Enter the Fight Pastor (now accepting Visa, Mastercard and American Express)

Jesus didn’t tap. But he would’ve been an MMA fan if Brandon Beals, aka the Fight Pastor, is to be believed. Beals is Harley-riding, AC/DC-loving fight fan who tends to a congregation at a church in Lynnwood, WA, where his love of mixed martial arts often finds its way into his sermons. He’s even showing Saturday’s UFC 107 at the church.

I’ve got no problem with a little UFC anecdote or two to spice up boring Bible stories. They might make me more inclined to go to church.

“I’m a mixed-martial arts fan who happens to be a pastor. This is who God made me to be,” he tells SeattlePI.com. “[Fighting is] the simplest metaphor in the world, because there’s so many parallels to persevering, no compromise, working hard, being tenacious, sticking with something, not quitting — it’s a really easy, seamless connection.”

Seventeen UFC fighters have so far recorded video greetings for Beals to use to introduce parts of his latest sermon series about the life of the Biblical king David, which his team is promoting with a trailer, an edgy movie-style poster and a name borrowed straight from the sport – “The Ultimate Fighter.” On Sunday, Beals used a play sword he kept in his office last week to illustrate how David actually killed Goliath — not by slingshot, as many people assume, but with a beheading blow from the Biblical giant’s own sword.

But what makes this story more interesting – and more controversial – is that Beals has jumped on the MMA merchandise bandwagon alongside the Afflictions, Tapouts, Kimurawears and Bad Boys of the game with his own Fight Pastor line. Fight Pastor merchandise includes shirts for men and women that feature slogans liked “Pre-destined to fight” and bloody designs, all inspired by mixed-martial arts. No riffs on Jesus not tapping, however. The brand has already signed on to sponsor one fighter, the WEC’s Yves Jabouin.

“I’m sure when Fight Pastor (merchandise) becomes a lot more mainstream, I will take a lot of shots from the Christian community. What I’m hoping is that the attention is on the brand and on the ministry and not me. I may be completely naive to think that, but that’s what I hope. God’s taken my hobby and merged it with my passion and maybe something cool will out of it. We’ll see.”

Religion in sports is not a new concept. Aside from Jesus getting the credit for 85 percent of all NFL touchdowns, football and NASCAR have their own chaplains. Also consider many UFC stars of past and present like Matt Hughes, Rich Franklin and Diego Sanchez are very vocal about their religious beliefs.

Beals says he wants to give the Fight Pastor brand time to take hold before he approaches local gyms with the offer he hopes will get the Fight Church ministry off the ground some time in March: to provide free spiritual guidance to athletes in exchange for the opportunity to hold monthly “fight churches” for the fighters.