Competing for Christ Podcast

If you are an athlete, more likely than not you will face mental barriers, mental hurdles, and mental warfare during your time in sports. As a Christian in the athletic world, how can we face these trials through Christ? What do we do to stop the stigma surrounding getting help for your mental health? How can we stop these things before they go too far?  Founder of Athletic Fortitude and form...

When the Fall occurred in this world, everything in the past, present, and future was affected by that first sin. In sports, we usually don't think about this fact, even though sin affects sports every day. Throughout the history of sports, we have seen ways that God uses them to spread His Gospel, while Satan has tried anything to create hate, destruction, and hardships in them. On today's episod...

One of the age old questions in Christianity is how do you connect with Christ and maintain that relationship. Today, we discuss how we can do this in sports and how we as athletes can learn to prioritize that connection over everything that comes with being an athlete.  Author, pastor, speaker, and former athlete Robert Bass joins the show today to talk about this interesting topic, and what...

As athletes, we love to win. It’s in our blood. Whenever we step onto the court or on the field, we should expect to win because that’s why we play. But after we’re finished, what happens to that winning mindset? Should we just not expect to win anymore? Today we get to talk with Jason Palmisano, founder of Win Your Days , Certified High Performance Coach, and former UNC Football Player. In short,...

As an athlete growing up, he struggled with identity issues like so many of us do in sports. As a college football player, he suffered a serious injury that changed the course of his experience in college. Now as a pastor, he leads a congregation of believers close to Louisville, Kentucky, and has a passion for filmmaking. So much so that he directs Christian movies that thousands, if not millions...

Today we’re talking with Coach Braxton Harris, Head Football Coach at Houston Christian University. As the new head coach of the Huskies, Coach Harris brings a fresh perspective to this conversation and a new view of culture to the HCU program. In this interview, we’re discussing what it means to protect Christ’s brand, even in a world full of individualism, NIL money, and getting to the top no ma...

Sports has a special place in so many of our hearts. We love the competitiveness, adrenaline, and passion that comes out of sports, but something that is undermined is how sports can be used for outreach, for finding friends (even a family), and the good that comes from playing with people that you may never meet otherwise.  Today, we’re talking about how we as Christian athletes can use the...

On this episode, Kelsey Lensman, entrepreneur, sports medicine specialist, sought-after speaker, and powerlifter joins the show to talk about empowering women and a special mission that she is about to embark on. She has a passion for physical fitness, highlighting what women can do, all while showing Christ through her actions. This year, Kelsey is doing something called Mission48, in which she i...

1 Timothy 4:12 says  “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.” For Christian athletes and coaches, what can we learn from this verse? How can we apply this to everything that we do, no matter what age we are? Matt Davis, Vice President of Sports at Christian Sports International, join...

Failure is something that no one is good at. You aren't supposed to like it, you actually hate it when it happens, but in actuality, it may help you in the long run. No matter what sport you play, you're going to fail. The only dependency is how you react to it. Former USC and professional track athlete and World Championship medalist Candice Davis-Price comes on today to talk about turning our fa...

James 1: 2-4 states that when we face trials, we should look at them with joy because of the perseverance that they produce. In sports, we may face injuries, losses, not playing, and more. The Bible says that we must look at these things with joy, no matter how hard they may be, and use them to make you better as a person and as an athlete. In this episode, Bart Croasmun, Youth Minister and F...

On this episode, George Washington III, University of Michigan basketball commit and 2023 Ohio Gatorade Boys' Basketball Player of the Year, comes on the show to talk about his high school experience and what it's like being a Christian as a top basketball athlete. Throughout our conversation, George shows humility and the love that he has for Jesus on and off the court. Listen as we discuss: Advi...

Author, coach, and former MLB player Brandon Puffer joins the show today to discuss what it means to him to fully trust in Jesus in this life. Brandon has a unique story, and within that story there are a lot of trials that he’s faced, and a lot of successes that he’s had. One of those trials came from making a mistake, getting arrested, and serving three and a half years in prison.  In his n...

Being a Christian in this world is never an easy task. As a college athlete, living out your Christians beliefs on the field, classroom, and life can be even harder. With so many different things coming at college students nowadays, how does one rely on Jesus and fellow believers to go against the crowd? Matt Williams, Clemson graduate and Athletes in Action Indianapolis Team Leader, joins the sho...

It's easy in a world full of idolatry, obsessiveness, and distractions to get caught up in wanting more and more, especially as an athlete or fan. While 1 Corinthians 10 states that we must flee from idolatry, we may not even realize that we idolize sports. What does it look like to have a "healthy obsession" in sports? How do we know when our relationship with sports is "unhealthy"? On this episo...

You have never heard of what is about to be talked about on this podcast, but you will eventually, especially if you run track. Ethan Hoeft, former track athlete at Purdue University and Co-Founder of Pet Track , comes on the show to talk about how God called him away from running track competitively to selling track material as a toy. This episode is one of a kind. I would have never thought that...

On today's episode, Ashley McDonough-Turnipseed, Centenary College head volleyball coach, writer for coachedbychrist.com , and divemaster joins the show to discuss what it means to follow God's plan for our lives. Whether we realize it or not, God has a plan for our lives. While it's imperative that we follow His word and try to replicate Christ as much as we can, how can we know if we're actually...

It’s 2018 and LeBron James is in the news for saying he is more than an athlete. We may not know if he had Christian implications when he said that, but what we do know is that one person saw that interview and was inspired to start her own podcast, based off of that statement! Grace Ball, host of the More Than An Athlete Podcast, joins the show today to talk about what it means to be more than an...

Max McCalley was getting recruited out of high school to play quarterback at the Division 1 level. As a Christian athlete, he felt like this was what God was calling him to. He and a lot of his teammates were on fire for Jesus, something that is so rare in today's high school sports culture. But all that changed in one day when Max suffered a traumatic brain injury off of the football field, leavi...

Motivation can be easy for some and hard for others. No matter what kind of person you are, at some point you may want to give up or even feel emotions like depression or laziness. As Christian athletes, what does God call us to when it comes to motivation? How do professionals stay so motivated in their seasons? On this episode, that's exactly what we seek to find out. Former MLB player and curre...

You don't have to be a coach, parent, or official to disciple and teach the generation coming after you through sports. Although adults have a responsibility in athletics for that, as athletes, we have a prime opportunity to show how to act as a Christian athlete to the next generation of players by what we do, how we do it, and how we carry ourselves as Christians in sport. On this episode, Jason...

Fandom in sports can be one of the worst and best things about sports as a whole. As people come together to celebrate the success and wins of their favorite teams, we can also see (on the flip side of that) the negative and harmful things that come into play, like racism, death threats, and more. On today's episode, we discuss what it means to be a Christian FAN, instead of what it means to be a...

What is the role of local believers of a church in the sports context, if any? Is that different than the role of a sports chaplain? Today, we dive into a topic that isn't touched on enough: appropriately equipping the local church and chaplains on sports teams, and what athletes can learn from each of these things. CEDE Sports founder and CEO Bob Dyar joins the show to talk about this intriguing...

On this episode, author, ultra runner, certified strength and conditioning specialist/massage therapist, and former coach Stephanie Burdette comes on to talk about her new book For All the Glory: Finding God in Sports and what she has learned in her experiences in sports . Throughout the book and conversation, Stephanie gives great insight into the mind of an athlete and the power of God in athlet...

Have you ever thought about sports from a sociological perspective? Probably not, as I didn’t think about it until I took a course at Covenant College entitled Sociology of Sport! This class completely challenged me as an athlete, and at times, it made me resent the professor because of what he was saying about the sports I loved to watch and play! But this course taught me how to look at sports f...