May 6, 2015
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. — Matthew 5:14-16
Christian Union Adds Hutz Hertzberg to its Senior Leadership Team
By Christian Union From ChristianUnion.org
Christian Union and its Board of Trustees today announce that Dr. Hutz H. Hertzberg has been named to the organization’s senior leadership team as president, and the ministry's founder, Matt Bennett, has been named CEO. Hertzberg brings a wealth of leadership experience, having spent the entirety of his career in church ministries, Christian agencies, and in higher education. Most recently, Hertzberg served... Read More Here >
April 22, 2015
Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:18
The Two Shall Become One Flesh: Reclaiming Marriage
By Evangelicals and Catholics Together From First Things
In the Gospel of St. Mark, the Lord Jesus teaches that “from the beginning of creation ‘God made them male and female.’” He then declares a great and beautiful truth inscribed in creation: “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh” (Mark 10:6–8). Read More Here >
April 9, 2015
What Every Christian Can Practice in Order to Impact the Culture of Today
Author and philosopher Paul Gould has written a number of successful books, and his latest work, The Outrageous Idea of the Missional Professor, is both an excellent examination of what it means to be a Christian academic, as well as a helpful resource for those who are looking to deepen their faith and impact their surroundings. In the book, he explains that professors and teachers hold a valuable position of influence over their students and contemporaries, and urges them to view themselves more like missionaries in order to transform their particular disciplines.April 9, 2015
Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations... — Deuteronomy 7:9
Christ Follower, Bridge Builder
By Christian Union From ChristianUnion.org
Princeton alumnus, Cambridge University MPhil, and current California Berkeley PhD student Dave Kurz grew up in a Christian home, but faith was not the center of his life until he went to college and began attending Christian Union Bible courses. Hear how these experiences helped shape his beliefs and led him to earnestly seek God. Watch the Video Here >
March 25, 2015
"For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible... all things were created by him and for him" — Col 1:16
The Drop Box
By Madison Peace From The Federalist
A poignant, profoundly moving new documentary "tells the story of 'The Drop Box,' where image-conscious South Koreans leave disabled babies to a welcoming pastor and his family." Read More Here >
March 11, 2015
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. — 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Renaissance: the Power of the Gospel However Dark the Times
By Dr. Os Guinness From New York City Christian Union
On January 13, 2015, acclaimed author and social critic Dr. Os Guinness was the special guest speaker at the January New York City Christian Union Forum. Watch the video here >
March 5, 2015
Why Harvard is Anything But Godless
Many Harvard professors and students are oblivious to the level of religious devotion that exists at their university. In fact, most people, Harvard affiliated or not, are unaware of the profound faith that can be found on campus, erroneously considering the school to be fairly “irreligious.” However, according to Stephen G. Mackereth – a talented new writer for The Harvard Crimson, and a Christian Union ministry member – Harvard is anything but godless. Mackereth highlights his own faith experiences at Harvard and explains how this precipitated a close relationship with God. “Though I came from an Anglican family, it was here that the old creeds and old hymns to God in the Highest first really came to life for me. Since then, I have been an active member of the Christian student community on campus,” he writes.March 1, 2015
Dartmouth Student Leads 24-Hour Prayer Time
On October 31, students at Dartmouth united their Christian peers to pray without ceasing for 24 hours.The effort was led by Zachary Schmidt '15, who is active with Christian Union's leadership development ministry at Dartmouth and possesses a profound devotion to Christ and a passion for living a life of prayer.Schmidt, who transferred to Dartmouth as a junior from the U.S. Naval Academy, helped organize a 24-hour concert of prayer, which both encouraged students to seek God wholeheartedly and also united the body of Christ on campus."We saw [this prayer initiative] as a great way to get the whole Christian community involved and united in one body to glorify the Lord," said Schmidt.February 23, 2015
Making Sense of True Paradoxes
Christian Union: The Magazine recently interviewed David Skeel, the S. Samuel Arsht Professor of Corporate Law at the University of Pennsylvania. A speaker at Veritas Forums on various college campuses, Skeel is the author of several books on law. He recently wrote his first apologetics book, True Paradox: How Christianity Makes Sense of Our Complex World.How would you define apologetics?At bottom, I think the Apostle Peter defined apologetics best, at least for Christians, when he admonished his readers to "always be prepared to give a reason for the hope that is in you" (1 Peter 3:15). That's how I see apologetics, as trying to explain why I believe Christianity is true, especially for those who think an ancient religion like Christianity can't possibly make sense of the complexities of our contemporary world.February 22, 2015
Mwangi Thuita '17 Has a Passion for Serving
The Community Service Team with Christian Union at Cornell is working to share the Gospel in Ithaca, New York, and their acts of service are conveying what words alone cannot.The team serves the university's neighboring community through a variety of volunteer works, quietly modeling Christ's compassion for all people."Our students formed the Community Service Team because they wanted tangible ways to communicate the love of Christ," said Anna Shea, a Christian Union ministry fellow at Cornell. "They want others to experience, through their actions, that Jesus is alive—not just on the Cornell campus, but throughout Ithaca as well."February 21, 2015
Scholar Exhorts Attendees at Harvard Catholic Center Event
Exercising the constitutional right to "authentic worship" at Harvard was heralded this fall with a lecture from noted scholar Father Peter Stravinskas.The Harvard Catholic Center sponsored the event, entitled "Give Me Freedom (Religious) or Give Me Death." Stravinskas, editor of The Catholic Answer magazine and books such as The Catholic Response and The Catholic Church and the Bible, exhorted attendees to refute the bifurcation of religious freedom by a secular culture.Stravinskas spoke about how society is seeking to replace authentic Christian worship and expression with a more politically correct and passive version of religion.The right to assemble is tolerated, but the freedom to live out your faith with actionable belief and works is disallowed.February 20, 2015
Cornell Alumnus Joe Holland Challenges Students to Walk by Faith
For believers, God's calling is not an isolated event. Rather, it often plays out as part of an amazing personal movement.Activist, attorney, and football legend Joe Holland offered that spiritual insight during an appearance on October 16 at his alma mater of Cornell University. The All-American football player spoke about the stages of fulfilling a divine commission during a public lecture in Friends Hall."It's not just something that happens, and that's the end," said Holland, Cornell '78, MA '79, Harvard Law '82. "It's a movement that God executes in your life."February 19, 2015
Considering Nietzsche and Jesus of Nazareth
by Jesse PetersonAt the risk of an absurd reductionism, I'd like to propose an audacious thesis: that in Western history there have been only two distinct ethical philosophies. Every other ethic ultimately falls under the banner of one of these two. The two stances are represented by two teachers: Friedrich Nietzsche and Jesus of Nazareth. Their fundamental disagreement? What it means to be human, and what it means to love. The Ethics of Nature There could hardly have been a more fitting philosopher to follow on the heels of Darwin's mid-19th-century discoveries than Nietzsche. Nietzsche translated into ethical-prescriptive terms ("ought") what for Darwin had merely been biological-historical description ("is"). Darwin's "survival of the fittest" in the war of nature became Nietzsche's "will to power":February 18, 2015
The Lambs help students grow in grace and truth.
by Sarah Camp, Contributing EditorFrom marriage to ministry, Angela (Cornell, BA '99) and Allen (Cornell, BS '00 and MEng'01) Lamb know a good thing when they find it. For example, they met during their freshman year at Cornell and married during the summer between their junior and senior years. Allen was already a Christian when he met Angela; Angela came to faith in Christ at Cornell thanks in part to a suitemate who shared her faith.The young couple were led to follows Christ's ethos in college as they pursued integrity in courtship and dating, and fidelity in marriage. A supportive community and God's great grace helped them navigate their student years.February 15, 2015
Day Thirty-Five Devotional
My three teenage daughters, much like the college students I know, live in a state of almost constant sleep deprivation due to the pressure of extracurricular activities and academics. Breaks in the schedule, such as the one we just had over Christmas, provide welcome opportunities to catch up on sleep. Slumber is perhaps more desired than anything under the Christmas tree!We know our bodies need rest, and anyone who has battled insomnia knows that a good night’s sleep is a blessing from the Lord. But we’ve also all experienced that too much sleep can make us lethargic and dull. Spiritual sleepiness is the counterpart to the physical manifestation, and Scripture is full of warnings against it, such as: “awake, O Sleeper!” (Ephesians 5:14), “wake up from your slumber!” (Romans 13:11), and “wake up from your drunken stupor” (1 Corinthians 15:34). In Revelation 3, in the word to the church in Sardis, this sobering judgment is given by the angel:February 12, 2015
Penn Student Seeks to Establish Peer Counseling
Roy Lan cares about people.From assisting in cancer research and volunteering for the welfare of children, to participating in model UN at the University of Pennsylvania, the breadth of his compassion is evident. This semester, Lan is extending a helping hand even further as he spearheads a new organization that seeks to come alongside students that struggle to care for themselves.As a response to the several suicides at Penn in the last year and a half, Lan is working to establish a student-run peer counseling organization for undergraduates. And he credits Christian Union's ministry at Penn with helping him develop the leadership skills needed to form the new organization.February 10, 2015
A Devotional from the 40 Days Initiative
Day 30“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them...” - Matthew 6:1 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites.” - Matthew 6:5 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites...” - Matthew 6:16February 10, 2015
In the face of increasingly distressing forms of secularity in our culture, Christianity appears to be making a resurgence, growing stronger and becoming more widespread across the U.S. According to a new Pew Research Study, 73 percent of American adults believe Jesus was born to a virgin, and 65 percent believe the full Christmas story. This is encouraging news, and a stark contrast to the 14 percent of U.S. adults who do not believe either of these elements.
January 29, 2015
Wall Street Journal Article Shows How Christians Can Positively Engage the Culture Around Them
Author Eric Metaxas wrote an exceptionally popular article for the Wall Street Journal concerning God, faith, and science in 2014. Since its publication, the article has gained traction in both Christian and scientific circles, attracting both critics and advocates alike. Metaxas supports the idea that scientific research increasingly points to the existence of a universal creator, drawing attention to recent findings that exemplify exactly how unlikely it is that a series of random events led to creation as we know it. He writes:January 27, 2015
