Students Answer “What Is Prayer?” from Campus America on Vimeo.

attending school in Utah.
In this school Seminary classes are held during
school hours. Brother Christianson taught Seminary
at this particular school. He had an open-door policy
and would take in any student that had been thrown
out of another class as long as they would abide by his
rules. Steve had been kicked out of his sixth period
and no other teacher wanted him, so he went into
Brother Christianson’s Seminary class.

Steve was told that he could not be late, so
he arrived just seconds before the bell rang and he
would sit in the very back of the room. He would
also be the first to leave after the class was over.

One day, Brother Christianson asked Steve to stay
after class so he could talk with him. After class,
Bro. Christianson pulled Steve aside and said, “You
think you’re pretty tough, don’t you?”

Steve’s answer was, “Yeah, I do.”

Then Brother Christianson asked, “How many push-ups
can you do?”

Steve said, “I do about 200 every night.”

“200? That’s pretty good, Steve,” Brother
Christianson said. “Do you think you could do 300?”

Steve replied, “I don’t know… I’ve never done 300
at a time.”

“Do you think you could?” Again asked Brother
Christianson.

“Well, I can try,” said Steve.

“Can you do 300 in sets of 10? I need you to
do 300 in sets of ten for this to work. Can you do
it? I need you to tell me you can do it,” Brother
Christianson said. Steve said, “Well… I think I
can… yeah, I can do it.”

Brother Christianson said, “Good! I need you
to do this on Friday.”

Friday came and Steve got to class early and sat in
the front of the room. When class started, Brother
Christianson pulled out a big box of donuts.
Now these weren’t the normal kinds of donuts,
they were the extra fancy BIG kind, with cream
centers and frosting swirls. Everyone was pretty excited-it
was Friday, the last class of the day, and they were
going to get an early start on the weekend.

Bro. Christianson went to the first girl in the
first row and asked, “Cynthia, do you want a donut?”

Cynthia said, “Yes.”

Bro. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked,
“Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Cynthia
can have a donut?”

Steve said, “Sure,” and jumped down from his desk to
do a quick ten. Then Steve again sat in his desk.

Bro. Christianson put a donut on Cynthia’s desk.

Bro. Christianson then went to Joe, the next person,
and asked, “Joe do you want a donut?”

Joe said, “Yes.” Bro. Christianson asked, “Steve
would you do ten push-ups so Joe can have a donut?”
Steve did ten push-ups, Joe got a donut.

And so it went, down the first aisle, Steve did ten
pushups for every person before they got their
donut.

And down the second aisle, till Bro. Christianson
came to Scott.

Scott was captain of the football team and center of
the basketball team. He was very popular and never
lacking for female companionship. When Bro.
Christianson asked, “Scott do you want a donut?”

Scott’s reply was, “Well, can I do my own pushups?”

Bro. Christianson said, “No, Steve has to do them.”

Then Scott said, “Well, I don’t want one then.”

Bro. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked,
“Steve, would you do ten pushups so Scott can have a
donut he doesn’t want?”

Steve started to do ten pushups. Scott said, “HEY!
I said I didn’t want one!”

Bro. Christianson said, “Look, this is my classroom,
my class, my desks, and my donuts. Just leave it on
the desk if you don’t want it.” And he put a donut
on Scott’s desk.

Now by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a
little. He just stayed on the floor between sets
because it took too much effort to be getting up
and down. You could start to see a little
perspiration coming out around his brow. Bro.
Christianson started down the third row. Now the
students were beginning to get a little angry.

Bro. Christianson asked Jenny, “Jenny, do you want a
donut?”

Jenny said, “No.”

Then Bro. Christianson asked Steve, “Steve,would you
do ten pushups so Jenny can have a donut that she
doesn’t want?” Steve did ten, Jenny got a donut.

By now, the students were beginning to say “No” and
there were all these uneaten donuts on the desks.
Steve was also having to really put forth a lot of
effort to get these pushups done for each donut.

There began to be a small pool of sweat on the floor
beneath his face, his arms and brow were beginning to get
red because of the physical effort involved.

Bro. Christianson asked Robert to watch Steve to
make sure he did ten pushups in a set because he couldn’t
bear to watch all of Steve’s work for all of those
uneaten donuts. So Robert began to watch Steve
closely. Bro. Christianson started down the fourth
row.

During his class, however, some students had
wandered in and sat along the heaters along the sides of the
room. When Bro. Christianson realized this; he did
a quick count and saw 34 students in the room. He
started to worry if Steve would be able to make it.

Bro. Christianson went on to the next person and the
next and the next. Near the end of that row, Steve
was really having a rough time. He was taking a lot
more time to complete each set.

Steve asked Bro. Christianson, “Do I have to make my
nose touch on each one?”

Bro. Christianson thought for a moment, “Well,
they’re your pushups. You can do them any way that you
want.”

And Bro. Christianson went on.

A few moments later, Jason came to the room and was
about to come in when all the students yelled, “NO!
Don’t come in! Stay out!”

Jason didn’t know what was going on. Steve picked
up his head and said, “No, let him come.”

Bro. Christianson said, “You realize that if Jason
comes in you will have to do ten pushups for him.”

Steve said, “Yes, let him come in.”

Bro. Christianson said, “Okay, I’ll let you get
Jason’s out of the way right now. Jason, do you
want a donut?”

“Yes.”

“Steve, will you do ten pushups so that Jason
can have a donut?” Steve did ten pushups very slowly
and with great effort. Jason, bewildered, was
handed a donut and sat down.

Bro. Christianson finished the fourth row, then
started on those seated on the heaters. Steve’s
arms were now shaking with each pushup in a struggle to
lift himself against the force of gravity. Sweat
was dropping off of his face and, by this time, there
was not a dry eye in the room.

The very last two girls in the room were
cheerleaders and very popular. Bro. Christianson went to Linda,
the second to last, and asked, “Linda, do you want a
doughnut?

Linda said, very sadly, “No, thank you.”

Bro. Christianson asked Steve, “Steve, would you do
ten pushups so that Linda can have a donut she
doesn’t want?”

Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow
pushups for Linda. Then Bro. Christianson turned to
the last girl, Susan. “Susan, do you want a donut?”

Susan, with tears flowing down her face, asked,
“Bro. Christianson , can I help him?”

Bro. Christianson, with tears of his own, said, “No,
he has to do it alone, Steve, would you do ten
pushups so Susan can have a donut?”

As Steve very slowly finished his last pushup, with
the understanding that he had accomplished all that
was required of him, having done 350 pushups, his
arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor.

Brother Christianson turned to the room and
said. “And so it was, that our Savior, Jesus Christ,
plead to the Father, “Into thy hands I commend my
spirit.” With the understanding that He had done
everything that was required of Him, he collapsed on
the cross and died. And like some of those in this
room, many of us leave the gift on the desk,
uneaten.

“Love is something more stern and more splendid than mere kindness.”

“Love is the great conqueror of lust. Being in love is far better than either common sensuality or cold self-centeredness.”
- CS Lewis

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a wise man is he who listens to counsel.
Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice.
For waging war you need guidance, and for victory many advisers.

-The Book of Proverbs

Summary: Seek counsel and advice.

Despite being robbed of a goal for the second straight match, the U.S persevered and moved on as group leader to the round of 16. I’m sure it must have been tough for the players to fight through all the poor officiating, but they found a way to overcome adversity. If athletes on the US soccer team (who are still humans) can overcome adversity and never give up when their backs are against the wall, how much easier is to overcome trials in our lives with God on our side?

Congratulations to the US Soccer team! We hope you will continue an amazing run in the World Cup. Go USA!

So this post is mainly a challenge for the men, but this is also a good sermon for women to listen to.

I recently listened to a sermon series on Biblical Manhood by Matt Carter from Austin Stone. I found it very interesting because as Christian men we’re always told to be the spiritual leader, but never really told how to do so. Carter touches on some Biblical ways men can step up and be better at leading their marriages, relationships, and within the church. One of the most striking points he made was how there are more women serving in the church (not necessarily true for all, but generally) and more women taking risk on the mission field. I challenge the men to listen to this sermon series and step up to the role as the spiritual leader.  I hope this series will encourage you guys to be strong spiritual leaders in your current or future relationships and within your spiritual community.

Tip I’ve learned: a spiritual woman will find a Biblical man very attractive!

So I started reading Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper and it’s pretty interesting so far.  One of the points that caught my attention was what he defined as a wasted life.  He says, “God created me – and you – to live with a single, all-embracing, all-transforming passion – namely, a passion to glorify God by enjoying and displaying his supreme excellence in all the spheres of life…The wasted life is the life without a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples.”

I found this interesting because it really made me think if I enjoy and display his supreme excellence in all spheres of my life.  I find that I sometimes will display his excellence without enjoying it.  However, the  joy in glorifying him will pour out from within me and display it for others to see.  There are still a lot of parts of my life where I can do a better job in having a passion to glorify God.

As I read more from this book, I plan to share more about what God is teaching me from this book of how to not waste my life.

John Wooden passed away earlier today at the age of 99. He was one of the best college basketball coaches in history. Not only did he produce champions on the court, he made his players great character people off the court. Wooden leaves a legacy of success as a basketball coach and as a man who shaped the lives of many great individuals.

Here’s a quote that I feel defined how he lived his life:
Material possessions, winning scores, and great reputations are meaningless in the eyes of the Lord, because He knows what we really are and that is all that matters. – John Wooden

RIP John Wooden. You will be deeply missed

This guy had help from his former teammates, but he said what really helped him out of substance abuse was God. Instead of constantly being stoned, Carbo now goes around speaking about Jesus, baseball, and the dangers of substance abuse. It’s amazing to see how God can change the hearts of all people, especially the ones “good” people see as sinners who will never change.