- John Ortberg - Eric Ortland - Ray Ortland - Danson Ottawa - W Justin Overton - Jake Owensby -
==john ortberg jr================
John Ortberg Jr. (born May 5, 1957) is an American evangelical Christian author, speaker, and the former senior pastor of Menlo Church in Menlo Park, California, an ECO Presbyterian church with more than 4,000 members. Ortberg has published many books including the 2008 ECPA Christian Book Award winner When the Game is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box, and the 2002 Christianity Today Book Award winner If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat. Another of his publications, The Life You've Always Wanted, has sold more than 500,000 copies as of 2008. On August 13, 2012, Ortberg's book Who Is This Man? debuted at #3 on the New Release chart on Amazon. Ortberg resigned from his position as pastor of Menlo Church in Summer 2020 after it was revealed that he had allowed one of his sons, John Ortberg III, to continue volunteering in working with minors at the church after the son had disclosed having experienced unwanted thoughts of attraction to minors. The allegations had arisen in late 2019, initially without identifying Ortberg's son as the volunteer in question.
Jan 31, 2023: Christian Post: Andy Stanley to host conference for Christian parents of LGBT-identified kids
With a stated goal of helping “parents demonstrate the unconditional love of Jesus,” the Unconditional Conference includes a scheduled lineup featuring Stanley, Embracing the Journey co-founders Greg and Lynn McDonald, former megachurch pastor John Ortberg, North Point Ministries’ Debbie Causey, and LGBT advocate Justin Lee.
With a stated goal of helping “parents demonstrate the unconditional love of Jesus,” the Unconditional Conference includes a scheduled lineup featuring Stanley, Embracing the Journey co-founders Greg and Lynn McDonald, former megachurch pastor John Ortberg, North Point Ministries’ Debbie Causey, and LGBT advocate Justin Lee.
==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
==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. |
==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=================
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