Today on the podcast, I am joined by Founder and CEO of Surge International — Dave Irby. Many years ago, God took the unlikeliest of people and burdened Dave for doing mission. It was a call that he couldn’t escape and led him to working with several sports ministry organizations before founding and starting Surge. Surge International ministers through soccer to help with different needs present with many different people groups. You can learn more through their website. Dave and I also get in a fun game of Crosses with Rev.

From the Touchline is a short-feature 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 is our final podcast for the month of May looking at mental and spiritual health. Today, from the Gospel of Mark 5:1-20, we see the fragile mental state of a man besieged with demons. Jesus heals him. During the podcast we look at the condition of the man and contemplate how often times we dismiss stories like this as fantastical and too amazing to maybe even be true; however, the truth is that many of us are driven into dark, isolating places with our own “demons” (spiritual or not). While the posture of the people from the surrounding towns looks promising, the resources offered in the past aren’t really restorative of helpful, only the power of Jesus can truly heal the man. We need this power in our own lives, today.

From the Touchline is a short-feature 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.

Continuing to look at mental, emotionally and spiritual health issues, we turn this week to look at a particular story of madness in the book of Daniel and how a king went mad with his delusions of grandeur and himself. Certainly, pride played a factor, but from King Nebuchadnezzar’s life we learn that there is a warning God intends for us when it comes to building our own kingdoms and brands without Him. Even if we don’t heed the warning God gives, He can still restore us from the insanity that we find ourselves trapped by. You can find this story Daniel 4.

From the Touchline is a short-feature 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.

May is Mental Health Awareness month. It’s during this time that here is an increased emphasis on looking after one’s mental and emotional health. Last week on the podcast, we talked about our environment and needing to take an assessment of what voices and other things in our surrounding environment are affecting and impacting our mental and spiritual state. Today, we look at the ways that God meets us in the midst of our own mess.

There are highs and lows in football, just like in life. There are moments when we take on the game’s greatest (like Lionel Messi) and moments when we can’t wait to shower and get out of the stadium because we (or the team) just laid an egg against an opponent. We can become exhausted working through the highs and lows. Today, we look at the life of Elijah (the prophet of Israel) and the moment that he was ready to give up on life — thinking that he had failed or just being fed up and too frustrated to go on. You can find this story I Kings 19.

From the Touchline is a short-feature 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.

During the month of May, there is an increased emphasis on looking after one’s mental and emotional health. For the next few weeks on the podcast, I want to look at some biblical stories that deal with individuals who struggled with mental health and some of the changes that they made in their lives and ways that God helped them through a difficult time or struggle.

This week, we look at a moment in King Saul’s life when he was struggling with depression and fear. It was at the recommendation of some of his servants that Saul seek to change his environment — namely, through the playing of music and the presence of David as a servant. Even though Saul had disobeyed God and was rejected as king, God still was gracious to Saul to give him relief from the overwhelming sense that he felt.

What in your environment needs to be changed? Are you able to see any needs for change? What are some ways that God can give you relief from the pressures that you feel — whether you are an athlete, coach, or staffer?

From the Touchline is a short-feature 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 soccer, we don’t always win. As followers of Jesus, we don’t always have success — at least not in the ways that the world defines success. In fact, the people of God have usually been more characterized by suffering than success. Maybe that’s why Psalm 34 hits in a different way than so many other psalms. What does it look like to praise God, even after a difficult time or some particular adversity?

Soccer Psalm 34 takes David’s experience of having to act insane in front of his enemies in order to escape harm and puts it into the language of a footballer. There are just some moments when we need God to intervene, because we are beside ourselves and powerless to change our situation and the outcomes. What about you and me? Can we find ways to praise God after emerging from a struggle?

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

Los Salmos del Fútbol: https://mybook.to/lossalmosdelfutbol

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.

We’re just 51 days out from the start of the World Cup! And today on the podcast, we look at Psalm 51 and the Soccer Psalm 51. Infidelity is a massive problem in soccer (and professional sport, in general) and Psalm 51 gives us a look at the confession of David after his affair and subsequent impregnation of Bathsheba had been revealed and that first son had died. David offers words and a song of repentance.

Similarly, Soccer Psalm 51 acknowledges sin and the need for God’s forgiveness. Perhaps one of my favorite lines in writing The Soccer Psalms comes with the line in verse 5 “studs up, intent to injure.” David had killed one of his best and most loyal friends and warriors — Uriah. Worse than a career or season-ending injury caused by a studs up challenge, David had taken life to cover up his sin. He needed forgiveness. We need forgiveness, for our sins — and God’s the only one who can clean us from the guilt of those things.

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

Los Salmos del Fútbol: https://mybook.to/lossalmosdelfutbol

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 139 speaks to the way that God knows us uniquely and intimately. This psalm of David speaks to the ways that God knew us before we were even born — and that there was a plan laid out of our lives. What an amazing comfort this can bring in the midst of the moments of crisis or celebration that we go through in this life.

Soccer Psalm 139 mimics that same language by picturing God as a Mastermind Coach or Scout. God is one who knows the athlete — tendencies, mistakes, skills, and abilities — all of it. The athlete can take comfort that God is present and near and He sees and hears. it doesn’t matter if The Beautiful Game takes us near or far — God is with us. In the dawn of a career or in its twilight. How have you realized God’s presence in the midst of your own football journey?

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

Los Salmos del Fútbol: https://mybook.to/lossalmosdelfutbol

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.