Formation with John Ortberg

Become New
  • 4.9 (128)
  • Religion & Spirituality

Formation is a podcast for leaders, seekers, and lifelong learners at the intersection of theology, psychology, and lived wisdom. Hosted by John Ortberg, PhD, each episode explores the science and soul of spiritual flourishing: what shapes us, what changes us, and what it means to be fully human. Topics include:- Spiritual formation- Contemplative practice- The psychology of transformation and habit change- Leadership, character, and the inner life- Theology in dialogue with modern science- Emotional health, resilience, and purposeLearn more by visiting formationpodcast.com

  1. 21h ago

    FN002. John Ortberg on Interpreting Genesis & What It Means to Be Chosen

    What if understanding the ancient world could change the way you read Genesis? In this episode of Footnotes, Jackson Lane sits down with John Ortberg to revisit John's conversation with Old Testament scholar Tremper Longman III. Together, they explore how understanding biblical genre, ancient culture, and the questions Scripture was originally addressing can deepen our understanding of the Bible today. John shares how discovering other ancient Near Eastern creation and flood stories initially threatened his faith. Over time, he came to see how God used familiar images and stories to communicate something radically different about who God is. They also tackle one of the most debated questions in Genesis: Did the serpent actually speak? John explains why he believes God could make a snake talk, while questioning whether the writer of Genesis intended the story to be read as a literal historical account. The conversation moves from creation and biblical interpretation to the central claims of Christian faith, the meaning of Israel's identity as God's chosen people, and what Abraham's calling reveals about God's purposes for the world. In This Episode • How discovering other ancient flood stories challenged and eventually strengthened John's faith • What Tremper Longman means when he says, “Genre triggers reading strategy” • Why Genesis describes the sun appearing on the fourth day of creation • How ancient creation stories help us understand what makes Genesis distinctive • Whether the serpent in Genesis was intended to be understood literally • Why disagreements about biblical interpretation should be distinguished from Christianity's central claims • What it means for Israel to be God's chosen people • Why Abraham was chosen to bring blessing to all peoples Resources Mentioned • The Lost World of Adam and Eve by John H. Walton • The Epic of Gilgamesh • Formation Podcast EP002, John's original conversation with Tremper Longman III About Footnotes Footnotes is the conversation after the conversation. John Ortberg and Jackson Lane revisit Formation Podcast episodes to explore lingering questions, unpack important ideas, and go deeper into what it means to follow Jesus. Listen to the full episode of Footnotes, FN002, and revisit the original conversation with Tremper Longman III on Formation Podcast. Would you do us a favor? Make sure you're following the podcast. (It helps the show reach more people.)

  2. Oct 14

    FN001. John Ortberg on Transcendence, the Loss of Enchantment, and Curiosity About God | Tyler Staton

    How are we to remain curious about God? John Ortberg and Jackson Lane return to Formation’s debut conversation with Tyler Staton for the first installment of Footnotes, a new post-show where we get to examine John’s thoughts after each episode.  Tyler’s sincerity in Formation episode 001 led John to examine his own life: his relationship with humor, transcendence, and even marriage. Listen for a conversation about keeping wonder alive, what marriage reveals in us, and bringing our real desires and doubts to God. About this Footnotes Episode:Footnotes is Formation’s post-show, where John and Jackson revisit the ideas and questions raised in the main podcast. FN001 follows How God Gets Our Attention & the Pace of Formation ft. Tyler Staton | EP001 and includes excerpts from that conversation. Tyler’s reflections provide the starting point; John and Jackson explore what stayed with them and where those ideas lead in ordinary life. What this Conversation Explores:How learning can become worship, and why knowing the expected answers about God can crowd out curiosity, openness, and wonderWhat Tyler’s black bear encounter reveals about transcendence, and why John connects the loss of that sense of reality with a deeper loss of meaningDallas Willard’s understanding of a word as a spiritual entity, and how language allows us to share meaning even when we struggle to name what we experienceWhy marriage exposes withdrawal, anger, and defensiveness that other relationships may not, and what John wishes he had learned sooner about servingThe difference between surrendering to God and making ourselves appear more surrendered than we are, especially when a prayer carries disappointment or doubtEleanor Stump’s concept of “willed loneliness,” and how avoiding the work of self-awareness can keep us from the connection we want with God and other people Resources Mentioned:Loving God with All Your Mind — Neal PlantingaMere Christianity — C.S. LewisA Secular Age — Charles TaylorHearing God — Dallas WillardWandering in Darkness: Narrative and the Problem of Suffering — Eleanor Stump Related Episode:How God Gets Our Attention & the Pace of Formation ft. Tyler Staton | EP001 https://www.formationpodcast.com/ep001-tyler-staton/ 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. 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. Would you do us a favor? Make sure you're following the podcast. (It helps the show reach more people.)

  3. Sep 30

    012. The Apple Store Creator on Why the Most Important Thing You Bring to Work Is You ft. Ron Johnson

    What if the most important thing you bring to work isn’t your résumé, your expertise, or even your ideas? Ron Johnson helped transform Target, built the Apple Store alongside Steve Jobs, and later became CEO of JCPenney. Across a career spent reimagining some of the biggest names in retail, he came to believe that your most important contribution at work is something no résumé can capture: your inner voice. It’s the perspective you discover when you get still enough to realize what you actually believe. In this conversation with John Ortberg, Ron talks about learning to hear that voice beneath all the others, what Steve Jobs taught him about honesty, and how success can make it harder to recognize what is actually driving you. He also reflects on the failure at JCPenney, the question his father asked that he couldn’t shake, and the words from Psalm 23 that met him in a season of isolation. AMA OPPORTUNITY: Leave us a review for a chance to ask John a question on an upcoming episode. To enter, follow the podcast, leave your review, take a screenshot of it, and email it over with your question to editors@formationpodcast.com. One question per person, screenshot required. WHAT THIS CONVERSATION EXPLORES: • Why Ron believes the most important thing you bring to work is your inner voice • What Steve Jobs taught Ron about telling the truth as a form of kindness • Why solitude matters when you’re trying to hear what you actually believe beneath all the voices around you • How a garden changed the way Ron thought about leading people and helping them flourish • The three-hour interview with Steve Jobs that changed the course of Ron’s life and eventually led to the Apple Store • The ideas behind the Genius Bar and the Fifth Avenue Apple Store that never sleeps • Why Ron left Apple for JCPenney, and the question his father asked him: “How much success do you need?” • How failure, isolation, and “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want” changed Ron’s relationship with ambition RESOURCES MENTIONED: • Shop Different: How Retail Revealed Apple’s Genius — Ron Johnson and Zander Nethercutt • A Return to Love — Marianne Williamson • The Different Drum: Community Making and Peace — M. Scott Peck • When We Are Seen: How to Come Into Your Power–and Empower Others Along the Way — Denise Young • My God and I: A Spiritual Memoir — Lewis Smedes 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. Would you do us a favor? Make sure you're following the podcast. (It helps the show reach more people.)

  4. Sep 16

    011. This Ancient Creed Can Rescue Us From Spiritual Homelessness ft. Glenn Packiam | 011

    This year the Nicene Creed turns 1,700 years old, and Glenn Packiam thinks it might be the most important thing the modern church has forgotten how to use. In this conversation, John and Glenn talk about the difference between hope and comfort, how the ancient world considered hope a weakness, and why the Creed's insistence on saying "we believe" instead of "I believe" might be the most countercultural thing a Christian can do today. ABOUT THE GUEST Glenn Packiam is the Lead Pastor of Rockharbor Church in Costa Mesa, California, and a Senior Fellow at Barna Group. He is the author of several books, including his newest, What's a Christian, Anyway?, which explores how the Nicene Creed can guide a confused and fractured church back home.Leave us a review for a chance to ask John a question on an upcoming episode. To enter, follow the podcast, leave your review, take a screenshot of it, and email it over with your question to editors@formationpodcast.com. One question per person; screenshot required. WHAT THIS CONVERSATION EXPLORES Why the ancient Stoics considered hope a moral weakness, and why the resurrection flips that on its headThe difference between hope and comfort, and why John and Glenn think the church has confused the twoWhat the boat metaphor for faith reveals about setting down your oars without losing your place in the crewWhy the Creed says "we believe" instead of "I believe," and what that costs a culture built around personal validationWhy only 48 percent of people say they trust pastors, and how Glenn thinks the church should respondThe King Charles coronation story that reframes what it means to swear allegiance to JesusWhy "deconstruction" isn't really about doctrine, but about a whole story and communityGlenn's answer to the question, "What does Jesus see about the church that you don't?" RESOURCES MENTIONED What’s a Christian, Anyway? — Glenn PackiamThis Is Not the End — Glenn PackiamThe Intentional Year — Glenn and Holly PackiamThe Intentional Year Journal — Glenn and Holly PackiamThe Divine Conspiracy — Dallas WillardThe Denial of Death — Ernest BeckerReflections on the Psalms — C. S. LewisSalvation by Allegiance Alone — Matthew BatesTell It Slant — Eugene PetersonOn B******t — Harry FrankfurtThe Adult Hope Scale — C. R. Snyder CONNECT WITH GLENN glennpackiam.com 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. Follow Formation at formationpodcast.com and @formationjohn.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. Would you do us a favor? Make sure you're following the podcast. (It helps the show reach more people.)

  5. Sep 2

    010. A Systems Theory Expert on the Anxiety Running Your Team ft. Steve Cuss

    What happens when the person managing everyone else's anxiety is the most anxious one in the room? Steve Cuss joins John for a conversation that starts in a childhood home in Western Australia and ends up inside the emotional wiring of every leader, marriage, and church staff meeting. Steve talks candidly about growing up in a household run by unpredictable anger, the confidence he built on a foundation of fear, and the hospital chaplaincy that stripped all of it away. What emerges is a working theology of anxiety: how false needs hijack good intentions, how reactivity spreads through a room sometimes before it's even known, and why the most important thing any leader can offer their people is a well self. What this conversation explores • How Steve's childhood shaped a lifelong pattern of enmeshment, and how confidence can be built entirely on top of fear • What hospital chaplaincy taught Steve about false needs, and why the ones that feel most real in the moment are the most dangerous • The difference between reactivity and response, and how to take your own pulse before walking into a hard room • Edwin Friedman's idea of a differentiated self, and what it looks like to be close to someone without absorbing their anxiety • Why every false need has its own gospel, and why none of them can ever deliver freedom, peace, or love • How churches and leaders can offer differentiation instead of certainty in a polarized culture • Why Steve calls a well self the greatest gift any Christian leader can offer Resources mentioned • Managing Leadership Anxiety by Steve Cuss • The Expectation Gap by Steve Cuss • A Failure of Nerve by Edwin Friedman • Thomas Wingfold, Curate by George MacDonald • Formation Podcast episode with Gary Haugen, referenced by Steve as a formative conversation About Steve Cuss Steve Cuss is a pastor and the founder of Capable Life, where he trains leaders to manage stress and improve relationships. He is also the author of Managing Leadership Anxiety and The Expectation Gap. https://stevecusswords.com AMA opportunity Leave us a review for a chance to ask John a question on an upcoming episode. To enter, follow the podcast, leave your review, take a screenshot of it, and email it with your question to editors@formationpodcast.com. One question per person, screenshot required. About Formation Formation explores the science and soul of spiritual formation, bringing 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. https://formationpodcast.com Would you do us a favor? Make sure you're following the podcast. (It helps the show reach more people.)

  6. Aug 19

    AMA01. Predestination, Soul Care, Navigating Church Hurt, and Healing Childhood Wounds

    Since Formation launched, we've talked about giving our listeners the chance to have their questions answered by John. This is that episode. No guest this time, just John and Creative Director, Jackson, working through the questions you sent in when you left a review, on everything from predestination to spiritual abuse to what AI is doing to his own attention span. Want your question answered for the next one? Leave us a review for a chance to ask John anything about spiritual formation or life with God. To enter, follow the podcast, leave your review, take a screenshot of it, and email it over with your question to editors@formationpodcast.com. One question per person; screenshot required. WHAT THIS CONVERSATION EXPLORES How John reconciles predestination in Romans and Ephesians with passages that affirm God's desire for all to be savedWhy God's omniscience doesn't mean God always chooses to know everything, and what that has to do with honoring our agencyWhat historic Christian writers understood about the unconscious mind long before Freud made it popularWhy the language of "spiritual formation" replaced "Christian education," and what that shift says about how people actually changeThe anxiety John has noticed in himself as AI makes more and more instantly possibleWhat spiritual abuse actually looks like, and the difference between confession as a healthy spiritual practice and confession used as a tool of coercionHow to keep trusting God when you can't control what happens to the people you love mostJohn's advice for Christians who feel politically alienated from their own churchWhy John believes the local church and parachurch ministries cannot survive without each otherA first look at John's next book, on living beyond a culture of contemptRESOURCES MENTIONED Dynamics of Spiritual Formation, Richard LovelaceDopamine Nation, Dr. Anna LembkeThe Body Keeps the Score, Dr. Bessel van der KolkAgnes SanfordLeanne PayneTyler VanderWeele and the Human Flourishing Program at HarvardJoni and FriendsBecome NewFormation 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. Follow Formation at formationpodcast.com and @formationjohn. 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. Would you do us a favor? Make sure you're following the podcast. (It helps the show reach more people.)

  7. Aug 5

    009. Everything You Need to Know About the Next Generation ft. Kara Powell

    About the Guest Kara Powell leads the Fuller Youth Institute as its Executive Director, where for more than twenty years her team has tracked how young people are changing across three generational cohorts, from Millennials to Gen Z to Gen Alpha. She holds a PhD in Practical Theology and has helped shape some of the most widely used research on the next generation. AMA Opportunity Leave us a review for a chance to ask John a question on an upcoming episode. To enter, follow the podcast, leave your review, take a screenshot of it, and email it over with your question to editors@formationpodcast.com. One question per person, screenshot required. What This Conversation Explores What has mostly stayed the same about young people across two decades of research, and what's vastly differentWhat Gen Alpha needs from adults, and how their faith formation is taking shapeWhether the data points to a genuine revival among young people, or something more nuancedScreen time and what it’s doing to our kidsWhether teens today take fewer risks than past generationsWhat kind of intergenerational relationships Gen Alpha is actually looking for and how they’re a benefit to allHow to have more formative conversations with the young people in your life (and the scripts to get you there)What it's like to study faith formation for a living, and how it has shaped Kara's own spiritual lifeWhether some of the anxiety adults feel about this generation is really about the adults' own viewpoints How Kara is being formed personally Resources Mentioned Fuller Youth Institute: fulleryouthinstitute.org/subscribeThe Anxious Generation by Jonathan HaidtGrowing Young — Fuller Youth InstituteFuture Focused Church — Fuller Youth InstituteFree Gen Alpha report — fulleryouthinstitute.orgLike Dew Your Youth by Eugene PetersonChap Clark — the 5-to-1 ratioDallas WillardDietrich Bonhoeffer — the "chief sinner" ideaDave Wang, Fuller Theological SeminaryAbout 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 formationpodcast.com  @formationjohn 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. Would you do us a favor? Make sure you're following the podcast. (It helps the show reach more people.)

  8. Jul 22

    008. As the World Gets More Synthetic, the Church Must Get More Human ft. Carey Nieuwhof

    In this episode of Formation, John Ortberg sits down with Carey Nieuwhof to talk leadership, fame, faith, and what it means for the church to stay human as the world turns synthetic. Carey Nieuwhof has spent the last decade in a chair few people occupy: hundreds of conversations a year with pastors, CEOs, authors, and public thinkers, watching up close what success does to a person's character. In this conversation with John Ortberg, recorded in the redwoods of Northern California, that vantage point turns into something more personal, a wide-ranging talk about leadership, fame, faith, and the strange new terrain of artificial intelligence. The two friends trade stories before they trade ideas: a Wendell Berry "fan email" that turned out to be an AI scam, the surreal experience of gifting Scott Galloway a Bible after an emotional conversation about faith, and what it was like for Carey to sit across from Tim Keller weeks before the world shut down in 2020. From there the conversation opens into Carey's real preoccupations: why dogmatism is usually fear in disguise, why nobody at the top actually has it figured out, and why he worries that platforms now grow faster than character can keep up. The back half is Carey's sharpest territory: the book he's been living inside for two years, on AI and the church. He lays out both the utopian and the dystopian cases, from cured diseases to a possible "white-collar bloodbath," and lands on a single, disarming thesis. As the world becomes more synthetic, the church's job gets simpler, not harder. It has to become more human. Along the way, he and John wrestle with AI companionship, AI grief, and what happens to resurrection, prayer, and preaching when a chatbot never has a bad day and never runs out of answers. Resources Mentioned Leadership Is an Art by Max De PreeAmusing Ourselves to Death by Neil PostmanRange by David EpsteinThe Algebra of Wealth by Scott GallowayTides of Mind by David GelernterIf Anyone Builds This, Everyone Dies (on artificial superintelligence risk)Her (2013, dir. Spike Jonze), the AI-companionship film Carey calls prescientSermon Central, the sermon-sharing platform discussed in the context of AI-era plagiarism About Carey Nieuwhof Carey Nieuwhof is a former lawyer and pastor who now hosts one of the most-downloaded leadership podcasts for church leaders, with over 800 episodes and 40 million-plus downloads. He is writing a forthcoming book on AI and the church. Formation is hosted by John Ortberg. New episodes at https://www.formationpodcast.com Would you do us a favor? Make sure you're following the podcast. (It helps the show reach more people.)

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4.9
out of 5
128 Ratings

About

Formation is a podcast for leaders, seekers, and lifelong learners at the intersection of theology, psychology, and lived wisdom. Hosted by John Ortberg, PhD, each episode explores the science and soul of spiritual flourishing: what shapes us, what changes us, and what it means to be fully human. Topics include:- Spiritual formation- Contemplative practice- The psychology of transformation and habit change- Leadership, character, and the inner life- Theology in dialogue with modern science- Emotional health, resilience, and purposeLearn more by visiting formationpodcast.com

Information

  • Creator
    Become New
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    16
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Formation with John Ortberg
  • Show Website
    Formation with John Ortberg

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