August 20, 2018
Pure Spiritual Milk
Monday, August 20, 2018So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation. - 1 Peter 2:1-2 (ESV) King’s College was founded in 1754, suspended instruction during the Revolutionary war, reopened as Columbia College in 1784, and later changed its name to Columbia University. Its purpose was to provide “future colonial leaders an education that would enlarge the mind, improve the understanding, polish the whole man, and qualify them to support the brightest characters in all the elevated stations in life.” The college president taught the first classes in a building adjoining Trinity Church in downtown Manhattan, and the campus later moved north to 116th street on the West side of Manhattan.August 19, 2018
A Good Student is Hard to Find
Sunday, August 19, 2018You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. … Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:1-7; 14-15 (ESV)In this classic passage on discipleship (especially vv. 1-2), what immediately catches the eye is the nature of a sincere follower of Christ (“faithful”) and the principle of multiplication (“entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also”). Regarding the latter, we may even find ourselves—if you’re old school like me—dusting off a rudimentary graphic of pencil-thin stick figures in pyramid-like formations; an image that captured the wonderful vision of a wise disciple-maker’s investment in a few good men, that in due time would reach a multitude.August 18, 2018
Lydia’s Legacy
Saturday, August 18, 2018“And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.” Acts 16:13-15 (ESV)Who were the women who gathered at the river banks that Sabbath? The focus is on an enigmatic woman called Lydia who is identified as a tradeswoman in the lucrative and complex dyeing industry of her day. It would be fair to say she had specialized knowledge in sourcing and extracting prized color from Mediterranean mollusks which were used to dye garments for the upper echelons of Roman society and others who wore the distinguishing purple to mark their elite status. A woman involved in a niche luxury-goods business and someone who owned her own home, suggests that Luke is perhaps making a point that she was successful! However, larger than her business profile is her posture before God.August 17, 2018
Our Father’s Business: Human Flourishing
Friday, August 17, 2018The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. John 10:10-15 (ESV)Sometimes, just after starting my car, I say out loud, “Alright, Carola, the goal is to not hurt the humans. Jesus, help me to not hurt the humans.” I say this because in my rush to arrive somewhere on time or beat the traffic, I have oftentimes forgotten that there are other human beings around me—in cars, on bikes, on sidewalks—whose lives matter just as much as mine. When I do take for granted the preciousness of the lives of others, I find myself taking risks that, upon reflection, are not worth the potential cost.In a similar way, business leaders can lose sight of the other humans that make up their businesses and are affected by their businesses. Volunteering with a labor-rights organization in Trenton, New Jersey, I heard the stories of men and women working in poor conditions for minimum wage, employed by companies of all sizes that seemed to be thriving economically. Yet, at what cost? Who is paying for those business leaders to flourish?August 16, 2018
The Magna Carta of Humanity: Human Nature Post-Auschwitz, Post-Hiroshima, and Pre-Singularity; How the State Serves Both Salvation and Religious Freedom; Some Thoughts and Advice for the College-Bound Students in Your Life; Why Should We Care About the Arts?; Telling a Better Story and more, in this issue of Christian Union's bi-monthly email brief.
The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry.— Psalm 34:15
August 16, 2018
Thursday, August 16, 2018
How to Win Friends and Influence People “And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.” Luke 16:9-10 (ESV)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 as a sort of “apology” for Jesus’ radical inclusion and acceptance of such shadowy characters as deeply consonant with the shape of God’s coming kingdom in the world.August 15, 2018
Christian Union Celebrates Graduating Students at HLS
August 15, 2018
Bryan ’19 Is Inspired by Parents’ Missionary Zeal
August 15, 2018
Scripture Keeps Hegefeld ’20 Rooted
August 15, 2018
Fellowship Will Enable Lind ’18 to Record Album
August 15, 2018
Camille Zimmerman ’18 Enjoys WNBA Tryout
August 15, 2018
Movement Inspires Believers Nationwide to Seek the Lord
August 15, 2018
Christian Union New York Hosts Conference for Professionals
August 15, 2018
Wednesday, August 15, 2018
The Artist's WorkSo God created man in his own image… Genesis 1:27 (ESV)See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft. Exodus 31:2-5 (ESV)As we open the treasure trove of God's revelation to us in the Scriptures, we find, in the first place, God creates. Through and in and for His beloved and eternal Son, He creates/has created all things, in heaven and on the earth, visible and invisible. What can it mean, then, that we are made in God's image, if not at least that our inventive imaginations and the irrepressible desire to make things are fundamental to our human nature? In addition to our clever minds and immortal souls, God has blessed us above the animals with two key features: hands capable of the most intricate manipulation of objects and tools, so as to work out our designs in the physical world, and voices capable of the most diverse and subtle articulations of sounds, whereby we can speak and sing our minds to whomever has ears to hear.August 14, 2018
Tuesday, August 14, 2018
Unavoidable Echos of The StoryFor the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. Romans 1:18-20 (ESV)August 13, 2018
Monday, August 13, 2018
Telling a Better StorySo Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. Acts 17:22-23 (ESV)Every day, thousands of Americans enter into a temple of sorts to take part in ritual and storytelling that have echoes of a religious encounter. The movie theater, in many ways, provides a similar experience to a church: an ornate building in the center of town where the community gathers for an experience that transcends their day-to-day. And in these hushed assemblies stories are told—some to inspire, others to challenge, some to make us cheer, others to frighten.August 2, 2018
Faithful in the Little Things; Your Gift to Freshman Outreach Matched Today — Up to $25,000; Please Join Us in a 21 Day Fast; Solzhenitsyn's Prophecy; Go Forward in What God is Calling You to Do in Life and more, in this issue of Christian Union's bi-monthly email brief.
“I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.”— Nehemiah 1:4
July 18, 2018
Turning the World Upside Down; Trials and Integrity; Winsome, But Firm; Exile: A Roadmap for Resident Aliens; 3 Things Your Calling is Not and more, in this issue of Christian Union's bi-monthly email brief.
Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.— 1 Peter 2:17
July 16, 2018
by Geoff SackettTrials have the unmistakable quality of being difficult. Just ask Job, or Jeremiah, or Naomi, or Joseph. And yet they are not without purpose. It is not as if they show Satan has gained the upper hand. Or that God is wantonly cruel. Trials do not show that the Enemy has won or that God is vindictive. Listen to how James describes trials:“. . . when you meet trials of various kinds . . . the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (1:2, ESV).Conspicuously absent from this verse is any mention of God’s providential, loving hand over trials. But though not explicit, God’s hand is clearly present.
July 10, 2018
