Welcoming

I’m a professional free-lance voice talent. That’s code for a person who gets hired to read scripts (or “copy” as it’s called in “the business”) for everything from corporate training videos to movie trailers or TV or radio commercials. We’re the people you don’t see, but you do hear. Sure, it’s an industry being taken over by the “famous voices” but I’m grateful there’s still plenty of room for “working talent” like me. You could say I read out loud for a living! Just recently, I was hired to read a book so that it could also be offered to the public in an audio format....Read more …

“Only about 20% of people regularly spend time with those living next to them, and one third report never interacting with their neighbors, according to a 2015 report from economist Joe Cortwright” (quoted in the May 2016 Reader’s Digest). I find it interesting that Acts 17:26 states, “God began by making one man. From him came all the different people who live everywhere in the world. He decided exactly when and where they must live” (Emphasis mine, NCV). Why did God put me in this state, in this city, in this neighborhood, in this house—at this time? Could he have...Read more …

Editor’s Note: If you have the desire to engage in spiritual conversations with those who believe differently, you will undoubtedly find the following thoughts helpful, recently written by Q Place president, Mary Schaller, for crosswalk.com. Somehow, our ways of spreading the good news about Jesus have turned into bad news for so many. Before we can facilitate any spiritual conversation, our lives have to welcome. We have to love. ____________________________ Insensitive. Judgmental. Hypocritical. Narrow minded. Preachy.  This was the rapid-fire response I got from a small group discussion I was facilitating when the topic of evangelism came up. It was a...Read more …

I entered the building where I was to have the MRI for my aching back, pounding the snow from my boots. Intent upon loosing every last piece of slush, I was interrupted when I heard someone call out, “Good morning!” I looked up to see two women sitting at the front desk in the lobby. One was chatting away on the telephone—busy with another client, but smiling and waving at me. The other just sat, grinning. Grinning at me, her headset atop her head like some wild tech-headband. Then she exclaimed again, “Good morning!” I smiled back. How could I not?...Read more …

As someone who works in business, have you consistently heard these two messages from the Church? Really good Christians go into full-time Christian service. Success in the marketplace cannot be reconciled with a world burdened by poverty and hunger. In this video, Rich Berg, CEO and co-founder of Performance Trust Capital Partners, challenges us to think about vocation differently. “All work matters. We’re all working for the Kingdom.” Excellence in all sectors of society “creates credibility and standing” and paves the way for the possibility of spiritual conversations. Our work matters! And excellence in our work will welcome skeptics to...Read more …

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 …

This is Walk the Way, brought to you by Q Place, I’m Jeff Klein. At the camp where I spoke a few weeks ago, one particular student was assigned his own counsellor to accompany him wherever he went. I’m not sure of his disabilities, but clearly he was different. I have a disabled brother so I immediately thought, “I want this student to be welcomed and find a way to belong.” And God made it happen. It was the end of the second chapel and I had just closed in prayer when this young man bolted from his seat and...Read more …

As my wife, Danielle, and I prepared to buy our first home, we prayed that God would place us in a neighborhood where we could intentionally love our neighbors like Jesus. The initial awkwardness of being the “new people on the block” soon gave way to friendly connections, but we yearned to build deeper community. We prayed for our neighborhood and wanted to extend Jesus’ love to our neighbors. One day, I surprised my next-door neighbor by mowing his front lawn. It only took me a couple extra minutes, but when he and his wife noticed, you would have thought...Read more …

It is hard to overstate the impact that a genuinely warm welcome can have in a person’s life. Welcoming someone bridges them from being a vulnerable outsider to being connected in relationship. When you accept and include someone, you lay the initial groundwork for a relationship to thrive and grow. Conversely, by not welcoming someone, you shut down a person’s interest or willingness to engage relationally. Welcoming provides a safe environment where wrestling with matters of faith for more than just one quick conversation is acceptable, and dealing with the hardships of life without being judged is allowed. It is...Read more …

I think most of us would acknowledge that Jesus was the most righteous man to ever live. I think we’d also agree that Jesus very easily built relationships with people who were broken and far from God. The book of Matthew reports He was called a friend of sinners. But wouldn’t lost and broken people be put off by the most righteous person to ever live? No, the opposite was true. Consider this: We’re supposed to live like Jesus lived. Yet when we consider being a “friend of sinners,” we often fear that being a friend “makes it seem like I’m in...Read more …