September 26, 2018
Leadership Lecture Series Exhorts Students to Go Deeper
In the spring semester, a group of students with Christian Union at Brown were hungry to learn more about fasting. Justin Doyle, a Christian Union ministry fellow, responded with a message at the ministry’s weekly Anchor leadership lecture series on April 12. Doyle inspired them to fast and pray and go deeper in their relationships with God. The students were interested in fasting in preparation for a National Day of Prayer event on May 2. “I was excited to hear that students were eager to learn more about this spiritual discipline and put it into practice,” Doyle said. After the lecture at Anchor, the ministry fellow also wrote a related blog post, “Fasting Is Feasting,” to encourage students to follow through. “Fasting is a powerful spiritual discipline designed to help us draw near to the Lord,” Doyle wrote. “Depriving our bodies of food for a period of time has a way of revealing the idols of our hearts, those things that control our loves and desires—money, power, status, sex, image, etc.—and pull us away from our Creator.”September 25, 2018
Naruke ’20 Enjoys Serving on and off Campus
A Dartmouth College undergraduate is eagerly answering a calling to promote prayer among students and help them connect with vibrant Christians. Naruke ’20 serves as the property manager for the Dartmouth community’s prayer facility, student intern for a thriving local church, and community team leader for Christian Union at Dartmouth. The South Carolina native skillfully juggles those responsibilities despite formidable academic, extracurricular, and work obligations.Boosting the spiritual commitment of collegiate peers is a top priority for Naruke. As a pleasant contrast to Dartmouth’s secular atmosphere, the “Christian community is all the more strong,” she said. Naruke often witnesses dynamic levels of spiritual engagement among students through her role tending to The Prayer Room, an ecumenical hub in downtown Hanover.September 24, 2018
Search me, O God, and know my heart!Try me and know my thoughts!And see if there be any grievous way in me,and lead me in the way everlasting!-Psalm 139:23-24I am convinced that one of the primary reasons many of us struggle to draw near to God in an earnest, deeper way is because we know that such a pursuit may initially involve a painful, even excruciating encounter. What misbehaving child seeks out the offended authority figure? How many of us avoid prescribed medical exams and precautionary procedures not only because of the dread of discomfort or humiliation, but also for fear of what the good doctor may find?
September 12, 2018
Resources for Cultural Revolution; John Onwuchekwa on Corporate Prayer; Get Alone, Get Away, and Get Messy with God; Indelible Imprints; How to Navigate Conversations About Sexual Identity; Officials destroying crosses, burning Bibles in China and more, in this issue of Christian Union's bi-monthly email brief.
If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.— Proverbs 18:13
September 10, 2018
by Julia CarlisleAnd rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. - Mark 1:35We’re all busy people with days filled with places to go and people to see. Taking time to get away with God to pray likely gets pushed to the bottom of the schedule for the day. We see in the Gospels that Jesus was a very busy man with a full and demanding schedule. Yet, this did not stop him from praying, for though He was the God of the Universe, He still required prayer to be in relationship with the Father. We find Him praying in every step of His ministry, from His baptism through His death. If we are struggling with knowing how to cultivate a consistent life of prayer, we need only look at Jesus who is the best demonstration of how we are to pursue a life of intimate prayer with the Father.
September 2, 2018
Sunday, September 2, 2018
Christian Unity for Cultural Transformation"For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many."1 Corinthians 12:12-14 (ESV)One of the most common metaphors for the Church in the New Testament is the human body, because it mirrors key characteristics of the Church. Like a human body, the Church—that is, all Christians in the world—are unified into one corpus, and also like the human body, has members that look different and fulfill different functions. Additionally, just as a human body has a head which directs everything in the body, so the Church has Jesus Christ who is the head of the Church.September 1, 2018
Saturday, September 1, 2018
To God Be Glory in the ChurchTo me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. … Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:8-10, 20-21 (ESV)Of all the areas of society that we have fasted and prayed for these 21 days, the Church is the one that seems the weakest. In the world’s eyes, the church has the smallest influence on national affairs and holds the least amount of sway over the direction of our country. But that’s not so in God’s eyes.God is unveiling an eternal, global plan with His Christ and the Church at the center. The Church will have a far greater impact on the world than merely affecting the culture of nations. Jesus is building the Church to confound the spiritual, invisible powers of evil behind our world’s systems.August 31, 2018
Friday, August 31, 2018
Giving God Our Best"And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, and their clothing, his cupbearers, and their clothing, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more breath in her. And she said to the king, "The report was true that I heard. ... Blessed be the Lord your God." 2 Chronicles 9:3-5, 8 (ESV)The queen of Sheba had heard of the fame and wisdom of Solomon and she thought, “I have to see it for myself.” The Bible records her visit in this wonderful passage, giving us insight into the nature of excellence and wisdom.August 30, 2018
The Great Awakening of 1727; The FAQs: What Christians Should Know About Social Justice; The Peculiar Shape of Christian Identity; Welcoming Freshmen Well; Let's Talk About the Decline of Conversation in the Church; Fear Not and more, in this issue of Christian Union's bi-monthly email brief.
For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite."— Isaiah 57:15
August 30, 2018
Thursday, August 30, 2018
Truly Good NewsI have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. 3 John 1:4 (ESV)The late, legendary CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite became known as “the most trusted man in America” from his desk at the evening news. After years of reporting on the Vietnam war, Cronkite travelled there himself in early 1968. After witnessing intense combat and interviewing military officials on the ground, Cronkite gave a special report to the American people, labeling the war “stalemate.” That moment, called “The Cronkite moment,” is referenced by some historians and journalists as one of the most influential in news media’s history. They believe when Cronkite’s attitude changed about the war, America’s began to as well. One trusted man’s words held that much weight.August 29, 2018
Friends See Benefit of Investing in Christian Union
August 29, 2018
Freshman Campaigns Kick into High Gear
by Sarah CampThe academic year is already underway at Cornell, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale. Classes begin at Brown, Columbia, and Harvard next week, and in two weeks at Princeton and Dartmouth. In late September, Stanford students will begin their classes. In the meantime, members of the Class of 2022 are arriving by the thousands—excited, nervous, and, in the first few weeks of college life, as open to Christian friendships as they may ever be.August 29, 2018
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
Witnessing in Exile"Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility— young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service."Daniel 1:3-5 (ESV)In many ways, we Western Christians living in a post-Christian context, can relate to Daniel and company, who found themselves in exile following King Nebuchadnezzar’s hostile takeover of Jerusalem. Like Israel’s life in exile, the world around us is shifting ever so quickly; often times we’re left feeling a bit dizzy as we wonder how we should live in a culture that is so different from us—a culture and society that has different values, hopes and dreams from our own. So how should we live? How should we engage with the cultural context in which we find ourselves?August 28, 2018
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Renewed in the Image of the WordIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. … And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. … No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.John 1:1-2, 14, 18 (ESV)The devil’s persistent strategy is to take the good things God has made, corrupt them, and use them against God and His creation. The deceiver used the Garden of Eden against Adam and Eve. He still uses food, sex, ambition, friendship, authority, rest, work, and every other good creation of God in a desperate attempt to counteract the purposes of God. He is doing the same with media.August 27, 2018
by Teal McGarvey Wojcicki & Nick Nowalk“We are unknown, we knowers, to ourselves.”“O God, I pray you to let me know my self.”[1]John Calvin famously began his magisterial Institutes of the Christian Religion with this incredible claim: “Our wisdom, in so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid Wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. But as these are connected together by many ties, it is not easy to determine which of the two precedes and gives birth to the other.” In opening this way, Calvin indicated not only that Christians knowing their identity as human beings is of critical importance, but also that such knowledge is indelibly bound up with God’s identity.In pursuing a uniquely Christian understanding of human identity, there are two familiar extremes that we must avoid.
August 27, 2018
Monday, August 27, 2018
First of All, Pray“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 1 Timothy 2:1-4“First of all,” Paul tells Timothy, in his charge to him to “wage the good warfare” (1 Tim 1:18), you should pray “for all people.” This we generally understand; most of us have a list of people for whom we pray. My list includes family members, coworkers, people in my church, friends, missionaries, and those I know have current needs. Sometimes it includes a person with a heartbreaking story that’s making the rounds of social media on the internet. Too rarely does it include the people that Paul singles out here for intercession. Yes, we are to pray for “all people”, but I think Paul knows we will naturally remember to pray for those close to us. Instead, he reminds us to also, and specifically, pray for “kings and all who are in high positions.”August 26, 2018
Sunday, August 26, 2018
Which Way Are You Leaning?“Behold, you are trusting now in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.” 2 Kings 18:21 (ESV)“Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.” Psalm 146:3-4 (ESV)Trusting in Egypt. The invitation for King Hezekiah to consider the "pain points" of depending upon Egypt is not spoken by a prophet or other trusted source. Rather, this is high-pressure rhetoric from a conniving Assyrian official. He is deeming it folly for Judah’s king to find security anywhere else save under Assyria’s wings. He’s saying, “wise up and pay the 'protection fee' to a government power who can truly deliver you!"August 25, 2018
Saturday, August 25, 2018
Toward a More Just Government“And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this.August 24, 2018
Friday, August 24, 2018
Fasting for FathersMy son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments,for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you.Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.Proverbs 3:1-6 (ESV)This passage is one of the most well-known and well-loved in all of the Old Testament. It is one of my favorite passages, and, given that it is a record of a father instructing his son, my appreciation for it has only continued to grow as I have become a father for the first time this year.August 23, 2018
