I'll be honest with you, the hardest part of sabbatical isn't leaving. It's what the leaving forces you to confront. When you stop, you find out real fast what you are trusting in. Fifteen years ago, Marci and I stepped out to plant The Door with nothing but a dream the Lord put in our hearts and a promise we kept coming back to: "I will build my church." (Matthew 16:18) We didn't have much. But we had that. And God has been faithful. More faithful than I had the faith to imagine at the...

A Kingdom Mindset for Sports Parents — Part 2 of 2 Romans 5:3 All eyes were on the center mat. My youngest son, Deacon, was in the state finals. His opponent had just upset the national champion at that age and weight. The moment felt enormous and my son looked so small to me in that moment, the way your kids always look small when the stakes are high. He was bouncing on his toes, shaking out his hands, doing everything athletes do when the nerves hit. He won. Proud dad moment!. But the...

A Kingdom Mindset for Sports Parents — Part 1 of 2 Romans 5:3 My son Joshua, JB to us, was heading into high school, and I was pressing in prayer about where to send him. My nature as a father is to protect, to control, to manage outcomes. I wanted the easiest environment: the right social circles, the best athletic opportunities, the smoothest path forward. Every instinct I had said: shield him. But the Lord kept pressing on something different. Not to coddle him. To send him somewhere that...