religion and spirituality

This work is the second title I have read by John Ortberg. The first title, "If You Want to Walk on the Water..." was impressive, and this second one certainly was not disappointing. I am eager to his latest release, "Love Beyond Reason."

Perhaps the best way to describe this book is to parallel it to Dallas Willard's classic work on spiritual formation. Willard's writing is profound and powerful, yet is often difficult for an average layperson to follow. Ortberg comments in his preface, "...one of my private working titles for this book was 'Dallas for Dummies'."

The author here introduces the concept of spiritual disciplines. He then describes several disciples in easy-to-understand, entertaining language. Ortberg includes the practices of celebration, slowing, prayer, servanthood, confession, guidance from the Holy Spirit, secrecy, and reflection on Scripture. He concludes with comments on a well-ordered heart and the importance of Christian endurance.

This book is simply excellent. I recommend it wholeheartedly to all Christians, leaders and laity alike. Don't pass on this one!

Usually, I find that books or sermons on 'Spiritual Disciplines' cause a short-term spurt of motivation, followed by longer-term disillusionment. Eventually I feel guilty for not measuring up, and finally I ignore the issues. Ortberg has a totally different approach, which had a very different impact on my life.

Instead of telling us to work harder, pray more, get up earlier, etc, he shows us how to view the daily activities in our own lives as spiritual disciplines. He explains that the phase of one's life is no excuse for not growing spiritually. For example, a mother of small children might not be able to schedule large amounts of solitude and quiet time, but rather can learn to see her daily tasks as the "discipline of the mundane". The most ordinary situations of our lives contain spiritual activities.

Reading this book made me feel more hopeful, because it did not equate spiritual growth with the ability to spend countless hours in solitary prayer, rather it describes how to train ourselves to use our own life circumstances as a path to maturity. The measure of a spiritual discipline is not how many chapters of the Bible you read, or how many hours you kneeled, but how much you grew in love.

There are a lot of great teachers. There are a lot of great authors. There are less of both. Ortberg is one of the rare teachers that can come accross in his books as he does in person. He does an excellent job of pointing out areas of our lives that are usually in the most need of "fine-tuning". He offers practical advice along with great stories. Who would have thought reading about Christian living could be so fun!