January 29, 2024 - Get The Bat Off Your Shoulder

Last week’s Bottom Line Question / Challenge: what can you do today to reach toward where you want to be tomorrow? I have spent a couple weeks with encouragement to get after it… to “lace ‘em up” and get in the game… And last week I pulled out a baseball analogy of keeping one’s eye on the ball in order to make contact… this analogy assumes one thing, that you are actually swinging the bat!

I can remember as far back as little league baseball and how frowned upon it was, (and I put that lightly, as my head coach was my dad and he didn’t frown… he scowled), if we got caught looking at a 3^rd strike! The common sentiment was if a pitch is anywhere close to the strike zone when you have 2 strikes, you’d better be swinging. I can remember hearing often as a coach would “encourage” to “get the bat off your shoulder!”

In my basketball world I ran into the same thing, where at times a player wasn’t willing to pull the trigger and take an open shot, even though the player knew it was the right shot and what we were working for. (Note: I for sure am not talking about me as a player… I never found a shot I didn’t want to take… and any of my former teammates reading this are shouting “AMEN!”)

The reason a player watches a 3^rd strike or fails to take an open shot often comes down to a horrible mentality to live by… what-if-I-miss-it is! Well let’s analyze that sentiment… if I swing and miss the result is a strike… I stand with the bat on my shoulder the result is a called strike! If I fail to take the open shot, I score zero points for the team… if I don’t take the shot, I score zero points for the team!

If I swing or take the shot, I at least give myself a chance to make contact or to score…

The Scriptures are full of God’s direction… clearly laying out the desired mission… and most sit around with “what-if-I-miss-it is” --- listen what the Scriptures say:

“Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” James 4:17

“But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” James 1:22

I made a “joke” about never seeing a shot I didn’t like (and to be honest I seldom struck out looking… I also like swinging the bat)… but there is always a little truth in jest; I’m sure some folks thought I was a ball hog… well that may be true, but I also scored a lot of points!!! And even as a coach I maintained my philosophy that shooters shoot!

This week’s Game Plan Bottom Line: Get the bat of your shoulder and SWING! Pull the trigger and SHOOT!

January 22, 2024 - Make Contact... Keep Your Eye On The Ball!

Great players become great because they fall in love with the work!

Plan the work… work the plan!

These are quotes from the last couple of Game Plans for Life… and last week I centered on the “planning” process. I talked of opening a map and charting a course to a desired destination… a goal. I then reminded us that in order to get there we would need to zoom in on the map and see the roadways in order to make a plan. I ended by stating that this week we would focus on the work… in other words the importance of executing the plan. NOTE: We run into problems, and can even get lost, when we focus on the destination more than the next turn to get there!

It's kind of like a power hitter in baseball… he goes to the plate envisioning “going yard” (hitting a homerun) and yet strikes out. Often it is a result of “pulling his head” when he swings and looking where he hopes the ball is going… while failing to “keep his eye on the ball” and making sure he makes contact.

Most dreams/goals/destinations are missed because we fail to “make contact” with the details of getting there!

The first verse I remember memorizing in Bible class during my freshmen year of high school is Philippians 3:14: I press TOWARD the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Notice the directional word TOWARD… it involves knowing where one is going… and the verse before (vs 13) tells us that Paul was “REACHING FORWARD”… there was movement… action… in the right direction.

Over and over the Scriptures talk of the importance of focus on today… realize today paves a road to tomorrow… make sure you are making the right turns to reach your desired destination.

Bottom Line Question / Challenge: what can you do today to reach toward where you want to be tomorrow?

January 15, 2024 - PLAN the WORK!

I ended last week’s Game Plan with the statement “Great players become great because they ‘fall in love with the work!’” That got me thinking about the dry erase board I typically keep up in my office… I put a “permanent” message on it that states “Plan the Work… Work the Plan!” And to be transparent, this was not a brilliant phrase I came up with, but instead taken from John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success which has “Industriousness” as one of its cornerstones. This cornerstone has two parts, work and planning.

So, with this theme early in the new season, maybe you are already struggling with meeting your New Year’s resolutions… to that I will quote Wooden: “Nothing will work unless you do.”

I thought about different pictures of this… I envisioned all the times I pull up “maps” on my trip planning… I start with “goals”, what destinations we want to reach. This process begins with an overarching view of the map showing the starting and ending points; BUT THEN I have to zoom in and determine what roads will get us there. I determine the roads, the mileage, where we will sleep, where we will eat, etc. There is a lot of planning involved… and a lot of counting the costs. Then the work begins! Looking at points on a map doesn’t make one a world traveler!

All of that planning is followed by fundraising, vehicle maintenance, booking the lodging, and ultimately putting the key in the ignition for the proverbial “this is where the rubber meets the road.”

Be encouraged this week to figure out your plan… but make sure you remember that maps include roadways…

Jesus gave a great discipleship lesson in Luke 14, which is a great lesson for goal setting: 28-30 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it, lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’?

So, this week’s Game Plan is centered on Plan (Map Out) the Work… [You “set” goals… you “plan” work!] (Next week I plan to discuss focus on the work…)

January 8, 2024 - Fall In Love With THE WORK!

Well, my day got rolling around 18 hours ago… and 13 of the hours were behind the wheel. Therefore, this old coach is tired… and late getting this week’s game plan typed up and posted. But the bottom line is that I committed to doing these weekly at the beginning of 2002 and there has been a game plan every week since. This typically happens following sports stories or sermons giving me “inspiration”; and usually there is a lot of time with the idea bouncing around in my head…

One of the guys that has been quoted the most over the years is one of my pastors, Matt Brooks. He always seems to have some good nuggets of truth in his sermons. But today I found inspiration from a different Brooks… Matt’s son Jaylon… but before I quote him, let me set the stage a bit.

I mentioned in the intro that I committed to doing these game plans as we headed into the 2002 season… I didn’t necessarily call it a New Year’s Resolution, but it was. And over the years I have mentioned the fact that most resolutions not only go unfulfilled, but are broken by the time February rolls in.

From a tired old coach tonight, can I call you on whatever your resolutions were for 2024? You may say, “I didn’t make any.” Yet, I have found that most people think about what they hope to accomplish in a new season, even if they don’t express it out loud. So, what things do you want to change? What are your goals?

Entering 2002 my goal was to write a weekly game plan for the internet… today I drove hundreds of miles knowing I still needed to get it done for this week… I thought about it quite a bit and was thrilled when Jaylon gave me some “inspiration.” BUT all of the planning and the best of attention add up to zero until I got the computer out and started pounding the keys!

Jaylon Brooks: “To achieve different results, you must consciously choose different ACTIONS. You won’t accomplish your “new year resolution” without choosing TO DO the things necessary to get there. Goals are good, but I’d rather fall in love with THE WORK, not the outcome. One ensures you get there. The other is just a dream.”

ACTIONS… TO DO… THE WORK…

The Apostle Paul (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit): Be… ALWAYS ABOUNDING IN THE WORK OF THE LORD… (1 Corinthians 15:58)

The Apostle James (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit): Therefore, to him who knows TO DO good and does not DO IT, to him it is sin. (James 4:17)

Great players become great because they “fall in love with THE WORK!”

January 1, 2024 - Tomorrow's Gains Are From Today's Reps!

“Make each day your masterpiece.” John Wooden

Well, here we are on New Year’s Day, and I wonder who made resolutions? Resolutions are mentally “painted” masterpieces of what we want tomorrow to look like…

No need for a long Game Plan this week… just some encouragement…

Hebrews 3:13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened the deceitfulness of sin.

Do you want to be successful this year? Remember that tomorrow’s masterpiece is painted with today’s brushstrokes! If you look at yesterday, it should be simply to make sure the “painting” has changed…. If you look at tomorrow, it should only be for perspective of where today’s strokes go on the canvas.

MAKE TODAY YOUR MASTERPIECE… if we ignore today, Hebrews tells us we are going to be deceived!

TOMORROW’S GAINS ARE FROM TODAY’S REPS!