We're looking for our next cohort of students! If you'd like to know more about our graduate programs in sports, theology, and ministry leadership, join us for a live online information session next month. Come study with me and the Baylor's Truett Seminary team 👇

My white evangelical family consistently missed church (gasp) for Little League Baseball. Add Scot McKnight is my father, and that’s another interesting twist. How about your family? Sports or Sunday Sabbath? Such an interesting read, Paul Putz!!

More good news to share about my book: It has won the 2025 Guittard Book Award from Baylor History. So grateful. I know life doesn’t always work this way, so it’s truly a gift and an honor to have your work seen and recognized 🙏 history.artsandsciences.baylor.edu/news/story/202…

"The myth that success is determined alone by winning games must be destroyed, at least in the understanding between the coach and the players. There must be set forth an objective which is greater than winning but which carries winning with it. Winning should be considered not

Episode 126 is here! We talk with historian Paul Putz about the history of Christianity & sports in America and learn how sports ministries like Fellowship of Christian Athletes navigated some of the major cultural & political moments of post-WWII America thewayofimprovement.blog/2025/10/21/epi…

They nailed this 🏀

Running has a great deal to do with civility. It supports the flourishing of our community and forms us in ways that can make us better citizens. New column: irunfar.com/the-civic-valu…

100 percent agree. And it will also diminish the civic, social, and moral value of sports for future generations. We're teaching young people to see and engage with sports primarily through a strictly transactional lens. Gambling corrodes the idea that sports are a public good.

I very rarely rant, but here goes… I love basketball. I love playing, watching, and talking about the game. I love its history (I’m writing a book about it now), and I love the way it continues to grow and evolve. This gambling scandal hits hard because it reveals an absolute

"Athletic performance is characterized by a certain tension: it is both violent and graceful. It prepares persons both for battle and for dance." Reflections in Comment on the meaning of sports and what it means to be human: comment.org/the-grace-of-s…

Enjoyed getting to talk with Kelsey Kramer McGinnis for this story on the potential for a Christian Super Bowl halftime show. I got to offer a little historical context, while Dr. Derwin L. Gray brought the pastoral wisdom combined with the pro athlete perspective: christianitytoday.com/2025/10/will-t…

Happening next week! If you’re around Chicago or Wheaton College, would love to see you there

In case you missed it, I had a great conversation with John Fea this week. We talked sports and Christianity in America, the craft of history, and more. Check it out: thewayofimprovement.blog/2025/10/21/epi…

To be a loving people in a hostile society, Christians need to be more biblical, not less.