Ryan Bomberger Challenges CU Students to Live Boldly for Christ
“Today I’m talking about life, love, and legacy.”
Ryan Bomberger, co-founder and chief creative officer of The Radiance Foundation and national President’s Fellow at Cornerstone University, returned to campus to deliver a powerful chapel message about God’s love and design for His creation. The foundation’s mission, co-founded with wife Bethany, is to “illuminate the intrinsic value of every human life.”
As a CU President’s Fellows national fellow, Bomberger mentors students to prepare them for Christ-centered engagement in the world through truth and love.
He began by thanking and recognizing CU graphic design student, Emilia Vriesman (’25), who is interning with The Radiance Foundation. “She’s already making a difference,” Bomberger shared, pointing out her designs, stickers, and creative work displayed at the organization’s table. “Cornerstone has poured into her, and she’s now pouring into others around the world.”
Speak Life Through Truth
In his signature mix of honesty and conviction, Bomberger challenged students not to shrink back from cultural conversations. “As Christians, we can’t fear engaging in all these culture-shifting issues,” he said. “We are the ones who know the truth and can speak life and hope into all kinds of situations.”
Motivated by 1 Corinthians 13:6 — “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth” — Bomberger shared how his life conception through rape became a story of redemptive purpose that has fueled The Radiance Foundation’s focus on adoption and saving lives from abortion.
Bomberger reminded students that we each have intrinsic value because of our Creator. “We’re all image bearers of God, all of us, regardless of how we came to be.”
Children Are Blessings
With Psalm 127:3 — “Children are a heritage from the Lord” — he contrasted a worldview that children are burdens compared to God’s vision of life as sacred and full of potential. Bomberger, who was adopted into a large, loving, faith-filled family, declared that every human life is “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139).
Legacy of Redemption
Reflecting on hardships — including battles with depression, blood clots, and cancer — Bomberger testified that God’s plans prevailed. He drew inspiration from the Biblical story of Joseph, who was betrayed and discarded by his brothers but was later used by God to save many lives.
“They tried to destroy what they could not understand,” Bomberger said, anchoring his reflection in Genesis 50:20 to draw life parallels for himself and within the culture today:
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.”
God’s legacy of goodness in his life, Bomber said, began with his birth mom, who courageously gave him life, and his adoptive parents, especially his father Henry, who loved deeply and sacrificially. A businessman and devoted follower of Christ, his father modeled unconditional love, raising 13 children — 10 of them adopted from different racial backgrounds. He poured his faith into their lives.
“The natural outflow of loving Jesus is loving people.”
A Love that Restores
Sharing his wife Bethany’s story of grace and single motherhood, Bomberger described how she chose to give life amid pressure to end her pregnancy. A verse that has defined their ministry is Psalm 34:5:
“Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.”
Their daughter, now a college student, represents a living legacy of faith and purpose.
Running the Race with Purpose
Bomberger closed with Hebrews 12:1-2:
“Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles … and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
He reminded students that their true legacy is in Jesus Christ.
“Nothing we can impart could be more important than the One who embodies life and love — Jesus Christ.”
The message left students, faculty and staff with a renewed call to live courageously and love intentionally in a world desperate for truth and redemption.
Bomberger is an Emmy® Award-winning creative, speaker, and co-founder of The Radiance Foundation, a nonprofit that champions the value of every human life. He is the author of “Not Equal: Civil Rights Gone Wrong” and the co-author of the children’s books “She is She” and “He is He.” His work has been featured in various media outlets such as The New York Times, Fox News, MSNBC, and The Washington Post.
For information about Cornerstone University, the President’s Fellows program, or our 65-plus accredited career-ready degree programs, please contact admissions@cornerstone.edu.
