Which Russell is the better pro: Russell Wilson with the Seattle Seahawks or Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder?

This is the type of question I text out to my friend and fellow JamTheHype.com contributor Jeremy Hartman on a regular basis. We’re always having barber shop-type discussions on sports, faith and culture. One minute we’re discussing LeCrae’s Church Clothes 2, and the next minute we’re discussing the best player in the NBA not named LeBron James. We discuss real questions like what Andy Mineo’s Wild Things means for how we live amongst our friends who haven’t embraced the gospel. And sometimes we just laugh at stuff.

We get a real joy out of chopping it up over topics surrounding faith, sports, and culture.

Now we’re inviting you to join in on our conversation. Check out the first edition of our podcast.

Podcast

Every since we were undersized point guards at Shenandoah University – arguing over who was better between Jay-Z and Nas – we had dreams of writing for a basketball magazine or a hip-hop magazine.  Fast forward a few years, we were both seized by the great affection of Jesus Christ.  We still enjoy the barber shop discussions, but now we try to figure out how the gospel impacts our view on these things.

Here, then, are three reasons I think you would love the podcast.

1. We love what you love. At my first trip to the Legacy Conference in Chicago, this young dude stopped me. He asked me to please explain to an older dude why LeBron was better than Jordan. The real funny thing was I had never met either of them. A few minutes later, all types of people were in on the discussion. The truth is that debates like those are universal. We’d love to re-create that vibe on the podcast. Do you love discussing hip-hop, sports and the gospel? We do, too!

2. You will be heavily involved.   Our goal isn’t just for you to listen to us talk! We want to create a community where our listeners have ownership of the podcast. We want to hear your insights and opinions just as much as we want to share our own insights and opinions. We want to know what athletes you want us to interview, what topics you want us to cover, and what opinions you have.  We want to read your tweets and e-mails on the podcast. Our goal is to be interactive with our listeners.

3. You might win something.  We need a name for the podcast.  And not just any name. A good name. The truth is we had a great name.  It was going to be The Mixed Bag podcast, but when iconic Christian hip-hop artist Da T.R.U.T.H announced some entrepreneurial ideas with the same name, we decided to go another route. Here’s the deal. Listen to the first podcast, and then submit us a name of what you think the podcast should be called. If we pick your name, I’ll send you a copy my book, You’re Grounded, published by Moody Publications over the summer.