Vern Poythress shares about how he and his wife thought about training their boys to become Christian men:

When does a boy become a man in [American culture]? When he gets a driver's license? When he graduates from high school? When he moves away from his parents? When he can vote? When he gets his first full-time job? When he is 21? When he gets married? When he owns his own home?

No one can say. There is no clear point of transition. There is no one "rite of passage." One of the unfortunate effects can be that boys are insecure. They don't know when they are men. . .

What do we do to give proper guidance? I know and you know that there is no magic formula. God must be at work in teachin…

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In Part 2 of their conversation, John Piper and Louie Giglio talk about the connection between worship, missions and the glory of God:

(Watch Part 1)

Louie Giglio will join us at our upcoming 2011 National Conference, "Finish the Mission: For the Joy of All Peoples." Register for the conference before July 29 for $145 per person (save $40).

Watch, listen, or download the interview.

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From the January 2007 edition of Tabletalk:

1. Learn to admit sin for what it really is.

Call a spade a spade — call it 'sexual immorality,' not 'I’m being tempted a little'; call it 'impurity,' not 'I’m struggling with my thought life'; call it 'evil desire, which is idolatry,' not 'I think I need to order my priorities a bit better.'

2. See sin for what your sin really is in God’s presence.

'On account of these the wrath of God is coming' (Col. 3:6). The masters of the spiritual life spoke of dragging our lusts (kicking and screaming, though they be) to the cross, to a wrath-bearing Christ.

3. Recognize the inconsistency of your sin.

You put off the 'old man,' and have put on the '…

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John Calvin:

It is an error to think that those who flee worldly affairs and engage in contemplation are leading an angelic life. . . We know that men were created to busy themselves with labor and that no sacrifice is more pleasing to God than when each one attends to his calling and studies well to live for the common good (Calvin's Commentaries, Luke 10:38).

Martin Luther:

A cobbler, a smith, a farmer, each has the work and office of his trade, and yet they are all alike consecrated priests and bishops, and every one by means of his own work or office must benefit and serve every other, that in this way many kinds of work may be done for the bodily and spiritual welfare of the co…

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Pastor John from 2008:

We'd love for you to join us on September 23-25, 2011 for our 2011 National Conference, "Finish the Mission: For the Joy of All Peoples." Register for the conference before July 29 for just $145 per person (save $40).

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Seven minute audio clip from Pastor John:

Download the audio clip. Also, check out the latest eJournal from 9Marks, The Pastor and his Staff.

J. I. Packer writes:

It is a universal experience that conscience is largely autonomous in its operation; though sometimes we can suppress or stifle it, it normally speaks independently of our will, and sometimes, indeed, contrary to our will. And when it speaks, it is in a strange way distinct from us; it stands over us, addressing us with an absoluteness of authority which we did not give it and which we cannot take from it. To personify conscience and treat it as God's watchman and spokesman in the soul is not, therefore, a mere flight of fancy, it is a necessity of human experience.

J. I. Packer, A Quest for Godliness, 1990, reprint (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010), 110.

We're excited to have Louie Giglio join us at our upcoming 2011 National Conference, "Finish the Mission: For the Joy of All Peoples." Register for the conference before July 29 for $145 per person (save $40).

A few months ago at Passion 2011 in Fort Worth, TX, Pastor John sat down with Louie to talk about his life, the Passion movement, and the global vision of God's glory:

Watch, listen, or download the interview.

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Are the Puritans relevant for today?

Sinclair Ferguson thinks so. On October 20, 2005 at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Dr. Ferguson delivered a lecture titled "The Puritans: Can They Teach Us Anything Today?"

Download or listen to the lecture, or read the transcript.

Pastor John from 1989:

Let me just mention one feature to watch out for in the recognition of wolves. As I have watched the movement from biblical faithfulness to liberalism in persons and institutions that I have known over the years, this feature stands out: An emotional disenchantment with faithfulness to what is old and fixed, and an emotional preoccupation with what is new or fashionable or relevant in the eyes of the world.

Let's try to say it another way: when this feature is prevalent, you don't get the impression that a person really longs to bring his mind and heart into conformity to fixed biblical truth. Instead you see the desire to picture biblical truth as unfixed, fluid, i…

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