady at the scene of the accident within minutes. She ministered to Josh and Elizabeth, and checked on Justin. There was nothing anything anyone could do for Justin, he was already in the Lords hands at age 18. Justin walked with God, and was no more because God took him. I don’t pretend to know his purpose in all this but He has told us”My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways”. Isaiah 55:8&9. If I were God, I would have allowed Justin to be a humble –steroid free Christian Major League baseball player for many years. Or, I would have allowed him to follow in the footsteps of the other doctors in the family, and helped many people as possible. But my ways are not his ways. “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in Him”. Job 13:15.
It has taken me 4 years to be able to say that. Yes, I thought that from the day of the accident but could not say it because of all the grief that our family was going through. I want to thank Chris, and Robin for all of the wonderful ways that they have ministered to our family, as we went through those dark days of grief. My words of encouragement to everyone who knew Justin are: We are going to see Justin again! What is this life of 80 to 90 years that we all expect to live when compared to all eternity that the followers of Christ are promised to spend with Him? “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror darkly, then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known”. I Corinthians 13:12 . I may not see clearly, but I’ve seen enough to know that there more to this human experience than the small amount of time that we are here on earth. As it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those love him”. I Corinthians 2:9.
I also want to thank Chris for following through with his vision to compile Justin’s thoughts, writings, and prayers into Journal form directed toward athletes, and our family is thrilled that he is doing this. Our prayer is that God would use this journal to bring many people to Christ, and that many more would come to know Him better. Was Justin perfect? NO, but he did pursue excellence in everything that he did. Further, Justin recognized that he was not going to heaven because of his accomplishments, but because he humbled himself, and accepted God’s plan for salvation. The month following Justin’s death there were 10 of his friends that I’m aware of that accepted Christ as their personal savoir. Could it be we knew a modern day Enoch?
