I have never heard John Ortberg (of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church) preach before. I’ve never read any of his books, I’ve never listened to a podcast. In my sinfulness part of my was suspicious of him as basically a non-denom pastor masquerading as a presbyterian–a theological lightweight. That was foolish of me.
John spoke at the Fellowship of Presbyterians/Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians covenanting conference last week. His address was dynamite. It evoked a response from me that surprised me. I heard myself saying, “yes!” “That’s right!” “You’ve got it!”
In short, he managed to express many of the reasons that I have chosen to reside in that room of Christ’s house called presbyterian. Specifically, he advocated for a theologically rich, culturally engaged, missional form of evangelical church. And that’s something that I get excited about.
Judge for yourself–here’s the video:
John Ortberg: A Vision for Ministry & Introducing ECO from Fellowship of Presbyterians on Vimeo.
Jeff Gissing 
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