Become New with John Ortberg

Epizódy

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  RR. The Good that Suffering Can Bring 02.10.2026 11min

  What can still grow in your life after you’ve been hurt? John Ortberg explores that question through a story author James Michener remembered from childhood: an aging apple tree, eight rusty nails, and an unexpected harvest. Years later, after heart surgery and other painful health challenges, Michener returned to that image. He resolved to keep bearing fruit. John connects his story with the poetry of John Milton and the lives of Hank and Jan, a couple whose faithful care for one another be...
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  Re-Release: I'm Struggling to Find God 01.10.2026 14min

  What do you do when God seems absent from your story? Maybe you still pray, read Scripture, and show up, but the closeness you once felt is gone. Does that mean you’ve done something wrong? Has God left? John Ortberg explores those questions through John of the Cross, the sixteenth-century spiritual writer associated with the phrase dark night of the soul. John explains that this phrase can mean something more specific than a difficult season: a time when the pleasure and reassurance so...
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  Re-Release: Billions Invested in Leadership but Where are All the Good Leaders? 30.09.2026 11min

  Everybody wants to make a difference. We spend billions developing leaders, and schools, businesses, and churches all talk about raising up the next generation of them. But when Jesus began the movement that would change countless lives, his invitation was just two words: “Follow me.” In this episode, John Ortberg asks what it really means to be a follower of Jesus. He challenges the idea that followers are passive or weak. A follower of Jesus can be courageous, curious, persistent, and will...
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  Re-Release: We asked 1,000 people which habits they wish they could break. 29.09.2026 13min

  Is there a habit you keep trying to break, or one you wish you could finally build? You’re in good company. When John Ortberg asked the Become New community about their habits, more than a thousand people responded. They named struggles with worry, anger, procrastination, screen time, negative self-talk, and much more. Some felt too ashamed even to say what their hardest habit was. Into that struggle, Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you res...
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  Re-Release: How to Handle Your LIMIT 28.09.2026 12min

  What do you do with a part of yourself you wish you could change? Maybe you feel limited by your personality, your abilities, your age, or something your body can’t do. It’s easy to compare yourself with someone else and believe that if you just tried harder, you could finally become enough. In this episode, John Ortberg invites us to practice radical acceptance of our limitations. Moses, Gideon, Jeremiah, and Abraham each had reasons to think they weren’t the right person for what Go...
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  Psalms Bonus! What Happens When Someone Really Listens to You 25.09.2026 8min

  What happens when someone really listens to you? In this special bonus episode, John Ortberg sits down with Become New Creative Director Jackson Lane, who shares a story about a childhood stuffed animal, a remarkable ninth-grade teacher, and one small act of kindness he still remembers nearly 15 years later. The story leads John to a beautiful idea about the way God loves us: there is a kind of love that looks for value, and another kind of love that creates value by treasuring what it love...
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  Re-Release: The Most Important Thing to Believe About Jesus 24.09.2026 12min

  Today we're revisiting an episode from SHINE, our walk through the book of Philippians. And there's a reason we're bringing this one back: we've just launched a new Bible reading plan on the Bible App based on the SHINE series. So if today's teaching is helpful to you and you'd like to go deeper, you can now walk through the whole series one day at a time in the Bible App. What if there were a law of the spiritual world as dependable as gravity? In Philippians 2, Jesus doesn't grasp for pow...
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  Thank You from John and Become New 23.09.2026 3min

  Thank you for being part of Become New, a global community growing spiritually in Christ, one day at a time. With an impromptu message from John, filmed on his iPhone in the Grand Tetons, this video is a personal thank-you for being part of this community—and an invitation to help make this work possible. Your generosity helps our small team create and share daily Bible teaching, prayer, study guides, YouVersion Bible plans, The Formation Podcast and Newsletter, and masterclasses—all freely...
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  87. The Lord of the Rings' Most Important Lesson 22.09.2026 12min

  Why did Frodo need Gollum? Coming to you from Hobbiton, New Zealand, John Ortberg explores one of the deepest themes running through J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings: Mercy. Bilbo could have killed Gollum. Frodo could have killed him. Sam could have killed him. But pity stayed their hands. And when Frodo finally reaches Mount Doom, something surprising happens: he fails. His own willpower isn't enough to destroy the ring. Yet the mercy extended to Gollum earlier in the story follows Fro...
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  86. What the Psalms Are Trying to Teach Us 21.09.2026 14min

  Your life was made to be a Psalm. As this journey through the Psalms draws toward its close, John Ortberg reflects on where the Psalter has been leading us all along. Psalm 1 begins by asking what kind of life we will live. The Psalms then carry us through fear, anger, grief, confession, hope, and joy. But the final five Psalms end in an explosion of one thing: Praise. In Psalm 148, everything is invited into the song: people, animals, mountains, stars, sun, moon, even the creatures of the se...
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  85. The Surprising Connection Between Therapy and the Psalms (w/Dr. Rick) 18.09.2026 17min

  What can a therapist teach us about prayer? John Ortberg sits down with his longtime friend and therapist Dr. Rick to explore the Psalms as a kind of “divine therapy with God.” The Psalms are messy. Angry. Afraid. Contradictory. Unfiltered. And according to Rick, that's exactly where healing begins: ruthless honesty inside a relationship where we know we're accepted. So what would happen if we approached God that way? Can we tell Him what we actually think and feel, not merely what we believe...
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  84. How Hope Changes Suffering 17.09.2026 12min

  Suffering can do one of two things: break us or break us open. Beginning with Frederick Buechner's unforgettable image, John Ortberg explores Psalm 110 and one of the deepest ways Christians have read the Psalms: seeing the story of Jesus in their suffering, longing, and hope. Drawing from C.S. Lewis, Plato, and the mysterious biblical figure Melchizedek, John looks at how Jesus brings together two ancient hopes: the victorious king and the suffering servant. Jesus doesn't overcome suffering ...
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  83. Why Happiness Never Seems to Last 16.09.2026 13min

  Are you actually experiencing joy, or are you mostly experiencing relief when problems finally go away? In Psalm 68, John Ortberg explores the biblical idea of exultation: deep, expressive joy that can exist even when life isn't going perfectly. Drawing from C.S. Lewis and Dallas Willard, John looks at why we can spend our lives clearing one hurdle after another and mistaking the resulting relief for genuine joy. Lewis called the Psalmists' delight an “appetite for God.” So how's your appetit...
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  82. There Are 3 Kinds of Friends. Here’s the One You Need. 15.09.2026 15min

  There are three kinds of friends. Two can be valuable, but the third can actually help you become the person God created you to be. Beginning with Psalm 122 and the simple words “Let us go,” John Ortberg explores why friendship is so essential to human flourishing and why it seems increasingly difficult to find. Drawing on Aristotle's three kinds of friendship, John looks at useful friends, pleasant friends, and spiritual friends: people with whom we can be honest, vulnerable, challenged,...
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  81. Two Kinds of Commitment. Only One Transforms You. 14.09.2026 13min

  There are two kinds of commitments: contracts and covenants. We need both. But John Ortberg explains why one can enhance your life while the other can actually transform it. Beginning with Psalm 35, John explores the difference between transactional relationships and covenant relationships, from Casablanca to a remarkable moment in American history when Psalm 35 was read before the Continental Congress. A contract protects individual rights. A covenant creates a “we.” And Scripture doesn't de...
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  80. How to Get "Unstuck" in Praise 11.09.2026 14min

  Why does God want us to praise Him? And what if praising God sometimes feels awkward, artificial, or forced? In this reflection on Psalm 67, John Ortberg explores the same question that once troubled C. S. Lewis. Lewis eventually discovered that God doesn't need praise like an insecure person needs compliments. Praise is actually part of our enjoyment of what's good. We naturally praise the things we love, and we want other people to enjoy them too. That's why Lewis concluded that praise does...
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  79. What to Do When You’re Afraid 10.09.2026 10min

  What do you do when you're afraid? In this reflection on Psalm 62, John Ortberg shares a memorable Dallas Willard story about a terrified cat clinging to a tree, and asks a surprisingly revealing question: What's your branch? When we're afraid, we clutch. We grasp for control over relationships, money, health, reputation, work, or whatever makes us feel secure. But Psalm 62 offers another way. Let go. Lean on God. And stand firm. John explains how these two seemingly contradictory postures be...
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  78. How to Not Waste Your Most Valuable Asset 09.09.2026 14min

  Who has your attention? In a world where screens, money, health, worries, ambitions, and countless other forces compete for our focus, John Ortberg asks a deeper question: Who is my master? Psalm 143 teaches us how to pay attention to God through two important practices: focused attention and open attention. John explores why attention is so powerful, how what we consistently attend to can actually change us, and how we can learn to notice God's presence throughout an ordinary day. The invita...
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  77. Finding Perspective Changes Everything 08.09.2026 10min

  Sometimes you need to stop moving long enough to notice where you actually are. In this reflection on Psalm 100, John Ortberg pulls over at a vista point and invites us to create a “vista point” in our own day: pause, look around, notice the beauty and goodness of God, and make a joyful noise. John also shares the remarkable story of a $3 thrift-store jersey that turned out to be worth $90,000. It looked discarded, but it was a treasure. Maybe you need that reminder too. You are not self-made...
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  76. What Dallas Willard Taught Us About Psalm 23 (w/Keith Matthews) 07.09.2026 11min

  What do people experience when they're around you? In this conversation on Psalm 23, John Ortberg is joined by Keith Matthews, who spent 18 years teaching alongside Dallas Willard. Keith shares what Dallas was really like, why he loved Psalm 23, and a remarkable story about a young woman whose life changed after simply watching Dallas interact with someone on the USC campus. Dallas often prayed that people would have “a radiant life and a radiant death.” His life embodied a deep confidence in...