• The Beloit College Mindset List for the Class of 2014

• Most students entering college for the first time this fall—the Class of 2014—were born in 1992.

• For these students, Benny Hill, Sam Kinison, Sam Walton, Bert Parks and Tony Perkins have always been dead.

• 1. Few in the class know how to write in cursive.

• 2. Email is just too slow, and they seldom if ever use snail mail.

• 3. “Go West, Young College Grad” has always implied “and don’t stop until you get to Asia…and learn Chinese along the way.”

• 4. Al Gore has always been animated.

• 5. Los Angelenos have always been trying to get along.

• 6. Buffy has always been meeting her obligations to hunt down Lothos and the other blood-suckers at Hemery High.

• 7. “Caramel macchiato” and “venti half-caf vanilla latte” have always been street corner lingo.

• 8. With increasing numbers of ramps, Braille signs, and handicapped parking spaces, the world has always been trying harder to accommodate people with disabilities.

• 9. Had it remained operational, the villainous computer HAL could be their college classmate this fall, but they have a better chance of running into Miley Cyrus’s folks on Parents’ Weekend.

• 10. Entering college this fall in a country where a quarter of young people under 18 have at least one immigrant parent, they aren't afraid of immigration...unless it involves "real" aliens from another planet.

• 11. John McEnroe has never played professional tennis.

• 12. Clint Eastwood is better known as a sensitive director than as Dirty Harry.

• 13. Parents and teachers feared that Beavis and Butt-head might be the voice of a lost generation.

• 14. Doctor Kevorkian has never been licensed to practice medicine.

• 15. Colorful lapel ribbons have always been worn to indicate support for a cause.

• 16. Korean cars have always been a staple on American highways.

• 17. Trading Chocolate the Moose for Patti the Platypus helped build their Beanie Baby collection.

• 18. Fergie is a pop singer, not a princess.

• 19. They never twisted the coiled handset wire aimlessly around their wrists while chatting on the phone.

• 20. DNA fingerprinting and maps of the human genome have always existed.

• 21. Woody Allen, whose heart has wanted what it wanted, has always been with Soon-Yi Previn.

• 22. Cross-burning has always been deemed protected speech.

• 23. Leasing has always allowed the folks to upgrade their tastes in cars.

• 24. “Cop Killer” by rapper Ice-T has never been available on a recording.

• 25. Leno and Letterman have always been trading insults on opposing networks.

• 26. Unless they found one in their grandparents’ closet, they have never seen a carousel of Kodachrome slides.

• 27. Computers have never lacked a CD-ROM disk drive.

• 28. They’ve never recognized that pointing to their wrists was a request for the time of day.

• 29. Reggie Jackson has always been enshrined in Cooperstown.

• 30. “Viewer Discretion” has always been an available warning on TV shows.

• 31. The first home computer they probably touched was an Apple II or Mac II; they are now in a museum.

• 32. Czechoslovakia has never existed.

• 33. Second-hand smoke has always been an official carcinogen.

• 34. “Assisted Living” has always been replacing nursing homes, while Hospice has always offered an alternative to the hospital.

• 35. Once they got through security, going to the airport has always resembled going to the mall.

• 36. Adhesive strips have always been available in varying skin tones.

• 37. Whatever their parents may have thought about the year they were born, Queen Elizabeth declared it an “Annus Horribilis.”

• 38. Bud Selig has always been the Commissioner of Major League Baseball.

• 39. Pizza jockeys from Domino’s have never killed themselves to get your pizza there in under 30 minutes.

• 40. There have always been HIV positive athletes in the Olympics.

• 41. American companies have always done business in Vietnam.

• 42. Potato has always ended in an “e” in New Jersey per vice presidential edict.

• 43. Russians and Americans have always been living together in space.

• 44. The dominance of television news by the three networks passed while they were still in their cribs.

• 45. They have always had a chance to do community service with local and federal programs to earn money for college.

• 46. Nirvana is on the classic oldies station.

• 47. Children have always been trying to divorce their parents.

• 48. Someone has always gotten married in space.

• 49. While they were babbling in strollers, there was already a female Poet Laureate of the United States.

• 50. Toothpaste tubes have always stood up on their caps.

• 51.  Food has always been irradiated.

• 52. There have always been women priests in the Anglican Church.

• 53. J.R. Ewing has always been dead and gone. Hasn’t he? 

• 54. The historic bridge at Mostar in Bosnia has always been a copy.

• 55. Rock bands have always played at presidential inaugural parties.

• 56. They may have assumed that parents’ complaints about Black Monday had to do with punk rockers from L.A., not Wall Street.

• 57. A purple dinosaur has always supplanted Barney Google and Barney Fife. 

• 58. Beethoven has always been a good name for a dog.

• 59. By the time their folks might have noticed Coca Cola’s new Tab Clear, it was gone.

• 60. Walmart has never sold handguns over the counter in the lower 48.

• 61. Presidential appointees have always been required to be more precise about paying their nannies’ withholding tax, or else.

• 62. Having hundreds of cable channels but nothing to watch has always been routine. 

• 63. Their parents’ favorite TV sitcoms have always been showing up as movies.

• 64. The U.S, Canada, and Mexico have always agreed to trade freely.

• 65. They first met Michelangelo when he was just a computer virus.

• 66. Galileo is forgiven and welcome back into the Roman Catholic Church.

• 67. Ruth Bader Ginsburg has always sat on the Supreme Court.

• 68. They have never worried about a Russian missile strike on the U.S.

• 69. It seems the Post Office has always been going broke.

• 70. The artist formerly known as Snoop Doggy Dogg has always been rapping.

• 71. The nation has never approved of the job Congress is doing.

• 72. One way or another, “It’s the economy, stupid” and always has been.

• 73. Silicone-gel breast implants have always been regulated.

• 74. They've always been able to blast off with the Sci-Fi (SYFY) Channel.

• 75. Honda has always been a major competitor on Memorial Day at Indianapolis.

• Taken from http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/2014.php

• In the winter of 1864 Lt. George E. Dixon was only 24 years old when he convinced Confederate General Pierre Beauregard to let him try one more time to use the newly-designed Hunley submarine to try to take out one of the huge Union warships camped out in the Charleston Harbor and choking off much of the essential trade and supplies the southern cities and troops needed. Tragically, there had been two previous failed launches where both crews of eight drowned just simply testing out the vessel. Even though the General was very skeptical about survival (much less success) he gave in to the persistent and optimistic Dixon. The only problem was the young officer had no crew to accompany him on his man-powered, hand-cranked, underwater “death trap”, as some called it.

 

• The General allowed Dixon to board the Confederate ship, Indian Chief, to attempt to recruit volunteers, but with one very clear stipulation. The Lieutenant was required to be very explicit about the previous failures and the 100% fatality rate. In his explanation before a regiment of 60 men, Dixon was very forthright about the sense of horrible panic the men must have felt, trapped in the sub with water pouring in, and no way of escape. After assuring them there was no shame in not volunteering, some say he then turned his back on the 60 sailors, and asked if seven men would step forward to join the expedition. When he turned around again to face them it appeared that not a single man had moved forward. But his dejection turned to delight when one of the men blurted out, “Sir, we didn’t have seven step forward. Actually, all sixty of us stepped forward!” Dixon then had the somber responsibility of choosing his crew from a group of brave soldiers all willing to sacrifice their lives, knowing he was probably forever sealing the fates of the men he called out to join him.

 

• On February 17, 1864, Dixon and his crew slid out into the harbor on a calm moonless night, and got close enough to the 200 foot-long Union ship Housatonic to attach and detonate a bomb that sunk the huge vessel within minutes. For whatever reason, though, the Hunley was not able to make it back to shore that night, instead unexplainably vanishing for 131 years until divers finally found it  in 1995, 4 ½ miles off the Charleston coast completely encrusted and covered in mud. Even though their fate is still a mystery, one thing is for sure: Dixon and his men did not drown. They were each sitting peacefully in their tiny cramped spaces, hands still on the cranks, having gradually suffocated from lack of oxygen. Eight men, knowing full well the price they would pay by volunteering, gave themselves to a cause they believed was greater than their own.

 

• What would happen if we viewed ourselves as being a soldier in the army of God, just as ready and willing to sacrifice for the person and purposes of Jesus Christ as these men were for the Confederate cause during the Civil War? Are you and I "good soldiers" in Christ Jesus or simply "weekend warriors", safe and sound, and hiding out at the army reserves base? "Oh Lord, help us have a vision and passion for You and for the billions of lost souls around the globe who do not know You. You made the ultimate sacrifice for us; help us to be willing to give ourself to what you died for." 

• Miranda was always comparing herself with others, wishing she had nicer clothes, a sportier car, and an unlimited charge card. When she got to the University of Illinois, she turned her back on God to run with the fast crowd who were into seeking thrills and obtaining material possessions.  She spent two years chasing this dream, trying to fill the emptiness in her soul, only to come to a dead end one day when, after receiving a notice that her $10,000 credit card limit had reached its max, she purposely got drunk and ran her convertible into a tree.

• Now in intensive care, Miranda had plenty of time to reflect on her life and the choices she’d made. After being released, she went back to her apartment, got on her knees and returned to God to search for real meaning. A friend brought her to a Christian meeting, and it so happened the program that evening consisted of a visiting band of missions mobilizers called The Traveling Team who went from campus to campus each night sharing the story of God’s heart for the nations.

• Miranda sat mesmerized, learning God had given her all these different blessings in life (health, education, finances, technology, salvation, the Bible, etc…) not to horde for herself, but to give away. She realized she was a “taker” rather than a “giver” and became resolute about making a real difference in the world. She set up an appointment with one of The Traveling Team representatives to talk the next morning. As they chatted, Miranda started to see her whole life flash before her and this confident, self-sufficient girl broke down crying, repenting of her selfishness and her “bless me Lord!” kind of inward-focused Christianity.

• The Traveling Team rep plotted out a timeline for spiritual growth and mission involvement for Miranda and then connected her with a more mature believer on campus. Together, they started meeting for quiet times, Bible study, and praying for the spiritually lost around the world. A year later, Miranda finally got to go with a summer mission team to Ukraine, where she spent two months sharing the gospel. By the fifth week she was hooked. She no longer cared what others possessed and what she didn’t, but instead became eternally grateful for all that God had blessed her with and purposed to spend her life giving it away to the desperate and separated from Christ.

• She came back to campus that fall a changed woman, serving and sharing the Lord with every international student she could. Now, about to graduate and offered a high-paying position with a huge company, she, instead, wants to teach English in a closed third-world country. She has real, lasting fulfillment in her heart, finding the joy that only comes when we say no to ourselves, and yes to God.

• Peter was a freshman involved with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IV) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison when he and some of his Christian buddies decided to get serious about reaching others for Christ.  Rick Richardson, author of Evangelism Outside the Box, and IV staffer in Madison at the time, was diligently praying that Peter and other students would take personal ownership of the ministry there. God answered as Peter and six other freshmen began meeting every Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. to pray, confess their sins, and intercede for the campus. The Lord began to burden them for their lost friends, and Peter, without knowing any better, invited one of them to join the group for prayer. This wasn’t just any non-believer, according to Richardson, he was a “cosmic-consciousness, pot-smoking, drug-and-alcohol-using student, who had sampled Marxist and New Age thinking, and decided to embrace atheism.”

• Although everyone was a little uncomfortable with the new addition to the group, they proceeded as usual with the worship, confession, and intercession. But as the meeting concluded, and the students began exiting, Daniel, the non-Christian friend that Peter had brought, raced over to confront him with a question.

• “What was that?!” Daniel demanded.

• “What was what?!” Peter responded nervously.

• “I don’t even believe in God, but God was in that room. What happened?”

• After spending three hours explaining the gospel to Daniel, this outspoken atheist bowed in prayer to begin a personal relationship with Jesus.

• What convinced this hardened scoffer? Daniel had encountered the presence of God in an authentic, Spirit-filled community and would never be the same. When the story of his radical conversion got back to the other six freshmen in the prayer group, they all immediately began inviting their non-Christian friends to the meetings! Over 25 students found the Savior that year through the IV freshman prayer gathering. Peter and his friends were determined to seek God’s face until He showed up in very tangible ways. And show up He did!

• Jennifer grew up in a neat Christian family in South Georgia, but as she began her freshman year at West Georgia College, she asked God to give her someone who could help her understand her mission and calling in Christ. The ministry of Campus Outreach (CO) was engaging in their own version of “Christian Rush,” (recruiting freshmen to get involved with their ministry), and Jennifer happened to meet up with Lisa, a CO staff member. As they got to know each other, Jennifer was drawn to Lisa’s fun, personal way of talking with her and freely sharing her faith with others. Jennifer’s spiritual hunger and faithfulness was very evident, so Lisa began to pour into her on a regular basis. They would study the Word together, go on evangelism and follow-up appointments, do contact work in the dorms, and start small groups among interested girls.

• Jennifer was a woman of application, and everything that Lisa told her and showed her, she sought to implement into her own personal ministry. By Jennifer’s senior year, she’d seen over twenty women come to Christ, had several discipleship groups going, and meeting one on one with a number of girls. She got so excited about equipping her disciples to begin ministering she decided she wanted to do it full time. Now Jennifer is a CO staff member too, at Georgia College, where the last few years, hundreds of women have come to Christ through her witness and the student leaders she’s equipped. Last year, 121 female students from their campus attended their annual Christmas Conference and 50 of those came to their summer-long training program. She is leaving behind a legacy in life that will last clear into eternity.

• Tony grew up in Taiwan before coming to America to attend college. Although he had gone to church as a boy, he purposed not to listen and deemed it “a waste of a Sunday morning.” Now, at the University of Oklahoma, he was far away from family, and he began drinking excessively with older students. Although he felt miserable, he continued and his habit became addictive. Late one night, his hands started shaking uncontrollably. Desperately looking for some alcohol to calm his nerves, the phone rang, and it was a Christian guy he’d met, who was involved there in the Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM).  The Lord used that phone call to get his attention and that evening he finally admitted that God was all-powerful and all-loving and wanted to forgive Tony if only he would confess his sin and repent. Ending his session with the Lord, he prayed, “Please change me. Help me to live according to the Bible.”

• Tony determined to leave behind his drinking and worldly lifestyle. Aaron, the leader of a BCM floor Bible study started meeting with Tony each week, working on Scripture memory, quiet times, and Christ-like living. They would go out witnessing together and Tony realized how inward and selfish he’d been and committed to the Lord to share the gospel with one student each day. Tony says he prays for daily opportunities and sometimes “God gives me two or three to witness to instead of just one!”

• Like Aaron had done, Tony searched and found a dorm floor where no other committed Christian lived. His prayer goal is to reach out to every student on the floor, stating that his semester began “the day the freshmen moved in.” Along with his relationship building and witnessing, he has started a small group Bible study on his floor and has already begun discipling Cole and Tyler. This sophomore from Taiwan wants to be a soldier for Jesus Christ and has adopted as his marching orders the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-20 to “make disciples of all nations…”

• Jordan grew up camping, hiking, and rock climbing with full intentions of passionately pursuing these loves when he entered the University of Arkansas—but God had a different plan. A Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC) staff member plugged him into a small group and their leadership training track. Jordan went to a CCC Summer Project in Missouri and one in the country of Estonia the next summer. He was so jazzed by how God used him, he changed his major to graduate sooner, raised support, and headed to Thailand for a year-long mission assignment. 

• Jordan is an adventurer and when he first got to Thailand, he traveled with a team showing the Jesus Film to eager tribes of natives who had never even seen a movie. One night, as the entire tribe’s eyes were locked on the screen, God touched many of their hearts. Jordan was impacted too, sharing, “The Lord really spoke to me that night. My dreams were coming true: being out in the wilderness and showing the Jesus Film to those who have never heard. Just to look at the people’s eyes during the film was amazing. It was one of the greatest nights of my life.”

• His main ministry, though, is to the one million college students in the bustling, pollution-filled city of Bangkok. After overcoming culture shock from the abject poverty, the putrid smell, even the swarms of stray dogs everywhere, he was able to settle down and build relationships with Thai students. Jordan is sharing the gospel on a daily basis, seeing some receive Christ and others rejecting Him because of their Buddhist beliefs. He agonizes over the hardened hearts and when one guy responded to his gospel message with, “I don’t need Jesus,” Jordan just about broke down and cried. It’s hard to believe that this happy-go-lucky kid from Harrison, Arkansas, who had his life all planned out is now, instead, half way across the world pouring his life out for the lost in Thailand.

• In 1904 young William Borden graduated from a high school in Chicago. As heir to the Borden Dairy fortune, he was already worth millions. As a graduation present, his parents gave the 16-year-old Borden a trip to sail around the world. As he traveled through Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, he sensed a growing burden to reach the lost in nations cut off from the gospel. Finally, Borden wrote home to his parents, expressing, “I'm going to give my life to prepare for the mission field.” One of his friends was completely shocked, letting Borden know he felt he was "throwing himself away as a missionary." When Borden heard that, he wrote two words in the front of his Bible: “No reserves.”

• Even though Borden was fabulously wealthy, he arrived at Yale University in 1905 attempting to appear like any other freshman student. But soon, his classmates noticed something unique about Borden. One of them wrote: “He came to college far ahead, spiritually, of any of us. He had already given his heart in full surrender to Christ. We learned to lean on him and find in him a strength that was solid as a rock, just because of this settled purpose and consecration.” Another entry in Borden’s journal explained what the other students were seeing in his life. It simply said: “Say 'no' to self and 'yes' to Jesus every time.”

• During his first year at Yale, Borden started something that impacted the entire campus for Christ. He challenged a friend to pray with him before breakfast each day, and soon a second joined them, and a third, and a fourth, and others. One of the participants shared, “William would read to us from the Bible, show us something that God had promised and then proceed to claim the promise with assurance.” By the end of his first year, 150 freshmen were meeting for prayer and Bible study each week in small groups. By the time Borden was a senior, one thousand of Yale's 1,300 students were gathering every week for this purpose. He had divided the classes up into smaller groups and assigned key student leaders to reach out and witness to a certain number, with a goal of extending salvation to every student. Borden and his leaders would go over every name and ask, “Who will take this student?” When the name of a hardened or “incorrigible” student came up and no one wanted to take them on, Borden would chime in by saying, “Put him down to me.” Young Borden’s ministry extended beyond Yale, as he sought to help widows, orphans, cripples, and drunks in the area, forming the Yale Hope Mission.

• Borden felt the missionary call to reach out to one of the hardest to reach people groups of all, the Muslim Kansu in China. Once that goal was in sight, Borden never questioned his destiny and consistently challenged his classmates to consider missionary service, even hosting a huge student missionary conference at Yale. Even though Borden was very involved on campus and served as President of Phi Beta Kappa there at Yale, he chose not to join a fraternity. One student said, “Although he was a millionaire, William seemed to realize always that he must be about his Father's business, and not wasting time in the pursuit of amusement.” He never even owned an automobile, and when others asked why, he would casually respond, “Because I can't afford one.” But during his undergraduate years at Princeton he gave away hundreds of thousands of dollars to Christian ministries. Once he graduated, Borden turned down several lucrative career opportunities. After one especially tempting job offer, he went home and wrote two more words in his Bible: “No retreats.”

• Borden instead went on to complete a masters degree at Princeton Seminary, and then newspapers across the nation published articles about this young millionaire who raised his own support to go to China as a missionary.  It was 1913 and the entire country was fascinated by this wealthy and gifted young man who turned his back on affluence and comfort in America to risk everything and go to China. On his way there, he stopped first in Cairo, Egypt to study Arabic because he was going to be reaching Muslims. While there, he contracted spinal meningitis and died a few weeks later in a hospital room—all alone.

• When news was cabled back to America that 25-year-old William Whiting Borden was dead “a wave of sorrow went round the world . . . Borden not only gave away his wealth, but himself, in a way so joyous and natural that it seemed a privilege rather than a sacrifice” wrote his biographer. Many people though, thought that Borden had thrown his life away. He could have had everything, but instead met an untimely death of his own doing. As his associates were packing up his belongings to ship them back to the states for his burial, they found his Bible next to his hospital bed. In the front cover, underneath the words “No reserves” and “No retreats,” they were astonished to see the dying Borden had also scrawled two final words: “No regrets.”

No reserves, no retreats, no regrets.

• Although William Borden’s life appeared to end prematurely, he had accomplished everything God had planned for him. In his heart of hearts the young 25 year old millionaire missionary must have reconciled his destiny there on his death bed and made peace with God—and himself. How about you and I? There are a hundred things we could do with our lives, a hundred pursuits for which we could exchange it. But how many of them will enable you to say at the end of your life, “No reserves, no retreats, no regrets”?

• Epilogue: The story of his life and early death became a rallying cry for hundreds of college students who ended up spending their lives on the mission field all because of Borden of Yale.

 We don’t have to look far to see the incredible potential of college students. Even though only one percent of the world’s population is collegians, what a powerful one percent they are! This small sliver of humanity is, and will be, the leader of every facet of society. Each country sends their best and brightest to the university for education and training. Focusing your evangelistic and discipling efforts on this one percent is a very strategic way to expand the Kingdom of God and fulfill the Great Commission. Almost one fourth of the world’s college students reside in North America, and they represent the most reachable, recruitable, trainable, and sendable category of persons on the planet. It’s true what Dr. Bill Bright of Campus Crusade says,   “If we can win the university today, we will win the world tomorrow.”  

• There is a growing openness among college students worldwide toward the gospel. Being a world and current events buff, I’m always clipping articles in newspapers about student protests and rallies in other nations. My observation is that students are more open than ever to the West, to new ideas and technology, to philosophies and beliefs that are different from their ancestors. Who and what will fill that gap? Will it be other world religions, cults, secularism, or the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ?

 

• The challenge, as always, is the lack of workers compared to the ripened harvest. Patti Burgin, author of The Powerful Percent tells of the need, “There are about 3,300 colleges in the United States. There are about 25,000 around the world. Despite the efforts of so many groups, more than a third of the world’s college campuses do not have any contact with full time Christian workers.” How about you? Will you step into the gap?

 

• We’re living in an amazing period of history, and as I travel to different countries, students want to meet Westerners. They want to learn English and listen to the personal, political and spiritual ideas we present. Never before has God opened the doors and hearts of so many students worldwide to allow English speaking Christians from North America to have impact. This unprecedented opportunity for sharing the gospel with students globally also brings an undeniable obligation. We have been blessed. Why? To be a blessing to others! Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us it is God who has placed in us this desire to permanently impact others:

  “God has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men.”  

• This is especially true of college students where incredible optimism, unrestrained aspiration, and the belief that God may just be big enough to pull off what He says He will, is firmly planted in their hearts. Dennis Gaylor, National Director of Chi Alpha Campus Ministries, sees the awesome possibilities of this group as well: “College students are idealistic, energetic, and active. They comprise one of the greatest reservoirs of manpower for the cause of Jesus Christ in the entire world.”

 

• What is the potential of just one student? Throughout my years of traveling to universities around the world, I have observed that great campus revivals can usually be traced back to one person. More times than not, the spark comes from a student, not a staff person; one student who takes the person and purposes of Jesus Christ seriously. They believe and act.  To fuel your vision a bit, I’ve chosen five students from history who, I’m sure, are in heaven’s “College Student Hall of Fame.”  

 

• Worldchanger #1:  Ludwig Von Zinzendorf

Born into a wealthy German family in 1700, Zinzendorf grew up and attended the University of Wittenburg to study law. At age nineteen he was looking at a painting of Christ in agony on the cross and an inscription below that read, “All this I did for you, what are you doing for Me?” From that moment on, he forsook the comfortable life of a nobleman to begin spreading the gospel throughout the world.   He started inviting Christians to come live on his farm and learn how to grow spiritually. He launched a 24-hour prayer vigil that focused on world intercession that continued unbroken for a hundred years! As a result, his mission society, the Moravians, sent out more missionaries the next twenty years than all the Protestants or Anglicans had sent out in the previous 200 years! His burning desire to reach others with the gospel issued out of his love for Christ. Asked about his passion, he replied:   “I know of only one passion; it is He and He alone.”  

• Worldchanger #2: Samuel Mills

A tall, awkward, squeaky voiced freshman at Williams College in Massachusetts, Mills would have never been voted “Most Likely to Succeed.” Because of persecution, he and four other college friends would slip out to a nearby meadow to pray and talk. On one rainy August afternoon in 1806, they were taking refuge next to a huge haystack, reading missionary biographies and interceding for the world. When the rain subsided, Mills stood up, slammed his fist into his hand, and announced,   “We can do this, if we will!”   These five young collegians stepped out in faith and not only initiated the first nationwide student movement, but also began the first six mission agencies from North America. Although there were just 25 colleges in America at the time (averaging about a hundred students each), the “Haystack Five” helped launch small world mission study and prayer clusters on many of them. Mills himself died at age 35 on a ship coming back from West Africa, having contracted malaria while setting up yet another mission agency to reach slaves on that continent.   

• Worldchanger #3: Lottie Moon

Lottie Moon was born and raised in a wealthy Virginia family before the Civil War. She was a well educated and cultured woman who actually measured all of four feet…three inches! Rebelling against her mother’s deep-seated Baptist faith, Lottie ran off to college and ended up mocking Christians. Finally she returned to her roots after admitting, “I went to a campus revival to scoff, and came back to my room to pray all night.” After graduation, passing up a marriage proposal from a prominent seminary professor was difficult, but she justified it by declaring,   “God had first claim on my life and since the two conflicted, there could be no question about the result!”   Sailing for China as a single 23-year-old female missionary was unusual, but par for the course for this diminutive, but bold pioneer. At first her ministry was confined to teaching at a girl’s school, but she finally struck out on her own to do evangelistic work in North China. Despite tremendous opposition, nationals did come to Christ, a church was established, and thousands were baptized over the years. But Lottie is most known for her vigorous recruiting of volunteers and money for missions. She mobilized thousands of women in the states to pray, volunteer, and enlist others to give to foreign mission work.    While she was ministering there severe drought broke out after China’s “Boxer Rebellion” in 1911 and Lottie, to her own detriment, gave away all her money and food to help the starving Chinese. Other missionaries tried to rescue Lottie in time to save her life, loading her now frail and famished 50 lb. body on a ship headed for America. But she was too far gone and, at age 72, died on board late one December night in 1912─Christmas Eve. How appropriate that the Southern Baptist annual world missions funding effort (that has raised billions of dollars over the years) is named for Lottie Moon, and takes place at the same time each year─Christmas.  

• Worldchanger #4: C. T. Studd

In the early 1880’s, Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission, was back home in England recruiting workers. He interviewed several students from the distinguished Cambridge University who were burdened about how lost China’s millions were. As a result, God touched the heart of C. T. Studd, a popular student from an affluent family, and the best cricket player in all of England. He and six other renowned athletes banded together and volunteered to spend their life on the mission field, giving up the fame and fortune that awaited them in professional sports.     The impact was amazing, and by the time the seven arrived in China a year later they had already recruited over 160 others to join them. God used their story to spread a wildfire of interest and decisions across the universities of the western World, and by 1900 one third of all foreign missionaries were ministering under the banner of the China Inland Mission. Studd lived a life of abandonment to Christ, giving away all his inheritance in order to pioneer works in China, India, and Africa. His motto?   “I’d rather run a rescue shop within a foot of hell than live within the sound of a chapel bell. If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, nothing I sacrifice is too great for Him.”  

• Worldchanger #5: Grace Wilder

The daughter of an American missionary, Grace Wilder grew up in India. Due to her father’s health, the family returned home in 1876 to live and minister near Princeton University. A few years later Grace enrolled in nearby Mount Holyoke College and promptly started a weekly Bible study for women. Before they could join, though, she required them to sign a “declaration” stating: “I hold myself willing and desirous to do the Lord’s work wherever He may call me, even if it be to a foreign land.” Thirty-four women signed and joined up!   Grace and her younger brother, Robert, heard about the Mt. Hermon, Massachusetts Bible conference that evangelist D. L. Moody was hosting for over 250 college men in July of 1886. Grace encouraged her brother to go and to take an even more radical version of her declaration with him to ask men to sign. This one stated,   “We the undersigned, declare ourselves willing and desirous, God permitting, to go to the unevangelized portions of the world.”   She stayed at home and prayed that 100 of the men would sign it, committing themselves to foreign missions. God answered, as exactly 100 men signed, thus launching the greatest student missions mobilization effort in history─the Student Volunteer Movement. Over the next forty years, almost 100,000 students would sign this declaration and embrace the watchword: “The Evangelization of the World in This Generation!” At age twenty-six, Grace sailed for India with her widowed mother to continue the missionary work her father began. She died in 1911, at age fifty, having given her life to mobilizing college students and evangelizing the unreached.   

• As I look closely at the lives of visionary men and women who have preceded us, I’ve concluded there are only three kinds of people on this planet:

1. Those who watch history
2. Those who study history
3. Those who make history

  God has put eternity in your heart too. What are you going to do about it? 

• This is a chapter from the book Brown Like Coffee by Steve Shadrach. Go to www.brownlikecoffee.com to get a copy.

• By Steve Shadrach

• He was certainly no looker. His tall, gangly body and squeaky voice caused his friends to turn aside in embarrassment when in public together. But, in spite of his physical drawbacks and chronic shyness, he was a leader. There was something about this farm boy that others wanted to know—and follow. Maybe it was his penetrating stare or warm smile; it could have been his unwillingness to compromise his beliefs in the face of opposition.  

• Yes, there was opposition—plenty of it. It seemed like the whole campus had been polarized by this radical young freshman who wanted to infect everyone with his brand of religious zeal. Threats, mocking, and practical jokes found their way to his dorm room on a daily basis. To be his friend meant you had to share in his suffering and it turned out that just four would go the distance with him: Hiram, Joseph, William, and Thomas. Little did they know that their life would be permanently changed the day they decided to hook up with their classmate, Samuel Mills.          

• In was the spring of 1806 when these five made their pact of loyalty to one another. Although they were all just finishing their freshmen year at Williams College in Massachusetts, Samuel had emerged as the point man. After becoming a Christian, he read a little book by an English cobbler turned missionary named William Carey that supercharged him. It was like Samuel had a one track mind. Everything took a back seat to his passion to pray for the world.  Because of the intense persecution that plagued them, Samuel would often round up his faithful four to trek to an off campus farm where they would read a chapter out of Carey’s book and intercede for the nations. But there is no way this band of prayer warriors could know what God was going to do in their lives the afternoon of August 6th.          

• They had just finished the last chapter of William Carey’s book. It included some crude maps and statistics of how many people in the world were without Christ. It concluded by giving a stirring challenge to take seriously the Great Commission to evangelize the world. Just as Samuel suggested they begin to pray, the dark clouds that had been gathering suddenly burst forth. They ran for cover to one of the nearby haystacks, now shaped like a giant mushroom thanks to the cows incessant munching. It was there that they began to pour out their heart before God like never before. They agonized in prayer over country after country. They were praying prayers and dreaming dreams that no American college student had ever even considered. When they finished all of them simultaneously looked up into the burning eyes of their leader. No one said a word, but the air was thick with spiritual power. Suddenly the rain stopped and Samuel slowly stood. They would never forget the seven short words he uttered that moment. 

• Samuel’s heart was beating so fast he could hardly contain himself. God had given him a vision during their prayer time and he was about to explode. He fixed his gaze on his young disciples, slammed his fist into his hand and exclaimed, “We can do this—if we will!”          

• “What do you mean, Samuel?” asked Hiram.          

• “We can reach the world for Christ is what I’m talking about.”          

• “But Samuel, we’re just college students”, countered Joseph.          

• “Men, if we commit ourselves to God and this task, nothing will be impossible.”          

• Samuel spoke with such conviction that the other four could just nod in agreement. He meant business and there would be no stopping him. Later that week he began the very first mission agency ever to originate in North America. It was designed to reach out to the Indians in different parts of the United States. Over the next few months Samuel and his team mates would start five more agencies, created to send missionaries around the globe with the gospel. Their role as students seemed to pale in comparison to their new found purpose of world evangelization. After college, each of the them continued to recruit workers, raise money, and visit the mission fields to encourage the workers. Who could have known that one particular boat trip across the Atlantic would drastically impact the future of their missions’ movement.          

• It was now 1821 and Samuel had so wanted to get the mission to the African slaves established. He had made trip after trip to different West African countries to try to place workers and exhort them to evangelize and disciple. This trip felt different though. He had been dragging himself around like a wounded dog the final week of his stay in Ghana. His associates had to carry him to the ship for the ride back to the states. He coughing was accompanied by high fever and the shakes. Samuel was dying and he knew it. He had contracted malaria in Africa and it was just a matter of days before he went to be with the Lord. Before he breathed his last, he recorded a final prayer in his journal. With a heavy heart he wrote: In Thee O God, my soul will find rest. I fear, though, that our enterprise will not proceed. Preserve it for Thy sake. My cup is poured out. I come. 

• God did use Samuel Mills during his short 35 years on earth. This unlikely revolutionary ignited a movement that provided the impetus for hundreds of workers to take the gospel to the unreached. His final prayer, though, was prophetic. His zeal had provided the fire that fueled the cause. In just three years after his passing most of the original missionaries had come home and very few were being sent out. For all practical purposes it appeared the vision had died the day Samuel did half way across the Atlantic. Was his life and ministry all for naught? Only time would tell.

• Epilogue: February 17, 1877          

Young Luther Wishard had just graduated from Princeton University. He knew he wanted to serve the Lord, and the YMCA, the organization he had been a member of in college, wanted him to come on their staff. He would be paid $250 per year to begin YMCA chapters on different campuses across the country. He began thriving ministries consisting of prayer, bible studies, and witnessing. Everyone thought he was doing a marvelous job---except Luther. He knew deep in his heart there was something missing. Someone had told him about the “Haystack Prayer Meeting” that took place over 70 years earlier.

By Steve Shadrach  

• All of us yearn to be part of a campus movement that is exciting, growing, fun, and full of warmth and vision. Right? But how do we get there? Does God mysteriously bless one ministry and withhold his anointing on another? Or, are there some things He reveals in the Scripture; some principles we can apply to our ministries that will help build this kind of campus wide movement? What would have to take place at your school so that your ministry is like a magnet ─ drawing hundreds of students from every corner of the campus, giving you what I call “Irresistible influence”

• Students are Different

Admission #1: All students are different. They come to college with a pre formed package of gifts, personality, family issues, goals, interests and faith. They also are at different stages in their social and emotional maturity. I’ve worked with collegians for 25 years and have learned that students always start off being part of one of these three groups:                                              

• 1. The influencers (10% of the campus)

These are the mainstream students who come to college for the “campus life”. They want to socialize, join clubs, build a million friendships and influence people. After a year they are right in the middle of things with an incredible network of relationships.

• 2. The interested (60% of the campus)

These are the midstream students that probably were never “big fish” in High School. They want to get involved, but don’t have as much confidence or experience and usually gravitate towards the groups connected with one of the influencers.

• 3. The isolated (30% of the campus) 

     These are the out of stream students who’ve tucked themselves away in a cove because it’s safe or just “checkin’ out college”. Perhaps they came from a dysfunctional home or simply would rather not socialize in groups. They’ll end up being lonely, but curious students until someone pulls them into the flow of campus life.  

• What’s at the Core?

Admission #2: Most of the campus ministries at your school are made up almost exclusively with interested and isolated students looking for a social/spiritual refuge. As immature as it may sound, if a mainstream student came to one of those meetings, it would probably be their first and last visit! Have you ever observed a ministry where the core of that group is made up of influencers and they’re gathering more students than other ministries? Because of their focus, that core will usually end up attracting and impacting more interested and isolated students than they ever dreamed of. We can go into denial and say, “Well, we’re interested in a lot more than just numbers.” Of course, but the key to your small group and one on one multiplication is what kind of momentum you’ve built. The large group is the front door to what’s really going on inside. Momentum feeds multiplication and as you build deeply into student’s lives, they’ll in turn recruit to your large group. Your ministry can have both depth and breadth if you’ll direct your evangelism and discipleship toward the campus influencers.  

• The Bible Speaks

Where is this in the Bible? When God chose someone in the Old Testament that could lead the Israelites and stand up to Pharoah, He selected Moses, who had credibility, experience and wouldn’t be intimidated. In the New Testament the Lord called a proven influencer with a long resume to establish churches all around the Mediterranean. He knew Paul would need extraordinary relational skills along with the confidence to confront kings. Four principles to ponder with Bible studies for each:

• 1. How we view ourselves impacts how we relate to others (Numbers 13)

The 12 spies weren’t sent to the promised land to see if they should go in, but how! Ten froze with fear when they saw the giants and cried, “we became like grasshoppers in our own sight─ and so we were in their sight.” Only Joshua and Caleb weren’t willing to back down. Don’t avoid the giants on your campus; they’re the ones we need to be targeting! Missiologists will tell you: win the chief and you win the tribe.                                                            

• 2. Jesus said to focus on shepherds more than sheep (Matthew 9:36-39)

Jesus said “the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” He didn’t tell us to pray for more sheep, but more shepherds; people who have the spiritual, social, and emotional maturity to go beyond themselves to care about the needs of others. It’s not playing favorites when we select and develop these individuals ─ it’s what Jesus told us to do!                                           

• 3. The mature can connect with a broad spectrum of people (I Corinthians 9:19-23)

 Paul was willing to do and become anything he needed to win people. He believed he could relate to and witness to any person regardless of how high and mighty they are in the world’s eyes. Paul possessed this perspective about himself and ministry ─ and so should we!

•    4. We are to select faithful men who are able to teach others also (2 Timothy 2:2)                                                                                                                    Paul told Timothy to not only find “faithful men” to invest his life into, but men who would be willing and able to pass it on to others. If we’re truly going to multiply ourselves, we must look for students who desire to reach out and influence others. Loners need not apply!

[Other passages to study: The Conversion of Cornelius ─ Acts 10; The Parable of the Talents ─ Mt. 25:14-30]  

• Believe It or Not

The last two amazing facts I’ll share about this 10% slice of the campus called “The Influencers”:

• 1. They’re the most unreached group on your campus

No one wants to go after them. Hardly any of the ministries have these students involved, but instead are all battling over the ones that look safer or more responsive. Why not practice the “reach the unreached” principle in this culture like we do overseas?  

•  2. They desperately want someone to reach them                                                              

Many of these students are really insecure and hiding behind their Greek letters, preppy clothes or cocky attitude. They may look like they have it all together, but many yearn for someone to see through them and be brave enough to enter their world on their turf. Go for it! Go straight to the heart of the campus and boldly plant the flag of Jesus Christ.

By Steve Shadrach                                                                   

• 54% of college freshmen guys expect to be millionaires before age 40. Males 18 and over average 4 hours, 44 minutes of TV watching daily. 95% of Christian college men think viewing pornography is a sin, but 48% admit viewing it regularly. I’m not sure who Carson Daly is, but when you punch his name into the Altavista search engine 1,643,717 pages pop up.

 

• Maybe these bits of trivia don’t mean anything─or maybe they mean the earth is about to spin off it’s axis and we’ll be dust before you finish this article! Either way, this list is for you. I’m sure you feel like your life is swirling around you like a Kansas tornado, but unless you want to be picked up and swept away like Dorothy and Todo read and heed the “Ten Things Every Christian College Guy Should Know”.

 

• 1. Choose a Life Purpose

It is a choice and you get to make it. You have a free will, but an all powerful, all knowing, all loving God gave it to you. So, why not revolve your life purpose around the One that gave you life in the first place? Don’t let one more Survivors episode go by before you’ve nailed this down. Lock your door, get your Bible out, and search. As a sophomore I came up with: “To glorify God through knowing Him and making Him known to others.” Not original, but it was mine. Having a God centered life purpose gets you up in the morning, helps you make good decisions, and looks cool on your bathroom mirror!  

• 2. Develop a Biblical Worldview

I’m reading an intriguing book by Chuck Colson called How Now Shall We Live? that’s giving me a major paradigm shift. After taking two Tylenol, I admitted that I had a puny, self centered worldview and forced myself to ask, “Self, am I looking at life from my perspective or from God’s?” When we saturate our thinking with the Word, we develop a God shaped grid to run every song, movie and idea through. Try Colson’s daily worldview update at www.breakpoint.org. Lastly, don’t allow even a trace of internet pornography to pollute your mind. Download a filter and ask the cafeteria lady to type in the password!  

• 3. Seek Out the Right Friends

My Pastor says, “If you’re trying to follow Christ, don’t choose as your best friend someone who is running from Him.” Studies show at least 50% of students have cheated and don’t think it’s wrong, one in five have over $10,000 in credit card debt, and almost one fourth are frequent binge drinkers. Be careful, getting tight with one of these folks could be more painful than watching an Oakland Raiders ootball game! I’m not saying don’t befriend non-Christians ─ that’s the key to drawing them to Christ. But bind your heart to someone who is really seeking God: “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another”. Touche!  

• 4. Join a Good Church

Away from home? No one to tell you to get up and go find one of those premium back row seats at the fam’s church? Now you can prove what you’re really made of! Micro scooter yourself over to the late service of that local fellowship that has a rep for: 1) Good Bible teaching, 2) Great worship, and 3) Lots of students. Don’t just sit, soak, and sour. Give your time, talent, and treasure to those folks. It will pay great dividends.   

• 5. Form Consistent Study Habits

I’m a total hypocrite even mentioning this one. After all, I did graduate in the upper 75% of my high school class. No brag, just fact! Yea, you can buy tests and papers via the internet, but why cheat yourself? As I “matured” in college, I started going to every class, sitting on the front row, and finding the top student to study with. My grades flatlined ─ at a 45 degree angle straight up! Stay focused and you can be part of the 24% of U.S. citizens who possess a college degree. Be all you can be!  

• 6. Initiate Personal Ministry

To balance out #5, I must say: Don’t let your studies get in the way of your education! The biggest lesson you will learn at college is what God wants to do in your life─and through your life. Find a group that’s trying to witness and disciple others. Pray about living on campus, starting a small group Bible study, and leave a legacy behind by influencing some lives for Christ. If you really want to get radical, join the thousands of students who do short term summer mission trips. Look ‘em up at www.ShortTermMissions.com  

• 7. Set up Dating Standards

57% of collegians claim they’re “sexually active”. Think this is just locker room braggadocios? Think again! Many are looking for sex without strings and relationships without rings. Over 16 million people are downloading their love life via online dating services. That’s more people than have ever even heard of Roy Orbison’s song Only the Lonely. Here is a profundity: You will marry someone that you date! Commit yourself to only date girls who have the kind of goals, faith and character you want in a mate someday. Think I’m being picky? Exactly!  

• 8. Maintain a Proper Balance

Harry Potters’ Professor Dumbledore sheds this light: “It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” College is all about choices. With suicide now the third leading cause of death among college age young people, it’s time to adopt the four square life that Jesus sought in Luke 2:52: “He increased in wisdom and stature, in favor with God and man.” WWJD? He chose not to sweat the small stuff, but instead to develop Himself mentally, physically, spiritually, and socially. Go for it!  

• 9. Appreciate Your Parents

O.K., so my wife put me up to this one. It is amazing, though, how much smarter your parents get once you leave for college. You begin remembering all their laborious lectures and suspect that maybe they did have a sliver of wisdom in those thick brains! And if you catch fire for Christ, don’t make the mistake I did and go home and tell your parents they’re going to hell. People most often become Christians through the witness of a family member. So call them, visit them, tell them you love and appreciate them; and if they oppose you getting branded with a “tribal art” tattoo ─ Don’t do it!  

• 10. Keep Graduation in Mind

Nearly one third of freshmen drop out of college their first year. Congrats if you are part of the remaining two thirds! Also, know that those with college degrees earn nearly twice as much as those without. But more important than a diploma or an extra zero on your paycheck is what kind of person you plan on being when you graduate. My definition of college? A window of time God gives us to make critical decisions and prepare ourselves to live them out. Set goals, seek the Lord, build a deep foundation and understand that the end of your college career says so much more about you than the beginning. Oh, and have some fun too!                                                                                                                                                                                                 

• Steve Shadrach founded Student Mobilization, a non-denominational college ministry, and lives across the street from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, AR. He and his family have a live-in discipleship training program in their home for students. Steve is the Director of Mobilization for the U.S. Center for World Mission and also President of The BodyBuilders, a ministry committed to building up and mobilizing the Body of Christ to fulfill the Great Commission. For more info: www.stumo.org and www.thebodybuilders.net

8 Spark Plugs to Start Your New Year by Steve Shadrach  

• In the middle of a sweat-laden, brick-throwing basketball game between myself and other Michael Jordan wannabes, a girl came running up to me and said, "LeRoy Eims wants to have dinner with you — right now!"

• Well, LeRoy Eims was one of my heroes. He was a former marine officer, a successful campus director for The Navigators, and the author of my favorite book, The Lost Art of Disciplemaking. To get a chance to eat with him and pepper him with questions was a dream come true. So, instead of launching another air ball, I snatched the four guys I'd been discipling that year and sprinted to the room where "Mr. Eims" (as I respectfully addressed him) was eating lunch.

• I spotted his silver hair and chiseled face in the corner, eating at a table by himself. The five of us quickly grabbed our food and, with great reverence, tiptoed over to Mr. Eims, asking permission to sit and drink of his wisdom. It was obvious, though, that he was all business, so we ditched the introductions and small talk. I pulled out a carefully crafted list of questions, inscribed on a meticulously folded piece of paper.

• Tilting forward, attempting to initiate eye contact, I asked: "Mr. Eims ... how can we be sure we're still walking with Christ 20 years from now?" Leaning back, proud of my question, I expected him to rattle off a string of verses or draw out an intriguing diagram. Instead, he said nothing. He didn't even look up or stop eating. After a long pause I repeated the question. Before I could finish, however, he raised his fist, pounded the table and shouted, "Live for Christ today!" Then he looked down again, quietly stabbing another batch of green beans with his fork.

• "Well, Mr. Eims," I nervously stuttered and stammered, timidly glancing back and forth, "could you expand on that a bit?" Afraid to repeat my question, we waited in awkward silence for him to digest his food — and my inquiry. He finally looked up, pointed his finger at each of us and exclaimed, "If you live for Christ today, today will turn into tomorrow, and the days will turn into weeks, weeks into months, months into years, and years ... into a lifetime."

• I'm sure we asked other questions that day, but my puny little brain couldn't absorb any more than one truth at a time. Good thing. Twenty-seven years later I am still trying to apply this one blunt, but profound, piece of advice — one day at a time.

Live for Christ today!Not tomorrow ... TODAY!It still rings in my ears.

• Another year passing, another year beginning. They fly by much faster now, don't they? Make this year, this month, this week, this DAY different! Get off your duff and get going. Don't sit on that sofa one more minute, watching one more reality show, one more football game, one more video. Make something of your life. There are small steps you can take — right now! You can't steer a parked car, so let's fire it up, put it in gear, and get moving. Here's a short list: eight spark plugs that can help ignite your life — eight things you can do right NOW!

1. Come to Christ. If you haven't already, I implore you to get down on your knees at once and turn your life over to Jesus Christ. It's not the position of your body that matters though — it's the position of your heart. Confess your sins to Jesus and make Him your Savior. If you could know God in a personal way, would you want to? Of course! So don't wait one more minute to establish a personal relationship with your Creator. It will forever change your earthly and eternal destiny.
2. Yearn for intimacy with God. Grab your Bible, go to a quiet, private place and get some TAWG (Time Alone With God). Set aside 30, even 45 minutes and draw close to Him. Pray like King David did in Psalm 51, "Search me, O God, and know my heart." Drink deeply from His words, then pour out your heart to Him. There are some good addictions. This is one of them.
3. Leave a destructive habit behind. Whether it's just unhealthy or downright sinful, let go of it before it won't let go of you. This is more than just a new year's resolution, this is a fork-in-the-road decision you need to make. Freedom is not the power to do whatever you want to do, but the power to do what you ought to do. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you break the bondage of slavery to sin and then make the necessary changes, today — so God can set you free!
4. Initiate a conversation with a broken relationship from your past. Matthew 18 teaches that if someone has something against you (or if you have something against someone), stop and go to them. It could be a family member, an ex-boyfriend or girlfriend, maybe even someone back in your high school days. Visit, call, write, do whatever you have to do to say you are sorry for your anger and pettiness. Cleanse your soul by extending to them the same grace and mercy Christ extends to you.
5. Nurture a younger believer. Look around. Is there someone at your school, work or church that needs to grow spiritually? Ask if the two of you can team up to grow together. If you're having a quiet time, you can help them start. If you're memorizing Scripture, show them how. If you're sharing your faith, bring them along. If you're plugged into a good local church, invite them to join you. You may not feel like you have anything to offer another believer — but you do. I believe the command to "be fruitful and multiply" is a spiritual as well as a physical mandate. Go for it!
6. Die to self. Don't let the world revolve around you. The happiest people I know are the ones that constantly serve and give to others. If you can't give away something, you don't own it, it owns you! Materialism is choking us and most Americans don't even know the difference between our wants and our needs. Look around at all of your stuff. Give away something (maybe something you're really attached to) this week, just to prove to God (and to yourself!) that you don't own it — God does.
7. Eat a meal with an international student. There are as many as 720,000 on U.S. soil, and most of them will never set foot inside an American home. They are the cream of the cream of the crop in their countries, but we ignore them, treating them as "nobodies." Want to impact the world for Christ? God has brought future world leaders to our doorstep. Befriend just one student from another culture and begin to share your life and the love of Christ with them. It could change their life — and yours!
8. Resolve to set goals; and this time — stick with them. After you finish your next meal, get the notepad out. Pray and ask God for wisdom. Don't just say, "I want to be a better Christian this year." Instead, SPAM yourself! Set challenging, but realistic goals that are Specific, Practical, Achievable, and Measurable. In Luke 2:52 Jesus grew physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually. Those aren't bad categories for us to set goals in as well. Then, ask a friend (who isn't afraid to ask you some tough questions) to check on you each week.

• The first letters of each of these eight spark plugs spell C-Y-L-I-N-D-E-R. Eight good spark plugs will keep all eight cylinders in a car pumping. I know ... a little cheesy, but I'll say anything to help you remember my list!

• As a college student I asked my father a dangerous question. "Dad, if there is one area of my life I need to work on, what would it be?" He didn't pause a second before shooting back, "Oh, that's easy — procrastination." I tried to act shocked, but I knew he was right. He lovingly exposed my immature policy: "Why do today what I can put off 'til tomorrow?"

• My hair is not silver and my face is not chiseled, but if you and I could sit down and eat a meal together, I would probably give you just one piece of advice. You guessed it:

Live for Christ today!Not tomorrow ... TODAY!It still rings in my ears

• 12 Great Commission Decisions Students Need to Make for 2010           by Steve Shadrach

 

1.  Is Jesus the Lord of every area of my life? (Luke 6:46)
2.  What new commitments do I need to make in my relationship with Christ? (Phil. 3:7,8)
3. Have I taken personal responsibility for the Great Commission? (Mt. 28: 18-20)
4. What is the vision that God has placed on my heart to use me? (Jer.29: 11-13)
5. What is the dorm, team, or group that He wants me to reach? (Acts 1 :8)
6. Who is the student or students that I will be seeking to win or disciple? (Mt. 9:36-38)
7. Where will I live next school year and why? (Phil. 1:1 2, 1 3)
8. What will I do with my summer and why? (Col. 2:6,7)
9. What kind of training will I need to help me be successful in winning my world for Christ? (2 Tim. 2:2)
10. Where and from whom can I get that training? (Heb. 13:7)
11. Are there other decisions I need to make to strip away every entanglement so that I can follow Christ and win and disciple others? (Heb. 12: 1,2)
12. How long will I be committed to laboring for Jesus Christ? (2 Tim. 4:5-8)