From the Touchline

Special guest and friend, Steve Guppy, who currently serves as the Nashville SC Assistant Coach and is a former winger for English Premier club Leicester City, joins me for part two of a recorded interview. I take a look at a few verses found in Isaiah 40 and ask Steve some further questions about what it’s like for a footballer on the wings to go the distance in a match. Steve and I also have a bit of fun with a new game called, Crosses with Rev where we serve some questions into each other and try to stump the other and even get a bit of a laugh.

Today’s From the Touchline episode is part two of a recorded interview that was held on Tuesday, 15 September. You can find the scripture passage referenced here by clicking the link below:

Isaiah 40:29-31

From the Touchline is a short-feature (usually 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.

Special guest and former England National Team and Leicester City, winger, Steve Guppy joins me today to share more about how he got into the game of football (soccer) and what it really takes to work, play hard and have success on the wings. Steve shares about his own journey including not touching a ball for two years and some of the special memories that have happened for him along the way, including being mentioned in the same sentence as David Beckham.

Today’s From the Touchline episode is part one of a recorded interview and Steve shares stories and memories from his playing days and beyond. Make sure that you tune in next week to hear part two of the interview.

From the Touchline is a short-feature (usually 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.

Everyone in the game of football has likely been on the cusp at some point — whether as a substitute or a trialist, whether as an assistant coach or staffer or working somewhere within in the the football industry, it’s likely that you have been in that position where greatness, achievement or success was just within reach and, yet, you get passed over for someone else or because of circumstances that are out of your control or no fault of your own.

Today, on the From the Touchline podcast, we look at the story of Joe (really Joseph) and Matthias from Acts, chapter 1, and how Joe got passed over when it came to first team selection to join the original 11 apostles — the close followers of Jesus. From what little more we know about Joe’s life, I think we can take encouragement for those on the cusp, on the bubble moments of life.

Scripture reference from today’s episode:

• Acts 1:12-26 (link to chapter 1:12-26)

From the Touchline is a short-feature (usually 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.

Have you ever chased after a floating bubble, only to have it disappear on you? Have you opened up your mouth to catch a falling snowflake, only to wonder if you ever really caught it because it just didn’t seem to last? Or, have you ever on a chilly evening got a glimpse of your “breath” in a glint of light only to see it quickly fade away? Then you have experienced hebel {heh’vel}.

Today, on the From the Touchline podcast, I look at the interesting Hebrew word hebel, used 38 different times in the wisdom literature of the book of Ecclesiastes. And I encourage us to consider the wisdom of Solomon who came to the final conclusion that life is hebel when it is lived without God.

Scripture references from today’s episode:

• Ecclesiastes 1:2 (link to chapter 1)
• Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 (link to chapter 12)

From the Touchline is a short-feature (usually 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.

Brooke Ewert, Director of Counseling for Soccer Chaplains United, joins me on the From the Touchline podcast, today to talk about the different ways that she is helping athletes, coaches, and others in soccer cope in the midst of the pandemic influenced sports season. The current global pandemic has seen a rise in the numbers of athletes and others around sport who are faced with serious mental health issues such as loneliness, depression, and anxiety. Brooke and I talk about the need for awarenessmand help and support as well as some practical exercises and tips for coping with the difficulties of this time.

Brooke also shares a number of suggested books and biographies that might give helpful insight from others who have had to endure similar times:

• The Boys in the Boat: Daniel Brown
• Open: An Autobiography: Andre Aggasi
• Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption: Laura Hillenbrand
• For the Glory: The Untold and Inspiring Story of Eric Liddell, Hero of Chariots of Fire
• Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

From the Touchline is a short-feature (usually 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 Portland Timbers won the MLS is Back Tournament and co-chaplains Ben Dudley and Troy Ready join me on today’s episode of From the Touchline to talk about the team, the tourney and what the remainder of the season might look like.

It’s Troy’s first time on the podcast so we will get to know him a little bit better and hear some of his background and story — including a difficult moment in a Latvian bathroom stall. You will definitely want to tune in for the whole episode and try to make sense of this (see the video below):

From the Touchline is a short-feature (usually 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.

Amidst the tumult of scheduling changes, season cancellations, bubble tournaments, playing in empty stadiums, social distancing, and contact tracing, how can a footballer stay at peace? Well, the words of the prophet Isaiah, many, many years ago can help us to realize how we can keep (or, more accurately, be kept in) perfect peace — heart, mind, body, and soul in these uncertain times.

Today, on the From the Touchline podcast, I look at the words of Isaiah 26:3-4 and share three helpful ways that we might live more fully into the prophets words. Words of comfort, and hope and peace in the midst of troubling and uncertain times.

From the Touchline is a short-feature (usually 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 Portland Timbers are set to try and advance in tonight’s matchup against the Philadelphia Union in the MLS is Back Tournament. On today’s From the Touchline podcast, we speak with Ben Dudley, volunteer co-chaplain with the Timbers and a Soccer Chaplains United original. Ben shares about what chaplaincy to the Timbers organization looks like, as well as how the team is received in the city of Portland and what it’s like for athletes from other countries to live in Portland during the political and social unrest we’ve recently seen and experienced.

From the Touchline is a short-feature (usually 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.

In such uncertain times, there are certainly many difficult spaces for football/soccer athletes, coaches, and teams to navigate. Whether issues stemming from COVID-19 and lockdown, to sequestering for a month-long tournament to get back to soccer, or the racial tensions and strife that are rippling throughout US cities and around the world — just a normal day can be overwhelming — before adding all these things into the mix.

Where does a chaplain fit into the mix of that? And where and how does a chaplain to an elite women’s soccer team serve? Listen to today’s podcast to get special insight into the women’s game of soccer in the US and the work of a chaplain to help a team remember to find joy and care for one another..

In today’s From the Touchline episode, special guest, Portland Thorns Chaplain and Soccer Chaplains United’s own Christina Garber joins me to talk about the Thorns, the upcoming NWSL Challenge Cup tournament this weekend, and some of the unique challenges facing women in professional soccer.

From the Touchline is a short-feature (usually 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.

In a football, there are a lot of people running — and not only are they running for a ball — many times its much more than that; they are often running away from a past. In truth, we all have a past — things that we are ashamed of, things that happened in the past that are part of us, things that seem too dark, too deviant, irreparable.

In today’s From the Touchline episode, I take a look at the life of a man who’s past could have severely crippled who he was to become had he not been able to overcome the rough start. Listen to hear about this biblical “Messi” who flipped sides and was a key contributor towards the advancement of the Christian faith.

Below are links to content or scripture that I mention on today’s podcast.

• The English Game
• Acts 7
• Philippians 3

From the Touchline is a short-feature (usually 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.