Bestselling author JoshUA Cooley (’96) charts career path in sports, ministry, and publishing
From co-authoring the memoir of a Super Bowl MVP to writing Christian children’s books, New York Times bestselling author and Liberty University alumnus Joshua Cooley (’96) uses his talents to reach the masses with the Gospel.
While still in high school, Cooley knew he wanted to join his love for sports with his passion for writing. During his sophomore year at Liberty, he jumped at the opportunity to cover NCAA Division I sports for the student newspaper, the “Liberty Champion,” and eventually served as sports editor. After graduating with his journalism degree, Cooley worked at local weekly newspapers in his home state of Maryland and eventually served as sports editor at the Baltimore Examiner.
In 2007, Cooley felt called to step back from his journalism career and pursue a job where he could spend more time with his children. He spent the next 14 years as a children’s minister at two churches, the second requiring a move to North Carolina.
Joshua Cooley has a passion for sharing the Gospel with children around the country. A former children’s minister, Cooley has published two children’s picture books. (Photo by Amanda Kurak)
He continued living out his passion for writing through freelance opportunities. In 2011, he released “The One Year Sports Devotions for Kids” (Tyndale House Publishers), which he coauthored with two editors from Focus on the Family.
“God really dropped that in my lap,” Cooley said. “It was wonderful; that started my book publishing journey. It’s a hard business to get into. I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to break in, but God opened the door.”
Seven years later, Cooley found his largest publication success to date when he coauthored the memoir of former NFL quarterback Nick Foles, who was fresh off winning Super Bowl LII MVP honors after leading the Philadelphia Eagles to their first Super Bowl victory. The book, “Believe It: My Journey of Success, Failure, and Overcoming the Odds,” went on to be a New York Times bestseller.
“Having the opportunity to write a memoir on a Super Bowl MVP was an incredible experience,” Cooley said. “Looking back, I can see how God orchestrated things remarkably, weaving the opportunity together in ways that I wasn’t even aware of at the time. It was literally heaven-sent. And Nick is the real deal. His faith is authentic, and his Christian walk is genuine. It’s a privilege to tell the stories of humble, God-honoring believers like that.”
As he seeks to reach the next generation through his writing, Cooley uses the expertise he developed as a children’s minister and his personal experiences as a father to effectively engage a younger audience. He has published 19 books, including many kids/youth devotionals such as the “Heroes of the Bible Devotional” (Tyndale House, 2014), “The One Year Devotions with Jesus” (Tyndale House, 2015), and “Creator, Father, King: A One-Year Journey with God” (Tyndale House, 2020). Last year, he published his first children’s book, “I Can’t Believe My Eyes!,” which helps young kids believe in a God they can’t see. Earlier this year, he released “Empty! Celebrating a Risen Savior,” another picture book that explores the wonders of Jesus’ resurrection. He currently has seven more books scheduled to release over the next few years.
“When I write for kids, I try to put myself in the mind frame of what my kids would have understood at that age,” he said. “I have four teenage daughters ages 13-19. They are a little older. When I’m writing for kids, I still remember what my daughters thought about and what they could and couldn’t grasp at certain age levels. … It’s super helpful as a kids writer to have kids of your own because you can kind of enter that world.”
No matter his audience, Cooley approaches every project with the objective of praising God and bringing others closer to Him.
“The way I talk about God’s love to a 3-year-old might be a little different than the way I talk about it to an adult, but the truth of God’s love doesn’t change,” he said. “He’s still all-loving. He’s still holy. He’s still good. He’s still all-powerful. It’s just trying to connect with that audience in different ways to tell them about the God who doesn’t change.”
“Getting to share through books about this God who loves us and has moved heaven and earth to be with us through Jesus is really remarkable,” he added. “He’s called me to play a very small part in His big plan; that’s a huge honor and privilege, and I love to be able to do that.”
Aside from publishing, Cooley works primarily as a freelance writer and editor. He is currently the editor for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ magazine and enjoys writing/editing projects for many well-known Christian publishers, including Tyndale House, HarperCollins Christian, David C Cook, New Growth Press, Awana, and others. His writing has appeared in nearly 40 different print and online publications. He also speaks at Christian schools, conferences, church retreats, and summer camps.
As Cooley looks back over his successful career, he credits his alma mater for helping him fine-tune his skills. He still has a copy of almost every article he wrote for the “Liberty Champion.”
“I’m grateful for the biblical-based center of the university where we aren’t just telling stories as writers and authors, we’re telling stories with an eternal purpose,” he said. “When I first got into journalism and working at secular newspapers, I loved it, and it was fun. But I was just telling regular sports stories about the game last night, or this star athlete. That only takes you so far.”
“The stories I really love telling are the ones I learned to tell at Liberty, which were based on something eternal — God’s love for us through His Son, Jesus. When I can weave faith and sports together, that’s my sweet spot,” he added. “I really love that. Not just faith and sports, but faith and life. That’s been a real blessing to get that training early on at Liberty and then still be able to do that many, many decades later.”
