Why Buy This Book?
The Playbook of Deception is a practical, Scripture-anchored resource that exposes how today’s sports culture can quietly hijack faith, family, and mission. Through short fictional letters and insightful reflections, it equips parents, grandparents, mentors, athletes, coaches and youth leaders to recognize the enemy’s subtle strategies, cultivate godly character, and turn fields, courts, and gymnasiums into places of discipleship and spiritual formation.
Teams, churches, schools, and youth ministries are facing a powerful cultural pressure toward performance, status, and winning at all costs. The Playbook of Deception names these deceptions and answers them—letter by letter—with gospel truth, practical application, and conversation prompts that reshape how we show up in sports. It is ideal for family discipleship, small-group parent studies on teams & in leagues and parent-education for religious schools.
Bulk discounts available for teams, churches, schools, and ministries (15+ copies). Contact: lovegodlikesports@gmail.com to learn more.
Lynchburg Friends - bulk orders can be delivered free of charge in December and Individual copies can be ordered with several pick up dates & locations in and around the area. Contact: lovegodlikesports@gmail.com
Available for Purchase as of November 19th, 2025.
A Message to Church Youth Sports Leaders
You stepped into sports ministry because you believe it can be more than games and schedules. You believe sports can change lives.
Every practice, every game, every sideline moment is forming the kids and families you serve — not just in athletic ability, but in identity, character, and spiritual direction. The Playbook of Deception equips sports parents to ensure that formation aligns with Christ.
Inspired by C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters, this book exposes how the culture of youth sports can subtly disciple families away from Jesus — and then empowers them to resist that temptation with Scripture, godly habits, and a mission-minded vision.
As a leader in church sports ministry, your calling is sacred.
You’re not merely running a league.
You’re shaping a generation.
You're not just running a league that develop athletes.
You're wanting to lead a discipleship movement through sports —
raising up young followers of Jesus who compete with purpose,
love others deeply, and live out their faith long after the final whistle.
But here’s the challenge:
You can’t do this alone.
Parents spend far more time with their athletes than coaches and leaders ever will.
To see real transformation, you need parents on the same page — with the same heart, the same goals, and the same biblical vision.
That’s where The Playbook of Deception comes in.
It helps parents understand the spiritual stakes in youth sports,
equips them to disciple their kids through competition,
and empowers them to join you in shaping a Christ-centered sports ministry culture.
Can you help us put The Playbook of Deception into the hands of your sports parents and coaches? When you do you invite parents to discover:
How competition can cultivate Christlike character
How to redefine success through a gospel lens
How to love teammates, opponents, and officials as neighbors
How to turn sports spaces into spiritual growth environments
Imagine the transformation:
Kids learning faith in the heat of competition.
Parents growing in their calling as disciple-makers.
A church sports ministry that becomes a true mission field.
You care deeply about these families.
You want their lives — not just their stats — to change.
Equip your parents. Empower your coaches. Champion spiritual formation through sports.
This is more than a book.
It’s a strategic tool to build a Christ-centered culture in your youth sports ministry.
A Message to Christian School Athletic Directors
Your athletes are being shaped every day — not only in skill and strength, but in identity, values, and purpose. The Playbook of Deception gives parents a powerful resource to help ensure that formation aligns with the gospel.
Inspired by C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters, this book pulls back the curtain on how youth and school sports can subtly disciple families away from Christ — and then equips them to fight back with biblical truth, godly habits, and a mission-minded vision.
As Athletic Directors, you have a sacred opportunity:
Don’t just lead programs that pursue wins.
Lead a movement that pursues hearts.
By putting The Playbook of Deception into the hands of your sport parents, you invite them to discover:
How to cultivate Christlike character through competition
How to reframe success beyond scores and stats
How to make every field a place of discipleship and every season a mission field
Your leadership can help families experience something far greater than championships — transformed lives and generational faithfulness.
Equip your parents. Strengthen your school community. Champion spiritual formation in sports.
This is more than a book.
It’s a strategic tool for building a Christ-centered athletic culture in your school.
or
Contact me if you have questions or want to make a bulk order of 15+ copies at:
Brian.davidson@navigators.org
or
lovegodlikesports@gmail.com
or
704.942.6611 text/call
Endorsements
“Brian Davidson is a Godly leader and gifted communicator, and that shines through in The Playbook of Deception. His style and approach make the material not only easy to understand but deeply impactful. As an athletic director and coach, I believe this book is a powerful resource for all teams and programs, helping leaders and athletes alike move from a transactional mindset to a truly transformational approach. Brian’s wisdom and perspective will equip anyone seeking to lead with integrity, purpose, and lasting impact.”
Paul Redgate
Athletic Director
Girls Basketball Head Coach
Liberty Christian Academy
Brian Davidson has done the Christian sports community a great service in writing this book. Brian is uniquely equipped to write this due to his extensive experience as a coach (both on the professional level and youth level) and as an international sports minister – he has truly seen it all!
As a father whose children were involved in youth sports, and now as a grandfather whose grandchildren are involved, I understand the temptations that are present – for parents and grandparents and the athletes themselves.
Brian’s book uses the unique approach of C. S. Lewis in the Screwtape letters to show how our spiritual enemy can and does use the environment of youth sports to lead us down sinful paths. It should serve as a wake-up call for Christian families to be on guard against these temptations as we encourage our children and grandchildren in the environment of youth sports.
I heartily endorse this unique book for anyone whose children (or grandchildren) are involved in youth sports.
—-Fred Ely, Retired Vice President of Serving In Mission (SIM) and Board Member of Missionary Athletes International.
What could possibly go wrong with your family actively and enthusiastically participating in youth and school sports? Plenty! In our sports obsessed culture, the enemy of our souls is actively, and deceptively, at work leading your children, and I dare say even you parents, down dangerous paths of idolatry, self-promotion, and harriedness. In The Playbook of Deception, Brain Davidson masterfully exposes the enemy’s plans to use sports to lead Christian families away from their first true love of Jesus. The answer is not to abandon sports participation, but to redeem it for God’s glory and the good of your family! Brian helps show us the way.
--- Tripp Johnston, Sports Friends Co-Founder, former investment banking executive, Board Chair of Chattanooga Christian School, and author of Soul Brothers