Intellectual Engagement
"In Whose Hearts Are the Highways to Zion"
The Pilgrimage to a Holy City
By Caleb King, Harvard ’23
Editor’s note: The following article was reprinted with permission from theHarvard Ichthus, a journal of Christian thought and expression produced by undergraduates at Harvard University.
Organizational Excellence and Transformative Leaders
By Tom Campisi, Managing Editor
When Dr. Ben Pascut prepared to teach a workshop on organizational excellence for CU Lux at Yale University, he did not have to look very far for subject matter—it is one of Christian Union’s core values.
Blessing the City
Pilar Is Christian Union’s Minister of Music
By Tom Campisi, Managing Editor
Linnette Pilar has a heart for worship and a prayerful passion for New York City.
Pilar, executive assistant to Christian Union Founder and CEO Matt Bennett, is a member of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, a six-time Grammy-winning group of singers who minister in their home church and around the world.
The Fading of Forgiveness
Tim Keller: We Need a Gospel Perspective
In the past several years, the new racial justice movement has begun. But unlike the previous racial justice movements of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela, whose actions and methodology were marked by Christian beliefs and “the ethics of love, forgiveness and reconciliation,” this new battle for justice is leaving the concept of forgiveness behind.
Sharing the Good News at Columbia
CU Lumine Hosts Evangelism Workshops
Kelly Parks, Staff Writer
At its core, evangelism is the act of sharing the good news of Christ with others so that they might come to have new life and have it to the fullest. As society has become increasingly secular, however, evangelism has become a less comfortable topic for many Christians. Although evangelism is sometimes synonymous with preaching on a street corner, we should certainly not overlook the equally powerful act of sharing Christ through personal witness.
The Seeking God Lifestyle
Christian Union Manual Satisfies Hungry Souls
By Dr. Chuck Hetzler
Marc Minella, of Kingston, Massachusetts, was searching for a discipleship course that could feed his hunger for the Lord. When Marc downloaded the Seeking God Lifestyle manual from Christian Union Day and Night’s website, God met him in remarkable ways.
When God Steps Down from Heaven
Revival Fire Past and Present
By Dr. Michael L. Brown
In a certain sense, God’s presence fills the universe. Yet there are times in history when He manifests His presence in a particular place or in a particular way that is unique and distinct and powerful and transformative. We call those times “revival.”
Navigating Shame and Spirituality
CU Gloria Helps Host Online Event at Harvard
By Kelly Parks, Staff Writer
After a year of online classes, most college students have become well-acquainted with Zoom-fatigue, loneliness, and stress. Some claim that college is the best time of one’s life, based on the available myriad of activities and frequent social gatherings. To the extent that this adage is true, COVID-19 restrictions have certainly turned this saying on its head. Rather than doing homework in coffee shops surrounded by friends, students are relegated to their dorms, apartments, or houses, dealing with the stress of academia in solitude.
John Piper’s Son Becomes a Critic of Christianity on TikTok
"Ex-vangelicalism" is Why Christian Union is So Valuable on Influential Campuses
Abraham Piper, the son of best-selling author and theologian John Piper, has recently risen to TikTok fame by posting content about walking away from the Christian faith. Piper creates minute-long videos critiquing everything from the idea of a literal hell to why certain Bible stories are ridiculous to why life has no ultimate meaning. Calling himself an ex-vangelical, Piper has found a fast audience of like-minded former believers who have been hurt by the church, cannot agree with conservative theology surrounding sexual ethics, or simply never got on board with their parents’ faith.
A Conference, A Community, and The Word
Despite COVID Restrictions, CU Lux Digs Deep into Scripture
By Kelly Parks, Staff Writer
Community has looked very different on college campuses these past few months than it has in years past. However, these changes have not stopped Christian Union Universities from ministering to students across the United States, in person and also through virtual connections.
The Gathering Storm
Albert Mohler Discusses Morality and the Implications of a Biblical Worldview
Albert Mohler’s most recent book, The Gathering Storm, delves into the secularization of America over the past century and the implications unfolding for the church today. Though American evangelicalism is used to having a role of cultural influence in our nation, that influence is rapidly declining and being sidelined. Where the church once held the position of establishing morality for our country and much of the world, secularism has slowly antiquated theism as a whole. In order for a new moral system to be put in place, the old system must be dismantled.
Life Outside the Comfort Zone
Vergerio ’22 Will Serve Internship with Samaritan’s Purse
By Tom Campisi, Managing Editor
In her sophomore year at Brown, Gabrielle Vergerio ’22 stepped out in faith and attended a Christian Union Libertas event, despite not knowing anyone in the ministry.
“On a whim, I decided to venture out to one of the meetings,” she said. “I was immediately met with such warm and sincere welcomes. CU Libertas at Brown was really my first home on campus.”
Why Work is Necessary
HLS Alumnus Discusses the Implications of Genesis 2:5
By Paul Michalski
“When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground. (Genesis 2:5)”
Finding Fellowship at Stanford
CU Caritas Students and Alumni Unite Online
By Kelly Parks, Staff Writer
For recently graduated college students, this year has proven an increasingly difficult time for establishing the rhythms of adulthood. The lack of job security and limitations on social gatherings have caused anxiety for many young adults as they struggle to navigate post-graduate life in isolation.
The Importance of the Interconnected Family
David Brooks Makes a Compelling Case
In this deep dive into family life over the past century, David Brooks argues that families—both adults and children—thrive when they are deeply interconnected to either extended family or forged families like neighbors or church communities. Brooks explains how our nation's current battle against loneliness, overwork, economic struggles, and even mental illness can all be traced back to the disintegration of family and living in a support system.
Till Death Do Us Part
A Yale Student’s Lenten Reflection
Editor’s note: The following article was reprinted with permission fromThe Yale Logos, a student-led Christian Journal.
By Raquel Sequeira, Yale ’21
“Die to live.”
The words had been running through my head since before Lent—since before I moved back to New Haven to finally start my senior year. After a gap semester spent living at home, I prayed for guidance into spring and tried to be genuinely open to whatever God might ask of me.
When Amazon Erased My Book
Princeton Alumnus Is Concerned by Decision
Ryan T. Anderson knew his book would be controversial in some circles. When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Momentprovided a robust scientific, philosophical, medical, and legal examination of our nation’s rapidly changing understanding of transgenderism as soon as it was released a little over three years ago. A Princeton alumnus ('04) and speaker for Christian Union events, Anderson earned his Ph.D. in political philosophy from the University of Notre Dame.
Mental Health and Faith
CU Ministry Fellow at Stanford Helps Shed Light on Crisis
By Kelly Parks, Staff Writer
Anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation are some of the mental health challenges that can plague college students during their academic careers. The stress of COVID-19 and growing academic pressures have left some students more depressed and anxious than ever before. As of today, one out of every four college students in the United States has contemplated ending their life.
Asking the Wrong Questions about Ravi Zacharias…
Missing the Most Important One
By Dr. Chuck Hetzler
The revelations of Ravi Zacharias’ failures have invited a host of questions to discern how such destructive sins could have occurred. Seeking answers, Christians have primarily probed RZIM from an organizational perspective.
An Emerging Leader for CU Lumine
Sternklar ’22 Has a Passion For Prayer, International Justice
By Tom Campisi, Managing Editor
Athena Sternklar wants to change the world through a career focused on international policy and humanitarian aid.
The political science major, who transferred to Columbia University in the fall, took a hiatus from college a few years back to travel abroad and volunteer in refugee camps in Greece, Serbia, and Jordan. She came to Columbia via Montgomery Community College in her hometown of Rockville, Maryland.