John Ortberg

One of the reasons I'm an interesting person to be married to is my intensely late-blooming self-awareness.

When someone is in crisis, don't start by teaching, leveraging, or explaining. Just be with.

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.

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.

Politics, after all, is largely about power. And power goes to the core of our issues of control and narcissism and need to be right and tendency to divide the human race into 'us' vs. 'them.'

Nobody lives up to the norms that God had in mind when he first created human beings.

Ghettos and barrios and abusive homes and trauma wards may produce scarred souls; they can cripple more human spirits than they strengthen.

When preaching is done right, it can change lives. When it's done badly, my failure goes beyond the merely human.

No one wants pain. Not even long-time, mature Christians who want to grow. We will always find ways to avoid pain. Pain itself is a bad thing.

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.

Over time, grit is what separates fruitful lives from aimlessness.

A simple way to address hidden curriculum issues is to spend time talking with staff and key leaders about their spiritual lives.