book recommendation

John Piper is making a book recommendation other than the Bible.  Same Kind of Different As Me. My lovely wife read Same Kind of Different As Me last year and also recommends it highly. here are some lines that Piper mentioned: “Denver and I are not preachers or teachers but sinners with a story to [...]

Glory of God

here is a message from John Piper about why he finds the Glory of God to be the central point of the Bible and all creation. fascinating stuff.  the intro: How does the Bible orient us around the glory of God? I’m just overwhelmed, and have been for 40 years, with the centrality in the [...]

the Bible isn’t boring

John Piper on the Bible

God’s gift to you this year

Jeff Mangum taught out of Psalm 19 last Sunday to complete the two part series on the value of God’s word. how would it change our daily routine if we really believed what David said in this Psalm about the word of God, (especially the part that I bolded below)? 7(G) The law of the [...]

difficult stuff

I saw this and resisted posting it because it is so difficult. from @johnpiper last night: Three minutes on how I would counsel those seeking divorce or remarriage. http://ow.ly/UG7B follow the link and this is how he starts: Well, let’s lay the foundations for just a moment. This is just so huge and so painful and [...]

egomaniacal God

John Piper’s message to Passion 2010 is excellent. (BTW, one of the photographers at Passion 2010 this year was my Austin Stone peep and fellow photographer, Scott A. Wade. He is so talented. love his work. I won a family picture session from him in a drawing that I need to collect at some point.) [...]

do something risky with your life

here is John Piper talking about the stoning of Stephen and its application for us. Hat tip to m cubed

Piper talking to Chandler

Here is a four part interview that John Piper did with Matt Chandler. Well worth a listen/watch. Part 1 – Chandler tells his story up to about 20 years old. Part 2 – More on Chandler’s story, through becoming a pastor. Part 3 – Chandler’s thoughts on being a pastor, a Calvinist, and a Complementarian. [...]

Delight yourself in the Lord

Psalm 37:4 says that we should delight ourselves in the Lord and he will give us the desires of our heart. Verse 5 follows that up by telling us to commit our ways to him, trust in him and he will act. Psalm 103 is a great one extolling the goodness of God to us. [...]

Marriage is like Christ and the Church

this is the important responsibility that married people have. To demonstrate the relationship of Christ and the church. Here is John Piper on why this reminder is important. It lifts marriage out of sordid sitcom images and gives it the magnificent meaning God meant it to have. It gives marriage a solid basis in grace, [...]

Brain food

for the day after Thanksgiving here is some brain food from John Piper and G.K. Chesterton. G. K. Chesterton helps explain why. It’s not merely true that a creed unites men. Nay a difference of creed unites men—so long as it is a clear difference . . . So a Tory can walk up to the [...]

more from Piper on the prosperity gospel

here are ten minutes from John Piper about the prosperity gospel and why he hates it. more here from Dr. Mohler and John Piper being more strident on this topic. Hat tip to Vitamin Z.

30 years

speaking of Justin Taylor, you have got to check out his post about John Piper’s call to the ministry 30 years ago if you haven’t already. The picture is worth the trip over this link. but the testimony is good too. The decisive night of wrestling was on Monday, October 14, 1979—30 years ago today. [...]

Choice, Sovereignty and an example

John Piper recently explored free will, God’s sovereignty and Paul’s example. fascinating stuff. One of the most influential passages in the Bible that God used to open my mind to his sovereignty over my will is Philippians 2:12-13. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to [...]

accountability for rejecting Christ

here is John Piper’s illustration of the difference between moral inability and legal inability and why a person can be held accountable for rejecting Christ even though they can’t choose Christ on their own accord. Give it a listen and see what you think of the argument. HT to Reformation Theology

II Timothy 3:12

II Timothy 3:12 says “12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,”. Do you believe that? Do you believe that all means all and that persecution really means persecution? Really? here is a John Piper quote from Vitamin Z: “Obedience in missions and social justice has always [...]

spiritual leadership

John Piper’s article on spiritual leadership is a treasure trove of extremely valuable information. I found this bit on marks of a good teacher especially interesting since I have spent a lot of time teaching. 9. Able to Teach It is not surprising to me that some of the great leaders at Bethlehem Baptist Church [...]

Got to thinking about eyes

Yesterday after I posted about Joel Osteen and his blurb about his forthcoming newest book, I got to thinking. What I was thinking about is how the worldview he is promoting is completely foundationally skewed. It is exactly backwards. Here is part of what he says: Instead, your declarations should be: I am closer than [...]

Desiring God Blog

I put a link in the blogroll to Desiring God Blog over on the right. I have it bookmarked in Safari, but Tim N. pointed out that it wasn’t in the blogroll, so there it is. here is a recent video that Abraham Piper posted of his dad talking about the protestant work ethic. and [...]

Do people have free will?

Andrew Naselli takes a long look at the question of free will over here. Fascinating stuff. take some time this weekend to explore it. Here is the introduction to get you started: Non-Christians and Christians alike often give the same answer to difficult questions like these: Why did God allow sin in the first place? [...]

tornados and Lutherans

I am sure everybody has seen John Piper’s post about Providence, Tornados, Lutherans and Homosexuality. If not, hie thee hence and get after it. 6. Conclusion: The tornado in Minneapolis was a gentle but firm warning to the ELCA and all of us: Turn from the approval of sin. Turn from the promotion of behaviors that [...]

everday Gospel

via Ramblin’ Pastor Man, here is a short video with John Piper explaining that we need the Gospel every day.

rebuilding a marriage after an affair

here is another Piper answer. this one regarding what to do to rebuild a marriage after one of the couple has had an affair. Tough timely stuff. HT vitamin z

practical prayer helps

here is John Piper talking about how practically to develop a passion for prayer. what he says about the stories is just so true. I read a book about George Mueller in high school and it has had to biggest impact on my prayer life of anything. The other part about praying scripture, Julie and [...]

New Piper book, free pdf

zach points out that the new John Piper book with missionary stories is available free for download. DG Blog: John Piper’s new book Filling Up the Afflictions of Christ is now available for download. Get it for free. Read an interview by JT with John Piper concerning this book. here is the direct link to 128 pages [...]