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God Is Closer Than You Think: This Can Be the Greatest Moment of Your Life Because This Moment is the Place Where You Can Meet God

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If God is always with us, why is he so hard to find?

John Ortberg sets out to answer that question in his new book, God Is Closer than You Think. It is an insightful, theologically rich, easy-to-read book about experiencing God's presence in the day-to-day routines of life. Ortberg begins the book with two pictures.

The first picture is "The Creation of Adam" by Michelangelo, which adorns the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. "Before Michelangelo," Ortberg writes, "the standard paintings of creation showed God standing on the ground, in effect helping Adam to his feet. Not here. This God is rushing toward Adam on a cloud.... It is as if even in the midst of the splendor of all creation, God's entire being is wrapped up in his impatient desire to close the gap between himself and this man." We sometimes talk about our search for God, but the truth is otherwise. "The story of the Bible isn't primarily about the desire of people to be with God; it's the desire of God to be with people."

But how do we spot God's presence in our lives? That brings us to Ortberg's second picture: "Where's Waldo?" You know who Waldo is, right? He's the nerdy guy in funny glasses and a striped cap who's always lost in the crowd. The trick is, you've got to find him. He's always there on the page, somewhere. You just need the eyes to see where. Similarly, we need eyes to recognize God in the details of life. "He's lurking where you least expect him. He's right there on the page. He's anywhere people are willing to see the whole world with eyes incapable of anything but wonder, and with a tongue fluent only for praise."

Most of God Is Closer than You Think consists of practice advice about how to see God in our day-to-day routines:

We need to make "the decision to live ... continually in Jesus' presence."

We need to realize that the present moment "can be the greatest moment of your life because this moment is the place where you can meet God."

We need to pay attention to our thought life: "What we say, do, hear, or imagine ultimately makes our minds receptive or deaf toward the still small voice of God."

In our interactions with other people, we need to say a "CIHU prayer"-"Can I help you?" For God is present with us when we are helpful to others.

I could go on, for God Is Closer than You Think is full of great advice and quotations and stories. But you need to read it for yourself. I particularly benefited from Chapter 9, "When God Is Absent," which is all about Job. And Chapter 10, "The Hedge," was also thought provoking. It is about a simple prayer, "Make up there [heaven] come down here [earth]." To which I think we can all offer a hearty, "Amen!"

I, like most people, am somewhat familiar with Michelangelo's famous painting of God and Adam that graces the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The fresco, called "The Creation of Adam," depicts God and Adam the moment before their outstretched hands meet. But in the introduction to his book, GOD IS CLOSER THAN YOU THINK, John Ortberg points out something that, in my focus on their fingertips, I'd never noticed before.

"If you look carefully at the painting, you notice that the figure of God is extended toward the man with great vigor. He twists his body to move it as close to the man as possible. His head is turned toward the man, and his gaze is fixed on him. God's arm is stretched out, his index finger extended straight forward; every muscle is taut."

Ortberg goes on to say that, before Michelangelo, the standard paintings of creation showed God standing on the ground, helping Adam to his feet. But that's not the case here. "This God is rushing toward Adam on a cloud, one of the 'chariots of heaven,' propelled by the angels. It is as if even in the midst of the splendor of all creation, God's entire being is wrapped up in his impatient desire to close the gap between himself and this man. He can't wait."

Adam's posture, on the other hand, is more difficult to interpret. His arm is partially extended toward God, but his body reclines in a lazy pose, leaning backward as if he has no interest at all in making a connection. "Maybe he assumes that God, having come this far, will close the gap. Maybe he is indifferent to the possibility of touching his creator. Maybe he lacks the strength. All he would have to do is lift a finger."

Like Adam, all we must do to touch God is to lift a finger, and in GOD IS CLOSER THAN YOU THINK Ortberg encourages readers to seize the opportunities all around us. "God is still in the business of coming down to earth: to this cubicle, this email, this room, this house, this job, this hospital room, this car, this bed, this vacation. Any place can become Bethel, the house of God. Cleveland, maybe. Or the chair you're sitting in as you read these words," he writes.

Ortberg is a megachurch pastor (formerly at Willow Creek and now at Menlo Park Presbyterian) with a knack for distilling sometimes-obtuse spiritual principles into concepts that are easy to digest. Here, he takes the abstract theological concept of God's omnipresence and puts skin on it by teaching readers both how to recognize God in their world and how they can be in a vibrant, moment-by-moment relationship with that present God.

Those two tasks require covering a lot of ground, and GOD IS CLOSER THAN YOU THINK is something of a survey of the Christian life. As such, it's an excellent introduction to intentional Christian living, though it might be a little lightweight for readers who already hang with the likes of Dallas Willard (whose work has had a strong influence on Ortberg). Still, it offers a lot of bang for its buck with important insight found on just about every page. Chapter four is especially practical as it provides specific ideas for ways to observe and interact with God throughout the day. Read it with a highlighter close at hand.

--- Reviewed by Lisa Ann Cockrel

More than any Christian book I've read since CS Lewis, this book is applicable to my real life -- not the life I'm supposed to have or wish I had, but the life I really have, where I get impatient on the highway or completely forget to think about God for hours at a time. Ortberg's book weaves contemporary references (The Princess Bride and Monty Python) with solid scriptural analysis and his own experience to provide many ways to understand how close we are to God. While reading it I found myself thinking in new ways about God's presence -- at work, in my relationships -- and I have even seen results in my own life. This book is not the usual "take two quiet times and call me in the morning" pastoral prescriptive.

In Michelangelo's painting of God and Adam, Ortberg makes the point that God is so close to Adam, all Adam has to do is lift his finger to touch God, but God purposefully left that space in order to leave room for man to choose whether or not to be intimate with Him.

This book is written is an easy almost conversational style; you feel that you are simply listening to the author speak . His spontaneous sense of humor breaks in frequently as his serious train of thought is mentally interrupted by a comical twist . He can't resist - and lets the reader in on the joke (often in brackets). The smile in his words is infectious and you find a smile on your own face in response.

Because the author writes with warmth and simplicity you are drawn into the embrace of his message - intimacy in your daily walk with God. Ortberg expresses the invitation of a God who is close - and who yearns for fellowship with those who are His - a God who is there in the mundane moments of our life - as well as our mountain-peak experiences. He is a God who hides Himself in the daily events of our life - not to make it difficult for us to find Him but to give us room to recognize Him or not if we so choose.

Ortberg has a way of gently reaching into the heart of the reader revealing what has perhaps been covered over. His gentle rebuke resonates the truth that we turn away from God because we are doing something we don't want Him to see. We hide , just like Adam and Eve in the garden after they had sinned .

He talks about the seven pathways in which we most naturally sense God's presence and experience spiritual growth. We are all different and for each of us one pathway will come more easily for us than the others. For me personally, when I read the first pathway I had the embarrassed feeling of someone who thought they were alone and then glimpsed a grinning face at the window watching them. He could not have described me more accurately, but I had never thought of it in light of a `pathway' .

Because of `my pathway' (smile) there were a few things I could criticize. For example, I do not agree with the teachings of many of the people he quotes from - but the quotes he uses are applicable to his point. Also the author seems to take for granted that his readers are already `born again' and members of the body of Christ. He does not address `how' to become a child of God or make it clear that it is necessary before we can draw close to the Father God who desires to be close to his children.

All in all, I was blessed by the book, and although the book was a quick read, the deposit in my heart remained for me to ponder.

Upon a recommendation from my pastor, I picked this book up and I was not disappointed. John Ortberg writes with a Max Lucado approach. Taking everyday things and making us realize that they too have a place in our spritual walk. He challenges us to look for God in everyday occurences. His premise, as indicated by the title, is that God is more active in our everyday walk than we give Him credit for. In turn, he challenges us to do our part in praying that God bring His Kingdom to earth.

This book helps the reader to better understand the different levels of relationship there is with God. It is also a wonderful gauge to see where our level is at any given time. This book is encouraging and uplifting to a mature believer or one just starting out. I recommend it to anyone who wants a more intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father.

John Ortberg has been very consistent in producing books with great content and stories. This book isn't a deep theological study, but a more personal "how-to" on becoming closer to God and bringing a little bit of heaven to earth. Very thoughtful and an easy read.

I have enjoyed reading John Ortberg books in the past, and this one was no exception! Ortberg shows how finding God can be like finding 'Waldo'...sometimes he is easy to find, others you really have to search for him. The more you search for God, the more you'll see he is closer than you think, and he is interested in every aspect of your life.

I loved reading this book, and started reading it again right after I finished reading it the first time!

"God Is Closer Than You Think" is another good title by John Ortberg. This book focuses on the thought that we may meet God in our everyday circumstances, no matter where we are and what we do.

Among the points covered include:

1. God's great desire is to be with us everyday.
2. God is involved in the everyday circumstances of our lives.
3. When God is silent and appears to be distant.
4. Like Brother Lawrence, learn to practice the presence of God in your everyday life.

A good and encouraging read for the person who wants to know God more intimately. Good news - God wants you to know Him infinitely more than you want to know Him!

Recommended.

Great book! I especially liked the humor throughout the book - I don't usually laugh out loud when reading a Christian book, but I did quite a few times with this one. Very thought-provoking.