Posts Tagged ‘business’

Message to Coaches

Posted: April 26, 2026 in Insights
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As a player, Coach, and/or official for over half of a century, I have learned many things…far too many to go into here in this short commentary. As a Christian and believer and follower of Jesus Christ who coaches as well as being a former player and official, the choice to place priority where it should be placed is THE most important thing we can do…period.

Below is an excerpt from Oswald Chambers’ My Utmost For His Highest devotional from April 24:

“ We (referring to Christian workers and the church) have a commercialized view – we count how many souls have been saved and sanctified, we thank God, and then we think everything is all right. Yet, our work begins where God’s grace has laid the foundation. Our work is not to save souls, but to disciple them. Salvation and sanctification are the work of God’s sovereign grace, and our work as His disciples is to disciple others’ lives until they are totally yielded to God”.

The devo wraps up with: “Whenever our Lord talked about discipleship, He always prefaced His words with an ‘if’, never with a forceful or dogmatic statement – ‘You must.’ Discipleship carries with it an option.”

If you want to know what our jobs are as coaches…there it is it, right there. Sports are the vehicle…the means…that takes us on this journey of discipleship. Sports are not the destination. Our goal should be to develop young men and women of God who love and follow Jesus who are ________ (enter your sport) players. Not __________players who are young men and women of God who love and follow Jesus. There is a difference. The difference is in the priority and focus. If the sport comes first, we are missing it.

Too many athletes, and parents too unfortunately, place priority on the sport and the outcome of that sport. The fact is, if we understand and grasp on to the reality that God loves His kids and wants us to have the desires of our hearts but wants us to desire a relationship with Him, follow Him, and give our lives to Him, trust Him with our hopes and dreams, do our best at what we do for Him because we love Him, and put Him as the priority and not the sport, we will begin to understand His heart. If we will do that…put Him as the priority and not the sport…we may or may not have or achieve the success we desire. We will get infinitely more. What we receive from God are the byproducts of our relationship with God…not the reason for it.

However, the focus is up to us and does not reside solely in the rituals and traditions we, as people, create or follow. In other words, if you are at a baseball, basketball, tennis, soccer, or volleyball tournament, track meet, race, etc…on a Sunday morning and not able to be at church or corporate worship, create church and corporate worship where you are and with those around you. That’s just not for Sundays. It is for every day. Jesus, in His earthly ministry, met people where they were. He went to them. He still does that today. He meets us where we are.

Jesus commanded us in Matthew 28 verses 19-20 to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them with the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you…” He said GO to where the people are…GO to where people live, work, play. Of course, do not neglect the opportunity to worship corporately, with other believers. However, Jesus did most of His best work, changing lives, restoring hearts, healing minds, bodies, and souls outside the church as outside the brick and mortar was where the needs resided…where the lost, the sick, the broken resided. That is still true today.

And, “…teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you…” – disciple them. Saving a soul, changing a heart, those are the job of the Son of God and the Holy Spirit. He is the only one who can. Our job is to walk along side, teach, model, encourage, love, and mentor…in other words, disciple…those He places in our spheres of influence. It begins with Him, then with us. We cannot teach what we do not understand. We cannot model what we do not do ourselves.

I have seen lives change and God do unbelievable heart surgery and restoration more outside the church than inside. I have seen Him show up on ballfields, courts, pool decks, and trails, in bars, yards, at concerts, on the street, you name it. I have seen it happen more outside the brick and mortar than inside. That is neither a coincidence nor a happenstance. It is reality and truth.

As coaches, we have been entrusted with a significant role with significant influence and opportunity. With that influence and opportunity come significant responsibility. Trust me. We will influence our players, their families, and others all around us. We can, and will, either lead them to someone, THE One, or away from someone. There is no third option. Don’t believe me? See John 14:6. He is the only way. It is 100% our choice. Like it or not, accept it or not, we will be held accountable for how we influence.

Until next time…

Coach, out.

SCOTUS Insight

Posted: October 12, 2020 in Insights
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Hello, all. We are on the doorstep of arguably the most important elections in our nation’s history. Despite the normal party speak, political narratives pushed, and all too often doublespeak by folks on both sides, there is a clear ideological distinction between the dominant US political parties. I hope I am stating the obvious. Something tells me that might not be the case.

What we have before us is monumental. Not only the election but the potential confirmation of a Supreme Court justice.

I am not going into the talking points being pushed by both sides. I will, however, clarify a term that has a become a political narrative being pushed because far too many in our country don’t understand.

Before my SCOTUS comments, I do want to comment on a statement made by the Democratic candidate for President as it is 100% Constitutional what is happening with regards to the filling of a Supreme Court Justice vacancy. I am not going to get into the muck about it. I must believe that he does have an understanding of the US Constitution, given his lengthy time in the US Senate and that he has raised his hand to support and defend it on more than one occasion. However, regardless of whether one agrees or disagrees with the actions of an opposing party, it is concerning that a candidate for the highest office in the US and the most powerful office in the world would knowing attempt to mislead the American people and misrepresent the Constitutionality of an action. Both sides of the political isle like to stretch things. However, the Constitution is our governing document and thus should be known and followed. I will speak to this issue in subsequent posts.

What I will talk briefly about is the importance of Constitutional adherence and how anyone, if they do not support strict adherence to the Constitution in its judicial application of jurisprudence, it is wholly hypocritical and disingenuous to use it as a pass and/or misrepresenting it as a talking point in order to further an agenda.

Let me provide some definitions to terms that I think are incredibly important.

Court Packing: simply means to increase the number of Supreme Court Justices. FDR tried it in the 1930’s but was unsuccessful. The Appointment of SCOTUS judges is a Constitutional power found in Art 2 Sect 2 – appointed by the President and Confirmed by the Senate. It is much harder to confirm justices when the White House is controlled by one party and the Senate is controlled by another. It is much easier if they are the same party. Yes, elections do have consequences.

Judicial Philosophy: This is the underlying set of ideals or beliefs that shapes a Justice’s rulings on particular cases. This is ALWAYS the basis by which Justices are chosen. There are 2 distinct philosophies. One is a philosophy that means to go beyond the words of the Constitution or a statute to consider broader societal implications and influence public policy. This is known as Judicial Activism. Some may also refer to judicial activism as “legislating from the bench”. The other is Judicial Restraint, which is the judicial philosophy to not go outside the narrow scope created by the Constitution.

Why is this important? Well, if you will go back to a previous posting I made with regards to the correlation between the Bible and the US Constitution, The Constitutional argument: It’s all about choice. The direct correlation between the Bible and the Constitution, and the societal drift from both. Dismiss at your own risk, I stated that we, as a country and people in general – “don’t like absolutes. We don’t like to be told what to do. We like the rules of the game to change as we change…or as we want the rules of the game to change. The Bible, like the Constitution, provides absolutes and authority. The further we get away from its principles, its guidelines, its authority, the further away we get from allowing a single authoritative component, in this case: a document, to govern us.”

Again, why is this important? Here is why. The current judge who has been nominated for the United States Supreme Court, Amy Coney Barrett, has been attacked for her strong Christian faith, her values as a mother and parent, and to her strict adherence to the Constitution and to the intent of the Original Framers, which of course includes the Bill of Rights and the other 17 Amendments. With so many in our country, to include elected officials screaming that the confirmation hearings and the confirmation itself is unconstitutional (which is categorically false – see again Art 2 Sect 2 in the US Constitution), love to scream about the Constitution, more importantly the rights protected by the US Constitution, should absolutely embrace and celebrate a potential US Supreme Court Justice to the highest Court in the land who would not read into or stretch the text or meaning of the Constitution in order to impact or influence social policy or either side of the political isle, but to adhere to what it states and what its Framers intended. Very similar to the Bible, adherence to its principles and to the intent of the Author, would be a very welcome stance for the longest standing governmental document and set of governing principles of any country in recorded history.

The United States Constitution, like the Bible, is NOT a living breathing document. “The Bible provides absolutism…clear right and wrong. The Bible gives a clear set of guidelines to live one’s life by. And just as the Bible provides guidelines on how we, as people, are to live, the Constitution provides guidelines on how to govern.”

Adherence to the Constitution and the guidelines set within it is the only way that we can ensure that “…government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” – A Lincoln.

Searcy, out.

OpEd – The Threat From Within

Posted: September 18, 2020 in Insights
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Many in the united states have this feeling in their stomach that our country is headed toward socialism. Nothing could be more true. The desire to rewrite, ignore, and/or destroy history is paving the way. All one needs to do is look back at early 20th century Europe…specifically Italy and Germany. The coordinated effort to remove competition within the economies in order to foster monopolies, monopolies supported by the government, that occurred in Europe then is now happening here in the US. Think about the shutdown of the economy…the shutdown of businesses in this country, many of them still closed now for 6 months, under the guise of safety and health due to a virus that has a 99+% survival rate. Think about the businesses that were allowed to remain open during the “pandemic”. There are enemies to our republic and to our capitalistic way of life on both sides of the political isle. One side is obvious. One side is a bit more covert. While I recognize the threat that China and other state-run economies pose to the US, neither the President of the US nor the US government should ever be brokering corporate purchases. Once again, a governmental action sought under the guise of national security. At what point does this stop? At what point, regardless of the political ideology that is in the majority in Washington DC or any state or locality, do we as a citizenry hold our elected officials and our governments at the local, state, and federal levels accountable? I will tell you when…when we as a citizenry are truly honest in our assessment of the state and condition of our society – regardless of our ideological beliefs – and the cause of its decline. When we become knowledgeable about our Constitution and our Capitalistic economic system, the ideals that provide the foundation of our country, and the limited government that was created by our Framers. That’s when. There is a serious threat to the future of this country and that threat is from within. The biggest threat to our country and our way of life is…America itself and what we are allowing to permeate our government, our schools, our media, and our lives.

“We were the first to assert that the more complicated the forms assumed by civilization, the more restricted the freedom of the individual must become.” Benito Mussolini

Let that sink in and give honest thought to the applicability.

If you do not think American exceptionalism and the freedoms ensured by our Constitution and secured by the blood and lives of patriots are in serious peril by those entrusted to govern, to teach, and to inform, your lack of vision and/or your willingness to ignore the obvious, are only contributing to the American demise and to paving the dead end road to “serfdom”.

Searcy out.

Integrated Resource Development: Easy as apple pie.

Posted: April 25, 2013 in Biz Nuggets, The Profit Sectors: Fors & Nons
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If your organizations idea of integrated resource development is not similar to the diagram above, you may need to rethink your approach. You are likely missing some great opportunities.

The concept of effective resource development is fairly simple and straightforward. Implementation can sometimes be a challenge but the concept and approach itself is fairly simple. Organizations, marketers, consultants, businesses, etc…spend quite a bit of time and intellectual energy on creating super fancy and complicated theories, strategies, assumptions, conclusions, and solutions regarding the acquisition and development of resources. In other words, a great deal of time, effort, energy, and money is spent on figuring out the newest, greatest, and most successful way to raise revenue.  At the end of the day, it all boils down to awareness and relationships, with the emphasis on relationships. More on that another time.

Today, I thought I’d share my rules regarding the concept of non-profit fundraising and resource development:

Rule #1. Funding follows awareness.

Rule #2. People don’t give to or support an organization unless they know what it does and can relate to it or its mission at a personal level.

Rule #3. Realize that it is that simple… If the concept is not clear, refer back to Rule #1 and follow the rule sequence until it sticks.

That’s it. Conceptually, it’s simple. To effectively and successfully implement, that’s another story.

Funding follows awareness and people give to organizations that they know about and can personally relate or have a personal connection to it, to its mission, or both. The impetus is on the organization to communicate its mission and message consistently and effectively to its constituents and target audiences using various and available vehicles and mediums. It is in the awareness and “getting the message out” where most organizations, and businesses for that matter, have the hardest time and thus seem to have significant activity but no productivity or success. I call the activity with no productivity, white noise.  The key is establishing & creating effective methods and tactics for deploying the organization’s message. There is also an essential ingredient that without, the best and most creative tactics in world will be rendered wholly ineffective and failures. That ingredient is knowledge of the targeted audience…which is another subject for another time.

Raising revenue can be very difficult even with the best message, mission, or service. So many factors come into play that it is sometimes very hard to pinpoint one specific cause or another for the successes or failures of a particular program, promotion, or campaign. Usually it’s a combination of many. What I can tell you it that everything takes time, trial and effort, consistency, and a hefty amount of tenacity. You can’t harvest apples from a tree if you only planted the seed yesterday. Conceptually, it’s easy: dig a hole and plant a seed.  However, keeping it alive and helping it grow is another story. It takes time for the tree to grow. But if you take care of it and do the things no one likes to do like watering, fertilizing, pulling weeds around it, pruning, spraying for bugs, you know, the non-flashy stuff, oh at the apples you’ll have…and the pies that go with it. Or…you won’t. The tree will die, despite all of the effort put into it, and no apples. Interesting how the same care can be given to two trees and one dies while the other flourishes.  Makes you go, Hmmm. Either way, a great deal of knowledge has been acquired…and hopefully, considered the next time someone has a craving for an apple turnover. Until next time…Keep it real.