Oscar-Nominated Film Discussion Set to Unite Students and Alumni
By erin conner, writer and communications associate
In 2021, Christian Union alumni from Columbia and Penn gathered to discuss religious themes in film. This event was spearheaded by Columbia alumnus and Film and Media Studies major Stephen Cone ’20. Participants of the event gathered, in part, at Christian Union's Ministry Center at Columbia for a discussion entitled, “Where Is God in the Movies?”
Attendees enjoyed a presentation from Cone that examined the role of religion in Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven (1978). The discussion that followed focused on how Christian artists can represent and convey their faith through their chosen medium. Megan Foo, '19 alumna of Penn who currently works in Hong Kong, was in attendance that day. She enjoyed the event so much that she decided to help Cone plan a similar event on Jane Campion's 'The Power of the Dog' in 2022.
Devotional from January 2025 Christian Union National Fast
By Qwynn gross, ministry fellow at christian union nova at Princeton
“But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!”- 2 Chronicles 15:7 (ESV)
The world around us is not changing apart from God’s intervention. As Americans, we are living in the degradation of society, where everyone seems to do what is right in their own eyes. Righteousness and moral corruption are indistinguishable for far too many, as culture challenges the authority of God and embraces ethical decay. Meanwhile, believers who are called to pray for the world around them often appear paralyzed. Charles Finney aptly said, "If the presence of God is in the church, the church will draw the world in. If the presence of God is not in the church, the world will draw the church out." His sentiments resonate deeply as we observe the growing distance between godly standards and the prevailing norms of society.
Ministry Leader at Harvard Law School Shares Vision and Hope
By justin yim, ministry director of christian union gloria law
Greetings from Harvard Law School!
As we begin 2025, I want to take a moment to reflect on all that God accomplished in 2024. In my six-plus years with Christian Union Gloria Law, I can confidently say that this past year has been the most fruitful and exciting season of ministry yet.
Inspiring Imagination and Adventure in Young Adults
By erin conner, writer & communications associate
"God has been in this quite literally since the very beginning," said Cassandra James, Princeton '23, as she reflected on her professional writing career.
"As a child, I was an absolute bookworm, and I would max out my library card. I aged out of kids' literature and wanted to read more stories but couldn't find the kind of stories I desired to read, so my mother dared me, 'If you can't find it, write it.'"
So, she did.
Dear CU Lumine Cornerstone Partners and friends of the ministry,
Greetings and Happy New Year from New York City! We are excited about kicking off the spring semester. We just completed a several-day retreat with the Christian Union faculty at Camp of the Woods in NY. We had an opportunity to seek God, pray, participate in individual and group scripture reading, and come together in praise and worship to prepare for the upcoming spring semester.
“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” - Acts 1:8
Greetings from CU Libertas!
Happy New Year to you and your family!
As I reflect on Jesus’s last words before His ascension, I’m reminded of the power He has bestowed on believers everywhere to be effective witnesses of the gospel. Here at CU Libertas, we are gearing up for the spring semester and humbly relying on this same power, through the working of the Holy Spirit, to engage the campus at Brown in hearing the life-saving message of the gospel.
Dear CU Vita Cornerstone Partners and friends of the ministry,
Greetings from Ithaca!
It’s been a quiet few weeks on the campus of Cornell University, but all of that is about to change as students start heading back to Ithaca from their holiday breaks. With over 16,000 undergraduates returning, the surge is always exciting to see, but it can also present some challenges. Please pray for all of these students as they travel.
"I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building." - 1 Corinthians 3:6-9 (NIV)
After our (very) extended break here at Dartmouth, we are back on campus. The students have already had a few weeks of winter term, powering through a whole new slate of classes. Our first Vine was a rousing success, with more than 30 students turning out. Praise God for what He is doing!
University Leadership Ministry Helps Students Develop a Robust Christian Worldview
written by christian union; edited By erin conner
As the Judeo-Christian worldview has receded in modern Western society, nihilism, atheism, secularism, post-modernism, and a resurgent paganism now present competing paradigms for explaining the meaning of life and our purpose here on earth. Bifurcation of facts from values has contributed to the identity dysphoria endemic to the dislocation of self in society that troubles many young people today. Issues related to sexual "empowerment" and individual gratification dominate public policy debate, even as our nation’s values related to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness find new definition in the reshaping of longstanding positions on private and public morality.
Greetings from Harvard Law School!
As we begin 2025, I want to take a moment to reflect on all that God accomplished in 2024. In my six-plus years with Christian Union Gloria Law, I can confidently say that this past year has been the most fruitful and exciting season of ministry yet.
Happy New Year to you! I hope your Christmas season was filled with joy and rest and you’re starting 2025 feeling refreshed! Jim, our men's ministry fellow, and I just returned from the Christian Union Faculty Momentum, a five-day conference devoted to seeking God together in prayer, scripture, worship, and fellowship. We both met with the Lord and are feeling so encouraged for the future of Christian Union and, of course, for what God is doing on Harvard’s campus.
Devotional from January 2025 Christian Union National Fast
By michael racine, Writer and Ministry Fellow, Christian Union Lux at Yale
We are living in a time of great changes, ripe with opportunity and fraught with danger. As trust in once-venerated institutions and authorities erodes, people are searching—for meaning, for purpose, and for anchors amid the swirling storm of competing truth claims. Many are turning, or returning, to the church, and for that we thank God. Meanwhile, many others are turning (or returning) to what a generation ago would have been near-universally laughed off as superstition—to psychics, tarot, and witchcraft—or cobbling together a faith of their own invention, mixing perhaps a bit of Buddhism, some yogic meditation, a dollop of post-modern relativism, and various Christian ideas divorced from the broader biblical vision.
by Christian Union America
For many years a populist mindset has dominated Christian thinking about how to influence a society, meaning that Christians have believed that when a majority of people value virtue, culture will follow. But according to James Davision Hunter, the LaBrosse-Levinson Distinguished Professor of Religion, Culture and Social Theory·at the University of Virginia, "culture changes from the top down; rarely, if ever, from the bottom up."
True Faith Produces the Fruit of Love
Revised By erin conner, writer & communications associate
It may seem contradictory to say that in order to love the people in our sphere of influence the best-our neighbor, our spouse, or our children-we must love God the most. However, this is God's command and, therefore, the way to fulfill Jesus’ two greatest commandments.
Devotional from January 2025 Christian Union National Fast
By jeff walsh, vice president of christian Union America
“But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."-Isaiah 40:31 ESV
As we embark on this national fast, we are reminded of the extraordinary promise found in Isaiah 40:31—a passage of hope and perseverance. For those who wait on the Lord, there is strength beyond human capacity. During this time of fasting and prayer, when physical weakness may set in, God invites us to draw on His boundless power.
The Call to Wait
The word "wait" in this verse can also mean to hope or trust. This is not a passive waiting but an active dependence on God. Fasting, by its very nature, embodies this active waiting. As we abstain from food, we posture ourselves to rely on God for sustenance. We acknowledge that in our frailty, He is our source of strength.
Consider the eagle, a bird known for its majestic ability to soar high above the earth. It doesn’t achieve this by frantic flapping but by waiting for the right air currents to lift it. In the same way, waiting on the Lord allows us to soar—not through our striving but by resting in His divine power.
An Amazing Opportunity for American Christians to Seek the Lord Together
By erin conner, writer and communications associate
"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." -Galatians 6:9
Christian Union America hosts regular national fasts with the intention of deepening our own relationship with the Lord and interceding for our nation to return to Him, and wants to invite you to join this January for 14 days.
Two powerful testimonies from previous CU America National Fasts illustrate the significance, in part, of joining this movement:
"This was the longest fast I have ever done. The fast showed me the danger of having so much comfort and material prosperity. It can cause us to forget God and live our lives apart from seeking Him."
"I’m so thankful for CU and have been so blessed by all the CU ministry events I’ve participated in. For the first part of the fast I did a dry fast, which really broke me in a good way spiritually and physically. The fast took me to a deep place of crying out for God and brought me to a depth of need for God that I’ve never experienced before. I thank God for this opportunity to join in this fast."
Fasting is an essential part of Christian life. It is modeled for us throughout the Scriptures and has a unique capacity to draw us closer to the Lord through humble dependence upon Him above all things.
Christian Union America will be hosting this 14-day fast from January 2 through the 15th with the special emphasis on a new year, new awakening, and pressing in for breakthroughs. In regard to this fast, founder and president of Christian Union, Matt Bennett, shared, "Jesus is everything to us, and we need His supernatural strength to remain faithful to Him through thick and thin. We want revival across America, and to see that happen, Christians need to faithfully seek His face no matter the obstacles or cost."
Esther Xiang, Harvard '23
by erin conner, writer and communications associate
"I thought Harvard would give me everything I ever needed," said Esther Xiang, as she reflected on her undergraduate career, "but only Jesus can do that." Xiang graduated from Harvard in 2023 as a psychology major. She walked out of Cambridge, rejecting the voice of the world, and followed the voice of God into full-time missionary work to be Jesus's hands and feet to the nations. The Lord opened up a door for her to take a year off and do global mission work in the Himalayas, France, and New Zealand.
A Mission to Live Like Jesus Did
by Tim pillsbury, ministry director of christian union vox
“We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.”
–1 John 2:3-6 NIV
After a student joins Christian Union Vox, the real work begins. We are not here just to put names on a list, but instead to disciple Christians to live like Jesus lived and do what Jesus did. John is clear: if we want to call ourselves Christians, we need to both know how Jesus lived and then live that way ourselves. There is no shortcut past obedience.
2018 Christian Union National Fast Devotional
By christian union
“And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore, so that Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. … He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish. And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.” -1 Kings 4:29-30, 33-34
Public education in the United States has become a mostly godless enterprise. Unfortunately, the more “elite” an academic institution is, the more pride it takes in a secular approach to learning. Modern educators falsely presume that the best path to knowledge is one that is without bias of religion. However, in their pursuit for untainted learning, they keep themselves from the beginning of wisdom – the fear of the Lord.
I have loved sharing monthly updates with you this year about Christian Union Libertas at Brown. And I would love your help to end 2024 strong!
Brown University needs healthy Christian ministries, now more than ever, to provide for the needs of its students who are seeking to know or grow in Christ. In the last year, we've seen many lives transformed by God's grace and power.
