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November 15 marks the beginning of Orthodox and Celtic Christian observances of the season of Advent. 40 days before Christmas — likely the sights and sounds of the season are already visible; however, the consumeristic nature of this time of year might have you seeing more than just holiday red. The truth is, we are waiting for more than a present or gift. We await a Messiah, a Savior. It is Jesus Christ, the Lord. During the season, and on the podcast for the next few weeks, we will look at a particular 'hymn' that has helped worshippers prepare for Jesus's arrival. Since the 8th century, the Church has been singing the “O” antiphons. An antiphon is a short sentence

In celebration of the beginning of the Advent season (November 15), Soccer Chaplains United's devotional ebook, The Light is Coming, will be free on Amazon, tomorrow. The Light is Coming is our rewrite and revision of the 2022 FIFA Men's World Cup devotional offering, is now available on Amazon globally via the link above. It has been one year since we wrote for the Men's World Cup. This devotional has been edited and re-written to remove time references, make it less "2022 World Cup" centric, and to also make it easier for individuals and teams to utilize in any 8-week span. The eight, weekly themes match the Advent and Christmas season and fit nicely with a reading plan for this

Rev Cesar Duran has served with Soccer Chaplains United for some eight years and now lives in Nebraska, close to his son, César. His son is soon to begin his seventh year as a coach at Walnut Middle School in Grand Isle, Nebraska. The school is school is a Title I school — meaning that the majority of students are on a free or reduced lunch background. Coach César serves a team of 100+ players along with 3 assistant coaches and two volunteers. When he took over in 2019, the team saw about 60 players come try out. Each year that number has grown. As a school team, for many of the students, this will be the last time they

Every year around the middle of November, I talk about Saint Martin. Martin (as you hopefully know) is the patron saint of France and of chaplaincy and it's from his life and story that we understand and see the origins of chaplaincy. In sports and especially in football (soccer), these days, there is more and more attention on "coaching trees." These are a bit of historical record and a tracing of different coaching influence and "family" tree kind of connections. When did a particular philosophy emerge? Who developed a style of play or formation? And whom has been an influencer or had a following and disciples? On today's episode of From the Touchline, I (Rev Brad) take a look at

The Light is Coming, our rewrite and revision of the 2022 FIFA Men's World Cup devotional offering, is now available on Amazon globally via the link above. With a year, now, gone by since we wrote for the special version and timing of the Men's World Cup — we've re-written the devotional to remove time references, make it less "2022 World Cup" centric, and make it easier for individuals and teams to utilize in any 8-week span. Readers can still use it during the season of Advent and Christmas. The eight, weekly themes match the season's usual progressive topics. The 2022 World Cup devotional remains available for sale on Amazon and in the Spanish and Portuguese languages as well. Follow the

One year on from our first publication and we've revised and republished our first devotional. Last year, for the 2022 FIFA Men's World Cup, Soccer Chaplains United published an 8-week devotional designed to cover Advent and Christmas and the World Cup, all at the same time. The original devotional which is still available on Amazon (and in Spanish and Portuguese) went through some slight revisions to make the book and writing more timeless and more useful for other 8-week periods in a given season. The book title and cover art has been changed. You can find it on Amazon under the title The Light is Coming | A Soccer Devotional. On today's episode of From the Touchline, Rev Brad talks