Would it be a good idea to join or start your own Christ-centered sports, games, and friendship club? And how do you do it?
If you are a young member of our Church and you love the beautiful Christ-centered teachings of our Church, of the Bible and the Book of Mormon, and of the modern-day prophets and apostles of Jesus Christ, as we do, would it be a wise and joyful decision for you to start a local Christ-Centered Sports, Games, and Friendship Club as an extracurricular club at your local high school or college? Yes, of course, if you can prayerfully feel that a Christ-centered, relationship-centered life is the most joyful and wise choice, and if you would like to help others understand what our Church and our members truly believe, teach, and are, which will also greatly help counteract the 200 years of false slander against our Church and our members. Anyone who carefully and prayerfully reads our website and attends our activities will soon begin to understand the truth about what our Christian Church and our members truly teach and are, and will clearly know that we are Bible-believing Christians who deeply love Jesus Christ as our Savior.
Many missionaries of our Church may also want to organize Christ-centered sports, games, and friendship activities at Church to help more friends choose to live a more Christ-centered life and enjoy a closer relationship with Jesus Christ, and to help many people understand what our Church truly believes, teaches, and is. It can also greatly help friends who are learning about our Church build good, joyful, and trusting relationships with Church members, who can help answer their questions and support them long-term on their new journey of choosing to live a more Christ-centered life.
And how do you start your own Christ-Centered Sports Club? Simply find one or two friends in our Church to start, or other people who love our Christian teachings and who also feel that living a Christ-centered life is the wisest choice for a joyful and fulfilling life on earth and in eternity. Then, invite a few more friends to join you. Then, use the information on our website to simply copy some or all of the things we’re doing here in the Loja, Ecuador area.
As participants, everyone agrees that focusing on building and maintaining relationships of trust and love, as Jesus Christ taught, is a much wiser choice than worrying too much about who will win the point or the game while enjoying sports and games that foster friendship. Many people have already realized that winning any sport or game—even an Olympic gold medal or one of the four major tennis tournaments in the world each year, which has a prize of approximately $3 million—is a decision that can be very difficult to make. The cash prize of one dollar has no eternal significance. Therefore, they may have no interest in sports and games, although sports can be a joyful way to build friendships for many of us. But they can still love attending our meetings because the most important part is mingling, visiting, and serving together while building quality, trusting friendships with others who also choose to live a Christ-centered life.
Just follow these simple steps below to engage in Christ-centered sports and games activities:
#1. Schedule play sessions of approximately two hours each.
#2. Start playing sports and games together and visiting with one another in a Christ-centered way, with a focus on showing kindness, respect, love, and friendship to all involved, whether the point or the game goes your way or not. At our location, we primarily play ping-pong, pickleball, foosball, Connect-4, basketball, and board games that people bring. Your local club can choose the sports and games you want.
#3. Halfway through the game session – – – after latecomers have arrived and before some begin to leave; pause for approximately 15 minutes for a spiritually uplifting message with a prayer offered by any volunteer of any faith. Then sing one or more uplifting sing-along songs from the music app described below, and at least one uplifting power quote from the Bible verses on our website or one of your own favorites, and one from the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ, and one from “other wise and helpful sources,” many of which are from prophets, apostles, and other leaders of our Church.
You may also choose to share and discuss a positive affirmation or a group discussion with a Ben Franklin graphic as shown in those links on our website. Then, you can sing an uplifting song together. Or, sometimes, you may choose a short movie or half of a full movie for the spiritual message. Sometimes, you may want to have a potluck dinner or snacks, and a full movie, with less or no game time. You may also sometimes share a Conference talk from one of our Church leaders, which are uplifting talks from prophets, apostles, and other Church leaders today, including many amazing women who are leaders of our women’s, young women’s, and children’s groups. Many years of super-uplifting Conference talks can be easily found on our Church website below or on the “Gospel Library” app for cell phones and tablets. If you do a search for Conference talks, many years of uplifting Conference talks from the two 2-day conference sessions each year will appear. As you listen to them, you will soon realize how false the slander of the devil and his team against our Church and its leaders is. The beautiful Christ-centered lessons they share can bless and strengthen all our relationships with our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, with ourselves, family members, and others.
www.ChurchofJesusChrist.org
Then you may or may not have a closing prayer; and then you can go back to enjoying more time with sports, games, and visiting with good friends.
You may want to have two Christ-centered meetings each week, one a regular night with sports and games, and a 15-minute spiritual message sharing time, and the other a movie night with less time for sports and games, because a movie takes up so much of the viewing time. Some of the movies on our suggested list below are only about 30 minutes long, but many are about 90 minutes long. For longer movies, you may want to show half the movie in two sessions.
The wonderful Music Sing-Along app, which we use and recommend, can be downloaded free of charge on any cell phone or tablet by searching for “Gospel for Kids, Stories, Art, Music.” Then, click on the music section and begin enjoying the beautiful sing-along songs. Although it says it’s for children, it has incredibly beautiful and uplifting songs for any child of God up to at least 100 years old. My dear wife and I sing at least a couple of those beautiful songs together almost every morning with that app. We hope the designers of that app will put the beautiful hymns for adults back in the app as well, as they were before.
There’s also an option in the Sing-along app to create your own playlist of favorite songs. You can share your phone or tablet screen, or use an HDMI adapter to project the song lyrics along with the beautiful photos that come with it, onto a large-screen TV or TV projector so a large group can enjoy singing together. It’s very important for each individual to sing out loud with enthusiasm and feeling—and without worrying about whether you’re a good singer or not. We all care too much about others to worry about or criticize someone’s singing abilities. By feeling and singing the words of the songs out loud, you internalize the songs’ beautiful messages deep into your heart and soul, in a beautiful way that won’t happen if you don’t sing out loud with feeling and meaning.
For other great songs, you can also go to our Church “Gospel Library” app for cell phones and tablets or to our Church website: www.ChurchofJesusChrist.org and search “Hymns — For Home and Church” and you will find beautiful sing-along hymns from the new online hymnal with new hymns added every few months in many languages, such as the beautiful hymns #1004 “I Will Walk with Jesus” and #1006 “Think of a Sacred Song.”
You can also click on the Powerful Quotes tabs on our website to read and share dozens of powerful quotes in each category, and you can choose or invent some of your own positive powerful quotes to store on your cell phone and computer. We encourage each Club member to read and reflect on the Powerful Quotes at home with their families, and share a couple at mealtime as a family. And keep one in mind to share at the next team meeting. We share and discuss Powerful Quotes from the Bible and “The Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ,” because the Bible is the most widely read self-help book and book of any kind in the world, and the Book of Mormon is the second most widely read self-help book and the sixth most widely read book of any kind in the world with over 192 million copies in print. Both books have a proven track record of helping many millions of Christians and others with no prior Christian experience build more trusting and loving relationships with our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, and with themselves, family members, and others. I know that both are inspired by God through His prophets, and no one is wiser than God regarding what will help us build more trusting and loving relationships. To learn some fascinating facts about the Book of Mormon, click on the link: “Super Fascinating Facts About the Book of Mormon,” and you will begin to understand why it is the second most-read self-help book in the history of the world.
How do you raise funds to buy ping-pong tables, foosball tables, etc. to get your local club started?
My goal is to help launch Christ-Centered Sports, Games, and Friendship Clubs as after-school clubs in as many high schools and colleges across the United States as possible, and beyond, like right here in the Loja District of Ecuador. My wife and I will pay for two ping-pong tables, two foosball tables, and five Connect 4 games for at least the first three groups who want to start an after-school Christ-Centered Sports, Games, and Friendship Club at their high school in the United States, and also for the first three within the Ecuador Guayaquil South Mission where we serve. However, if you later end up closing the Christ-Centered Club at your high school, then you will need to agree that the ping-pong tables and other supplies will be donated to another Club near you.
The Connect 4 game may seem overly easy and childish at first glance, but it actually takes a lot of careful strategy and thought to become good at it. If you’re interested in starting a Club at your local high school or college, please send me a message through the “Contact Us” tab in the top right corner of the website, and I’ll help you get started.
There are many members of our Church and others who I believe would be interested in donating ping pong tables, etc., directly to the Christ-Centered Clubs at their local high school in their community. If someone only wants to donate $20, they can order two ping pong paddles or two Connect 4 games from Amazon.com or other sources and have them shipped directly to the high school for the attention of the Christ-Centered Sports and Games Club. After the youth let school officials know they want to start the Club and that club materials will be delivered soon, donors know that 100% of all funds they donate go directly to purchasing supplies for the local Club at the high school.
That will be very helpful, because many people are nervous about donating to “nonprofit groups,” because many of them have a large portion of the donations going directly into the pockets of the nonprofit’s founder, who is getting rich off those donations. This website and the clubs I personally help launch will cost me money, not make me money, but I’m okay with that.
because I’m happy to do what I can to help as many people as possible come to Jesus Christ and live a more Christ-centered life. Anyone who likes our cause can also choose to personally deliver donated items directly to the high school if they wish, rather than ordering them from Amazon.com.
Do you know a valiant young person in our Church who would like to become more and more like the Apostle Paul or the faithful missionary Ammon from the Book of Mormon, boldly sharing the teachings of Jesus Christ with others through their righteous example, words, and actions? If you are an adult who believes in our cause, you can share this website with a valiant young person in our Church in your area to see if they would be interested in starting a Club at their school.
Clubs will also need a large-screen TV or projector to watch movies, and the website has links to inspirational quotes from the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and other sources. However, at least most high schools in the United States have large-screen TVs on wheels that can be borrowed for activities. You can click “Mirror” on your cell phone, tablet, or laptop, or use an HDMI connection cable to project what’s displayed on your cell phone or tablet onto your large-screen TV or projector.
But, Elder Hunt, considering that the devil and his team have been spreading false slander against your Church for 200 years, and don’t want anyone to hear what you really teach and believe, won’t anti-Church groups be able to stop you from starting Christ-centered after-school clubs in local high schools, and from reading quotes from the Bible and the Book of Mormon, etc.? No, they will try, but the U.S. Supreme Court, by an overwhelming majority of 8 to 1, declared the “Equal Access Act” constitutional, thereby making it clear that no one may discriminate against or prevent young people from starting and running after-school clubs on the basis of their religious views or other content of their speech at such meetings—even if they are prejudiced against us by false slander. Apostle David Bednar taught that the best way for young people to prepare to be good full-time missionaries is by being good missionaries before their mission and by lovingly sharing the beautiful teachings of Jesus Christ with others, which is the most important message we can share with anyone, to bring more true love, joy, and inner peace into people’s lives.
One of my best missionary companions in Germany, when I was on my first mission as a young man, liked to share some of our Church’s great videos with his friends before his mission, and he baptized seven of his friends during the two years before he began his full-time mission at age 19, simply by learning to understand the teachings of our Church and loving the beautiful truths he learned. Almost all open-minded people will love the beautiful teachings of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, including the Plan of Happiness for the eternal future of all God’s children, if they will only do some serious and prayerful study of it. And whether they choose to join our Church or not, their lives will be transformed in positive and joyful ways if they choose to live a more Christ-centered life and build positive friendships through the activities and focus of our Christ-Centered Club.
Because of so much false slander against our Church, many parents who have been taught this slander will initially be very hesitant to allow their youth to attend Christ-centered meetings after school. Therefore, youth and parents may want to carefully review our website so they can begin to understand that there is no Church more Christ-centered than The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and that the false slander against us is not true.
On the day you have your Christ-Centered Club meetings after school each week, I suggest that everyone wear T-shirts with the message: “Christ-Centered Sports, Games, and Friendship Club” and www.RcTeam.Club on the front. These T-shirts can be ordered for $10 on Amazon.com in various colors and sizes, or purchased from other local sources. I suggest we choose the color “Kelly green,” because green is a good color for “new life,” as we are all seeking a new and better life, centered on Jesus Christ and His teachings. And if we all wear the same color, then many open-minded people will begin to recognize us as a large, positive, Christ-centered movement, as they will begin to see the same T-shirts everywhere. One day I heard a Christian pastor teach that wearing T-shirts with a positive Christian message is one of the best ways to invite many people to come to Jesus Christ and His teachings. That’s especially true if you’re a good, positive role model at your high school and wherever you go, of being a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ in the way you share genuine kindness, respect, and love in all your interactions with others. If you live in the United States, you can copy and paste this link below into your internet browser to order the same shirts for your local club on Amazon.com. After they make the first ones, they’ll have their template set up, making it even easier for anyone to order more of these shirts.
Below is a copy of my Amazon.com shopping cart containing a “Line Up 4” (Connect 4) game, a ping pong table, a printed T-shirt, and a foosball table, for a total cost of $444. There is one small piece in the Connect 4 game that is a bit fragile, so the “Line-Up 4” game is probably a better choice. You will need at least five “Line Up 4” (or Connect 4) games, two ping pong tables and two foosball tables, and a bunch of T-shirts, so the cost will be approximately $1,000 to purchase everything for a high school club in the United States on Amazon. The cost is closer to $1,500 in Ecuador.
Shopping cart
• Cirocco 4-Piece Foldable Ping Pong Table Tennis Set with Net, Paddles, Balls – Tournament Size, Quick Setup, Play Mode
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Subtotal (6 items): $418.85
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• Pack of 100 TADICK 3 Star 40+ Quality Orange Training Ping Pong Balls with Storage BoxPack of 100 TADICK 3 Star 40+ Quality Orange Training Ping Pong Balls with Storage Box
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• Style: 2-player game
• Wooden 4-in-a-row Board Game, Foldable, for Kids and Families, Classic Educational Toy for Family
$10.89
FREE delivery on Friday, August 2nd
• Design Your Own Custom T-Shirt, Front and Back Printed T-Shirts for Men and Women, Personalized Gift T-Shirt, Kelly Green
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• Best Choice Products 48-inch Competition Size Foosball Table, Arcade Soccer Table for Home, Game Room, Arcade with 2 Balls, 2 Cup Holders – Light Brown
$149.99
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Subtotal (6 items): $444.69
Below are some of the films we like to share in our Christ-centered gatherings. All can be found on YouTube, in both English and Spanish. These films were produced by our Christian Church or by members of our Church. And why do we show films produced by our Church? Because they are great, interesting, and very inspiring films. Also, part of our purpose is to help people understand the truth about our Church and what we truly believe and teach, and to help counter the 200 years of false slander against our Church.
- (1 hr + 1 min) “Joseph Smith The Prophet of the Restoration”
English: English “Jose Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration.”
- (27 min) “Our Heavenly Father’s Plan”
“Our Heavenly Father’s Plan”
- (19 min) “The Restoration” “Our Heavenly Father’s Plan” (I believe the one hour video in #1 above is better, but this is also good if you don’t have time for the longer movie.)
“The Restoration” (The hour-long video in #1 above is better, but it’s good if you don’t have time for the longer film.)
- (30 min) “Together Forever”
“Righteous Forever”
- (1 hr + 5 min) “How Rare a Possession – The Book of Mormon”.
“A Precious Possession: The Book of Mormon.”
- (52 min): “Legacy”
“Legacy”
- (1 hr + 42 min) “17 Miracles”
“17 Miracles”
- (1 hr + 37 min): “Ephraim’s Rescue”
“The Rescue of Ephraim”
- (32 min). “On the Way Home”
“From the Road Home”
- (1 hour + 48 min) “The Other Side of Heaven”
“On the Other Side of Heaven”
- (1 hour + 57 min) “The Other Side of Heaven #2”
“The Other Side of Heaven # 2”
- (1 hour + 5 min) “Special Witnesses of Christ”
“Special Witnesses of Christ.
- (24 min) “Johnny Lingo”.
“The Legend of Johnny Lingo LDS Movie”
- (1 hr + 25 min) “The Legend of Johnny Lingo”. (Later longer version).
“The Legend of Johnny Lingo” (Later, longer version)
- 1 hr. + 12 min: “The Mountain of the Lord”
“The mountain of the Lord”
- (30 min) “The Prodigal Son”
“The Complete LDS Prodigal Son”
- (30 Min) “The Plan of Happiness” (with Henry B. Eyring).
The LDS Plan of Happiness
- (20 min): “Treasure in Heaven: The John Tanner Story.”
“Treasure in Heaven: The John Tanner Story.”
- (1 hr + 5 min). “The Testaments of one Fold and one Shepherd”
“The Testaments: Of a Flock and a Shepherd”
- (15 min). “Only a Stonecutter.” (The Joseph Millett Story)
“Just a Stonemason” (The Story of Joseph Millett).
- (18 min.). “Act For Themselves” (1993)
“LDS Self-Act”
- (26 min). “What is Real?”
“What is real?”
- (1 hr. + 50 min): “The Work and the Glory”.
“The Work and the Glory – A Column of Light”
24 (1 hr + 39 min): “The Work and the Glory II: Zion in America”
“The Work and the Glory – Zion in America”
25: (1 hr + 32 min): “The Work and the Glory III: A house divided”
“The Work and the Glory III A House Divided”
Below are some other good movies in English with Spanish subtitles
1. (1 hour + 55 min) “Saturday’s Warrior” Movie in English w Spanish subtitles.
“The Saturday Warrior” English movie with Spanish subtitles.
2. (34 min) “John Baker’s Last Race” In English w Spanish subtitles
English: John Baker’s Last Race” In English with Spanish subtitles
3.(29 min). “The Three Witnesses” In English w Spanish subtitles
The Three Witnesses” In English with Spanish subtitles
4. (24 min). “Mormons: A Labor of Love.” In English with Spanish Subtitles
Mormons: A Labor of Love. English with Spanish subtitles
The first 25 movies mentioned above will take half a year or more to watch, if you watch one movie a week, or if you watch longer movies, it may take you two weeks to watch half of the movie each week. By then, your viewers will be ready to watch them again, because many of them will be new, and the movies are so good that those who saw them the first time will want to see them again and bring a friend the second time.
Some of you may be thinking, “Charles, are you sure it’s okay and not against any Church rules for you to post these things on social media and encourage others to start their own “Christ-Centered Sports, Games, Activities, and Friendship Clubs” to help spread the teachings of Jesus Christ, both from the Bible and the Book of Mormon, etc.?”
Below are some of my thoughts to answer your question.
What are social networks? I found this definition in a Google search: “Social networks refer to the means of interaction between people in which they create, share, and/or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks.”
Another definition stated: “Social media is a digital technology that allows ideas and information, including text and visual elements, to be shared through virtual networks and communities.”
Below are some quotes and a link to a talk entitled “Flooding the Earth Through Social Media” by David A. Bednar, a living apostle of Jesus Christ. This website and the Christ-Centered Sports, Games, and Friendship Club movement are part of my efforts to help flood the earth through social media, as he very clearly encouraged us all to do:
Below are some quotes from his talk:
The Lord is hastening His work, and it is no coincidence that these powerful innovations and inventions in communication are being carried out in the dispensation of the fulness of times. Social media are global tools that can personally and positively impact many individuals and families; and I believe the time has come for us, as disciples of Christ, to use these inspired media appropriately and much more effectively to testify of God the Eternal Father, His plan of happiness for His children, and His Son, Jesus Christ, as the Savior of the world; to proclaim the reality of the Restoration of the gospel in the last days and to carry out the Lord’s work.
An apostolic invitation
What has been accomplished so far in this dispensation in communicating gospel messages through social media is a good start, but it is only a small drop. Now I extend the invitation to you to help transform that drop into a flood. From this day forward, I urge you to flood the earth with messages full of righteousness and truth—messages that are authentic, uplifting, and praiseworthy, and that will literally flood the earth as with a flood (see Moses 7:59–62 ).
Imagine the impact we can have if hundreds of thousands and millions of members of the Lord’s restored Church contribute in seemingly insignificant ways to the rising waters. I pray that our many small, individual efforts will produce a steady rain of righteousness and truth that gradually grows into a multitude of streams and rivers, eventually becoming a flood that inundates the earth. “Wherefore, be not weary in well doing, for you are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great” ( D&C 64:33 ).
Clearly, the devil and his team are flooding the earth with social media filled with false slander against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, so shouldn’t we spread even more of the beautiful truths about Jesus Christ and His Church that He has restored to the earth?
To read David A. Bednar’s full talk, click the link below:
I have prayed and fasted much to receive God’s guidance regarding the articles and information I have written and posted on this website. I know my motives and desires are righteous and good. I deeply love the beautiful teachings of Jesus Christ and His restored gospel, and I delight in sharing these invaluable truths with all I can. The website and the movement I am fostering to get Christ-centered sports, games, and friendship clubs set up in as many high schools and colleges, etc., as possible, is certainly not perfect and needs improvement, but I am convinced that many of the ideas and things on this website can help countless people begin to learn the truths about the Church of Jesus Christ, which He Himself restored to earth and leads today through a prophet and apostles, instead of relying on 200 years of false slander from the devil and his team of deceivers. If any of you are interested in using this website in other languages around the world, please send me a message using the “Contact Us” link at the top right of the website. I may be able to translate the English documents on our website into other languages using Google Translate, as I did when translating it from English to Spanish.
Jesus Christ taught his apostles in Matthew 28:19-20: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.”
When I was a child, the prophet David O. McKay made it clear that we should all share the beautiful teachings of Jesus Christ with others, and he called those without faith in God “I and all members of our Church are on a lifelong mission” when he coined the phrase, “Every member a missionary.” And why not, for those who have studied the teachings of Jesus Christ and chosen to live by them, they soon sense that it is the most important message in the world, and that following the teachings of Jesus Christ brings far more true love, joy, inner peace, goodness, and faith into our lives and relationships than any other teaching.
In Doctrine and Covenants Section 58:26–27: the Lord taught us: “For behold, it is not meet that I should be in charge in all things; for he that is pressed in all things is a slothful and unwise servant; therefore he receiveth no reward.
Verily I say, men ought to be eagerly consecrated to a good cause, and to do many things of their own free will, and to effect much justice .”
If you are a full-time or life missionary and have a friend you think might benefit from having them read one of the articles on the website, such as “Fascinating Facts About the Book of Mormon” or “God’s Plan of Happiness/Salvation (Plan A) vs. Heaven and Hell (Plan B),” etc., you can open that article on the website and then copy and paste the website link into a note to them in their internet browser and encourage them to read it by clicking on the link, which will immediately take them to that article on the website. After they read it, they will still be on the website, so they can read any other articles on the website that interest them.