Jon Bloom is the Executive Director of Desiring God.

The Christian life is a journey to the greatest joy that exists. But "the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few" (Matthew 7:14). Why is that? Because, paradoxically, in order to pursue our greatest joy, we must deny ourselves.

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It was a moment of euphoria for the disciples. Jesus was the Christ. Peter had confessed it and Jesus had confirmed it. The long-awaited arrival of Israel's Messiah had come! And the Twelve were at the center of it!

Then oddly, Jesus immediately started talking about being murdered by his enemies. And he said some strange things about a resurrection. This was very confusing. But one thing seemed clear to Peter: defeat could not be the path to the Christ's glory. The Christ was to be victorious.

So Peter brought correction to Jesus. Jesus called his correction satanic.

Peter was stunned. What could be satanic about wanting the Christ to be victorious? Jesus' answer was, "you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man" (Mark 8:33).

Jesus knew that this was the case for all the disciples and the crowd following him. So he gathered them all together and dropped a bomb on them:

If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. (Mark 8:34)

A crowd of bewildered faces. A cross? They all knew what that meant: Roman execution of the most horrific kind. They were hoping that Jesus might conquer their enemies and "restore the kingdom to Israel" (Acts 1:6). Carrying a Roman cross did not sound like the Messianic kingdom. It sounded like death. Jesus wanted them to die?

Yes.

Jesus' kingdom was not of this world—not the geopolitical world they knew (John 18:36). His kingdom was far broader in scope than they yet realized. And their true enemy was far more powerful and deadly than Rome. Rome was a drop in the bucket (Isaiah 40:15). Their real enemy lived in them and all around them. Jesus had indeed come to conquer that enemy. In fact, he was headed to Jerusalem to strike the decisive blow in just days.

So he now was preparing them for the cross—his first and foremost, then theirs—and the multi-millennial mission to call out Israel from all peoples into his kingdom. Jesus was teaching them to intentionally move toward death.

Physical death, yes. All present that day would die, some as martyrs. But all his followers would also have to die to themselves. Die to the desire for self-glory, die to the desire for worldly respect and the fear of man, die to the desire for an easy life, die to the desire for earthly wealth, and a thousand other deaths. Finally, they must die to their desire to save their earthly lives.

But Jesus wasn't calling his followers to some stoic life of self-sacrifice for a noble cause. His was an invitation to joy beyond imagination. The broad road of the world was lined with seductive false promises appealing to and blinding sinful human heart-eyes. And it was leading many to a horror beyond imagination. So Jesus was calling his followers to deny themselves the world's paltry, brief joys that they might have overflowing eternal joy; to deny themselves hell that they might have heaven.

That's why he went on to say:

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. (Mark 8:35-37)

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Two brief summary observations from this account:

First, the Christian life is hard; sometimes agonizing. We shouldn't be surprised (1 Peter 4:12). It's hard because denying our fallen selves is hard. Any death is hard, some much more than others. But it's designed to be that way. Our lives are our most precious earthly possession. Nothing displays the worth of Jesus more than our willingness to give away our lives (in small and large ways) for his sake.

Second, the only things that Jesus asks us to deny ourselves of are what will rob us of eternal joy. Like Moses in Hebrews 11:25-26, we are called to deny ourselves the passing pleasures of sin and consider the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the world's treasures. How? By looking to the reward! I'll sum it up in some lyrics I wrote in a song for my oldest daughter years ago:

There's joy beyond your wildest dreams if you will just believe
This aching thirst for joy you feel God only can relieve.
And that eternal life is what's in store
For all who will believe that only he's worth living for.

Today we are burying my father, Marlin Bloom. He died at 8:16 PM on July 8th, just days short of his 78th birthday. Having battled numerous health issues over the years, his body simply wore out. Dad’s wish was to be cremated, and since my brother and his family were traveling to Asia just days after Dad died, we postponed the memorial service until they returned.

Dad was born July 19, 1932, to Elmer and Merle Bloom on a farm in central Minnesota. But he spent most of his growing-up years in Stubb’s Bay, about 20 miles directly west of Minneapolis. He was the 3rd of 5 children, a natural athlete, had an easy-going manner, a contagious laugh, and a winsome smile.

He graduated from Wayzata High School in 1950, served in the Navy during the Korean War, and in 1954, married his high school sweetheart, Marilyn (they were voted “cutest couple” by the class of ’50). Following his naval service they settled into a modest rambler in a working class neighborhood west of Minneapolis, raised six children (I’m the 5th) and cared for numerous foster children. And they were active members at Wayzata Evangelical Free Church for 50 years.

For most of my childhood, Dad worked as a route driver for Emrich Baking Company, delivering baked goods to area restaurants and hospitals. A few times during school breaks, when I was ten or eleven, I got up with him at 2 AM, we drove through the dark downtown to the bakery, I helped him load the truck, and spent the day with him riding his route (and eating doughnuts!).

Very few things are as wonderful as the smell of a bakery in the early morning and spending the day with a father you deeply love and admire.

In the mid-70’s, Dad experienced a spiritual renewal. His faith in Jesus became more vibrant. He studied the Bible. He took more spiritual leadership in the family. He was happier. He seemed to have a deeper keel. This had a profound impact on me as a child.

Then, at age 47, affliction struck hard. Throughout Dad’s adulthood, there had been periodic brief seasons of unexplainable behavior. This normally kind, honest, patient, and hard-working man said and did things completely out of character. But in the fall of 1979, he lost control and had to be hospitalized. It was then that Dad was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Life is hard. There are so many ways we suffer the affects of the fall. Brains can be defective just like hearts, hands, legs, and livers can be defective. Mental illness has its unique kind of suffering and humiliation. And the medications took their toll. Dad was never quite the same again. His energy and interest levels were significantly limited.

But I never heard Dad complain. If he struggled with self-pity I didn’t see or hear it. The darkness he experienced was beyond description. I know he fought the temptation to end it all. He did not surrender. And he did not reject or express anger toward God because of his affliction. While his health permitted, he continued faithfully to attend his local church.

But one of the most beautiful things I have had the privilege to witness in my life was the faithfulness of my father and mother to each other through it all. Both suffered due to Dad’s illness, each in different ways. Life and marriage did not turn out like they envisioned in 1954. Many marriages shatter over far less than they endured.

But they stayed together and loved each other, which at times called for significant resolve, desperate prayers, and deep faith in Jesus. Mom in particular lived out a beautiful sacrificial love for Dad, tenderly caring for him until death parted them. It was a wonder few could see; a treasure undervalued by many.

So, Dad, it is with a heart full of deep gratitude that I say goodbye. Thank you for loving Mom so faithfully, thank you for loving me with such generous affection and patience, and thank you for persevering to the end. I love you, Dad. I will miss you. But I rejoice at your liberation.

And thank you, Heavenly Father, for all the lavish grace you have poured on me through my father’s life and example. I don’t understand all that you ordained for him to endure, but you have taught me to trust you and your promises more than my perceptions. And Dad was a part of that. And that is a priceless gift.

A good friend forwarded me this photo of a seminary student’s groom cake. I had never heard of a “groom’s cake” before. But even if I’d seen 100 others, I doubt any would beat this. Man, I wish I could have had a piece of that!

This was probably made to look like the pile beside his bed. Of course, if they were piled in priority I’m sure he’d switch the middle and bottom books around…

Adapted from the July 2007 newsletter.

Charles Darwin loved his scientific studies. They were his "chief enjoyment and sole employment throughout life."

As a young man he made a half-hearted attempt to become a clergyman, but gave it up because beetles and plants and rock formations held far more fascination for him than theology.

At age 22, he embarked on his famous five-year voyage aboard "The Beagle" and his career as a naturalist was established. He spent the rest of his life intensely observing things, reducing them to their component parts and theorizing where they came from and why they behaved as they did.

However, as the years passed something very sad happened to him. He described it near the end of his life in his autobiography:

Up to the age of 30 or beyond it, poetry of many kinds…gave me great pleasure, and even as a schoolboy I took intense delight in Shakespeare…. Formerly pictures gave me considerable, and music very great, delight. But now for many years I cannot endure to read a line of poetry: I have tried to read Shakespeare, and found it so intolerably dull that it nauseated me. I have also almost lost any taste for pictures or music… I retain some taste for fine scenery, but it does not cause me the exquisite delight which it formerly did… My mind seems to have become a kind of machine for grinding general laws out of large collections of facts, but why this should have caused the atrophy of that part of the brain alone, on which the higher tastes depend, I cannot conceive… The loss of these tastes is a loss of happiness, and may possibly be injurious to the intellect, and more probably to the moral character, by enfeebling the emotional part of our nature.

What a devastating loss. All that time in his laboratory abstracting theories from facts had conditioned his mind to analyze to such a degree that he could no longer enjoy beauty just for what it was. A symphony, a sunset, or a sonnet was not designed for Darwin to dissect but delight in.

Too much dissection robbed him of delight.

Of course, Darwin’s rejection of Christianity contributed to his loss of wonder. But we can learn something very valuable from Darwin here. There is a principle that we condition our minds to value whatever we watch and study and contemplate the most. John Piper has taught me to think of it like this: we become what we behold. What absorbs our interest, what we give our attention to most, shapes our thinking and trains our affections.

We must resist the seductive lie that someday in the future we will give up our workaholic habits or our sinful addiction or our trivial time-consuming pursuits and enjoy God and his creation and his purposes like we should. The truth is that if we spend too much time focusing on lesser things someday we will wake up to find that we have lost our ability to find great things delightful or even interesting.

We become what we behold. This is right from the Bible. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:18,

We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

This is the transformation that God intends for us: to grow, not decline, in our ability to enjoy glory. We are to fix our eyes on Jesus, the radiance of the glory of God (Hebrews 1:2), and in doing so he will reveal increasing degrees of glory to us, which will then shape our thinking and train our affections.

This summer take an audit of your affections. Over the last few years has there been an increase or a decrease in your love for God and your awe at his amazing gospel? Do you enjoy his creation, from cell to star, more? Or less? Does that familiar sin have greater or lesser power over you? What is captivating your interest? Look at what you have been spending your time beholding for the answers.

Let’s learn from Darwin and heed God’s life-giving exhortations: "Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind" (Romans 12:2) by "set[ting] your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth" (Colossians 3:2).

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A helpful Piper message to listen to at this time of the year to get perspective is "Summer Is for Seeing and Showing Christ."

A few years back I wrote about the 5 "D's" I pray for daily. Recently, I added a sixth: desperation. I need to feel continually my desperate need for God.

Whatever it takes, Lord, give me...

Delight in you as the greatest treasure of my heart.
        Delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

Desire to know you, be with you, and seek your kingdom above all else.
        Delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

Discernment that comes from a renewed mind that I might know your will.
        But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5:14)

Desperation because when I stop feeling my need for you I tend to wander.
         Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. (Psalm 119:67)

Discipline to plan for what I discern as your will.

        Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:15-16)

Diligence to do your will with all my heart.

        You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (Deuteronomy 6:5)

In 2 Corinthians 11-12, Paul describes one of the most difficult things for us to grasp and believe about the life of faith: God purposefully blesses us with weaknesses for the sake of our joy.

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So-called “super-apostles” had found their way to Corinth. These parasitic charlatans had followed in the wake of the Lord’s servant and were siphoning off glory from God and discrediting Paul in order to inflate the appearance of their self-importance.

If it had only been about his reputation, Paul wouldn’t have wasted his ink. But these men were not only maligning Paul, they were distorting the gospel. They were maligning Paul in order to distort the gospel. The situation demanded that Paul call these imposters out and contrast their doctrine, character and labors with his own. But it was tortuous for him: “I am talking like a madman” (2 Corinthians 11:23).

Reluctantly Paul cataloged revelations he had received, suffering he had endured for the gospel and the church, and how he had never financially benefited from the Corinthians.

But it’s important to see that there was far more behind Paul’s reluctance than self-conscious awkwardness. He was conscious of the danger that in drawing attention to himself he might obscure the grace of God.

Test yourself. When you read of Paul’s lashings, beatings, imprisonments, shipwrecks, danger, hunger, exposure, and mind-blowing revelations, what are you tempted to think? If you’re like me, you might think, “This man had faith, brains, guts, endurance, and a work ethic second-to-none. I’m a sorry excuse for a Christian compared to him.”

And that is the danger Paul feared. Because in that moment we are tempted to look away from the cross of Christ and the sufficiency of his grace to our achievements for our justification.

Here’s what I mean. Our fallen nature craves self-glory. We seek the admiration of others. We love the myth of the superhero because we want to be one. So we want our successes to be known and our failures hidden. And since people who achieve remarkable things earn the favor of others, we are tempted to believe that they earn the favor of God as well.

That’s the last thing Paul wants us to believe.

Paul knew better than most that it is not human achievements that showcase the grace of God. It is human helplessness.

Paul viewed himself as the foremost of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). Apart from God’s grace in giving him the free gift of Christ’s righteousness, all of Paul’s achievements were “rubbish” (Philippians 3:8-9). Paul knew the impotence of self-righteousness (Philippians 3:6-9). He knew who had brought him to faith (Acts 9:5), called him to be an apostle (Romans 1:1), sent him to make Gentile disciples (Romans 1:5), and called him to suffer for his sake (Acts 9:16). Yes, Paul knew that he worked harder than just about everybody. But he knew that it was not him, but the grace of God that was with him (1 Corinthians 15:10).

And one reason he knew this so profoundly was that Jesus had disciplined him. Knowing how Paul’s indwelling sin might respond to the power and fruitfulness he would experience, Jesus gifted him with a “thorn in the flesh,” a “messenger of Satan” to harass him (2 Corinthians 12:7). It would be a continual reminder to Paul that he depended on Jesus for everything.

Don’t you love the power and wisdom of God—enlisting a messenger of Satan to serve Paul? It must have been maddening to the demons—another way Jesus put them to open shame (Colossians 2:15).

Like us, Paul didn’t immediately recognize the thorn as a gift. He pleaded for deliverance. But Jesus replied, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

This opened up a world of insight to Paul. God showing his strength through weak things was laced all through redemptive history, culminating in the cross.

That’s why Paul said, “If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness” (2 Corinthians 11:30). He even went beyond that: “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).

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Are you content with the weaknesses you live with?

I don’t mean sin—Paul is clear that we are to put sin to death (Romans 6:12).

Neither do I mean foolishness (Proverbs 26:11).

But we all live with different kinds of constitutional limitations or illnesses or disabilities or circumstantial adversity. And what God wants you to know through this text is that he has given them to you for your joy, even if it’s Satan harassing you.

Here’s the secret: the more aware you are of God’s grace, the more humble, prayerful, thankful, patient, gracious, content and joyful you will be. And you are more aware of God’s grace when you are weak.

God will use the strengths he has given you—he certainly used Paul’s strengths.

But thank God for your weaknesses, because it is there that God’s strength is often most clearly displayed.

A few days ago I listened to a sermon by a man who is preparing to lead a missionary team that will plant itself into one of the least reached nations in the world.

The most optimistic estimates of the number of indigenous Christians in this nation is less than the number of people who attend Bethlehem Baptist Church on a Sunday morning. A lot less.

Listening to him was like listening to the writer of Hebrews. This man knows what he’s getting into. He’s planted a church in this nation already. The cost to follow Jesus in this nation is high. A good week is when no one in the church has been beaten.

These brothers and sisters are experiencing a “hard struggle with sufferings” (Hebrews 10:32). There are beatings, property plundering, heresies, divisions, and immorality. Most church troubles we read about in the Epistles, they have it.

Listening to this missionary left most of us American Christians wondering if we’d be able to hack it. And that’s unnerving.

The New Testament teaches us that whether or not our treasure is really in heaven is most clearly seen when it costs us our earthly treasures in order to obtain it. But American Christians live in the most prosperous nation in world history and the one in which it costs the least to be a Christian. 

This environment can be deadly to faith. It allows false faith to masquerade as real very easily. And its power to dissipate zeal and energy and mission-focus and willingness to risk is extraordinary because it doesn’t come to us with a whip and a threat. It comes to us with a pillow and a promise of comfort for us and our children. The former makes us desperate for God. The latter robs our sense of desperation.

And it’s the lack of a sense of desperation for God that is so deadly. If we don’t feel desperate for God, we don’t tend to cry out to him. Love for this present world sets in subtly, like a spiritual leprosy, damaging spiritual nerve endings so that we don’t feel the erosion and decay happening until it’s too late.

So we must fast and pray for and support the suffering church in the diseases that can set in from harsh adversity. But we must also fast and pray for God to deliver us from the diseases that set in from prosperity. We need him. We can discipline ourselves in various ways. But we cannot manufacture our own desperation. Only God can make us desperate for him.

So God, whatever it takes, increase our awareness of our dependence on you in everything! Keep us desperate for you so that the deceitfulness of sin does not harden our hearts (Hebrews 3:13). In Jesus’ name, amen.

Today, July 28th, marks the 28th anniversary of the plane crash that killed Christian singer/songwriter and evangelist, Keith Green. He was 28 years old. Also lost in that crash were two of Keith’s children (Josiah & Bethany), the pilot (Don Burmeister), and an entire family (John & Dede Smalley and their six children).

I clearly remember July 28, 1982. I had just turned 17 and only recently had discovered Keith’s music. He was unlike anyone I had ever heard. It wasn’t music that drew me to Keith. It was his heart.

Keith was in love with Jesus in a way that few seemed to be. His passion was the kind I read about in the New Testament. Keith was real. You could tell just by listening to him.  And you could also tell that Keith wasn’t mainly about music, he was about a message. He didn’t care about his career; he cared whether or not people followed Jesus. Keith was all about spreading a passion for the supremacy of Jesus.

And because of that, I loved his music. Keith had quickly become a hero of mine. His sudden death was shock.

The main reason I pay tribute to Keith today is because his influence has shaped one significant aspect of Desiring God. When John and I launched this work in 1994, we both agreed that DG should adopt the same whatever-you-can-afford policy for our resources that Keith’s Last Days Ministries had for his music. This policy has served thousands of people. And I thank God for Keith’s example in this.

Keith certainly didn’t get everything right. He didn’t have great things to say about Reformed theology, although some of his song lyrics show that he was more reformed than he may have realized (see “You Put This Love in My Heart”). But he was only a Christian for about 7 years and did almost all of his growing in public ministry. And considering how long it’s taken me to learn things, I’m amazed at how well he did.

But in many ways Keith was a kindred spirit. He was passionate about Jesus, sought to spread that passion, loved the Bible, lived a war-time lifestyle, exhorted people not waste their lives, sought to mobilize people for missions, and lived out radical generosity. Keith’s life was short, but he lived well and did not compromise.

So it’s fitting that today we thank God for the life of Keith Gordon Green.

One thing the Bible isn’t is utopist about life in this world. It gets unfairly criticized for encouraging a pessimism that makes people passive about doing anything to improve things; people who are “too heavenly minded to be any earthly good.”

Of course, that’s a lot of hogwash. History has shown that those who have a hope of heaven are far more likely than their agnostic or atheist neighbors to willingly make the personal sacrifices necessary to seriously address the horrors and hopelessness in the world.  

But the Bible doesn’t gloss over horrors. Reading the whole Bible through, we wince a lot. And it is pretty frank about what we can expect during our sojourn on earth:

So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity. (Ecclesiastes 11:8)

When Jesus walked the earth he was not a bouncy, positive-thinker. He was “a man of sorrows” (Isaiah 53:3). And he promised his followers, “In the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33).  

Life is hard. The days of darkness will be many. And you know what? That’s hopeful.

When we find ourselves experiencing “weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities” (2 Corinthians 12:10), something strange isn’t happening to us (1 Peter 4:12). It is what we must expect living in a creation subjected to futility (Romans 8:20).

But it was subjected to futility in hope—hope “that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). And yes there is deep groaning as we wait for the completion of our redemption (Romans 8:22-23). But it is a hope-infused groaning, full of anticipation for what is coming.

And it’s this Spirit-empowered dynamic in the soul that allows us to be both “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:10).  We expect sorrow from the world and redemption from our Savior, who will work even our sorrows for ultimate good (Romans 8:28).

So in your days of darkness, Jesus understands (Hebrews 4:15) and wants you to take heart:

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

Today marks the 30th anniversary of John Piper’s pastoral leadership at Bethlehem Baptist Church.

Thirty is a significant milestone in a number of ways. John was just over 30 years old (34) when he assumed the senior pastorate on July 13, 1980, which means John has spent almost half his life pastoring this congregation. Bethlehem was 109 years old in 1980, which means John has been the pastor for almost 30% of its existence.

Through his sophomore year in college becoming a preacher was out of the question. John loved God and he loved the Bible. But he was absolutely terrified of public speaking. As a student at Wheaton College he settled for C’s in classes that required speeches as part of the grade. So he was preparing for a career in medicine.

But God had other plans. During the summer term of 1966, the chaplain at Wheaton asked John to pray during chapel. John completely shocked himself by accepting. He vowed to God that if God helped him through this, he would never again refuse an invitation to speak for him out of fear. God answered.

Then in the fall of 1966, John was laid out for three weeks with mononucleosis. And while laying in the college infirmary he listened to Harold John Okenga preach on the college radio station. And as he did, John discerned a call to abandon his medical path and give himself to the ministry of the Word.

After graduating from Wheaton in 1968, John and his young bride, Noël, spent three years at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA, where God transformed him into a Calvinist and a Christian Hedonist through the massive influences of Jonathan Edwards, Daniel Fuller, C. S. Lewis, and others. Then they spent another three years in Germany where John earned his D. theol.

In the fall of 1974, John began his first “real job” as an assistant professor in the Bible department at Bethel College in St. Paul, MN. He taught there for 6 years.

John’s call to preach came in 1979, while taking a sabbatical to write a book on Romans 9. The God of Romans 9 was not to be merely pondered. He was to be proclaimed!

After submitting his name as a pastoral candidate to the Baptist General Conference denomination, only one church, Bethlehem Baptist in downtown Minneapolis, responded. He preached his candidating sermon in January 1980, was approved by the congregation, and launched this new journey in July 1980.

Like most downtown churches at that time, Bethlehem was an aging congregation. Most of its members were 65 and over. But within a few years the average age dropped below 30 as hundreds of students and young adults flocked to the church.

In 1983, God birthed a passion for missions in the hearts of John and his associate pastor, Tom Steller, that spread among the people and into the nations. Bethlehem has never been the same.

That same year, John preached a series of sermons that later formed the core of the book, Desiring God, which was published in 1986. With this book, God opened a door to a wider writing and speaking ministry that has grown to over 50 books (written and edited) and hundreds of engagements over the years.

But John has never confused the wider influence that God has granted him with his primary calling: to be a pastor.

Bethlehem’s needs and schedule have always taken precedence over writing projects and outside speaking. John’s life is lived and ministry carried out in community. Audiences are not replacements for relationships. And most of what John has to say to the wider church he has been learned in the joys and sorrows of life together with real people.

In some ways Bethlehem is a very different place than it was when John began in 1980. The fresh-faced 30-something pastor has grown into a wizened 60-something pastor with a deeper voice. The aging congregation of 500 has grown into a youngish congregation of about 5,000. There are now three campuses with dreams of a possible fourth. Fairly simple ministry programs and systems have become far more complex.

But with regard to God and his Word and his glory, Bethlehem has not changed. This is largely because, by God’s grace, John has not lost his love for and awe of his Savior. I have observed John for over 20 years. He still burns with Holy Spirit passion for God’s glory.

That is a tremendous grace. I know that much better now that I’m 45 than I did at 25. Many do not finish well because they get tired, they lose heart, or they cave in to the unrelenting temptation of worldliness. John has not done that. I love him for it.

Yes, John, I do love you, my friend. And so do all of your brothers and sisters at Bethlehem and many around the world where God has allowed your ministry to reach. Your life has had an incalculable influence on us. And your faithful pastoral ministry in all seasons of life for these 30 years is precious beyond description.

In the early years at Bethlehem, the verse you chose for the church was Philippians 1:25: “for your progress and joy in the faith.” We have known progress and joy in the faith because of your diligent labors. So on the 30th anniversary of your pastoral ministry, thousands upon thousands of us simply and profoundly say thank you.

And, Father, thank you for Pastor John. Through him we have come to know and love you, your Son, and the Holy Spirit more. And that gift is priceless. In Jesus’ name, amen.

One night a rock sunk slowly. And when he did, Jesus had some profound things to teach us.¹

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The day had been another mind-blower for the disciples. As they rowed toward Capernaum it was hard to stop talking about what they had seen. 5,000 men, plus women and children, and Jesus had fed them all! With one boy’s lunch! The power Jesus seemed to command both thrilled and unnerved them.

But it had all ended strangely. They had felt excited when the massive picnic turned into a “Jesus for king” rally. The people were beginning to understand! But Jesus had been visibly disturbed by this enthusiasm and moved quickly to douse it. That was confusing.

And why had he been in such a hurry for them to get to Capernaum that he had them sail by night—and without him? Theirs had been the last boat on the shore. If he intended to be there by morning, Capernaum was going to be one whale of a walk.

Then the wind picked up and the waves grew stronger, pushing back against every pull of the oars. This was going to add hours to the trip. Messianic excitement turned into tired irritability. Someone commented that at this rate, Jesus would probably beat them there on foot.

Just then another shouted, “What’s that?” They all looked back. It was a person! Or it had the shape of a person. Someone was walking—or floating—across the sea! An unearthly fear seized them. “It is a ghost!”

But a familiar voice called to them, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

Jesus? It sure sounded like Jesus. But he was walking on top the water! Maybe a spirit could do that, but people can’t! Everyone was speechless.

Except Peter. “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” Every astonished face turned back to Peter. Jesus responded, “Come.” Peter swung his legs over the side and started walking toward Jesus.

Things were getting more surreal by the moment.

But after taking a few steps Peter froze. Then he began to sink, as if into mud. He reached toward Jesus and cried, “Lord, save me!” Jesus reached back, grabbed him, and pulled him up. And with affectionate firmness said, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

*          *          *

Peter actually showed remarkable faith in following Jesus out on to the water. I wonder if the thought even occurred to the others? I wonder if it would have occurred to me?

Now, if we’re not thinking carefully, we might assume that what held Peter up was his faith. But that’s not accurate. It wasn’t Peter’s faith keeping him afloat. It was Jesus. Peter knew that. That’s why he didn’t just leap out of the boat on his own. He asked Jesus to command him to come. What Jesus did was honor Peter’s faith by commanding the water to bear his weight.

Lesson #1: faith is not faith in our faith in Jesus, it’s faith in Jesus’ word.

But once Peter was outside the safety and familiarity of the boat, out in (or on) uncharted waters, everything started feeling precarious. Why? Well, people don’t actually walk on water. We may be so used to the story that the ridiculousness of walking on water doesn’t hit us. But it sure hit Peter at that moment.

And he started to sink.

Have you ever noticed that Peter the Rock didn’t sink like a rock? The last time you jumped into a pool, how gradually did you sink? There’s something profound going on here.

Peter began to sink when his faith shifted from the firmness of Jesus’ word to the instability of his circumstance. And when he did, it was Jesus letting him sink—slowly. And for Peter that was a grace.

Why? Because Peter’s sinking produced his cry to Jesus. It quickly got Peter to stop looking to the world or himself as the source of truth and salvation and instead cry out to his Savior. When he did that Jesus pulled him back up.

Lesson #2: Jesus’ word is truer and stronger than what we see or feel, and when we doubt that, sometimes he graciously lets us sink to help us refocus.

Trusting in Jesus and his word over our perceptions is difficult to learn. That’s why the Lord takes us through so many different faith-trying, faith-building experiences.

And when he does, it is never for just our own benefit. He’s displaying his power so others’ faith will be strengthened too. And, like the disciples in the boat, we end up saying together, “Truly you are the Son of God” (Matthew 14:33). 

¹ This meditation is taken from Matthew 14:13-33 and John 6:1-21.

Today is Lukas Naugle's last day at DG. And we’re feeling a mixture of sadness, deep gratitude, and excitement about what the Lord has in store. 

Lukas joined the DG staff in 2004 as our Customer Service Manager (CSM). He didn't remain in that position very long. Not because he wasn't good at it, but because he was good at many other things too. 

I discovered quickly that Lukas is not one to color inside the lines. I have come to love that about him. The fact that his job description didn't say anything about creating new resources mattered little. He just started doing things. Sometimes he'd come to me with a new idea and sometimes he would just go ahead and do it and tell me about it later. 

It didn't take a genius to realize that the best thing I could do was to make his job all about dreaming up and running with new ideas. 

One of the first things he did was choose a few chapters from Pastor John's book, 50 Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die, and turned them into an evangelistic booklet, "For Your Joy." Over 500,000 copies of that little booklet have been distributed over the last 5 years. 

Once, before we had a coordinated International Outreach effort, he made contact with some Spanish-speaking friends who wanted to translate some Piper sermons. So he got them going. I didn't know about it until it was underway. The result of that initiative was that all of Pastor John's Romans sermon series were translated into Spanish. Amazing. 

Before Lukas, DG didn't do much video work. And Lukas had no video experience. But that didn't stop him. He took one of our young staff, who was a self-taught videographer, and started experimenting in video resources. A few years later and Lukas had built a media team that was putting out incredible pieces. They even produced an award-winning music video.  If you've benefited from our free online conference videos, the John Piper Small Group Series, the Ask Pastor John videos, or almost any of our videos made in the last 5 years, the human agent most responsible is Lukas. 

But it's possible that his greatest legacy at DG will be how he developed the vision of "Don't Waste Your Life" far beyond a book.  Lukas takes this vision very seriously. It's part of who he is. 

And it's partly why we find ourselves saying goodbye to him today as he heads to Phoenix with his great wife, Gretchen, and their four precious daughters. They are discerning the Lord's call to some new kingdom ventures. 

One of these new ventures is what Lukas is calling CHANGEGOAT CREATIVE. It's a creative consultancy he's launching to help churches, organizations, and businesses be excellent in fulfilling their unique calling in the world. We have benefited from Lukas' wise counsel and amazing creativity for six years. I highly recommend him. And I plan to be a customer!

The other venture is to be part of a church plant in downtown Phoenix with his good friend, Justin Buzzard, and getting involved with the Surge Network of church planters. Planting a church is a great reason to have to say goodbye to a friend.

But goodbye is not easy. We will miss Lukas here. I miss him already.

Thank you, my good friend, for six precious and fruitful years. DG is more effective because of how God has used you. And he has good things in store for you. May he lead you, provide for you, and bless your every effort to spread a passion for his supremacy in all things in new ways. 

I love you.

At the end of week 3 of our 1% Campaign, here's the update:

Goals	As of Friday, 6/25 (Week 3)
3,500 new supporters	1,467 — 42% of goal
$600,000	$258,746 — 43%% of goal

We are thanking God for how many of you have joined us. As of 4:00 PM, Friday, June 25th, 1,100 folks have financially supported us in our spreading mission for the first time. That's fantastic!

Please pray with us for 1,800 1% partners by June 30, which is the end of our fiscal year.

At this point in the campaign, this support is VERY helpful. But we are still in financial need, facing budget reductions which will limit our ability to make our resources free both domestically and internationally.

If the Lord will provide just one percent of our online friends joining together, each giving small monthly gifts of $5, $25, or whatever you can afford—or one-time gifts— it will help us extend our outreach this next fiscal year. If you have never supported DG, or haven't in a while, would you join us?

We recorded John explaining our view of having and using money before his leave began—and before our 1% Campaign had entered our heads. But as we ask our friends to support us, it's a good time to explain again the role money plays in our lives personally and as a ministry. You might also be interested in reading Money, Markets, & Ministry, which more fully unpacks our philosophy of ministry.

John stresses here that "DG exists to give." That's exactly right. The only reason we are asking 1% of our monthly online friends to partner with us is to grow our capacity to GIVE. Each small gift does not just add to but multiplies our ability to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things. Each new resource developed and made available free will benefit hundreds or thousands of people over time.

If you've benefited from DG's website and have never financially supported us, God has blessed you through other peoples' generosity. No guilt there! God loves to do that for you. But if you can afford to support us modestly ($5 or $25 dollars per month, for example), would you consider being part of the fraction of supporters who help us freely give to millions of others, especially those most in need.

We've completed week 2 of our 1% Campaign! Here's the update as of 4:00 PM today (Friday, June 18th).

Goals	As of Friday, 6/18 (Week 2)
3,500 new supporters	1,220 — 35% of goal
$600,000	$230,452 — 38% of goal

By God's grace coming through 1,220 of you, we are over one-third of the way to our goal of 3,500!

If you're not sure what I'm talking about, here's the summary:

Up until two weeks ago, about one-tenth of one percent of DG's monthly website users financially supported us online. Facing a significant financial need, we are praying for one percent more.

Just one percent of our friends giving a small monthly gift of $5, $25, or whatever you can afford—or a one-time gift—will help us reach millions this next fiscal year. Would you be part of this one percent?

Read more to find out why this is important.

I recently listened to the audiobook of Peter Hitchens' The Rage Against God.

It’s a helpful response to the New Atheist assertion, forcefully articulated by his brother, Christopher Hitchens, that religion poisons everything. This book makes the case from 20th century history that catastrophic consequences occur when civilizations unhinge themselves from faith, and in this context Hitchens specifically means Christianity. Which is why I wish the U.S. edition had the same subtitle as the U. K. edition. Note the difference:

U. S.: “How Atheism Led Me to Faith”
U. K.: “Why Faith is the Foundation of Civilisation”

Apparently Americans may be more drawn to read Christopher Hitchens' brother play the devil’s advocate (God’s advocate, in this case) in the current God debates. But the book is not mainly autobiography, and Christopher is only referenced a few times.

Peter Hitchens' primary aim is to help readers understand the history and causes of the diminishing of religious faith in Britain, Germany and Russia/Soviet Union, particularly between WW1 and WW2, and the devastating affects this has had on these nations and the world up to the present. He asserts that atheism, not theism, has proven to be the more deadly poison.

Hitchens is a gifted and seasoned journalist who, like his brother, is not timid. To Americans he says George Bush’s war policy was appalling. To the overwhelmingly pro-abortion Brits he says the horror of abortion is the tragic result of their nation’s loss of faith.

But unlike his brother, Peter’s tone is not vitriolic and contemptuous. He writes with penetrating insight, and certain graciousness, because he himself was once a vigorous atheist and championed many ideologies that he now sees as foundation destroyers. It was good to hear him speak of his famous brother with both honesty and tenderness.

This book is worth reading. It is a reminder that atheistic ideologies combined with power have led to some of the most tyrannical, bloody regimes in the history of the world. History is not on the side of those who assert that God is toxic to civilization. It’s man that’s toxic. And godless man the most toxic.

Psalm 110 is one of the great messianic psalms, and one of the most quoted OT texts in the New Testament. On this side of the cross, we understand that it prophesies of Jesus’ second-coming.

It’s also quite offensive to postmodern cultural sensibilities. Especially the parts like, "He will fill [the nations] with corpses" (Psalm 110:6). Yikes! That’s violent. All this talk about thrones and conquerors and war sounds like Islamic fundamentalism. We much prefer a Prince of peace.

Which is ironic. Because when Jesus came the first time the “people of God” were not looking for a prince of peace or suffering servant. They were looking for a conquering king who would shatter the Roman Empire. Most of them missed him.

This is why our worldview and expectations must be shaped primarily by the Bible and not primarily by our culture and the prevailing chronological moods. Every cultural and current perspective is lopsided and distorted. And this usually makes Jesus a culturally offensive Messiah.

"The Son of Man is coming at an hour [we] do not expect" (Luke 12:40), and for many, in a manner they do not expect. We need to keep our heads clear so that we keep our lamps burning.

After the first week of our 1% Campaign, we are very grateful to God for his kind provision through many of you. Seven hundred and eighty-four new or re-engaged friends have joined us in our mission to help make the nations glad in Jesus Christ.

So here's where we currently stand in regard to our prayer goals:

Goals	As of Friday, 6/11 (Week 1)
3,500 new supporters	784 — 22.4% of goal
$600,000	$175,224 — 29.2% of goal

This is a great start! We only need 0.78% more web friends to join us. Just a small monthly gift of $5, $25, or whatever you can afford—or a one-time gift—will help us reach millions.

Pray with us and pass the word. Thank you!

Death itself is a devastating and horrible thing. But God promises to work all things—including death—for good for those who love him and are called by him (Romans 8:28).

Isaiah 57:1-2 gives us one glimpse into how God views the death of his saints:

The righteous man perishes,
and no one lays it to heart;
devout men are taken away,
while no one understands.
For the righteous man is taken away from calamity;
he enters into peace;
they rest in their beds
who walk in their uprightness.

There are two ways this is true for Christians. First, “in this world [we] will have tribulation” (John 16:33). We will only stop having tribulation when God takes us home.

Second, the greatest calamity that will befall humans is the wrath of God. That is what we need to be “taken away” (saved) from. The Bible tells us plainly that Christians will suffer various worldly calamities (Romans 8:35-36). But what makes us “more than conquerors” in all these things is the Calvary love of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:37). Since we “have now been justified by [Jesus’] blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God” (Romans 5:9).

So, when those of us who are counted righteous in Christ die, we are delivered from our greatest calamity and all lesser calamities. We enter into peace and rest. And this is a mercy that the world doesn’t understand.

And one more thing. The Lord Jesus finally sees his great desire for us fulfilled: “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory” (John 17:24).

Which is why “precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints” (Psalm 116:15).

Today, about one-tenth of one percent of DG's monthly website users financially support us online. We are praying for one percent more. Would you be part of this one percent? Even just one percent of you giving small monthly gifts, or a one-time gift, will make a significant impact on our domestic and international outreach initiatives.

Tell me more about the 1% Campaign.

I want to be a part.

Jesus, the “founder and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2), once marveled at the great faith he found in a man. And it’s the only instance recorded in the gospels when Jesus responded that way (Matthew 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10).

Who was this man? A rabbi? No. A disciple? Nope. A Roman soldier.

*          *          *

Jesus had walked down from the brow of the low mountain outside of Capernaum, his adopted home (Matthew 4:12-16). He had just delivered what would become the most famous sermon in history.

When he entered the town, he was met by a small delegation of Jewish elders. They had an urgent request. There was this Roman centurion whose servant was so sick that he was expected to die shortly. The centurion had asked these elders to go to Jesus on his behalf to see if Jesus might be willing to heal his servant.

Now, this was very unusual. Jewish leaders were not in the habit of being fond of Roman soldiers.

Feeling the obvious oddness of the request, one of the elders quickly added, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.”

This was also unusual. Roman soldiers were not in the habit of being fond of Jews.

Jesus discerned the Father’s hand in this and so he set off with them to the centurion’s home. He had also just preached a couple hours earlier on the importance of loving one’s enemies. This was something to encourage.

As they neared the house another group of friends intercepted them. There was a brief huddled conference with the confused elders. There were hushed earnest voices. Some observers thought the servant must have died.

Then a representative of the interceptors stepped over to Jesus and said respectfully, “Teacher, I have a message for you from my Roman friend. He says,

Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, “Go” and he goes; and to another, “Come,” and he comes; and to my servant, “Do this,” and he does it.

Jesus’ expression turned thoughtful. He pondered the words, “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof” and “I too am a man under authority with soldiers under me.” He nodded his head slightly and there was just a hint of a chuckle. This from a Roman soldier; a representative of Israel’s enemy. And yet he understood what even these Jewish elders didn’t yet grasp. It was a marvel.

He looked back at the friend and then to the elders. Then he turned and scanned his eyes over his disciples and the small crowd of people who had followed him down the mountain.

Then he said, loud enough for everyone to hear, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith” (Luke 7:9).

*          *          *

Both Luke (Luke 7:9) and Matthew (Matthew 8:10) use the Greek word thaumazo (thou-mad'-zo) which we translate “marveled” or “amazed” to describe Jesus’ response to the centurion’s faith. The only time this word is used to describe Jesus’ response to others’ faith is in Mark 6:6, when he marvels at the lack of faith in the people of Nazareth, where he grew up.

The centurion was one of the most unlikely persons to amaze Jesus. He was a Gentile. Doubtless he had a pagan upbringing. He was a Roman, stationed in Palestine to subject the Jews to the Emperor’s rule. He was a man of war. He achieved the rank of centurion by distinguishing himself above others in the brutal Roman martial arts. Not exactly the résumé you’d expect for becoming one of the Bible’s great heroes of faith.

So what in the world had happened to this man? We don’t know. But there he is in Capernaum; a miracle of God’s marvelous grace. And he’s a firstfruit and a foreshadow of what Jesus had come to bring about. He was a living illustration that “many [would] come from the east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 8:11).

This centurion is also a reminder to us that “man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). I think we will be surprised someday when Jesus doles out rewards. Most of the great ones among us will probably have lived in obscurity. Jesus is not as impressed with titles, degrees, and achievements as we are. He is impressed with those who really do humbly believe him.

John Piper once quoted Billy Graham, saying, “God will not reward fruitfulness, he will reward faithfulness.” The centurion was faith-full. I want to be like him when I grow up.

Moses had had it up to here.

The Israelites' continual complaining and rebellion and lack of faith had been a heavy burden. Now they were standing in front of their tents weeping. Why? Because the food they were eating was boring. "We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at" (Numbers 11:5-6).

They wanted to eat meat.

Moses was beside himself. No people had experienced God so near to them or had him provide so directly for them. God had humbled Pharaoh to the ground and walked them all through the Red Sea. His pillar was with them day and night. They were eating miracle bread every day, for God's sake (literally)! And now they are going to cry because they are bored with the menu?

God’s righteous anger burned around the edges of the camp. And the people responded with just more complaining to and about Moses.

All Moses had ever done was work hard trying to fulfill God’s call to care for and lead them. But all they ever seemed to want whenever things got hard was to find a new leader and return to Egyptian slavery.

So Moses prayed in exasperation, "If you are going to treat me like this, kill me at once, if I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness" (Numbers 11:15). 

Numbers 11 is a reminder that spiritual leadership is hard work.

It is also a reminder that we too are tempted to quickly grumble over unfulfilled cravings, inconveniences, and difficulties in the face of God’s overwhelming grace.

At this moment is your pastor(s) more aware of your encouragement or your criticism? Are you more a cause of joy to him, or might you be tempting him to pray, “Kill me at once!”?

Hebrews 13:17 tells us, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

Maybe this would be a good time to express gratitude for and encourage someone who is laboring hard to care for your soul.

At the end of Numbers 15, God commanded Moses to have the people attach tassels on the corner of their garments. These were accessories with a purpose:

And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after. So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God. (Numbers 15:39-40)

These accessories were not intended to beautify the wearer. They were intended to remind the beholder that they had whoring hearts and eyes and they were not to follow their inclinations, but to follow God’s commands.

When I read this during some recent devotions, I groaned. It was a Romans 8:23 groan:

We ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

So much of our groaning comes from living with a war waging inside of us. We love the law of God in our inner being, and yet have a cursed inclination to whore after the desires of our hearts and our eyes (Romans 7:21-23). We keenly feel our wretchedness and long to be set free from the body of this death (Romans 7:24)!

Which is what Jesus Christ our Lord came to do (Romans 7:25).

Now, instead of tassels we wear a cross. This cross reminds us not only of God’s holy commandments, but also how he perfectly fulfilled them all on our behalf. This cross reminds us that God’s justice was perfectly fulfilled, God’s wrath fully propitiated, and God’s mercy and love lavishly extended. Because of the cross, our groaning is full of hope.

We will not be free from this whoring inclination until death. (Groan.) It's one of the reasons death is necessary in this age, except for those who are alive when Jesus returns. While we live, we must die daily to sin (Romans 6:11; 1 Corinthians 15:31). And then there will be one last great dying. For the Christian, death is the final dying to sin.

After that, no more warring and no more whoring. O, what will that be like? We will be able to retire our battle armor. The fiery darts will cease. The pathological selfishness that has been our familiar enemy all life long, and such a source of grief, will be dead. We will be free! It will be finished.

Greatly disturbed by the suffering he saw in the world, 29-year-old Prince Gautama Siddhartha (563-483 BC), who was later called the Buddha (enlightened one), left his wife and young child and set out on a search for the meaning of life.

What he observed was the impermanence of the world—nothing lasted. In spite of this, people desired these impermanent things. They desired to hold on to life, health, possessions, and each other. But life, health, possessions and people pass away. Human desires would always ultimately disappoint. This, he reasoned, was the cause of human suffering.

Therefore, he concluded that if he could kill desire, if he could be tranquilly unaffected by either good or evil, his suffering would cease and he would be happy. He would be free from pain and the endless cycle of reincarnation. This was Nirvana.

It is ironic, though, that driving the Buddha’s rigorous pursuit to kill his desires was one great human desire: lasting happiness.

There was also a huge, vacuous hole in the Buddha’s pursuit of lasting happiness: no God. The Buddha didn’t say much about God’s existence because, frankly, to him God was irrelevant to human happiness. Rather, happiness was being free from desire-induced suffering and reincarnation. Happiness was the blissful end of individual existence—a sort of sweet annihilation.

How different are Jesus’ answers from the Buddha’s. When a rich and troubled young man, not so different from the rich and troubled young Gautama, sought out Jesus’ direction for eternal happiness, Jesus replied,

You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me. (Mark 10:21)

Notice that Jesus did instruct the man to become detached from his possessions. But he did not mean a Buddhist detachment. He said it another way here:

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. (Matthew 13:45)

The message is clear: desire the treasure! Desire it enough to count everything else as loss in order to gain it (Philippians 3:8).

The difference is that the Buddha wants to be desire-less and completely absorbed into the impersonal cosmos. Jesus wants us to deeply desire and be completely enthralled with the Person in whom we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28).

That’s why, in the battle against sinful desires, Jesus is so much more helpful than the Buddha. He knows that our desire for happiness is designed by God, and so is our desire for permanence. They are not evil. Here is what is evil:

Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:12-13)

We are designed to be satisfied with the one eternal (permanent) God. Evil is when we believe that God will not satisfy us and therefore pursue happiness in something else. That’s the essence of sin. And the way we fight sin is not to kill desire, but to abandon our futile desires for broken cisterns. There is no water there. Go to the Fountain!

Jesus and the Buddha agreed that pursuing ultimate happiness in transient things is futile. But they direct us to opposite solutions. The Buddha says satisfaction is treasuring no thing. Jesus says it is treasuring God. In God we get all things. In no thing we get, well, nothing.

In a post a couple weeks ago we requested prayer for Mary Pearson (the beloved wife of DG Board member, Mitch Pearson) who for the last 15+ months has been battling Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. Friday night, May 14th, Mary's body succumbed and at 6:39 PM she entered into the presence of Jesus.

Here is an excerpt from what Mitch wrote on Mary's Caringbridge site:

Please continue to keep us in your prayers. The days ahead will be difficult and we will need to make many adjustments.We are thankful to be the children of God.We have a hope in things to come when we will put on an imperishable body when things like Leukemia will be gone forever. We will have no more tears, no more death, and we will reign in His kingdom, worshiping the King with Mary and all the saints forever.

O God, thank you for the life of Mary Pearson. Thank you especially that you gave her new life. Thank you for delivering her from the domain of darkness and transferring her to the kingdom of your beloved Son (Colossians 1:13), which she is now experiencing in a measure that just a few short hours ago she could not have even imagined. And have mercy on her precious husband and children. Sustain them as they endure the painful amputation of her presence and the difficult road ahead.

And, Father, we want your Son, Jesus, to return and bring all these tears and pain and death to an end. May it be soon! In Jesus’ name, amen.

"Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8).