A natural athlete who took to the sport quickly, Kayden Beasley’s growth originally placed him in a substitute role for this season. His stature has grown to where he was recently named to the team’s roster — trimmed by one spot — for the World Para Ice Hockey Championship in Buffalo at the end of May. A Christian, he left earlier this month for training camp in Madison, Wisc.
Read MoreZeev Buium took the ice on Sunday for the Minnesota Wild, becoming the first NHL player born to Israeli parents and one of more than a dozen Jewish players to feature in a game this season. He might also be the first in the league with a tattoo featuring Jewish calendar dates. His parents, Sorin and Miriam Buium, immigrated in 1999 from Ashdod, a city in Israel, to San Diego.
Read MoreWhen the Portland Trail Blazers gave up four draft picks for Deni Avdija last summer, it seemed like an overpay. Avdija, the league’s only Israeli-born player, was coming off a breakout fourth season for the Washington Wizards. But his stats had popped so much that some regression felt almost inevitable. Instead, as the focal point of a young, head-turning team, Avdija’s gotten even better.
Read MoreWalk through the doors of St. Peter’s Church in the English town of Shipley, in West Yorkshire, and this Anglican house of worship can sometimes result in a very unexpected sight. Forget rows of pews leading down to a main altar. Instead, you’ll find a WWE-style ring featuring wrestlers acting out Bible stories to the delight of those watching.
Read MoreThey lined up on March 2, ready to enter the baptistry at First Southern Baptist Church. College athletes, all of them. Emerging from the water symbolized a new start for them. The pastor’s name is Doyle Pryor. Imagine what a guy named Doyle Pryor would look, sound and be like. Odds are you imagine a preacher with a big personality and even bigger desire to do whatever it takes to reach others for Christ.
Read MoreThe best week in sports is upon us once again. The men’s NCAA basket tournament — a time known as “March Madness” — brings with it office pools and, very often, plenty of surprises. It’s a long road to the championship game and a lot will happen between now and April 7. Here are five religiously-affiliated schools that could turn into Cinderella teams and pull off some upsets.
Read More(BOOK EXCERPT) In the late 1970s, the San Francisco Bay Area sportswriters labeled the growing group of born-again Christians on the San Francisco Giants the "God Squad." When the God Squadders helped propel the team to a strong 1978 season, challenging the Dodgers and Reds, they often gave God the credit in post-game interviews. The press raised no objection. In 1979, when the Giants' fortunes faded, sportswriters were quick to blame the born-again players.
Read MoreIn the extreme sport of ice swimming, the appropriately named Winters holds the world record for the oldest person to swim an ice mile, officially noted by the International Ice Swimming Association. “I first got into ice swimming just because I’d read that it was the most extreme swimming challenge in the world,” he said, “and basically just to see if I could do it and challenge myself.”
Read MoreDikembe Mutombo’s towering presence on the basketball court made him a household name. With his signature finger wag and shot-blocking ability, he dominated the NBA for nearly two decades. But it’s his legacy off the court that set him apart as an icon of compassion and service. His parents, both Baptists, instilled in him values of kindness, humility and service to others. These principles would shape Mutombo’s identity as a man and player.
Read MoreAlex Bregman, the slugging third baseman who wore a Star of David on his cap following the Oct. 7 attacks, reportedly signed with the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday in a contract that will give him the highest salary ever for a Jewish baseball player. The three-year, $120 million deal officially closes Bregman’s tenure with Houston Astros, the team that drafted him second overall in 2015.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Moments after the Philadelphia Eagles won Super Bowl LIX, quarterback Jalen Hurts offered a familiar word of testimony: “God is good. He is greater than all of the highs and lows.” If those words sounded familiar, it's because Hurts — the MVP — shared them earlier on press day, along with several other times when he was in the spotlight: “My faith has always been a part of me.”
Read MoreA tiny cross is perched atop the church. In front, a bright red bicycle repair station and a brown-and-white sign proclaims “Spoke’n Hostel” to greet visitors. Not only does this church-turned-hostel offer the cheapest accommodations — just $35 a night — in this remote part of the state, but its reputation for warm hospitality has earned two awards from Oregon’s governor’s office.
Read More(OPINION) It’s gratifying to see new government policies which align with God’s creational order, yet this is not the end of our witness on this issue. Our churches should both be eager to declare what is good and true and beautiful about biblical masculinity and femininity and read to help those who struggle with gender dysphoria find hope in the Gospel and the resurrection of the body at the end of the age.
Read MoreFor the most fervent of the football faithful, the Super Bowl — which last year drew a record 123.7 million U.S. viewers — brings rituals and traditions with a quasi-religious feel. But at least one Christian scholar has concerns.
Read MorePresident Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order aimed at prohibiting transgender women and girls from competing in women’s sports, directing agencies to withdraw federal funding for any schools that refused to comply. The step, taken on National Girls & Women in Sports Day, is one of several by the new president regarding gender.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Looking at the calendar, I see that the Kansas City Chiefs and Taylor Swift have one more game this year. Thus, let me ask two questions that — when placed back to back — create a paradox that points to some ironic tensions in this culture of ours.
Read MoreJudging by the television audience, Americans certainly care about the Super Bowl. Few, however, think God shares their concern. Last year’s Super Bowl drew more than 123.7 million U.S. viewers, the largest TV viewership in history. Yet, most U.S. adults don’t believe God cares who wins the big game or determines the the winner, according to a new study.
Read MoreThe high number of practicing Christian quarterbacks in the NFL is a multifaceted phenomenon rooted in cultural, social and personal factors. Christianity offers these men a foundation for moral guidance, mental fortitude and a sense of community — all of which are essential to the demanding life of an NFL quarterback and win a Super Bowl.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The date was October 4, 1997, and the MSNBC producers on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., had a problem. Actually, they had several problems. The main problem was that the million or so Promise Keepers men (D.C. crowd estimates were already a highly politicized affair) gathered for the Stand in the Gap rally keep singing, praying, reading their Bibles, listening to sermons and confessing their sins.
Read More(OPINION) The media and the public are now accustomed to hearing athletes thank God for the abilities he has given them. But that wasn’t always the case. In baseball in the 1950 and ‘60s, it was extremely rare to hear such pronouncements from athletes. Then, during the 1970s in San Francisco, one of the great culture clashes between religious athletes, the media and the fan base erupted over a group of born-again ballplayers.
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