My family competed at everything—football, basketball, lacrosse—even dinner as we inhaled our food to finish first. We called my dad Captain Intensity because he did everything at 110 percent. I remember hearing of his lacrosse days at the U.S. Naval Academy, and when he played against Jim Brown (football and lacrosse player at Syracuse and one of the greatest NFL running backs of all time). My dad had a hit on Brown that changed the course of the game. It was a breakthrough play for my dad, who then started every game after that.

Breakthrough is a great word used in sports. Any play that changes the course of a game is usually called a breakthrough play. A breakthrough game changes the course of a team’s season.

Breakthrough in the spiritual realm is going from the ordinary to the extraordinary. We need to identify obstacles that keep us from spiritual breakthrough and ask God to remove them. Spiritual breakthrough will not happen if we see with human eyes; make bad decisions; lean on the past; count on the practical; rely on what we can touch; or depend on the known. Spiritual breakthrough will happen when we: serve others unconditionally; allow our hearts to be opened; see in the spiritual realm; experience tears of joy and confession; rely on Christ alone; make decisions of faith bathed in prayer; serve Christ with reckless abandon; and have passionate, contagious faith.