All the Places To Go: How Will You Know? - Inspirational Travel Book for Adventure Seekers & Life Explorers - Perfect for Road Trips, Gifts & Self-Discovery Journeys

When I was in my twenties, overwhelmed with the immense uncertainties of life, I made a promise to myself—that I would never turn down an opportunity in life for lack of courage or for the unwillingness to give it my best effort. More than once, I rolled the dice and bet on a future that at the time seemed nothing more than a pipe dream. In the midst of all this uncertainty, I always felt God’s presence and divine provision, but I must admit that I tired of crawling, having depleted the last reserves of my energy, through so many open doors.In his book, All the Places to Go—How will You Know?, John Ortberg explores the idea of the opened door, as presented before the church in Philadelphia:“The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens. I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.” (Rev 3:7-8; 4)Ortberg sees the opened door both as a symbol of boundless opportunities and of being useful to God (5).[1] It is also for Ortberg a reminder of a beloved Greek professor, Gerald P. Hawthorne, which he had known while a student at Wheaton College (268).For Ortberg, the opened door is a fitting metaphor for how God invites us to step out in faith and service rather than having us wait for confirmation and comfort (257). He writes (10): “It’s an open door. To find out what’s on the other side, you’ll have to go through.” This opened door invitation always appears riskier than it really is because of who offers the invitation and for what purpose.[2] The purpose that Ortberg sees is intensely interesting: “God’s primary will for your life is not the achievements you accrue; it’s the person you become.” (15). As God tells Abram: “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Gen 12:3; 9, 35). In offering such blessings, God invites us to decide which doors to go through as part of our sanctification (16) and our decisions form our character and mold our identity (8).[3]This identity issue is important and distinguishes open door people from closed door people. Ortberg highlights these characteristics of open door people:1. “Open-Door People are Ready, Ready or Not” (25).2. “Open-Door People are Unhindered by Uncertainty” (29).3. “Open-Door People are Blessed to Bless” (35).4. “Open-Door People Resist and Persist” (38).5. “Open-Door People Have Fewer Regrets” (42).6. “Open-Door People Learn About Themselves” (46).7. “Open-Door People Are Not Paralyzed by Their Imperfections” (48).Of all these observations about open-door people, the question of regrets was for me most interesting, as Ortberg writes:“We begin our lives regretting the wrong things we have done, but we end them regretting the open doors we never went through.” (43)Think of all the films that chronicle the stories of people who took risks that others thought foolish at the time—in Titanic (1997), a young woman scorns the proposal of a rich young man to hang out with a vagabond[4] or Last Holiday (2006), a woman empties her bank account on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Europe only to learn her fatal diagnosis was an error.[5] Risks not taken lead to regrets and Ortberg observes that open-door people are less likely to have them because: “The reason I can be open to tomorrow is that God is already there.” (24). As believers in God, we know the end of the story is in Christ.Ortberg writes his book in 10 chapters:1. All the Places to God…How Will You Know?2. Open-Door People and Closed-Door People3. No Mo FOMO: Overcoming the Fear of Missing Out4. Common Myths about Doors5. Door #1 or Door #26. How to Cross a Threshold7. What Open Doors Will Teach8. The Jonah Complex9. Thank God for Closed Doors10. The Door in the WallThese chapters are followed by an afterword, acknowledgments, notes, and an author bio. Placing his acknowledgments section among end materials draws attention to the influence of his Greek professor and is an Ortberg innovation.John Ortberg[6] is author of a number of books, senior pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church,[7] and an adjunct faculty member at Fuller Theological Seminary.[8] He was educated at Wheaton College and holds both a masters of divinity and doctorate of clinical psychology from Fuller Theological Seminary. He serves as a trustee of Fuller Theological Seminary and a board member of the Dallas Willard Center for Spiritual Formation.[9]John Ortberg’s All the Places to Go—How Will You Know? is a surprisingly lucid survey of what it means both to be a disciple of Christ and to respond to God’s invitation to grow in the faith, as Jesus says: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” (Rev 3:20) The open door motif adds fresh insight into God’s call at a time of critical need in the church for new models of discipleship and service. As such, this is a book to share with young people, small group discussions, and, of course, aspiring pastors.[1] He defines an open door as: “divine invitations to make our lives count, with God’s help, for the sake of others.” (63)[2] I am reminded of the dream of Solomon—“God said, ask what I shall give you." (1 Kgs 3:5)—and Solomon asked for wisdom, which God was pleased to give him (1 kgs 3:10).[3] In past studies of corporate culture, I became aware of the special influence of mistakes in forming culture because they involve investment of more money. Thus, painful losses form the shadow side of open doors. In confronting such losses in our own lives, Jesus’ model is his prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. Rather than turning into his pain, Jesus turns to God: “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” (Matt 26:39)[4] [...][5] [...][6] [...][7] Menlo Park, California. Menlo Park Presbyterian Church ([...]) is affiliated with the Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians, commonly known as ECO ([...]).[8] [...][9] [...]