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The most recent articles, videos, blog entries, and more that have been added to ChristianUnion.org.
A Prayer and Fasting Devotional
In Eliezer Diamond’s thorough treatment of fasting in rabbinic Judaism (Holy Men and Hunger Artists, Oxford Press, 2004), he traces two different yet important ways of understanding and approaching devotional self-discipline. First, Diamond defines “essential asceticism” as entailing “explicit renunciation of some aspect of conventional existence because the self-denial itself is seen as inherently spiritually salutary” (12). Alternatively, this is contrasted with what Diamond defines as “instrumental asceticism,” those practices that necessitate a “commitment to a spiritual quest so consuming that one feels it necessary to minimize or eliminate worldly pursuits and pleasures because they detract from or distract one from one’s godly objectives.”
A Prayer and Fasting Devotional
"In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." - John 1:4-5 Looking at the world in which we live, we can easily become overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by evil, pain, sadness, frustration, and fear. So many things in this world cause us to ask, "Why, Lord?" and "How long?" And, truthfully, the broken things in a big, bad world aren’t just a distant reality. We see it in our lives; hear echoes of it in our thoughts. There is sin and brokenness all around us and in us. Thankfully the true and good news of the Gospel rushes into view, and light undoes the darkness. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners and to redeem a broken world. He came to be a light and undo the darkness around us. He is light, and in His resurrection He beat sin, death, and hell. His light brings with it life. There is eternal life with God forever and a new life in this world to which He has called us.
A Prayer and Fasting Devotional
“Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?" And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.” - Acts 8:35-38 (ESV)The story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch is astounding for a few reasons. For one thing, here we see the Gospel reaching someone from a different nation, someone who would have been largely an outcast in Philip’s society.
Day Thirteen Devotional
When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you?” . . . You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and are right, for so I am. If I then, as your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” - John 13:12-17A Prayer and Fasting Devotional
Save me, O God!For the waters have come up to my neck.
I sink in deep mire,
where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
and the flood sweeps over me.
I am weary with my crying out;
my throat is parched.
My eyes grow dim
with waiting for my God…
I will praise the name of God with a song;
I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
- Psalm 69:1-3; 30
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.
A Prayer and Fasting Devotional
Then the mother of [James and John] came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him . . . “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.” - Matthew 20:20-21My first major confrontation with authority occurred during my senior year of high school and was accompanied with the following words from my band director: “Get out of here this instant!” I grew up a fairly obedient kid who never had to truly resist or confront authority until something challenged what I (and my parents) valued highly: my future. With these words, I felt I had escaped an oppressive environment, but in reality I was just reasserting power over my own future in a remarkably un-Christian manner. Jesus uses a similar power struggle in the life of the disciples in Matthew 20:20-28 to highlight the only true way power should be wielded: with the right motives and the right methods.
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...
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A Prayer and Fasting Devotional
And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” - Exodus 17:5-6Developing 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)
