Love Beyond Reason: Moving God's Love from Your Head to Your Heart [Hardcover]

John Ortberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1998

Reveals the God you've longed to encounter: a Father head-over-heals in love with you and committed to your highest joy.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Pandy” was only a child’s rag doll—one arm missing, the stuffing pulled out of her. But in the eyes of the small girl who loved her, she was priceless.

It may not be a very sophisticated image, but in it you can glimpse God’s love—love that ascribes value beyond reason, far beyond the intrinsic worth of its object. God loves you not because you’re flawless, not because you’re a perfect person, but just because you are. And in returning his love, he wants you to love others the same way.

In Love Beyond Reason, John Ortberg reveals the God you’ve longed to encounter: a Father head-over-heels in love with you, his child, and intensely committed to your highest joy. Ortberg takes you to the very core of God’s being to discover a burning, passionate love that gives, and gives, and gives. He explores the life-changing ways this love has expressed itself through Jesus. And he shows how you, like Jesus, can love your mate, your family, your friends, and the world around you with the same practical, transforming love.

Using powerful and moving illustrations, Ortberg demonstrates the different characteristics of love—how it . . . hears the heart touches the untouchable delights in giving second chances balances gentleness and firmness teaches with wisdom walks in grace chooses the beloved searches for those in hiding . . . and walks in the kind of humility that, in the person of Jesus, willingly descended from the heights to don the rags of our rag-doll humanity.

Dispelling your fears and misconceptions, Love Beyond Reason shows you the true character of your heavenly Father. With passion and wisdom, John Ortberg brings you face-to-face with the Love that frees and empowers you to love -- Publisher

From the Publisher

It may not be a very sophisticated image, but in it we glimpse God's love--love that ascribes value beyond reason, far beyond the intrinsic worth of its object. God loves us not for what we are, but because we are. And in returning his love, he wants us to love each other the same way. In Love Beyond Reason, John Ortberg reveals the God we've longed to encounter: a Father head-over-heels in love with his children and intensely committed to their highest joy. Ortberg takes us to the very core of God's being to discover a burning, passionate love that gives, and gives, and gives. He explores the life-changing ways that love expressed itself through Jesus. And he shows how we, like Jesus, can love our mates, our families, our friends, and the world around us with the same practical, transforming love. Using powerful and moving illustrations, Ortberg demonstrates the different characteristics of love--how it hears the heart, touches the untouchable, delights in giving second chances, balances gentleness and firmness, teaches with wisdom, walks in grace, chooses the beloved, and searches for those in hiding. And how it walks in the kind of humility that, in the person of Jesus, willingly descended from the heights to don the rags of our rag-doll humanity. Dispelling our fears and misconceptions, Love Beyond Reason reveals the true character of our heavenly Father. With passion and wisdom, John Ortberg brings us face-to-face with the Love that frees and empowers us to love.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 226 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan Publishing Company (October 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310212154
• ISBN-13: 978-0310212157
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #265,304 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Ortberg is a pastor at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in Menlo Park, California. He is the bestselling author of Faith & Doubt; When the Game Is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box; God Is Closer Than You Think; The Life You've Always Wanted; Everybody's Normal Till You Get to Know Them; If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat; Love Beyond Reason; and (with Kevin Harney) the multimedia curriculum Old Testament Challenge. He and his wife, Nancy, have three children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ortberg's book is almost must reading for parish pastors., October 18, 1998

By 

John Jewell ([e-mail]) (Williams Bay, WI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Love Beyond Reason: Moving God's Love from Your Head to Your Heart (Hardcover)

John Ortberg's latest book is one of a few that brings joy to my reading life.  It meets three criteria I have for my favorites as a parish pastor with strong constraints on my time. 1. It was personally enriching,  2. It will be helpful to many of my parishoners, 3. It will give me lots of sermon illustrations.

John Ortberg is one of those wonderful pastors who preaches well and people love to hear him preach --  and writes well -- and people love to read him. Years ago a woman who had been abused by her husband and went through a horrible divorce told me that as much as she believed intellectually that God loved her -- she could not accept emotionally that God loved her. I gave her John Powell's book, "Why Am I Afraid To Tell You Who I Am."  She said it helped.  Now, if I can just find her again, I want to send her, "Love Beyond Reason." It will not only give some help, it will encourage some healing.

Once in a while a book comes along that ends up on every parish pastor's book shelf.  This is one of those books. Get one for yourself and another for your church library. (After you've used all the illustrations!)

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Love that Gives Value, December 30, 2001

By 

Bethany McKinney (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Love Beyond Reason: Moving God's Love from Your Head to Your Heart (Hardcover)

One of the most profound aspects of this book comes right in the introduction. John Ortberg mentions two types of love, a love that happens because of something seen of "value" in the beloved (talent, beauty, wit, etc.), and a love that creates value in the beloved (agape). The rest of the book is an explanation of how we are the beloved ones of God, and how we can live out that belovedness in a world where we feel we have to earn it. Many of the ideas in this book are parallel to those of Henri Nouwen's Life of the Beloved, but Ortberg's style is different in that he offers many stories and illustrations so that the truths become more vivid. While the subtitle ("Moving God's Love from your Head to your Heart") is a bit of a misnomer because he doesn't offer practical steps to do that, but the book is really a focus on and testament to God's tremendous love for his people; and in that way it brings that truth to a deeper level in the heart.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My life will never be the same, February 6, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Love Beyond Reason: Moving God's Love from Your Head to Your Heart (Hardcover)

This book has opened doors into my soul, some that are very painful to open. Because of how God spoke to me through this servant of His, I am dealing with some of the areas in my life that I must allow Him to cleanse as I move closer to Him.

In addition, this book has provided me with tools that will help me in my spiritual journey. I can highly recommend this book to those that want to continue the journey toward God, those that aren't afraid to look inside and see what hinders them.

The lessons I learned from this book are so profound that I am going to read it again. You will not waste your money if you buy it.