The New Testament doesn’t present Jesus as a single man to cover up his humanity. It presents him as a single man because… he was a single man. – John Ortberg
Both hope and pessimism are deeply contagious. And no one is more infectious than a leader. – 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
God has entrusted us with his most precious treasure – people. He asks us to shepherd and mold them into strong disciples, with brave faith and good character. – John Ortberg
Prudence is what makes someone a great commodities trader – the capacity to face reality squarely in the eye without allowing emotion or ego to get in the way. It’s what is needed by every quarterback or battlefield general. – John Ortberg
Prudence is not the same thing as caution. Caution is a helpful strategy when you’re crossing a minefield; it’s a disaster when you’re in a gold rush. – John Ortberg
The toppling of idols – even respectable, admired, best-practice, fastest-growing idols – is always the road to liberation. – 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
Amusement is a way of boredom-avoidance through external stimulation that fails to exercise our minds. It’s mere diversion. – John Ortberg
I know that those of us who go into church work are to regard ourselves as servants, are to offer our lives as a gift. – 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
‘Who Is This Man?’ is about the impact of Jesus on human history. Most people – including most Christians – simply have no idea of the extent to which we live in a Jesus-impacted world. – John Ortberg
Jesus had a universal concern for those who suffered that transcended the rules of the ancient world. – John Ortberg
Prudence is foresight and far-sightedness. It’s the ability to make immediate decisions on the basis of their longer-range effects. – John Ortberg
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.’ – 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
It strikes me that presidential campaigns can often bring out the worst as well as the best in us. – 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
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
There are no clear boundary lines between what is physiological, what is psychological, and what is spiritual. Those are language domains that make sense and have integrity but overlap significantly. – John Ortberg
Sometimes in churches somebody will discover a particular vein of spirituality and seek to recruit others into it, or assume a superior position because they have found certain techniques – but no one actually wants to become like them. – John Ortberg
Although the church has often been far too slow to follow his lead, Jesus’ insistence that women, as well as men, bear the full image of God has had a way of sparking reform movements across the centuries. – John Ortberg
Prudence is not hesitation, procrastination, or moderation. It is not driving in the middle of the road. It is not the way of ambivalence, indecision, or safety. – John Ortberg
Sometimes, an inability to believe in Satan reflects a larger inability to believe in a spiritual plane at all. – John Ortberg
A healthy soul is whole and integrated. It is connected to God. A person with a healthy soul is at peace with God, with himself, and with other people. – John Ortberg
Churches need to figure out how they will address the spiritual lives of their staffs and leadership teams. – John Ortberg
