Formation with John Ortberg
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 purpose
Learn more by visiting formationpodcast.com
Episodes
13 episodes
11. 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,...
10. 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 e...
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...
009. Everything You Need to Know About the Next Generation ft. Kara Powell
About the GuestKara 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 ...
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 fe...
007. Quadriplegia, Despair, and Learning to Truly Live ft. Joni Eareckson Tada
Joni Eareckson Tada became a quadriplegic at seventeen after a diving accident that severed her spinal cord. In the nearly six decades since, she has written dozens of books, founded a global disability ministry, survived two bouts of cancer, a...
006. A Silicon Valley Pastor on the Spiritual Cost of a Distracted Life ft. Jay Kim
What does it take to find peace in a culture engineered for distraction? In this episode of Formation, John Ortberg sits down with a Silicon Valley pastor whose pursuit of attention, rest, and spiritual formation was interrupted by a panic atta...
005. The Hidden Spiritual Cost of How We Work ft. Gary Hamel
What does it mean to treat people as ends in themselves rather than instruments to get things done? Gary Hamel joins John for a conversation about work, dignity, and the quiet crisis inside most organizations. One of the world's most influentia...
004. How Politics Shapes Our Spiritual Formation ft. Michael Wear
What does it look like to follow Jesus when the culture insists that everything depends on the next election? Michael Wear joins John for a conversation about politics, allegiance, and the slow work of keeping ultimate things ultimate. A former...
003. Facing Humanity's Hidden Capacity for Evil ft. Gary Haugen
What does it take to do hard things for a long time without being broken by them? Gary Haugen is the founder and CEO of International Justice Mission, a global organization that protects the poor from violence throughout the developing world. H...
002. How to Read the Old Testament (and Still Have Faith) ft. Tremper Longman
What do we do with a God who commands violence, permits slavery, and seems to change his mind? Tremper Longman III — one of the most prolific and trusted Old Testament scholars of his generation — joins John for a conversation about the parts o...
001. How God Gets Our Attention and the Pace of Formation ft. Tyler Staton
What does it mean to know God, not as a doctrine held, but as a presence inhabited? Tyler Staton joins John for the first conversation in Formation's history: an unhurried exploration of how the Holy Spirit forms us, why prayer is less about te...
