Moneyball

(the team with the most runs wins... it's a fact)

Moneyball

The conventional wisdom in baseball has long been that great players look and act a certain way. Future promise could be ascertained merely by watching a young player play.  Speed, throwing, hitting for average, hitting for power and fielding were the essential five tools that a player ought to have and to be deemed a "five tool player" was the ultimate compliment.  But Sabermetrics and Moneyball changed all that. Bill James and disciples like Billy Beane started looking at what REALLY mattered in winning baseball games.  They broke the game down into minute pieces, found the statistics with the highest correlation to scoring runs and sought out players who could deliver.  This new approach took those who had been deemed marginal and instead called them undervalued.  Suddenly guys who didn’t look the part had great worth.

“But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”” -1 Samuel 16:7

Thankfully, God takes a “moneyball” approach to us as well.  It’s not the awesome prayers we give at family dinners, the way we belt out the hymns on Sunday morning, or all the work we do on church boards that matter. Instead it’s the way we live, the way we treat the hurting and the lost, and how we live outside the limelight that show our true commitment to the Lord.

What’s your heart look like?

Thanks for all you do.

Brian

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Volume 6, Number 43

And a piece of pie

(pie is good... God is better)

And a piece of pie

Fathers Day always calls to mind the important role of a father in the fabric of family and society.  Like a lot of you I have a great Dad from whom I have learned much.  There are words of wisdom like "never pass up free food"; examples of perseverance and faithfulness in hard times and the lessons I didn't even know I learned until years later.

My parents owned a business that included a restaurant when I was a kid. Every so often someone would show up who was down on their luck, out of money and hungry.  The policy was to not ask too many questions, but rather to go ahead and feed them.  And the standard meal was a bowl of chili, a glass of iced tea… and piece of pie.

“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him” -  Matthew 7:9-11

The pie was the good stuff…homemade.  It was, I’m sure, a treat that the hungry folks weren’t expecting.  How much more unexpected are the gifts that God imparts to each of us? From life itself to work that matters.  From the blessing of family to the comfort of friends.  From the ability to forgive others to the perfect sacrifice made on our behalf at the cross.

Our heavenly father loves us so very much…don’t ever hesitate to ask him!

Thanks for all you do.

Brian

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Volume 6, Number 42

playing to the whistle

(don't quit, don't stop working!)

Playing to the whistle

One of the greatest compliments an athlete can receive is to be seen as a player who hustles.  The guy who runs hard to first base every time, just in case the fielder drops the ball.  The girl who dives to the floor to bump the volleyball just before it touches the ground.  The guy who chases a loose ball into the stands hoping to start a fast break.  And on the football field the one who “plays to the whistle.”  No penalties, no bounties, no cheap shots. Playing hard and fair and clean is the hallmark of these folks.

“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14

The surest proof of the Christian faith is how we live life day to day…how we bounce back from our stumbles…how doggedly we pursue the work and the blessings God has set out before us. When writing to the early church Paul knew he didn’t have it all figured out.  But he was committed to pushing ever forward.  Why not take up that same call ourselves and “play to the whistle” for the Lord? 

Let’s give it all we got!

Thanks for all you do.

Brian

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Volume 6, Number 41