MANY FIFA WORLD CUP GREATS GIVING GLORY TO GOD

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This year’s FIFA tournament is inadvertently platforming the Christian faith. World Cup head turners like Leo Messi and Felix Nmecha are part of a much broader line-up of Christian players proclaiming Soli Deo Gloria instead of bragging about scoring goals. Such as the US Men’s soccer team (USMNT), who have unashamedly taken more than one knee to shine their light before all men (Matthew 5:16).

Few salutes in soccer will hit home the way Felix Nmecha’s “crown down” gesture does. The unashamed Christian footballer’s Revelation 4:10–11 celebration went viral after he cast his crown upon scoring the sixth fastest goal so far in FIFA’s 2026 World Cup. Nmecha’s goal-scoring amplification of the gospel is being heralded as the 25-year-old’s signature celebration.

Like the legend Leo Messi, what grounds Nmecha isn’t fame. It’s faith, family and a love of the game. Talking casually with Sports World (SW) in May, the German-born, ethnic Nigerian said his upbringing and family play a big role in where he is today. Family means a lot, he asserted. They’re close and have been close from an early age. “Especially when you go through a lot of struggles and trials. When you go through them together, it just makes you even closer.”

Raised in Manchester, England, Nmecha recounted the ups and downs, telling SW, “The root and foundation is still [his] faith.” As a professional athlete, “you try and take all the positives that you can from the different things that you learn over.”

Discussing faith and how it also plays a role in his life, Nmecha said, “I grew up in a Christian household. So, we used to go to church, not every Sunday, but we used to go to church quite often.” “I always thought I was a Christian. And I’d tell people I’m a Christian. I was just following these things that you grow up with.” “But then I reached a point when I was like 14, 15 where I had a true conviction for myself to really put my faith in Jesus and not just follow a religion.” “I realised how much it is about just relationship with our creator,” Nmecha recalled. “Since taking that step, it’s been year by year,” he said, “just growing in that relationship with God and getting to know a lot of the truths and even evidence behind the faith.”

“Finding it out for myself and doing research on it as well has helped a lot to strengthen the faith; to know that it’s not just a blind thing that I’m following and putting my whole life into.” “I’d say obviously my faith is my main source of joy in my relationship with God but also just relationship.”

God, Joy and Sport

Expanding on this, Nmecha credited the Church and sound friendships with stability, stating, “I’m so grateful for a church that I’m able to go to and in so many different places as well.” “It’s not always easy to find the right one for you, but when you do, it’s such a blessing.”

On the sports world’s daily grind, Nmecha affirmed a love for the game that many lose. “I think it can be easy in football because it for some people becomes just like a job.” “I’m grateful that I still have that joy and I don’t just see it as my job. I see it as a blessing that I’m able to do something that I love every day.” The money is a gift, not the goal, he asserted. Nmecha said his greater goal is “to really honour and glorify Christ. It’s so much more than just like being a footballer.” “I think if you’re tied to that, and it is everything that you are and who you are, [just being a footballer] can be very dangerous.” “What happens when your career finishes?” “So, I always try and speak on the fact of not having your identity in football.” As great as soccer is, and as great as being able to play professionally is, Nmecha said, it “shouldn’t be your basis for who you are.”

Providing a blunter take on his faith, Nmecha recalled the reset in his relationship with Jesus Christ, telling the Football with Vision project that he signed his first contract at the age of 17. After an injury set him back, Nmecha fought off the temptation to wallow and brood. He instead chose to “use the time to invest in his relationship with God.”

He now considers the injury downtime as a blessing. Nmecha said, “I grew spiritually like never before. I also grew mentally.” “I was always trying to stay focused in school,” he explained. And “in football, of course sometimes you mess about, but I saw myself as a good person, a good son.” Nmecha recalled learning that “I wasn’t good and was actually in need of a Saviour.” This “brought me to Jesus, and just through that time I realised that by my own works, in my own strength, it wasn’t possible to be saved.” “It’s not possible to have eternal life at the end of the day. I realised,” he added, “that my works will not be good enough because God’s standard is perfect.” “None of us are perfect,” Nmecha continued. “I had a good friend. He was also born again. We were always encouraging each other as we were growing and learning.”

“A big part was realising that football is a huge blessing, but it would never give you the fulfilment that you think it does.” Nmecha then testified that he came to realise only Jesus could provide that fulfilment. Understanding this, he said, “has helped him so much because it’s made him see that when his joy and his peace are in Christ, then his life can be constant.” “I can promise people,” Nmecha stated, “that when you get to know Jesus, you will be fulfilled.”

“It doesn’t mean that when someone comes to Christ all the hardship is going to stop; it means you know God is with you through it.” Sharing the gospel, and leaning on John 3:16–17, the rising soccer star proclaimed: “What Jesus did on that cross, he died for us so that we could have this relationship with him.” This is also so “that we could know actually who he’s created us to be. There’s so much peace, joy and just truth in Jesus.” “Once you experience this, your life will never be the same. That’s how I came to Christ.”

As Nmecha told Football with Vision, “I was lost. I thought I was a Christian. I thought I was good, but I was self-righteous and prideful, and God, Jesus saved me.”

Casting His Crown

Nmecha putting his crown down wasn’t without controversy. The gratitude gesture was misconstrued by some oddball commentators who tried to represent Nmecha’s actions as him “crowning himself” (see here and here). Correcting the misconception, X accounts like Ballers for God, Christhlete, and X’s own community notes, explained that “after scoring, Nmecha was symbolically laying down his crown.” This was “a reminder that every gift, every victory and every moment of glory ultimately belong to Jesus.”

MOST AMAZING JORDAN PETERSON VIDEO

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Love this video. Piers Morgan is outstanding in interviewing Jordan and Mikhaila Peterson. He asks Jordan and his daughter Mikhaila penetrating questions. I have been a long-time fan of Jordan Peterson, the combination of his intellect and authenticity is irresistible.

The relationship between Jordan and his daughter is captivating – the respect and love is palpable. I had no idea how hard life had become for the Peterson family – they had so much to contend with but their unconditional love for each other got them through. It is an amazing God story as well, particularly how his wife Tammy was healed miraculously from an incurable disease.

DIVINE APPOINTMENTS

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One of the reasons I believe God is in control of all events that occur in His world is the number of divine appointments He arranges for me when I go on missionary trips. Now, when I go on trips I expect that God has gone before me to make sure the right people are sitting next to me. My trip to Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda in April/May of this year is a good example. I had ten airplane trips and two long bus trips and on every occasion, the person I sat next to was a ministry opportunity. It was mind-blowing. I gave away five of my books and am corresponding still with two of the connections made. As well, in Kenya, I stayed two nights at the Ark Guest House (owned by the Anglican Church) in Nairobi. At breakfast, I was joined by an Anglican minister who was in Nairobi for a conference with about 70 other Anglican ministers. He was taken by the fact that I had come all the way from Australia to put on a training session for leaders of the Kenya House Church Movement in Migori County. He sought me out at dinner the same evening and asked me if I was prepared to pray for him. What was missing from his and I expect many other Anglican church ministries was a belief in the work of the Holy Spirit in believers’ lives. We ended up going back to his room where I prayed for him and his ministry. He is one of the contacts with whom I still communicate.

Matt Augee who works in a ministry to veterans in the USA supplied this remarkable story about a divine appointment. 

“I had a God encounter a week ago at a veteran’s memorial monument when I was meeting a family to plan the celebration of life for the veteran they had recently lost. I felt God prompted me to go early and I arrived 25 minutes early, just in time to be there when a young woman walked in with her head down and face hidden and sat down at one of the memorials etched bricks in the ground and kept touching it and quietly sobbing and speaking without any sound. I watched her for a little bit and I instinctively felt that I needed to talk to her and that she was suicidal.

My service dog went over to her and sat down next to her and leaned on her. That opened up the opportunity for me to talk to her. She had lost all hope and she came to say goodbye to her grandfather who had raised her and died five years earlier. She came to say goodbye to him and then to take her own life right there. If I had not arrived early I would have come across a dead woman right there at the memorial. I asked her some questions and if she was open to talking about spiritual things and she was. I was able to pray for her and to get her help from our staff which gave her hope. She has subsequently, texted us to let us know that she’s doing better but she’s going to need a lot of care and follow-up. I’m just grateful that I was in the right place at the right time and ready to talk with her and give her hope in Jesus.”

The big question for all of us is are we available for Gods use and expectant on all occasions?

The story of the divine appointment given by Matt Augee was taken from the article “May God Open Our Eyes to the Needy People Who Surround Us” by Randy Alcorn on December 16th, 2022 – http://www.patheos.com.

40 STORIES: POWERFUL TESTIMONIES OF AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL BROTHERS AND SISTERS

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Are you ready to journey with Jesus behind the scenes? See some of the amazing ways that Jesus leads the 40 Stories story-gathering team. Then watch this video.

40 STORIES: Real people… Extraordinary stories. As you watch these amazing stories you come to the realisation that only God could have brought about the transformation in these peoples lives. They are great witnessing tools. Share them widely. I will be putting them up one at a time on this website so watch out for them under the title 40 STORIES.

GREAT TESTIMONIES FROM THE OLYMPIC GAMES

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Fiji Rugby Sevens thank God with prayer and a hymn after winning Olympic Gold.

Fiji’s rugby sevens team wrote another chapter in one of the great Olympic stories at the Tokyo Stadium, when they won the country’s second gold medal by beating New Zealand 27-12 in the final.
They gathered in a circle and filled the empty Tokyo Stadium with a beautiful rendition of their team hymn. “We always start with our prayers and songs, and we always end with our prayers and songs,” Tuwai said, “and that song says that our God is a loving God, and that while we always tend to go stray from what he expects from us, he still loves us, and gives us good things.” 

Fiji’s players pray and celebrate after their win against New Zealand at the Tokyo Stadium. Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters

Sydney McLaughlin ‘giving the glory to God’ after earning Olympic gold, another world record

“All the glory to God,” McLaughlin told NBC following the victory. “Honestly, this season just working with my new coach and my new support system, it’s truly just faith and trusting the process. I couldn’t ask for anything more and truly it is all a gift from God.”

“I think the biggest difference this year is my faith, trusting God and trusting that process, and knowing that He’s in control of everything. As long as I put the hard work in, He’s going to carry me through. And I really cannot do anything more but give the glory to Him at this point.”2

McLaughlin often uses social media as tool by which she expresses her faith and shares the Gospel with fans. As depicted by an Instagram post from February, McLaughlin has actively chosen to hand her future over to God.

“We can laugh at whatever lies ahead because we know HE has already won,” McLaughlin wrote. “We can sleep easier at night knowing HE has a plan for whatever may normally trouble us. We can laugh at anything that doesn’t fit the purpose for our lives, because we know God’s plan is greater.”

Through social media, she has revealed that her relationship with God is more than just a matter of believing in God, it is a friendship with Him.

“The peace of knowing I will always have a friend, always have His support, and always have His LOVE; makes even the loneliest of moments feel full,” McLaughlin wrote in May. “My soul finds rest in knowing He is not like us. He doesn’t change, and He will never leave me. Giving the ability to be completely content, no matter the situation. Simply because, I don’t have to face it alone. That. Is. Love.”

Circled on Nicolla’s wrist: “Jesus Makes All things New” and  her book to record and improve her jumps along with encouraging scriptures. 

These three testimonies were stand outs but I have been impressed by the number of Christian athletes that have recognised the importance of acknowledging God when they have achieved victory or even a personal best. There have been many that have given a verbal witness like Thomas Green joint winner of the K2 1000m Canoe Sprint. When asked if he would like to thank anyone, he immediately responded by saying, “I am a man of faith and above all I would like to thank my Lord for all that I have achieved and then went on to thank his parents, coach and support team. Many have gone to their knees in prayer immediately at the conclusion of their race or shown some other physical manifestation such as looking up to heaven and raising their arms in thanksgiving.

It has been inspiring me to me and I am sure challenging to many people that have witnessed these expressions of faith and thanksgiving to God. May God bless abundantly all of these faithful Christian athletes and may we see many more.

AWESOME TESTIMONIES

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These testimonies are from people whose lives have been impacted by The Last Reformation Movement started by Torben Sondergaad. I have shared many of Torben’s videos on this site as I am sure this is one of the ministries Jesus has raised up to serve His church in these last days before He returns. Special live guests are Arjan and Annie van den Hoek from Holland now living in Curacao and Amos Shabalala and his wife Mary Ann living in Sydney Australia. Their stories are very different. However, they each share their take on how to press on and keep on serving the Lord, even when times are extremely hard or lonesome. I was particularly taken by and able to relate to the story shared by Amos and Mary Anne. As they live in Sydney, which is where I live, I will endeavour to connect with them.