Winter 2018
Ortberg (If You Want To Walk on Water, You've Got To Get Out of the Boat) is a clinical psychologist and pastor. New and established readers will find provocative wisdom in his latest offering, a wide-ranging examination of what Christians understand is meant by the kingdom of God and eternal life. Ortberg calls on church leaders to question assumptions about the status quo for Christians, inviting them and nonbelievers alike to reflect on the startling possibility that there is no time or place where God is not—that the kingdom of heaven breaks into everyday reality if Jesus's gospel is true. While he is grounded in biblical awareness, Ortberg is also attuned to the language of psychology, Twelve Step insights, and popular culture, suggesting that heaven and eternal life begin with daily awakening to the human condition of personal failure and weakness (or sin, in the language of theology). VERDICT Dean Gallagher presents this message in a conversational tone that will appeal to a general audience of seekers as well as Christian readers.—Bernadette McGrath, Vancouver P.L., BC