Ah Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You...
— Jeremiah 32:17
Leadership: Think Different
By John Cunningham
From YouTube
A leader can be characterized as capable and competent. They are the one "making things happen." But these are not the only distinguishing characteristics of a Christian leader. Using Matthew 20, John Cunningham, Christian Union ministry fellow at Penn, addresses students at Dartmouth to unpack the mode, motivation and model of distinctively "Christian" leadership...
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A recent article in the Columbia Spectator, the university’s newspaper, explores spirituality in the lives of athletes at Columbia. Christian Union’s ministry at Columbia is highlighted:
Senior Joshua Foster, a wide receiver on the football team, grew up in the Methodist church as the son of a pastor. For him, that meant finding time for church every Sunday in between his practices and games. At Columbia he continued to attend church on his own.
Soon thereafter, he was introduced to Jim Black, the director of undergraduate ministry for Columbia Faith and Action.
Since its inception, CFA has been tightly linked to Columbia’s athletic community. Black estimates that 30-40 student-athletes are involved with CFA today—and the ministry now offers athlete specific Bible studies to fit their demanding schedules.
After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb."
— Revelation 7:9-10
What Happened to Harvard?
By Peter Greer and Chris Horst
From Q Ideas
"Harvard was founded to prepare ministers of upright character," Derek Bok, president at Harvard University (1971–1991), penned these words in his annual letter to the Harvard Board in 1987. Candidly, he examined the storied history of America’s most prestigious university...
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To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, & Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World
By James Davison HunterHow does real culture change happen? Dr. James Davison Hunter, a sociologist who is the LaBrosse-Levinson Distinguished Professor of Religion, Culture, and Social Theory at the University of Virginia and a Senior Fellow at the Trinity Forum, addresses Christian assumptions about power, culture, culture change, and public engagement in a 30-minute lecture followed by 30 minutes of Q&A...
This link will take you to the website of the Trinity Forum, which hosted this fascinating lecture:
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“We need to be reminded of God’s provision. God’s grace. God’s goodness. Not always in eliminating the difficulties that we’re in. Rather in meeting us and sustaining us in the middle of situations. Growing us in those situations that are places of affliction, frustration and need and brokenness.”
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
— Psalm 73:25-26
To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, & Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World
By James Davison Hunter
From The Trinity Forum
How does real culture change happen? Dr. James Davison Hunter, a sociologist who is the LaBrosse-Levinson Distinguished Professor of Religion, Culture, and Social Theory at the University of Virginia and a Senior Fellow at the Trinity Forum, addresses Christian assumptions about power, culture, culture change, and public engagement in a 30-minute lecture followed by 30 minutes of Q&A...
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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.
"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...
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I 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.
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.
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."
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."
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.
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.
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...
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A Prayer and Fasting Devotional
Obedience is important to God.
Perhaps that sounds to you like the understatement of the century. You may be saying to yourself, “Of course obedience is important to God…what a remarkably unimpressive way to start to a devotional!” And that may be a fair summation of your perspective on the Christian life. However, I’d like to suggest that the importance God gives to our obedience is an often-underemphasized reality in substantial portions of the American church.
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...
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A Prayer and Fasting Devotional
In 2 Kings 17, we read of how the Israelites were deported to Assyria “because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God” (2 Kings 17:7). In their place, the king of Assyria settled peoples from other nations to take possession of the cities and the land. After lions attacked and killed some of them, they sent for a priest to teach them the “law of the god of the land.” Responding to the teaching of these priests, the people learned to “fear the LORD,” but they also continued to serve and worship their former gods.
A Prayer and Fasting Devotional
Media Gone Mad: Living with Information Overload: How can we be sure of staying ‘unspun’ in a world where we have never been so connected—and where it has never been so apparent that knowledge is power?
What’s Next: Hinge Events Ahead in 2015: The perils in prediction—in geopolitics as in other walks of life—arise from the fact that we simply do not have enough information.