I enjoy John Piper’s “Ask Pastor John” feature and often benefit from hearing (or reading) his answers to the more than 1200 questions he has taken on so far. It reflects a lifetime of studying Scripture and applying its principles. He recently answered a question on whether premarital pregnancy nullifies the principle of “unequally yoked”…
If you were one of the 40,000 students at the Passion One Day conference in Memphis, Tennessee back in May 2000, just one little word may well have changed your life. You know the word, don’t you? Shells. Yes, shells. Seashells. It was the most memorable illustration and the most powerful sermon from one of…
As we look to the history of the church to observe “Christian Men and Their Godly Moms,” we encounter a number of mothers who were remarkably accomplished. Some have forceful personalities, some are skilled theologians, some are worthy of full-length biographies in their own right. Yet many more are perfectly ordinary, serving their families in…
Money, sex, and power: three great gifts of God that can be used to such noble ends or abused to such ignoble ends. They can be harnessed to the greatest of good purposes or exploited to the most terrible of harmful purposes. All three are considered ghastly to some while they are worshiped as gods…
I have encountered a lot of young men, a lot of young preachers, who want to model themselves after John Piper. They see his joy in the Lord, they see his passion for God’s glory, they see the fire he brings to his sermons, and they want to be like him. Unfortunately, I have seen…
We will leave it to future church historians to determine the reach and impact of the recent renewal of Reformed theology. While we do not know if, when or how it will fade out, we do know that John Piper has been one of the men at the forefront of the movement. His books, his…
Man Is Fallen and Will Destroy the Earth – This article comes from far outside the Christian box, and this is exactly what makes it so interesting. The author, an environmentalist, realizes that secular humanism, which assumes the goodness of man, is contradicted by humanity’s treatment of the environment. He Is a Kind Man –…
The best life is a risky life. Really, I am convinced there is not much worth doing that doesn’t involve at least some measure of risk. A lifetime of always making the safest choice is an unrealistically boring and plodding life. We risk when we love, we risk when we live. To love any person…
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to interview John Piper. I promptly solicited questions from you, the readers of this site, and Pastor John was kind enough to answer them. Because the focus of this year’s Desiring God National Conference is sanctification, I asked him questions related to that subject. In this interview…
John Piper sparked quite a storm with his biographical message on the “frank and manly” J. C. Ryle. One of his conclusion was that Christianity is meant to have a masculine feel to it. Response to his message ranged from outrage to applause. I found myself perplexed and needed to give it some time to…
We are not God. That seems obvious when we consider it and yet so often we act as if we actually are God, or gods, at least. John Piper talks about this and many of its implications in one of his meditations from Pierced by the Word. Here is what he says: We are not…
Desiring God Ministries has posted John Piper’s long-awaited interview with Rick Warren. This has brought to completion the invitation Piper extended to Warren to speak at the 2010 Desiring God National Conference. The interview was supposed to happen at that event, but in the end Warren was unable to travel to Minneapolis and the interview…
So John Piper has asked Rick Warren to speak at this year’s Desiring God National Conference, Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God. You may have heard about this, either through buzz in the blogosphere or even from Piper himself in his recent Ask Pastor John session. I have known this…
Last week I began an interview series I am calling “Meet the Ministries.” This is an opportunity for us to meet some of the Christian ministries available to serve us. The first interview featured Grace to You. This week I’m glad to share an interview with Matt Perman, Director of Strategy for Desiring God. How…
John Piper waited forty years to write a book on marriage. It is only after forty years of marriage that he felt like he would have something valuable to say (or something valuable to add to a very crowded genre of book). “Romance, sex, and childbearing are temporary gifts of God. They are not part…
As I read John Piper’s book Finally Alive I came across a lot of godly wisdom. But there was one quote that, more than the others, jumped out at me. I thought I’d share it with you today… This is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.…
As I read the final page of Finally Alive I realized that I had found a new favorite book by John Piper. Those who have read my reviews of some of his previous titles know that while I greatly enjoy Piper’s ministry and am indebted to him in many ways, I have not always found…
Mark Tubbs, who writes reviews for Discerning Reader, has just posted his review of John Piper’s newest book, The Future of Justification. Here are a few quotes: A certain friend of mine (who shall remain nameless) attended a certain pastoral training institute (which shall remain nameless) where he was once advised by a certain staff…
The issue of profanity in the church is one that continually surprises me. To myself and to many other Reformed types, what is most shocking about the profanity discussion is that we need to have it at all! That we should avoid foul speech seems obvious and beyond dispute. And yet here we are. There…
It was an interesting experience reading Suffering and the Sovereignty of God (edited by John Piper and Justin Taylor), for only a year before its release I had been present at the Desiring God National Conference where the contents of the book were first presented as keynote addresses. With only a couple of exceptions, each…