“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?” — Luke 15:4
“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it?” — Luke 15:8
“For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to celebrate.” — Luke 15:24
Party Time
Lebron James wants the best. In his profession, the best is an NBA title, and he has been to the NBA Finals eight straight times. But besides his greatness on the court with his skills, he shines off the court too. The guy started a school that pays for students who graduate to go to college at Akron. That is incredible!
In Luke 15, we hear Jesus speak about three separate but very similar parables: One about leaving a flock of sheep to go get the one that has strayed; another about how a woman would light a lamp and tear her home apart to find one coin she had lost. Both of those parables end with a huge party.
Do you see the message Jesus is teaching? When we lose anything, we do whatever it takes to get it back! Jesus did that for us.
When we went astray in our sin, He came for us. That stupid night out, the lie, bad money decision, whatever it was, He came and got us. Every single time we start to stray, He comes running after us. God could have let us struggle after Adam and Eve denied his commandment, but He sent Jesus.
In the third parable, Jesus talks about a son who asks his father for the portion of goods that belonged to him, which he then took and wasted with wild living. But even after the son embarrassed his father and left his family, his father did not wait for him to come all the way home. He went after him once he saw his son coming back, and then threw a party for him. He had a feast, put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet!
That is what happens in Heaven when someone comes to know Christ.
Are we that excited about that one person on our hearts? Or are we searching around our lives for that extra dollar? Pray that God puts that person on your heart today and that a party happens for them when they come to know the Lord.
— Reid Carper
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Achieving the Triple Crown in Major League Baseball is a difficult feat. A player must have the highest batting average, the most home runs and the most RBIs. These achievements don’t happen very often.
There’s also a Triple Crown in horse racing. A horse must win the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes in the same year. Again, a difficult achievement as the horse must win three races in a row against the best horses at three different tracks and different distances. Some of the horses in the second and third race do not compete in all the races, so they’re an unknown factor in the final leg of the Triple Crown.
In drag racing, there’s no so-called “Triple Crown.” But when a race team runs low ET (elapsed time) and top speed of the meet, and then wins the race too, it’s like a Triple Crown — a racing trinity. For the sold-out fans of drag racing, their Triple Crown is going to the races, seeing their favorite driver win, and witnessing a world record at the same race.
Most importantly, there’s an eternal Triple Crown calling all of us to listen, learn and lean on the God-based Trinity consisting of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. These three are the epitome of stardom from eternity past while visibly wearing the gold crowns forever. They’re the Champs of the universe!
Joy, peace and hope are a good Triple Crown for us humans. Faith allows us to have a Triple Crown as we have the joy of the Lord, the peace that surpasses all understanding, and the eternal hope that drives us to serve Almighty God all our years on earth.
The Book of Ephesians gives us another Triple Crown by reminding us who we were before coming to Christ (Ephesians 2:1-3), who we are now in Christ (Ephesians 2:4-6), and who we are to become — how to live in Christ considering our new life in Him (Ephesians 2:10, 4:24). We’re alive in Christ (got the new racing machine), saved by grace (made it to the racetrack), and raised up with Christ (racing down the track).
Tell me, friends, what depletes your joy? What threatens your peace? What diminishes your hope? Just remember that God’s imperishable Triple Crown is bestowed upon us through faith and trust by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Golden State Valkyries guard Veronica Burton celebrates, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)
In just the franchise’s second year of existence, the Golden State Valkyries captured the WNBA title on Saturday night in San Francisco after a hard-fought, back-and-forth 68-63 victory against the Atlanta Dream in Game 7. It was the first seven-game series in WNBA Finals history.
Valkyries point guard Veronica Burton left her mark on the game from beginning to end. She hit a step-back mid-range jumper just before the shot clock expired to open the scoring, and she buried two clutch free throws with 5.1 seconds remaining to extend Golden State’s lead to five. They would be the last points of the contest.
Burton finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and a block in the winner-take-all Game 7. She also led her team with 39 minutes played as her team overcame a six-point halftime deficit.
The 5-foot-9 point guard anchored Golden State throughout their 13-game postseason run. She led the team in assists per game (3.8), tied for second in rebounds (4.9), and was third in points (9.2).
“Hands down, I think she’s the best point guard right now in the league,” Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase told The Athletic last week. “… It’s that grittiness. It’s that leadership. It is that toughness. It’s diving on the floor, getting knocked down, getting back up.”
Burton is a leader and defensive stopper on her team, and in many ways the heart and soul of it. And now, she’s carried Golden State to a title. It’s a story no one would have thought possible just a few years ago, perhaps not even her.
Burton’s WNBA career began with promise, as the Massachusetts native was drafted No. 7 overall by the Dallas Wings in 2022 after a decorated college career at Northwestern. Yet after two seasons of limited playing time and limited success in Dallas, the Wings waived her in May 2024. She eventually signed with the Connecticut Sun for the remainder of the 2024 campaign, yet again didn’t see the floor much.
Burton’s breakthrough came when Golden State picked her from Connecticut’s roster in the December 2024 expansion draft and she instantly became a critical piece of the new team. She started all 44 games in 2025 and thrived in that role, averaging 11.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.1 steals in 29.4 minutes of game action. Golden State became the first WNBA expansion team to reach the playoffs in its first year, and Burton was named the league’s Most Improved Player. She was also named to the All-Defensive second team.
Burton was again named to the All-Defensive second team in 2026 and guided the Valkyries back to the playoffs as the No. 2 overall seed with a 32-12 regular-season record. She averaged 12.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.6 steals.
Throughout her rise to the top of the WNBA, Burton has consistently given glory to God, both on social media and in interviews. She was found reading the Book of James after being waived by Dallas, and in a 2023 appearance on the Sports Spectrum Podcast, she explained why it’s so important to her to thank God.
“The one thing that I try and thank Him for every day is just the opportunities that He’s presented for me,” she said. “I’ve been able to experience a lot of great things, and things have worked out in my favor, and a lot of that has to do with Him and the grace that He has for me.”
Although Burton grew up in a family that emphasized faith, it was at Northwestern that God truly began to work in her heart to draw her to Himself.
“I realized that the more I centered my life around faith and my relationship with the Lord, the more steady I found myself and the more at peace I found myself,” she said on the podcast. “That’s where I saw a shift in who I was and what I really prioritized.”
“My faith is the most important thing to me,” the 26-year-old said. “Just wrapping my identity around who Christ says I am rather than a sport, a career.”
In a video later in the series, Burton shared why her daily practice of doing devotionals and spending time in God’s Word is so important.
“I wanted to know Him for myself and I wanted to have a genuine relationship for myself,” she said, “because I believe that’s the best part about Christianity is having a relationship.”
Burton praised God amid the depths of doubt and uncertainty after she was waived two years ago. Now, at last, she can praise Him as a WNBA champion.
United States skier Lindsey Vonn crashes into a gate at the 2026 Winter Olympics, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
“But Ruth replied, ‘Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.’” — Ruth 1:16
Downhill skiing is one of the most dangerous events during the Winter Olympics. Lindsey Vonn could enjoy a much easier life if she chose to participate in some other activities. During her long and spectacular career, she’s thrived going down slopes at 80 mph in spite of major injuries and long periods of recovery. She’s sustained nine major injuries and five surgeries.
Besides knee injuries, a broken ankle and a serious arm injury, she’s also dealt with depression for many years. Plus, she struggled when she retired, only to return to action again and experience another injury. She’s written a book about her life and inspires many people to be patient and overcome obstacles.
The Book of Ruth is a great place to start for a look into a Biblical account of handling challenges. Ruth was a person who took a long view of happiness and didn’t expect her earthly life to go exactly the way she wanted it to. She looked to God for direction and trusted the Lord when she couldn’t see anything good happening. Orpah, Ruth’s sister-in-law, went back to her people in Moab and followed their false gods after disaster struck their family and left them all widows. Ruth, instead, chose to stay and help Naomi, her mother-in-law, despite facing potential loneliness and rejection in the midst of moving to a foreign land, not knowing if she’d ever receive any benefits for doing so.
The testimony of this young woman declares many incredible truths. Even though most people wouldn’t fault Ruth for looking out for herself, she lived unselfishly in a selfish world. She stood steadfast beside Naomi (Ruth 1:16, above). Eventually, God rewarded the sacrifice of Ruth, but she followed God’s leading while not knowing if her life may become more difficult.
In spite of Naomi — who was bitter and angry about being a widow — Ruth counted her blessings. She was thankful for the ability to go out into the field and gather grain as a beggar according to the provision described in Leviticus. The corners of fields were left unpicked for the needy. Even though Ruth didn’t know if she’d ever have a husband again as a young widow in a strange land, she did her best and kept a positive outlook. During her daily labors, it probably looked like unbelievers prospered more than her, but God had prepared a better future for her with Boaz, establishing her in the family tree of not only the great King David but eventually Jesus. She kept faithfully working while waiting to see what God had written for her story. Her life story turned out better than a movie because she trusted God when she didn’t understand what was happening.
Throughout the Scriptures, we’re urged to think more about eternity than temporary earthly pleasure. Jesus didn’t promise any of His disciples earthly wealth when we follow Him (Luke 9:23). When we actually believe in Christ, we learn to put aside personal agendas, help others and walk with Christ even if nobody else will join us. Our stories may not look like we’d hoped (often they don’t), but our faith can anchor us and keep us focused on what really matters, no matter what comes our way.
— Bill Kent, Pastor of Memorial Baptist Church, Sylvania, Georgia
“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.’” — 1 Samuel 16:7 (ESV)
I once coached a player who knew her stats better than I did. After almost every match, she’d find me with the box score practically memorized and ask some version of the same question: “Coach, did I do enough?” She was talented and she worked hard, but her performance had become tangled up with how she saw herself, and when the numbers weren’t good, she didn’t just think she’d had a bad match. She felt like she had failed.
I’ve watched some version of that play out for years. Athletes attach their value to points, playing time, rankings and offers. And coaches aren’t immune either, because we can do the same thing with wins, championships and recruiting classes, or with whether anybody notices how hard we’re working. The problem is that your performance was never supposed to determine how much you’re worth.
There will always be another match, and somebody will eventually have better numbers. You may lose your starting position, get injured or work harder than you ever have and still not get the outcome you wanted. If your performance determines your worth, every one of those things becomes bigger than it should be. Because you’re no longer dealing only with disappointment — you’re letting the outcome tell you who you are.
Scripture gives us a completely different picture. When Samuel went to Jesse’s house to anoint the next king of Israel, Eliab looked like the obvious choice, and God corrected Samuel: “Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7b, ESV). David wasn’t even brought in with his brothers because he was out tending the sheep, and yet he was the one God chose. Long before David had a crown or a victory anyone would remember, God was looking at the heart while everyone else was looking at what they could see.
One of the easiest mistakes we make is letting a role or an accomplishment become an identity. When that happens, criticism becomes personal instead of useful, and our sense of worth starts rising and falling with outcomes and other people’s opinions, which is an exhausting way to live and not what God intended for us.
Your identity in Christ was established before you recorded a single point, earned a starting position, or won a championship. Your performance, role and opportunities can all change, and none of them get to decide what you’re worth.
That doesn’t mean performance doesn’t matter. I’m a coach, and I absolutely believe in working hard and pursuing excellence. Colossians 3:23 (ESV) tells us, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” The difference is knowing where performance ends and identity begins. A bad game can tell you that you need to work on your passing, but it can’t tell you that you’re less valuable. A great stat line doesn’t make you more worthy than you were before the match, or more valuable than the athlete sitting beside you.
Eventually every athlete has to play their last match, and being an athlete goes from something that has been a huge part of your identity to something you used to do. If your identity has been built on what you accomplished in that uniform, that transition can be incredibly difficult. But if your sport is something you do rather than the source of who you are, you’re free to compete without asking the game to give you something it was never capable of giving.
So play hard, chase excellence and be coachable. When you have a great game, enjoy it. When you have a terrible one, learn from it and get back to work. Just don’t give a stat sheet the authority to tell you what you’re worth. That was never its job.
Your worth was settled long before anybody started keeping score.
