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Intimacy with God can happen right now if you want it. A closeness you can feel, a goodness you can taste, a reality you can experience for yourself. That's what the Bible promises, so why settle for less? God is closer than you think, and connecting with him isn't for monks and ascetics. It's for business people, high school students, busy moms, single men, single women ... and most important, it's for YOU.

Now with a new cover design, God Is Closer Than You Think shows how you can enjoy a vibrant, moment-by-moment relationship with your heavenly Father. Bestselling author John Ortberg reveals the face of God waiting to be discovered in the complex mosaic of your life. He shows you God's hand stretching toward you. And, with his gift for storytelling, Ortberg illustrates the ways you can reach toward God and complete the connection---to your joy and his.

There are two works of art that help me think about the presence of God. The first is the painting of God on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Apparently one of the messages that Michelangelo wanted to convey is God's great desire to reach out to and be with the person he has created. If you look carefully at the painting, you notice that the figure of God is extended toward the man with great vigor. He twists his body to move it as close to the man as possible. His head is turned toward the man, and his gazed is fixed on him. God's arm is stretched out, his index finger is extended straight forward; every muscle is taut. It looks as if even in the midst of the splendor of all creation God's entire being is wrapped up in his desire to touch this man. His hand comes within a hair's breath of the hand of the man. God is as close as he can be. But having come that close, he allows just a little space, so that Adam can choose. He waits for Adam to make his move. Adam, for his part, reclines in a lazy pose, leaning backward as if he has no interest at all in making a connection. He doesn't move forward, he doesn't hold out his hand, he doesn't lift a finger. He appears to be indifferent to or even unaware of the possibility of touching his Creator. All it would take is the slightest effort, the merest movement. This picture says that the great desire of God is to be with the human beings he has made in his own image. This picture reminds us---God is closer than we think. He is never farther than a prayer away. All it takes is the barest effort, the lift of a finger. But I also remember another, humbler work of art. It involves a series of books all centered around the question 'Where's Waldo?' Waldo will never make it to the Sistine Chapel. He looks nothing like the majestic deity of Michelangelo. He is a geeky-looking, glasses-wearing nerd with a striped shirt and goofy hat. Waldo is supposed to be on every page. Whoever writes the book claims that it is so. But you couldn't prove it by me. He's often hidden to the untrained eye. You have to be willing to look for him. When you find him, there is a sense of joy and accomplishment. 'Surely Waldo was in the place, and I knew it not.' In fact, developing the capacity to track him down is part of the point of the book. If it was too easy---if every page consisted just of a giant picture of Waldo's face---no one would ever buy it. The difficulty of the task is what increases the power of discernment. Part of what makes it hard to find Waldo is that he is so ordinary-looking. On some pages, he's surrounded by hundreds of look-alikes; Waldo-wannabees. He just seems to just blend in. You can be looking right at him without even knowing it. Where's Waldo? Why doesn't he show himself plainly? Why does he hide his face? He may not be absent, but he is elusive. He is Waldus absconditus---the Waldo who hides himself. Let every day---every moment---of your life be another page. God is there, the Scriptures tell us---on every one of them. But the ease with which he may be found varies from one page to the next. So let's explore the truth found in both of these works of art: God is closer than you think.

John Ortberg is senior pastor at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in Menlo Park, California. He is the bestselling author of When the Game is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box; The Life You've Always Wanted; and If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat. John and his wife, Nancy, have three grown children. SPANISH BIO: John Ortberg es el Pastor principal de la Iglesia Presbiteriana de Menlo Park, en Menlo Park, California, con dependencias en Menlo Park, Mountain View y San Mateo. Ha escrito numerosas obras que han tenido una gran aceptacion, como La fe y la duda; El ser que quiero ser; Un amor mas alla de la razon; Cuando el juego termina, todo regresa a la caja; La mision fantasma; Dios esta mas cerca de lo que crees; Todos somos normales hasta que nos conocen; La vida que siempre has querido; Si quieres caminar sobre las aguas, tienes que salir de la barca; Vivamos divinamente la vida, y el plan de estudios multimedia Old Testament Challenge (con la colaboracion de Kevin Harney). John y su esposa Nancy tienen tres hijos.

Ortberg, megachurch pastor and author, bases this book on the belief that God is near and knowing him is possible for everyone who wants to feel his presence: "The teaching of Scripture is that God really is present right here, right now.... The Spirit of God is available to you and me: flowing all the time, welling up within us, quenching our unsatisfied desires, overflowing to refresh those around us." Ortberg's suggestions-to believe that God is in everything, to seek him in the daily and mundane, to learn to recognize and encourage God-inspired thoughts, to look for him in the people you meet and to obey his promptings-though not new, provide readers with a series of ideas and activities to begin to change the way they see God in their lives. Ortberg approaches this as a pastor teaching his flock, rather than as a fellow traveler recounting his own search for God; he shares little of his personal experience and is largely dependent on quotes from other contemporary Christian writers to make his main points. Also, the book's cover and chapter titles are quite complex. However, those looking for an approachable, quick read on a difficult subject will appreciate this guide, which alludes to the mysteries of God's intimacy with Christians, but doesn't get bogged down in too many details. (Apr.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

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