Search Results for: ask questions

A Matter of Character

A Matter of Character

In learning to ask good questions we must consider the question a catalyst. By doing that we focus on how it produces an effect and learn how to ask questions appropriately. If I know a good question, but do not ask it in light of the needs of the person I am speaking with or the environment we are in, the question does not do what it should. The question itself is one of several factors that determine how a person responds when queried. These are some things that can influence whether a question evokes a good response: the current attitude...Read more …
Reflections on VITAL: SF East Bay

Reflections on VITAL: SF East Bay

  • Posted on November 1, 2015
  • /Under On Q
I was surprised by how much more I was impacted by this second VITAL event in the Bay Area; I had attended the one in March, but because my life is so full, I admit I was tempted to skip this one. Yet it turned out that I was greatly inspired and renewed in the midst of seeking God’s guidance in how I can reach out more to seekers to bring them into our current groups, and in how to start other groups and find leaders. As I visited with those who were having first experiences with Q Place I heard comments...Read more …
No Mud Here

No Mud Here

If you’re a parent, then more than likely, you’ve assembled a child’s toy. If you’re reading this, you lived through it. Typically, toys come with instructions written by somebody somewhere whose job it was to build the toy and painstakingly communicate—step by step—precisely how they did it. This is meant to help me. And I’m sure the intentions behind the pictures and numbered steps and labeled parts and phrases like, “Put part B into part A using nut D and bolt C,” are noble and kind. But they are as clear as mud! You know what I’m talking about. Let...Read more …
Unconditional Acceptance

Unconditional Acceptance

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 …
On the Radio – Walk the Way

On the Radio – Walk the Way

This is Walk the Way, brought to you by Q Place, I’m Jeff Klein. I recently spoke at a camp to about 350 high school students. At 55 years old, that’s a stretch. Aren’t camp speakers supposed to be cool, young, and handsome? Maybe. And if I ever was all that, it’s long gone. But age has brought along with it a new secret weapon: I ask questions. One student even told me that I was more social than most speakers. Interesting. Could it be because of the great conversation I’d just had with her and her whole cabin? And...Read more …
How did Jesus start a movement?

How did Jesus start a movement?

Jesus clearly had a goal for his three years of ministry on earth: begin the world-shaping movement of the Kingdom of God. Outcomes vs. process If Jesus had focused only on the outcomes of this goal, then he would have surely embraced the lure of the crowds, held daily rallies in various cities throughout the ancient world, and continued performing miracles. We certainly know that Jesus could gather a crowd without even trying! Yet one has to ask this question: Would following that strategy, with its focus on immediacy, have limited Jesus’ impact to the time he was on earth? Years later, would people just have had...Read more …
Doing love

Doing love

  • Posted on June 30, 2017
  • /Under Loving
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 …
Something worth practicing

Something worth practicing

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. And I’m Pam Klein. We don’t need to look any farther than Jesus’ example for ways to move out in mission. Jesus noticed people. People like Zaccheaus and the crippled man at the pool of Bethesda. Jesus initiated countless conversations. Remember the story of the Samaritan woman at the well? Jesus intentionally went out of his way to engage with her, notice her and ask her some questions. Jesus prayed. The Bible records Jesus...Read more …
Success hinges on how well you welcome

Success hinges on how well you welcome

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 …
Can you do what Jesus did?

Can you do what Jesus did?

Not too long ago, on the way out of church, Jack and his wife, Pat, noticed a woman, alone, still sitting in her seat. But because they’d been trained to notice others and understand that, in the middle of their ordinary routines and ordinary days, God puts people in front of us for a reason, they stopped to say hello, introduce themselves, and ask if anything was wrong. The three ended up eating together and through asking questions and listening, they unpacked the woman’s story. Her husband had left, she lost her job, and now she felt at the end of her...Read more …
← Newer Posts
Older Posts →