{"id":118,"date":"2007-07-27T12:58:01","date_gmt":"2007-07-27T12:58:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/2007\/07\/heavens-gain-our-loss.html"},"modified":"2007-07-27T12:58:01","modified_gmt":"2007-07-27T12:58:01","slug":"heavens-gain-our-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2007\/07\/heavens-gain-our-loss.html","title":{"rendered":"Heaven\u2019s Gain, Our Loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

Heaven recently gained one of the finest men I ever knew, Raymond Ortlund. No doubt about it, heaven’s gain is our loss.
\nRay had a broad and blessed ministry as a pastor, preacher, teacher, writer, and discipler. He served as pastor in several churches, including the Lake Avenue Community Church in Pasadena, California, where is preached for twenty years. Among Ray’s numerous writings, Make My Life a Miracle<\/em><\/a> is the most well-known. Written with his wife Anne, this book was originally published in 1974, and is still in print today. I actually read this book while in college, and was both challenged and encouraged by it.
\nAfter many years of pastoring churches, Ray became the Bible teacher for the Haven of Rest radio ministry, now known as Haven Today<\/a>. Through his fine teaching, Ray touched hundreds of thousands of people. More recently, Ray was a leader in Renewal Ministries,<\/a> traveling throughout the world to train and encourage pastors and other Christian leaders.
\nWhat I’ve just written about Ray only scratches the surface of his resum\u00e9. No doubt you can see why I’ve said that Ray’s death is our loss. But my perspective on Ray’s life has little to do with his official ministries. Other than reading Make My Life a Miracle<\/em> and listening to a few of his radio broadcasts, I had little exposure to the official Ray Ortlund. Almost all of my experience of Ray was more personal.
\nI first got to know him through his family. His daughter, Sherry, was a member of my church, along with her husband, Walt, and their children. Ray would come to special services at our church, where we’d chat informally. I was impressed by his friendliness and kindness. He always had an encouraging word for me, usually two or three.
\nKnowing some of Ray’s family closely, and others by reputation, I was impressed by what I saw. His children and grandchildren were fantastic people, some of the best saints on earth. I figured that Ray must be a fine man to have such an effective ministry and an excellent family. Pastors often find it easier to be great pastors and lousy fathers. Ray, obviously, excelled at both.
\nMost of my personal experience of Ray came, not through his family, but because we worked out at the same gym. For about ten years we sweated together. I noted with admiration how Ray was in such good shape for a man in his seventies, and resolved to try to take care of my body as he did.
\nDuring the decade in which Ray and I met in the gym, we had probably a hundred conversations. I’d ask him about his ministry, which usually involved trips to such exotic places as Mongolia. And he’s ask me about my ministry. Time after time he’d offer words of affirmation. If I shared he particular frustration, Ray would be quick to empathize and offer welcome bits of wisdom. We’d always talk about Ray’s family, especially his grandchildren. No grandfather was prouder or more in love with his grandchildren. And since I shared his admiration for them (the ones I knew, especially), Ray didn’t hold back.
\nI never really knew Ray Ortlund the minister. But I knew Ray Ortlund the man, the father, the brother-in-Christ. I knew him to be a deeply loving man, one of the kindest and most encouraging people I have ever met. And I am not exaggerating here. Ask anybody who knew Ray, and they’ll tell you the same.
\nToday, as I thank God for the life of Ray Ortlund, I am resolving to be more like him. I want always to have time to be friendly. I want to be quick with genuine words of praise and encouragement. I want to shine with the light of Christ, not only when I’m “on duty,” but also when I’m just a guy on the stair-stepping machine at the gym.
\nThank you, Lord, for Ray. I know you’ll enjoy his company. I sure did. Please bless his dear family with your peace and comfort. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Heaven recently gained one of the finest men I ever knew, Raymond Ortlund. No doubt about it, heaven’s gain is our loss. Ray had a broad and blessed ministry as a pastor, preacher, teacher, writer, and discipler. He served as pastor in several churches, including the Lake Avenue Community Church in Pasadena, California, where is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tributes"],"yoast_head":"\nHeaven\u2019s Gain, Our Loss - Mark D. Roberts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2007\/07\/heavens-gain-our-loss.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Heaven\u2019s Gain, Our Loss - Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Heaven recently gained one of the finest men I ever knew, Raymond Ortlund. No doubt about it, heaven’s gain is our loss. Ray had a broad and blessed ministry as a pastor, preacher, teacher, writer, and discipler. He served as pastor in several churches, including the Lake Avenue Community Church in Pasadena, California, where is…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2007\/07\/heavens-gain-our-loss.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-07-27T12:58:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.markdroberts.com\/images\/ortlund-ray.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Heaven\u2019s Gain, Our Loss - Mark D. Roberts","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2007\/07\/heavens-gain-our-loss.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Heaven\u2019s Gain, Our Loss - Mark D. Roberts","og_description":"Heaven recently gained one of the finest men I ever knew, Raymond Ortlund. No doubt about it, heaven’s gain is our loss. Ray had a broad and blessed ministry as a pastor, preacher, teacher, writer, and discipler. He served as pastor in several churches, including the Lake Avenue Community Church in Pasadena, California, where is…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2007\/07\/heavens-gain-our-loss.html","og_site_name":"Mark D. Roberts","article_published_time":"2007-07-27T12:58:01+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.markdroberts.com\/images\/ortlund-ray.jpg"}],"author":"Mark D. Roberts","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2007\/07\/heavens-gain-our-loss.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2007\/07\/heavens-gain-our-loss.html","name":"Heaven\u2019s Gain, Our Loss - Mark D. Roberts","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2007\/07\/heavens-gain-our-loss.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2007\/07\/heavens-gain-our-loss.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.markdroberts.com\/images\/ortlund-ray.jpg","datePublished":"2007-07-27T12:58:01+00:00","dateModified":"2007-07-27T12:58:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/1ff094a57b7e41f534434b1723df3d73"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2007\/07\/heavens-gain-our-loss.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2007\/07\/heavens-gain-our-loss.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2007\/07\/heavens-gain-our-loss.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.markdroberts.com\/images\/ortlund-ray.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.markdroberts.com\/images\/ortlund-ray.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2007\/07\/heavens-gain-our-loss.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Heaven\u2019s Gain, Our Loss"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/","name":"Mark D. Roberts","description":"Mark D. Roberts: Thoughtfully Christian Reflections on Jesus, the Church, and the World","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/1ff094a57b7e41f534434b1723df3d73","name":"Mark D. Roberts","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","caption":"Mark D. Roberts"},"description":"The Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a pastor, author, retreat leader, speaker, and blogger. Since October 2007 he has been the Senior Director and Scholar-in-Residence for Laity Lodge, a multifaceted ministry in the Hill Country of Texas. Before coming to Laity Lodge, he was for sixteen years the Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California (a city in Orange County about forty miles south of Los Angeles). Before his time at Irvine Pres, Mark served on the staff of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood as Associate Pastor of Education. (Thanks to Janel Pahl for taking the photo to the right.) Mark studied at Harvard University, receiving a B.A. in Philosophy, an M.A. in the Study of Religion, and a Ph.D. in New Testament and Christian Origins. He has taught classes in New Testament for Fuller Theological Seminary and San Francisco Theological Seminary. Mark has written several books, including No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer (WaterBrook, 2005), Dare to Be True (WaterBrook, 2003), Jesus Revealed (WaterBrook, 2002), After \"I Believe\" (Baker, 2002), and Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (Word, 1993). His most recent book is Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (Crossway, 2007). He is currently working on a commentary on Ephesians that will be published by Zondervan in 2014. Mark writes a devotional for The High Calling of Our Daily Work, a website associated with Laity Lodge. His \"Daily Reflections\" can be viewed online or sent as a daily email. If you wish to receive this email, just visit TheHighCalling.org and sign up. Mark serves on the editorial board of Worship Leader magazine, where he publishes articles and reviews, including his regular column \"Lyrical Poetry.\" Additionally, he has published dozens of articles in leading magazines and journals. He often speaks for churches and other Christian groups, and has been interviewed on over seventy-five radio programs nationwide. Mark is married to Linda, who is a Marriage and Family Therapist, a Spiritual Director, and a retreat speaker. They have two children, Nathan and Kara.For Publicity Photos and Bio Statements for Mark, please check here. Mark's Dossier Professional History: Senior Director and Scholar-in Residence, Laity Lodge, October 2007 to present. Senior Pastor Irvine Presbyterian Church, June 1991 to September 2007 Adjunct Assistant Professor Fuller Theological Seminary, 1994 to 2007. Courses: New Testament Theology and Exegesis. Adjunct Instructor San Francisco Theological Seminary, 1995 to 2001. Courses: New Testament Greek and Exegesis Associate Pastor of Education First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, 1987-1991 Teaching Fellow Harvard University, 1980-1983 Education: Ph.D. in the Study of Religion. Harvard University, 1992. Area: New Testament and Christian Origins M.A. in the Study of Religion Harvard University, 1984. A.B. magna cum laude in Philosophy Harvard University, 1979. Phi Beta Kappa; Danforth Fellowship Books: Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Crossway, 2007 No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer. WaterBrook, 2005 Dare to Be True: Living in the Freedom of Complete Honesty. WaterBrook, 2003. Jesus Revealed: Know Him Better to Love Him Better. WaterBrook, 2002. After \"I Believe\": Experiencing Authentic Christian Living. Baker, 2002. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther in the Communicator's Commentary Series. Word, 1993. Contacting Mark: You can reach Mark at: E-mail: mark@markdroberts.com mroberts@laitylodge.org Phone: Laity Lodge: (830) 792-1216 Address: Laity Lodge 719 Earl Garrett Kerrville, TX 78028","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/author\/mroberts"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}