October 30, 2015
Christian leaders have been influencing the world for millennia. While the full impact of their work can never be truly measured, many leaders have already made their mark in history, bequeathing the ensuing generations with wisdom and examples to inspire and guide them. One such figure is 18th century British abolitionist William Wilberforce. Known and noted for his devout Christian faith, William Wilberforce led the anti-slave trade movement in Britain during the 18th century. Just three days before his death on July 29, 1833, Wilberforce learned that the Slavery Abolition Act – which would free almost all the slaves in the British Empire – would pass through parliament.
October 21, 2015
"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
Effective Prayer
By Qwynn Gross From YouTube
What can we do to ensure that our prayers are effective? Christian Union Ministry Fellow at Princeton Qwynn Gross uses the Bible to show that by praying God's will, our prayers will always be heard... Watch Now >
October 14, 2015
by Wayne GrudemI believe that Christians should seek to influence civil government according to God's moral standards and God's purposes for government as revealed in the Bible (when rightly understood). But while Christians exercise this influence, they must simultaneously insist on protecting freedom of religion for all citizens, a right that is rightfully embedded in our First Amendment.
October 14, 2015
Three Historical Developments Explain How We Got Here
by Ryan T. AndersonIn recent political memory, religious liberty was a value that brought together conservatives, libertarians, and progressives. As recently as 1993, the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act was passed by a nearly unanimous Congress and signed by a Democratic president. Today, the same value is a political liability. Bakers, photographers, and florists are being ruined, adoption agencies shuttered, and schools threatened with loss of accreditation and nonprofit status. So what happened? Why is religious liberty now losing so much ground?As I explain in my just-released book, Truth Overruled: The Future of Marriage and Religious Freedom, three historical developments explain our current predicament: a change in the scope of our government, a change in our sexual values, and a change in our political leaders' vision of religious liberty. An adequate response will need to address each of these changes.October 14, 2015
Gains New Editor-in-Chief
In the fall semester, Brown sophomore Nicholas Chuan will take over as editor-in-chief of The Cornerstone Magazine, a student-run, Christian literary and arts magazine. According to the Singapore native, the Bible teaching and leadership development provided by Christian Union's ministry on campus has helped shape his worldview and equip him for his new leadership role."The in-depth and rational look Christian Union takes toward various issues, such as sex and spirituality, has given me a model to think about issues within the Christian worldview," said Chuan. "Christian Union Bible courses have given me a deeper understanding of the Gospel and how to live it out as a student."October 14, 2015
Christian Union Hosts Senior Sendoff
As the class of 2015 prepared to graduate, Don Weiss, Christian Union's ministry director at Harvard College, emphasized the need for seniors to keep Christ as their foundation in their new ventures."There's nothing that compares to being able to say 'It is well with my soul,'" Weiss told students during the ministry's gathering to honor seniors on May 1. "Your house is going to stand with Jesus underneath."October 14, 2015
Christian Union at Dartmouth Hosts Art Showcase
Christian Union's ministry at Dartmouth sponsored an eclectic art showcase on campus this spring.Students expressed their talents through a variety of forms, including visual arts, rap, and dance. With each brush stroke, dance step, and beatbox rhythm, God's creativity was expressed as the students shared their gifts."I believe that God is an artist," said Ian Chaffin '15.October 14, 2015
Longtime Friends, Colonial Figures Agreed to Disagree
by Catherine ElvyAn 18th-century evangelist whose legendary oratory skills helped ignite the Great Awakening across two continents also played a role in the creation of the University of Pennsylvania.George Whitefield, one of the most touted spiritual figures of the U.S. colonial period, preached to as many as 10 million spectators across North America and the British Isles, according to Christianity Today.Along the way, Whitefield enlisted Benjamin Franklin as his printer and publicist in the colonies in the early 1740s. Collaboration between the longtime pals helped birth a forerunner to Penn a decade later, though the pair differed on the role of faith in early American higher education.October 7, 2015
For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.— Psalm 96:4-6
Has Science Buried God?
By John Lennox From RZIM
In a lecture at Rice University last week, renowned Professor of Mathematics John Lennox, from the University of Oxford, tackled the question, "Has Science Buried God?" Professor Lennox is a tremendous communicator and thinker in the area of faith and science... View Now >
September 24, 2015
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O LORD, and You exalt Yourself as head over all.— 1 Chronicles 29:11
Renewing Christian Friendship
By Wesley Hill From Christian Union's Ministry at Harvard
Professor Wesley Hill, of Trinity College, addresses the value and potential in friendship that often goes unrecognized in the modern Christian community. Professor Hill gave this talk at Christian Union's leadership lecture series at Harvard... Listen Now >
September 14, 2015
In an article published in Canon and Culture, Barrett Duke makes the argument that the secret to transforming culture lies not in legislation alone, but in the arts: Without doubt, our nation’s dilemma is principally spiritual in nature. Our culture is decaying because too many of us are living without God in our lives. The church must take this seriously and do all it can to call men, women and children to faith in God through Jesus Christ. The surest way to cultural change is for people to be transformed spiritually by God. The work of evangelism and disciple-making is, and will always be, the church’s most important work.
September 10, 2015
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. — Hebrews 4:14-16
Overcoming Pride and Anxiety
By Chris Matthews From Yale Faith & Action
What motivates you everyday to do the things you do? Two common motivators for us tend to be pride and anxiety. In this lecture, we look at what God says should motivate us in all things and how to overcome pride and anxiety as our primary motivators... Listen Now >
September 8, 2015
When someone has an irrational fear, no trained psychologist advises them to completely remove themselves from that which causes them discomfort. This approach does nothing in the way of overcoming fear; in fact, it amplifies it—feeding the fear of even encountering fear. Yet most American universities today are coddling their students’ minds, allowing them to wrap themselves in an offense-free cocoon that decelerates their maturation, leaving them unprepared for the life that awaits them after college.In the past five years, American college campuses have seen a remarkable rise in the usage ofthe term “microaggression.” Microaggressions are defined as “small actions or word choices that seem on their face to have no malicious intent but that are thought of as a kind of violence nonetheless.” For instance, asking a person of Asian descent for help with math could be considered a microaggression. In this charged atmosphere, one could characterize simply throwing a football to an African American in a pick-up football game when there are other people open to be one as well.
August 27, 2015
Flowers and bees work together to ensure each other’s reproduction. Wolves hunt in packs to efficiently kill their prey. Humans come together and form families, communities, and nations. Achievement through relationships is clearly life’s modus operandi, ordained by God. Men succeed in loving God and each other through relationships. How then, can we seek God through our relationships? Human relationships are part of God’s creative design. When God made man, He made him in His image. God is a Trinitarian being—a unified relationship in itself. Then, once God made Adam, he created Eve as his companion. God made men and women to serve, love, and protect each other. We see this relational imperative throughout Scripture.
August 26, 2015
Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. — Hebrews 12:28-29
Face to Face: Developing Intimacy with God
By Rob Reimer From Harvard College Faith & Action
Have you ever felt like God is a distant phenomenon with little interaction in your daily life? Do you wish that He would speak a little louder and a little more often? That your relationship with Him would be more of an amalgamation of friend and father than stodgy professor? Pastor Rob Reimer, from South Shore Community Church, spoke at Harvard College Faith & Action's Doxa, Christian Union's leadership lecture series at Harvard, on how to develop intimacy with God through the Holy Spirit... Watch Now >
August 25, 2015
Developing Intimacy with God
Have you ever felt like God is a distant phenomenon with little interaction in your daily life? Do you wish that He would speak a little louder and a little more often? That your relationship with Him would be more of an amalgamation of friend and father than stodgy professor? Pastor Rob Reimer, from South Shore Community Church, spoke at HCFA's DOXA, Christian Union's leadership lecture series at Harvard, on how to develop intimacy with God through the Holy Spirit. (46:35)
August 19, 2015
Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov is primarily a novel about the meaning of suffering. For this reason, it is fitting that Dostoevsky would choose Job as his main vehicle of philosophical thought. Job is considered the best work on suffering produced in the ancient world, chiefly because it focuses on an age-old philosophical question that remains relevant to us today: why is there suffering in the world? Dostoevsky evokes the story of Job with The Brothers Karamazov; the three titular brothers each representing something of Job himself in their differing perspectives on suffering. Ivan Karamazov, the eldest, voices what Job only hints at: some suffering is simply incomprehensible; God might not be just and righteous after all. The second brother, Alyosha, affirms with Job that God is good and suffering will be surely be redeemed. Dmitri, the third brother, surprisingly, comes closest to Job overall: neither despairing of God’s goodness entirely nor claiming to understand his circumstances. The brothers’ reflections and interactions take place against of a backdrop of sparring claims about God and the human condition: is God just? Is He loving? Is suffering a form of divine cruelty, or a powerful vehicle for God’s redemptive purposes?
August 12, 2015
Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for You are the one I praise. — Jeremiah 17:14
The Marketplace and Social Shalom
By Dr. Anthony Bradley From ChristianUnion.org
Dr. Anthony Bradley, professor, public intellectual, and author was the featured speaker at New York City Christian Union's July 2015 Forum. Dr. Bradley explores the implications of understanding business as a social justice vocation by nature and defines the ways in which marketplace leaders are invaluable as the primary change agents for communities seeking to help the poor and bring peace... Watch Here >
August 11, 2015
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s egregious same-sex “marriage” ruling, the church faces a host of challenges. The secular gospel of sexual liberation as a human right has captured the public imagination, thanks especially to the aggressive marketing of corporate and media establishments. Marketing ploys portray a confused and deeply harmful view of sexuality, one that debases men and women, as “beautiful and true.” How can the church help expose the flawed logic of the sexual revolution and bring hope and healing to society? First and foremost, the church needs to be persuasive to the up and coming generation. Too many times has the church come across as irrelevant or even oppressive. The church must present a compelling response to the “liberating” claim of the sexual revolution, exposing this claim for the lie that it is and fleshing out a biblical alternative that is more fulfilling and life-giving individually and socially. To be effective, this articulation must not be confined to like-minded circles, but fully conversant with the predominant secular narrative, going toe-to-toe with its best spokespeople.
July 16, 2015
The LORD is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to Him. The LORD is the strength of his people; He is the saving refuge of his anointed. — Psalm 28:7-8
All Christians are Gospel Missionaries
By Lorri Bentch From ChristianUnion.org
Every Christian, regardless of which career path he or she is pursuing, is called to make disciples. In this recording from Rooted, the Christian Union Leadership Lecture Series at Yale, Christian Union Vice President of Operations Lorri Bentch challenges all believers to be disciple-makers — to be missionaries — within their respective spheres of influence... Listen Here >
