By Nate Frazier (Author's note:  As you read the following story, everything here was 100% student-athlete initiated. It was not done at the request or suggestion of any coach or administrator. Nor was it initiated as part of any publicity for the team)

When Logan Johnson first envisioned the idea of a Bible Study group, he wasn't sure how receptive others would be. After all, he came to Wallace to play baseball, not to be the team chaplain. But after thinking about it for a while dung his personal daily prayer time, he finally got up the nerve to mention it to a couple of his buddies.

"We were on a bus ride home from one of our games when I brought it up to Darney and J.T. (Sean Darnell and JT Thigpen)," Johnson said. "They are two of my closest friends. I asked them if this was something they would be interested in doing. I know those two guys and I figured this would be a couple of yes's as far as getting it going. Then other people overheard and were asking how they could be a part of it."

"I wasn't really the one pushing it at first. There were other guys coming around and asking how they could get involved. It just speaks to this unit of guys. So I just threw a message in a group text and told everyone what was going on and to let me know if they were interested so I could get a head count. Pretty much everybody on the team 'liked' the message."

It quickly became obvious that Johnson's concern about no one being interested had vanished. But that created a couple of other problems. First, these are college students. They don't exactly live in mansions. When 22 people confirmed, they had to find a place big enough to hold everyone.

"We had apartments that were too small to hold everyone, and we had places that couldn't seat everybody. We eventually settled on a house that a couple of guys rented. We had people sitting on the floor, on chairs, on bean bags, on couches and even on countertops. But nobody complained. Everybody wanted to be there."

And then there was problem number two. In addition to being college students, they are also student-athletes. Baseball players.  The night of the first scheduled bible study meeting was also the first round of the MLB playoffs. As baseball players, naturally they wanted to watch the games.

"We had the TV on the game before the meeting started and we were waiting for everyone to arrive. But when the meeting started, the TV was turned off and nobody complained. Everybody was engaged. It was a group of guys that all wanted to come together and do this. We had 22 guys there the first week of doing this and that was awesome."

Despite having to overcome the space and seating obstacle, a competing baseball game, and some guys having to miss that first meeting because of tests and previous commitments, nobody even slightly suggested canceling or moving the meeting.  "This is a group that wants to come together and grow—in their faith and as a team. It's about guys making Christ a priority in their lives."

If you were to meet Johnson, all of this would come as surprise to you. He would come across as nice guy and a hard-nosed baseball player. But he would never come across as someone who tries to push his beliefs on anyone else.

"What I would say to that is, there are people that we call holier than now. Those that are always trying to act like they are better than everyone else. That's just not biblical. I love going to church. I love worshiping God and I love learning about him. But it's not from a place of, that makes many higher. The scripture tells me how much of a sinner I am and that we all need Jesus equally."

"I grew up a Southern Baptist in Tennessee. My dad (Buddy Johnson) is actually a pastor at Stock Creek Baptist Church. I got to grow up around The Word. I got to grow up around my dad who is genuinely the biggest role model in my life."

"I guess technically I am the one who is talking and leading the message but I'm taking input from my dad. But it's a group thing. It's not like it's Logan Johnson's Bible Study. It's this team doing a bible study together and wanting to grow and learn about Jesus. Everyone's been engaged, everyone's really locked in wanting to read the verses, wanting to give their input on certain ideas. It's a group of guys that are coming together and doing this."

Johnson says there is much more to their meetings than just bible study, There are some important life lessons learned here.

"It gives the guys an opportunity to talk about whatever is on their mind. People have things going on their life that you would have no idea about. Everybody is going through something. It gives us a chance to talk and not be judged. Yes, it gives us something that we can be in prayer for. These are our best friends. We are with these guys every day. We're always taking prayer requests, and if we need to pray for someone, we will. We always start the meeting with a prayer. I think that is very important. These meetings help us to get to know each other better at a little deeper level. I think it's really going to help us a team."

Johnson had one final message. "Right now what we're talking about is what it looks like to be a Christian example, whether it's in our community or our circles of influence. All of us do have a circle of influence. Everyone has people who look up to them in some way shape or form. So how can we be a role model for Christ knowing that. That's the path we're taking right now."