John Ortberg Points You to God’s Direction for Your Life —Leading to God-Inspired Adventure
Beloved pastor and bestselling author helps readers recognize and embrace God-given opportunities in All the Places to Go . . . How Will You Know?, releasing February 24 from Tyndale House Publishers
Contact: Katie Dodillet, katiedodillet@tyndale.com, 630.784.5275
Carol Stream, Ill. (February 23, 2015)— John Ortberg, senior pastor at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in Northern California and prolific author and speaker, challenges us to open our eyes to the countless doors God places before us every day and encourages us to embrace all the extraordinary opportunities that await by stepping out in faith in All the Places to Go . . . How Will You Know?.
In his new book, Ortberg contends that in the Bible, God very rarely commands someone to stay put. Rather, God opens doors and invites his people to walk through them—often into the unknown. Ortberg counsels that how we choose to respond to these God-inspired opportunities will ultimately determine the lives we lead and the people we become. He instructs us that failing to embrace open doors can result in missing the work God has made for us to do, which also means missing out on the adventures and blessings God has planned for each of us.
Ortberg learned from a college professor that “divine possibility” comes to every life. He writes about these possibilities as open doors representing “boundless opportunities.” Ortberg states, “An open door is the great adventure of life because it means the possibility of being useful to God.” He offers that open doors “involve opportunity” not only for the person walking through the door but also “to bless someone else.” Ortberg clarifies that an open door is a specific divine opportunity that is “provided by God, to act with God and for God.” He writes, “The staggering truth is that this very moment is alive with opportunity” and asks, “What could you be doing right this moment that you aren’t?” He counsels readers, saying, “If we want to experience more of the Spirit of God in our lives, we need to train ourselves to look for and respond to moments of divine opportunity.”
Readers will find, too, that Ortberg’s writing style in this book is whimsical and engaging, making it an enjoyable read for anyone contemplating how to follow God during life’s transition times.
In addition to the hardcover and audio release, a DVD curriculum and participant’s guide will be available to help readers get the most out of Ortberg’s teaching. In the six-session DVD curriculum, Ortberg teaches us to recognize the open doors God places in our lives every day and strengthens our faith to seize these divine opportunities. The participant’s guide contains video notes, discussion questions, suggestions for further study, and ideas for practical life application, and it can be used in conjunction with the DVD curriculum or the book.
John Ortberg is an author and speaker and the senior pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church (MPPC)in the San Francisco Bay Area. His books include Soul Keeping; Who Is This Man?; The Life You’ve Always Wanted; Faith and Doubt; and If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get out of the Boat. John teaches around the world at conferences and churches.
Born and raised in Rockford, Illinois, John graduated from Wheaton College and holds a master of divinity and a doctorate degree in clinical psychology from Fuller Seminary. Prior to joining MPPC, John served as teaching pastor at Chicago’s Willow Creek Community Church. John is a member of the board of trustees at Fuller Seminary, serves on the board for the Dallas Willard Center for Spiritual Formation, and is a former board member of Christianity Today International.
Now that their children are grown, John and his wife, Nancy, enjoy surfing the Pacific to help care for their souls. He can be followed on Twitter @johnortberg.
For more information on John Ortberg’s new book release, please visit his book website and view the book trailer.
All the Places to Go . . . How Will You Know?, written by John Ortberg/Tyndale House Publishers / February 24, 2015/ISBN: 978-1-4143-7900-5/Hardcover/$
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Tyndale House Publishers, founded in 1962, is the world’s largest privately held Christian publisher of books, Bibles, and digital media. Tyndale has published many New York Times bestsellers. The largest portion of its profit goes to the nonprofit Tyndale House Foundation, which makes grants to help meet the physical and spiritual needs of people around the world. Tyndale was founded to publish Living Letters, which later comprised part of The Living Bible, a contemporary paraphrase of the Bible that became a global publishing phenomenon. Tyndale now publishes the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT), the translation of choice for millions of people. Each NLT sale benefits the worldwide translation work of Wycliffe Bible Translators.