Have you ever had a test that lasted just 90 minutes? Maybe it was a job interview or it was a first date impression. Did you get it right? Or, did you bomb it a miserably fail? In professional sport, the elite athlete, the coach has a certain time frame to prove themselves — to get it right, to succeed. And if they don't — well, it's a short-lived life sometimes in the midst of the professional game. Today, on the From the Touchline podcast, in lesson 17 of our Lessons From Lasso series, I talk about the times of trial and testing that come into our lives. Usually, we will have more than 90 minutes to establish ourselves or to

I can commiserate with Coach Lasso — not everyone comes from your same background and at times, in an honest attempt to support people, we can sometimes fail miserably. In today's Lesson from Lasso, we are reminded of the sensitivity that we must often approach people with because "not everyone is fond of the American military" as we come to learn from star defender Sam Obisanya. Today, on the From the Touchline podcast, in lesson 16 of our Lessons From Lasso series, I look at the awkward, pre-game moment between Sam and Coach Lasso. Lasso tries to encourage Sam, but essentially has to walk back the attempt because it just doesn't suit him. I correlate this moment with a moment where

This Friday, December 3, is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. With this in mind, we take a look at disability sport — it's origins, some of the challenges, and the story of someone who is firmly entrenched in serving the disability sporting world as a chaplain. Today, on the From the Touchline podcast, my friend and fellow sports chaplaincy colleague, Rev Steve Jones, joins us to share more on disability (sometimes called adaptive) sport. Steve is the UK Disability Lead for Sports Chaplaincy UK and we've had occasion to share a curry in England from one of my trips across the pond. I pray that today's podcast will help to open your eyes and my own toward those

Last week saw more of the Major League Soccer (MLS) 2021 playoff picture come into focus. Ben Dudley and Troy Ready's Portland Timbers took down my own Colorado Rapids on Thanksgiving Day. It was a heartbreaking loss as Colorado fans packed out the stadium in hopes of seeing the #1 seed in the West advance. But it wasn't to be with a 90th minute scramble in the box and a Timbers team that displayed the urgency to come away with the win. Billy Cerveny's Nashville SC took down Orlando City FC but fell in penalty kicks (2-0) on Sunday to the Philadelphia Union after a 1-1 draw. Beyond following Portland, most teams will now scatter for the season. Some players

A few weeks ago, my friends, Dr Chad Carlson of Hope College and Dr Brian Bolt of Calvin University on their podcast Sport.Faith.Life ask the question, Would Jesus Play...Soccer? It's part of a new series whereby they are looking at some of the different sports that Jesus would have participated in back in his day and what about that sport Jesus might have liked and what he would not have liked. Today, on the From the Touchline podcast, I look at each of the reasons that Chad and Brian offer and then I offer a few of my own — on why I believe Jesus would have played soccer. And I can definitely say that I think Jesus would have.