March 31, 2018
March 29, 2018
A Progressive Surrender; A Generation Emerging from the Wreckage; Forcing Pro-Life Pregnancy Care Centers to Advertise for Abortion is Unjust and Unconstitutional; Believe, That You May Understand; Harvard Update and more, in this issue of Christian Union's bi-monthly email brief.
...for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.
— Ephesians 5:8-10
March 28, 2018
Nancy Ortberg, CEO of Transforming the Bay with Christ addressed nearly 300 students at the Christian Union conference. She highlights the difference between worldly success and spiritual success. She explains the powerful impact of giving practical items to people in need. A church choosing to give used cars to people in the community became a way to share the gospel through living the call to love our neighbors.
Through this type of giving, she provides a powerful testimony of how the reciepents feel the love of God through these provisions, and it is through this action that people are led to faith in God. Nancy also explains the leaders in our society should be able to own their personal growth, ensure no topic are off limits, solve problems at a systems level and to refuse to allow comparision to enter their thought-life. (33:20)
Through this type of giving, she provides a powerful testimony of how the reciepents feel the love of God through these provisions, and it is through this action that people are led to faith in God. Nancy also explains the leaders in our society should be able to own their personal growth, ensure no topic are off limits, solve problems at a systems level and to refuse to allow comparision to enter their thought-life. (33:20)
March 26, 2018
By Qwynn Gross
When I gave my life to Christ I found myself in Scripture often, and from my readings I began a transformation process that I would say was the groundwork to many blessings. I was impacted so much by the written Word that I naïvely thought I had mastered some of the directives given in Scripture, like the fruit of the Spirit, for instance. What I didn’t realize was that the change on the inside was not complete, but that I was being refined, more and more.
When I gave my life to Christ I found myself in Scripture often, and from my readings I began a transformation process that I would say was the groundwork to many blessings. I was impacted so much by the written Word that I naïvely thought I had mastered some of the directives given in Scripture, like the fruit of the Spirit, for instance. What I didn’t realize was that the change on the inside was not complete, but that I was being refined, more and more.
March 23, 2018
Nexus 2018 Plenary Speaker
So, you want to change the world for Jesus Christ? First, your own world must be turned upside down by a vision of "the greatness and glory, the majesty and supremacy, and the wonders of the love and saving power of the Lord Jesus Christ"!March 23, 2018
Nick Nowalk
During this spring's turbulent events at Harvard (learn more here, and read perspective from the ministry's student leaders here), which led to the probation of Harvard College Faith & Action (an autonomous student organization at Harvard, supported and resourced by Christian Union), Nick Nowalk gave this encouraging message (recorded in two parts) on First Peter.March 23, 2018
Dear Friends and Family of HCFA,
Thank you so much for your ongoing prayers and partnership in the gospel. With eyes of faith we continue to look to the Lord Jesus for grace, strength and wisdom as we navigate through troubled waters.
March 22, 2018
Hello from Dartmouth,
We are happy to report a wonderful end to our winter term. A major highlight for our students (and staff) was a giant CU-wide game of Assassin, graciously renamed “Angel’s Arrows” by our fabulous socials team. The neat thing about the game is that it forced people to seek out those they have not met before or gotten to know yet, so new connections were made every day!
March 22, 2018
Dear Friends of CU at Cornell,
There is never a bad time to elicit interest in Jesus Christ among Cornellians. In an effort to do just that, we served hot chocolate and coffee in free, logoed mugs to dozens of students this past Monday. The ever-bustling lobbies of Willard Straight Student Center and Mann Library were filled with people. Lots of good conversations about our fellowship here on campus took place and everyone we spoke with has been invited to visit our large group meeting this Wednesday. Would you pray that they would take us up on that offer? It would be a unique opportunity for them to hear clearly the claims of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a worshipping and loving community of faith.
There is never a bad time to elicit interest in Jesus Christ among Cornellians. In an effort to do just that, we served hot chocolate and coffee in free, logoed mugs to dozens of students this past Monday. The ever-bustling lobbies of Willard Straight Student Center and Mann Library were filled with people. Lots of good conversations about our fellowship here on campus took place and everyone we spoke with has been invited to visit our large group meeting this Wednesday. Would you pray that they would take us up on that offer? It would be a unique opportunity for them to hear clearly the claims of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a worshipping and loving community of faith.
March 22, 2018
Hello prayer partners,
Thank you for your faithfulness and continued support. We are grateful and want to update you for March to inform your prayers.
Thank you for your faithfulness and continued support. We are grateful and want to update you for March to inform your prayers.
March 22, 2018
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I am writing you again to express our continued thankfulness for your support as well as to give you an update on our ministry here in Princeton. As a result of your prayers, God continues to work in the lives of our students.
I am writing you again to express our continued thankfulness for your support as well as to give you an update on our ministry here in Princeton. As a result of your prayers, God continues to work in the lives of our students.
March 22, 2018
Dear Friends and Partners of Christian Union at Penn,
Spring break has come and gone. I have seen snow blowing upwards and snowing-raining at the same moment. Bible courses for the semester are under way: some groups are on schedule (Romans 6) while others are camping out on Romans 3. Thankfully, our sense of righteousness is not in our ability to lead the courses but by faith in Christ’s death and resurrection.
Spring break has come and gone. I have seen snow blowing upwards and snowing-raining at the same moment. Bible courses for the semester are under way: some groups are on schedule (Romans 6) while others are camping out on Romans 3. Thankfully, our sense of righteousness is not in our ability to lead the courses but by faith in Christ’s death and resurrection.
March 22, 2018
Greetings from Palo Alto!
I was recently rereading a book chapter that God used to get me through a very tough semester when I was a freshman in college. In the last chapter of The Normal Christian Life, Watchman Nee reflects on the story in the Gospels (only a few days before Jesus dies on the cross) when Mary comes to a dinner uninvited, breaks an alabaster jar of ointment—worth a staggering amount—and anoints Jesus with the jar’s entire contents (Mark 14:3–9). Even the disciples were indignant and cried out, “Why this waste!” Judas’s voice may have been the loudest among the disciples (John 12:4–6), but he was not alone (Matt 26:8–9). Nee remarks, “Human reasoning said this was really too much; it was giving the Lord more than His due.”
I was recently rereading a book chapter that God used to get me through a very tough semester when I was a freshman in college. In the last chapter of The Normal Christian Life, Watchman Nee reflects on the story in the Gospels (only a few days before Jesus dies on the cross) when Mary comes to a dinner uninvited, breaks an alabaster jar of ointment—worth a staggering amount—and anoints Jesus with the jar’s entire contents (Mark 14:3–9). Even the disciples were indignant and cried out, “Why this waste!” Judas’s voice may have been the loudest among the disciples (John 12:4–6), but he was not alone (Matt 26:8–9). Nee remarks, “Human reasoning said this was really too much; it was giving the Lord more than His due.”
March 22, 2018
Friends,
Students are currently scattered around the globe enjoying some rest and relaxation during Brown University’s spring break. Once they return to campus, we’ll have four more weeks with them before they move into reading/exam period. Hard to believe the end of the semester is so close at hand!
March 19, 2018
Christian Union Event Features Geneticist, Theologian
By Tom Campisi, Managing Editor
Christian Union at Brown recently hosted a forum that examined the uniqueness of humanity.
“Are We More than Our Genes: A Geneticist and a Theologian Discuss Human Origins and Identity” was held on December 4 at Macmillan Hall. Approximately 200 students, many from the scientific community, attended the event, which featured Dr. Praveen Sethupathy, associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Cornell University, and Dr. J. Richard Middleton, Professor of Biblical Worldview and Exegesis at Northeastern Seminary. Dr. Richard Bungiro, Senior Lecturer in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at Brown and a self-described atheist, served as moderator.
March 14, 2018
Harvard Update; God Called Me to the Middle East — in a Dream; The Three Top SpokenWord Presentations from Nexus 2018; The Love Challenge; Bennett Builds Virginia Basketball on Pillars of Faith and more, in this issue of Christian Union's bi-monthly email brief.
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
— Romans 12:1-2
March 12, 2018
Over the last weekend in February, nearly 300 students, from Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, Stanford, and Yale, gathered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, for Christian Union's Nexus 2018 conference. On Saturday night, a team from each school competed in the Christian Union SpokenWord competition that required teams to memorize and present any selection of scripture passages in a spoken word style. The presentations were powerful, creative, and inspiring. A highly energetic audience spurred each team on, and after jubilantly celebrating the top performances, performers and audience together broke into a playful dance party to cap off the joyous celebration of the power of God's Word!
Watch the top three finalists, below, as revealed at Nexus 2018:
March 10, 2018
The Harvard team won the Spoken Word Contest at Nexus 2018. (4:49)
