Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

I was recently ask to share with our church staff some ideas about improving our communication process. This caused me to reach back and dig out some maxims that I had forgotten. I thought these maxims might be good to share as they are important to anyone attempting to communicate a message:

Comprehension: Your message needs to clearly have a main point and that main point needs to be able to clearly be communicated back to you by your audience. We often try to cram too much information into our messages and thereby rendering them incomprehensible.

Connection: Connecting your audience to the message goes beyond having them "get it." If you want your audience to respond to your message then you need to connect them emotionally to your message. Think of the times you were moved to respond and you will get the idea.

Credibility: Being credible is not as easy as you would think. This goes beyond the messenger being believable. This means the message and that which you promote must match one another in intensity. Don't tell people that "whatever" is the greatest thing since sliced bread and then deliver them day old stale toast.

Contagious: For your message to be effective it should get people talking to other people. The effectiveness of your message will be mulitplied when the people that hear it cannot wait to share it with someone else. In today's language that would be taking a message and having it go viral.

Consistency: Nothing worse than sending out conflicting messages. Proofread! Proofread! Proofread! And check to make sure the details are consistent and chack that the core message is consitent with the overall mission and purpose of the organization.

There you have it. 5 Cs worthy of keeping at the forefront of your thoughts as you communicate with others. A more detailed discussion of this can be found in The 4Cs of Truth in Communication by Isabelle Albanese.

Pink Backpacks for Everyone!

As for the backpack, the reliever with the least amount of service time is assigned to tote it to the bullpen. It's loaded with gum, candy, sunflower seeds -- whatever the pitchers need to get them through a game. Asked if he (Carlos Zambrano) would be carrying it on Friday, which was when he could make his debut in the 'pen for the first time since 2002, Zambrano laughed and said, "No."

"No chance," Marmol said, smiling. Russell has the backpack now.

"I'm pretty sure I'm keeping it," Russell said.

(Excerpt by Carrie Muskat http://mlb.com/news/article.jsp? ymd=20100422&content_id=9500604&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb)

You have to get to the ball park early to see the parade of pink backpacks that nearly every team has for the 'rookie' to carry to the bullpen. It is fun to watch as the season progresses and someone new gets to carry the pack. What joy there is for the one who no longer has to carry it! There is even joy for the one who is carrying it at the start for it symbolizes having made it to the 'Show.'

This long standing tradition in baseball got me to thinking . . . What if as Christian Men we were asked to carry pink backpacks as glaring symbols of our inexpereience?

How quickly do you think would we 'recruit' someone to become part of the team so they could carry the Pink Backpack?

Perhaps we should issue PINK BACKPACKS to all the men of the church to carry around until they pass it on to the next rookie.

When is the last time you passed the backpack to someone else to carry?

The Doctor will now see you

I have been a fan of Doctor Who since my childhood. Always grabbing a chance to catch an episode on PBS at odd times. Many a late Sunday afternoon was spent watching one of the Doctors saving the planet.

In 2005 when BBC brought back Doctor Who I was hooked once again and my Saturday nights were filled with SciFi adventures once again. David Tennant was the Doctor for me. As I introduced this SciFi classic to my wife and son, they also became fans of the Doctor.

This past Saturday evening the 'torch' was passed as Matt Smith became the new doctor. I watched again the final episode with David Tennant prior to the premiere and found myself once again in tears. How did I become so attached this other Doctor? There have been plenty before him. There was the incredible return to TV one season by Christopher Eccleston before David Tennant. While I was disappointed in his departure it wasn't like this departure. I was genuinely depressed. I genuinely grieved over the passing of this Doctor.


I wonder can I ever like Doctor Who as much as I did? Will this new Doctor and his companion(s) thrill me as before? If this first episode is any preview of what can expected to come I must confess I am excited about the future of this Doctor.

I still have my favorite Doctor on DVD to watch whenever I desire. I still wonder how David might have played that. I still long for more Rose Tyler. I still wonder about our human doctor in that other dimension. But until then, I will be more than content to watch the heroic exploits of this new Doctor Who and his companion Amy Pond.

Counting the time until Saturday Night once again . . .

Reading between Innings

Now that the baseball season is under way I put away my books about baseball because I can enjoy the real thing. I have an extensive library of baseball books. These are my current Top 5:

Joe Morgan: A Life in Baseball by Joe Morgan
a remarkable story about a Hall of Fame player and if you find an orginal copy of the book you get a baseball card too! Doesn't hurt that he is my all time favorite player

Stolen Season by David Lamb
you would have to be crazy to spend a summer in an RV traveling the country to watch minor league baseball. David did it and it makes a great read!

Sparky! by Sparky Anderson
Manager of the Big Red Machine. That should be enough to make the book interesting, but the story is much more than that.

The Numbers Game by Alan Schwarz
The game has always been about the stats, but the stats have not always been the same. The history behind the numbers is a fascinating read.

What I learned from Jackie Robinson by Carl Erskine
Carl tells the stories of baseball's bygone days through the eyes of a great friendship. This is more than a baseball book this is a book about life, friendship, and love for the game

Honorable Mention (because Top 6 would sound silly)

The Game by Robert Benson
A short read but filled with great insight to why we love the game

And for Cartoon Fans

Scroogie by Tug McGraw and Mike Witte
Charlie Brown baseball humor for adults - It's classic!

Batter UP and let the reading begin . . .

And now we begin . . .

Spring Training has finished. All the games played up to this point do not matter. Players have spent the spring working on the fundamentals and learning. Now the long season begins and everything counts and everyone starts equal.

What you did last year, this spring, yesterday, doesn’t matter. What you did yesterday will not determine the game today. Each game is a do over in this long season of baseball. Every spring optimism is abundant within every player and every team. Scott O’Connell, director of new ballpark development for the Minnesota Twins, told me recently, “Optimism is what every team has during spring training. Reality is what every team knows by July.”

Every player strives to get ready during spring training, but at the same time the veterans know that the games don’t count and the real season begins with Opening Day. Players that have struggled all spring will play like All-Stars today. Players with great springs will struggle today. The Good News is that today, like each day stretched out this season, will offer the opportunity for redemption. An at-bat following an inning with an error. A fielding chance after striking out. And a game tomorrow after today's loss.

The day after Easter is the beginning of season as Christ-followers. What will you do with the resurrection? Everything up to this point was a dress rehearsal for this moment. God’s plan for salvation and relationship was finished and now it is up to us to respond. What will you do in this season after Easter?

It doesn't matter what has taken place in the past.

Today everything is new. So, Batter up!