Tomorrow (Tuesday) we begin our CNCF fall Bible study series entitled Who Is Jesus? On Tuesday at 7 PM we'll be in Foster-Harper in the Formal Lounge. On Thursday at 7 PM we'll be in the Wright Formal Lounge. There will be some time of interactive preaching and teaching, and then we'll break into groups for further discussion, prayer, and to get to know each other better.

In Jesus' day, there were a lot of opinions about who Jesus was. Some thought He was John the Baptist reincarnated, or Elijah, or some other dead prophet. But then He asked His own disciples, "Who do you say that I am?"

If Jesus asked you that same question…

If you've been around campus the past few days, you've maybe noticed a question chalked on the campus sidewalks: DOES IU WANT JESUS ON CAMPUS?

Wondering what this question means? I'll give you a hint: Indiana University is making a push to oust committed religious student organizations from its campuses. For decades, Jesus Christ has been more and more an outlaw here in Bloomington in particular, but this new University-wide policy signals a bold step for the University in making war on Christ and His kingdom.

Find out more at the CNCF Fall Kickoff in Woodburn 101 this Thursday at 8 PM (after CultureFest).

You're finally here! We hope you're getting settled in and geared up for your new classes, your new school year, and your new life. As you transition into life as a college student and life on your own, we're here to serve you.

We are Clearnote Campus Fellowship. We're an evangelical campus ministry rooted in the local church. We strive to see IU students know, love, and obey Jesus Christ. To find out more about what we believe, what we do, and what our mission is, you could click around the website. But hey, you didn't come to college to click around on websites. At least, I hope not. I hope you came to meet people! Well, we want to meet you, too.

The best way to meet us this week is to come to our Fall Kickoff this Thursday at 8 PM in Woodburn 101. We'll tell you all about who we are, what we do, and why. Come find out about CNCF on Tuesday nights, Bible studies, the Fall Retreat, mission trips, and more. And, you'll even get to hear some powerful stories of God working in the lives of real students.

Looking for a good church in Bloomington? Come on Thursday, and we'll get you connected with a ride to Clearnote Church this Sunday!

We're looking forward to meeting you!

Today we went on campus to help freshman students and their families carry mini-fridges, futons, and other dorm-room paraphernalia from their cars to their new rooms.

This week is Welcome Week. It's one of the University's most intense times of assimilating new students into the decadent culture of the University. Don't know what I mean? Here's a poster that shamelessly adorned the hallway of one floor we were on today:

All Scripture testifies to the value of human life.

I found an unexpected example of this last night as we read Esther 7 at our CNCF leaders meeting. At this point in Esther, Haman, the enemy of God and His people, has surreptitiously brought about a decree which enacts the destruction of all Jews in the Persian Empire. Queen Esther comes before King Ahasuerus (and risks her life in doing so) to plead for the lives of her people, the Jews. When appealing to the king, she makes this shocking statement which grates on our decadent Americanistic sensibilities:

Notice Esther's comparison. She says it would have been better for her people, the Jews, to suffer slavery and oppression, rather than to be annihilated. In fact, she goes so far as to say that, in comparison to annihilation, a mass oppression and enslavement of her people would not have even been worth the king's time. But their imminent extermination, an infinitely more grievous prospect than a life of suffering and affliction, warranted the potentate's attention, even at the risk of her own life.

Esther's godly reasoning speaks directly to one of the primary arguments in favor of the abortion holocaust going on in our nation. I've been told many times that it is better for a child to be murdered than for that child to be born into a life of poverty and potential suffering. And we're so easily taken in by this wicked reasoning. But this is not the teaching of Scripture.

Open your eyes and see the injustice going on around you. If you look back on the Holocaust and on American slavery and think that you would have risked your life to protect the afflicted Jews or Blacks, and yet you are unwilling to give a voice to the voiceless victims of our day, you are lying to yourself.

Brothers and sisters, we must be Esther.

—John Piper, Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ