Monthly Archives: November 2016

On the Radio – Walk the Way

On the Radio – Walk the Way

This is Walk the Way, I’m Jeff Klein. And I’m Pam Klein. When 2 single moms from our church needed affordable housing but literally nothing was available after months of searching, God provided a miracle: Landlord John permitted both gals to sign leases in two of his units at rents they could afford. WOW! In exchange, all he requested was that our church would collectively assume the responsibility for regular maintenance issues like lawn mowing, leaf raking and snow shoveling. He lives out of town and this stuff is hard to manage long distance. We, of course, obliged. When we...Read more …
Advent

Advent

  • Posted on November 28, 2016
  • /Under Holiday
❝Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.❞ (1 John 4:7-9) _________________ A few years ago I was given the book Loving Jesus More by Dr. Phil Ryken, President of Wheaton College. The title intrigued me, and I moved it to the top of my growing...Read more …
Practicing Evangelism

Practicing Evangelism

In a recent Christianity Today article, pastor and author Joshua Ryan Butler spoke with Mark Teasdale about his book Evangelism for Non-Evangelists: Sharing the Gospel Authentically (IVP Academic). Teasdale, a professor at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary (a Methodist school on the campus of Northwestern University), teaches a required evangelism course to students who are often wary, if not opposed outright, to the very idea that evangelism is valuable. They are not alone. But of particular interest is Teasdale’s response to CT’s last question, a question about the idea of practicing evangelism: How do we practice evangelism so that our appeals will be beautiful,...Read more …
On the Radio – Walk the Way

On the Radio – Walk the Way

  • Posted on November 23, 2016
  • /Under Holiday
This is Walk the Way, I’m Jeff Klein. And I’m Pam Klein. Martin Luther, the great leader of the Protestant Reformation, once said this: While I drink my little glass of Wittenberg beer, the gospel runs its course. And Presbyterian Pastor Charles Henderson’s insights regarding Luther’s statement are pretty great reminders: On occasion Luther could take respite from all the activity of reforming the great medieval church, knowing that God is the ultimate arbiter of our destiny. No—we are not slaves to the news of this hour; we are rather servants of God who created this world and everything in...Read more …

The On-Ramp for Spiritual Conversations

The other day after playing hockey at lunch, a discussion broke out about what I “really” do. I’ve been playing ball hockey with these guys a couple times a week for years now—they know I’m a pastor and that I consult with churches—but something about our conversation on this particular day made them ask, “What do you really do? So I gave them the straight up answer: I work for a ministry that empowers the church as well as individuals to have meaningful spiritual conversations with those who may believe differently than they do. They were puzzled and said, “Like...Read more …
Hospitality – Getting Out of Our Own Way

Hospitality – Getting Out of Our Own Way

  • Posted on November 18, 2016
  • /Under Welcoming
Sociology is basically the study of how humans relate to other humans. Of course, humans have developed many hundreds if not thousands of unique cultures, so picking one way to relate to everyone isn’t that plausible, EXCEPT when it comes to food. I’m not sure if we realize that the gospel of the Kingdom of God is a culture in and of itself. The reason Jesus was so excited about sharing the Good News (gospel) was because it told the story that the way things are in God’s original created order can be visible here, now. This is why Jesus...Read more …
On the Radio – Walk the Way

On the Radio – Walk the Way

  • Posted on November 16, 2016
  • /Under Welcoming
This is Walk the Way, I’m Jeff Klein. And I’m Pam Klein. Just recently our friend, Hugh Halter, gave us a new copy of his very short little book, Happy Hour–Etiquette and Advice on Holy Merriment. A very short read, I ordered a bunch more just to give away. It’s practical, looking at how we can use our homes as a welcoming mission field. Hugh has an interesting premise: people will not move spiritually until they are connected socially. In other words, those people who believe differently than we do will not be receptive to the message of the Gospel...Read more …
Party time!

Party time!

  • Posted on November 14, 2016
  • /Under Welcoming
We in the West live with annual rhythms like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, the Super-Bowl, and other national times of celebration, but by and large we have forgotten the ancient art—the practice—of weekly celebration, of deep hospitality, through which God can extend His blessing to the world. The party is his way of helping us to remember Him and keep Him first, but it is also the way God teaches us to live and reach the world. For the Halters, parties were all we had. Or at least all we were left with. Although we felt called to a more traditional...Read more …
Prayer: one of a believer’s most loving actions

Prayer: one of a believer’s most loving actions

  • Posted on November 11, 2016
  • /Under Loving
God has been wooing us to himself since the beginning. Here’s how The Message puts it: Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son…. It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for....Read more …
On the Radio – Walk the Way

On the Radio – Walk the Way

  • Posted on November 9, 2016
  • /Under Loving
This is Walk the Way with Jeff Klein. And I’m Pam Klein. At about 8:30 every morning, over the top of my computer and out my front window, I see people from all walks of life heading to their English class at the church a few blocks down. They are refugees– from Eretria and Congo and Burundi. Nepal, Burma and India. Iraq and Iran. Croatia. Thailand. Just to name a few. Walking down the sidewalk in front of my house. Refugees are, by definition, people who’ve been forcibly displaced from their homeland. The literal and figurative road they travel—by foot,...Read more …
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