Customer Reviews

Looking for God: An Unexpected Journey through Tattoos, Tofu, and Pronouns

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I wonder how Nancy got inside my head to know exactly what I was going through. If you have ever felt like you were not connecting with God, this book will remind you that we are NEVER NOT connected to Him. I will never again look at a sunset, the faces of my children, a mountain range or the stars the same way. Amazing book. This is a MUST read for everyone!

I enjoyed this book. It's deep and satisfying, but it is also a book that can be placed in a briefcase or tote bag, to be picked up and put down as time allows. Chapter 16, "Longings, Aches, and Pains," especially spoke to me. In this chapter, Mrs. Ortberg writes about how God is often most real to us when we are in difficult places. She cites as an example, the difficulty she had in moving to Chicago from her childhood home in California. After discussing idolatry of place, she concludes with a beautiful meditation on John 16.

Although I enjoyed the book, I found the first chapter, "The Problem With Quiet Time," to be very frustrating. Now, I in no way disagree with the concept of our meeting God in each and every one of our daily experiences. But, is that a replacement for quiet time? Do we ever outgrow the need for a daily encounter with the Word? This book soars not in the places where Mrs. Ortberg relates her daily experiences of God, but, rather, in the places where she filters her daily experiences through the lens of Scripture. And, she is only able to do that filtering because the Word has been written on her heart during years of daily quiet times. Evangelical and contemplative spiritualities should be viewed as "both/and" not "either/or." As an evangelical, I have much to learn from contemplatives about experiencing God in the midst of daily life. But, contemplatives have much to learn from the evangelical tradition about how to ground the interpretation of those experiences - and, hence, the knowing of God - in the Word. In this book, Mrs. Ortberg shows us how to do this by example. I wish she had been less apologetic about her evangelical background, because that background is critical to the book's success.

This is one of those can't-put-it-down, almost-caused-a-car-accident-by-driving-and-reading books. Clearly written by a straight shooter with a sense of humor. It's Christianity that I can do and want to do; not to become somebody else but a description of how God can work with me and the reality of my life. I wish I had this when my kids were toddlers and could have saved my self from a lot of guilt. I will give it to all of my friends: male and female, Christian and not-so-much.

"Looking for God" grabbed me, and I couldn't put it down until I reached the last page. However, it's not just a quick read. It's a well of deep truths about the wonder of God and the sometimes surprising ways that he reveals himself to us. While humor and hope permeate Nancy Ortberg's stories, my favorite chapters are 11 & 16 - about finding God in our failures and hearing his voice in the midst of our longings, aches and pains. This is real truth for real people.

I was drawn to this book after my friend Leanne gave me the heads up. Quickly thereafter I logged onto my hubby's amazon account and had Looking for God delivered to my front step pronto!

Nancy opens up and shares some of those thoughts we all have from time to time, but we dare never utter them...however she is bold enough to say it...

I love the idea of the Mistake Journal (see pg 154). That alone is worth the $15 bucks. But Nancy keeps on sharing her experiences, gently opening her reader's eyes to a new, more expansive, and more reciprocal view of (re) discovering the God who created us, loves us, and who will never turn his back to us....no matter what. God uses broken people. And Nancy uses her stories to help her readers realize that we all struggle with our understanding of God, but that he is there, all day, every day, but sometimes we just didn't have our glasses on!

Not only is this book funny and engaging, but it seemed to communicate exactly what I needed to hear at this moment in time! I loved it.

Looking for God consists of a collection of essays which explore various aspects of spirituality. Through personal reflections and anecdotes from her own life, Ortberg conveys her struggle to encounter God outside the box. She confronts assumptions about spirituality common in the church - such as the necessity of structured Quiet Times or the idea that singing equates with worship. Her path revealed to her places where God reaches out to speak to us that were often unexpected and unsettling, but which she found she must embrace if she dared grow in her faith. Reading these stories, one is not preached at as to how one must encounter God, but shown a glimpse of how God can work in people's lives for the good.

Readers who enjoyed the spiritual insights and memoirs of books like Don Miller's Blue Like Jazz, will resonate with Ortberg's collection here. The stories range from the witty and amusing, to the challenging, to the downright heart-breaking. I encourage others to take a look at these stories of one woman's journey to experience a deeper and larger faith than she ever thought was possible. Looking for God is an affirmation of how big God truly is and of the creative ways he calls us into a more vibrant relationship with him. I am appreciative of the opportunity to "hear" from Nancy Ortberg through this book; hers is a voice that serves well to translate these concepts to wide audiences.

Many Christian books often feel too academic, or so deeply religious it's difficult to really understand the point the author is trying to convey, especially for someone seeking God. Not so with Nancy Ortberg's newest book. By sharing expertly crafted anecdotes, Ortberg makes understanding Faith approachable. This is a great book that really gets you to think about that which really matters.

Nancy does a great job dispelling misbeliefs about God and what it means to be an authentic Christian. I loved her down to earth writing style and would go out of my way to hear her speak. She shot holes in some of my perspectives through her stories and personal mistakes. Thank you for being real and conveying truth with a twist. I will give it away to people who are looking for a very relatable, yet relevant Christian view.

Nancy Ortberg's stories get into your mind and won't let go. She uses the words of a fourteen-year-old amputee to show us gratefulness in "This, too," and the scene of her father dying of pancreatic cancer to make holiness a lovely word in the chapter entitled simply, "Holy." That chapter, the shortest in the book, is reason enough to buy one for yourself and another for a friend.