Welcoming

Danny Spitzberg’s work is primarily interested in “community spaces” and how people move from “do it yourself” to “do it together.” He is particularly interested in how to welcome people to a space and make those who visit feel welcomed by the community that works and plays there. Emphasizing how crucial the initial encounter is, he agrees with Lori Kane who puts it this way: “If you do just one thing: Say ‘Welcome! I’m so glad you’re here!‘” Perhaps even more importantly, he understands that the success of any organization is getting their visitors to stay and become part of the community themselves. In...Read more …

Here’s a radio-minute that aired nationally this week on Q Place’s Walk the Way: This is Walk the Way. Brought to you by Q Place. I’m Jeff Klein. My friend Chris had planned a special breakfast date with his kids, but as all good things do, it came to an end. It was time to go home. But since they’d walked to the restaurant, they obviously had to walk back. Leaving is never as fun as going, and Chris found himself continually urging his crew: Come on Jonathan, let’s go, Shana. It didn’t work. So then he tried something new, turning drudgery...Read more …

We have had 22 healthy sheep born this winter, but the other day, all I could think about was this little one right here. We dripped syringes full of milk in her mouth, tried to get her warm, consulted the vet, and doctored her sick mama. (I will spare you the details of that.) Death has become something familiar since we started farming, but it still makes my stomach hurt. She died about 10 minutes after I took this picture. “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in...Read more …

George and Joann are my neighbors. My literal neighbors. We share a fence and they live right next door. And they are some of the best neighbors a family could ever ask for. They’re the kind of people who lend you their pick-up truck whenever you need to haul firewood or mulch (or even a great piece of furniture off the curb!), continually invite you to use their cabin in Wisconsin “whenever you can find the time” and have an “open garage” policy when it comes to borrowing tools. They’re also not believers. And welcoming them into my life—as they have welcomed...Read more …

This is Walk the Way, brought to you by Q Place, I’m Jeff Klein. And I’m Pam Klein. A friend of ours–you know how Facebook goes!–posted a video about Joey Alexander, the teen jazz prodigy. Wow. Joey’s growth into a world class musician was not traditional. His father, an amateur musician himself, didn’t demand that his son take a specific path–no lessons or study with a master. Instead, he nurtured Joey’s natural interests by exposing him to great artists and letting Joey determine his own direction, listening to the likes of Thelonius Monk, Wynton Marsalis, Duke Ellington, and John Coltrane....Read more …

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 …

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 …

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 …

This is Walk the Way, brought to you by Q Place, I’m Jeff Klein. And I’m Pam Klein. Chicago was so crowded the night we went in for my birthday dinner! We’d forgotten it was the same day as the Gay Pride parade. But one look at all the colorful clothing that surrounded us and it clicked. Fortunately, we secured an Uber to get us around downtown.  Tangela was our driver–and was she ever decked out! Blue lipstick. A great hat with a huge heart on it, rainbow fingernails. Festive to the “nth” degree! And before we knew it, it...Read more …

Today, just a few more things as my thoughts from Monday’s blog continue to tumble around in my brain. Yes, it is true. As I wrote on Monday: Our Heavenly Father doesn’t allow us to remain satisfied with our own good fortune—He keeps rocking our world so that we will awaken to those around us who need freedom and healing, too. Our call absolutely is to welcome others into freedom and healing as our Father has welcomed us. But, WOW. It can be hard sometimes. Oh, not the initial welcoming. Honestly, that’s the easy part. I’m talking about the long haul. Sustainable...Read more …