John Ortberg

Gifted--that’s you! Uniquely equipped to help build up the body of Christ. As a follower of Jesus, serving others is an integral part of your identity and an important key to your personal growth. But how do you cultivate a servant’s heart and your spiritual gifts in ways that build up your church, your family, your friends, and your world--without wiping you out in the process? Gifts guides you to the answers. Through personal study and small group interaction, this study will help you develop a passion to be used by God. You’ll find out about your unique place in the body of Christ and how to surmount the obstacles that keep you from thriving. You’ll discover the joy of serving with others--doing together what you cannot do alone. And you’ll learn how to abide in Christ, experiencing a freshness and vitality that grow as you give! Leader’s guide included! Gifts group sessions are:Use Me! Use My Gifts! Walking into WeaknessComparison: The Killjoy of ServanthoodThe Ministry of the MundaneServanthood’s Bell-Shaped CurveAbide in Him

Jesus said more about money than just about any other topic. Clearly, it is an important issue--and a touchy one! Deep down, we know it is not a matter of what we earn but how we manage what we earn that shows our ultimate priorities. Giving demonstrates how good stewardship is more than a responsibility—it’s an adventure. As you study the connection between your wallet and your heart, you’ll learn how money management is a powerful tool for shaping your character. You’ll discover how giving is as much a part of spiritual growth as prayer and Bible study. And you’ll learn about the rewards of cultivating wise financial habits and a generous heart. Above all, you’ll find out how a lifestyle of giving reflects the heart of God, who freely gives his best to you. Leader’s guide included! Giving group sessions are:Money: Why Is It So Important to God? The Open Hands of GodTithing: A Training Exercise for the HeartBehind the Scenes of DebtWhat Is a Biblical Lifestyle? Cultivating a Heart of CompassionThe Chance of a Lifetime

Is there really any hope for a spiritual way of living that actually works? Admiration, comfort, love, power, success, pleasure, escape, control: we're all addicted to something, whether we realize it or not. In this deeply heartfelt book, author John Ortberg offers a guide for transformation when we know something needs to change but we can't do it on our own. Rooted in the teachings of Jesus and using the framework of AAs 12 steps as a guide, Ortberg offers all of us a freeing roadmap for: Giving up our exhausting and fruitless efforts to fix, manage, and control our own livesDistinguishing between when willpower is essential and when it is futileDiscovering how God can do for us what we can't do for ourselves, andliving authentically, joyfully and in communion with God and other people. Ortberg shows us how to discover: Our spiritual attachment stylesOur core doubts The benefits of practices like prayer, meditation, and mindfulnessGod's sufficiency in our inadequacyIn Steps, find what's needed to experience a new freedom, a new fellowship and a new happiness no matter our circumstances.

In this refreshingly candid look at what it takes to live a life of faith, John Ortberg takes an honest look at the misgivings and uncertainties that often shake our beliefs as we navigate through the highs and lows of life. Reflecting on his own bouts with doubt and uncertainty, Ortberg shares with readers his discovery that, rather than being a contradiction in terms, doubt and faith may be very much a part of each other. He challenges readers to consider how doubt can motivate us to study and learn, how questioning expands our understanding, and how uncertainty can lead to trust. These challenges point us toward the relief of being totally honest. The right kind of doubt can be a gift—an action-generating truth that actually allows us to deepen our faith and intimacy with God. Written to challenge, comfort, and inspire readers, Know Doubt reveals uncertainty as a cause for celebration.

Does God really speak to people? Can we still hear his voice and follow his leading in a way that will bring transformation to our lives? Do the words of God connect in a way that will penetrate the human heart and shape us into all we hope and dream we can become? The answer is a crystal-clear yes! The words of the prophets trumpet across the centuries, calling us to authentic spiritual lives. God longs to see his character mirrored in each of us. This small group study takes you though the words of the prophets and unveils truths that will help you enter new levels of spiritual maturity. The Truth for Today small group series is a high-impact tool for discovering the power and relevance of the Old Testament. This innovative series combines Bible study with an enjoyable, interactive format to help you and your group experience God’s Word as it really is: energetic, immediate, and life-transforming. Other Truth for Today Small Group Discussion GuidesCreating a New Community: The Torah (9 Sessions)Stepping Out in Faith: The History of Israel (7 Sessions)Developing a Heart for God: The Wisdom Books (8 Sessions)

What would your life be like if Jesus lived it? Imagine the change you would experience in your thoughts, actions, and relationships. Think of the joy and freedom that could transform every area of your life. That’s exactly what God has in mind for you! You’ll find out how in Growth. Through personal study and small group interaction, this study sets you on a path to live out the character of Jesus in this world as only you can. It happens not by trying hard, but by training. By cultivating spiritual disciplines--Scripture meditation, prayer, solitude, endurance, loving others--you’ll discover the joy of being transformed by Christ and the freedom of living each day sustained by his power. Leader’s guide included! Growth group sessions are:Training to Live Like JesusThe Practice of Scripture MeditationThe Practice of SolitudeSimple PrayerThree Transforming PrayersThe Roundabout WayAnd the Greatest of These Is Love

Community is God’s idea. Only in community can we know and be known, love and be loved, celebrate others and be celebrated by them. And only through close, transparent relationships can we be transformed as individuals. Groups invites you to enjoy the rewards--and embrace the risks--of community. Step by step, this study will challenge and encourage you to explore the amazing potential for growth found in authentic relationships. You’ll study the true nature of friendship. The power of paying attention. The path to intimacy. The encouragement of being for one another. You’ll learn what it means to live out these and other simple but vital truths for being all you are, giving all you’ve got, and receiving all you need as a member of God’s dynamic community, the church. Leader’s guide included! Groups group sessions are:This Is a FriendshipLove Pays AttentionKnowing and Being KnownWhen Community Breaks DownForgivenessBuilding a Passionately Inclusive ChurchBeing "For" One Another

Existe realmente esperanza para experimentar una vida espiritual que d fruto? Todos, de una u otra forma, somos adictos: al control, al xito, al placer o a la aprobaci n. Este libro profundamente sincero de John Ortberg nos gu a hacia la transformaci n que solo Dios puede dar. Apoy ndose en las ense anzas de Jes s y en la sabidur a de los 12 Pasos, Ortberg ofrece una hoja de ruta pr ctica y liberadora para vivir con autenticidad, gozo y en comuni n con Dios y con los dem s. Dios puede hacer por nosotros lo que no podemos por nuestras fuerzas: darnos libertad verdadera, relaciones m s s lidas y una alegr a duradera en cualquier circunstancia. Pasos es una invitaci n a un cambio profundo y a un caminar renovado con Cristo.

«HVEM ER JEG I FERD MED Å BLI?» Dette spørsmålet plaget pastor og forfatter John Mark Comer. Utad framsto han som vellykket. Men på innsiden var det ikke særlig vakkert. Derfor henvendte han seg til en mentor han hadde stor tillit til, og fikk høre følgende ord: «Du må kompromissløst eliminere hastverk fra livet ditt. Hastverk er den store fienden for åndelig liv.» Det var ikke det svaret han hadde forventet, men det var det svaret han trengte – og fortsatt trenger. Altfor ofte behandler vi de giftige symptomene i vår moderne verden i stedet for å prøve å finne årsaken. Et økende antall stemmer peker på hastverk, eller travelhet, som roten til mye ondt. Denne boken kan hjelpe deg til å roe ned tempoet. Den er en veileder som viser deg hvordan du kan holde deg emosjonelt sunn og åndelig levende i vår tids stressede, kaotiske hverdag. «Det er vanskelig å se for seg et menneske som ikke vil ha utbytte av å lese denne boken. Comer flombelyser det problematiske ved å leve i en kultur hvor travelhet og distraksjon er normen, og gir oss samtidig innsikt i hvordan man skal komme i kontakt med Gud og oss selv igjen.» – Thomas Neteland, forfatter og ansvarlig for lederutvikling, media og kommunikasjon i Pinsebevegelsen «Møtet med Comers bok ble for meg et profetisk korrektiv, som viser meg at travelhet ikke bare rammer min egen livskvalitet, men noe langt viktigere: Travelheten rammer det største målet for all åndelig vekst, å vokse i kjærlighet. Heldigvis formidler Comer ikke bare tanker, men praktiske ideer til hvordan vi kan ta steg ut i en ny frihet.» – Egil Elling Ellingsen, pastor i IMI-kirken

ECPA Christian Book Award Finalist; Foreword INDIES Book of the Year FinalistEveryone who met Dallas Willard was impressed by his personal attention, calm confidence, wisdom, and profound sense of the spiritual. But he was not always the man who seemed to live on a different plane of reality than the rest of us. Dallas absorbed some of the harshest and most unfair blows life can land. His mother died when he was two, and after his father remarried, he was exiled from his stepmother's home. Growing up in Depression-era, rural Missouri and educated in a one-room schoolhouse, he knew poverty, deprivation, anxiety, self-doubt, and depression. Though the pews he sat in during his early years didn't offer much by way of love and mercy, Dallas, instead of turning away, kept looking for the company of a living, present, and personal God. In Gary W. Moon's candid and inspiring biography, we see how Dallas's love of learning took him to Baylor University, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Southern California, where he became a beloved professor and one of the most versatile members of the philosophy department as well as a personal mentor to hundreds of pastors, philosophers, and average churchgoers.

Packed with new research, new interviews, and practical solutions, this updated and expanded edition of Next will equip pastors, ministry teams, and Christian organizations to navigate leadership changes with wisdom and grace. While there is no simple, one-size-fits-all solution to the puzzle of planning for a seamless pastoral succession, Next offers church leaders and pastors a guide to asking the right questions in order to plan for the future. Vanderbloemen, founder of a leading pastoral search firm, and Bird, an award-winning writer and researcher, share insider stories of succession failures and successes in dozens of churches, including some of the nation's most influential. The authors demystify successful pastoral succession and help you prepare for an even brighter future for your ministry. Includes a foreword by John Ortberg and an introduction by Eric Geiger and Kenton Beshore.

Vad är egentligen frälsning? I den här boken argumenterar John Ortberg för att själva begreppet "frälsning" behöver räddas från det missförstånd som det ofta alltför ofta fått både innanför och utanför kyrkan. Många tror att "bli frälst" handlar om att klara minimikraven för att komma till himlen när man dör. Men det var inte alls så som Jesus beskrev det. Rätt förstått är att bli frälst det mest trängande behovet för varje enskild människa, oavsett om man ser sig som religiös eller inte. Frälsning är upprättandet av skapelsen och mänskligheten, att uppleva Guds närvaro, nåd och kraft och något som börjar nu. Här på jorden! Många tänker sig evigheten som någonting som börjar när vi dör. Jesus talar inte om evigheten på det sättet. Han definierar "evigt liv" bara en gång och med stor precision och på ett sätt som har gått förlorad i vår tid. Det handlar mer om att få himlen in i oss än att få oss till himlen. Det handlar mindre om tro på rätt uppsättning dogmer och desto mer om att följa Jesus exempel. I Evigheten har redan börjat vill John Ortberg: visa på den radikala återupptäckten av vad Bibeln i själva verket säger om frälsning återerövra Nya testamentets definition av frälsning, evigt liv och de glada nyheterna avfärda myten att evigt liv är någonting vi bara kan hoppas erfara efter döden John Ortberg är svenskättlingen som nått en stor läsekrets i Sverige genom ett tiotal böcker som Livet jag längtar efter, Kärleken jag längtar efter, Om du vill gå på vatten måste du ta dig ur båten ochAlla är normala tills man lär känna dem. Han är pastor i Menlo Park Presbyterian Church i Menlo Park, Kalifornien.

Something in us is waiting - for what, we don't know. Something different? Something better? For Christians, perhaps the deepest expression of what we're waiting for is found in the phrase 'eternal life'. But what is eternal life? Why do we want it? And how do we know if we have it? In Eternity Is Now in Session, bestselling author John Ortberg dispels the myth that eternal life is something way out in outer space that we can only hope to experience after we die - and that being saved is merely about meeting the minimal entrance requirements for getting into heaven. Instead, John unpacks the reality that the moment we trust Christ, we are initiated into 'eternal living' with God as a here and now reality, one that will continue beyond our life on this earth. Jesus defined eternal life just once, in John 17:3: " ... that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." The kind of 'knowing God' that is eternal life is an interactive relationship, not just an affirmation of certain facts about God. Once we begin the transformative journey of truly knowing God, we can start to experience his presence, favour, and resurrection power right here on this earth - in the details, tasks, and challenges of daily, ordinary life. And as we begin to know God this way, we'll realise each moment of our lives is a vehicle to the eternity we've been longing for all along.

This comprehensive textbook on pastoral ministry for pastors, church leaders, and students articulates a biblical model for shepherding God's people. Written by a leading psychologist and seminary professor who has served as a pastor for more than two decades, the book covers twelve major areas of pastoral ministry, highlights the essential work of the Holy Spirit, and focuses on the personal and family life of the pastor. It includes cross-cultural perspectives of special interest in our diverse world and a foreword by John Ortberg.

You’re only one step away from the adventure of your life. In this abridgement of his bestselling book, If You Want to Walk on Water You Have to Get Out of the Boat, now distilled down for busy readers, John Ortberg invites you to do with God’s help what you could never do on your own—step out of your comfort zone and step out on the risky waters of faith. If you do, you’ll find that Jesus is waiting to meet you in ways that will change you forever, deepening your character and your trust in God. The experience is terrifying. It’s thrilling beyond belief. It’s everything you’d expect of someone worthy to be called Lord. The choice is yours to know him as only a water-walker can, aligning yourself with God’s purpose for your life in the process.

Est s a solo un paso de la aventura de tu vida. En este resumen de su libro m s vendido, Si quieres caminar sobre las aguas, tienes que salir de la barca, John Ortberg te invita a que, con la ayuda de Dios, puedas hacer lo que nunca podr as lograr por tu cuenta: salir de tu zona de confort y caminar sobre las arriesgadas aguas de la fe. Si lo haces, descubrir s que Jes s est esperando para tener un encuentro contigo en formas que te cambiar n para siempre, profundizando tu car cter y tu confianza en Dios. La experiencia es maravillosa. Emociona m s all de la creencia. Es todo lo que esperar as de alguien digno de ser llamado Se or. Es tuya la decisi n de conocerlo, como solo lo puede conocer alguien que camina sobre el agua: aline ndote con el prop sito de Dios para tu vida en ese proceso.

Pastor Bryan Loritts dives deep into what it's like to be a person of color in predominantly white evangelical spaces today and where we can go from here. God boldly proclaims throughout the book of Acts that there is no "ethnic home team" when it comes to Christianity. But the minority experience in America today--and throughout history--too often tells a different story. As Loritts writes, "It is impossible to do theology devoid of cultural lenses and expressions. Like an American unaware of their own accent, most whites are unaware of the ethnic theological accent they carry." Insider Outsider bears witness to the true stories that often go untold--stories that will startle, enlighten, and herald a brighter way forward for all seeking belonging in the family of God. This seminal book on race and the church will help Christians discover:How they can learn the art of listening to stories unlike their ownIdentify the problems and pitfalls that keep Sunday morning the most segregated hour of the weekAnd participate in an active movement with God toward a holy vision of what Dietrich Bonhoeffer calls "life together"Drawing on insightful snapshots through history, eye-opening personal experiences, and biblical exposition, Loritts awakens both our minds and hearts to the painful reality of racial divides as well as the hope of forgiveness.