And Why It Matters Whether you’ve followed international soccer for years, or you've been swept up in soccer fever this summer for the first time, you’ve likely seen countless scenes of coaches & athletes circling up on the pitch on your screens. A particular scene caught my attention through the course of the tournament: after each game, members of the US Men’s National Team huddled in a circle that grew from 6 players in the pre-cup friendlies to the entire team and coachi

“What do you do?” After learning someone's name, that's usually the next question we ask. Maybe we ask where they're from or how they know the host—but eventually this question comes. Why? Do we really care that much about another person's job? Not exactly. We ask because we're trying to figure out who they are. Notice the assumption beneath the question: what someone does tells us who they are. Activity determines identity. Now, the answer is helpful. If someone is a detecti

When many people hear the word worship, they most likely just think of music. They picture a church gathering, a worship team leading songs, and a congregation singing together. While music is certainly a beautiful expression of worship, the biblical picture is much bigger. Worship is not simply something we do for a few minutes on a Sunday morning—it is the very purpose for which we were created. From the beginning, humanity was designed to know God, enjoy His presence, and

These two words only have 2 letters different, but they are game changers for how we live and how we engage with other people. As a husband, father, teacher, and coach, I have always been a huge sports fan. Not because I love all the games, but because I love the passion players and coaches put into doing their best to win their games. What draws me in to watch is the preparation, sweat, grind, and grit – in both the season and the offseason – to overcome tough obstacles and

"Moses said, 'Please show me your glory.'" (Exodus 33:18) For the past six years, I have had the privilege of serving on staff at The Door Church. During that time, I’ve had many roles, but none has brought me more joy than serving as Student Minister. These years have been filled with opportunities to lead, serve, learn, and grow. Looking back, one lesson stands above the rest: the best way to lead is to behold. A quote I encountered a few years ago has stayed with me and sh

“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”(Matthew 6:21 ESV). Jesus delivers this precious gem of wisdom in the middle of His famous Sermon on the Mount. If you blow by this small line, you can miss how profound it really is, and you could miss its very practical implications. Simply put, we all chase after the thing we value most. We all talk about the thing we treasure most. How do you know what your treasure is? Do a motive check. Take an inventory of your th

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 ima

I didn’t have the release of the UFO files on my bingo card for 2026. But here we are. The last 6 years have been hard, but more than that they’ve been strange. This is just icing on top of the strange-cake. Our minds are saturated by media content. They tell us anything and everything to get more engagement with their content. Media sources and social media personalities are constantly competing for our attention, claiming to have access to privileged information. The trut

Last season, I was blessed with tickets to the Dallas Mavericks game. Before the game started, I went close to the floor with my two sons and father-in-law to watch the players warm up. As a passionate basketball family, we wanted to see their pre-game routine up close. Klay Thompson warmed up just feet away, rhythmically shooting as soon as the rebounder passed him the ball. While he shot a respectable 38% from 3 in 2026, I would imagine in warm ups he shoots more like 75%.

"But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's r

Competing horizons do not create terminal problems at first. The wedding day bliss continues for a while, and these competing horizons might even feel exciting because you’re living with someone very different from you. But when suffering comes, or when a big decision comes, or when crises come — the horizon will matter very much. If we begin a journey together and I’m headed west while you’re headed northwest, we will eventually be in different zip codes.

I believe we are lost. We have completely missed this vital aspect of life with God. And we don’t even know we’re lost. We’re just bumbling along the wrong trail, headed God knows where. What I want to offer you in this article is an overlooked gem of Scripture, a verse I almost never hear preached on, talked about, or quoted. It’s a quiet verse, a verse which will not tickle your vanity. But it will liberate you. I am not exaggerating. If you will take this bite of God’s wor

The name “Good Friday” can be confusing. What could be so “good” about a day filled with such sin, suffering, injustice, sorrow, rejection, and death? On Thursday night and Friday of Holy Week, Jesus Christ was overwhelmed with sorrow in the garden, betrayed by Judas, abandoned by His closest followers, arrested illegally, falsely accused, mocked, beaten, humiliated, condemned. He suffered an excruciating and shameful death for sins he did not commit. It was a horrible day fo

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 momen

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 hi

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. (Psalm 34:18) Have you ever felt alone in your suffering? Maybe your heart was broken. Maybe you lost a child. Maybe you were betrayed. Regardless of the source of the pain, have you ever felt alone in it? This is the horror of being forsaken , left to squirm in your pain by yourself. It is worse than the pain itself, and even followers of Jesus can feel this way at times. But the question is this: is God

My name is Scott Brooks, and I am not perfect. The good news? I am perfect in Christ's righteousness and by God's grace, I am growing to be more like Jesus. Recently, I was listening to a podcast where a pastor I respect asked a pointed question: "Are you robbing God?" quoting Malachi 3:8. At first, I was confident the answer was no. I gave up my career to follow God's call into ministry. Marci and I gave equity out of our home to plant The Door Church. For eight years, I did

Spiritual maturity is often misunderstood. How do you know if you’re becoming more like Jesus? Some think maturity means knowing more. Others think it means having increasingly longer quiet times, using the right vocabulary, or being able to debate the finer points of doctrine. Still others assume growth is measured by church attendance, ministry involvement, or how “blessed” their life appears. These are not bad things, but they are not the primary measures of spiritual mat

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2 ESV) Earlier this week, Lindsay and I were goofing around with ChatGPT. We were saying random things and asking it random questions. At one point, just to see what it would say, I told it I liked fried pickles with ranch. The female voice replied and said it also likes fried pickles an

“18 Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away. 19 Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. 20 And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.”21 But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.” (Luke 8:18-21) That’s a stri