Monthly Archives: November 2015

Pick your fight.

Pick your fight.

Apathy occurs when you don’t think your time, money or effort will make a difference. When you stop listening to the cries of the world or looking at the pain in the world, your emotions and passions dull, and you’re as good as dead if you let it continue. Incarnation calls you to courageously keep alert and stay available. Most importantly, you really do have to pick a fight or two. But likely not the kind you’re thinking of. One day I got home and my wife, Cheryl, really wanted to talk. “Okay. So we really need to start praying....Read more …
On the Radio – Walk the Way

On the Radio – Walk the Way

  • Posted on November 27, 2015
  • /Under Holiday
This is Walk The Way, brought to you by Q Place, I’m Jeff Klein. Yesterday, many of us sat around a table to celebrate Thanksgiving. Michael Hebb – an entrepreneur and activist – has made an entire career around doing so. Pointing out that eating together is a vanishing ritual in our culture, replaced by fast food, drive through windows, and eating alone, Hebb travels the world, sharing a dinner table with everyone he meets, encouraging them to do the same. He believes eating together at the table can change the world. Long before, Jesus seemed to get this, too....Read more …
At Table

At Table

  • Posted on November 25, 2015
  • /Under Holiday
A couple of years back, Panera Bread ran a compelling ad campaign that began as a list: The Mac guy and the PC guy, Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, Sons-in-law and Mothers-in-law, Introverts and Extroverts, Sarah Palin and Tina Fey, The Right and the Left, Brett Favre and Wisconsin, Red Sox Fans and Yankees Fans, The Roadrunner and the Coyote, Those who install toilet paper over and those who prefer it under… Break Bread. Pretty funny! But why? Why break bread? What can breaking bread together actually do for people on opposite sides of the fence? Tomorrow, most Americans will...Read more …
The Dwelling

The Dwelling

  • Posted on November 24, 2015
  • /Under On Q
It’s time to focus on the dwelling part of John 1:14: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen His glory.” I’ve read thousands of pages and truckloads of books about the incarnation, and not once have I heard any significant commentary on the fact that Jesus left His king’s palace in heaven and moved to the cheapest side of the tracks, brought Himself a little shack next to the rest of us, put a rocking chair on the front porch and a barbecue in the backyard, and became our neighbor. That’s big news, and...Read more …
Become a Guide on the Side

Become a Guide on the Side

I have a friend named Bill who loved leading his small group made up of several couples from his church. It gave him opportunities to teach others what he was learning in his Sunday school Bible class. Bill was learning a lot by preparing for his regular presentation to the group. There wasn’t much dynamic discussion or diversity of opinion, as it wasn’t necessary with Bill in the room. He had almost any answer that people needed. The other members of the group didn’t always agree with Bill or get to talk much, but he made it so clear that...Read more …
On the Radio – Walk the Way

On the Radio – Walk the Way

  • Posted on November 20, 2015
  • /Under Welcoming
This is Walk the Way, brought to you by Q Place, I’m Jeff Klein. And I’m Pam Klein. When the phone rang with the news that their dog, Dakota, had found her way back home after being lost in the woods, my friend, Jenn, and her husband, Bob, cried tears of happiness. Her 40-hour disappearance in an unfamiliar area thick with coyotes and other dangers had made them heartsick with worry. It didn’t matter that she was dirty or that she might need a trip to the vet–they welcomed her home with open arms.   Jenn told me that Dakota’s...Read more …
Year-end Giving? Year-long Giving!

Year-end Giving? Year-long Giving!

  • Posted on November 17, 2015
  • /Under On Q
With one flip of the calendar page from November to December, you will officially brace yourself for all that’s coming and prepare to fully thrust yourself into the shopping, snow, more shopping, decorating, working, more snow, office parties, sleet, school parties, ice, baking, ham, and yes, more working and shopping, gift wrapping, card writing, and bow tie-ing— with every ounce of energy you can muster—because THIS is the season of GIVING! THIS is the season, our culture tells us, of good will, glad tidings, comfort and joy—and by golly, we will do it! Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not...Read more …
Psalm 46

Psalm 46

  • Posted on November 16, 2015
  • /Under Special
On Thursday, November 12, twin blasts hit Beirut, Lebanon’s al-Barajneh district, resulting in the deaths of at least 43 people, with 239 more, injured. On Friday morning, November 13, a magnitude-4.3 earthquake struck Baja California, Mexico. On Friday evening, November 13, three teams of terrorists acting in unison carried out a coordinated assault in Paris. As of Sunday afternoon, the death toll rose to 132 and at least 352 people were wounded. All of this before the weekend really even got started. As the world returns to the routines of “normalcy” this Monday morning, the Q Place team is continuing to...Read more …
On the Radio – Walk the Way

On the Radio – Walk the Way

  • Posted on November 13, 2015
  • /Under Loving
This is Walk the Way, brought to you by Q Place, I’m Jeff Klein. And I’m Pam Klein. When Ruth arrived at Beatrice’s apartment one morning, cleaning supplies in hand, she assumed that cleaning was, indeed, on their agenda that day. After all, that’s what they’d talked about – Ruth would come and help Beatrice do some clothes organizing and deep cleaning. So why did Beatrice invited her to sit down, have some tea, and play a game? It’s like the line in the old Scottish poem: “the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry!” It didn’t take...Read more …
Host a Christmas Party…About Christmas!

Host a Christmas Party…About Christmas!

  • Posted on November 12, 2015
  • /Under On Q
I hosted a Christmas Party that was actually about Christmas with my neighbor, Barbara, last year in mid December. But I’ll confess right here: I wasn’t thrilled at all about the idea at first! For 2¢ I would have scrapped the whole thing! Several other neighbors were hosting holiday parties up and down the block — the kind of which I felt most people were more accustomed to. Ours was “risky” and quite frankly, it felt monumental to do. The “chicken factor” in me was intensifying! But despite the fact that we told everyone we invited beforehand that this was a Christmas Party about Christmas, and that we...Read more …
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