Experience the Power of a CU Fire Retreat — without Leaving Your Town!
By Erin Conner, Writer and communications associate
What is the significance of meeting together in a community to seek the Lord? Why are followers of Christ encouraged in the New Testament to "not give up meeting together?" (Hebrews 10: 25).
Throughout the Scriptures, we find patterns of regularly seeking God in community with others. For example, daily morning and evening gatherings when the sun rises and the sun sets are found in Numbers 28:1-8. Weekly meetings are held Sunday (originally Saturday) in Exodus 20:8-11; Leviticus 23:3; Numbers 28:9, 10; Deuteronomy 5:12-15 and in the first century Church, as recorded in Acts. Monthly or "new moon” gatherings are found in Numbers 28:11-15, and annual special gatherings are held several times per year, especially with seven-day gatherings every six months in the spring and the fall, as shown in Leviticus 23:1-44.
Testimonies from the January 2024 CU National Fast
By matt bennett, founder and president of christian union
By God’s grace, thousands of lives have been powerfully impacted! Nearly 8,000 of us completed a 21-day fast to start the new year focused on the Prince of Peace for the nations, and we praise God for His grace and mercy towards us.
Through history, the people of God have fasted, prayed, repented, and sought the Lord wholeheartedly when they desire the Lord’s healing and grace poured out in their own lives or in the lives of their community. Remember Ezra, who led his people in fasting and prayer for God’s protection from enemies amidst rising war and evil, declaring, “we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty (Ezra 8:23).”
When Christians devotedly seek the Lord through fasting, the Lord loves to pour out his blessing, his power, and his spirit.
Practical Teachings on Supernatural Healing in the Church Today
By Anne Kerhoulas (2022), UPDATED and revised by erin conner (2024)
The gospels depict a supernatural world in which demons are cast out, the dead are raised, and the sick are healed. But for many Christians today, the world of the Bible seems to have little to no bearing on our present-day world—we see the demonic as fantasy and believe that healings and miracles are either impossible or due to human achievement, not to the power of the One who brought all things into existence.
"Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace for All Nations" CU National Fast 2024 Devotional
By grace ann arvey, director of christian union america
"'Say to them, As I live,' declares the Lord God, 'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?'" – Ezekiel 33:11
Praying Before Reading Scripture
By Julie Weber (2016), Updated & revised by erin conner (2024)
The intake of Scripture and the practice of prayer are both spiritual disciplines Christians are called to engage in daily and diligently. Should we ever combine the two and pray about our Bible reading?
Writer Kristen Wetherell, in "Unlocking the Bible," suggests that we can and should pray before we begin our study of the Bible.
She writes, "Reading the Bible before praying is like putting the cart before the horse. The proverbial horse is the Holy Spirit of God, who empowers and enlightens our Bible reading as we mine the depths of his Word. The proverbial cart makes up our willing eyes and hungry hearts, the Spirit-led choice to crack open our Bibles and pursue his everlasting truth. The cart must be pulled by the horse; our efforts to read must be motivated and helped by God’s grace and power. Christians come to God’s Word willing and hungry because he first made us willing and hungry to receive—but only he can enable us to receive. This is why we ask for help before we start reading."
Alumni Spotlight: Kenneth Jasko, '78, Chair of CU Nova Alumni Board
By Erin Conner
The CU Nova Board is a team of Princeton Christian alumni who desire to see the Gospel of Christ shine brightly at Princeton University and who seek sweeping spiritual transformation for its students, staff, and faculty. Kenneth Jasko, '78, Mike Vincent, '10, Vince Naman, '82, Edward (Ted) Duffield, '58, Tiffany Agyarko, '23, and Betsy Salazar, '10, currently serve on the Board and are committed to furthering the development of programs focused on alumni, as well as furthering the following objectives: advancing God's work at Princeton University, transitioning graduates well, and developing Christian leaders to influence our nation for God's glory, helping to bring revival.
Ken Jasko, the Board's Chair, invites all interested Princeton alumni to join this movement.
Columbia Students Emboldened for Christ
By erin conner, writer and communications associate
Craig Holliday and Viviana Hinojosa, the Ministry Director and the Women's Ministry Fellow at Christian Union Lumine, loaded up a bus full of 33 Columbia University students and took them on a trip an hour north of New York City to the Warwick Conference Center for their '23 fall conference. This incredible time of fellowship, worship, Scripture reading, and prayer was built around the theme "Marvelous Light," based on 1 Peter 2:9: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (ESV).
"Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace for All Nations" CU National Fast 2024 Devotional
By matt bennett, founder and president of christian union
"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
A Note of Gratitude from One Student Leader at Yale
By yoska guta, '25, christian union lux
For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function so in Christ, we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. -Romans 12: 4-6 (NIV)
The last two years that I’ve spent with Christian Union (CU) Lux at Yale have been a blessing to me. Through this Christian community, I’ve not only grown in my personal walk with God, but I’ve also seen and experienced what it truly means to be in the Body of Christ. I’m tremendously grateful for and blessed by the way God has brought this group of people together and shaped each of us to form one body, each member belonging to all the others for the benefit of each other and for the glory of God.
Christian Union America Devotional
By michael Racine, writer and ministry fellow at christian union lux at yale
People have a lot of different theories about when and how the various books of the Bible came into being. Nonbelievers especially may prefer to distance the written record from actual eyewitnesses to the events depicted—questioning authorship and positing late dates of composition—because, naturally, it is easier to sidestep the demands the Bible places on us if we can be persuaded that it is an unreliable witness. As the serpent proved in the garden of Eden, it’s a short and easy route from Did God really say…? to dismissing God’s words outright (Gen 3:1–6).
Following the Word, Not the World in the New Year
By Erin Conner
Joy and suffering can coexist. The Apostle Paul's example, along with many other godly leaders in Scripture, illuminates that when one surrenders a worldly mindset for a godly one, he or she can indeed experience the joy of the Lord, even in the midst of sorrow. This life-giving principle is a timely one to recall during the holidays, when a palpable expectation exists for everything to be abundantly joyous and when many people are carrying a heavy sorrow in their hearts. "When Your Heart Goes Dark," a recent article in Desiring God written by Greg Morse, powerfully explores how a Christian can have hope and joy in suffering. The antidote is to fix one's thoughts on God, for it is the thought-life of man that dictates the state of our soul.
Harvard Students Dwell in Christ and in Community
By sadie sasser, ministry fellow at Christian union gloria
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." -John 15: 1-5
Christian Union Gloria at Harvard is dwelling in the words of John 15 and in a newly furnished space near campus. Earlier in this academic year, as we leaned into this passage during our “Doxa” Leadership Lecture Series, it became apparent that, as with one’s personal devotional life, there are times in communities when a call to recenter at the feet of Jesus– to rest and abide in the True Vine– is the most important call. And as we have heard the call to rest and recenter, we have also felt the holy discomfort to lay down our entire lives and let the Lord do what He will, even if it involves pruning.
At CU Gloria, God is helping us to see more clearly what it means to bear fruit and let Him take the lead; and God has led us to abide with Christ together in community.
Christian Union America 2023
By chuck hetzler, phd, vice president of biblical theology
"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!'” –Luke 2:13-14
Can you imagine the shock and amazement the shepherds must have felt when, out of nowhere, a throng of mighty angels appeared, filling the night’s sky with God’s praise? What a glorious spectacle that must have been when Jesus’ coming was announced!
Think about His second coming! Heaven will once again break into earth. Without warning, the Lord Jesus will visit humanity once again, but this time in the fullness of His majestic splendor!
On this Christmas at CU America, we pray that you and yours will be those who have "loved His appearing” and are “hastening the coming of the day of God” in lives of holiness and godliness (2 Timothy 4:8; 2 Peter 3:11-12).
Stanford Student-Leaders Labor in Love
By annalisa lim, '24, vice-president of christian union caritas
And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. -Matthew 9:35-38
In the Santa Cruz mountains of California, six Christian Union Caritas leaders gathered in preparation for the freshman campaign. We delved into the book of Matthew, using the ministry of Jesus to guide our own in the upcoming fall quarter. I recall coming across the words, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few,” and Susan, one of our ministry fellows, highlighting the significance of this passage: it is a promise that God could use us six students to gather the harvest on a campus yearning for Christ. It was also a prayer for more laborers; after all, Christ had radically transformed lives through the faithfulness of His twelve apostles.
Devotional on Being a Godly Vessel
By justin yim, ministry director, cu gloria law at harvard law
"So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” – Romans 10:17
One of the greatest joys of being a pastor was (and continues to be) coaching and mentoring young pastors-in-training. I’ve had the privilege of mentoring a good number of seminary students who were cutting their teeth into local church ministry. And in the process of our mentoring relationship – just as Jesus did it with His disciples by sending them out two-by-two – there came a point when I asked for him to preach their first sermon to the congregation. Inevitably, in the week before that Sunday, in a moment of existential panicking whether the sermon was good enough, I would have the same conversation that was given to me when I was a young seminarian: “It’s not about you.”
Student Spotlight: Caroline Parente, '24, Brown University
By Erin Conner
Strength and honor are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come. She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness… she eateth not the bread of idleness… favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.- Proverbs 31: 25-30
December 1, 2023
Get Involved
To learn more about how you can get involved, please send an email to Christian Union's VP of Alumni Engagement Christine Foster: christine.foster@christianunion.org
A Devotional to Prepare Our Hearts for a New Year
By Dr. Marcus Buckley, Ministry Director at Christian Union Vita at Cornell
"And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.” Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him." -Esther 4:12-17
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.
Seeking the Lord in Our Busyness
By Fuji Kim, edited by Erin Conner
As we prepare our hearts to celebrate the Lord's blessings at Thanksgiving, Christian Union presents this special devotional, originally published in 2021, "Three Daily Prayers for the Holidays."
