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A Devotional to Prepare Our Hearts for a New Year

By Dr. Marcus Buckley, Ministry Director at Christian Union Vita at Cornell

I was in high school when my journalism teacher, Mr. Ott, hit me with a hard truth: “bad news sells.” As something of an optimist, I was taken aback and ready to dispute this. Surely people would enjoy reading about pleasant, hopeful things more than grim, dreadful ones. “Bad news sells papers,” he repeated. “It’s always been that way, and it’ll always be that way.” 

I’m sad to admit all these years later that Mr. Ott was right. While newspapers may no longer be the media of choice, people flock to their favorite network, website, or social media platform to see the latest horrors that humans can inflict on one another. It’s easy to sit back and be discouraged, to throw our hands up helplessly and say, “What’s the point?”

It would be even easier to wonder: why are we here in this day and age? While there has always been suffering and tragedy, our awareness of it is greater than at any point in history. Why are we living in a time when so much bad news is readily accessible all of the time with alerts of disaster and loss literally waiting for us in our pockets? Wouldn’t it have been nice to live in another era when life was simpler and, dare we say it, easier?

Join Our 21-Day Fast 

By chuck hetzler, PhD, vice president of biblical theology 

 
Is Israel’s current war a sign of the end times? How should we, as Christians, think about the war? What can and should we do?

Christian Union is calling all American Christians to start the year with a 21-day fast, Tuesday, January 2, through Monday, January 22, 2024, to humble ourselves and seek God in light of the current events in the Middle East.

The upcoming CU National Fast is titled "Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace for All Nations." Christian Union faculty and staff will write devotionals based on Scripture, which will be sent to all signed-up participants by email each day of the fast. 

A Closer Look at Jesus' Call to Repentance

By Erin Conner 

Repentance is a beautiful word. It is the name of the road that leads out of darkness. It is the name of the road that leads to life. It is a Biblical concept that, depending on the type of church we grew up in or currently attend, may seem harsh, foreign, or antiquated. As a true follower of God, deep and ongoing repentance, the act of turning away from sin to wholeheartedly following the Lord, is a life-giving spiritual discipline. 

From a deep immersion into Scripture, we find that God never intended for repentance to be a spiritual discipline of the past. God never intended for his people to ignore His commands. In fact, Christ said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15) He never intended His people to be “of the world,” obeying the world’s “commands” while neglecting His. (Romans 12:2) We find God never intended self-worship (or any other form of idolatry) to co-exist with the worship of God. From a deep immersion into Scripture, we also find that God never intended for people to go through the motions of repentance without a contrite heart.  

College Students Struggle as Israel-Hamas War Continues

By erin conner

"By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." -John 13:35

Many of our nation’s colleges and universities have been in a state of turmoil since the October 7 attacks against Israel. Christianity Today’s recent article by Emily Belz, “As Campus Threats Rise, College Ministries Look for Ways to Help,” takes a closer look at how Christian Union and other ministries are responding. 

Highlight: CU America member, Erika Lamara Garrett, LMFT  

By Erin Conner

 
“It was the fall that saved my life,” Erika Lamara Garrett explained. In January of 2020, at the age of 33, Garrett fell. The injuries she sustained from this fall confined her to a bed and made her dependent on others to perform basic daily activities. Despite the desperation of her circumstances while on bed rest, she sensed the Lord telling her, “Erika- you will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” 

The Debate of Cessationism v. Continuationism 

By erin conner

Are the miraculous gifts for today? Dr. Michael Brown argues a compelling “yes” in his article entitled “The Reformed of the Lord Say No to Cessationism,” published on October 9 in Christianity Today.  

“The cessationist debate is back, although in some ways, it’s never left,” Brown writes, in light of the recently scheduled 2024 Cessationist Conference led, in part, by Pastor John MacArthur. This conference is timed to coincide with the release of the Cessationist movie, “bringing an age-old topic back to the forefront of trending conversations, especially among Reformed believers.” 

The 2023 CU Rise Campaign

By erin conner

From deeply rigorous Bible courses, intellectually engaging lecture speakers, vibrant worship and prayer events, experienced and Spirit-led faculty, powerful one-on-one discipleship, to leadership training and development, Christian Union's university ministry has much to offer Christian students at the schools where they serve. These ministry programs are deepening the faith of the students involved, but also equipping them to lead others toward life in Christ.

The 2023 CU Rise Campaign is just one example of this. 

By chuck hetzler

The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.  – Acts 17:10-11

The Bible says that the Bereans were “more noble” than the Thessalonians because they were eager to hear what Paul and Silas had to say. They did not quickly take offense to the concept of a suffering Savior, crucified as a criminal, and raised from death to life as the victorious Son of God. They did not consider it inconceivable that God could fulfill thousands of years of prophecies in this God-Man, Jesus of Nazareth. Some people today can be quickly triggered when hearing unfamiliar messages, but such a reaction is ignoble and immature. We should be able to hear different views and then patiently weigh and test them through the Scriptures, just as the Bereans did. 

Christian Union America's Mentoring Program Launches Alumni Well

By christine foster

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.  - Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

For many Christians, the most challenging phase of life begins the moment they graduate from college. Robust discipleship, through which many students grew strong in college, suddenly disappears. The members of their Bible Course group scatter across the country and around the world. Young graduates suddenly find themselves in a new city, with a demanding job, and no home church. Christian Union’s Alumni Mentoring Program aims to smooth this time, by equipping these graduates with some support. The intention is to see these new alumni continue to network with other faithful people and grow into the full Christian leaders God intends for them to be.

A Devotional 

By qwynn gross

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.  - John 15:7, NKJV

The Word of God is the bedrock, basis, and fabric of Christianity; spoken in the beginning and framing the world in which creation lives, the Word is the manna from heaven that became flesh and dwelled amongst man, written on tablets of stone and transferred to man’s heart so that all would be warned and find great reward, the Word was given to one, Adam, and defied by two, Adam and Eve; a covenant to be kept by a nation astray in heart but upheld by the Savior who would be faithful and true. Established as the one thing that will never pass away, neither return to God void, the Word of God is the Truth that endures forever, and that must abide in every believer, as imitators of Christ, that prayers may be answered, faith can be seen, and fruit is produced. 

FCA v San Jose Unified School District

By erin conner

In an article on the FIRE (The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression) website, Robert Shibley reports that in 2019, at a high school in California, Fellowship of Christian Athletes' (FCA) recognition as a student group was revoked for requiring that student leaders comply with their statements of belief. These statements align with the basic tenets of Christian theology.

On September 13, 2023, belief-based student groups won an important victory in the lawsuit that followed, Fellowship of Christian Athletes v. San Jose Unified School District, which restored the ability of many such groups to meet on public campuses and schools in the many western states covered by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. 

Christian Union Bible Courses Challenge Students

By erin conner

Intellectual engagement, one of the six core values of Christian Union, embraces God’s command for us to love God with all our mind. (Mark 12:30) As a result of the desire to intellectually engage university students to build faithful leaders, Christian Union offers rigorous Bible Courses.

Students involved in Christian Union ministries in the fall semester of 2023 have an opportunity to join a 10-lesson study on the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Colossians, which is often referred to as a “prison letter,” as Paul wrote it while “in chains.” (Colossians 4:3, 10, 18.)  

Ministry Snapshot: Christian Union Vita at Cornell University

By erin conner

“Let us not love with words or tongue, but with actions and in truth.”  - 1 John 3:10

In February of 2023, Marcus Buckley and his wife, Lea Ann, packed up their life in Florida as church leaders to move to Ithaca, New York to answer God’s call to serve Cornell students.

This call did not come without sacrifice. 

Three Lessons in Revival

By erin conner

In this article published by Desiring God, Pastor Jeremy Walker writes a brief summary and analysis of the revival that took place in Wales, England in the  1700's. 

Walker notably writes that “the Lord was pleased to stir the listless and lethargic to liveliness and labor during the 18th Century in various parts of the world by various human instruments. In England, God raised up George Whitefield. In America… Jonathan Edwards, and in Wales… Daniel Rowland.” 

Announcing the October 13-14 CU Fire National Simulcast Retreat 

By grace ann arvey

CU Fire Retreats—quarterly simulcast retreats for believers across America—help participants experience spiritual rejuvenation and encouragement with their friends, their church, or any other Christian community to which they belong, from the comfort of their own homes. The next CU Fire Retreat will take place October 13-14, 2023.

God is at Work Through CU's Freshman Welcoming Campaign

By erin conner

The great commission of Jesus Christ, to his followers, is to “go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

At universities across America, students entering college can discover a culture that seems to silence discourse about existential purpose and meaning; about faith and God. This is especially true at the ten academic institutions where Christian Union serves. To follow the great commission in these contexts requires courage to resist the pattern of this world. 

A Devotional

By dr. Marcus buckley

Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.” – 1 Peter 1:23-25 

“The grass is always greener on the other side.” It has been said that cliches which linger in our vocabulary do so because they have a strong element of truth, and the endurance of this statement is good evidence. How many times have we been enticed to wander off to pastures a deeper shade of emerald, only to find that they are filled with problems not readily visible from a distance?

An Update

By erin conner

Fasting and prayer are two spiritual disciplines recorded in Scripture that help to align people’s hearts with the Lord’s. Which is why, in part, Christian Union America leads two nationwide fasts each year toward its mission to develop and connect transformative Christian leaders for national revival and reformation. As Chuck Hetzler, Vice President of Biblical theology for Christian Union, states, “the Scriptures are clear: God is moved by the humility that fasting demonstrates when it is combined with proper attitudes and actions surrendered to God’s ways.” 

Currently, one of CU America’s bi-annual fasts is underway. It began on Tuesday, August 1 with 5,175 participants from across the country and will continue through Monday, August 14, 2023. Approximately a quarter of the participants involved in this fast are alumni from our nation’s top 30 colleges and universities. 

Prayerful Penn Students Are Making a Difference

By Anne Kerhoulas 

The following article was actually written in 2021, when the universities where Christian Union works were beginning to come out of the COVID lockdown.

While most college students spend their Saturday mornings sleeping in, recovering from a week of late nights and coursework, a group of students from Christian Union Martus at the University of Pennsylvania participate in sidewalk abortion ministry with Quakers For Life, a pro-life organization founded by Martus alumnus, Eric Hoover ’19.

Christian Union Embarks On Second Massive Evangelism Initiative 

By Anne Kerhoulas

Last spring, Christian Union launched CU Rise, an evangelism campaign designed to share the gospel with students at ten of the nation’s most influential universities more boldly, strategically, and frequently than ever before. This week, Christian Union is at it again as CU Rise takes form for its second iteration.