Become New with John Ortberg

There are three kinds of friends. Two can be valuable, but the third can actually help you become the person God created you to be.

Beginning with Psalm 122 and the simple words “Let us go,” John Ortberg explores why friendship is so essential to human flourishing and why it seems increasingly difficult to find.

Drawing on Aristotle's three kinds of friendship, John looks at useful friends, pleasant friends, and spiritual friends: people with whom we can be honest, vulnerable, challenged, encouraged, and pointed toward God.

So take inventory today:
Do you have that kind of friend?
And perhaps more importantly:
Are you becoming one?

In this episode: Psalm 122 • friendship • loneliness • Aristotle • spiritual friendship • community

#Psalm122 #JohnOrtberg #Friendship #Loneliness #Community #SpiritualFormation

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Music Credits:
Vikersund by RØRE - MB01V0UASAACPKE
Alta by RØRE - MB01IWZVJASGKHF

00:00 I Rejoiced When They Said “Let Us Go”
00:44 The Joy of Doing Life Together
01:04 “Let Us Go”
01:23 I'm Always the One Reaching Out
01:49 The Three Kinds of Friends
02:09 Jesus's Greatest Miracle? 😂
02:38 Why Friendship Gets Harder With Age
03:00 America's Friendship Paradox
03:34 The Anti-Social Century
03:59 Even College Students Are Lonely
04:27 We're Spending Less Time Together
04:59 An MIT Student Who Eats Alone
05:22 Thou Shalt Goof Off 😂
05:31 When Clubs Become Jobs
06:02 Aristotle's Three Kinds of Friendship
06:32 #1: Useful Friends
07:25 #2: Pleasant Friends
07:54 #3: Spiritual Friends
08:14 Flatterers vs. True Friends
08:38 Who Helps You Become Your Best Self?
09:25 A City Closely Connected
09:56 Who's in Your Tribe?
10:24 What Shalom Really Means
10:56 People Have Always Been Lonely
11:31 Value Your Friends
11:58 Call Someone. Thank Someone.
12:20 Let Your Loneliness Lead You to God

There are two kinds of commitments: contracts and covenants.
We need both. But John Ortberg explains why one can enhance your life while the other can actually transform it.
Beginning with Psalm 35, John explores the difference between transactional relationships and covenant relationships, from Casablanca to a remarkable moment in American history when Psalm 35 was read before the Continental Congress.
A contract protects individual rights.
A covenant creates a “we.”
And Scripture doesn't describe God as the God of contract. He is the God of covenant, inviting us into relationships built on something deeper than what we can get from one another.
So where might you be treating a covenant like a contract?
In this episode: Psalm 35 • covenant • commitment • relationships • American history • spiritual formation
#Psalm35 #JohnOrtberg #Covenant #Relationships #SpiritualFormation #Psalms

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Music Credits:
Vikersund by RØRE - MB01V0UASAACPKE
Alta by RØRE - MB01IWZVJASGKHF

00:00 Let's Try This Again 😂
00:22 Two Kinds of Commitment
00:54 One of Them Will Transform Your Life
01:09 Psalm 35
01:31 A Psalm That Changed American History
01:50 Rabbi Soloveichik's Discovery
02:14 Contract vs. Covenant
02:41 What a Covenant Does
03:08 When Relationships Become Transactions
03:21 God Is Not the God of Contract
03:54 What Casablanca Teaches About Covenant
04:40 Covenant Can Enrich Your Life
05:16 Covenant at Sinai
05:25 The Declaration vs. the Constitution
06:19 Benjamin Franklin Calls for Prayer
07:07 A Divided Continental Congress
08:02 Psalm 35 Is Read
08:28 John Adams's Stunning Reaction
08:53 A Psalm Prepared for That Moment
09:28 A Common Destiny
09:45 Three Lines That United a Room
10:10 Humble and Inspired
10:36 From Quarreling Delegates to “We”
10:58 The Psalms Belong to Humanity
11:24 It's Time to Cut a Covenant
11:45 A Contract Is Transactional. A Covenant Is Transformational

Why does God want us to praise Him? And what if praising God sometimes feels awkward, artificial, or forced?
In this reflection on Psalm 67, John Ortberg explores the same question that once troubled C. S. Lewis.
Lewis eventually discovered that God doesn't need praise like an insecure person needs compliments. Praise is actually part of our enjoyment of what's good.
We naturally praise the things we love, and we want other people to enjoy them too. That's why Lewis concluded that praise doesn't merely express joy:
Praise completes joy.
And when praise still feels like duty? Keep tuning the instrument. The duty exists for the delight.
In this episode: Psalm 67 • C.S. Lewis • praise • worship • doubt • awe • joy
#Psalm67 #CSLewis #JohnOrtberg #Praise #Worship #SpiritualFormation

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Music Credits:
Vikersund by RØRE - MB01V0UASAACPKE
Alta by RØRE - MB01IWZVJASGKHF

 00:00 Today We're Going to Praise God
 00:08 Does Praising God Feel Awkward?
 00:28 When Praise Feels Artificial
 00:48 Psalm 67: May All the Peoples Praise You
 01:21 C.S. Lewis Had a Problem With Praise
 01:42 Why Does God Want Compliments?
 02:12 Is God Egotistical?
 02:34 The Problem With the Psalms
 02:56 Does God Need Our Praise?
 03:23 Bargaining With God for Praise
 03:48 Lewis Could Understand Everything Except This
 03:58 Are There Questions God Doesn't Want You to Ask?
 04:39 Follow the Truth
 04:49 What Does It Mean to Deserve Praise?
 05:25 The Psychology of Awe
 06:02 Awe Can Reset Your Mind
 06:20 What We Miss When We Don't Praise
 06:44 God Doesn't Need Your Compliments
 07:31 The Thing Lewis Had Missed
 07:56 We Praise Everything We Love
 08:33 “Isn't She Lovely?”
 08:56 Why the Psalms Tell Everyone to Praise
 09:25 Praise Completes Joy
 09:57 Why We Have to Share What We Love
 10:07 What Will Heaven Really Be Like?
 10:39 Worship Isn't an Endless Church Service 😂
 10:56 Tuning the Instrument
 11:25 The Duty Exists for the Delight
 11:48 Digging Channels for the Water
 12:01 Let All the Earth Praise
 12:25 Look for What's Good
 12:46 Praise God Today

What do you do when you're afraid?
In this reflection on Psalm 62, John Ortberg shares a memorable Dallas Willard story about a terrified cat clinging to a tree, and asks a surprisingly revealing question:
What's your branch?
When we're afraid, we clutch. We grasp for control over relationships, money, health, reputation, work, or whatever makes us feel secure.
But Psalm 62 offers another way.
Let go. Lean on God. And stand firm.
John explains how these two seemingly contradictory postures belong together: “I'm standing on the outside and leaning on the inside.”
You don't have to hold everything together today. Open your hands. Lean on the everlasting arms. Then stand firm and do the next right thing.
In this episode: Psalm 62 • fear • control • Dallas Willard • letting go • trusting God
#Psalm62 #JohnOrtberg #Fear #TrustGod #SpiritualFormation #Psalms

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Music Credits:
Vikersund by RØRE - MB01V0UASAACPKE
Alta by RØRE - MB01IWZVJASGKHF

00:00 This Is for Anyone Who's Ever Been Afraid
 00:34 Two Ways to Deal With Fear
 00:49 Psalm 62: A Leaning Wall
 01:29 Where Do You Feel Unsteady?
 01:54 What Fear Really Is
 02:20 Dallas Willard's Cat
 02:34 He Needed a Crowbar 😂
 02:45 What's Your Branch?
 03:01 What Are You Trusting In?
 03:40 We Cling When We're Afraid
 03:59 What Won't You Let Go Of?
 04:20 You Can Let Go
 04:45 Leaning on the Everlasting Arms
 05:10 Stop Clutching. Start Leaning.
 05:36 You Don't Face Life Alone
 06:06 The Second Posture: Stand Firm
 06:28 Leaning vs. Standing
 06:53 Stand Outside, Lean Inside
 07:20 How Leaning Helps You Stand
 07:46 Little Cat, Let Go
 08:00 Open Your Hands
 08:14 A Lawyer's Unusual Advice
 08:33 Lean on God. Stand Firm.

Who has your attention?
In a world where screens, money, health, worries, ambitions, and countless other forces compete for our focus, John Ortberg asks a deeper question: Who is my master?
Psalm 143 teaches us how to pay attention to God through two important practices: focused attention and open attention.
John explores why attention is so powerful, how what we consistently attend to can actually change us, and how we can learn to notice God's presence throughout an ordinary day.
The invitation is simple:
Pay attention to the God who is already paying attention to you.
In this episode: Psalm 143 • attention • distraction • spiritual formation • neuroscience • noticing God
#Psalm143 #JohnOrtberg #SpiritualFormation #Attention #Psalms #ChristianFaith
🙌 New episodes every weekday.
📲 Subscribe, like, and share to help others grow spiritually. One day at a time.

Become New is here to help you grow spiritually one day at a time.
TEXT us at 51504
EMAIL US at [email protected]

GET OUR WEEKDAY EMAILS WITH EXTRA GOODIES at becomenew.com/subscribe
GET A TEXT REMINDER FOR NEW VIDEOS: text NEW to 51504
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Music Credits:
Vikersund by RØRE - MB01V0UASAACPKE
Alta by RØRE - MB01IWZVJASGKHF
00:00 Pay Very Careful Attention
 00:12 Are You Still With Me?
 00:31 Attention Is Something We Pay
 00:55 Who Is Your Master?
 01:18 God Is Paying Attention to You
 01:39 Two Kinds of Attention
 02:01 How Attention Changes Your World
 02:28 How Do You Attend to Other People?
 02:49 Attention Changes You
 03:15 You Become More Like What You Attend To
 03:45 Focused Attention
 04:14 How a Bird Pays Attention
 04:42 Open Attention
 05:09 Two Very Different Ways of Seeing
 05:33 Seeing Yourself as Part of Something Bigger
 05:56 The Fellowship of Toads 😂
 06:22 Why We Need Both Kinds of Attention
 06:41 Psalm 143: God, Hear Me
 06:53 Paying Attention to What's Wrong in Me
 07:17 Taking an Honest Inventory
 07:35 Who Is the Enemy?
 08:02 When the Enemy Is Inside Me
 08:30 Remember, Meditate, Consider
 09:24 Learning to Pay Attention to God
 09:48 God Is Paying Attention to Me
 10:06 Let the Morning Bring Me Word
 10:27 Show Me, Rescue Me, Teach Me, Lead Me
 10:51 Open Your Attention to God
 11:16 Focus on What's in Front of You
 11:39 God, How Are You Here?
 11:57 Who Is My Master?