Surrendering Ambition, Facing Despair, and Living a Bigger Life ft. Mark Labberton | 013
Video from Formation with John Ortberg
Surrendering Ambition, Facing Despair, and Living a Bigger Life ft. Mark Labberton | 013
"At 17, Mark Labberton hung two art prints across from his bed. In Napoleon crowning himself emperor, he saw the temptation to build a life around his own ambitions. In Picasso’s three figures, standing close together on a beach but looking in different directions, he saw how alone a person could be even in the company of others.
Mark looked at both prints morning and night that school year, wrestling with a question that would shape the rest of his life: What is worth giving your life to? When he began reading the Gospels, he found in Jesus a way of life he hadn’t imagined.
In this episode, John Ortberg and Mark Labberton, President Emeritus of Fuller Theological Seminary, explore Jesus’ transforming power, the people who shape our faith, and what it means to give your life to something bigger than yourself.' from the video introduction
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WHAT THIS CONVERSATION EXPLORES:
Two art prints that made Mark question what makes a life worth living
How reading the Gospels introduced Mark to a vision of humanity that changed the direction of his life
Five years of handwritten letters and what Mark learned from reading them
The significance of a single human soul amid the vastness of creation
A Thanksgiving dinner that helped Mark find hope during one of the darkest seasons of his life
Why Mark believes politics has become a source of meaning and identity for so many people
What continues to shape Mark's faith after decades of Christian leadership
RESOURCES MENTIONED:
Uncommon Decency: Christian Civility in an Uncivil World, Richard Mouw
George Herbert, poet
John Stott, pastor, theologian, and author
Conversing, Mark Labberton's podcast
ABOUT FORMATION:
Formation is a podcast that explores the science and soul of spiritual formation. Each episode brings together the ancient wisdom of the contemplative tradition and the best of modern research. John Ortberg sits down with some of the most rigorous and honest thinkers working at the intersection of faith and human flourishing for extended, unhurried conversations about how we are being shaped. New episodes every other week, wherever you listen to podcasts.
CONNECT WITH FORMATION:
Website: www.formationpodcast.com
Newsletter: www.formationpodcast.com/subscribe
Socials: @formationjohn
If this conversation gave you something to think about, we'd be grateful if you shared it with someone else who thinks intentionally about the things that matter most.
Formation is produced by Become New, a community dedicated to helping you grow spiritually, one day at a time. Subscribe for daily teaching from John Ortberg at becomenew.com/subscribe.
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