by Bob Putman, Director of Communications at Converge
Read Luke 2:15-21
Now the story turns. After an astounding visitation by an army of angels, the shepherds watch as the host ascends into the sky and disappears. So the sheepherders rush off to Bethlehem to see what the angel proclaimed. Climbing the terraced...
Does the never-ending list of pastors who have either flamed out, dropped out, or copped out depress you? Does it scare you? Or both?
If those men could not go the distance, how can you and I hope to?
Is it possible we need to be more intentional about developing spiritual and emotional resilience?
You know…resilience. Flexibility. Adaptability. The ability to bend without breaking. The ability to bounce back after setbacks....
Read Luke 2:8-14
Except when they deliver sheep to the Temple in Jerusalem, the Bethlehem shepherds are treated as social outcasts, ceremonially unclean and suspected as thieves. Yet after Mary and Joseph, they are the first to hear the gospel. God reveals his greatest news first to the poor, foolish and weak of this world, not the priestly caste or nobility.
Suddenly, an angel of the Lord stood in their...
by Bob Putman, Director of Communications at Converge
Read Luke 2:1-7
The story is so familiar, too spare in its detail to satisfy our curiosity. Yet Luke alone includes it in his Gospel. Why?
Luke leaves out important details from his narrative, which could have built and sustained dramatic tension. How far along is Mary in her pregnancy? What is her means of transport on the journey, and her level of...
by Bob Putnam, Director of Communications at Converge
To celebrate Christ's coming, we share a series of four blogs this Advent season.
Read Matthew 1:18-25
His beloved Mary, to whom he is engaged, is a beautiful young woman. And now Joseph, a carpenter and godly man, has learned she is pregnant by someone else. Tormented by her apparent adultery, he prays fervently and wracks his brain to...
On October 28, 2016, myips.org featured the following article about Indy Metro Church, a Converge MidAmerica church. The original article may be viewed here.
For the last five years, Indy Metro Church has been investing in students at Arsenal Technical High School by way of their stomachs.
Pastor Aaron Story along with his wife,...
Many years ago I heard a leader once say that, “Christian leaders usually travel at 20,000 RPMs. Always on the run, running to the next appointment, running to beat a deadline, running to intervene in a crisis, running … running … running. The problem is that God only speaks to us at 500 RPMs.”
This is the challenge for every leader.
So how do we slow down enough to hear God’s voice, hear His heart and His affirming...
by Avdal Boktor
The largest population of the Middle Eastern community, outside of the Middle East and North Africa, is found residing in Michigan. Thousands of Middle Easterners arrive in Michigan every year as refugees, looking to find a new beginning and to begin new lives for their families. Some of them have lost a family member, their home, or their life-savings, and some have lost everything. They come in desperate need of hope and...
