Cultural Engagement

Social Critic Speaks at Christian Union NY Forum

By Tom Campisi, Managing Editor

“America, who has bewitched you?” That was the question posed by English author and social critic Os Guinness when he spoke at a Christian Union New York virtual forum on September 21. The title of his lecture was “1776 versus 1789 — A tale of two revolutions and America’s present crisis.”

Do Believers Need to Meet in Person?

Though most churches have resumed some form of in-person worship, a year and a half of zoom church forced many churchgoers to ask the question, "If we can do church online, do we need to do church in person?" The question has less to do with what we are capable of in our current technological era and more to do with what we believe about the nature and reality of the church. And for many Christians, they can’t tell you why zoom church isn’t the same as the real thing.

Transformation and Cultural Ideology

Every day we are being formed into certain kinds of people. The shows we watch, the music we listen to, the friends we spend time with, and the places we spend our money not only reveal the things we value, but also help us understand the ways we have been formed by our culture and the world around us.

In this episode of Live No Lies, a podcast by John Mark Comer, Pastor Jon Tyson explores how the world has deformed us in ways that do not align with the gospel or life of Christ. He argues that the work of following Jesus is to be reformed and transformed into His image as we cast off the thinking, habits, and beliefs that are not from God.

Russell Moore: Young Adults See the Hypocrisy

We’ve seen the stats: young people are walking away from the church. From the Gen Z “nones” who indicate no religious affiliation to the ex-vangelical movement, the church seems to be hemorrhaging its people at a historically alarming rate.

Repentance Was the Focus for Recent CU Day and Night Fast

By Dr. Chuck Hetzler

In the last two weeks of August, 3,884 believers from across the United States prayed, repented, and cried out to the Lord when they participated in CU Day and Night’s “Return to Me” fast.

CU Nova Leader Interns with Goldman Sachs

By Anne Kerhoulas, Staff Writer

Goldman Sachs, a premier investment banking, securities, and investment management group, is known for offering a handful of remarkable college-aged students a grueling internship where they often log eighty hours per week. The intensity of these positions is notorious, allowing only a select bunch of top students to say, “I got Goldman” when they come through the recruiting season for finance positions. 

CU Martus Leader Earns Prestigious Fellowship at Penn

By Tom Campisi and Fuji Kim

Michael Hagan is one of eight undergraduates in the inaugural class of fellows for the University of Pennsylvania’s new Office of Social Equity and Community.

CU Day and Night Hosts Nationwide Event

By Dr. Chuck Hetzler

“I really do not remember how I came to find Christian Union, ‘It just happened.’” 

Even though Kimberly Brown cannot recall how she discovered Christian Union, she is very clear about the life-changing impact CU Day and Night has had on her. 

Rachel Gilson Talks About Sexuality and Gender Identity

In a culture that continues to become increasingly focused on sexuality and gender identity, Christians of all ages must be willing to engage with our culture in thoughtful, godly, and theologically sound ways.

Court Rules in Favor of Campus Ministry

When the University of Iowa deregistered a number of campus ministries, citing discrimination for requiring their members to be Christian, the ministries fought back. This past week, a federal appeals court upheld a previous ruling in 2019 stating that the university cannot selectively deregister student organizations. The lawsuit, originally filed by InterVarsity, is an important victory for religious freedom in the university setting.

Helping Students Face Anxiety, Depression, and Loneliness

As students prepare for their first fall semester on campus after over a year and a half of virtual learning it almost feels like life is returning to normal. But as dorm rooms, cafeterias, and classrooms fill up again, many students are still feeling empty as they battle the anxiety, depression, and loneliness churned up from the trauma and isolation of the pandemic. 

Learning to Engage for the Sake of Mission   

Christian leaders falling from grace has become a routine headline over the past few years. Our leaders have been caught in abuse, scandals, addiction, or lavish spending of church funds, leaving a trail of wreckage in the congregations they led, but also a bad impression on a watching world. It appears that Christians, who declare love and grace and humility with their lips, are often living a life that is out of sync with their declared good news. The word for this is hypocrisy, and it’s hurting the church more than ever.

Revival, Reformation Are Preceded by a Return to God 

By Chuck Hetzler

“We need to admit that there’s a problem,” said Matt Bennett as he addressed the need for widespread repentance to Christian Union Cornerstone Partners in a Zoom meeting, Monday evening, June 7, 2021.

By Tom Campisi, Managing Editor

When Dr. Ben Pascut prepared to teach a workshop on organizational excellence for CU Lux at Yale University, he did not have to look very far for subject matter—it is one of Christian Union’s core values.

Christian Union Associate Produces Timely Documentary

By Tom Campisi, Managing Editor

Once a month, Christian Union New York convenes local pastors for an intense, fourteen-hour time of prayer, fasting, Bible reading, and seeking the Lord. Christian Union Founder and CEO Matt Bennett leads the meetings, along with Dimas Salaberrios, a Christian Union ministry associate and a bold Christian leader in New York City.

Christian Union Alumnus Founds NYC Design Studio

By Anne Kerhoulas, Staff Writer

Strategy is the name of the game for Cody Min, the founder of Astronaut Monastery, a creative studio operating out of New York City. 

With the tagline of “Making work that thinks and thinking that works,” Min, the company’s head of new business and strategy, has created a sleek and successful firm serving clients like Hyundai, the popstar Kesha, Cole Haan, Rowing Blazers, Disney-ABC, Samsung, and Uniqlo. Min’s creative work today is deeply rooted in his faith, which was cultivated through the ministry of CU Martus (formerly called Penn Faith and Action or PennFA).

"Ex-vangelicalism" is Why Christian Union is So Valuable on Influential Campuses

Abraham Piper, the son of best-selling author and theologian John Piper, has recently risen to TikTok fame by posting content about walking away from the Christian faith. Piper creates minute-long videos critiquing everything from the idea of a literal hell to why certain Bible stories are ridiculous to why life has no ultimate meaning. Calling himself an ex-vangelical, Piper has found a fast audience of like-minded former believers who have been hurt by the church, cannot agree with conservative theology surrounding sexual ethics, or simply never got on board with their parents’ faith. 

Albert Mohler Discusses Morality and the Implications of a Biblical Worldview

Albert Mohler’s most recent book, The Gathering Storm, delves into the secularization of America over the past century and the implications unfolding for the church today. Though American evangelicalism is used to having a role of cultural influence in our nation, that influence is rapidly declining and being sidelined. Where the church once held the position of establishing morality for our country and much of the world, secularism has slowly antiquated theism as a whole. In order for a new moral system to be put in place, the old system must be dismantled. 

Vergerio ’22 Will Serve Internship with Samaritan’s Purse

By Tom Campisi, Managing Editor

In her sophomore year at Brown, Gabrielle Vergerio ’22 stepped out in faith and attended a Christian Union Libertas event, despite not knowing anyone in the ministry.

“On a whim, I decided to venture out to one of the meetings,” she said. “I was immediately met with such warm and sincere welcomes. CU Libertas at Brown was really my first home on campus.”

HLS Alumnus Discusses the Implications of Genesis 2:5

By Paul Michalski

“When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground. (Genesis 2:5)”