Revival Has Hit The Ohio State University & The Football Team

and welcome back to the oh podcast everybody I'm your host Buckeye bogs and as you can see I'm joined by Zach gugenheim from the Big 10 Football Talk podcast excuse me my voice this morning I've I've lost my voice a little bit maybe too much yelling Thursday night on the call-in show Zach about the offensive line and what to do with the linebackers but nonetheless today's video is very very important to me personally and I don't want to dupe anybody so I'm going to be very upfront and honest with you if you clicked on this video today thinking you're going to get a lot of football talk you're not this is about faith first and football second and how they merged to the two of them and what's happening on the campus of the Ohio State University with a Revival that's taking place spearheaded by the football players and so if that's not your cup of tea um not judging you no offense you're not going to hurt our feelings uh maybe give us a thumbs up on the way out okay that's that's all we're asking all right uh and then come back for the next video because it'll be very football heavy I promise you but today I wanted to bring Zach on to have this conversation because not only is this a conversation that I'm excited to have I know this is a conversation he's excited to have because of the life he lives uh uh the Lord he worships and more importantly uh than than where I'm at in my walk he does this for a living on a CA college campus uh with college campus ministry so I couldn't think of a better person to have this conversation with than this man right here so I'm extremely happy to have you with me this morning EXA to talk about this yeah and thanks thank you for thinking of me and to to have this I I told you off off the air that this is I love talking ball I love talking Jesus more and so this is uh this is a real treat to to get to do this uh and to to talk about what God's doing at Ohio State and really on college campuses across the country because it's it's I think a lot of people assume that the college campus you know from a Christian perspective that college campus is like you know a lost a lost Bastion for Faith and and my passion is seeing that get turned on its head and seeing seeing the Lord do amazing things I mean I just as a a precursor I became a Christian in college and that's what motivated me both my wife and I we came to Christ in college and we love so much what God can do and I I think dark a dark place but God loves to show off in Dark Places and so that's that's and I think we're seeing that at Ohio State as well as other uh just all across the country a light shines the brightest where it's the darkest yep and and you know it I I was I gave my I gave my life to Christ when I was 14 I was in it was in uh eighth grade was the end of my eighth grade year and so I got to go through high school um being a Christian leading the fellowship of Christian athletes at Mount Vernon High School um it was such a important part of my life and when I transitioned to college I really lost that connection C I had with other Christians in school now I also um ended up meeting my future wife when I was in college and spending more time in the church during that time period Then in the classroom and we on campus uh I just kind of got away from the campus as much as I could because of my faith and so to see what's happening at Ohio State is incredibly encouraging to me so without any further Ado I want to pull up an article that kind of explains what's going on uh here Zach because I think it's important for for those who maybe heard about it or are interested in learning more that we dive into the weeds of exactly what took place what is going on and then we'll get into some deeper stuff with that as we move through this uh video but so let me share my screen with you this is an article that was was written by myself over at the ohop podcast.com so if you want to go read this article just go over to theop podcast.com click the football link scroll down through all the Articles you'll eventually find this one that says Revival at Ohio State Buckeye football players lead campus Faith movement beautiful picture there of trayon and uh G Scott and I'm not sure who the other one is that might be that might be the quarterback I think maybe I'm not sure anyways as I scroll down through here so how this all came about was these players have been um have been very active Zach in getting out and talking about their faith trayon Henderson being one G Scott being another but this actually stems back from years ago when Master Teague III was on the team and he wasn't he's an even when he was younger he's the son of an ordained minister and I remember my buddy Carl and I went to the went to a game we ran into Master Teague II we ran into Master's dad and he was carrying with him Zach a Bible into Ohio stadium that's awesome and when we had our conversation with him it was it was about his son being at AIO state but Master wanted to share with us scripture and when he found out we were also Christians we had Fellowship in the bowels of Ohio stadium before a game okay Master wrote a book recently we had him on the on the uh podcast and we interviewed him and he talked about his life as a Christian on campus and everything that he was involved in and trying to reach people for Jes Jesus and that I think was something that started a movement on this team that those seeds were planted Years Ago by gentlemen like Master Teague III and guys like that on that team CJ Stroud was one who came to Christ and was very vocal about his relationship with Jesus Christ every time the man's been interviewed every single time even even though he's the NFL Rook offensive Rookie of the Year makes millions of dollars as the face of the the Houston Texans program when interviewed he always gives praise to Jesus Christ this I think was a domino effect with the team it started with the with one it became two two became four and before you know it like a large portion of this roster is vocally uh vocally dedicated their life to Jesus Christ and more than the fame more than the fortune of nil these guys and their focus is about sharing Christ with other people and they've been going into churches and talking uh they've been giving um clinics and they've been sharing their faith at clinics and and they decided they were going to have an event on campus before the season started this event was basically an open air service on campus they would have praise and worship they would share their testimonies or quote unquote preach right Y and this turned into a thing where a couple hundred people showed up word got out hey AA egbuka is talking tron's talking Master teague's back on campus he's talking um all these different guys were sharing their testimonies kids are texting each other they're sharing it all of a sudden there's over a thousand students there yeah yeah and when the alar call came hundreds dedicated their life to Jesus Christ that evening they then went over and got the The Ice bass ice ice bath things that they use for practice fill with water and right there at the end or conclusion of this revival that they had a they had a baptism and as you as I scroll through the rest of this article I I really do want you guys to to go and and read the article um the foundation that has helped some of these guys is called the walk Foundation um and and one of the churches in the in the area one Church in Gana has been significant ific um I think uh rock city is another church that has really opened their doors to the Ohio State um a athletes and players but this revival Zach made it made headlines it made national news when you see hundreds of students dedicate their life to Christ at one event and they and they've they've planned more by the way this isn't just a time thing yeah this is what we in the church call a Revival and what a Revival is is in order for something to be revived it had to be alive to begin with Y Christianity used to be alive in this country used to be alive on college campuses and and that has been that has been that that flame is they've they've tried to take that flame out on college campuses through through their own ideology and through um you know being politically correct and things of that nature nature this flame that was being flame that was being um you know brought back to life at Ohio State was brought back to life by those players and now it's it's it's a fire it's a raging wildfire that I I'm really interested if I could get behind this the weeds to know what the administration really thinks of this but it's so positive and so encouraging that they flame these uh flames you know they fann them fan the flames and it's grown so much that here we are we sit in September 7th we're still talking about what took place two weeks ago and it's still having Domino effects on campus with students Yep this is one of the coolest things as a Christian I have gotten to witness now I want to get your take on what took place what do you think happened as a man who who goes on campus that doesn't does this ministry and how important was it to see the influence of people who fellow students look up to because of the fact they have this platform called college football yeah oh there's so much here Eric and so I I might even go further um and I I can say this because so part of our function so I work with a Ministry called disciplemakers and you know campus ministry one of the things I have to do before I get on campus is actually fundraise one of my fundraising appointments was actually with a former Ohio State coach by the name of Jim Trestle and so I actually met it was uh before my wife and I got married and I met with him and I I'll never forget we talked uh probably you know 20 minutes and and just so you know I like I didn't have a personal connection with him I just emailed him and he emailed me back 6: a.m. the next morning like he has a lot to do and for him to get a random email from a guy who's starting out in Ministry say hey I'll meet with you about uh about Christ and about what he's doing and how he's in at work in your life and I was asking I remember going around the whack and people like oh this Jim does this all the time like he wants to expose his players to Christ and I was talking with the chaplain I actually talked with Mike Doss that day um and I think he had mentioned that he you know similarly like Tres was all about that and so I think it probably even goes all the way back and there probably wasn't a ton of well I shouldn't say that I I think James laurenitis Malcolm Jenkins they had actually done a similar thing I think they called it the main event back in 2008 but I don't think it had as much staying power um and obviously that was around the time that tat gate had happened and all that so I think you know it kind of fizzled and I think if if I'm honest if you look at campus ministry there's kind of a s similar pattern where it's like you have you have highs and lows you have Peaks and valleys and a lot of it really depend you know it's very seasonal right college is a transitional time and so our our goal in our ministry is we want to send out students because we know that it's a fouryear it's a four-year cycle and then we want to send them out to their to wherever they go and so I think one of the one of the cool things even for me as I'm seeing this is I'm like these guys are going to have platforms not just in the NFL like some of them like some of them won't make the NFL but some of them like amecha trayon like they'll have careers in the NFL CJ stad has a career in the NFL but then even afterwards like if they continue to move towards Christ and continue their their walk with God wherever they go They're going to be an influence and I think that's I think that's one of the the catalysts of campus ministry is it's not just on the college campus but you're setting them up for generations of faithful faithfulness and fruitfulness so that that's one thing that that really excites me about this I I think with that question of how does seeing fellow students encourage and power um I remember very early on there was a a good friend of mine uh he was a senior and he took an interest in me and I didn't know him super well but like we we C we became fast friends and I saw how he lived I saw how he studied the scriptures I saw just how he made decisions and I'm like here's a fellow student who's only 2 years old than me who thinks very like who who goes through similar struggles that I do and he is living in a very different way than I do and I like that I want that fellow students who who treat you differently who care about you differently uh like that's that's really impactful and I think you know I my my job my role you know a lot of people's like oh the impact that you're making in students lives is great it's like you know I I have a great opportunity but I always tell my students I'm like you you will have far more influence than I ever will on campus because I'm I'm old right like I'm I'm close to 40 and so my now I have influ like exponential influence and that I can invest in people so that they invest in people but like a message I preach on campus like the word doesn't return void but a message I preach on campus what will really matter is if students then take that and then live it out in front of others amen like that's that's where the the real impact comes and so to see guys like acha and trayon and you know cam bab who's another guy who's been huge in this very vocal uh Master Teague you know who who have lived the same life like in the same uh context as they have but then to say this is how we've chosen to live and who we've chosen to follow um you know even CJ who's now in the NFL I I loved and this is how I feel like it shows that it's genuine is CJ's not just giving glory to God but he's also talking about how he needs to repent which you know repentance is a churchy word you know it's it's just a 180 degree turn you're turning away from something and toward towards something else and CJ is talking about how he needs to stop cursing and I'm like and he's vocal about it and I'm like that's you know it's a small thing but it's like man that's you know Jesus says repent for the kingdom is at hand we often forget that that following Jesus is about repenting from living for other kingdoms and living for the kingdom of God and and that means obedience to Jesus and and it's all by Grace it's all by what God's done and so uh I'm probably getting off base of what your question was but I think to to talk about the influence that these these athletes have and the in the context that they have um it's incredible and the fact that they're doing it in conjunction with the local church is just so exciting because I think what tends to happen with these Church movement a lot of these movements or revivals often are very devoid of like uh connections that are that are grounded that's that's one of the one of the things that we I love about our organization is that we're very much like Hey we're not we're not distancing ourselves from the church like we are an extension of the church and the reason why is because we know that the church is going to be there after they graduate we're not and so the fact that the church was partnering with these students so that it's not just well hey my spiritual adviser is a Mecca egbuka well that doesn't really work in a year but like to get the church involved and to have them have be in like that more consistent Lifeline is so great because now you're you're aa's your the face or tron's the face but then he's connecting you to other people who can get you plugged into community so good so health so I I I just I'm I'm very I'm very excited about what's going on and I I think what's encouraging to me is while we haven't seen revivals like this where I'm at you're seeing people come to Christ and people mature across the country I mean just in I I oversee four campuses uh in central Pennsylvania and all of them have seen growth uh over the past you know ever since Co I would say like Co I felt like was a great uh it was a yeah that's a good word yeah reset there a couple things that I thought of when you when you brought this up the statistically the statistics say that kids who are raised in church are more likely to fall away when they leave the home nest and go on campus this was a in my in my estimation a very purposeful attack by Satan to do so get him on campus get him in get them plugged into a doctrine that is not biblical and tell them how their parents are wrong right yep so having people like yourself and organizations like Fellowship of Christian athletes Athletes In Action campus Crusade Campus Ministries where these kids can can stay plugged in and get the tools and the encouragement because they're going to face it on a daily in the classroom room outside of the classroom on campus M where the the temptation of of the devil is going to be rampant and to have that accountability which is what CJ's really talking about when he's talking about repentance yep is having you know what I can do better I can be better I can be an example is so critical so that was one of the things that that struck me about what you were saying there about the importance of that the church you know this and what you talked about being able to stay plugged into a church even when achca leaves the so he's a senior and then the sophomores underclassman the Juniors is being able to stay plugged into a local Foundation that's already there that's not going anywhere that's truly what making disciples is about they're they're creating disciples and it's a form of discipleship right yeah and so to me that it's such a critical aspect of of of this of their walk that they're experiencing so yeah it's wonderful that they had Revival it's wonderful all these students came and got saved but then to say here's where you can go to take the next steps y yeah that is so important and and something that I feel was lacking years and decades ago that the church has improved upon when I and when I say church I'm not talking about a specific church folks I'm talking about the body of Christ yeah the global Church yeah yeah well and I I think that's something that you know the the Great Commission go and make disciples of all Nations uh teaching them to obey baptizing in the name of the father son Holy Spirit um that that's actually where we get our ministry name disciplemakers is and it's like we recognize that the command isn't just to uh have Evangelistic revivals but it's actually to make disciples of Jesus and uh you know I was just reading a book uh practicing the way by John Mark comr and I I appreciate that he he almost he helps us understand that disciples really an apprentice of Jesus and so like what do you do to Apprentice under G like Apprentice under someone you spend time with them and you learn from them and you do what they say and it's not just a a once and done thing but it's a a it's a lifestyle and the way you do that is you put yourself in places to continue that lifestyle and the church is the the the establishment that that Jesus has set up for people uh to be under Authority and to and to be discipled to be invested in and I think we you know there many times that we've gotten it wrong um and you know we continue to need to grow um but I agree with you I think something that's been encouraging to me is seeing seeing churches and colleges realize oh we we need to grow in these things we need to we need to we need to be a better apprentices so that we can better Apprentice other people for Jesus and so yeah so I know like a lot of people who are watching this video have probably been to an Ohio State game and if you've ever been to Ohio State game you see the sidewalk preaches mm they're very bold yeah very bold in in their in their Ministry there are here's the thing I want you to understand there are different approaches um whether you like that or not that is that is an approach the approach that we're seeing that is really taking firm grasp on campus is student L which is very different than an old adult standing on the sideline screaming at you that if you have a beer at the high State game you're going to burn in hell okay I get it it's not it's something that rubs people the wrong way um I have a I have a certain place in my heart where I respect those guys because what they're doing is incredibly difficult all right but you know I want to look at the spiritual aspect of this real fast Zach yeah because it's one thing to say I'm going to be the star running back of of Ohio State and I'm going to use my platform that God has given me to share my faith but this is bigger than that yeah okay Yep this is spiritually LED it and it's it's not someone's agenda or how someone I'm going to come and because I I try to make people want to think like me I've heard zero aspect of denominationally what this what this is z zero aspect of hey if you don't think exactly like I do 100% then you're in the wrong there's been zero of that this has been a God thing this is a spiritual thing which means it's very unique in that I think it's it's it comes from it comes from Heaven you know it's yeah yeah it's very different on that but the spiritual aspect of this thing when things are LED through the Holy Spirit the effect of that is is what is what what what we would call a miracle right yep yeah the fact that you had thousands of students leave their dorm room on a Sunday night or leave their party yeah walk down to wherever this was on campus that was taking apart stand there because there was no seating stand there and experience Church yep through the holy spirit that that is what the Miracle part of this is speak Zach to the spirituality of this to to the the effect that the holy ghost or holy you can tell I'm old school Baptist I call it holy spirit has had in leading this that is it's not a man-made thing yeah so my my aside from the scriptures my my favorite book of all time is at Le at least you know in the past few years is is a book called extravagant Grace by Barbara do good and uh you know of all PE you know I think often reformed Presbyterians get a bad rap for not liking the Holy Spirit um she's a Reformed Presbyterian and you know I went I went to uh Westminster uh which is a presbyterian Seminary um and I the thing I loved about that book was she made a really good point that any spiritual movement like any movement towards Christ at all is a supernatural Miracle because that's not how we that's our that's not our default our default design is to rebel against God and and I think you see that even Ephesians 2 like it says we were dead in our sin so like how can a dead person make themselves alive you can't that's why why Paul uses that analogy and so the fact that one person repents and turns is Supernatural like that is the work of the spirit of God Amen and so the fact that hundreds and thousands are inclining their ear I mean I I was just teaching on the parable of the soils and Jesus says he who has ears let him hear well who gives ears to hear Jesus does the spirit does like that's and so the fact that anyone would stop what they're doing and listen in and seek to understand and to read the scriptures um for anyone to declare that the way they were living was wrong and that they had to give them life their lives to Jesus and that's and that's the thing because think about this for a second most people think a star super barar super or star football player on a team he's he thinks he's better than me and here are these guys coming and declaring I was a sinner yeah was on my way to Hell Jesus miraculously saved me and I want to share that with you because I want you to experience the same goodness that I have experienced right that powerful right well and I think travion and I think that's the thing that has really struck me like you hear a lot of athletes give and and like actors and other they give praise to God but you're like I there's I think there's a moral aspect to that or like a a reverence aspect it's like well I'm going to do this but the way that they speak and you know you can't judge you know we won't be able to judge the true intentions of the Heart Like Only God can but the the the evidence and the fruit that we're seeing and we'll we'll we'll see more like you know fruit will have to stand the test of time and so I'm always a little I've seen enough students in my life who have you know been like the Rocky and Thorn thorny soil where it's like a little bit of excitement and then it fades uh that's not me accusing anyone that's just saying like there's a reality that we you know we need to see this play out um but the genuiness of of the conversation like it's it's not just oh like God got me through a hard time it's like I was living a wrong life I was running away from him and the joy of Christ and his salvation is better than better than football better than being being a star and that's you know a lot of people forget and and misunderstand Christianity they often think repentance is just from drugs sex and alcohol and rock and roll right if we're talking about the 70s right uh or 60s he who knows to do good and do it not to him it is sin right like it's much it's much broader than what people realize absolutely amen and the and the biggest thing you know we we often we used to have a conference every year and one of the things uh a good friend of mine would say is like we we often forget that the thing we have to repent of the most is our damnable good deeds and it's like Yeah The Good Deeds that we do for the worship of other things like people and so what what is the biggest temptation of a football player people would probably say drug sex you know strip clubs things like that it's like actually it's people putting them on a pedestal and being worshiped by 105,000 every Saturday I worship absolutely and they're like yeah I'm I'm the man like and like I've even seen like you know people like look take taking a look at CJ and be like he's football God and it's like no like it is not about and that's why I you know there were a lot of people when this whole thing went down on Twitter being like these players need to be geared on on akan and they need to be focused on this and whatnot and like you know there's a lot of frustration about people saying that I'm like listen that's how you know no offense that's how pagans respond it's like you you serve me you serve what I you know what I mean on Saturday and it's like these guys their their fight of Temptation is going to be okay who cares what Joe scho said on Twitter I don't live for them I live I live for for one that's a awesome topic to bring up Zach because I made this comment to another podcaster I I I said I would rather them be on a Sunday night worshiping the Lord than down on High Street drag racing okay and it was it was a jab at Georgia I I can't it but he said I disagree because I want them to be on edge and I thought and then and then I I watched the game Saturday that block that trayon henders okay that had nothing to do whether you were drag racing on Saturday night or you were praise and worshiping on on Sunday night like okay like so that philosophy comes from a misunderstanding of and a misplaced of priorities right yeah so let's let's let's turn the table a little bit and let's focus on the football team yeah how does this affect the football team let me give you a positive that I believe it it can do I believe it focuses this football team helps them turn inward and grow together as a unit as a unit some might argue well what about those who don't believe or don't have faith they're going to feel like they're being um they're on the outside looking in and they're not apart I don't believe for one second that this football team is going to be like hey we're better than you because we're Christian I don't think that for a second that that's what's happening yeah if a certain individual is experiencing that then they're listening to the lies of the devil in my opinion because everything I have seen from this football team is to be completely inclusive we want you to come we want you to be a part of this if you're not going to be that's okay that's your decision you're still our teammate we still love you we're praying for you and it comes from a place of love not from a not from a place of judgment MH so I think it can be very positive in that it brings the team together I also think it can put the coaches Minds at ease how many times like do you think you think Kirby Smart is worried on a Saturday night about his team Absol yeah I'm just not even gonna respond to that yeah and then the third thing I think that this speaks to is the culture that the football program currently has yeah now culture is is a buzz word in college football if you're from if you're rooting for the team from man Arbor you like to talk about your culture of toughness I think that the whole brotherhood thing that was brought in by Ohio State truly took another step in what that really means here and that the culture is like hey when a a recruit comes on campus and they visit and the parents are like so what's the culture really like Ryan Day can be like well here's a Revival that took place you know this is this is something that your child can be like when your child comes here he's not only going to be taken care of by myself and the coaching staff and his development as a football player his needs are going to be met by The Nutrition department and our medical staff um we have great teachers and tutors here who are going to help him with his education but his peers his brothers are going to be a tremendous influence in his life huge huge oh yeah H huge aspect of this football team no one wants to talk about yeah well and I I think you know genuine I think genuine gospel transformation is very attractive and and the reason why is because it's like the whole point of spiritual transformation from you know from a Christian perspective is that God is a god of flourishing like he wants people to flourish and the way he set up life is to flourish um and so even you know I'm I'm studying Titus for our Sunday school at at church and just the first you know the the first couple verses are about you know Titus I'm a servant or Paul a servant of God and an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ it's like why does he Place servant before Apostle it's because the point of his authority is to serve the people of God and to expand their knowledge of Truth which Accords to Godliness and so what does that mean um sorry I'm getting a little bible study because it's fresh in my mind um but it's that his authority his Spiritual Authority is meant to help God's people flourish more and more and more to become more Godly and that will be attractive to everybody because the way they live the way they they treat each other the way they even share about their faith is is not necessarily in a way that's you know abrasive but is in a way that's saying hey we want to hold you accountable we because we love you and I think people miss that because I think they their their perspective of of evangelism is just the street preacher on the corner um and what they're doing is they're saying hey we love you enough to confront you when you're wrong which again how much of football is being like you can't make that cut you've got to make this cut yeah like how much like is it this you know this block so if anything like PE I think people misread Christianity as this like this [ __ ] religion that you know well you know we're just going to be kind and we're going to have joy and you know and it's it is joyful and it is kindness but people forget that kindness actually allows us to confront one another and that's that's part of being a Brotherhood too is like we're going to hold each other accountable we're going to hold the line you know you know again later in Titus you know Paul is reminding uh Titus you need to set the church in order because there's a bunch of liars in the church that you have to help either get you know reform or get out um favorite line in the book is like uh one of their prophets said that all cretans are liars this testimony is true um so you know he's he there's a real problem in the in the in the church in cre that he's trying to expose and so here's my point in that I think people think of Christianity as a religion that doesn't you know it's like well it doesn't engage with the with real life and so it's just in a box to the side and then you and it distracts away from football I think genuine Christianity it it infolds all of life and it makes you live in a in every aspect of life in a way that honors God and so part of that is telling the truth you miss a block hey guess what you missed a block you got to get better yeah hey you didn't spend as much time in the film room as you should have like we need to watch more film um or hey maybe you need to take a rep off because you're hurt like just you know chill out or you know C you know CJ Hicks like you know you need to hustle on that play I don't know why I called CJ I think I saw a clip of him like screw he was great on Saturday um got a sack and um but you know what I mean like I think people miss that aspect that that faith is the Christian faith is meant to be integrated in every aspect of life amen and that's including football and that's how you treat each other and so that's sorry I'm getting off on a tangent here no this is great because what what you're bringing up I think is exactly what these players have done the whole Jesus one t-shirts is in it it's Maring those two it's the spiritual Jesus want Jesus gave me the victory in my life over death Hell In The Grave I have eternal uh I have an eternal home in heaven because of what Jesus did on the cross and I accept that and he saved my soul but we're also playing a game where we want to win yeah we won a national championship these are our goals and those two can merge you know a lot people say well does Jesus really care who wins the national championship um there's going to be Christians on both sides of the field okay yeah I I'm not naive to that right yeah but I think the whole Jesus one aspect of what they're saying is Win Lose or Draw y in the end I'm truly a winner in life and Eternity that and I think that's missed out on people because like you mentioned earlier the idolatry of we need a ninth National Championship in order to feel fulfilled in our lives is yeah I would love a ninth National Championship but if we lose and we don't win that ninth National Championship I'm going to wake up Sunday morning and still feel like I've won in life because I know what's out ahead of me and so I'm able to prioritize that in my life to whe you know and I want to win it bad I want to win it just as much as the the guy who doesn't believe in Christ wants to win it but at the end of the day I have and I I I I I hesitate to use the word eternal security here because I don't know people's belief on but my eternity is secured Jesus Christ and his my relationship with him yeah and so it that's EXC me and it excites them enough to say we want to share that with you and so marrying that too truly has been I think just really impressive how that managed like as as as a former Pastor I'm 43 years old I've experienced a lot in my life the highs the lows I've I've stumbled I have fallen I have had to repent I've had to go back to the altar again like I human life is very living is real y like the Bible when the Bible says it Reigns on the just and the unjust alike it that is so true life's going to happen to all of us I'm just so thankful that Jesus is my umbrella right okay amen you know like like I have him to protect me and to hopefully lead and guide me through the spirit which I think is happening for this team um so I I do want I do want to I kind of close out with with this with this thought too so so I believe the players have everything going for them well where would you like if if trayon Henderson called you up AA bua called you up cam bab called you up and said Zack this has been awesome this is amazing what do we do next now see they're in the midst of their season so it's not like they have a lot of free time M and here's the thing this got national news because of who they are let's not be naive to that yep I don't think the Revival is ending anytime soon there I don't think it's ending on that on campuses anytime soon in fact and you can speak to this more than anybody that I know of personally Zach that's why I wanted to bring you on I think the college campus became so dark and so placed so much in the sh in in the shade away from the light by those in charge of it that it truly became a mission field yep oh yeah it is truly like we think of missionaries here in the church in the US is people we send overseas the mission Fields is here in fact I just watched a video of the former lead singer of the news boys who's on a mission trip to the United States wow yeah hello like where the church is sending missionaries to us yep yep that's how dark we've become as a country and there's and there's not a darker place that I've experienced in life uh firsthand than on college campuses at times because of of how much the sin abounds so where do we go from here and what do people need to know and what can people do that don't have a kid in college or don't go to college themselves talk to us about what what we can experience as far as the the harvesting of of the fruit of the spirit on college campuses for Christ yeah o there's a lot um there's there's definitely a lot that you can uh that we can do uh and one is I mean I think pray um I I really mean like for those who are just sitting there there's no hope on college campuses take heart because I agree that they are dark I think what's amazing is seeing just how the Lord is at work in just in different college campuses I mean I just this past summer like I students that I I serve you know I think five of them went to London to go preach the gospel to Muslims that that go on that go on a street they' go on a street corner and uh just hand out Arabic Bibles and have conversations with Muslims and five of them went and did that two of our students uh gave up their summer to basically do campus work like I do uh at Penn State and you know that's just in in small campuses on co uh on a college campus we recently just established a Ministry at a small liberal arts college that told us we would never have a Bible study on campus and the P the administrator that uh that said that to us 15 years ago that position has been removed and we have a Bible study on that campus now and so the Lord is doing things and so but pray like be aware and pray um so I think that I think another thing is if you're in a church like think about how you can partner with your local College Ministries you know think about how you can partner with them uh adopting adopt a college student like do meals for them um if you don't have a college Ministry think about how you can you can either sponsor a college minister or how you can how you can support um a lot of C Campus Ministries one thing that you can do is you can actually give uh to to missionaries cuz I mean we I agree with you we are missionaries and the reality is 50% of the world's College students come to American colleges so I mean we're interacting with International students all the time you know we've you know I've interacted personally with students from China from Vietnam from a number of African countries and many of them are exploring the the scriptures and trying to understand who Jesus is and so uh supporting through prayer supporting through financial giving supporting through um yeah just those things and then I I think if you have time you know and you feel like you can invest in a college like try to try to connect with college students in your church and say hey can I can I grab a cup of coffee with you a lot of students what they really want is they want connection they want community and they need people and as you do that like there there's a lot of resources out there to help you think through that uh one book I'd recommend actually is just onetoone Bible reading by David Helm um it's basically how do you just have a conversation where you actually look at the Bible together because what people need what students need you know they need connection and they need time in the word and so that that I think that's a really good resource so I'd say give your time give your money uh pray um those would be the things that I would really encourage is like if you really want to continue to see God at work you know invest right we invest the word we invest in people so and and more people think that this is Zach just begging for money because that's that's the first that's the first thing I hear from people who are non-church is yeah H the church just wants money you know that's that's it's just a you know it's a it's a posy scheme or whatever no um yes I understand that there are individuals who have used a Godly platform for evil yeah I know that and you know there is such thing as spiritual discernment where you can see through uh what is true and what is FAL F but um that that the fact that you brought up like hey invest in time that's that's huge right yeah and and and here's the thing the church if the church is going to survive and thrive until the day the Lord comes back and I'm not going to get into whatever thesis you believe in with that but to whenever that moment comes to where where whatever you believe happens okay and whatever that's going to be is going to be um we have a calling and a duty to continue to share the gospel amen and one of the most important areas that I think we need to do that in is in that 18 to 24 year old age group because those are going to be the people who are going to take care of you in a few years right they're the ones who are going to eventually once once that generation decides they don't want to be president anymore that's who's going to be leading this country from a governmental standpoint yep um from an educational standpoint from a law enforcement standpoint from a Judiciary standpoint we we as Christians need to make sure that the Christian influence is in all areas of existence from sea to shining sea yep and the only way we're going to do that is to make sure that those young people who are coming up have the opportunity to explore Christ in their lives amen and to find that relationship in Jesus Christ I'm excited about this Zach because this gives me hope that the tithes are turning in the United States and despite all the evil and all the negativity we see you turn on the Evening News it makes me sick to my stomach every night all bad news more children children dying from from you know terrible mass shootings in schools and school violence and everything there's something out there that can still give you hope his name is Jesus Christ amen you're not going to find it watching The Evening News nope you're not going to find it in trying to chase your sinful fleshly Pleasures in life that's there's there's there's there's pleasure in sin for a season yep when the season runs out you're left with emptiness and heartache and heart and heart you'll be heartbroken the only lifelong fulfillment you will find in your life in my life experience has been Jesus Christ and so I want to end this by saying this if you're watching this video and you would like to know more you'd like to have a conversation with either Zach or myself we will make ourselves available to you you can reach me at the ohop podcast gmail.com send me an email let me know that you watch this video and that you would like to have a conversation with me I absolutely would do that with you I will make time to to talk to you about my walk with Jesus Christ and and and try to answer to the best of my ability whatever questions you might have Zach would you like to share your information yeah so I I mean you can reach me at my my uh Big 10 football talk email I I I'll also in the show notes I'll give uh Eric my uh my disciple makers email uh cuz that in terms of ministry related things I I'll probably pay more attention there um but yeah I I really Echo that if if you guys and and I think just to to point this out too podcasting is my fun hobby but the point is to glorify the Lord like if if I like this platform is meant for Jesus and it's meant to serve and so ultimately like please don't hesitate to reach out especially if you have questions about who Jesus is and how he can make a change in your life like that is like that is the thing that I can stop a lot of things for so you know aside from family emergencies right um but like that's like this is why we live this is why this is who we worship and and we want to serve and so yeah feel free to to reach out Big 10 football talk gmail.com uh my other email will be in the the show notes as well beautiful Zach thank you so much man last thoughts any final thoughts about this topic listen we could probably do a five-part series on this if we wanted to that's true two me two men who spend the time reading the Bible going to church and have lived their lives for Christ like we have trust me we could get into some serious weeds here this is just skimming the surface of kind of us reacting to what's happening um on campus purp and it's very exciting to me but any any final thoughts Zack you have before we head on out of here um I I think my main thought is it's just it's awesome to get to to have this intersection of of Christ and Ohio State and you know I think for those of you know for those of us who uh maybe have felt discouraged I I just want to encourage it like there's there really is Hope and I I always think of the parable the mustard seed you know the Kingdom of Heaven starts as Mustard Seed but it grows to be the biggest I I I am very I'm very much an I I used to be very much a pessimist I I'm now a very large Optimist because I think the scriptures compel me to and I think for those of us who are discouraged by what's happening on the college campus take heart because what the Lord is doing uh it's not just at Ohio State it's it's at so many other places across the country and college campuses and um yeah it it and I would just say this is not meant to be a plug for for my Ministry but like if you want to hear more on the regular um we do have a new a Ministry newsletter where you you know where you can hear what's going on on campuses in Pennsylvania and so if you want that I won't put that uh that info in the in the chat but if you are interested email me at my my disciplemakers email that that I put in the show notes go down the show notes we're going to have a bunch of links for you okay we're going to I'm going to make sure we're that we provide Zach's going to send me a bunch of links I'm going to provide some of my own that I know here in Ohio that you can reach out to um the some of the churches and Ministries that the Ohio State players have been involved in yes so we will put those in the show notes for you below um if if you've stumbled upon this and you think all we talk about is church that is not the case 90% of the time 95% of the time the Oho podcast and the Big 10 football talk which is a part of the college huddle which is what you see there right there in the MD it's all about yeah it's all about football okay but this was something that we wanted to do um that we wanted to express and again I know it wasn't for everybody that's why I did the disclaimer at the beginning but if you watch this and you and if you got to this point of the of the of the uh of the video it's obvious that you're interested in this okay so feel free to um to reach out to us like I said click on any of those links for more exploration about this topic and by all means leave a comment let us know yeah um I will say let's try to make keep it positive if we can uh usually I know we get some trolly things and uh uh but this this is this is bigger than Ohio State it's bigger than pen State it's even bigger than than uh the team up north that we like to poke fun of or Alabama or you name whatever team you don't like in college football this is this is team Jesus and amen uh we want to know what you think about our conversation in the comments below um feel free to let us know if there was some things some other stuff that we need you'd like for us to look into um hit the Thumbs Up Button leave us a like let's try to get this video out as many eyeballs and ears as we possibly can so that people people maybe someone who watches this doesn't feel that they they have any hope we would like to share Jesus with them so that they can have the same hope that we do in this life am not only this life that we live but the life to come all right thank you so much guys until next time be kind to one another if you're Buckeye fan I owe my oh h s Carmen Ohio with all your heart Zach thank you for your time I truly do appreciate it yeah thanks for having me God bless youall have a have a good day go by go buck