Converge Magazine

Converge Magazine

Reading Scripture for Love

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Transformed into a means to an end, reading has stopped being an act of sacrificial listening, of letting go of control, of pure delight, of humility and openness for the sake of relationship. I no longer read for love.

“Modern Technology” Book Argues That Technology Diminishes Us

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While our technologies can apparently empower us to become more of ourselves, they can also permit us to become less, diminishing us even as they purport to deliver “more” and “better,” “faster” and “easier.” A large and growing body of evidence suggests that the impact of modern technology—in particular, the impact of automatic machine technology—upon us is not altogether beneficial. The trajectory of modern machine development appears now to be diverging away from and not toward the enrichment of ordinary embodied human being.

My concern is that we are allowing ourselves to be diminished by our own technologies. This, I will argue, is something that we should resist.

Fearless Prayer is a Book About the Purpose of Prayer

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Even a spiritual luminary and scholar like J.I. Packer wrote that “we are all…poor strugglers in our experience of praying.” So if you’re new to prayer, or have crashed and burned many times over in your attempts at meaningful prayer, be of good cheer. You certainly are not alone. And just in case you think that because I am writing an upbeat book on prayer that I don’t struggle, that would not be true. I struggle along with the rest. It just comes with the territory. The occasional struggle, though, is well worth it.

“The Seven Deadly Friendships” Offers Practical Wisdom for Finding Healthy Friendships

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What does the Bible say [about predatory friends]?

Someone who joyfully pursues Christ has good, discernible fruit. Someone who consistently harms people, although they use all the correct Christian language and attend church like the rest of us, does not produce good fruit. Maybe it’s time we stop giving people who say all the right words a hall pass for predatory behavior. Instead, let’s be cautious when we meet someone with big words accompanied by bad actions.

What the Film “Instant Family” Reminds Us About Fostering And Adoption

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Getting to the theatre, I expected to be entertained by the antics of first-time parents and troubled kids portrayed on screen. I was pleasantly surprised to find that “Instant Family” is substantially more than that; it’s a realistic look at the foster care community made by people who clearly have first-hand experience, and a story full of reminders of why investing in fostering or adoption is a worthwhile adventure.

“Reload Love” is About Abandoning Comfort to Help the Hopeless

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I used to look away. I used to see the pain and avert my gaze. But not anymore. Now when I see a difficult image of a child impacted by terror, I take it in. I allow myself to feel the emotions. I often cry, or sit in breathless sadness, or grit my teeth in anger. When I allow myself to do that, it does a work in me that is hard to explain.

Impromptu Vulnerability – What Christians Can Learn from Standup Comedy

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In our lonely, distracted age, people are longing to be seen and heard.

In response to this, words like authenticity or transparency have become buzzwords for churches across the West. They rightly strive to foster more authentic relationships or to be more transparent with their practices, but unfortunately, believers have also learned to fake it. We developed ways to use just enough honesty and still maintain control. If we ever want real authenticity, real transparency, we must step beyond our comfort zones, and we can learn how to do this (and how not to) through an unlikely ally: Standup Comedy.

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