December 6, 2025 | Soccer Chaplains United

From the Rev: Divine Providence

As a chaplain and minister, much of how I see and understand the world relates to Divine Providence, sometimes known in theological circles as the sovereignty of God. It happens when someone loses their job, only to find a better one some time later. It happens when a player is out of contract, but ends up discovering an opportunity that otherwise would not have been open to them. It can occur when one substitution on the pitch provides the game-winning goal or assist. The sovereignty of God has long been the subject of debate (amongst Christians) – not so much whether God is sovereign, but to what extent does His sovereignty extend into the affairs of humankind?

Divine Providence or Human Choice?

A friend recently shared with me long-awaited news – a job in a chosen career field had finally come.

I knew that if I just kept knocking on doors it would come.

I don’t know that my friend believes in Divine Providence, but was it God that opened the door or the fact that my friend ‘kept knocking’? Of course, as humans we are tempted to think that it is the choices and decisions that we make which open doors of opportunity. We believe it to be within our power to control our own destiny. Sometimes the argument between Divine Providence and human choice gets oversimplified – if God is sovereign then that makes humans mere robots; or, the converse – if humans have free will than God’s power is limited. To say the least, there is a degree of mystery as to the relationship and extent of God’s sovereignty as it relates to human choice and responsibility. And, for some, the tension is irreconcilable (as Dan Clendenin relates in the accounting of John Rawls) Divine Providence wasn’t just something, though that Christian believers held – Paul speaks to the sages and poets of Greece (Acts 17:28) that wrote of Providence. In addition, it was a belief held by the early church (Colossians 1:17). But many modern-day Christians, especially in the West, don’t have room enough in their theology for Divine Providence unless it is a quick prayer said to find a parking space at a shopping mall during the Christmas season.

Divine Providence in the Christmas Story

Giotto’s Adoration of the Magi – the gifts they gave were part of Divine Providence

Most gloss over the Divine Providence that colors that story of Jesus’ birth on earth (see Matthew 1, 2 and Luke 1, 2). The timing of the census ordered by Caesar Augustus that puts Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem, instead of Nazareth. The arrival of the magi from the East and their gifts. How timely was the gold (yes, a gift for a king) that enables Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus to flee from Herod’s ensuing slaughter and survive as refugees in a foreign land (Egypt) until a return home years later. Or the frankincense, used by the Egyptians for certain religious ceremonies perhaps used to barter or trade until Joseph could establish himself within the Jewish communities gathered in refuge in Egypt. Or, the costly myrrh that was used in anointing the body for burial – used at Jesus’ death. This, of course, doesn’t even take into consideration the angelic appearances that occur throughout the story – Divine Providence is visible all throughout the narrative.

Divine Providence For a Chaplain in Sport

So what does Divine Providence look like for a chaplain in sport, or a pastor, for that matter? Divine Providence, honestly, allows me to breathe. Because of Divine Providence, I can relinquish that which, otherwise, I might hold too tightly to. Whether a relationship, a hope or dream, or some moment in time – in ministry, we can hold on to such things and struggle to let go. The impending result can be physically, spiritually, and emotionally damaging.

Divine Providence allows me as a chaplain (or pastor) the ability to let go of a person that I am counseling or helping and allow them to receive help elsewhere. Divine Providence helps direct my vision so that I don’t become consumed with the momentary, small details, but allows me to rest in seeing (or not seeing) whatever it is (that relationship, hope, moment) in a larger view.

Divine Providence also allows me permission to rest from certain labors – knowing that there are limits and points that I have reached where I cannot go on and only God can intervene. Chaplains can tend to have what we term “Messiah complexes” – here is where we must save everyone. We must fix everything that is broken and wrong. We must set people on the right path and make sure they stay there. Divine Providence (and my surrender to it) reminds me that I am only a vessel for working with; a creature in the hands of the Creator – not the Creator, himself; a spiritual physician, but not the Great Physician; a helper of healing but not the Ultimate Healer.

As you reflect on the story of Christmas this week – as you see the ways in which God moves in and out of the story with his Divine Providence, consider the ways that God has moved within your own life and story – to bring you to the place where you currently are. And may you be encouraged to know that God is involved in your life, and with great love.

Blessings

Rev. Brad Kenney

December 28, 2014

Timothy Project: Stephane Guillaume Academy

Community Project

Meet Stephane Guillaume. This tall, speedy striker hails from the country of Haiti and was part of the Colorado Rapids during the 2005 season. He currently plays for the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, but his heart is always thinking back to home and to the children that are growing up with a love of football – much like he did as a child. That is why he started the Stephane Guillaume Academy.

Stephane Guillaume Academy

Guillaume runs a soccer academy for kids in his home town of St-Marc, Haiti. At any given time, there are as many as 90 children that are involved with training in the Stephane Guillaume Academy every week. As Guillaume continues to play in the United States, he is always looking for ways to give back to the children of St-Marc – whether by collecting donations, or equipment. His trips home to oversee the academy his hands are usually full with as much equipment as he can gather. And his presence is a great delight for the children that look up to him (see video below). When Guillaume is not in Haiti, he relies on others to coach and train and take charge of the kids. Two of the people assisting him are coaches that spend countless hours with the children.

The Need

The Stephane Guillaume Academy needs all kinds of equipment to help these children not only grow in their love and ability as soccer players but also to encourage them to stay in school – soccer balls, tennis shoes, cleats, cones, quick feet equipment, flags, and more are needed for the soccer side. And the children also need things like school supplies – notebooks, school bags, pencils, and pens, to help motivate them to stay in school.

How You Can Help

Perhaps this Christmas season, as you open new gifts – maybe a brand new pair of soccer cleats is underneath the tree or maybe you need to clean out the garage and storage – maybe there is something that you can donate to help Guillaume’s Academy or maybe you just want to help out by contributing financially. Funds are needed for equipment as well as for the cost of shipping items to Haiti. You can make a donation below via our secure PayPal – just mark your gift SGA-Haiti in the notes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRJPWyrc13A

If you would like to support future Timothy Project ventures, such as this one, please use the PayPal link below to make a donation. Your financial gift helps to secure additional equipment, sponsor a missionary or organization in an outreach effort, and cover associated costs of providing bibles, soccer equipment, and other outreach tools locally and around the world!

#TPT

December 25, 2014

From the Rev: The Shepherds of Advent

From the Rev

We discover the shepherds of Advent in Luke 2:8-20. You will recall that Advent has to do with waiting; Advent has to do with living in expectancy. And, as the shepherds of Advent journey to the creche at Christmas their hearts are filled with awe and wonder. The shepherd’s story has long captured the imagination of many throughout the years – whether in church Christmas plays and dramas with young kids hitting each other with paper staffs or in the professionally-made films and productions with robed and burly-looking men playing the part. Who were these men, these boys (perhaps), who were visited by an angelic messenger, serenaded by a host of angels, and sent on their way to discover a baby in a manger? What special place do the shepherds hold in the heart of history and the nativity narrative? Why them? And who are the shepherds of Advent to us today?

Who Were the Shepherds of Advent?

Simply put, the shepherds were quite low in society during ancient times. Their occupation of tending and guarding sheep was not highly sought after – it was a task usually reserved for single men who had no family, no children – no inheritance or future, to speak of. The task of shepherding also often fell to the youngest child in the family because that child would have so little share of any future family inheritance.

In addition to being childless and without an inheritance, shepherds would have generally been considered “unclean” (at least according to Jewish ceremonial law) by the nature of their work in the outdoors. Any incidental contact with a dead carcass of an animal, or certain bug and creatures would make shepherds need to undergo an extensive process of becoming physically and ceremonially clean, before being able to worship in the temple. This made the life of a shepherd incredibly lonely and isolated.

Some other characteristics of shepherds in contrast with farmers (who had better social and economic standing in ancient times). Shepherds usually were tenants – renting land from the farmers. Of course, with little or no power, the shepherds were at the mercy of the farmer who had land and wealth. The farmer could designate which land was for grazing (typically, it was land ill-suited for any real purpose of growing crops). The farmer could set the price and could ask the shepherds to leave at any time.

Shepherds, because of this, tended to be nomadic and migratory kinds of workers – they had to move constantly. Wherever they could find suitable land for grazing, they were constantly on the move (almost daily) to find grass for the sheep to graze on. This meant that shepherds had no homes to speak of – nothing stable, tents if they were lucky, but usually they were exposed to the elements with, literally, only the clothes on their backs as their earthly possession.

Shepherds also had to live off their flocks – bartering milk, cheese. Sometimes, if the shepherd didn’t own the flocks themselves, they had to make do with whatever could be gained. It was a constant work of finding the best deal. Looking for leftovers, fighting for their survival.

Why the Message Meant so Much

The shepherds response to the angelic message might seem foreign to us today – especially, those of us in the West who have or come from affluence – what, with all the running around and hurrying off to see a baby in a manger. Most of us do not appreciate the challenge of being a shepherd. Most of us have not know the hard work, the instability, the fragility, the lack of a hope and future. But knowing the shepherds and how they lived life and the hardships they bore, maybe we can see a little bit more clearly why the angel’s message meant so much to them.

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.

These men – marginalized, on the fringe of society, with no hope of future inheritance (monetarily) or legacy (lineage and line); to these men is born. Those two words change everything. Those two words mean the world. Those two words turn the hopeless, futureless occupation upside-down. This is why the town of Bethlehem is besieged by the racing shepherds who practically invade a sleepy village and raise a ruckus with a joyous story rising among them.

The Shepherds of Advent and Professional Sports

Of course, as a chaplain to a professional sports team, I often reflect on the biblical narrative amongst the context of ministry where I find myself – what does a shepherd’s journey have to do with professional athletes?

For Greg Dalby (former Colorado Rapids midfielder) the professional soccer journey was often lonely and full of many transitions.

Forgive me if you feel that some of my pondering is a stretch, but consider for a moment:

Many in professional sports are constantly tenants, migratory moving from city to city and team to team
Many in professional sports have failed or failing marriages and families – often leaving many single
Many in professional sports, while earning a range of money* make poor financial decisions and sometimes are left with bankruptcy and in poverty
Many in professional sports, because of their jobs are excluded from typical communities of worship by virtue of the days and times that they play and perform
Many in professional sports lack a moral or spiritual hope or future because there is such an emphasis and pressure on physical performance and results
Many in professional sports have followers and fans that listen to their voice and hang upon every action and activity of their “shepherd” but often feel alone

*Major League Soccer’s minimum salary is $36,500; view this visual comparison chart to see a breakdown of MLS salaries from 2014 based on teams and individual players.

While on the outside, those in professional sports may not seem to be the shepherds of our day, there are similarities within their lives and stories to the ways in which the shepherds live. It is to these similarities that, as a team chaplain, we must sometimes speak.

Chaplain to the Shepherds of Advent?

As a chaplain, the historical charge and commission of our vocation, necessitates that we serve as messengers of hope – much like that angel of the Lord that appeared in the middle of the night to the shepherds of Advent. As guardians of that which is sacred, we remind those that we come in contact with – that we:

bring…good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.

And somewhere, in the shadow side of all the “glory” of being in professional sport – where the hurt and pain and loneliness are like 10-foot giants in a land threatening to destroy these people – there is a dawning of a new day. There is a glimpse of a distant, yet, expanding light that promises something true, a future, against the oppressive cold of night.

As a chaplain to those in professional sports – whether it is working with the athletes, coaches, executive staff, or even the fans – we are always encountering people that are in a state of expectancy and anticipation. Much like Advent, they are waiting fro something to happen – a championship, a new contract, a skilled player or coach acquisition. Always waiting, always hoping – but nothing satisfies. Sometimes there is a great message or “good news” for the club but it doesn’t have that eternal quality or value that the message did on that night some 2000 years ago. As a chaplain, we carry that message. As a chaplain we re-present that message. As a chaplain we give that message away – daily – whether silently through our service or in other ways through our words, our counsel, or our love.

Whatever field or vocation you find yourself in, if you are a Christ-follower, if you have bent the knee at the Christmas creche, then you, too, have a duty to go and share the Good News – to share this message of hope to the marginalized, to the futureless. If you have lived, at all, a fraction of that nomadic, tenant-like shepherds of Advent life, then you know what I am talking about.

Let’s hike up our robes, and go tell some other people.

Blessings

Rev. Brad Kenney

December 21, 2014

From the Rev: Living In Expectancy

From the Rev

Key themes for the Advent season include expectancy and expectations. Mario Albertinelli’s The Visitation captures the one and leads us to reflect on the other. As you observe Mary and Elizabeth, in this poignant depiction of the narrative found in Luke 1 – perhaps you can anticipate the senses of expectancy and expectation that both women carry.

Reflections on Mary and Elizabeth

Consider, that both women are pregnant for the first time – Mary in her young age as a virgin and Elizabeth in her old age as one who has been barren. Both women have been divinely told that they will have sons. Both women have been given a glimpse of their son’s future. Both women are alone – Mary is not married to Joseph and has not been with a man; Elizabeth, while she made love to Zechariah, he has been a mute ever since returning from the temple. Both women now live with an eye of scandal cast about them – Mary because she is a virgin and was betrothed to Joseph is seen as an unfaithful whore and Elizabeth has born the shame of childlessness for so many years, it is unclear the present condition of shame, but either past or present she has lived with much shame for so long.

As the children grow in side the wombs of these mothers to be – this is an entirely new experience for both – there is sickness, discomfort, feelings of hope and elation, there is perhaps disappointment, and of course, there is an element of shame and feeling alone. Both women are expectant. Both carry expectations. We see, only briefly, each women’s response to what they carry within.

As I reflected this past week on both women’s circumstances, attitudes and responses I was encouraged by another person to consider the importance of living in the expectancy and not the expectations. As I considered his direction, my eyes were illuminated – it can be very dangerous as human beings to live in the expectation. As Christians, we must necessarily live with a sense of expectancy – this is part and parcel of our faith and our hope. When I live with expectancy, I am waiting for something to happen – there is a level of preparedness and readiness. When I live in the expectations, the danger becomes that I can become consumed with or disappointed by or depressed when the expectations are not met or are met in an entirely different way.

Consider, again, Mary and Elizabeth – in their day, women did not know whether a child was a boy or a girl. They had to wait – 9 months, before that truth be made known. In those days, male children were valued above girls for many reasons – including having a legacy or leaving an inheritance. Can you imagine the disappointment for a childless woman who gave birth to a daughter instead of the hoped for son? Living deep within the expectation of having a son, closes off the joy and beauty of simply being blessed with a child. I know this for myself, as for the birth of one of our daughters we didn’t find out the gender before she was born. I was hopeful, eager to find out, “Will it be a boy?” And, I felt sheepishly guilty when I discovered that it was not a boy. I felt guilty because I had gotten too caught up in thinking it might be my first son and I feel that I missed something.

Reflections on Major League Soccer

This past week in Major League Soccer, there was a lot of movement and action. A short trade window, an Expansion Draft to help two new teams coming into the league fill out their rosters, another trade window, another draft to allow teams to sign players that had been released from other teams, another draft to allow teams to sign out of contract players – for many players and their families there was a great sense of expectancy and expectation.

Of course, the experts around these times often postulate what will happen and to whom. Such as in this mock draft done by league writers and experts Andrew Wiebe and Matt Doyle for the MLS Expansion Draft. Of course, the real draft results didn’t quite match up to the expert ideas, but there were some players that knew that they were in mix for consideration and perhaps even began to develop their own “expectations.” Consider former Real Salt Lake’s Chris Wingert (whom also played for the Colorado Rapids for two seasons) – even in the midst of the opportunity to go home to native New York, the loss of being with the club and players he has spent a majority of time and won a championship was also difficult.

Back to Mary, for a minute, what were her expectations? There were many as she pondered and puzzled perhaps over the Christ-child being born to her. There were angelic messengers, there were strange prophecies including one who said “A sword will pierce your own soul” (not exactly what a new mother wants to hear about her child), a midnight leaving and fleeing in the night to a foreign country, moving here and there, losing her child in a major city, being rejected by her own son when he was older – and many other events in the life of Jesus – all culminating in Mary standing before a Roman cross with her naked son exposed for all the world to see and dying the death of a criminal. In that moment – had Mary been living in the “expectation” rather than in “expectancy” I believe that she would have been destroyed (reference Judas whose expectations of Messiah were not met and he killed himself).

Back to the athletes that we work with at CrossTraining – so many of them live in the expectation. As athletes and coaches, and staff in an entertainment environment where results matter and the is a constant pressure to perform and achieve and win – it is difficult to not get trapped in living in expectation. Whatever the end-goal is – whether making the playoffs or defeating an opponent or player development – expectation rules. While sometimes language of expectancy bubbles to the surface, “We are in a rebuilding process…” it is rare to find those in our sphere of ministry that understand and value life with expectancy.

Just Business?

It might be said that this is business – expectations and demands rule the day, here. But what often happens is that the expectation blurs into life and character. The rash of professional and collegiate athletes committing suicide is perhaps an indicator that there is something not quite right here. A few weeks ago, MLS Senior Editor Nick Firchau wrote an extensive article on the issue of mental health amongst athletes in MLS and Landon Donovan’s legacy. Much was spoken about the need for psychologists and therapists to help athletes cope with the mounting pressures. But nary a word was spoken about team chaplains or chaplaincy around the league. This might be understood in a couple different ways, either Firchau isn’t familiar with the presence of chaplains (and thus, didn’t include them in his interview or research) or the effectiveness of our presence is limited.

True, there are different types of chaplains around the league – some are trained chaplains, some are evangelists, others are pastors who volunteer their time – but the message that we carry, that we must carry to those we work with must be about living in the expectancy.

What Does Living in Expectancy Look Like?

With expectancy, I do not get caught up so much in the details (i.e. expectations) rather, I ready myself for something much more simple – that something is about to happen. Many times as a chaplain when I drive into the training ground, I do not know what to expect for the day. I often use the Celtic/Latin term peregrinate to describe this way of living and moving. To capture this essence, an illustration: Celtic monks used to travel by boat to different villages. Peregrinatio was a form in which they would travel understanding that their journey was Divinely-led. The monks would push off from shore, but then pull in the oars and let the wind, waves, and tide take them to their destination. They would pray that God would lead them to the village or people that they needed to minister to that day. They were expectant that God would lead them to the right place, at the right time and would provide for all they needed (wisdom, strength, patience, etc.). When they arrived at the place that they felt God had led them – they would get onto shore and begin to minister and work and live amongst the people – all the while realizing that they had been prepared by their time in the boat.

As a chaplain and as a pastor at a mega-church, much of my role is about leading people into understanding the differences between expectation and expectancy and encouraging them to live in the latter. Even for myself, as I lead this ministry of CrossTraining, it is hard not to get caught up in the expectations. But God is calling us to live in the place of expectancy where we leave the details up to Him. If He should choose to work in a particular manner, that is what I must surrender to Him. If He should choose, even, to not use me – I must be okay with that and surrender that to Him. When we do that, when we let go of the expectations and live in expectancy we can take greater joy in the journey. We can see the wonderful way that God is shaping and forming His kingdom. And we can celebrate the arrival that we have been waiting a life-time for.

Blessings

Rev. Brad Kenney

December 14, 2014

From the Rev: Waiting for Christmas

From the Rev

We are currently in the season of the year, known to Christians as Advent. Advent precedes Christmas and in earlier years it was celebrated as the 40 days before Christmas. Now, the season is typically observed beginning the four Sundays before Christmas. But the meaning of Advent has remained the same throughout the years – it is a time of preparation for the coming of the King. Perhaps, the theme phrase of the season can best be summed in the words of John the Baptist as he echoes the ancient prophet Isaiah,

I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way – a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ (Mark 1:2-3)

The season speaks to ancient times when heralds would travel in advance of the king – employing the people to begin the work of rebuilding the roads and ensuring the safe passage of the king. The season also speaks to a time of waiting – the arrival of the king in those days was never happened at a guaranteed or known time. Travel was slower and many things could delay a royal procession or caravan.

Fans await Germany’s National Team arrival after winning the World Cup in Brazil this past summer

For the professional athletes that I work with, this season of Advent, with its themes of waiting and arrival has special meaning. There is a waiting for news contracts, news of being drafted by a team, a long-awaited wedding ceremony, or even looking ahead to the preseason. There are also ‘arrivals’ – perhaps a trip home to be with loved ones during the holidays, a training stint with a foreign club, or maybe a newborn child coming.

Of course, there are other ways in which the themes of the Advent season plays out, but all of these are a shadow of the one true ‘waiting,’ the waiting that anticipates that arrival of the King. Not everyone knows or understands this, and fewer truly can celebrate it and as Dietrich Bonhoeffer once put it – the richness of Advent is often lost upon many people.

The celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, and who look forward to something greater to come. – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

To be honest, this is the challenge – not necessarily just to pro athletes, but perhaps to all who live in the Western world and in countries of affluence. There is little that troubles our souls and even the things that can trouble our soul (like an illness or disease) we often attempt to control or spend a lot of resources in order to minimize the effects. In modern times, we don’t like waiting – a slow computer, a long queue or line for shopping – these things annoy and frustrate us and we lose sight of what is important.

So how do we wait well? Waiting well is linked to preparation – in waiting for a child to be born there is a room to be prepared, clothes and other supplies to collect, things to be learned. In waiting for a spot in the starting lineup – the reserve player has skills to refine and fitness to gain as well as education about the game. In the other spaces where we find ourselves waiting, we will do well to fill the waiting times and spaces with preparation – a long line at the grocery store can become a time to ready a heart for time spent with family, a wait for a doctor’s diagnosis on the biopsy can become a space to pray and ready one’s heart for whatever the determination.

During this Advent season, no matter where you find yourself, may you be one who is waiting well for Christmas.

Blessings,

Rev. Brad Kenney

December 7, 2014

Timothy Project: One Shoe

Community Project

There it sat, at the bottom of the donation bin – one, lonely, size 9 boot. One measly cleat. It had been used by it’s professional football owner and probably now tossed out as some new, shinier pair arrived. The studs were still good; the leather, still fairly supple; the laces were still in good condition, but where was its partner? Where was it’s other half? It’s mirror twin? And what good could just one be without the other?

What good is one shoe?

At least, that’s what I used to think, until a few years ago. It was a Timothy Project – a donation to Africa, I believe. We only had 5 or 10 pairs of shoes to send down with a mission team. When the team got back, they shared an interesting story. It seems that when one of the children got a chance to wear boots – whether new or used – they find their size and then they only take one cleat for their dominant foot. They leave the other boot for someone else to wear and use. I found this story amazing – that children, in poverty, would only take what they need in order that others can play.

So while, I might have liked to see two shoes, instead of one, I know that even the one shoe – through the Timothy Project, will be a great blessing to someone else in this world.

If you would like to support future Timothy Project ventures, please use the PayPal link below to make a donation. Your financial gift helps to secure additional equipment, sponsor a missionary or organization in an outreach effort, and cover associated costs of providing bibles, soccer equipment, and other outreach tools locally and around the world!

#TPT

December 4, 2014

From the Rev: Healing the Waywardness

From the Rev

“I will heal their waywardness
and love them freely,
for my anger has turned away from them.”

– The Lord speaking through Hosea to Israel, Hosea 14:4

The words of the prophet Hosea were poignantly delivered to me in the form of a ministry charge during my ordination service. It is a powerful charge – heal their waywardness and love them freely. The two-pronged charge has become a guardrail in terms of my ministry as pastor and as chaplain.

First, to heal their waywardness speaks to one of the most foundational functions of the pastoral office – healing. How does one heal waywardness? Some of the people that I encounter in ministry don’t even know that they are sick or in need of healing – sure they know that something is not right, but they often refuse the curative movements that are necessary. Some of those who have sat in my office or across the coffee shop table have been carrying a brokenness of the soul that has, like a bone break that has mended wrongly, left them disfigured and disabled. Sometimes, healing means another breaking so that the bone might be set properly. Sometimes, I am not the person to offer the healing – if the wound is beyond my skill, I must pass them to a specialist. Some receive the referrals, others do not. Often, healing involves a lengthy process – if someone is dealing with grief and loss or with trauma, or with sin – there can be a process of healing and rehabilitating that needs intentionality and companionship. Not everyone is willing to endure the process or apply themselves to the work of healing.

The second component to the charge is to love them freely. This can be incredibly difficult – to watch people hurting others or themselves by their choices, their decisions and knowing that they cannot (within their own power) heal themselves. It is hard, at times, to love freely – I would rather fix, I would rather just tell them to “get over and on with it.” So, whilst this is sometimes the difficult of the balance act – it is a check and balance. I certainly cannot love freely, out of my own self, but only through the strength of the Lord. And, as I am called to represent God to so many different people – people who are near and who are far from the Lord, it is this part of the character and nature of God that is so vitally important. When people are loved freely it opens them to the Divine possibilities of healing and restoration – because this is not how the world treats people. The world is always asking something of us, demanding that we give and give and we rarely receive.

This work, both in healing and loving, can be extremely costly at times – but it is all a part of God’s redemptive process. Consider Hosea – he marries a woman (Gomer) who is prostitute. They begin a family – but Gomer returns to her life of prostitution . Hosea goes and pays a hefty price to redeem his wife – 15 pieces of silver and a portion of grain. Hosea’s price would have been equal to that of the monetary value associated with a person’s life in ancient times (see Leviticus 27:4, Exodus 21:32). Scholars believe that Hosea may not have been wealthy enough to redeem Gomer for the full monetary price (30 shekels of silver) and so he pays the difference in an agricultural fashion. In terms of my own ministry, I understand this to mean that God is asking me to spare no expense in this activity of healing and loving. So many times, I feel that I am piecing together all that I have to redeem, to restore, to heal the waywardness and love freely, but this is the activity and love of God that he calls us to. And it should not be lost on us, that Jesus was betrayed by Judas for 30 pieces of silver. Here, we continue to see the interplay of God’s redeeming love throughout all time – that he would command Hosea to pay the price to redeem Gomer (who also served to illustrate Israel’s relationship with God) and that God’s own Son, Jesus would be betrayed for such a price. But still, God chooses to love. Still God chooses to heal. And so must we.

Blessings,

Rev. Brad Kenney

November 30, 2014

Timothy Project MX 2014: Mexico by Storm

Community Project

For Ann Nerney and her team headed down to Juarez, Mexico, there were smiles all around as they took donated soccer gear on the latest trip to Juarez as a result of a Timothy Project application this past fall. With the back of her truck packed full of balls and shoes and shinguards and clothes, Ann Nerny drove away excited for the joy that she knew would be felt by the children that the team would be working with. Much of the gear was donated by the local youth soccer club Colorado Storm headed by Dave Dir.

Nerny shared this update from the trip:

The trip to Juarez was absolutely wonderful, and the children were so blessed by the generous gift of the soccer equipment. As you can see from the pictures, we had soccer shoes, shin pads, clothing and soccer balls for 60 children! Before the children arrived, we sorted all the equipment in the room as well as the clothing. They came after school, and lined up outside the building. To keep order, we brought them in 5 at a time, so we could help them get the shoes fitted properly.

While they were trying on shoes, we sized them up and selected the clothing for them. They got a bag with the clothes, and headed over to select their soccer balls. They were very selective! Some knew the proper number of ball for their age group, and wanted to be sure they got the right size.

Afterward, we saw soccer shoes and clothing the rest of the week. The clothes were worn to school the next day, and to church the following evening. Everywhere we turned, soccer balls were being kicked around. The church property has two goals without nets, and this was a gathering place, active with kids playing their beloved sport.

In the spring we will head back and will serve an orphanage that currently has 89 children residing there. We hope to ask again for your generosity to be poured out to this impoverished community.

God bless you and your group for your generous gift!

More pictures are below!

#TPT

November 20, 2014

From the Rev: Remembering Martin

From the Rev

This past Tuesday, November 11, was Veterans Day, but it also serves as the feast day for the patron Saint Martin of Tours. St. Martin has a special place in the heart for the for me personally and for the ministry of CrossTraining. If you don’t know the story, Martin was a soldier in the Roman army, following in the footsteps of his father. One day, outside the city gates of Amiens in France he met a beggar who was naked and out in the cold. As the story goes, Martin cut his cloak in half and clothed the beggar half. Later that night, resting with his garrisoned troops in the city, he had a vision of Jesus Christ appearing before him and saying,

Martin you have clothed me with this cloak.

According to tradition, Martin understood Jesus to be calling him to a devoted life as a Christian follower. He left his military commission and led a monastic lifestyle, eventually becoming Bishop of Tours. His disciples were known for working and ministering in converted pagan shrines and telling people about the love of Jesus. Martin’s disciples eventually became known by Martin’s famous cloak. The word “cappella” is where we derive the word for chapel and chaplain. Martin and his disciples were known for being “keepers of the sacred” – not that the cloak was sacred, but the act of sharing the cloak with someone in need was sacred.

As I continue in this work of serving as a chaplain in the world of sport, there are many times of “sharing the cloak” with a person in need – sometimes it was in leading a funeral service, other times in offering a listening ear, some times in simply being with someone in the midst of their pain.

Today, let me encourage you to share your cloak with someone in need, wherever you are. You might be on your way into the city and you see someone that needs food. You might be at work and a co-worker has just experienced a loss in their life. You might have a neighbor or friend who are on the brink of devastation. Take a moment to share and cover them in their need. They will see the light of Jesus in the thing that you do, and who knows, maybe even Jesus will appear to you and remind you that when you do these things to the least of these…you do it unto him.

Blessings,

Rev. Brad Kenney

November 16, 2014

From the Rev: Rest

From the Rev

While the offseason can mean many things for professional athletes the most integral part of this time is to capitalize on the opportunity to find rest. With the Major League Soccer season beginning preseason preparations in February and the championship game being held in mid-December, there is little true rest to be had for the players and their families who endure such a lengthy season. Even the offseason, with its time away from the game presents many different opportunities that get in the way of taking that rest.

Rapids Defender Jared Watts gets treatment from Assistant Trainer Michael Heitkamp.

For some players, they can spend several weeks overseas training with other clubs. Others will be invited into camp for their respective national teams to play in friendly matches. Still others have the task of rehabbing the injury that ended a season or that they suffered with throughout the year. Still others will try to find to get married, return home, or spend some time with friends and family that have had to come second to their professional careers throughout the season. Some of the athletes that I work with will be worried about coming into preseason camp at the appropriate weight; others have an offseason workout plan to keep them on track. So, what does rest in this world look like?

By definition, rest means to “cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength.” It can also find a range of definiton from sleeping to death. In truth, rest for the athlete (and really for us) should be close to the idea of sabbath that are part of Judeo-Christian values. Within the framework of the Jewish and Christian faiths, there is this idea that one ought to “rest” from normal labors and to consider, with thanksgiving, God and the blessings that he has bestowed.

Disc Golf provides a lot of rest for me.

As a pastor and chaplain, my rest often is found in spending time with my family or playing disc golf with some friends. Occasionally, my rest includes going on a trip or retreat. There are many different ways that I try to find rest – some friends of mine don’t feel “rested” until they have pushed their bodies to the brink of physical exhaustion with a mountain climb or bike ride. What this speaks to is the need for our bodies and our souls to experience “rest” – rest is not merely physical, but it is emotional and spiritual as well. And with the taxing demands of our world – consider with social media and how “in touch” we are, today, there is even more need for rest than ever before.

Perhaps as you consider your own need for rest you might take a stress/burnout inventory test such as this one from Psychology Today. Another way to assess is to look at your calendar – how much margin and space do you have? For you? For your family? For God? I pray that you will take steps – just like I need to, to find rest. A final thought – consider the words of God to the prophet Jeremiah (Jer. 6:16), for a people needing rest:

This is what the Lord says:

“Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.

Blessings,

Rev. Brad Kenney

November 9, 2014

From the Rev: Divine Providence

Divine Providence or Human Choice?

Divine Providence in the Christmas Story

Divine Providence For a Chaplain in Sport

Timothy Project: Stephane Guillaume Academy

Stephane Guillaume Academy

The Need

How You Can Help

From the Rev: The Shepherds of Advent

Who Were the Shepherds of Advent?

Why the Message Meant so Much

The Shepherds of Advent and Professional Sports

Chaplain to the Shepherds of Advent?

From the Rev: Living In Expectancy

Reflections on Mary and Elizabeth

Reflections on Major League Soccer

Just Business?

What Does Living in Expectancy Look Like?

From the Rev: Waiting for Christmas

Timothy Project: One Shoe

From the Rev: Healing the Waywardness

Timothy Project MX 2014: Mexico by Storm

From the Rev: Remembering Martin

From the Rev: Rest

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Archive for year: 2014

Divine Providence or Human Choice?

Divine Providence in the Christmas Story

Divine Providence For a Chaplain in Sport

Stephane Guillaume Academy

The Need

How You Can Help

Who Were the Shepherds of Advent?

Why the Message Meant so Much

The Shepherds of Advent and Professional Sports

Chaplain to the Shepherds of Advent?

Reflections on Mary and Elizabeth

Reflections on Major League Soccer

Just Business?

What Does Living in Expectancy Look Like?