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Tullian Talks Regeneration
Do you know the exact moment you were saved? Saul of Tarsus did. As did the great Augustine. Many in church history have testified to dramatic, unmistakable experiences of the new birth, when God touched their dead hearts and gave them new spiritual life by his Holy Spirit.
But this is not the experience of most. Count Tullian Tchividjian among us.
Tullian is the pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He grew up in a Christian home — his grandfather is Billy Graham — yet he rebelled defiantly for a season, and was born again in God’s good timing, with dramatic change in his life trajectory. But even the effects of his regeneration being as radical as they ar…
The Fight for Life: Why We Keep Standing
At Desiring God, we are happy and unapologetic advocates of the sanctity of human life, beginning at conception. We love waving the banner for life, not just around the Roe anniversary in January, but throughout the year. Earlier this year, John Piper answered questions for a student in Asia related to abortion and the cause of life during his 33-year pastorate at Bethlehem Baptist. In an effort to keep the sanctity of human life regularly before our readers, here are the questions and John’s answers. –Editor
1. How does Bethlehem Baptist Church offer a solution to help prevent abortions or deal with women who have had abortions?
- We preach at least once a year on the nature and evil of abo…
Grace Greater Than All Our Worries
“Mommy, what’s the matter?”
My son can sense it. The tension and worry that saturates my heart oozes from my presence. “I just have so much on my mind. I forgot to do something, that’s all,” I replied.
But that’s not all. I say it like it’s not a big deal. But from the mouth of a child, his question reminds me that I shouldn’t feel this way. This burden I’m carrying on my shoulders seems to get heavier with each new day. Lately, my to-do lists have to-do lists.
With a hectic, busy life, full of responsibilities, I’m afraid I’ll forget something crucial and important. I worry that if I don’t do it (and there’s always an it), then no one else will. So I try to keep everything under my contr…
Preparing for the Future in the Age of Facebook
The regular use of our minds — thinking, reading, studying, analyzing — is a necessary means to loving God in this world. God gave us a Book, and he ordained that insight into its message be given by means of focused mental effort (2 Timothy 2:7; Ephesians 3:4; Acts 17:11–12) combined with supernatural illumination (2 Corinthians 4:4–6; 1 Peter 1:23). We should become attentive readers even if only to see the glory of God in the pages of Scripture and to be equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16–17).
But the use of our minds is a critical means to loving God in a wide variety of secular occupations, too. Intellectual effort can take many forms. Some read books, others “read” equations…
Her Children Arise and Call Her Blessed
Mother’s Day is a sweet opportunity for Christians to celebrate one of God’s most significant means of his common and redeeming grace.
For most, there’s some bitter flavor somewhere. We live in a fallen world. All mothers are sinful — even Jesus’s own mother knew well her need for a Savior (Luke 1:47) and for God’s mercy (Luke 1:50). Whether your own mother monumentally failed you, or you’re a mother who’s all too aware of how you’ve failed your children, there is goodness and grace to acknowledge and appreciate in almost every situation, even when deeply tarnished by sin.
But for many of us, our hearts soar in thanksgiving when God brings to mind our mothers and grandmothers, or our wife …
When Harsh Words Are Kind
Missionary to India, William Carey, once exhorted a Baptist gathering in England by saying, “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.” I love that quote.
But we must heed the Bible’s warning through Simon the Magician: if we attempt great things so that others will see us as great, we are in grave spiritual peril.
The Situation with Simon
After Stephen had been brutally stoned to death, intense persecution broke out against the Christians in Jerusalem. Many were driven off to the towns and villages of Judea and Samaria.
Philip, Stephen’s co-servant to the Hellenistic widows, landed in a Samaritan town and preached and performed signs and wonders there. Lar…
How Introverted Pastors Love
MINNEAPOLIS — It’s no secret John Piper is an introvert.
This week 75 pastors and ministry leaders gathered together as a local chapter of TGC Twin Cities to hear Pastor John share about his 33 years of ministry. The discussion was led by R.W. Glenn of Redeemer Bible Church.
One of the first questions was how an introverted pastor, like Piper, has learned to love others through his personal gifts and limitations.
The Pastor As Introvert
“It’s amazing how many introverts go into ministry,” Pastor John said of himself and others. But it’s true. For many pastors, hanging out with people is physically draining. “A lot of people would say that’s a bad thing; you should repent of that and…
Removing Barriers for Arabic Expansion
It’s road construction season in Minneapolis. That means orange signs with massive blinking arrows — the ones that signal that your commute is about to take twice as long. And then the dreaded concrete barriers that make half of the lanes on the busiest freeway in the city totally inaccessible.
Now picture the road construction completed: extra lanes added, new interchanges built, and all the workers and equipment gone. But imagine the barriers are left in place. A week. . . a month. . . a year goes by and still those barriers continue to make the new road and interchanges inaccessible.
Here at Desiring God we want to help people everywhere understand and embrace the truth that God is m…
The Outrageous Claim of the Ascension
Today is Ascension Day, the fortieth day after Easter Sunday. For centuries the Christian church has marked this day (also called Ascension Thursday) in remembrance of Jesus’s bodily ascent to heaven.
The number forty is based on Acts 1:3: “He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.” Ten days later we celebrate Pentecost (Acts 2:1), fifty days (seven full weeks) after Easter, when Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1–33) on his fledgling church.
Don’t be too surprised if you haven’t heard of Ascension Day, or even if it’s been a while since you’ve heard any reference to Jesus’s asce…
Why the Ascension of Jesus Matters
Tomorrow we celebrate the ascension of Jesus, a date marked out 40 days after his resurrection, when he departed from earth and returned bodily to heaven (Luke 24:50–53, Acts 1:9–11).
On first glance, Jesus rising up in the clouds may seem like something out of a Monty Python skit. It’s perhaps a little difficult to understand, maybe even a little bizarre to grasp, and even more difficult to apply. And yet the ascension of Jesus carries with it a full range of implications for our lives, something we discover in today’s episode of the Authors on the Line podcast.
I put two pastor-theologians on the line to explain. First up, Gerrit Scott Dawson, senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church…
