- John Ortberg - Eric Ortland - Gavin Ortland - Ray Ortland - Alexandra Osteen - Danson Ottawa - W Justin Overton - Jake Owensby -
==eric ortland======
Eric Ortlund studied Old Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and New College in Edinburgh and currently serves as associate professor of Old Testament at Briercrest College and Seminary in Caronport, Saskatchewan, in Canada. He blogs regularly at Scatterings. A professor of Old Testament at Briercrest Seminary in Saskatchewan, Canada. I am a Christian - with regard to grace, Augustinian; with regard to faith and the manner of one's union with Christ, Kierkegaardian; with regard to ecclesiology, very interested in Anglicanism; with regard to biblical interpretation, typological; "postmodern" in philosophical accent.
What is so moving about this verse is that nothing in Job’s life has changed externally. His restoration only begins in 42:7. At this point, he is still sitting on the ash heap, sick and covered with sores; still alienated from his wife; still smarting under the accusations of his friends; still casting side-long glances at the graves of his ten children. And yet he expresses utter comfort over it all. “Now my eye sees you” (v. 5)—Job is simply taken up in God and God alone, and without any of his miserable circumstances improving in the least, he is comforted down to his bones. God does not love you less than he loves Job. In his generosity, he restores Job to vitality and blessing in his earthly life after his ordeal (v. 10-17). But more deeply, he enfolds him in his own presence. Many saints who have lived after Job have found a comfort as profound as Job’s, even in the midst of terrible suffering.
- Eric Ortland; Oak Hills College; Comfort on the Ash Heap; 3.4.22
- Eric Ortland; Oak Hills College; Comfort on the Ash Heap; 3.4.22
==gavin ortland======
Beth Moore, doctor criticize John MacArthur for claiming mental illness isn’t real Gavin Ortlund, former senior pastor of the 100-member First Baptist Church of Ojai in Ojai, California, who now ministers full time via his Truth Unites channel on YouTube, said MacArthur’s ideology on mental health is “destructive.” He further noted that MacArthur’s ideology on mental health is common among American Evangelical culture and it’s something that needs to be better addressed. (Christian Post 5/2/24) READ MORE>>>>> |
August 20, 2024: What It Means to Be Protestant: The Case for an Always-Reforming Church by Gavin Ortland is published. Review by Rev. Dr. Michael F. Bird, Deputy Principal at Ridley College, Melbourne, Australia: 'Gavin Ortlund presents a compelling case for mere Protestantism by showing how a Protestant faith is a recovery of the apostolic gospel and answers the abiding questions of church, authority, and tradition. It is a robust program to be both evangelical and ecumenical. An authentic church, Ortlund teaches us, should be constantly conforming itself closer to the gospel. This book provides a model for how Protestants should initiate conversations with other Christian traditions.' |
==ray ortland======
Ray Ortlund (ThM, Dallas Theological Seminary; MA, The University of California, Berkeley; PhD, University of Aberdeen, Scotland) is president of Renewal Ministries, and an Emeritus Council member of The Gospel Coalition. He founded Immanuel Church in Nashville, Tennessee, and now serves from Immanuel as Pastor to Pastors. Ray has authored a number of books, including The Gospel: How The Church Portrays The Beauty of Christ and Marriage and the Mystery of the Gospel. Ortlund was ordained by Lake Avenue Congregational Church, Pasadena, California in 1975. He served as a pastor in various churches from 1975 to 2019.
“But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.” Genesis 33:4
This has long struck me as one of the most beautiful verses in the Bible. I can’t read it without being moved. We all feel the power of it. When we see ex-friends reconciling, so removing every barrier that they run and embrace and fall on one another’s necks—I love that expression—and weep, the beauty of it gets to us. Not a negotiated settlement. No face-saving hypocrisy. Honest. Unforced. Deeply felt. We all perceive true reconciliation with awe. It is of God.
--Ray Ortlund; Gospel Coalition; The Ministry of Reconciliation 5.20.23
This has long struck me as one of the most beautiful verses in the Bible. I can’t read it without being moved. We all feel the power of it. When we see ex-friends reconciling, so removing every barrier that they run and embrace and fall on one another’s necks—I love that expression—and weep, the beauty of it gets to us. Not a negotiated settlement. No face-saving hypocrisy. Honest. Unforced. Deeply felt. We all perceive true reconciliation with awe. It is of God.
--Ray Ortlund; Gospel Coalition; The Ministry of Reconciliation 5.20.23
June 15, 2023: Gospel Coalition: Francis Schaeffer’s 4 Prescriptions for the Renewal of the Church
What will it take for the church to be renewed and the world to experience a profound move of God?
At the International Congress on World Evangelization in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1974, Francis Schaeffer spoke on “Form and Freedom in the Church,” later included in a book of Lausanne papers. Ray Ortlund recently pointed me to this address, which nearly 50 years later remains a prescient and powerful call.
What will it take for the church to be renewed and the world to experience a profound move of God?
At the International Congress on World Evangelization in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1974, Francis Schaeffer spoke on “Form and Freedom in the Church,” later included in a book of Lausanne papers. Ray Ortlund recently pointed me to this address, which nearly 50 years later remains a prescient and powerful call.
One, the good that can be accomplished on Twitter can also be accomplished, and far more fruitfully, in real life.
Scrolling Twitter is an intense experience. But its intensity can fool us. It feels more real than it is. And the emotional demand claims too much. Twitter betrays the involvement it lures us into. We end up diminished, even injured, over and over again. For years, my own cost/benefit calculation kept tipping in favor of the benefits. I no longer see it that way.
Two, I am grieved by the behavior of Christians on Twitter. There are so many I admire! But Twitter can arouse the mean streak inside every one of us. And some of us honestly do not realize the harm we do. The reckless accusations, the eager gotchas, the angry finger-pointing, the trigger-happy reactions, the flippant slanders – I was rarely the target of such ugliness. But just observing it, my own soul began to suffer. I felt dirtied.
As I love to say, “Gospel doctrine creates gospel culture.” We all fall short of embodying the beauty of the gospel. I sure do. But when we cross the line into displaying the opposite of Jesus, repeatedly and publicly, I object. I object with every fiber of my being. I refuse to be involved.
Three, Twitter consumes time, and I have no time to waste. For a man in his 70s, I am surprisingly healthy. But sooner or later, something bad will come find me and take me out. Fine. Jesus is preparing an eternal place for me. But if I die, say, on my eightieth birthday – it’s hypothetical, but possible – then, as of today, I have only 2,677 days left in this world. And on my dying day, will I regret not spending time on Twitter? The answer is obvious. --Ray Ortlund; Gospel Coalition; Why I Got out of Twitter 5.9.22
Scrolling Twitter is an intense experience. But its intensity can fool us. It feels more real than it is. And the emotional demand claims too much. Twitter betrays the involvement it lures us into. We end up diminished, even injured, over and over again. For years, my own cost/benefit calculation kept tipping in favor of the benefits. I no longer see it that way.
Two, I am grieved by the behavior of Christians on Twitter. There are so many I admire! But Twitter can arouse the mean streak inside every one of us. And some of us honestly do not realize the harm we do. The reckless accusations, the eager gotchas, the angry finger-pointing, the trigger-happy reactions, the flippant slanders – I was rarely the target of such ugliness. But just observing it, my own soul began to suffer. I felt dirtied.
As I love to say, “Gospel doctrine creates gospel culture.” We all fall short of embodying the beauty of the gospel. I sure do. But when we cross the line into displaying the opposite of Jesus, repeatedly and publicly, I object. I object with every fiber of my being. I refuse to be involved.
Three, Twitter consumes time, and I have no time to waste. For a man in his 70s, I am surprisingly healthy. But sooner or later, something bad will come find me and take me out. Fine. Jesus is preparing an eternal place for me. But if I die, say, on my eightieth birthday – it’s hypothetical, but possible – then, as of today, I have only 2,677 days left in this world. And on my dying day, will I regret not spending time on Twitter? The answer is obvious. --Ray Ortlund; Gospel Coalition; Why I Got out of Twitter 5.9.22
==larry osborne======
Sept 28, 2022: Church Leader: LARRY OSBORNE & NORTH COAST CHURCH: Flexibility, simplicity in financing at the forefront
North Coast Church in Vista, Calif., is one of the 20 largest churches in the United States. It also consistently ranks among the country’s fastest-growing, most influential churches. But it all started humbly — as so many massive churches do — as a home Bible Study, in 1976. Aug 6, 2021: Christian Post: Wife of California megachurch pastor, mother of 5 dies by suicide
In a sermon message preached to the congregation this past Sunday, North Coast Church Pastor Larry Osborne told congregants about the death of 28-year-old Paige Hilken, the wife of one of North Coast's teaching pastors, Christopher Hilken. Christopher Hilken is also the leader of the church’s young adult program called “The Jordan.” Apr 7, 2015: Christianity Today: 20 Truths from Thriving in Babylon by Larry Osborne Last week, Larry Osborne's newest book was released. Thriving in Babylon looks at Daniel in Babylon and shows us how Christians can thrive in our changing cultural context that is becoming more and more challenge to the Christian faith, especially in certain places. |
August 11, 2022: Larry Osborne on Unseminary Podcast: The result of more choices means our ministry lanes need to be narrower, but we also have to be more supportive of the lanes right across the street. In other words, we have to be more supportive of churches that are different from us because different churches may be able to reach people that we can’t reach. If we think ‘Kingdom’ instead of ‘Castle’ we will be as excited about the church across the street as we are about our own, rather than viewing them as competition.
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March 2, 2021: "Sticky Church" by Larry Osborne is published. Publisher Notes: In Sticky Church, author and pastor Larry Osborne makes the case that closing the back door of your church is even more important than opening the front door wider. He offers a time-tested strategy for doing so: sermon-based small groups that dig deeper into the weekend message and tightly velcro members to the ministry. It’s a strategy that enabled Osborne’s congregation to grow from a handful of people to one of the larger churches in the nation?without any marketing or special programming.
Aug 1, 2021 This weekend we break from our "27" Sermon Series for this special message for the North Coast Church family. |
Jan 20, 2014 Larry speaks to why most church teams don't succeed, but could. He also tackles the unique challenges presented in our current fast-paced culture. |
==alexandra osteen======
Alexandra Osteen was born in 1998 in Houston, Texas where she grew up with her brother, Jonathan, and her parents, Joel and Victoria Osteen. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 2020 with a degree in Communications. She now serves as the Worship Director at Lakewood Church and leads Lakewood Music.
Singer Alexandra Osteen Embraces Family Legacy While Proclaiming ‘the Hope of Jesus’ For Alexandra Osteen, growing up in a megachurch and being raised by parents who are recognized around the globe felt, surprisingly, normal. The daughter of Lakewood Church's Joel and Victoria Osteen, Alexandra has made a name for herself in recent years as a worship leader at the Houston congregation, as well as being a powerful voice for Lakewood Music, which released its new album, Oh How Worthy, this month. "They've always just been my parents, and I could brag on them for days on end," Alexandra Osteen told Crosswalk Headlines. "They're great parents, and who they are on stage is who they are at home." Lakewood Church is the fourth largest congregation in the United States, drawing 45,000 attendees each week and millions more tuning into its worship services worldwide on television and online. Alexandra was about 7 when the congregation moved into the former Summit/Compaq Center, the former home of the NBA's Houston Rockets. (Crosswalk 9/18/24) READMORE>>>>> |
September 9, 2024:
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Inside pastor Joel Osteen's daughter Alexandra's luxurious life as heir to one of America's biggest church congregations
Meet Alexandra Osteen, who is the heir to one of America's biggest church congregations. The 25-year-old, who is the daughter of pastor Joel Osteen, 61, and Victoria, 63, is following in the footsteps of her faith-driven parents. Alexandra is a Texas-based singer, who creates religious-based songs with her church group called Lakewood Music, while also serving as the Worship Director at the Lakewood Church, where Joel presents his popular sermons. (Daily Mail 8/26/24) READMORE>>>>>
Meet Alexandra Osteen, who is the heir to one of America's biggest church congregations. The 25-year-old, who is the daughter of pastor Joel Osteen, 61, and Victoria, 63, is following in the footsteps of her faith-driven parents. Alexandra is a Texas-based singer, who creates religious-based songs with her church group called Lakewood Music, while also serving as the Worship Director at the Lakewood Church, where Joel presents his popular sermons. (Daily Mail 8/26/24) READMORE>>>>>
Meet Alexandra Osteen, the rising star of Houston's Lakewood Church
In many ways, Alexandra Osteen is a typical Gen Z Houstonian. The 25-year-old blonde, blue-eyed graduate of the University of Texas at Austin roots for the Longhorns football team and loves her two Shih Tzus and pop icon Taylor Swift. But Alexandra is also part of a legacy family: As the daughter of Joel Osteen and Victoria Osteen, pastors at Lakewood Church, she's the heiress to one of America's largest congregations. "I don't know anything different," Alexandra said last week at the megachurch's location near Greenway Plaza. "Being an Osteen is being myself. I feel really blessed to be in the family that I'm in. I had a great childhood. I had a great upbringing. I had the best parents and the best brother. It's a super positive thing in my mind, but it's not anything that feels abnormal because it's just who I am." (Chron 1/16/24) READMORE>>>>>
In many ways, Alexandra Osteen is a typical Gen Z Houstonian. The 25-year-old blonde, blue-eyed graduate of the University of Texas at Austin roots for the Longhorns football team and loves her two Shih Tzus and pop icon Taylor Swift. But Alexandra is also part of a legacy family: As the daughter of Joel Osteen and Victoria Osteen, pastors at Lakewood Church, she's the heiress to one of America's largest congregations. "I don't know anything different," Alexandra said last week at the megachurch's location near Greenway Plaza. "Being an Osteen is being myself. I feel really blessed to be in the family that I'm in. I had a great childhood. I had a great upbringing. I had the best parents and the best brother. It's a super positive thing in my mind, but it's not anything that feels abnormal because it's just who I am." (Chron 1/16/24) READMORE>>>>>
==danson ottawa======
Danson Ottawa is the National Coordinator for the Africa Center for Apologetics Research (ACFAR), Kenya, a ministry equipping believers in Africa for the defense of the faith, biblical discernment, and cult evangelism. He is pursuing a Master of Divinity in Biblical Studies at Africa International University. Danson fellowships at Emmanuel Baptist Church, Nairobi-Kenya.
The prophets rebuke Israel for many things. Repeated among those is God’s rebuke of the rich for doing whatever it took to get richer. This often meant extorting and oppressing the poor and marginalised (Ezekiel 22:29; Micah 2:2; Amos 4:1; 5:11-12; Hosea 12:7; Amos 2:6-8; Malachi 3:5). So one can be incredibly rich and under God’s condemnation. One can be incredibly rich and under God’s condemnation. The prophets also rebuked Israel for pride, placing confidence in their wealth, believing it could protect them from judgment. For example, the wealthy men of Israel failed to grieve their sin, seeking security in their luxuries and pleasure (Amos 6:4-7). Their end was exile. On the other hand, through his prophets God promised restoration. He wouldn’t forsake his people or forget his promises. Thus we read about the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53. Significantly, God promises to send him to deal with his people’s sins, with the poverty of their hearts. That language isn’t coincidental. It again highlights the depths of Israel’s problems; what God needed to deliver them from. It wasn’t material poverty or poor health, but their rebellion against God. --Danson Ottawa; Gospel Coalition Africa; An Old Testament Theology of Prosperity 2/27/24
==w justin overton====== |
From Italy to the Ozarks
For Chi Alpha students at the University of Arkansas, traveling abroad on short-term mission is a commonplace one-way exchange. But this year for the first time, an international student missionary team came to them. When Arkansas Chi Alpha staff pastor W. Justin Overton led an outreach team last year to northeast Italy, he invited the Italians to visit their campus. Six students from the Italian university took him up on the offer.
(Dean Alford/Assemblies Of God 10/6/23) READ MORE>>>>>
For Chi Alpha students at the University of Arkansas, traveling abroad on short-term mission is a commonplace one-way exchange. But this year for the first time, an international student missionary team came to them. When Arkansas Chi Alpha staff pastor W. Justin Overton led an outreach team last year to northeast Italy, he invited the Italians to visit their campus. Six students from the Italian university took him up on the offer.
(Dean Alford/Assemblies Of God 10/6/23) READ MORE>>>>>
==jake owensby======
A Conversation with Bishop Jacob Owensby The Rt. Rev. Jacob W. Owensby is the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Louisiana and chancellor of Sewanee, The University of the South. The author of six books, with a manuscript underway, Bishop Owensby also writes a popular blog. Before attending the School of Theology at Sewanee, Owensby earned a Ph.D. at Emory University and was an associate professor of philosophy at Jacksonville University. He and Bishop Paula are tablemates at House of Bishops’ meetings, where he says he has developed “immense respect and affection” for her. In August, Bishop Owensby and Nancy Bryan of Canticle Communications sat down via Zoom to talk about his upcoming visit to the Diocese of Chicago, when he will be the keynote speaker at diocesan convention, and how he thinks about Bishop Paula’s convention theme of “hope and connection.” The transcript of their conversation has been edited for clarity. (Episcopal Chicago 9/13/23) READMORE>>>>> |
September 13, 2023: Owens in an interview published by Episcopal Chicago: "By Works of mercy and works of social justice, they are different things. I mean, social justice is work on the laws and the deep structures of our society, but they’re internally connected. So when I feed the hungry personally, I know I’m also connected to the larger work of God changing the algorithm of the creation. I’m waxing a little theological there. But the point is this, we act when we hope. We don’t just have a feeling. We’re doing something. Hope is praxis. People talk about faith being praxis. Hope is praxis. That’s where it becomes real. That’s where we know it. That’s when we are it." |
The Bible teaches us that the wise don’t merely observe the world around them and figure out its patterns all on their own. Instead, they spend a lifetime connecting with the very source of the creation’s deep, governing algorithm. Their lives are shaped by the habitual practices of worship, prayer, study, works of mercy, and the pursuit of justice. These practices open us to God’s presence in our everyday lives.
Jesus is wisdom incarnate. Accepting Jesus as our Lord means that we turn to him to teach us how to navigate our often messy, confusing life. As Proverbs instructs us, we don’t get this life thing right by relying solely on our own cleverness and wit. We need a mentor. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
In other words, Jesus shows us how to live. What he teaches us in the Sermon on the Mount and in his many parables and by his personal example may upend some of our fiercely-held assumptions or rein in some of our strongest impulses. But when we recognize that we need a mentor to be fully human—to live into being the image of God we were created to be—we’re admitting that there’s much that we do not know and more than a few things that we’ve gotten wrong along the way. God knows that we’re a work in progress. That’s why repentance is one of Christianity’s traditional practices. We need to admit our missteps and shortsightedness to ourselves over and over. --Jake Owensby; Ministry Matters; A Jesus Shaped Life 8.22.23
Jesus is wisdom incarnate. Accepting Jesus as our Lord means that we turn to him to teach us how to navigate our often messy, confusing life. As Proverbs instructs us, we don’t get this life thing right by relying solely on our own cleverness and wit. We need a mentor. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
In other words, Jesus shows us how to live. What he teaches us in the Sermon on the Mount and in his many parables and by his personal example may upend some of our fiercely-held assumptions or rein in some of our strongest impulses. But when we recognize that we need a mentor to be fully human—to live into being the image of God we were created to be—we’re admitting that there’s much that we do not know and more than a few things that we’ve gotten wrong along the way. God knows that we’re a work in progress. That’s why repentance is one of Christianity’s traditional practices. We need to admit our missteps and shortsightedness to ourselves over and over. --Jake Owensby; Ministry Matters; A Jesus Shaped Life 8.22.23