Preparing well for marriage means asking hard questions.

Getting to know that special someone includes learning about family and friends and schooling and athletics, favorite pastimes, books, movies, life’s best moments and worst, the brightest places in our background and the darkest.

But what about theology? Ever think to ask about that?

We hope our free Preparing for Marriage ebook can be of some assistance.

With Help from Piper

At Desiring God, one of our most accessed pages online is a set of questions John Piper put together for couples preparing for marriage (chapter 1 in our new free ebook). There is some of the typical stuff — like friends and entertainment and lifestyle …

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Thanks to all who have been a part of the 2012 National Conference, whether by attendance or the live-stream. The audio and video of each session will be available for streaming and download by Friday, October 5.

Piper's Concluding Message

John Piper concludes the conference with his message, “Act the Miracle: Future Grace, the Word of the Cross, and the Purifying Power of God’s Promises” (the full manuscript is now available).

Here's a key excerpt:

The beauty of holiness in God’s children is the harmony, or the concord, between our lives and the infinite value of all God is. And that God predestined us to holiness because his aim is that earth be filled with the beauty of holiness —…

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Images are designed to image — to reflect, to point.

Created in the image of God, we all are designed, like the God-man, to reflect God. To show God, to point to him, to image God.

One prominent way in which we reflect our Creator is through creating. We point to our Maker when we make. As John Piper says in the introduction to his new poetry book Esther, God made us to be makers.

It has always seemed plain to me that the imagination is a gift of God and is meant to reflect his own creativity. He thought up the universe out of nothing, then created us in his own image. So we do that kind of thing. Not that very thing. But that kind of thing. Only God creates out of nothing. We are not …

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You can only dive deep in the Scriptures so long until you’re ready to get busy. Unless something’s seriously broken, you can only power up so much on theology — whether straight-up seven-point Calvinism, or something more dilute — until you're itching to pour out.

Sure, there are a few sad exceptions, but this is not where most of us live. We can only sit feasting at the banquet table so long before getting seriously eager to get up, get moving, and put the nourishment to work in legit action for something bigger than ourselves.

Reformed Restlessness Going Global

The theological substance and depth of Reformed evangelicalism has been filling our collective cup for a good season now. For …

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Don't waste your life. For God's sake, take great care to make this little vapor's breath count for eternity.

And never forget that in the history of the world, there has been only one perfectly unwasted life — that of Jesus of Nazareth. And it is only through being connected to him by faith that we can take baby steps in truly making ours count.

In this 5-minute video, John Piper and Bob Glenn discuss the importance of drawing attention to Jesus's unwasted life when challenging ourselves not to waste ours.

For more on the unwasted life, see John Piper's book Don't Waste Your Life.

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John Piper and Bob Glenn are both speakers at our upcoming National Conference. Visit the event…

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Jesus’s uniqueness and beauty is on display if his followers respond with grace when he is reviled.

When adherents of Islam counter the mocking of their central figure with outrage and violence, they provide “another vivid depiction of the difference between Muhammad and Christ, and what it means to follow each,” says John Piper.

Piper concedes that not all Muslims approve the violence, but notes that a profound lesson still stands: “The work of Muhammad is based on being honored and the work of Christ is based on being insulted. This produces two very different reactions to mockery.”

A Deep Difference Between Jesus and Muhammad

Jesus is unique. And Christians believe there is a div…

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Bigger screen. Better camera. Faster processor.

We're fascinated with newness. We love improving our gadgets. There is much common grace in a new iPhone — an image-of-God creativity to appreciate. And a danger to beware.

"Sit loose to this world's joy," calls the voice of Robert Murray McCheyne, a Scottish pastor from two centuries ago, who died in 1843 at the age of 29. "The time is short."

In his 2011 biographical message on McCheyne, John Piper cautions us that the temptation today to be distracted may be more acute than ever. But McCheyne's aging counsel can help us gain perspective in the good and bad of our fascination with newness.

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In the effort to fight fire with …

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UPDATE (April 23, 2013): Solid Joys is now a fully functional website, available in English and Korean. A Korean Android app is now available as well.

UPDATE (December 6, 2012): This app is now available for Android, too!

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Solid Joys is a free application available from Desiring God (for iPhone and iPad) which provides a short daily devotional excerpt from the ministry of John Piper.

We've identified 365 of the best excerpts from Piper's printed books and online content which are able to stand well on their own when removed from their original context, and we've made sure to keep the excerpts relatively short.

The goal is that you'll be able to dive in for just a moment each day and come a…

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The pursuit of holiness may keep you from bad company. But have you ever considered that it might also lead you to keep some pretty bad company?

Jesus is our litmus test of lived-out holiness. He is the Holy One of Israel in human flesh. His life serves as the best answer key for what divine holiness looks like when reflected in humanity. And they rightly called him “a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Matthew 11:19).

So what are we to do with a God-man who associated with the most blatant nonbelievers of his day?

Not Merely to Defy Convention or Enjoy a Party

It’s worth noting what Jesus is not doing when associating with unbelievers throughout the Gospels. He’s not just going …

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Focusing on your marriage can be a good thing. And it can really mess you up.

It depends on what kind of focusing you’re doing. If it involves a season for extra attention and conscientiousness and investment, to deepen the roots, or to heal — and so to better reflect Jesus and his bride — that can be a Godsend. Many of us have profited from seasons like this, and perhaps should do this more often.

But there’s another kind of focusing on your marriage — and in particular, the good effects of marriage — that can actually rob marriage of its God-designed, world-transforming power.

Marriage’s Amazing Effects

Marriage is an extraordinary reality, which bears extraordinary fruit not only …

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