The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
— Zephaniah 3:17
Old Saints
By Stephen G. Mackereth
From The Harvard Crimson
Harvard Crimson columnist Stephen G. Mackereth, a student heavily involved in Christian Union's ministry at Harvard, graduated last Thursday. In his final column in the Crimson, he reflects on his time at Harvard, on the future, and on the wisdom of old saints...
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Seek the LORD and his strength; Seek his face continually. — 1 Chronicles 16:11
Chosen for the Sake of the World
By Nick Nowalk
From Princeton Faith and Action YouTube Channel
What does it mean to be a part of God's chosen people? Harvard Ministry Fellow Nick Nowalk challenges the common debate surrounding the doctrine of election.
Watch the Video Here >
Courtney was involved with a Christian Union Lux at Yale. In this video, she shares about her pro-life convictions and how the ministry supported and encouraged her to find her voice as a much-needed leader. (4:33)
A Prayer and Fasting Devotional
It could be said that much of the Christian faith is rife with paradox, irony, and surprising plot twists. The prostitute, Rahab, who was spared in the conquering of Jericho? She ends up in the lineage of the Christ, as did Tamar (of Genesis) and Bathsheba, two women notable for their sexual sin. The disciple who said he would never deny that he knew Jesus -- and then did just that? He’s the rock that Jesus said He would build His church on, and He did. Do you value your life above all things? You’ll quickly lose it. If you lose your life for Jesus’ sake, you’ll save it. The list of surprising twists goes on, of course, considering that the very messiah-ruler Himself ended up crucified by those to whom He was sent. I would argue these all have in common the mind-blowing reality of how God chooses to work in this world: the weakest, simplest, most humble vessels are the one through which He works the mightiest; all so the glory might be His alone.
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...
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A Prayer and Fasting Devotional
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” - James 1:2-4
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).
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Dr. David Young, Founder and Chairman of global analysis firm Oxford Analytica, was the special guest speaker at Christian Union New York City's Forum. (46:27)
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.
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 >
"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 >
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 >
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.
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.
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.
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."
A Prayer and Fasting Devotional
Our 40 days of fasting and prayer to seek the Lord for 2015 has come to a close, and I am deeply grateful to you for joining with me on this journey. I have been blessed and encouraged by the devotionals, and, as usual, fasting has helped me draw closer to God.
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.
A Prayer and Fasting Devotional
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."
