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To Abide or To Abound? The disciple's dilemma: sit at His feet or serve in His name? By John Ortberg My daughter Mallory loves Greek mythology. I once bet her that she did not know the twelve tasks of Hercules off the top of her head. I lost. One of her favorite parts of The Odyssey is when Odysseus navigates a narrow passage with a lethal rock on one side and a fatal whirlpool on the other. Steering between Scylla and Charybdis has been part of our vocabulary ever since. In pastoral ministry I have my own Scylla and Charybdis...

We are learning together this summer about the Fruit of the Spirit. In the first week, we looked at the idea of “Abiding” with Jesus, and the fruit that grows in us as we do that. The second week, Doug Ferguson gave us that unforgettable picture of a little child abiding in God’s love—living in God’s love. Today, we’re going to talk about Joy. I’d like to start with a question, and the question is this: If someone were to ask you: What is the greatest day of your life? What is the best 24-hour unit of time you have...

True (and False) TransformationTwo counterfeit forms of spiritual maturity, and one way to find the real thing.by John Ortberg Hank had been a Christian for 50 years. By the time I came to pastor Hank's church, he was an old cranky guy. He had been a member there since he was a young cranky guy. Hank complained about his family, he complained about his job, and one day, he began to complain about the church's music. He stopped people in the church lobby—visitors, strangers—and said, "Don't you think the music in this church is too loud?" We sat him down...