Sharing

Every November, as the calendar year is winding down, the folks at Oxford Dictionaries in the UK select a word or expression that has attracted a great deal of interest during that year. They choose the winning term based on criteria such as the number of times it is searched online. They call it “The Word of the Year.” The Oxford team tends to choose a word that captures the ethos, mood, or preoccupations of that year. In 2013, the word of the year was selfie: a picture you take of yourself with a smartphone. In 2015, it was emoji: you know,...Read more …

Drew Dyck, author, acquisitions editor at Moody Publishers, and senior editor at CTPastors.com, recently wrote: My evangelist friend Thomas gave me a surprising bit of advice for sharing my faith with non-Christians. “For goodness’ sake, enjoy your faith!” he bellowed in his distinctive Malaysian accent. “Christians get so tense and serious. They forget to show their friends and family that the Christian life is filled with joy.” Religion is a contentious topic these days and the conversations surrounding it are often downright nasty. It’s easy to get stuck in a defensive crouch and lose our joy when we tackle the topic. But...Read more …

When you feel the Holy Spirit nudging you to explain your own God story to someone, chances are you’ve already done the hard work of building trust and have earned the right to share the gospel message. And remember, your relational investment in the person you are about to share with makes it much more likely that they’ll be willing to listen to you and will warmly receive what you have to say. We don’t get many chances for this type of high-trust interaction–it’s a privilege when we’ve got them–so you’ll want to share your story well. The following four simple...Read more …

This is Walk the Way. Brought to you by Q Place. I’m Jeff Klein. When I was young, my family had a 16-foot, 50-horsepower motorboat. Riding in it, terrified me. It was made from wood and literally flexed with the water. I didn’t believe one word of my father’s explanation that this bending was on purpose, that the boat was designed to shift back and forth with the waves. No, I was convinced that at any moment the bottom would break away, the motor would be gone, and we would sink. Eventually, I stopped going on the boat altogether. I...Read more …

One of the most widely acclaimed movies of 2014 was Boyhood, the story of a young boy named Mason growing up in Texas in a broken home. By the time he is a teenager, his formerly deadbeat dad has turned his life in a positive direction and now has a new wife and baby. For Mason’s fifteenth birthday, his step-grandparents give him a Bible engraved with his name. He smiles politely and thanks them. In the next scene, you see Mason holding the Bible on his lap unopened as he and his older sister sit in a church–probably for the first...Read more …

This is Walk the Way. I’m Jeff Klein. It’s been a while now, but I am still basking in the glow of the Cubs’ first World Series Championship in my lifetime. And I’m reflecting on how they got there. Specifically, the unorthodox leadership style of manager, Joe Maddon. Baseball is a game full of tradition, full of people who do it the “way it’s always been done.” But Maddon refused and, instead, used different metrics, focused on the process, and tried ideas that seemed counterintuitive to most baseball insiders. But hey, baby, what do you think now?! Yes. Maddon uses...Read more …

Why Muslims turn to Jesus Between 1991 and 2007, Fuller Theological Seminary’s School of Intercultural Studies conducted a survey among 750 Muslims who had converted to Christianity. Participants were from 30 countries, representing 50 ethnic groups. Here are some of the respondents’ most-cited reasons for converting to the Christian faith: A loving lifestyle Former Muslims credited the love that Christians demonstrated in their relationships with non-Christians and their treatment of women as equals. The undeniable power of God Many Muslims reported that God had used visions and dreams to influence their decisions to convert. After professing Christ, an increase in experiencing...Read more …

Following Jesus involves a dynamic process that starts with putting into practice several general teachings that he laid out. But it also includes a very specific dimension of doing, saying or going exactly where he is indicating at any moment in time. Trust As we learn to follow his commands and put them into practice, our lives are conformed to the general truths expressed in what he said. “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children” (Eph 5:1). He provides us with many opportunities to love God and those around us no matter how we are treated. The circumstances of...Read more …

This is Walk the Way, brought to you by Q Place,  I’m Jeff Klein. And I’m Pam Klein When we traveled to Australia a few years ago, we drove along Australia’s Great Ocean Road, with its massive coastline cliffs. When we stopped at a beach inlet, we heard the ocean, roaring somewhere in the distance. So we set off in search of the sound. Surely the ocean was right there! It wasn’t. Now, I’m the adventurous one, but even I thought we should turn back. Jeff wanted to press on. So we did. Finally, open before us, was the Bass...Read more …