Piper and Preaching

This video was posted a week ago and I found it to be very encouraging. I have often thought that I will not be able to proclaim God's Word in an adequate way although I have an extreme passion and desire to do so. I wonder sometimes why the bridge from my mind to my mouth tends to collapse without warning.

After watching this video, my prayer has become reinforcement and fortification of that bridge. And I have come to the conclusion that it starts in the heart.

Don't Waste Your Life Sentence

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

-Luke 4:16-20

A Caution to the New Reformed Movement

Click here if you can't see the video.

A Question John Piper Never Asked Himself

Perspectives on the Prosperity Gospel

Here are two videos that help with an understanding of the prosperity gospel. This corruption of the true gospel is alive and well in our backyard and is exploiting people in poor contexts across the world. Awareness of this false gospel should profoundly impact the Christian's missiological perspective. Take a look.

The Prosperity Gospel from The Global Conversation on Vimeo.

Changing Translations

I have often asked this question: if someday I am a pastor, how will I address particular subtle changes that may be a point of stumbling for a portion of the congregation?

In this video, John Piper is asked about changing from KJV to a more contemporary translation. I found the principles communicated in his answer, although brief, to be helpful in answering the question that I posed at the outset.

Doug Wilson talks Collision

Here is a nice follow up to yesterday's post.

Last night Doug Wilson spoke at the Desiring God National Conference about the debate between himself and Christopher Hitchens. This may be a more helpful tool for those who have actually watched the documentary, but you can always come back to this interview once you watch the film.

Again, Collision is due out October 27.

Golgotha Was Not a Suburb of Jerusalem

Taken from The Roots of Endurance by John Piper

If we will not freely take our cross and follow Jesus on the Calvary road, it may be thrust on us. It would be better to hear the warnings now and wake up to biblical reality. Existence in this fallen world will not be pain-free and trouble-free. There will be groaning because of our finitude and fallenness, and many afflictions because of our calling. Frustration is normal, disappointment is normal, sickness is normal. Conflict, persecution, danger, stress--they are all normal. The mind-set that moves away from these will move away from reality and away from Christ. Golgotha was not a suburb of Jerusalem.

Job the Book

Job the Book by John Piper

Resolution 17

Resolved, that I will live so as I shall wish I had done when I come to die.

In short, don't waste your life.

Resolution 15

Resolved, never to suffer the least motions of anger towards irrational beings.

"As with all emotion, which exist before words and independently of words, anger is hard to define with words. But we should try because evidently there are different experiences called anger, some of which are sinful and some of which are not. For example, in Mark 3:5 Jesus himself is angered by religious leaders who do not want him to heal a man on the Sabbath. "He looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart." And Jesus repeatedly referred to God's anger either directly as the wrath of God in judgment (John 3:36; Luke 21:23) of indirectly in parables (Matt. 18:34; Luke 14:21).

"A standard English dictionary defines anger as "a strong feeling of displeasure and usually antagonism." The reason the phrase "as strong feeling of displeasure" can't stand by itself is that we don't think of really bad tasting food as awakening anger, even though there may be strong displeasure. That displeasure needs another component before it is experienced as anger. If someone keeps feeding us terrible food, and we sense that they are doing it intentionally then we may get angry. Anger seems to be more of less strong displeasure about something that is happening willfully and, we feel, should not be happening.

"Of course, we do sometimes get angry when that is not the case. If we trip over a root, we may turn around and kick the root in anger. If we bump our head on the kitchen cabinet, we may smack the cabinet door in anger. But in our best moments we look at those reactions as foolish. We intuitively sense that we are imputing willfulness to the root and the cabinet, as of they did something to us on purpose.

"This is why the young Jonathon Edwards resolved not to get angry in inanimate objects. His Resolution #15 said, "Resolved, never to suffer the least motions of anger towards irrational beings." Therefore, the difference between anger and other emotions of displeasure is that anger involves strong displeasure with something that is happening intentionally that we think should not be happening."

-John Piper, What Jesus Demands from the World

Obama's Choice

With the day close at hand, I have for you three noteworthy items concerning the appointment of Bishop Gene Robinson by Barack Obama to pray at the inauguration ceremony.

1. "How Barack Obama Will Make Christ a Minister of Condemnation" by John Piper
   
2. "The Idol of Our Many Understandings--Bishop Robinson at Prayer" by Albert Mohler
   
3. "This Honestly Upsets Me" by Josh in response to Mohler's article.

With these in mind, now is the time for the Christian to ask, "By what means am I justified?" The answer is not tolerance, acceptance, or understanding. The answer is Jesus Christ.

In light of that answer, it is also imperative that the Christian ask, "What am I a minister of?" The answer is reconciliation. And, "How is reconciliation possible?" Through the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

-2 Corinthians 5:17-21

Failure to acknowledge this truth is the true folly of Bishop Gene Robinson and, unfortunatley on this day before the eve of the inauguration, appears to be the folly of our President-Elect as well.

A Good Investment

I have lots of thoughts in a day. And out of those thoughts quite a few I wish I could remember at the end of the day. Having a simple place to write down my thoughts is always a good idea, but I never want to lug around a full-sized journal or a backpack with a notebook in it. A solution to this conundrum recently presented itself.

While at the Desiring God National Conference in September everyone was given a pack of three Don't Waste Your Life Journals. Perfectly sized, this journal fits nicely in my back pocket and provides a place for me to write down a thought that I don't want to forget.

"Keep a journal and write out your thoughts as you meditate on the Scripture. Writing is a way of seeing that is deeper and sharper than most other ways. We see more when we write than when we just read. You don't have to use the journal every time or every day. But do it sometimes and you will soon see the fruit, so that I won't need to convince you." 

-John Piper, If My Words Abide in You... 

The journals are reasonably priced at $5.99 for a pack of three or $4.99 if you buy ten packs or more. And of course free shipping on all orders over $25 at the Desiring God Store.

Battle Despondency Like Jesus

Taken from Future Grace by John Piper.

1. Choose some close friends to be with you (Matthew 26:37).
2. Open you soul to your friends (v. 38).
3. Ask for your friends to intercede and partner with you in battle (v. 39).
4. Pour out your heart to God in prayer (v. 39).
5. Rest your soul in the sovereign wisdom of God (v. 39).
6. Fix your eyes on all that God has in store for you (Hebrews 12:2).

Remember:

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
     and the light about me be night,”
even the darkness is not dark to you;
     the night is bright as the day,
     for darkness is as light with you.

-Psalm 139:11-12

Desiring God Conference

I am beyond excited for this year's Desiring God Conference. What really jumped out at me in reading the preliminary material for the conference was the theme: The Power of Words and the Wonder of God. And further, the description of Mark Driscoll's talk is particularly intriguing. Here is how John Piper describes it:

Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, has agreed to tackle the knotty issue of tough and tender words, words in controversy, words in confrontation, words like Jesus and Paul used when they called people vipers and said, “If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed” (1 Cor. 16:22).

Fitting.

Rebekah and I are planning on attending. I pray that every Christian would consider going to this conference. I went last year and was greatly encouraged and edified by the teaching and testimonies of God's faithful servants. And if you cannot make it, you can always listen to the sessions at the website of Desiring God.

I trust that it "will be mind-sharpening, heart-humbling, mouth-seasoning, backbone-strengthening, and Christ-acclaiming."

An Important Conversation

Last fall I attended the 2007 Desiring God National Conference. Twice over the weekend the speakers sat down and answered questions that were immediately relevant to the theme of the conference, Stand: A Call for the Endurance of the Saints. It was a time marked by transparency and humility and had an immense impact on the way that I view ministry.

Below is a clip from the first of the two conversations. John Piper and John MacArthur answered questions from Justin Taylor. You can also view both conversations in their entirety as well as the rest of the sessions at desiringGod.org.



You will notice that there is nothing earth-shattering about what either man said. However, they were, and still are, faithful to the fundamental principles of Scripture and God has grown their ministries. It is encouraging to my heart to hear faithful servants attribute their success in ministry, not to a magic formula that they applied to their situation or to doing all the right things, but to the faithfulness of God.