The Importance of Doing Nothing
I just got back to work. I had sabbaticaled for seven weeks–a first time experience for me. I had very few sabbatical violations, even tho the sabbatical police (Nancy) were watching me closely. So I’ll tell you what I learned: –Doing nothing occasionally is one of the most important dimensions of spirtiual life. Like solitude, a [...]
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Depth 2.0
I was recently in San Antonio for a spiritual formation conference hosted by Renovare. (San Antonio averaged 165 degrees; apparently it was held there in the middle of summer because Death Valley was already booked.) The theme was ‘The Jesus Way.” The idea of a way or path is one of the oldest [...]
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The Problem of Depth
When I started working at Willow Creek some years ago a staff member I will call Pastor X (not his real name. His real name was pastor Y) thought churches had to choose between evangelistic effectiveness and spiritual depth. In a question that used to come up periodically from outsiders when [...]
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MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN
I have come that they might have life, and have it with abundance.” This is one of Jesus’ most famous sayings. It is what we would think of today as a mission statement. But when he says he’s come to give abundant life, what exactly is he promising? Life turns out to be one of [...]
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To Change You Have to Want It
I had dinner last week with a friend who’s lost twenty pounds and kept it off, and he was telling me about what has helped him change. He read an author who helped him understand what’s good for you and what tastes really good but can hurt you in excess. (In the latter [...]
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Human Flourishing
The Latin phrase du jour is Gloria Dei, vivens homo, which was Iraeneus’ way of saying that the glory of God is a human being fully alive. (The French phrase du jour is du jour). In our day, a body of research is accumulating around what ‘fully alive’ really looks like. Leaders [...]
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Don’t Believe the Stats!
“Christians are hate-filled hypocrites…And other lies you’ve been told.” This is a new must-read from Geoffrey Wright. But on the off chance you may not have read it—here’s a few actual facts that may surprise you: –it turns out that evangelicals are actually more respected by society in general today than they were [...]
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Cabin Envy
I write these words on a plane. In coach. The curtain has been drawn that separates all of us from the chosen few who ride up front in the Holy of Holies. They get linen tablecloths; silver cutlery, hot food, and warm towels. We get paper napkins, plastic sporks, trail [...]
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It’s Not Rocket Science
Spiritual growth is not complicated. It’s measured by love. If someone asks how my spiritual life is going, the first diagnostic question is: Am I growing more or less loving these days? Love of God and love of people are intrinsically related. Its not just that we are supposed to love people [...]
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What Do You Want?
Steve Jobs just announced the imminent arrival of Son of IPhone, which can do everything the old IPhone could do plus fix breakfast. Like the traditional Apple product of Eden, Inc., it is pleasing to the eye and desirable for gaining wisdom. It also raises the whole issue of desire and [...]
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© 2010 John Ortberg.