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The most recent articles, videos, blog entries, and more that have been added to ChristianUnion.org.

Developing Leaders at Strategic Institutions

Jason Walsh

Vice President, Christian Union Universities

Jason Walsh honorably served 10 years in the United States Marine Corps, 3 years in the 102nd Mounted Infantry Battalion with the Connecticut Army National Guard, and 4 years as a Firefighter/EMT for the City of Stamford Fire Department in Stamford, CT. At the Pentagon, Jason served as a Mission Planner, supporting the highest levels of U.S. leadership, including the resident, Vice President, Secretary of Defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and military generals across all branches. While deployed to Afghanistan, He was a Combat Aviation Operations Chief at Camp Dwyer, Afghanistan, a Forward Operating Base (FOB) to combat insurgent activity in the Helmand Valley, which was a hotbed of terrorist activity and the most dangerous province in Afghanistan at the time. Jason served in and out of combat zones with multiple government agencies, including the CIA, FBI, Secret Service, the U.S. Army’s 20th Special Forces Group, and the British SAS.

Throughout nearly 20 years of service in military and local agencies combined, Jason’s leadership has been at the forefront! Jason graduated from Marine Corps Recruit Training, Parris Island, SC (Boot Camp), as the Platoon Honor Graduate, #1 out of 96 recruits. He was promoted to Sergeant within his first 4 years of Marine Corps service. He was selected from the top 1% of the Marine Corps globally for recruiting duty. Jason was also a .50 Cal Machine Gunner, becoming proficient in all U.S. Army Infantry weapons systems, criminal profiling, and interrogation. He was selected in the top 10 out of 2000 applicants to be a Firefighter/EMT. He was later selected as an instructor at the Stamford Regional Fire Training School after unanimously being voted platoon leader in his own firefighter recruit class. His service is recognized with numerous military medals and personal awards, including the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, 2 Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, 3 Marine Corps Good Conduct Medals, the National Defense Service Medal, and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.

Jason is the Vice President of Christian Union Universities, based at Yale University. He is also an associate pastor at The Rock Church in Wallingford, CT. Jason’s passion for Jesus and service is deeply personal. Overcoming homelessness and personal hardship, he attributes his transformation to the love and healing power of Jesus Christ. He is committed to sharing this message and believes that Jesus has a unique plan and message for each individual that can transform their life.

Jason holds a bachelor’s degree in Pastoral Leadership and Ministries from Nazarene Bible College in Colorado Springs, CO, with additional education in Theology and Urban Missions from Alliance Theological Seminary in Manhattan, NY.

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The Answer to the Lack of Faithful Communities Is to Create Our Own

In certain circles, an open display of Christian faith in public may be received negatively. At a bar, a party, even and perhaps especially in academia, Christians are often fearful that discussing their prayer lives or church-going habits will shuffle them into the “small-minded” category among peers and colleagues.

BioLogos web editor Emily Ruppel recounts the story of one Harvard astronomy student’s brave decision to leave her studies to pursue ministry, which sparked an entire network of Christian scientists to come together in community—men and women who were accustomed to staying quiet about faith in their particular sphere of influence, the hard sciences.

Impossible world

Harvard

Cherish Connelly '14 Reflects on Her Growth

I'm majoring in psychology with a secondary degree in neurobiology. As a science concentrator, I'm often asked, "How can you believe in God?" I've been involved with Christian Union for four years and in that time I've developed the knowledge needed to answer that question tactfully, respectfully, and in a way that presents the Gospel.

Observing neurons in a microscope is an amazing sight; I love seeing how billions of tiny neurons control behavior, emotions, even senses. To me, it gives evidence of God. These tiny cells in our brain control everything the body does. I would argue, only God could design that efficiency.

Harvard

Jonathan Edwards' Devotion to Bible Study

By Catherine Elvy, Staff Writer

An article in the latest issue of Jonathan Edwards Studies paused to shed light on the everyday habits and intense biblical study of the famed revivalist preacher and early Yale University alumnus.Jonathan Edwards stands as one of the top figures in the spiritual history of the United States, and his life serves as an inspiration to believers across the globe.

In the piece, Douglas Sweeney, a key Edwards' scholar with ties to Yale, reflected on the scriptural fervor behind the theologian's scholarship. Sweeney serves on the editorial board for the online journal, part of the Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale.

"Edwards devoted most of his waking life to studying the Bible, its extra-biblical contexts, its theological meanings, and its importance for everyday religion," wrote Sweeney, the director of the Jonathan Edwards Center at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Illinois.

"Christians need to be much bolder..."

Christian Union: The Magazine interviewed author and renowned speaker Eric Metaxas, Yale '84, on the subject of culture change for its Spring 2014 issue.

CU: Regarding culture change and your recent books, did you find a common denominator between William Wilberforce, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, or any of the other subjects in Seven Men: And the Secret of Their Greatness?

EM: These were all men who were "in the world, but not of it," who all seemed to understand how to bring their faith into the "real world," as it were, into all spheres, not just the religious sphere.

Columbia Lecture Attracts Christians, Non-Christians

By Luke Foster, Columbia '14

Thursday nights at Columbia University tend to be quiet. Few students have classes on Fridays, so almost everyone prepares for the weekend and tries to recover from the hectic week. The Christian ministries on campus use Thursday evenings as times to worship and reflect.

But Thursday, February 20 was a little different.

For a week, posters and Facebook posts had been proclaiming an exciting event for that evening. Compass Christian Koinonia and Apologetics Café co-hosted a lecture with Dr. Nabeel Qureshi, a Ravi Zacharias International Ministries speaker. Several campus organizations helped publicize the event. Approximately 150 people of all faiths and no faith crowded into a small auditorium to engage with the ideas of Dr. Qureshi.

Dr. Qureshi, who titled his talk after his new book, Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, challenged students to pursue truth above beauty, and to be willing to submit to the most compelling view of the world, no matter the cost.

Course Reflects on Harvard's Religious History

By Brian Zhang, Harvard '15

In th

Susan Overall, Harvard Class of 2014e spring semester, Harvard students taking Religion 1513: Harvard's History and Religious Evolution have a chance to study their university's religious roots in the classroom. With 60 undergrads and four Harvard Divinity School students enrolled, the class is the most popular in the religion department.

Dr. Stephen Shoemaker, the course's instructor, summarized the legacy of Harvard as "a history of left turns."While it is today regarded as a secular university, Harvard was founded in 1636 as a seminary for training Puritan ministers in the New England area.

The King's College President Greg Thornbury Speaks at Manhattan Salon

By Catherine Elvy, Staff Writer

The new president of The King's College encouraged participants in a New York City Christian Union salon to reflect Christ as they labor in the powerful, but decidedly secular, corridors of their megalopolis.

Greg Thornbury spoke on February 20 at the ministry's quarterly salon, which was held at the editorial offices of First Things journal in Manhattan.Thornbury, who stepped into his newest leadership role in July, entitled his message, "He Is Not Far from Any of Us: The Art of Living and Working with People of Non-Faith."

During the evening, Thornbury told listeners to be aware that many of their atheistic and agnostic counterparts are open to meaningful discussions on topics of faith, but they are exhausted with cultural wars.

Christian Union Alumna and Husband Now Sponsor Current Students' Bible Course

By Sarah Camp, Contributing Editor

Lindsay Grinols Simmons (Princeton '04) was one of just a handful of students involved with the budding Christian Union ministry when it first launched at Princeton over a decade ago. In fact, she was a member of the ministry's first women's Bible course. You might say that gives her a unique vantage point on the ministry's growth at Princeton over the years, where it has surged from three students in 2002 to more than 400 students in 2013-14.

"The year-over-year increase in Princeton students' engagement with Christian Union is astonishing," she says. "It shows Princeton students are hungry for the truth."