Foul Tips

I don't profess to be some marketing guru, but a thought occurred to me today. Many of us spend hours brainstorming ways to communicate our business or organization's wares, only to see that a particular "stunt" or campaign his virtually no effect.

In baseball terms, sometimes when we are at the plate trying to hit 'em out of the park, we just swing and get a foul tip. We don't get a base hit, and we don't strike out. We just manage to make contact, which has little or no effect on the outcome...except that we earn the opportunity to take another hack in the batter's box.

It can be frustrating to implement new ideas, and share your vision with your audience, only to revisit the drawing board because nothing sticks.

As it pertains to ministry, we can generate some pretty amazing graphics, sing amazing worship songs, deliver sermons with passion and fervor, and give people the warm fuzzies. But, unless we have given people ways to apply what they see, hear, and learn it's pointless. It's a foul tip.

At NorthStar, we have more meetings than you probably care to know - specifically designed to help equip people and provide relevant ways for them to apply their faith to real life. Sometimes, we flop. Our hours of creative brainstorming, mind wrestling, and debating don't always translate into practical and easy paths to the life change we so desperately desire to see in the hearts of God's people.

But, when we go through each sermon series and tie in ministry opportunities, ways to connect with God, ways to serve others, actions to display God's love - then we all win! That's when the foul tips become seeing eye singles, ground-rule doubles, and the occasional stand-up triple. It's about getting runners on base, then letting God "knock 'em in."

And, when we get a Home Run, we know it was God - not us - who was in the batter's box. Because no one wants to see positive life change, and His word applied in peoples' lives more than He!