John Piper:

The church is the assembly of those in whom the gospel has taken root. Therefore, it is the group where the reconciling power of the gospel will be seen — or not.

On this issue, given our history, we are not as mature in America as we should be. God’s word in Hebrews 5:12-14 rings true in this regard:

Though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good f…

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Vision, no matter how clear, tends to rust over time. We need to hear it again and again.

In this two-minute video, John Piper exhorts Christian leaders to find creative, fresh, Spirit-anointed ways to reiterate the goal and direction of their leadership:

More resources on spiritual leadership from John Piper:

• Christian Elders in the New Testament (1976)
• For Our People and for the Cities of God (1981)
• The Marks of a Spiritual Leader (1995)
• Guidelines for Leading Leadership in Major Decisions (2002)

Theology is never static. It's not a box of propositions we store in the garage, pushed out of sight from the ebb and flow of our everyday. It's meant to change us. God has spoken and the world is not the same — how we see, how we live, the things we care about.

And this is why abortion matters.

In this episode of Theology Refresh, Justin Taylor discusses the sanctity of human life and why pastors cannot ignore this important doctrine.

Stream or download the audio of this 16-minute interview.

[Subscribe to Theology Refresh through iTunes.]

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Recent Theology Refresh podcasts —

• John Piper on the Celebrity Factor and Pastoral Ministry
• Paul Miller on the Doctrine of Prayer
• Jerry …

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In 1976 John Piper asked a two-part question:

• What is God's goal in the history of mankind from its beginning at creation to its climax in the new heavens and new earth?
• And how should we respond to this goal?

This is ultimate. We are in deep water. And yet the reasoning behind such a question is quite simple: in Jesus we are God's children and children want to know their Father. Pastor John explains,

[Y]ou don't really know a person until you know what moves him most deeply. It makes no sense to say that we know God when we are not acquainted with his strongest desire and with the goal that guides all his actions. But if we don't know him, then we can't worship him and we can't imi…

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Doug Wilson will speak on the subject of "father hunger" at our 2012 Conference for Pastors (Jan 30 – Feb 1). Registration is now open.

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Recent posts for the 2012 Conference for Pastors —

• Departing from Masculinity: Two Ditches to Avoid (Video from Doug Wilson)
• Dads, Your Leadership Role Is Inescapable (Video from Doug Wilson)
• Dads, Five Ways to Make Your Words Count (Excerpt from Crawford Loritts)

Richard Sibbes:

The sighs of a bruised heart carry in them a report, both of our affection to Christ, and of his care to us. The eyes of our souls cannot be towards him unless he has cast a gracious look upon us first. The least love we have to him is but a reflection of his love first shining upon us.

As Christ did, in his example to us, whatever he charges us to do, so he suffered in his own person whatever he calls us to suffer, so that he might the better learn to relieve and pity us in our sufferings. . . .

But our comfort is that Christ drank the dregs of the cup for us, and will succour us, so that our spirits may not utterly fail under that little taste of his displeasure which we…

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Adultolesence is the modern phenomenon in growing up where full adulthood is delayed by procrastinating responsibilities. It has caught the attention of many sociologists over the past decade as it sweeps through college campuses, being no respecter of students, Christian or non-Christian.

A few weeks ago Pastor John spoke to a group of college students facing this encroaching cultural fog. The goal: get a deep, unshakable, holy ambition for your life. One that is so strong that it enables a full leap over adultolescence.

Starting with Romans 15:18-24, Pastor John unfolds the biblical picture of what it means to not waste your life, or stated positively, how to live with a holy ambition…

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Collin Hansen from The Gospel Coalition continues his interview with John Piper on race and the gospel with this eight-minute video:

Time markers:

0:02 — What is at stake in our pursuit of racial harmony?

3:31 — Why do some think the ideal is color blindness?

6:30 — Every person has stereotypes.

Read Collin's commentary for this clip and check out the first part of the interview.

Doug Wilson will speak on the subject of "father hunger" at our 2012 Conference for Pastors (Jan 30 – Feb 1). Registration is now open.

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Recent posts for the 2012 Conference for Pastors —

• Dads, Your Leadership Role Is Inescapable (Video from Doug Wilson)
• Dads, Five Ways to Make Your Words Count (Excerpt from Crawford Loritts)
• What Is Father Hunger? (Video from Doug Wilson)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

Revival of church life always brings in its train a richer understanding of the Scriptures. Behind all the slogans and catchwords of ecclesiastical controversy, necessary though they are, there arises a more determined quest for him who is the sole object of it all, for Jesus Christ himself.

What did Jesus mean to say to us? What is his will for us to-day? How can he help us be good Christians in the modern world? In the last resort, what we want to know is not, what would this or that man, or this or that Church, have of us, but what Jesus Christ himself wants of us.

The Cost of Discipleship, 1937, (New York: Touchstone, 1995), 35.

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Recent posts from "T…

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