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

We are summit people, selfie on top of Mount Quandary people. See me with my trophy on Instagram people.  We are paradise people, give me my drink and my chair. Clear my calendar, and let the petsitter care for the dogs. We are defensive people, scrapping in arguments to settle the score of who we are. We play chess with conversations. But much of the life God has given is not lived in these cinematic moments — the accomplishment, the vacation, or the conflict. Most of life i

You Know It, and So Does Everybody Else We are all born with deep insecurities. At some point, every one of us asks the same haunting questions: Am I good enough? Do I have what it takes? Do I measure up? Those questions show up in different forms; smart enough, attractive enough, strong enough, accomplished enough. And because we feel the weight of those questions, we strive, compete, and achieve in an attempt to quiet them. We tell ourselves, If I can just accomplish more,

I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your words. (Psalm 119:147) The world runs on progress, graphs going up and to the right. Graduations, personal bests, trophies, and year end performance bonuses. We build, we conquer.  This is good — well, it can be. The Lord has given us dominion over His creation (Genesis 1:26). It is still fully His, but He calls us to be cultivators. Cultivators grow things, and are satisfied with the harvest. Progress is good. There is a sp

Hi there! My name is Connor Cox, and I’m the Lewisville Worship Minister for The Door Church! I am beyond blessed to have this opportunity to lead our worship team and our church family in worship and draw us all closer to God through songs of praise.  I began singing at a very young age, and as the years progressed, I began to really enjoy it! I started to sing everywhere I went, and I especially loved going to my church’s Wednesday night student ministry and getting to sing

When I joined TDC's staff after a 13-year career in commercial real estate and construction, I was excited. I had been a non-vocational pastor at TDC, meaning I had a day job in the business world — and now I was pumped I could devote my time and effort directly to matters of the church. At the time of my career transition, I was asked this question: “So now you see how the sausage is made, huh?” I don’t know if you get that metaphor, but making sausage can be pretty gross, a

The Bible talks a lot about worship—what it is, why it matters, and how to do it. The heart of worship is simple: giving thanks. Romans 1 paints a sobering picture of what happens when people worship created things instead of the Creator. It describes idolatry like this: “they did not honor Him as God or give thanks.” That’s it. Ingratitude is a primary symptom of idolatry— a refusal to acknowledge God as the giver of every good gift. It’s a heart and a life that stops saying

When God called me into ministry and stirred my heart to plant a church, I had vision and passion, but not much else. I didn’t have the money to rub two pennies together. That’s what led me to the General Baptist Convention of Texas office in Fort Worth. I was 25, with no pastoral experience and not a single sermon preached to a real church, hoping to convince a committee to support this wild call God had put on my life. As I sat in the waiting room, nervous and probably look

I am naturally defensive. That is because when my character is questioned, I want to make sure it’s defended. And underneath that, it’s because I think I’m a good dude who is being misunderstood. If I can explain enough, you’ll see I’m blameless. This is bad theology. This is what the Bible says: The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? – Jeremiah 17:9 ESV Desperately sick people have symptoms of their sickness. And in the same way

In November of 2018, my husband and I spent a brisk weekend in Branson, Missouri with new friends and their family. As my chilled-to-the-bone body stood in amusement park lines, my soul took mental notes for the first time (at least consciously) on ways to disciple a child. Despite the below-freezing temps, I heard my friend Abbey make the most of every moment with her niece, Jubilee - as we walked, stood in lines, rode rides, and took in the holiday decor, she talked of the

“Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” — Matthew 26:41 In Gethsemane, Jesus found His disciples asleep when they should have been awake. They loved him. They were sincere disciples. Their spirits were willing. They truly wanted to stand firm for Christ in the hour of temptation and testing. However, their flesh was weak. Can you relate?  This biblical scene captures a tension every follower of Jesus knows