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...

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...

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 t...

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 t...

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 com...

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 re...

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...

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 app...

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...

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&#8217...

Injuries are common place in sports, especially in professional soccer. I recently sat with an athlete before surgery and it got me thinking back to the various surgery centers, hospitals, and other clinics where I have been present with people before this often difficult moment in one’s career. Whether it’s the waiting room of a surgery center or the post-op recovery room, there are m...

Well, I recently moved office. It didn’t take long—two-three trips to move a couple miles away— but I was certainly in a funk. I don’t like change. Moving is hard (for me), even if it’s just a short ways away. It’s likely more to do with change or dealing with the unexpected. It begs the question: how we do you and I travel? Professional sport has a lot of travel that comes...

This is the last in our series on mental health that we’ve been talking about through the month of May. How can one’s faith inform and help heal and sustain our mental health challenges and struggles? The story of Jesus encountering two disciples on the road to Emmaus, found in Luke 24:13-36, is a story where we can pull some lessons out of and realize what Jesus is calling us out of a...

May is mental health awareness month. Mental health is an important issue in sports and especially elite level soccer. As a chaplain, I believe that Christian faith can help with mental health challenges and struggles, but I think sometimes we don’t understand or see the different stories and tools and resources that are needed or necessary for having our faith help inform or heal our mental...

May is usually carries an emphasis on mental health. Mental health is a massive issue in professional sports, especially soccer. So, as a chaplain, I have been asking, “how can we integrate more of our Christian faith so that it helps with our mental health?” I think certain texts in the Bible stand out to help us more and Luke 24:13-36 is one of my favorites. Today, I share two lesson...

I have podcasted before on The Emmaus Road as a biblical text that helps us to make sense of grief, but as Luke 24:13-35 is one of my favorite texts, it has grown on me a bit more with some new and different insights and I wanted to revisit it again during this month of May. May is usually an emphasis on mental health and mental health is a massive issue in professional sports, especially soccer....

Psalm 137 is one of those parts of the Bible that can make someone cringe if we don’t look deeper into the text and historical context…known as an “imprecatory psalm” is calls about a curse for a particular city and its people. Can we do that as Christians? It’s a little bit longer of a reflection and meditation on today’s podcast, but where the Bible says &#822...

Psalm 134 is a song that would have been sung by worshippers as they were leaving the temple in Jerusalem and are blessing the Levite workers who remain there readying the temple for the next day. In the Soccer Psalm version from my recent book, I’ve imagined Psalm 134 to come out like a song we might sing with the stadium cleaners and security guards as we leave the home ground with a victo...

Today, on the podcast, we look at Psalm 22 in both the Bible and the Soccer Psalm from my recent book. Psalm 22 is the most-oft quoted psalm in the New Testament. All four Gospel writers talk of Jesus saying the opening lines from the cross. The psalm gives language to a person who feels alone and abandoned. In soccer, it doesn’t take much for an athlete to feel this way or even a coach. We...

Today, on the podcast, we continue going through The Soccer Psalms . I read the 2nd Psalm and Soccer Psalm from my recent book, and offer a reflection and mediation on understanding that there is evil in the world. How do we reconcile that evil with a God who is supposedly “good”? And the fact that this good God created the world and everything in it? Psalm 2 helps remind us that there...

Today, on the podcast, I read—Psalm 1 and Soccer Psalm 1—from my recent book, The Soccer Psalms. In the reflection and mediation questions, we consider what it looks like to live a life as a footballer and as a person that follows a road which seeks out the pathway of God. Psalm 1 is the first psalm in the Bible and it comes with a promise for the one who is different, who is distinct and set apar...

A few weeks ago, we hit a major milestone with the From the Touchline podcast: 300 episodes. This is episode #303 and in honor of living and working and being in the 303 area code (Denver), we’re going to take a look back on the past. All the while, I’ve been working to create a new podcast opener (featuring today) as well as having new podcast cover artwork as we continue podcasting i...

Prayer is one of the pivotal practices that Christian people focus in on during the season of Lent and the lead up to Easter. Prayer is perhaps one of the most foundational aspects of Christian living because it is about a conversation with God and sometimes we struggle to know what to say or what to pray when it comes time to spending time with Him. Today, on the podcast, we look at Jesus’...

As we go through the season of Lent, there are three spiritual disciplines and practices that Christians often observe — prayer, fasting, and giving. Last week, we looked at generosity and giving. This week we look at the spiritual discipline of fasting and some of its parallels and connections to soccer. Today, on the podcast, we look at some of the biblical examples of fasting, some of the purpo...

Ash Wednesday is today, and as the season of Lent begins, three spiritual disciplines come more sharply into focus: fasting, giving, and prayer. But not all spiritual disciplines are treated equally! Today, on the podcast, I want to give attention to what I have deemed “the least of these” practices and in a word hopefully challenge you and me in a meaningful way this season. We look at the...