Faith and Work

How Does Jesus Teach Us to Compute? 

by Erin conner, writer & communications associate

In a recent article entitled "To Gain the World and Lose Your Soul," published by Desiring God, writer Greg Morse powerfully illustrates the problem of ignoring the soul as a result of the distractions and deceptions of our modern world.

Morse writes, "One great feature of modernity, from Satan’s standpoint, is the sheer rejection of the soul. We live in a world stupefied by the material. Ask ten people on the street about their souls — if they don’t wonder aloud, 'What does this babbler wish to say?' (Acts 17:18), they will tell you that if they do have a soul, they have not thought much about it. Even ancient pagan philosophers wrote dense treatises on the soul, but the mass of men today live as though they are soulless. And yet these same people investigate the silliest things under the sun. If anything is worth thought, is it not your soul? 'Claiming to be wise, they became fools'” (Romans 1:22).

Christian Union National Fast: America Returning to God, August 1-14, 2024

by peter ahlin, coo/CFO at christian union

“But when he came to himself, he said, “How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” -Luke 15:17-20

Jesus loved to tell stories of heaven’s rejoicing at the salvation of lost souls. He depicted a widow exulting over a found coin or a shepherd delighting as he held a recovered sheep; He spoke in terms that resonated with all. But no story ever became as iconic as that of a loving father whose son rejected him, plundered him, and left him, and how that father watched for him, waited for him, and wept for him. The story captured perfectly how great the father’s love and how hopeful those may be who trust wholly in it.

Many of us also watch, wait, and weep for beloved children or others who wander without hope and without God in the world. We want to follow Scripture’s clarion call to “pour out [our] hearts like water to the Lord, [to] lift up [our] hands to him in prayer, pleading for [our] children” (Lamentations 2:19). So how do we pray for the prodigal?

Christian Union National Fast: America Returning to God, August 1-14, 2024

by michael racine, writer and ministry fellow for cu lux at yale

If you want to see a miracle, what should you do? It’s a question that children in Sunday school could readily answer: Ask God, and have faith. This message runs all throughout the gospels, in the numerous healing accounts in which Jesus says, “Your faith has made you well,” “Be it done to you according to your faith,” or something similar, and in His explicit and repeated teaching on the subject to His disciples. “Ask, and you shall receive” (Matt 7:7; Luke 11:9). “Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24).

All too often, though, we find ourselves crying out like the afflicted boy’s father, “Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief!” (see Mark 9:24). How can we remove the nagging doubt that chokes our mustard seed of faith and keeps it from bearing fruit? First, it helps to understand what exactly “faith” is, as defined by the Scriptures. Faith is not, as many would suggest today, willful belief without evidence. It is, quite simply, that which underlies our expectations and convinces us of things we haven’t seen (Heb 11:1). All of us believe a million different things beyond what we’ve personally seen, and quite rationally. Why? Because we’ve been told, and we deemed the source reliable. “So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of the Anointed” (Romans 10:17).

The Bennett Broadcast Launches First Episode August 6, 2024

by Erin conner, writer and communications associate

Matt Bennett, founder and president of Christian Union and Heritage Pastors Association, is launching a new podcast to stir the hearts of Americans to seek God wholeheartedly and pray for revival. This podcast comes at a critical time in our nation's history, as many across the country long for renewal and revival, knowing that while political and cultural engagement is important, spiritual renewal must come first. God has done this in America's history and is currently transforming nations around the world. He can do it again. Bennett seeks to convey this hope in his weekly podcast, pointing the nation to God as the source of true help and healing. 

Is Culture Reshaping Religious Affiliation and Freedom in America?

by Christian union, first published in 2021; edited and revised 2024

Religious freedom is an expectation and reality in our country, but with a major shift in the cultural understanding of identity, some experts argue that religious freedom may be evaporating before our eyes. In an article from Gospel Coalition Australia entitled "Has Religious Freedom Had Its Day," writer Akos Balogh examines the cultural changes that are quickly reshaping the freedom of the Church in the west. 

Aligning Our Hearts with the Heart of God 

by Christian union, first published in 2018; edited and revised 2024

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?"- Luke 16:9-11 (NIV)

It is no secret that the priorities of Jesus regularly riled up the religious leaders of His day. Jesus’ proclivity for welcoming the disreputable “sinners and tax collectors” into relationship and community became a particular target of their ire and scorn. The series of four parables in Luke 15:1-16:15 function in tandem to show Jesus’ radical inclusion and acceptance of such unbeloved people as deeply consonant with the shape of God’s coming kingdom in the world.

Luke 15:1-2 plays the set-up role for the four outrageous parables that follow, each building in dramatic intensity, in clarity of a scandalous message, and in subverting and violating what almost universally holds for common sense in a fallen world. The “therefore” in 15:3 indicates that the four stories illustrate why He “receives sinners and eats with them” in His home. Likewise, Luke 16:14-15 provides a climactic summary, gathering up the main point of the parables. It turns out that the Pharisees despise Jesus’ priorities because they are “lovers of money” and thus on the wrong side of the God’s purposes in creation—in spite of how they pose piously before human beings, masking their true motives for their abhorrence of such unclean sinners.

Yet it is only in the final parable that Jesus’ apology for His kingdom-shaped ministry appears in all of its shocking beauty. Strangely commended by the business owner he has just swindled (16:8), the dishonest steward’s motives and actions tend to confuse the reader. In what way does his behavior reflect Jesus’ ministry?  How are we supposed to imitate Him? Clearly, not in being greedy or dishonest over financial matters per se (we are to be “shrewd” like him (16:8), yet while being as innocent as doves, as in Matt. 10:16). Yet to stop there would be to miss the whole point.

The Businessmen's Revival of 1857-58

by Christian union america

Bold University Ministry in America Featured on Canadian Show

by erin conner, writer and communications associate

The Perspective with Mike Sherbino is a ministry with a mission 1) to use television, social media, and radio as a primary way to communicate Christian values, insights and the hope of the gospel to Canada and beyond, 2) to talk about issues related to people's understanding of how faith in Jesus Christ can transform the way we live our lives, and 3) to use their platforms to push back against the secular agenda of our day and provide broadcast platforms for other like-minded ministries doing the same. 

The Perspective has enjoyed a substantial audience across Canada, as this show provides solutions for navigating life’s journey by unpacking scripture through the lens of culture, crisis, and current events.

A Ministry that Equips Tranformative Christian Leaders for Life

By Erin conner, writer and communications associate

Christian Union has been in the national spotlight for several weeks now. From magazine and newspaper articles, television interviews, a podcast appearance, a Worldwide Prayer Meeting at Yale with the Summit International School of Ministry that was live-streamed across multiple countries, and social media ads running from the west to the east coast of the U.S., many people in faith-based circles are asking, "What is Christian Union?" 

Christian Union is a leadership development ministry that works at ten of the nation's most influential educational institutions and beyond to develop and connect Christians to transform culture for God's glory. 

Christian Union (CU) is a unique ministry in that it meets a comprehensive set of needs in our nation's young adults:

Washington Times Op-Ed on Secularization of Educational Institutions

By Erin conner, writer and communications associate

Sunday, March 17, 2024-- The Washington Times published an opinion article today by Matt Bennett, Founder and President of Christian Union, entitled "America's Founding Universities Lost Their Religion. Are They Worth Saving?" 

The article briefly discusses the histories of several educational institutions in America, such as Harvard, Cornell, Columbia, and Stanford. The article also presents a compelling claim that students at these institutions ought to know the fundamental truth upon which their schools were founded: Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and, through Him alone, humanity finds salvation and life.

Former Student President Claims Victory in Texas Primary 

By Erin conner, writer and communications associate 

Leaders developed at Dartmouth shape the future of our country by determining what media gets disseminated, what laws get passed, and how major decisions get made. Dartmouth has produced influential figures, including author Dr. Seuss, beloved T.V. personality Fred Rogers, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and former central banker and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (ChristianUnion.org/Cornerstone/Vox). It seems another name of influence may soon be added to this list: Brandon Gill. 

Brandon Gill claimed victory in the GOP primary for the 26th district of Texas to replace U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, who is retiring after 21 years in Congress, according to the Dallas News. Gill received 58.4% of the vote and will now face Democrat Ernest Lineberger III in the November election.

Gill's Congressional webpage states, "I attended Dartmouth College and graduated cum laude with degrees in both Economics and History. I was President of the conservative paper, The Dartmouth Review. I was also President of Christian Union and grew it to be one of the largest student groups on campus, despite being on a campus hostile to the Christian faith. In college, I fought the left nonstop - on their own turf - and I left Dartmouth even more conservative than when I arrived."

Highlight: CU America Member, Carrie Sheffield 

By erin conner, writer and communications associate 

Carrie Sheffield, a Harvard alumna and a member of Christian Union America, is releasing a memoir this March entitled Motorhome Prophesies and launching a subsequent book tour across the U.S. 

Sheffield, a columnist and broadcaster in Washington, D.C., shares insights with millions of Americans on networks like CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, CBS News, CNBC, BBC, and more. From ABC’s Good Morning America to HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, PBS, and C-SPAN, she brings a voice of virtue to the American communications and media industry through boundless interviews for articles, appearances on television shows and podcasts, and at forums across the nation. Consequently, many Americans know the professional side of Carrie Sheffield's life. 

In her memoir, we learn about a different side of her life. The book's overview states, "Carrie Sheffield grew up the fifth of eight children with a violent, mentally ill, street-musician father who believed he was a modern-day Mormon prophet…She and her seven siblings were often forced to live as vagabonds, remaining on the move across the country. They frequently subsisted in sheds, tents, and, most notably, motorhomes. They often lived a dysfunctional drifter existence, camping out in their motorhome in Walmart parking lots. Carrie attended 17 public schools and homeschool, all while performing classical music on the streets… at times while child custody workers loomed…Carrie struggled with her mental health during college and for most of her adult life."