John Piper Interviews Jerry Bridges

Few people work faithfully for the same organization for almost 60 years. Yet it was 1955 when Jerry Bridges, a Korean War veteran, joined the team at The Navigators where he continues to this day. An author of several books, Mr. Bridges is a leading voice in explaining the significance of the gospel in everyday life, including The Discipline of Grace, The Gospel for Real Life, and The Pursuit of Holiness, to name a few.

John Piper recently sat down with Mr. Bridges in Minneapolis to talk about life and ministry. In this 25-minute video, they discuss key issues regarding God's providence, spiritual disciplines, and the Christian life.

Men, Know Your Family

Men should know their families. Who would disagree with that statement? It seems so obvious that husbands and dads should know what's going on in the lives of their wife and children. But Tim Witmer, author of The Shepherd Leader at Home, explains that this is too easily overlooked.

In this video, Tim talks with Jon Bloom more about how men should know and pray for their families on the deepest levels:

10 Things to Pray for Your Wife

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[Download a new print-version (PDF) of "10 Things to Pray for Your Wife." You can also get lock-screen versions for your iPhone4 or iPhone5.]

Our hunger for God will not be confined to our closets. As we know him and delight in all that he is for us in Jesus, our joy in him reaches beyond personal experience on a quest to be reproduced in others. One of the simplest ways we realize this is by taking serious how we pray — by wanting and asking for others the same things we want and ask for ourselves.

It is a beautiful thing — a miracle — when we become as invested in the sanctification of others as we are in our own. And, of course, the best place to start is with our spouses.

So men, here…

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From Closet to Coastlands: Bible Reading and Prayer in 2013

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'Tis now the season to get strategic. With the New Year on the horizon, many of us are beginning to consider the logistics of our devotional lives for 2013. Bible-reading plans, book lists, prayer guides — these are tactical means of grace that we strive to set in order. It is like we look across the foggy battlefield of the coming year and pencil down our plan, our steps. Remember faith is a fight. And reading and praying are essentials, not trends.

But for all this planning, let us remember the battle isn't only in our hearts. Bible reading and prayer aren't merely about personal piety. There is a world out there — a real world full of real people in need of real hope. We must not let our…

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When You're More Blessed Than Mary

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Jesus says, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" (John 19:29).

What he means is that those who have never seen him in person and still believe in him are blessed.

But that's not easy. We're certainly not prone to think this way. I mean, can you imagine what it would have been like to see Jesus? To see God in the flesh, lying in a manger? To hear the first sounds uttered from his vocal chords? To actually touch him? To touch the Nazarene, fully God, fully man, one person with two natures?

What a privilege that must have been. Surely, this would make our faith stronger. But hold on a minute. That's not exactly how it works. Don't forget what Jesus said.

Jonathan Edwa…

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John Newton Understood Winter

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It doesn't get above freezing, it's dark by 5PM, and snow is everywhere. Hello, Winter in Upper Midwest America. You are cold and long.

But however cold and long, the best way to bear Winter is to shovel up every bit of metaphor possible. God does give us four seasons for a reason. And life is not always Spring.

In the flavor of Christian Hedonism, and aware of what seasons are for, John Newton penned the hymn, "None upon Earth I Desire Beside Thee."

Newton gets it. May we get it, too.

None upon Earth I Desire Beside Thee

How tedious and tasteless the hours,
When Jesus no longer I see!
Sweet prospects, sweet birds, and sweet flow’rs,
Have lost all their sweetness to me.
The mid-summer s…

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Joy Comes to the Rescue

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Your heart matters. It really, really matters.

The heart, after all, is the "noble faculty of the soul," as John Flavel explains in his 1668 publication now titled, Keeping the Heart. Most generally, the heart refers to the inner man, and most importantly, a person's everlasting state depends upon its condition.

Writing in a style more practical than sliced bread, Flavel exhorts Christians to give their hearts upmost attention. Be diligent in heart-work, he says, which eventually translates into two things: 1) preserve the soul from sin; and 2) maintain sweet communion with God (18). Said another way, repent and believe; or mortify and vivify; or put off and put on. This work is "one great…

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Jesus Understands Our Deepest Sorrow

The Lord Jesus Christ — the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, the one through whom all things were made — became human like us.

I recently talked with Nancy Guthrie, author of Hearing Jesus Speak into Your Sorrow, to ask her about what the humanity of Jesus means for us. “He is a safe person to draw close to when life is hard,” she said, and then explains why in this short video: