Loving

I found myself in downtown Chicago in a public aid clinic–again–because little Ella needed to have another oral surgery. She’s not my daughter–she’s the daughter of my friend, Beatrice, a refugee from East Africa who has been resettled here in the U.S. for about 6 years now. Beatrice came here with her two daughters and was pregnant with baby Ella at the time. I’ve gotten to know this little family pretty well over the last couple of years and more recently, I find that our lives are becoming increasingly connected. I don’t know. I’ve just felt a nudge that in this time, in this...Read more …

This Facebook post of Christ-follower, husband, father, pastor, humanitarian, activist, and author of Overrated, Eugene Cho, was shared over 3,000 times in the wake of the horror in Charlottesville that occurred over the weekend: Charlottesville. So heartbreaking and infuriating. We weep and mourn over the hatred in the hearts of these white nationalists. We weep and mourn but we can’t give up . . .  . . . I’m reminded of the utter importance of showing up. I’m grateful for the news media, law enforcement, clergy, and peaceful protesters that are currently there to report, protect, pray, and protest. And this is...Read more …

A Greek writer named Lucian, who lived around A.D. 120-200, once said this of the early Christians: It is incredible to see the fervor with which the people of that religion help each other in their wants. They spare nothing. Their first legislator [Jesus] has put it into their heads that they are all brethren. Jenn’s story Jenn recently confessed she never really associated everything Jesus “put into [our] heads” to do—for our fellow believers and for others—with love. She associated things like feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and visiting those in prison, with a “to-do” list—things she was supposed to do because, well, that’s...Read more …

This is Walk the Way. Brought to you by Q Place. I’m Jeff Klein. My brother Scott loves sports and competition. His competitive nature and his over the top athletic ability earns him a lot of respect with guys who are athletes. And although he’s not a professional—I’ll do a little big-brother-bragging here—Scott has been inducted into the National Softball Hall of Fame and is invited to play on all kinds of teams and in many different venues. These opportunities have put him in relationships with many others who don’t know Jesus. Yet, despite his competitive nature, Scott’s heart wants...Read more …

“In the same way your light must shine before people so that they will see the good things you do, and praise your Father in heaven.” – Matthew 5:16 Little acts of love or service are what can open the door, as Jesus said, to helping others “praise your Father in heaven.” What I love best about this way of sharing the Good News of the gospel is that it bears this truth: Most people do not care what you say unless they first know that you care. If we really want to participate in the Kingdom of Heaven, we should...Read more …

In his book Crazy Love, author Francis Chan helps us understand what counts as good news: “God’s definition of what matters is pretty straightforward. He measures our lives by how we love.” A pretty clear mandate Yes, our mandate from Jesus in Matthew 22:36-39 is clear: Love God, love people. Could it be that simple? “We may have complicated evangelism by separating the Great Commandment from the Great Commission. Loving God and loving others is the foundation of the Great Commission.” (The 9 Arts of Spiritual Conversations, ©2016, Tyndale) How to start Love is where evangelism begins. To make disciples of...Read more …

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 …

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 …

Please don’t let this alarm you, but Thanksgiving, the big “kick-off” of the holiday season, is right. Around. The corner. No worries, we’ll pause while you scream. Take a breath. Breathe. There you go, that’s it. Done now? Dysfunctional relationships, families, and all the shopping that begins immediately after that last bite of pumpkin pie can just about rob even the merriest person of all their “merry.” So what can change? Well, as the late great poet Maya Angelou once said, “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.” And that’s precisely what we can do—we can proactively...Read more …

Shannan Martin grew up in a quiet, rural part of Ohio—“God’s country,” the residents called it. Never in her wildest childhood dream would she have imagined that her definition of “God’s country” would be redefined when she and her family sold their own piece of land in the country and moved to the “wrong side of the tracks” in Goshen, IN. While loving used to look a lot more self-absorbed and self-protective, today we welcome Shannan to Q Place to share what that word means to her and her family now in their daily life. ___________________________ Here’s what I know today...Read more …