John Ortberg Quotes

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John Ortberg

Profession : Clergyman

Birth : May 5, 1957

I am a political junkie. During a presidential campaign, I will often buy a couple of newspapers a day just to keep up.

John Ortberg

We all want to feel spiritually vigorous, and we hurt when we don't. This pain is intensified for people who lead church ministries.

John Ortberg

Pastors have historically understood their primary battle to be not the battle to build a big church, but the battle against the power of sin.

John Ortberg

The irony is that 'looking down on everybody else' is a violation of the law of love, which, according to Jesus, is the absolute essence of righteousness.

John Ortberg

Sin is protean. It is a cancer that keeps mutating, and just when you think you have killed off one form, it turns out a deadlier strain yet is threatening your heart.

John Ortberg

'Amusement' is appealing because we don't have to think; it spares us the fear and anxiety that might otherwise prey on our thoughts.

John Ortberg

In the context of worship, amusement is a waste of time and a waste of life, and therefore a form of sin.

John Ortberg

Sometimes, an inability to believe in Satan reflects a larger inability to believe in a spiritual plane at all.

John Ortberg

Evil exists. Evil is real. One of the hallmarks of evil is that it seeks to convince its victims that it exists 'out there.'

John Ortberg

I'm not sure ministry can ever have the urgency it requires if it is not aware of evil, both externally and internally.

John Ortberg

Preaching a series allows you to go into greater depth in the text, and spending several weeks on one theme allows the teaching to be absorbed more thoroughly.

John Ortberg

When people feel they're getting to speak into what's being preached, there is high built-in motivation to participate.

John Ortberg

There are usually multiple messages that could be preached from the same text.

John Ortberg

When it comes to sermon writing, generally there are two problems. Some preachers love the research stage but hate the writing, and they start writing too late. Others don't like doing research, so they move way too fast to the writing part.

John Ortberg

People with the strongest and healthiest sense of calling are not obsessed with their calling. They are preoccupied with the Caller.

John Ortberg

To have my mind racing and my heart beating fast over glorious possibilities is very close to the summit of life experience for me.

John Ortberg

The only true and lasting inspiration for life is genuine love for God, and submitted gratitude that I get to be a part of the redemptive quest.

John Ortberg

Tithing is like training wheels when it comes to giving. It's intended to help you get started, but not recommended for the Tour de France.

John Ortberg

Tithing is a bad ceiling but an excellent floor.

John Ortberg

I have always heard that you need to give yourself a long time to unplug when you do a sabbatical. I unplugged so fast I was a little concerned that I was losing brain capacity.

John Ortberg