From the Touchline

Today on the From the Touchline podcast, I am joined by our very own, Kim Beach, affectionately known as Miss Kim. Kim is chaplain to Victory Christian High School in Indiana and also to the newly developed Warehouse — a place where athletes can go and be trained and discipled.

Miss Kim attended the 4th Global Congress on Sport and Christianity in Waco, Texas a few weeks ago and it was her first time at such a global congress. I’ve invited her on to the podcast to update us on her ministry work and also to share her thoughts on the congress including some of her favorite sessions and key takeaways. Miss Kim and I also play a round of Crosses with Rev and climbs the leaderboard.

From the Touchline is a short-feature (10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).

Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd, in the Apple and Google store.

Today on the From the Touchline podcast, I am joined by good friend and the long-time chaplain/character coach for Southern Illinois University Salukis, Roger Lipe. Roger recently received the Sport.Faith.Life lifetime achievement award at the 4th Global Congress on Sport and Christianity held in Waco, Texas. He is prolific author (16 books) and a long-time practitioner in the sports chaplaincy and sports ministry space. He has trained many around the world in sports chaplaincy.

Roger joins me today to reflect on the recent Congress and share some of his thoughts and insights as to the future of sports chaplaincy in the US and around the world. Roger also gets in a round of Crosses with Rev and has a good showing.

From the Touchline is a short-feature (10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).

Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd, in the Apple and Google store.

The 4th Global Congress on Sport and Christianity held last week at Baylor University’s Truett Seminary was epic. A great time. Many old friendship revisited. Some new friendships formed. A lot of thoughtful presentations. I am still trying to process it all.

In today’s edition of From the Touchline, I share the audio recording from my presentation: Game Plans and Gospel: Translating the Scriptures for Sport. In my talk I shared the motivations for translating and then some of the biblical examples that I leaned into to validate the process. I also shared a few guardrails and then encouraged others to consider how they might make God’s Word more accessible and understandable for people in their sporting contexts.

From the Touchline is a short-feature (10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).

Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd, in the Apple and Google store.

Psalm 126 is another song of ascent. It was a journey song — for those who were coming to worship at the temple. It recalls a time of deprivation and exile and the return of a peoples to their land and the worship of God praising His goodness to them. In many ways, it can feel like a dream — to return, to win, to move up again.

I wrote Soccer Psalm 126 from the perspective of a fan who is seeing their club go up and be promoted or staving off relegation. This is hard for fans in the United States to fully appreciate and grasp, but for many others around the world they watch as their team strives to “stay up” in the highest league possible. Well, we, too need God at times to help deliver us or help us to rise — in our vocations and careers, in our marriages and relationships, and in our faith. Here is a wonderful song that reminds us to trust in Him and to see His goodness, even in those difficult times and places.

The Soccer Psalms, is a self-published book available on Amazon. (You can also find The Football Psalms-a British version-if you appreciate the different terms around the game). Both books are available globally on Amazon and contain 31 psalms that have been translated into “soccer psalms” — with words, language, and metaphors that connect soccer to God’s Word. I also include some reflection on the context and writing as well as some questions for reflection. Check out the book below:

The Soccer Psalms: https://mybook.to/thesoccerpsalms

The Football Psalms: https://mybook.to/thefootballpsalms-uk

From the Touchline is a short-feature (10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).

Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd, in the Apple and Google store.

David in Psalm 12 is describing the trustworthy and true nature of God in spite of all the faithlessness and falseness around him. It’s the difference between flattery and flawlessness. People being liars and God being a protector of the vulnerable.

I wrote Soccer Psalm 12 as an appeal to God as the Ultimate Referee. We can often equate (in the modern game) a sense of deprivation when it comes to officiating. So many bad calls even in spite of VAR and all the modern amenities for calling a good game, but God has all the angles covered and He can deliver the justice that life demands unlike any other. It’s God’s protections which keep the game and life good and pure.

The Soccer Psalms, is a self-published book available on Amazon. (You can also find The Football Psalms-a British version-if you appreciate the different terms around the game). Both books are available globally on Amazon and contain 31 psalms that have been translated into “soccer psalms” — with words, language, and metaphors that connect soccer to God’s Word. I also include some reflection on the context and writing as well as some questions for reflection. Check out the book below:

The Soccer Psalms: https://mybook.to/thesoccerpsalms

The Football Psalms: https://mybook.to/thefootballpsalms-uk

From the Touchline is a short-feature (10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).

Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd, in the Apple and Google store.

Psalm 8 is a proud boast about God. He is majestic. The work that He has done that is visibly expressed in creation and the way that God considers mankind is mind-blowing to David the psalmist. Perhaps young David has written this while sleeping out underneath the stars and watching over his flocks of sheep. He feels his place in God’s great, big world and it results in a sense of awe and respect for God that perhaps he’s never had before.

The Soccer Psalm 8 is a boast of a soccer staffer. It’s that sense of belonging that one feels when you’re working with others and you can look up with respect to club leadership or ownership because you see and feel the amazing ways that they take care of their people and make the workplace an enjoyable place to be.

The Soccer Psalms, is a self-published book available on Amazon. (You can also find The Football Psalms-a British version-if you appreciate the different terms around the game). Both books are available globally on Amazon and contain 31 psalms that have been translated into “soccer psalms” — with words, language, and metaphors that connect soccer to God’s Word. I also include some reflection on the context and writing as well as some questions for reflection. Check out the book below:

The Soccer Psalms: https://mybook.to/thesoccerpsalms

The Football Psalms: https://mybook.to/thefootballpsalms-uk

From the Touchline is a short-feature (10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).

Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd, in the Apple and Google store.

Psalm 7 is a shiggaion, but what that truly is isn’t certain to scholars. Best we can say is that it might be a contextual note like “play with a bluesy feel…” We do know that David (the psalmist) has taken a pretty difficult accusation and it seems that it’s unfair or unjust and he’s crying out to God to vindicate him.

In soccer, in my 25+ years of being around the game, I have seen and witnessed a number of times that someone (a player, coach, staffer) was falsely accused of something and the intent behind the reporting of it was to oust someone from a position or to make one’s own advancement. At times, in our work places and living places we might face false accusations. Where can we go? To whom can we make an appeal for justice? For the Christian person, we can go to God and ask Him to fight and defend us. God is an ultimate authority who’s judgements are right and true.

The Soccer Psalms, is a self-published book available on Amazon. (You can also find The Football Psalms-a British version-if you appreciate the different terms around the game). Both books are available globally on Amazon and contain 31 psalms that have been translated into “soccer psalms” — with words, language, and metaphors that connect soccer to God’s Word. I also include some reflection on the context and writing as well as some questions for reflection. Check out the book below:

The Soccer Psalms: https://mybook.to/thesoccerpsalms

The Football Psalms: https://mybook.to/thefootballpsalms-uk

From the Touchline is a short-feature (10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).

Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd, in the Apple and Google store.

Psalm 3 is a cry, a plea to God for help. David wrote it as he flees his son Absalom who was overthrowing the throne. David feels surrounded — like there’s no way out. The Soccer Psalm 3 is also written from a similar perspective — a player who’s been severely criticized. The media pundits and fans are calling for their dismissal. Truthfully, at different times in soccer this could apply to anyone—the head coach, an executive— it seems that there is always someone to blame, someone to level criticism at. This psalm is written for the one who is facing a criticism that is especially unjustified or unfair and they need to know that God has their back.

The Soccer Psalms, is a self-published book available on Amazon. (You can also find The Football Psalms-a British version-if you appreciate the different terms around the game). Both books are available globally on Amazon and contain 31 psalms that have been translated into “soccer psalms” — with words, language, and metaphors that connect soccer to God’s Word. I also include some reflection on the context and writing as well as some questions for reflection. Check out the book below:

The Soccer Psalms: https://mybook.to/thesoccerpsalms

The Football Psalms: https://mybook.to/thefootballpsalms-uk

From the Touchline is a short-feature (10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).

Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd, in the Apple and Google store.

It may be a little “late to the game,” but after listening to the ongoing dialogue and controversy surrounding the United States Men’s National Team, I am going to break some silence. I think the Bible has some wisdom and guidance to offer as we consider the question of whether some players ought to press pause on the summer competitions or whether they need to press forward and lean in.

In today’s edition of From the Touchline, I distill the conversation down to an issue of rest and an issue of responsibility. The challenge is figuring out which issue is more of what we may say is a “call to obedience.” There are times when we are called to step up and step in, and there are other moments when we are called to press pause and rest. In the podcast, I offer two biblical stories for each side of the equation, as well as some personal thoughts and reflections for whatever value those might bring.

From the Touchline is a short-feature (10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).

Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd, in the Apple and Google store.

Israel’s first military test and battle coming on the heels of their escape from Egypt could have been disastrous, but God intervened. Exodus 17 records their first military test after a bit of a struggle for water in the desert. They won through the presence and power of God and the obedience of Moses in lifting up his hands to God; likely, with the staff of God in his hands.

In today’s edition of From the Touchline, I talk about the burden of leadership and responsibility and how, from the text of Exodus 17, we see that we ought not lead in isolation. Other lessons in the text include our obedience to God in the little things and also the lasting memory and reminder — that God is our banner. He is our success. He grants the victory.

From the Touchline is a short-feature (10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).

Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd, in the Apple and Google store.