August 13, 2010
Jani Ortlund
It was late at night after a long and alarming day at the hospital trying to figure out what was causing our daughter so much trouble with her second pregnancy....
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September 14, 2010Jani OrtlundWorry eats at us. It mires our hearts in apprehension and fear. It saps our strength and drains our peace. And that worry tempts us to believe the myth that... -
September 21, 2010Jani OrtlundWhile we were living in Scotland, my husband’s parents stopped to visit us on their way back to the USA after ministering in India. Their work had been fruitful, but...
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October 5, 2010Jani OrtlundBeing a mother is just plain, hard work. At times, it feels like slave labor! Moms can identify with the cartoon of a toddler looking at a wedding album with his...
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May 18, 2012Jani OrtlundWhat can six seconds do for you? Woman to woman, let me encourage you that just six seconds a day can help safeguard your marriage. -
May 18, 2012Jani OrtlundYoung mother, it seems like everyone wants something from you. And you’re probably already giving way more than you ever thought you could give. But even with all your giving,... -
May 18, 2012Jani OrtlundSomeone is going to be influencing your children, inculcating values and imprinting standards on their impressionable young minds. Let it be you!
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August 27, 2012Jani OrtlundThere are some things I truly can’t do—I can’t win an Olympic gold medal, I can’t figure out calculus, I can’t bear another child of my own. And I’m fine...
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September 12, 2012Jani OrtlundIt is not an infrequent experience of mine. I am getting ready for a new Bible study or luncheon or neighborhood picnic or PTA meeting or family reunion and an...
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September 14, 2012Jani OrtlundMany of us hunger for meaningful Christian togetherness. We attend church seeking friendship and community, but often leave disappointed. To be part of Christ’s body means growing in deeper fellowship...
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October 3, 2012Jani OrtlundJennie Allen talks with Mary Mohler and Jani Ortlund about the command and privilege of leading others in the way of Jesus.
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October 19, 2012Jani OrtlundBy now, many of you are settling into life without that college freshman you dropped off a couple months ago. Perhaps, like me, the adjustment to empty nesting has been...
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October 25, 2012Jani OrtlundA whole new way of looking at your empty nest. Do this, and it won't be empty long! -
November 9, 2012Jani OrtlundUltimately, a wife's submission doesn't say as much about her view of marriage as it does about her view of God.
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November 23, 2012Jani OrtlundHow do you get your husband to lead you? A look at the right way and the wrong way from the lives of Mary and Sarah.
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December 18, 2012Jani OrtlundJani shares about one particularly difficult December and unpacks Psalm 62:1.
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December 19, 2012Jani OrtlundThis Christmas, let Jani's favorite word guide your thoughts, words, actions, and feelings.
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January 28, 2013Jani OrtlundGod's Word tells us to ponder and to plan. These six questions will help you do just that as you continue on into 2013.
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January 30, 2013Jani OrtlundPeek over Jani's shoulder at five of her lifetime goals—as well as how she broke them down into measurable goals for 2013.
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February 19, 2013Jani OrtlundFour-year-old Lizzie feels certain God will enter sympathetically into her world, her pain. How about you? -
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March 1, 2013Jani OrtlundPrayers Jani prays for the precocious little princes in her life.
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March 28, 2013Jani OrtlundJust as he saw Peter, Christ doesn't see you as who you are today, but as who you will be! -
April 4, 2013Jani OrtlundEdith Schaeffer passed away this week, but her legacy lives on. -
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May 6, 2013Jani OrtlundWhat little Isaiah Daniel Ortlund can teach us about our forever home…
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May 31, 2013Jani OrtlundDo you know a pastor's wife? Would you like to bless her? After forty-one years in a ministry marriage, here are some ways our people have blessed me. -
June 10, 2013Jani OrtlundAfter being married for nineteen years, I had to go back to work. I was torn because I couldn't give 100 percent to both callings, and both our home and... -
June 24, 2013Jani OrtlundWhen Proverbs tells us "the wise woman builds her home," it obviously doesn't mean we must get hammer and nails and actually construct it, though I do have friends who... -
July 3, 2013Jani OrtlundHas your home become little more than a place for everyone to shower and sleep? Jani encourages us to rediscover the rewards of daily connecting as a family over a... -
July 19, 2013Jani OrtlundEach home has its own distinct atmosphere. What does yours feel like? Jani Ortlund encourages you to build an environment where God's love and care will be real to all... -
August 15, 2013Jani OrtlundDiscipleship isn't about first-class Christians trying to bring second-class Christians up to their level. The most important way you can disciple others is by enjoying Christ yourself in such an... -
August 16, 2013Jani OrtlundWe must cultivate in our sphere of influence—our homes, neighborhoods, workplaces, churches—spiritual daughters who in turn can pass the Truth on. The younger women among us are our sacred trust...
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September 2, 2013Jani Ortlund"I had no feeling, no hope—none. I blamed my husband. Before marriage I had high expectations and then total disappointment. I gave more condemnation than love. But now I realize... -
September 19, 2013Jani OrtlundMy forty-two-year-old single friend never thought her miracle would come driving from the west in a white suburban filled with children who would change her life in such dramatic ways.... -
September 21, 2013Jani OrtlundListen to Jani's breakout session talk from the Revive '13 conference. -
November 11, 2013Jani OrtlundNo book has affected the world more deeply. How can we raise Bible soaked and saturated children? -
November 21, 2013Jani OrtlundWhat words do you use with God after the "do not resuscitate" papers have been signed? How do you pray for your friend as you hold her hand and she... -
November 29, 2013Jani OrtlundMy mother-in-law died on November 4, and I miss her so. She was a radiant, life-giving servant of Christ who loved me—and many others—with all her heart. We walk in... -
January 21, 2014Jani OrtlundThese past few months have taught me that soon, very soon, my earthly race will be over. How can I go deeper with God, give myself more devotedly to His... -
March 24, 2014Jani OrtlundShe needed me to call back to her, to tell her she'd find Jesus in her journey, and that He was worth every penny, every tear, every effort expended. -
May 15, 2014Jani OrtlundI took it personally when he didn't agree with me, adding hurt to the emotional mix I now had to process. I didn't know how to communicate with this man... -
July 15, 2014Jani OrtlundWe live in a day of exhibitionism, and summer exaggerates the desire for more skin to be shown. Yet, our appearance is one of the most powerful ways we have... -
December 15, 2014Jani Ortlund"What are some of your family Christmas traditions?" our young friend recently asked us over dinner—not an uncommon question this time of year. Christmas, more than any other holiday, seems...
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May 4, 2015Jani OrtlundOne of the best ways to grow as a mom is to learn from experienced moms who have gone before us. Today we'll do that as Nancy speaks to Jani...
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June 10, 2015Ray Ortlund“. . . and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.” Philippians 1:28... -
June 11, 2015Ray Ortlund“If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at... -
June 14, 2015Ray Ortlund“I spent the day chiefly alone, seeking personal holiness, the fundamental requirement in order to a successful ministry. I was in Burleigh Castle for an hour . . . .... -
June 15, 2015Ray OrtlundShe embraced the secret to practical Christianity, the very thing we today are most disinclined to: “Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the... -
June 16, 2015Ray Ortlund“Isaac Hann was a little-known Baptist pastor who served a small church in Loughwood, England, in the mid-18th century. At the close of his ministry the membership of his church... -
June 17, 2015Ray Ortlund“Then began a meeting the like of which I had never seen before, nor wish to see again, unless in God’s sight it is absolutely necessary. Every sin a human... -
June 18, 2015Ray Ortlund“Let us not forget that violence does not exist alone and cannot survive in isolation; it is inevitably bound up with the lie. Between them there is the most intimate,... -
June 24, 2015Ray OrtlundThe Countess of Huntingdon recalled the funeral service of Rev. Howell Harris in 1773: “On the day Mr. Harris was interred we had some special seasons of Divine influence both upon... -
June 26, 2015Ray OrtlundTherefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Genesis 2:24 It is not true that the Bible... -
July 1, 2015Jani OrtlundCan you love your husband the way God loves you? God doesn’t just tolerate you, in the Bible—He embraces you. Let’s not be wives who tolerate their husbands. Let’s embrace... -
July 2, 2015Jani OrtlundCan you love your husband the way God loves you? God doesn’t just tolerate you, in the Bible—He embraces you. Let’s not be wives who tolerate their husbands. Let’s embrace...
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July 2, 2015Ray Ortlund“Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent... -
July 3, 2015Jani OrtlundWhen you’re frightened by the call to submit in 1 Peter 3, trust God. He is faithful to you. Ultimately, it’s not that you trust your husband, but that you...
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July 3, 2015Ray Ortlund“Suddenly, after ten thousand years of myth and history, we find ourselves floundering in a marsh. The footing upon which our forebears proceeded through life has fallen away and we... -
July 4, 2015Ray OrtlundThough you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with... -
July 7, 2015Ray Ortlund“My wife always says the most important thing about the man as a preacher was, you didn’t notice him. He came quietly into the pulpit, started quietly, and then something... -
July 8, 2015Ray OrtlundLove covers a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8 Rebuke those who contradict sound doctrine. Titus 1:9 When should we cover another Christian, and when should we confront another Christian? The categories... -
July 10, 2015Ray OrtlundI remember the tumultuous days of 1968. The top stories of that year included the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. in April. Two months later, in June, Robert Kennedy... -
July 11, 2015Ray Ortlund“In Kiev, where I found myself on a Sunday morning, on an impulse I turned into a church where a service was in progress. It was packed tight, but I... -
July 14, 2015Ray OrtlundThe paper I read at the April TGC conference in Orlando — “How to build a gospel culture in your church” — is here: Paper Thanks for your interest. I hope it... -
July 15, 2015Ray Ortlund“Without going into wearisome historical details, we need to remember that these letters were written, and the lives they indicate were led, against a background of paganism. There... -
July 16, 2015Ray Ortlund“Dawa . . . also told me that after the killing she saw cowodi above the trees, singing. She didn’t know what this kind of music was until she... -
July 18, 2015Ray OrtlundDo your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15 Do your... -
July 19, 2015Ray OrtlundThe power of grace: “Love to the loveless shown, that they might lovely be.”
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July 27, 2015Ray OrtlundYesterday I posted this tweet: “Job chapter 42 is hope for broken friendships. God can reconcile. It does include some honest revisiting of the past.” Some friends then asked me... -
July 29, 2015Ray Ortlund“Christ’s righteousness is so imputed to believers that their justification is not merely the act of a sovereign dispensing with law but the act of a judge declaring the law... -
July 30, 2015Ray Ortlund“The little birds that sing, sing of God; the beasts clamor for him; the elements dread him, the mountains echo him, the fountains and flowing waters cast their glances at... -
August 4, 2015Ray Ortlund“Robert Bruce, the disciple of John Knox and Andrew Melville, died at Kinnaird on July 27th, 1631. He had come to breakfast and his younger daughter sat by his side. ... -
August 5, 2015Ray Ortlund“What happens within a person at that moment when, suddenly torn out of an ordinary life, he is thrust under the jurisdiction of merciless and powerful forces which appear to... -
August 6, 2015Ray Ortlund“Of all the albums that formed the soundtrack to 1967’s ‘Summer of Love,’ The Doors is the one least tethered to its time. More importantly, The Doors’ self-titled disc remains... -
August 7, 2015Ray OrtlundPerformance counts here in Music City USA. And why not? Everyone wants to shine, we do look for excellence, and there really is a lot of impressiveness around. In fact,... -
August 8, 2015Ray OrtlundWorshipGod15: Main Session 4 from Sovereign Grace Music on Vimeo. I thank my friend Bob Kauflin for the privilege of serving at the wonderful WorshipGod15 conference in Louisville last week.
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August 13, 2015Ray Ortlund“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Exodus 20:8 Let’s not dictate Sabbath observance today. The point of the Sabbath is a dress rehearsal for a future eternity of glad... -
August 19, 2015Ray OrtlundGod is for us. Romans 8:31 But I have this against you. Revelation 2:4. See also 2:14, 20; 3:3. So, which is it? Is God for us, or is God against us? ... -
August 25, 2015Ray Ortlund“There is not one of who did not receive this new certainty of God in such a way that the whole previous pattern of his life,... -
August 26, 2015Ray Ortlund“The cross of Jesus displays the most awful exhibition of God’s hatred of sin and at the same time the most august manifestation of his readiness to pardon it. Pardon,... -
August 28, 2015Ray Ortlund“Chief corruptions to be watched against: sourness, sadness, timorousness, forgetfulness, fretting, and inability to bear wrongs . . . . Let me resolutely set myself to walk with God through the... -
August 31, 2015Ray Ortlund“We hence see the exuberant goodness of the Creator, who hath not only provided for all the necessities, but also for the pleasure and recreation of all sorts of creatures,... -
September 1, 2015Ray Ortlund“Because its purpose is entertainment, and because people are more easily amused by the comical and ridiculous than by the noble and edifying, sensate art readily resorts to comedy, farce,... -
September 2, 2015Ray Ortlund“I have seen so much emotional blackmail in my ministry, I am jealous to raise a warning against it. Emotional blackmail happens when a person equates his or her emotional... -
September 2, 2015Ray OrtlundJohn Wesley, writing to William Law: London, May 14, 1738. Reverend Sir, It is in obedience to what I think to be the call of God that I, who have the sentence of... -
September 3, 2015Ray Ortlund“The minute a person becomes a celebrity is the same minute he/she becomes a monster. were once perfectly pleasant human beings with whom you might lunch... -
September 4, 2015Ray OrtlundMy TGC ally Rick Phillips makes some good points in his post, “Church Discipline, Contemporary Grace Style”. I thank him for those points. Tullian Tchividjian is my friend too. As far... -
September 5, 2015Ray Ortlund“In the Edwardses’ world, the meaning of life was found in intense loves, including earthly loves.” George M. Marsden, Jonathan Edwards: A Life (New Haven, 2003), page 497. If I were in... -
September 6, 2015Ray Ortlund“If we are Christians and do not have upon us the calling to respond to the lostness of the lost and a compassion for those of our kind, our orthodoxy... -
September 8, 2015Ray Ortlund“Outdo one another in showing honor.” Romans 12:10 “They who avow the doctrines distinguished by the name of Calvinistic, ought, if consistent with their own principles, to be most gentle and... -
September 11, 2015Ray OrtlundLeader: “Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” All: And Cain said to his brother Abel,... -
September 12, 2015Ray OrtlundJ. I. Packer, writing in God in our Midst (Ann Arbor, 1987), pages 24-35, proposes that, among the variety of God’s ways, five constants appear in biblical revivals: 1. Awareness of... -
September 15, 2015Ray Ortlund“It is one thing to love the Lord and His service, and quite something else to have an inexpressible longing for revival that cannot be denied. It is one thing... -
September 16, 2015Ray Ortlund“Be not afraid at His sweet, lovely and desirable cross, for although I have not been able because of my wounds to lift up or lay down my head but... -
September 16, 2015Ray OrtlundJani and I are excited to let our friends know about the new website at Renewal Ministries: www.renewalministries.com. RM exists because everyone needs renewal. The gospel assures us that “the... -
September 17, 2015Ray OrtlundGospel doctrine creates a gospel culture. The doctrine of grace creates a culture of grace, as Jesus himself touches us through his truths. Without the doctrines, the culture alone is... -
September 18, 2015Ray Ortlund“Revival occurs as a group of people who, on the whole, think they already know the gospel discover they do not really or fully know it, and by embracing the... -
September 20, 2015Ray Ortlund1. Get thoroughly dissatisfied with yourself. Complacency is the deadly enemy of spiritual progress. . . . When speaking of earthly goods Paul could say, “I have learned to be content,”... -
September 21, 2015Ray OrtlundSome years ago a friend of mine used these three simple categories to objectify the stages of a church’s rise and fall. Movement A healthy church is born as a burst of... -
September 23, 2015Ray Ortlund“I cannot pray but I sin. I cannot hear or preach a sermon but I sin. I cannot give an alms or receive the sacrament but I sin. Nay, I... -
September 24, 2015Ray Ortlund“If you can cry out to Jesus, he will joyfully hear you. If you will give him no rest, he will give you all the rest you need. The Lord... -
September 25, 2015Ray OrtlundBut just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. Galatians 4:29 “The... -
September 25, 2015Ray Ortlund“As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.” Psalm 16:3 As for the saints in the land. They are in Christ. ... -
September 26, 2015Ray OrtlundNext Saturday, October 3rd, at Vintage Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, it will be my privilege to teach on spiritual awakening. What does awakening or revival look like?...
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September 28, 2015Ray Ortlund“At such a day as this, God especially calls his people to the exercise of extraordinary meekness and mutual forbearance. Christ appears as it were coming in his kingdom, which... -
October 2, 2015Ray OrtlundNow in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone... -
October 5, 2015Ray OrtlundWelcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!
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October 6, 2015Ray OrtlundLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi...
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October 8, 2015Ray Ortlund“After conversion we need bruising, that reeds may know themselves to be reeds and not oaks. Even reeds need bruising by reason of the remainder of pride in our nature,... -
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October 12, 2015Ray OrtlundDo you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? 1 Corinthians 6:15 Our bodies, the humblest part of us, are members of Christ, limbs of Christ, organs of Christ. ... -
October 14, 2015Ray Ortlund“We are justified freely, for Christ’s sake, by faith, without the exertion of our own strength, gaining of merit, or doing of works. To the age-old question, ‘What shall I... -
October 16, 2015Ray OrtlundAs part of our ongoing Peace In The City series, Steve Brown will be speaking this evening from 7 to 9 at Immanuel Nashville, with open Q&A. All are welcome. ...
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October 25, 2015Ray Ortlund“We should be merciful to one another in seeking never to look at the worst side of a brother’s character. Oh, how quick some are to spy out other people’s... -
October 26, 2015Ray Ortlund“For how many a soldier in a concentration camp, weak with hunger and smarting under the whip of the torturers; for how many a person huddling in the last extremity... -
October 27, 2015Ray Ortlund“Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love.” Proverbs 5:19 “The quality of her lovemaking is totally satisfying, and its quantity unending. .... -
October 28, 2015Ray Ortlund“You must be born again.” John 3:7 You. This is personal. If I change the subject to someone else’s need, that could be evidence I have not been born again. If... -
October 29, 2015Ray OrtlundHow great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire . . . set on fire by hell. James 3:5-6 “James tells us... -
October 30, 2015Ray OrtlundBut if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all... -
November 3, 2015Ray OrtlundThe prophets will become wind; the word is not in them. Jeremiah 5:13 “ are the words of one who has felt himself forced to speak by a greater than human... -
November 5, 2015Ray Ortlund“Worldliness in the church is the number one enemy, and that comes in when we have unspiritual people, and we have unspiritual people too often because they are nominal Christians. ... -
November 6, 2015Ray Ortlund“God’s goodness is a communicative, spreading goodness. . . . If God had not a communicative, spreading goodness, he would never have created the world. The Father, Son and Holy... -
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November 18, 2015Ray OrtlundIf we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself. 2 Timothy 2:13 “I tell you, if he were to shut you out, dear soul, whoever you may be,... -
November 20, 2015Ray OrtlundJohn Wesley finally saw how little he knew of Jesus in the middle of the Atlantic, on board the Simmonds, when a storm suddenly broke out. A group of Moravian... -
November 25, 2015Ray OrtlundNow the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars... -
December 1, 2015Ray Ortlund“God has provided for your perfect deliverance from sin in Christ. Everything needed for this purpose was finished by him on the cross. He was your surety. He suffered for... -
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December 2, 2015Ray OrtlundYou are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28 He himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of... -
December 4, 2015Ray Ortlund“Jesus is no longer visible upon earth; but he has promised his spiritual presence to abide with his word, ordinances and people, to the end of time. Weary and heavy... -
December 9, 2015Ray OrtlundSome Christians seem “all certainty.” Maybe it makes them feel heroic. But they see too few gray areas. Everything is a federal case. They have a fundamentalist mindset. Other Christians seem... -
December 14, 2015Ray Ortlund“‘Edith, I wonder what would happen to most churches and Christian work if we awakened tomorrow, and everything concerning the reality and work of the Holy Spirit, and everything concerning... -
December 17, 2015Ray OrtlundTruly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. John 12:24 My... -
December 22, 2015Ray OrtlundIn dulci jubilo Let us our homage show Our heart’s joy reclineth In praesepio And like a bright star shineth Matris in gremio Alpha es et...
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December 27, 2015Ray Ortlund“God’s goodness is a spreading, imparting goodness. . . . God is more willing to bestow good than we are to ask it. He is so willing to bestow it... -
December 31, 2015Ray Ortlund“Glorify the Lord in your sufferings, and take his banner of love and spread it over you. Others will follow you, if they see you strong in the Lord. Their... -
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January 2, 2016Ray Ortlund“I am gentle and lowly in heart.” Matthew 11:29 “Now it is very remarkable that the only passage in the whole New Testament in which the heart of Jesus is distinctly... -
January 6, 2016Ray OrtlundNow and then a commenter asks why I post music videos that are not devoted to God. Most inquiries are courteous. A few are not. In any case, here is... -
January 7, 2016Ray OrtlundThis public event is free and open to all. Please register for childcare at ikidsregister.com. The address of Immanuel Church, our venue, is 4301 Charlotte Avenue, Nashville, 37209. Join us! Paul... -
January 9, 2016Ray Ortlund“How can a human being be a god-like ‘everything’ to another? No human relationship can bear the burden of godhood, and the attempt has to take its toll in some... -
January 9, 2016Ray OrtlundThe Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,... -
January 10, 2016Ray OrtlundI think about my dad a lot. I miss him so much it aches. But the most important thing he taught me was this. There is only one way to... -
January 13, 2016Ray OrtlundThere are two levels at which God can bless a church. At one level, God can bless the faithful efforts of the people: “Establish the work of our hands upon... -
January 14, 2016Ray Ortlund“Penitent sorrow is only a purge to cast out those corruptions which hinder you from relishing your spiritual delights. Use it therefore as physic , only when there is need,... -
January 15, 2016Ray OrtlundThis public event is free and open to all. Please register for childcare at ikidsregister.com. The address of Immanuel Church, our venue, is 4301 Charlotte Avenue, Nashville, 37209. Join us! Peace... -
January 16, 2016Ray OrtlundDavid Bowie strips away all pleasant denial and faces the reality of death in his song “Lazarus”. If only the rest of the story had also been told. -
January 16, 2016Ray Ortlund“The man who has God for his treasure has all things in One. Many ordinary treasures may be denied him, or if he is allowed to have them, the enjoyment... -
January 22, 2016Ray Ortlund“But in Passion Week, as I was reading Bishop Wilson on the Lord’s Supper, I met with an expression to this effect — ‘That the Jews knew what they did,... -
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January 30, 2016Ray OrtlundYesterday it was my honor to address the pastors at The Pastors’ Conference of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida. I thank my friends there for their many kindnesses. Attached... -
February 3, 2016Ray Ortlund“I am doggedly sworn to irrelevance, insofar as relevance implies a corrupt indebtedness to modernity. . . . My deepest desire as a theologian is to be permitted to study... -
February 4, 2016Ray Ortlund“Let us look at our lives in the light of this experience and see whether we gladly glory in weakness, whether we take pleasure, as Paul... -
February 9, 2016Ray OrtlundThe fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Proverbs 1:7 “ contains in a nutshell the whole Israelite theory of knowledge. . . . The... -
February 10, 2016Ray Ortlund“When the heart is cast into the mould of the doctrine which the mind embraces, . . . when not the sense of the words but of the things is... -
February 15, 2016Ray OrtlundThe resurgence of a gospel-centered paradigm of life and ministry in our time has the makings of historic revival. Clearly, God is doing great things, and we are glad (Psalm... -
February 23, 2016Ray Ortlund“Two things urgently needed in ministers, if they would attempt great advances for the kingdom of Christ, are zeal and resolve. Their influence and power for impact are greater than... -
February 25, 2016Ray Ortlund“When the devil accuses us and says, ‘You are a sinner and therefore damned,’ we should answer, ‘Because you say I am a sinner, I will be righteous and saved.’ ... -
February 26, 2016Ray Ortlund“Consider your state. You are a pardoned sinner, not under the law but under grace, freely, fully saved from the guilt of all your sins. There is none to condemn,... -
February 27, 2016Ray Ortlund“People today are afraid to be alone. This fear is a dominant mark of our society. Many now ceaselessly sit in the cinema or read novels about other people’s lives... -
March 3, 2016Ray OrtlundFriends, Jani and I will now be traveling for a bit. I will be unable to blog during this time. Thanks for checking in. God be with you! -
March 18, 2016Ray OrtlundA long flight to Asia two weeks ago gave me the time to read Sinclair Ferguson’s wonderful new book, The Whole Christ (Crossway, 2016). The wisdom of this book guides... -
March 27, 2016Ray Ortlund“When Jesus expels demons and heals the sick, he is driving out of creation the powers of destruction, and is healing and restoring created beings who are hurt and sick. ... -
March 30, 2016Ray Ortlund“I have been crucified with Christ.” Galatians 2:20 So you’re a faithful pastor. You’re walking with the Lord. You’re preaching the gospel. You’re loving the people. You’re trying to evangelize, teach,... -
April 1, 2016Ray Ortlund“Over half a century ago, while I was still a child, I recall hearing a number of older people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen... -
April 2, 2016Ray OrtlundHave a reputation for gentleness. Philippians 4:5, Phillips “One of the nicest compliments I have ever heard about L’Abri was from a young architect who made a profession of faith at... -
April 6, 2016Ray Ortlund“I have put my soul, as a blank, into the hands of Jesus Christ my Redeemer, and desired him to write upon it what he pleases. I know it will... -
April 7, 2016Ray Ortlund“Possibly one of the most devastating things that can happen to us as Christians is that we cease to expect anything to happen. I am not sure but that this... -
April 9, 2016Ray Ortlund“The central problem of our age is not liberalism or modernism, nor the old Roman Catholicism or the new Roman Catholicism, nor the threat of communism, nor even the threat... -
April 20, 2016Ray Ortlund“Augustine expressed his faith not with his heart alone, for the heart does not think . . . nor with his mind alone, for he never grasps truth in the... -
April 28, 2016Ray OrtlundOn 15 August 1937, under intense political pressure, Ernst Käsemann preached a sermon in Germany which led to his arrest. His text was Isaiah 26:13 and these wonderful words, “O... -
April 30, 2016Ray Ortlund“ my favorite word in the lexicon of the English language. It’s a word I’m depending on. The universe operates by Karma, we all know that. For every action... -
May 4, 2016Ray OrtlundYesterday the Indiana primary confirmed that we are moving into a new America, starting in November. In past elections, there seemed to be a positive path forward somewhere. This time,... -
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May 10, 2016Ray OrtlundWilliam Bradford, leader of the Pilgrims, describes the remarkable love with which they cared for one another during that horrible first winter: “But that which was most sad and lamentable was,... -
May 13, 2016Ray Ortlund“Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” 2 Timothy 2:3 Very soon I will report in, and so will you. “For we must all appear before the judgment... -
May 18, 2016Ray OrtlundAnd walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant aroma and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5:2 We white Christians mean well, but it’s hard... -
May 19, 2016Jani OrtlundDiscipleship isn't about first-class Christians trying to bring second-class Christians up to their level. The most important way you can disciple others is by enjoying Christ yourself in such an... -
May 21, 2016Ray Ortlund“We would be careful not to circumscribe the conditions under which God’s grace can enter a human life. However, speaking empirically, we would suppose that conversion to the Christian faith... -
May 25, 2016Ray Ortlund“If you think of this world as a place intended simply for our happiness, you find it quite intolerable; think of it as a place for correction, and it’s not... -
May 28, 2016Ray Ortlund“We sit by and watch the Barbarian. We tolerate him. In the long stretches of peace we are not afraid. We are tickled by his irreverence. His comic inversion of... -
May 29, 2016Ray OrtlundThis is my grandson. He is lost in thought, contemplating a toad. All else has faded away, for a toad is at hand. And, surely, this is why God made... -
May 31, 2016Ray Ortlund“Be intoxicated always in her love.” Proverbs 5:19 It’s a good translation. The verb is used elsewhere for a man staggering in drunkenness (Isaiah 28:7). The sage’s point is that a... -
May 31, 2016Ray OrtlundI am posting this chapel address by Dr. Hudson T. Armerding at Wheaton College from November 15, 1996, primarily, because of how he prays at the beginning (4:55 to 5:53). ...
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June 2, 2016Ray Ortlund“Unbelief says: Some other time, but not now; some other place, but not here; some other people, but not us. Faith says: Anything He did anywhere else He will do... -
June 4, 2016Ray Ortlund“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Exodus 20:16 The Westminster Larger Catechism: Q. What are the duties required in the ninth commandment? A. The duties required in the ninth commandment... -
June 5, 2016Ray OrtlundIn the film “Lawrence of Arabia,” after Lawrence has been humbled by his discovery of his own weakness, he and his friend Ali have a conversation: Lawrence: I’ve come to the... -
June 8, 2016Ray OrtlundCongratulations to the entitled, for they grab what they want. Congratulations to the carefree, for they shall be comfortable. Congratulations to the pushy, for they shall win. Congratulations to the greedy, for they... -
June 9, 2016Ray Ortlund“There are certain things which have to be said over and over again, of necessity, and yet this is the marvel and the wonder of the cross, that however many... -
June 13, 2016Ray OrtlundThe risen Jesus appeared to a Christian named Ananias and commanded him to go find Saul, now blinded by the glory he had seen on the Damascus Road. Ananias was... -
June 19, 2016Ray Ortlund“A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,” and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man. Proverbs 24:33-34 “Your danger and... -
June 23, 2016Ray Ortlund“The church’s ever-living Head knows how to usher in creative epochs, to rally his people to some converging point through the lapse of centuries, and to gather up under this... -
June 29, 2016Ray Ortlund“. . . that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:19 “The definition of ‘fullness’ is neither superiority nor maturity but stretchability. It means we have... -
June 30, 2016Ray OrtlundThree significant differences between the Qur’an and the Bible are considered here: TheQuran_and_TheBible_handout -
July 1, 2016Ray Ortlund“I could tell you a case of a man back home, forty-five years old – a pagan, illiterate, who knew nothing about Christ. Then he was brought by grace, through... -
July 5, 2016Ray OrtlundWhen I fear my faith will fail, Christ will hold me fastWhen the tempter would prevail, He will hold me fastI could never keep my hold through life’s fearful pathFor...
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July 10, 2016Ray OrtlundThis morning at Immanuel Nashville one of our fine members, Mr. David Tolbert, proposed three compelling questions for us all to consider, with further implications. With David’s kind permission, I... -
July 11, 2016Ray Ortlund“Let us then as Christians rejoice that we see around us on every hand the decay of the institutions and instruments of power, see intimations of empires falling to pieces,... -
July 15, 2016Ray Ortlund“I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison, and his successor will die a martyr in the public square. His successor will then pick up the... -
July 15, 2016Ray Ortlund“In Kiev, where I found myself on a Sunday morning, on an impulse I turned into a church where a service was in progress. It was packed tight, but I... -
July 20, 2016Ray OrtlundOne of the books from my dad’s library which I received after his death in 2007 was this one: He had his assistant use this book to keep a record of... -
July 28, 2016Ray Ortlund“It is an instructive and solemn fact, brought out in the history of more than one revival, that when a whole neighborhood had been well watered with the showers of... -
August 2, 2016Ray Ortlund“. . . ministering spirits sent out to serve . . . .” Hebrews 1:14 God sends out angels to serve “those who are to inherit salvation,” as Hebrews 1:14 goes... -
August 3, 2016Ray Ortlund“We should never come to with true Christians without regret and without tears. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Believe me, evangelicals often have not shown it. We rush in, being... -
August 4, 2016Ray OrtlundEveryone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I... -
August 9, 2016Ray Ortlund“When you encounter a present-day view of Holy Scripture, you encounter more than a view of Scripture. What you meet is a total view of God and the world, that... -
August 16, 2016Ray Ortlund“Men are afraid to have good thoughts of God. They think it is a boldness to eye God as good, gracious, tender, kind, loving. I speak of saints. They can... -
August 17, 2016Ray OrtlundA gospel-beautified church is defined by the mega-fact that the gospel is good news for bad people. That good news is preached and sung and memorized and meditated on and... -
August 20, 2016Ray OrtlundIn 1851 a group of British missionaries to Tierra del Fuego was forced to winter in the bitter cold while they waited for their supply ship to arrive. It came... -
August 23, 2016Ray OrtlundBut if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all... -
August 26, 2016Ray OrtlundThere is a reason why a book like Jerry Bridges’ The Blessing of Humility matters so much. The depth of personal spirituality represented here is not in our DNA. We... -
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September 7, 2016Ray OrtlundFifty years ago today, 7 September 1966, my dad and mom gave me a new Bible. It was my senior year in high school, the first week of two-a-day football... -
September 13, 2016Ray OrtlundO. Hobart Mowrer, the psychologist, set himself to understand more deeply our hollowed-out emotional lives. He noted that, commonly, when we perform a good deed, we advertise it, display it,... -
September 20, 2016Ray OrtlundOutdo one another in showing honor. Romans 12:10 I wonder if Romans 12:10 is one of the most under-obeyed commands in Scripture. I wonder if we have lowered our standard to... -
October 5, 2016Ray Ortlund“Whenever a change occurs in the religious opinions of a community, it is always preceded by a change in their religious feelings. The natural expression of the feelings of true... -
October 6, 2016Ray OrtlundWhat do you have going for you everything is against you? What will not fail you when what you thought was true and solid and real collapses beneath you? Who... -
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October 18, 2016Ray OrtlundIn a sermon entitled “The Temper of Jesus, or, Grace to the Chief of Sinners,” Benjamin Grosvenor (1676-1758) presented the risen Jesus addressing his apostles, as they were about to... -
October 31, 2016Ray OrtlundToday is the official launch of my new book on marriage. But this is not a book of handy tips for married people, helpful as that might be. Nor is... -
November 2, 2016Ray OrtlundTherefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. James 5:16 “Orders of a Religious Society Meeting in Fetter’s Lane, in obedience to... -
November 9, 2016Ray Ortlund“Now we must ask, what happens when someone has been hurt by my sin? The Bible teaches that the moment we have confessed this sin to God, the shed blood... -
November 19, 2016Ray OrtlundGod’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:5 “The Comforter gives a sweet and plentiful evidence and persuasion of... -
December 7, 2016Ray Ortlund“The main condition of spiritual life, according to 1 John 1, is fellowship with God; and the prerequisite for communion with God is ‘walking in the light,’ which may be... -
December 8, 2016Ray Ortlund“. . . the end to which all church order, on the Puritan view, was a means, and for which everything superstitious, misleading and Spirit-quenching must be rooted out, was... -
December 21, 2016Ray Ortlund“The early Christian was very precisely a person carrying about a key . . . . The whole Christian movement consisted in claiming to possess that key. It was not... -
December 30, 2016Ray Ortlund1. Set an infinite value on immortal souls. 2. Gain all the information you can about “the snares and delusions in which these heathens are held.” 3. Abstain from all English manners... -
December 31, 2016Ray OrtlundTo eat, to breathe to beget Is this all there is Chance configuration of atom against atom of god against god I cannot believe it. Come, Christian Triune God who lives, Here am I Shake the world again. Francis... -
January 5, 2017Ray Ortlund“There has been a long tradition which sees the mission of the Church primarily as obedience to a command. It has been customary to speak of ‘the missionary mandate.’ This... -
January 11, 2017Ray OrtlundSo the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of... -
January 20, 2017Ray Ortlund“I am royal, I am lordly, I am mighty, I am honored, I am exalted, I am glorified, I am powerful, I am all-powerful, I am brilliant, I am lion-brave,... -
February 2, 2017Ray Ortlund“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. . . . For this reason the gravest question before the Church is... -
February 2, 2017Ray Ortlund“In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of... -
February 8, 2017Ray OrtlundIn Spurgeon v. Hyper-Calvinism, Iain Murray draws four lessons from that conflict: 1. “Genuine evangelical Christianity is never of an exclusive spirit. Any view of the truth which undermines catholicity has... -
February 9, 2017Ray Ortlund“It is the supreme art of the devil that he can make the law out of the gospel. If I can hold on to the distinction between law and gospel,... -
February 20, 2017Ray OrtlundWoe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These... -
February 22, 2017Ray Ortlund“Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. At my first defense... -
February 28, 2017Ray OrtlundIt is very much in the devil’s interests that we despair. If he can get us to believe any of these three demoralizing lies that he loves to whisper into... -
February 28, 2017Ray Ortlund“You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.” (1 Thessalonians 1:9) You and I are not integrated, unified, whole persons. Our hearts are deeply divided, more... -
March 1, 2017Ray Ortlund“You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.” 1 Thessalonians 1:9 You and I are not integrated, unified, whole persons. Our hearts are deeply divided, more... -
March 3, 2017Ray OrtlundA nice church filled with nice people doing nice things will make no impact in the intensity of our times. Every hybrid form of “Christianity” deserves to die, and will... -
March 6, 2017Ray Ortlund“I love the simplicity of the Scriptures, and I wish to receive and inculcate every truth precisely in the way, and to the extent, that it is set forth in... -
March 11, 2017Ray Ortlund“I have calmed and quieted my soul.” Psalm 131:2 How did David get into that quiet place before God? He forsook ambition. “My eyes are not raised too high,” he wrote... -
March 17, 2017Ray OrtlundIn a sermon preached during the First Great Awakening, George Whitefield laid bare the four archaeological layers always uncovered in true repentance. Preaching on “They have healed the wound of... -
March 20, 2017Ray OrtlundWhen I preach through the Ten Commandments, each sermon has four points, because each commandment does four things at once. First, each of the Ten Commandments is revelation. Each one gives... -
March 28, 2017Ray Ortlund“Get back to your burdens” (Exodus 5:4). That’s what the Pharaoh said to God’s people as they groaned under the subhuman evil that slavery is. “Get back to your burdens”... -
March 29, 2017Ray OrtlundThe beautiful “one another” commands of the New Testament are famous. But it is also striking to notice the “one anothers” that do not appear there. For example, sanctify one another,... -
March 30, 2017Ray OrtlundThe beautiful “one another” commands of the New Testament are famous. But it is also striking to notice the “one anothers” that do not appear there. For example, sanctify one another,... -
April 6, 2017Ray Ortlund“God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son.” Romans 1:9 There was, for Paul, a deeper dimension to his gospel ministry, far beyond... -
April 24, 2017Ray OrtlundFifty years ago today Dr. Edward John Carnell died. My purpose now is to honor him from a personal angle of vision. I believe that the second most important reason... -
April 29, 2017Ray OrtlundWe experience three kinds of suffering in this life. One, deserved suffering. We sin, and we suffer misery for it. Sin always spawns misery. It’s all sin can do. So, deserved... -
May 4, 2017Ray OrtlundOn December 26, 1944, Second Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda of the Japanese army was sent to the Philippine island of Lubang. His mission was to resist the American advance, and he... -
May 17, 2017Ray Ortlund“To the question ‘What is Romans all about?’ a variety of answers might be given. . . . An interesting point emerges if we approach the epistle statistically. . .... -
May 23, 2017Ray OrtlundTo call anything an “institution” today can be its death sentence, including a church. Should we be ashamed of the institutional aspects of our churches? What is an institution? An institution... -
June 2, 2017Ray OrtlundWritten by:Ray Ortlund The Rev. William Still, a patriarch of the Church of Scotland in the twentieth century, preaching on Romans 5:5 and the love of God being poured into our... -
June 12, 2017Ray Ortlund“Later on in my ministry I faced another crisis that equally influenced the writing of my books. It came after I had already been a pastor for ten years in... -
June 13, 2017Ray OrtlundWritten by:Ray Ortlund “Later on in my ministry I faced another crisis that equally influenced the writing of my books. It came after I had already been a pastor for ten... -
June 22, 2017Ray OrtlundYes, I really have heard that objection. But there are many ways one can cast doubt on the Bible. It’s a huge subject, and it quickly becomes technical. But, for... -
June 23, 2017Ray OrtlundWritten by: Ray Ortlund Yes, I really have heard that objection. But there are many ways one can cast doubt on the Bible. It's a huge subject, and it quickly becomes... -
June 29, 2017Ray OrtlundWritten by: Ray Ortlund William C. Burns was preaching in Perth, Scotland, in 1840. His biographer writes, “The power indeed that attended his words, and the effects which often in the most... -
July 7, 2017Ray OrtlundWritten by: Ray Ortlund Richard Baxter, in A Christian Directory (Ligonier, 1990), page 140, lists seven benefits of looking by faith to the Lord, as to no other, for our... -
July 15, 2017Ray OrtlundWritten by: Ray Ortlund Gospel + safety + time. It’s what everyone needs. A lot of gospel + a lot of safety + a lot of time. Gospel: good news for bad... -
July 23, 2017Ray OrtlundWritten by: Ray Ortlund Galatians 2:11-21 has been unsettling me for forty years. Paul rebuked Peter publicly — for what? They agreed on gospel doctrine: “We know that a person is... -
July 26, 2017Ray OrtlundWritten by: Ray Ortlund I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. Psalm 34:1 It is possible for two psychologies to coexist in our... -
August 7, 2017Ray OrtlundWritten by: Ray Ortlund When Peter said to Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” the Lord replied, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood... -
August 10, 2017Ray OrtlundWritten by: Ray Ortlund “The work of the Spirit can be compared to mining. The Spirit’s work is to blast to pieces the sinner’s hardness of heart and his frivolous opposition... -
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August 21, 2017Ray OrtlundIn his Thoughts on Religious Experience, Archibald Alexander asked why we grow so slowly as Christians. First, he rounded up the usual suspects: “The influence of worldly relatives and companions, embarking... -
August 22, 2017Ray OrtlundWritten by: Ray Ortlund In his Thoughts on Religious Experience, Archibald Alexander asked why we grow so slowly as Christians. First, he rounded up the usual suspects: “The influence of worldly relatives... -
August 29, 2017Ray OrtlundWritten by: Ray Ortlund Intensely felt, openly demonstrated love between manly men of God - who wouldn't want to be a part of that? Three ways to create that culture in... -
September 6, 2017Ray Ortlund“hen classic justification, based on the propitiatory work of Christ, is absent, human beings will grasp for substitutes, often grotesque ones. . . . We have here [in the French... -
September 7, 2017Ray OrtlundWritten by: Ray Ortlund “hen classic justification, based on the propitiatory work of Christ, is absent, human beings will grasp for substitutes, often grotesque ones. . . . We have here... -
September 8, 2017Ray Ortlund“I could tell you a case of a man back home, forty-five years old – a pagan, illiterate, who knew nothing about Christ. Then he was brought by grace, through... -
September 19, 2017Ray OrtlundWritten by: Ray Ortlund Dear Husband, I thank God for this moment with you. I only wish I could be present with you and look into your eyes and speak as earnestly...
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September 19, 2017Jani OrtlundWritten by: Jani Ortlund Dear Friend, Although we haven’t met, I know at least one thing about you. I know you didn’t enter your marriage thinking, “How can I ruin this? How... -
September 19, 2017Ray Ortlund“If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at... -
October 5, 2017Ray OrtlundWritten by: Ray Ortlund "'Intimacy' is a word that can make you wince. It is used in sentimental settings, and it is sometimes deployed to describe relationships that are unworthy of... -
October 5, 2017Ray Ortlund“‘Intimacy’ is a word that can make you wince. It is used in sentimental settings, and it is sometimes deployed to describe relationships that are unworthy of the word. But...
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October 18, 2017Ray OrtlundWritten by: Ray Ortlund Here are four categories of speech that church leaders should keep in mind at all times: 1. Wisdom Saying only Christ-honoring, life-giving things. Always asking oneself, “Do the words... -
October 18, 2017Ray OrtlundHere are four categories of speech that church leaders should keep in mind at all times: 1. Wisdom Saying only Christ-honoring, life-giving things. Always asking oneself, “Do the words I feel like...
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November 16, 2017Ray OrtlundSome years ago a friend of mine used these three simple categories to objectify the sequential stages of a church’s rise and fall. Movement A healthy church is born as a burst...
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December 4, 2017Ray OrtlundFor when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up... -
December 15, 2017Ray Ortlund“We are trying to be several selves at once, without all our selves being organized by a single, mastering Life within us. Each of us tends to be, not a... -
January 18, 2018Ray OrtlundLed by Zwingli, the church in Zurich studied the Old Testament at a level of care which will doubtless amaze us today but which was certainly an evidence of the... -
January 26, 2018Sarah Eekhoff ZylstraThis post was originally published on The Gospel Coalition Jani Ortlund still gets flustered when she thinks about the first time she saw her husband, Ray. It was just outside the gym on... -
January 26, 2018Jani OrtlundI wish someone had told me. Looking back now, I wish an older lady had sat me down and told me, “Most of life is waiting, Jani. Learn to wait in... -
February 7, 2018Ray Ortlund1. Let’s rejoice in one another, because the Lord rejoices in us. Psalm 16:3 sets the overall tone: “As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in... -
February 13, 2018Ray Ortlundhttps://s3.amazonaws.com/tgc-web/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/13185438/JaniVday11-copy.m4v
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February 15, 2018Ray Ortlund“Walking around St James’s Park I thought intensely of the difference between Tolstoy and St Augustine. Tolstoy tried to achieve virtue, and particularly continence, through the exercise of his will;... -
February 17, 2018Ray Ortlund“It is very apparent from the Word of God that he is wont often to try the faith and patience of his people, when they are crying to him for... -
February 22, 2018Ray OrtlundThe following is a letter my dad wrote several years before his death, which he left in his desk, where he knew we would find it: Dear Family, “The time has come... -
March 15, 2018Ray OrtlundIn a blog post entitled “4 Types of Mercy”, Matt Perman proposes that four mercies are to be discerned in the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10. They... -
March 28, 2018Ray Ortlund“We sit by and watch the Barbarian. We tolerate him. In the long stretches of peace we are not afraid. We are tickled by his irreverence. His comic inversion of... -
May 11, 2018Ray OrtlundWhen God wants to drill a man And thrill a man And skill a man When God wants to mold a man To play the noblest part When He yearns with all His heart To create... -
May 17, 2018Ray Ortlund1. Get thoroughly dissatisfied with yourself. Complacency is the deadly enemy of spiritual progress. . . . When speaking of earthly goods Paul could say, “I have learned to be content,”... -
May 31, 2018Ray OrtlundO. Hobart Mowrer, in the course of his service as a psychologist, set himself to understand more deeply our hollowed-out emotional lives. He noted that, commonly, when we perform a... -
June 7, 2018Ray Ortlund“When we are united to Christ a mysterious exchange takes place: he took our curse, so that we may receive his blessing; he became sin with our sin, so that... -
June 13, 2018Ray Ortlund“I hold myself bound, in conscience and in honor, not even to imagine that I have attained a proper knowledge of any one article of truth, much less to publish... -
June 18, 2018Ray OrtlundIf then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? Luke 16:11 We are accustomed to the biblical message that we should... -
June 23, 2018Ray Ortlund“This book contains unanswerable evidence of the truth of the Christian religion. It is a record of the early triumphs of Christianity. Within the space of thirty years... -
June 25, 2018Ray OrtlundThe Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea. Jonah 1:4 The lot fell on Jonah. Jonah 1:7 The Lord appointed a great fish. Jonah 1:17 The word of the Lord came to... -
June 27, 2018Ray Ortlund“‘Edith, I wonder what would happen to most churches and Christian work if we awakened tomorrow, and everything concerning the reality and work of the Holy Spirit, and everything concerning... -
June 29, 2018Ray OrtlundRichard Ellsworth Day, on pages 223-224 of The Shadow of the Broad Brim (1934), writes of “a prayer service in Metropolitan Tabernacle that dragged wretchedly,” when one of the leaders... -
July 1, 2018Ray OrtlundThis past week Jani and I had the privilege of serving the pastors and wives of the Acts 29 Network, Southeast Region, in Vail, Colorado. Here is the message I... -
July 23, 2018Ray Ortlund“God has two problems with us. The relationship can be broken in two ways. The first would be by our failure, our immorality, our vices. . . . That problem... -
July 23, 2018Ray Ortlund“God has two problems with us. The relationship can be broken in two ways. The first would be by our failure, our immorality, our vices. . . . That problem... -
July 26, 2018Ray Ortlund“A strangely fascinating power is exerted by those who are utterly sincere. Such believers attract unbelievers, as with the case of David Hume, the eighteenth-century British deistic philosopher who rejected... -
August 3, 2018Ray Ortlund“Pseudo-faith always arranges a way out to serve in case God fails it. Real faith knows only one way and gladly allows itself to be stripped of any second way... -
August 16, 2018Ray Ortlund“A man may love another as his own soul, yet his love may not be able to help him. He may pity him in prison, but not relieve him, bemoan... -
September 6, 2018Ray OrtlundSome Christians seem “all certainty.” Maybe it makes them feel heroic. But they see too few gray areas. Everything is a federal case. They have a fundamentalist mindset. Other Christians seem... -
September 6, 2018Ray OrtlundSome Christians seem “all certainty.” Maybe it makes them feel heroic. But they see too few gray areas. Everything is a federal case. They have a fundamentalist mindset. Other Christians seem... -
October 2, 2018Ray OrtlundJohn Wesley finally saw how little he knew of Jesus in the middle of the Atlantic, on board the Simmonds, when a storm suddenly broke out. A group of Moravian... -
October 16, 2018Ray Ortlund“What is the indelible mark of the Shorter Catechism? We have the following bit of personal experience from a general officer of the United States army. He was in a... -
November 2, 2018Ray Ortlund“. . . men sure of God, sure of his will, sure of the absolute duty to act in his sight and for his approval. Nothing else mattered by comparison. ... -
November 8, 2018Ray OrtlundThis is my grandson. He is lost in thought, contemplating a toad. All else has faded away, for a toad is at hand. And, surely, this is why God made... -
November 14, 2018Ray OrtlundWe experience three kinds of suffering in this life. One, deserved suffering. We sin, and we suffer misery for it. Sin always spawns misery. It’s all sin can do. So, deserved... -
November 14, 2018Ray OrtlundWe experience three kinds of suffering in this life. One, deserved suffering. We sin, and we suffer misery for it. Sin always spawns misery. It’s all sin can do. So, deserved... -
November 15, 2018Ray OrtlundYou shall have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:3 I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 “This... -
December 7, 2018Ray OrtlundOur hearts don’t crack open easily. Many of us who believe the gospel still live day-to-day in avoidance, rather than relief, of our pain. In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader... -
December 19, 2018Ray Ortlund“We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or... -
December 26, 2018Ray Ortlund“When we go to a town to start a church, are we going there with the primary motivation to build a church which is loyal to Presbyterians and the Reformed... -
December 27, 2018Ray OrtlundAnd he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” Mark 9:29 “You failed there, he said in effect to these disciples, because you did not... -
January 2, 2019Ray OrtlundJean-Paul Sartre said, “Revolution is seeing each other a lot.” The power of a cohesive church — as in Acts 2:42-47. Quoted in Peter Collier and David Horowitz, Destructive Generation: Second Thoughts... -
January 2, 2019Ray OrtlundIs there a valid place among us for apologies, restraint, caution? Obviously, yes. Indeed, it is mystifying how rarely we, who say we value repentance, repent and back up and... -
January 19, 2019Ray OrtlundGospel doctrine creates a gospel culture. The doctrine of grace creates a culture of grace, as Jesus himself touches us through his truths. Without the doctrines, the culture alone is... -
January 30, 2019Ray Ortlund“Maintenance prayer meetings are short, mechanical and totally focused on physical needs inside the church or on personal needs of the people present. But frontline prayer has three basic traits:... -
February 11, 2019Ray OrtlundIn thinking through how to promote the cause of revival, Jonathan Edwards urged prayer and fasting, first and foremost. But he also pointed out that prayer, while vitally important, is... -
February 11, 2019Ray OrtlundIn thinking through how to promote the cause of revival, Jonathan Edwards urged prayer and fasting, first and foremost. But he also pointed out that prayer, while vitally important, is... -
February 27, 2019Ray OrtlundIf we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself. 2 Timothy 2:13 “I tell you, if he were to shut you out, dear soul, whoever you may be,... -
February 28, 2019Ray OrtlundHenry Martyn (1781-1812), Anglican missionary, was the guest of a Muslim friend for dinner. His host described for him a painting he had seen of Jesus bowing down before Muhammad.... -
March 8, 2019Ray Ortlund“In our quest for the fullness of the Spirit, we have sometimes forgotten that a Spirit-filled intelligence is one of the powerful weapons for pulling down satanic strongholds.” Richard F. Lovelace,... -
April 5, 2019Ray OrtlundAttached is the text of my breakout session from Tuesday, “Pastor, you and your church can get healthy again”: Health -
April 8, 2019Ray Ortlund“I remember on one occasion shaking his head and saying to me, ‘You can’t say that, because it’s true.’ It seemed like a basic twentieth-century text.” Malcolm Muggeridge, as... -
May 2, 2019Ray OrtlundIn his prophetic book, The Mark of the Christian, Francis Schaeffer related two examples of reconciliation among Christians, which remains such an urgent need in our own times. Here is... -
May 31, 2019Ray Ortlund“I pray for you very earnestly, and I am deeply pained that you keep sucking up cares like a leech and thus rendering my prayers vain. Christ knows whether it... -
June 4, 2019Ray OrtlundI believe we are nearing a tipping-point, as pressures upon us and within us intensify. We feel more urgency to face ourselves and come clean about our unconfessed sins. We... -
June 5, 2019Ray Ortlund“As you are likely to be engaged in controversy, and your love of truth is joined with a natural warmth of temper, my friendship makes me solicitous on your behalf.... -
June 7, 2019Ray Ortlund“Nothing is so beautiful, nothing is so continually fresh and surprising, so full of sweet and perpetual ecstasy as the good. No deserts are so dreary, monotonous and boring as... -
June 8, 2019Ray OrtlundRemembering David Powlison moves me deeply. When everything was on the line for Jani and me, David and Nan were there for us. We spent a day together in 2007 –... -
August 20, 2019Ray OrtlundOne of the books from my dad’s library that I received after his death in 2007 was this one: Dad’s assistant used this book to keep a record of the various... -
September 12, 2019Ray OrtlundTherefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. James 5:16 “Orders of a Religious Society Meeting in Fetter’s Lane, in obedience to...
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September 12, 2019Ray OrtlundTherefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. James 5:16 “Orders of a Religious Society Meeting in Fetter’s Lane, in obedience to...
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November 22, 2019Ray Ortlund“The cross is practical, it is God moving in love to meet violent men and women, facing violence and suffering for us. Your faith was born in violence. The Christian...
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December 30, 2019Ray Ortlund“He sits in ambush in the villages; in hiding places he murders the innocent” (Ps. 10:8). I have heard it said by a Christian leader, “In every conflict there is always...
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January 12, 2020Ray OrtlundThe amazing band at Immanuel Nashville has composed an entire album of new songs, putting the text of Romans chapter 8 to music. If you can get through this album without...
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March 17, 2020Ray Ortlund“. . . making the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:16). Hopefully, in these remarkable days, we pastors have more time for reading. We might...
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June 5, 2020Ray Ortlund“There is not one of who did not receive this new certainty of God in such a way that the whole previous pattern of his life,...
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June 19, 2020Ray OrtlundIntensely felt, openly demonstrated love between manly men of God—who wouldn’t want to be a part of that? Three ways to create that culture in our churches: One, “Outdo one another...
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July 28, 2020Ray OrtlundThomas Boston, in Human Nature in its Fourfold State, imagines the future reunion of a believer’s body with his soul at the resurrection. The conversation goes like this, slightly updated: Body...
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August 27, 2020Ray Ortlund“It is an instructive and solemn fact, brought out in the history of more than one revival, that when a whole neighborhood had been well watered with the showers of...
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September 24, 2020Ray OrtlundGospel + safety + time. It’s what everyone needs. A lot of gospel + a lot of safety + a lot of time. Gospel: good news for bad people through the...
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November 2, 2020Ray Ortlund“Let us then as Christians rejoice that we see around us on every hand the decay of the institutions and instruments of power, see intimations of empires falling to pieces,...
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November 3, 2020Ray Ortlund“I am no longer my own, but thine. Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt. Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me... -
December 8, 2020Ray Ortlund“Worldliness in the church is the number one enemy, and that comes in when we have unspiritual people, and we have unspiritual people too often because they are nominal Christians....
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December 12, 2020Ray Ortlund“We should never come to with true Christians without regret and without tears. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Believe me, evangelicals often have not shown it. We rush in, being... -
January 6, 2021Ray Ortlund“In Kiev, where I found myself on a Sunday morning, on an impulse I turned into a church where a service was in progress. It was packed tight, but I... -
January 14, 2021Ray OrtlundA nice church filled with nice people doing nice things will make no impact in the intensity of our times. Every hybrid form of “Christianity” deserves to die, and it... -
February 15, 2021Ray OrtlundI believe in common grace. John Calvin taught me that it is God who lavishes giftedness on his human race. We may therefore enjoy his bestowments wherever we encounter them,... -
March 5, 2021Ray OrtlundGalatians 2:11-21 has been unsettling me for forty years. Paul rebuked Peter publicly — for what? They agreed on gospel doctrine: “We know that a person is not justified by... -
March 5, 2021Ray OrtlundGalatians 2:11-21 has been unsettling me for forty years. Paul rebuked Peter publicly — for what? They agreed on gospel doctrine: “We know that a person is not justified by... -
March 11, 2021Ray Ortlund“Unbelief says: Some other time, but not now; some other place, but not here; some other people, but not us. Faith says: Anything He did anywhere else He will do... -
April 19, 2021Ray OrtlundPat Macmillan, in “The Mission-Directed Ministry Team,” RTS Ministry, Winter 1994, quotes Peter Senge: “When a team becomes more aligned, a commonality of direction emerges, and individuals’ energies harmonize. There... -
April 19, 2021Ray OrtlundPat Macmillan, in “The Mission-Directed Ministry Team,” RTS Ministry, Winter 1994, quotes Peter Senge: “When a team becomes more aligned, a commonality of direction emerges, and individuals’ energies harmonize. There... -
April 27, 2021Ray Ortlund“I love the simplicity of the Scriptures, and I wish to receive and inculcate every truth precisely in the way, and to the extent, that it is set forth in... -
June 4, 2021Ray Ortlund“. . . striving side by side for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27) This post is difficult to write, not because the news is so horrible but because it...
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June 4, 2021Ray Ortlund“. . . striving side by side for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27) This post is difficult to write, not because the news is so horrible but because it...
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June 8, 2021Ray Ortlund“It is one thing to love the Lord and His service, and quite something else to have an inexpressible longing for revival that cannot be denied. It is one thing... -
June 12, 2021Ray Ortlund“May a merciful God preserve me from a Christian Church in which everyone is a saint! I want to be and remain in the church and little flock of the... -
June 12, 2021Ray Ortlund“May a merciful God preserve me from a Christian Church in which everyone is a saint! I want to be and remain in the church and little flock of the... -
June 21, 2021Ray OrtlundFriends have asked how I came to serve in the Anglican Church in North America. It’s been a journey. A good one. The Lord has been faithful all along. Not that... -
December 29, 2021Ray OrtlundAt the Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in 1974, I heard Francis Schaeffer deliver the address which later became his essay, “Two Contents, Two Realities.” His overall point was this.... -
March 3, 2022Ray Ortlund“. . . and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.” Philippians... -
March 3, 2022Ray Ortlund“. . . and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.” Philippians... -
May 9, 2022Ray OrtlundThis is personal. I’m not criticizing anyone else. For some, Twitter might even be a necessity. But I’m out. Reluctantly, because it is possible to do some good on Twitter....
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May 9, 2022Ray OrtlundThis is personal. I’m not criticizing anyone else. For some, Twitter might even be a necessity. But I’m out. Reluctantly, because it is possible to do some good on Twitter....
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May 21, 2022Ray OrtlundIn 1851 a group of British missionaries to Tierra del Fuego was forced to winter in the bitter cold while they waited for their supply ship to arrive. It came... -
June 21, 2022Ray OrtlundBlighted is the man who doesn’t stick his neck out, doesn’t think for himself, doesn’t revere anything. But he laughs on cue while watching TV day and night. He is like everybody else. In all that he... -
August 4, 2022Ray Ortlund“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.” (Col. 3:15) The tsunami of sin flooding the world today touches us all. We add to it. We suffer from it....
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April 3, 2023Ray Ortlund“There has been a long tradition which sees the mission of the Church primarily as obedience to a command. It has been customary to speak of ‘the missionary mandate.’ This... -
April 14, 2023Ray Ortlund“I have calmed and quieted my soul.” Psalm 131:2 How did David get into that quiet place before God? He forsook ambition. “My eyes are not raised too high,” he wrote... -
May 20, 2023Ray Ortlund“But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.” Genesis 33:4 This has long struck me as one of the... -
July 11, 2023Ray Ortlund“In all our efforts to cure the disorders of the mind, or what is the same thing, to produce or promote a revival of religion, we are to depend chiefly... -
September 22, 2023Ray OrtlundIn explaining what makes a great story, C. S. Lewis notes one category: “Another very large class of stories turns on fulfilled prophecies — the story of Oedipus, or The Man...
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September 29, 2023Ray Ortlund“The central problem of our age is not liberalism or modernism, nor the old Roman Catholicism or the new Roman Catholicism, nor the threat of communism, nor even the threat... -
July 1, 2024Ray OrtlundLast month, The Gospel Coalition hosted its largest ever gathering. Nearly 9,000 women assembled in Indianapolis for TGC’s 2024 Women’s Conference, themed Behold and Believe: Encountering Jesus as the Great...
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July 2, 2024Ray OrtlundMany women, including me, endure the tragic experience of Scripture being misused against them, often by men. It can be difficult to untangle Scripture’s truth from man’s manipulation. But even...
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July 2, 2024Ray OrtlundIt’s an exciting time to do theology. Technology allows unprecedented access to vast deposits of historical resources. Scholars across disciplines are talking to one another in new ways. Conversations across...
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July 2, 2024Ray OrtlundIn this lecture on 1 John, Don Carson calls Christians to maintain gospel centrality, cautioning against an excessive focus on peripheral issues. He explores the details of John’s letter, emphasizing...
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July 3, 2024Ray OrtlundIn 1976, as America celebrated its 200th birthday, the number one song in many of the nation’s churches was Neil Enloe’s “Statue of Liberty.” The Dove Award Song of the...
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July 4, 2024Ray OrtlundI’ll admit it. I don’t like to wait. “Does anyone?” you might ask. You’re probably right, especially in our fast-paced society filled with immediate app notifications and financial incentives for restaurants...
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July 4, 2024Ray OrtlundA surprisingly large number of conservative intellectuals in the United States are Roman Catholic. Consider, for example, that six of the nine justices on the U.S. Supreme Court are Catholics....
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July 4, 2024Ray OrtlundA strong theological foundation plays a vital role in encouraging and sustaining hope. In this breakout session from TGC’s 2023 conference, Ligon Duncan, Nancy Guthrie, Leigh Swanson, and Melissa Kruger...
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July 5, 2024Ray OrtlundImagine an ordinary church. We’ll call it Riverside Community. Certain folks in the congregation are respected, though for different reasons. Andre is the most successful businessman. Steve is the biggest...
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July 6, 2024Ray OrtlundIn Exodus 13:21–22, the Lord went before the Israelites to guide their steps. Though I (Jessika) couldn’t see it then, I’m convinced the Lord went before me during my final...
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July 7, 2024Ray OrtlundTwenty-five years ago this month, a full-page advertisement appeared in the middle of a small-town newspaper in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. The ad showed a cartoon of Jesus in the style... -
July 7, 2024Ray OrtlundWhen a leader falls, his local church feels the collateral damage. They’re like a crowd standing too close to the curb on a rainy day. The crisis drives by and...
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July 8, 2024Ray OrtlundIt’s probably not an exaggeration to say the four Gospels of the New Testament—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—are the most studied books in history. Every story, every sentence, every word...
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July 8, 2024Ray OrtlundThis past weekend, men hoping to become Donald Trump’s running mate have vied to see who can be more pro-choice on abortion. Florida senator Marco Rubio previously cosponsored federal legislation that...
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July 8, 2024Ray OrtlundWhen I was 10 years old, I attended a screening of a movie called A Thief in the Night. It offered a vivid depiction of end-time events, images that would...
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July 9, 2024Ray OrtlundOne of the most exciting action sequences in A Quiet Place: Day One ends with the protagonists climbing up from Manhattan’s underground subway network and into a cavernous, quiet church....
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July 9, 2024Ray OrtlundAccording to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, about one in five Americans deals with some kind of mental illness, and about one in 20 Americans has a mental illness...
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July 9, 2024Ray OrtlundDon Carson teaches on the importance of obedience to God and his Word as a true demonstration of knowing him, as emphasized in 1 John 2:3–27. Central to the Christian...
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July 10, 2024Ray OrtlundWe’ve all felt wounded or taken advantage of by the way another person has treated us. It can be hard to know how to respond, especially when this is a...
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July 10, 2024Ray OrtlundNietzsche wrote in his book The Anti-Christ, “What is good? All that heightens the feeling of power, the will to power, power itself in man.” This is a poignant example of...
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July 11, 2024Ray OrtlundWater laps against the side of the boat, nudging it gently back and forth. I look down at my 6-year-old son cradled in my arms. A beach towel stretches across...
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July 11, 2024Ray OrtlundIn Four Quartets, T. S. Eliot called poetry “a raid on the inarticulate.” I’ve always liked the phrase. It implies the chaotic mess of life in a postlapsarian world is...
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July 11, 2024Ray OrtlundUnity matters. Christ prayed his church would be marked by it. Yet disunity among Christians abounds, and it’s not always civil in tone. With the Bible’s clear admonitions about foolish...
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July 12, 2024Ray OrtlundHer neighbors didn’t see her as a brilliant author but as the strange woman with all the peacocks. Flannery O’Connor (1925–64) lived most of her life on a farm with her...
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July 13, 2024Ray OrtlundIn his letter to the Ephesian church, Paul refers to the privilege of proclaiming “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph. 3:8). Why unsearchable? Because he—and we—could go on and on. Here...
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July 14, 2024Ray OrtlundIt’s with profound shock, grief, and sadness that our country is once again facing the specter of political violence. The assassination attempt on President Trump as he spoke at a...
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July 14, 2024Ray OrtlundCarol, a young wife with an infant son, discovered her husband Ryan, a police officer, was in an adulterous relationship with a female coworker. When Carol confronted Ryan, he went...
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July 14, 2024Ray Ortlund“Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so...
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July 15, 2024Ray OrtlundFifty years ago this week, the Palais de Beaulieu in Lausanne, Switzerland, hosted the First International Congress on World Evangelization (known as Lausanne 1, or Lausanne ’74), a gathering Time...
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July 15, 2024Ray OrtlundIt was a hot summer evening and getting hotter as I worked up a sweat, trying in vain to get an out as a pitcher on my Little League team....
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July 16, 2024Ray OrtlundThe characters in Marilynne Robinson’s novels often wrestle with the Bible. Each one’s knowledge of Scripture and theology has a different rhythm shaped by a unique background. For example, in...
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July 16, 2024Ray OrtlundOne of the first people I met while visiting Alabama prisons was Robert, a kind man with a wide, easy smile. We bonded over college football and quickly discovered my...
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July 16, 2024Ray OrtlundDon Carson teaches on 1 John 2:28–3:24, which centers on Christlike love, obedience, and transformation. Carson reflects on the depth of God’s love and the joy of being called a...
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July 17, 2024Ray OrtlundWhile most of America’s attention this week has been focused on major national political headlines, a newly enshrined law in California has passed under the radar. But its significance for...
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July 17, 2024Ray OrtlundEvery time I share my abortion story, people reach out to share theirs, often echoing a similar refrain: “I know God has forgiven me, but I just can’t forgive myself.” There’s...
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July 18, 2024Ray Ortlund“Where do they go?” the young woman asked as she stared at the coal-black eyes of a dead horse lying in a stable. That “threshold question,” uttered by actress Claire...
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July 18, 2024Ray Ortlund“Most laws of any consequence arise from a moral vision and reflect the moral judgment of the lawmaker,” according to Texas Supreme Court justice Jimmy Blacklock. In the end, “law...
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July 18, 2024Ray OrtlundWhile Scripture calls Christian leaders to be gentle, kind shepherds, there continue to be cases of pastors who dominate their flocks with a heavy hand. How should we understand this...
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July 19, 2024Ray OrtlundThe beginning and ending of a life are the most sacred moments in existence. They’re mysterious miracles. God’s domain. A soul is born out of a void of nothingness and...
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July 20, 2024Ray Ortlund“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and...
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July 21, 2024Ray OrtlundChristians would do well to read the pagan classics of ancient Greece and Rome. These classics include the epics of Homer, Virgil, and Ovid; the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and...
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July 21, 2024Ray OrtlundAbstract: In 1788, American Presbyterians meeting in Philadelphia approved a revised version of the Westminster Confession of Faith. The most significant change to the original 1646 version concerned the doctrine...
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July 22, 2024Ray OrtlundMinistry is hard and ministers are flawed. This truth presents both insurmountable obstacles and everyday irritations on a regular basis. Ministers give in to doubts and distractions, cynicism and cowardice,...
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July 22, 2024Ray OrtlundWhen Redeemer Presbyterian Church East Side opens its new 12-story worship and ministry center in December, it’ll be opening the way for new opportunities to serve its neighbors on the...
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July 23, 2024Ray OrtlundWhen my dear friend Violet entered the hospice house in her last days of life, I was determined to love her well. As a former trauma surgeon, I’d seen people...
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July 23, 2024Ray OrtlundA growing number of people in the U.S. identify as “spiritual but not religious” (SBNR). According to Pew Research, these individuals “consider spirituality very important in their lives, but they...
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July 23, 2024Ray OrtlundDon Carson teaches on 1 John 4:1–5:4, exploring the themes of truth and love and the importance of spiritual discernment. He encourages Christians to display God’s character and nature through...
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July 24, 2024Ray OrtlundWhen I watch Marvel movies with my kids, we’re always on the hunt for Easter eggs, those glaring references or subtle nods to other Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) properties. Some...
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July 24, 2024Ray OrtlundSignificant figures in recent history are easily forgotten. You may have never heard of Eta Linnemann, but her story bears recalling. As a student of renowned theologian Rudolf Bultmann (1884–1976) in...
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July 25, 2024Ray OrtlundIn 2004, Chinese athlete Liu Xiang won Olympic glory for his nation as the gold medalist in the 110-meter hurdles. After his victory, he was acknowledged as the first male...
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July 25, 2024Ray OrtlundEnd-of-life issues bring turbulence to even the strongest believers. Whether we’re dealing with a sudden loss, a long-term decline, or an unexpected diagnosis, it can be hard to sift through...
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July 25, 2024Ray OrtlundDiscipleship is essential for the spiritual growth of the next generation. In this breakout session from TGC’s 2023 conference, Terrence Shay emphasizes the distinct roles of home and church in...
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July 26, 2024Ray OrtlundEvery summer, I compile a list of quality Christian artists who I think should be on your radar (and playlists) if they aren’t already. (See my lists from 2019, 2020,...
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July 27, 2024Ray Ortlund“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’” (Mark 1:3) When people choose a career, they want to make a living....
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July 28, 2024Ray OrtlundIn the VeggieTales episode “Where’s God When I’m S-Scared?” Junior Asparagus frets after watching the horrific Frankencelery on TV. As he tries to fall asleep, he worries that creatures are...
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July 28, 2024Ray OrtlundAs a pastor and missions leader, I’ve heard the question many times: “I feel called to missions. What should I do now?” I’m always thankful for what the question represents—a...
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July 29, 2024Ray OrtlundFew theologians are as loved or loathed as John Nelson Darby (1800–1882), and few theologians’ reputations depend so little on what they actually believed. Historians, public commentators, social media users,...
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July 29, 2024Ray OrtlundIf you’ve been in church leadership for any length of time, you know certain tensions come with the territory. Which local ministries do you partner with, and how? Should your...
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July 30, 2024Ray OrtlundOver the last few weeks, a series of high-profile moments—the presidential debate, the removal of pro-life language from the Republican party platform, the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump,...
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July 30, 2024Ray OrtlundWhen I was a kid, the worst thing you could be was weak. Weakness was dangerous. A “weak” kid walking into school—like me as a sensitive, uncoordinated, bookish, artsy, and...
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July 30, 2024Ray OrtlundDon Carson expounds on 1 John 5:4–21 and our assurance of salvation through faith in Christ. Carson addresses interpretations of John’s writings, particularly the symbolism of water and blood, which...
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July 31, 2024Ray OrtlundIn one of his expositions of Psalm 73, Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, “There is no possible growth in the Christian life unless we are ruthlessly honest with ourselves.” And yet, as...
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July 31, 2024Ray Ortlund“What do you mean this feeling won’t last forever?” I was in shock as I sat across from my mentor. A sophomore in college, I’d stopped feeling God’s presence in my...
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August 1, 2024Ray OrtlundTwo of my favorite films this summer don’t seem to share much in common, at least on the surface. Thelma (released in June, now available to rent) is about a...
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August 1, 2024Ray OrtlundGood stories often include odd details. But what first strikes the reader as odd or random may later turn out to be interesting and insightful. Have you noticed, for example,...
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August 1, 2024Ray OrtlundFamily discipleship is essential for lifelong faith. In this breakout session from TGC23, Cameron Cole teaches from Ephesians 3:11–16, challenging parents to embrace their central role in their children’s spiritual...
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August 2, 2024Ray OrtlundI was converted at age 20 through the ministry of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. The book table of my InterVarsity group provided a good dose of British evangelical pietism. But also...
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August 3, 2024Ray OrtlundI used to think about heaven from time to time, but it didn’t regularly affect my everyday life. That all changed when my oldest son, Cam, suddenly and unexpectedly died...
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August 4, 2024Ray OrtlundGathered around a bonfire on a crisp New England evening, my wife and I listened as our friends discussed possibly sending their children to a new school. They’d long been...
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August 4, 2024Ray OrtlundChicago was never at the top of Campus Outreach’s list of places to start a campus ministry. It wasn’t even on the list. While about 70 percent of adults in the... -
August 5, 2024Ray OrtlundYou can tell a lot about a culture by observing its biggest fears. In contemporary secular culture, no fear is more animating than the fear of death. But the way...
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August 5, 2024Ray OrtlundWhen Dylann Roof shot and killed nine people attending a Wednesday night Bible study in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015, there were two causes for shock. Roof’s heinous act was...
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August 6, 2024Ray OrtlundShortly into my first position as a women’s ministry director, I oversaw our church’s annual women’s retreat. Read: I planned, organized, and promoted the retreat; I handled registration, set up,...
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August 6, 2024Ray OrtlundWorks like Richard Baxter’s The Reformed Pastor and Charles Spurgeon’s Lectures to My Students are commonplace reading recommendations for aspiring pastors. Rightly so. Spurgeon’s book is more than a century old,...
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August 6, 2024Ray OrtlundDon Carson discusses Jesus’s warnings of false prophets, wars, and persecution before the end times as outlined in Matthew 24:1–28. Carson suggests Jesus’s response to the disciples about the end...
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August 7, 2024Ray OrtlundIn the late modern West, we’re accustomed to hearing the phrase “Speak truth to power.” It implies truth and power aren’t the same thing, that truth can come from the...
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August 7, 2024Ray OrtlundFor the past decade, we’ve been living in what many scholars and cultural observers call the “post-truth” age. The Oxford Dictionary—which named “post-truth” its word of the year in 2016—defines this...
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August 8, 2024Ray OrtlundOur family recently returned from a week in the Appalachian Mountains—climbing wooded trails and playing in rock-strewn rivers, soaking up summer sun and cooled by a lovely mountain breeze. I...
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August 8, 2024Ray OrtlundEvery pastor encounters challenges—gaps between God’s design and his own ministry reality. Our programs and discipleship efforts produce less fruit than we want (ministry gaps). Our people struggle to love...
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August 8, 2024Ray OrtlundClark Fobes highlights the importance of understanding diversity and cultural context when reaching Gen Z with the gospel, noting how social media has influenced a shift from guilt-innocence to honor-shame...
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August 9, 2024Ray Ortlund“But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your...
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August 10, 2024Ray OrtlundThis spring, my wife and I looked at the sky from our backyard. We marveled at ribbons of solar wind—launched by our sun more than 93 million miles away—that lit...
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August 11, 2024Ray OrtlundTwo years ago, in a move that surprised almost everyone, the synod of the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRC) voted 123–53 to affirm that “unchastity” in the Heidelberg...
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August 11, 2024Ray OrtlundI sat in the pew next to one of my students, both of us dabbing tears as we listened to words about her classmate and my former student who passed...
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August 12, 2024Ray OrtlundMany of the daily responsibilities and tasks of motherhood go unseen by the outside world. It’s common for moms to feel overwhelmed and unappreciated as we rock fussy babies, clean...
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August 12, 2024Ray OrtlundEarlier this year, Christian hip-hop artist Shai Linne released a new track titled “Farm Talk.” This modern parable uses farm animals to depict one of the West’s most passionately debated...
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August 13, 2024Ray OrtlundMartin Luther and John Bunyan are familiar names in church history because of how they’ve encouraged the faith of Christians around the world and across time. But they also have...
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August 13, 2024Ray OrtlundC. S. Lewis never had the opportunity to share his thoughts on Marvel’s 1994 comic adaptation of The Screwtape Letters, but he did say much of the criticism of comics...
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August 13, 2024Ray OrtlundDon Carson continues his teaching from the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24:1–28, expounding on the significant effects of apostasy on the church. Discernment is crucial for churches, as dangerous false...
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August 14, 2024Ray OrtlundWhen I was in third grade, my mother enrolled me in Children’s Bible Drill. It was certainly a well-titled activity. After hours of memorizing Bible passages, the class “drilled” together,...
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August 14, 2024Ray OrtlundParenting can feel like an endless attempt to hang on for dear life as the weeks go by. Children change; the culture changes; the demands of work, extended family, and...
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August 15, 2024Ray OrtlundThere’s nothing better than a good night’s sleep. When my wife and I had our first kid, Judah, 14 years ago, we prized sleep above all else. One of us...
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August 15, 2024Ray OrtlundI grew up loving movies and loving Jesus. But my filmgoing and churchgoing felt like separate worlds with little overlap. That changed one afternoon when I was a high school...
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August 15, 2024Ray OrtlundTrevin Wax explores the challenges of spreading the gospel in a culture of expressive individualism. His talk is followed by a discussion with Dean Inserra and Christine Hoover. The panel discusses...
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August 16, 2024Ray Ortlund“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw...
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August 16, 2024Ray OrtlundI’ll always remember summer 2024 as the first “real-world summer” of my adult life—the summer I fundamentally changed how I interact with my smartphone. I left social media behind in...
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August 17, 2024Ray OrtlundSometimes we don’t get waiting right because we’re not prepared for how hard it is. Underneath our disdain for waiting is often our longing for control. Let me be clear: that...
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August 18, 2024Ray OrtlundI lived a satisfying life in my 20s as a single guy. I earned two college degrees, did internships in Hollywood and in the U.K., traveled abroad, settled into my...
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August 18, 2024Ray OrtlundThis week, the Democratic Party will formally adopt their platform at the Democratic National Convention. Last month, delegates for the Republican Party did the same at their convention. The platform...
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August 18, 2024Ray OrtlundJoin Ray Ortlund and Sam Allberry for this final season of the You’re Not Crazy podcast, as they delve into the transformative chapters of Romans 12–15 and equip you with...
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March 7, 2025Ray Ortlund“Whenever a change occurs in the religious opinions of a community, it is always preceded by a change in their religious feelings. The natural expression of the feelings of true...
