In one sense the Olympics are a global celebration of perfect bodies. But we know the Olympics do not represent real life. In the real world most bodies don’t look and work like that.

Disabilities are a reality. They break into our lives in various forms: as the product of genetic misalignments in the womb, as the result of tragic accidents, as the byproducts of infectious disease, and from the degenerative effects of old age. They affect joints, bones, nervous systems, lungs, hearts, and brains. And even in the United States — a country that leads the world in medical innovation and technology — roughly 20% of citizens live with a disability.

And no church is immune. Every church leade…

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Jeremiah 32:40–41:

"I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul."

John Piper, in his sermon “God’s Covenant with Abraham” (1983):

It boggles the mind to try to imagine what it must mean if the God who made the planets and stars and galaxies and molecules and protons and neutrons and electrons rejoices to do you good with all his heart and with all his soul. If God is God for you, then all his omnipotence and all his omniscience a…

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A week ago we announced a new graphic design contest, and you can find the details here. Since that announcement submissions have been rolling in at a steady pace and to date we have 70 entries. The window to enter is now drawing to a close, and all designs need to be submitted to us by Monday at noon (central time).

The Desiring God staff will whittle the entries down to the top 10 or so finalists, making those decisions based on the creativity of the designs. On Wednesday (noon) we will upload those entries into a photo album on the Desiring God Facebook page where you can vote for your favorites. There will be three winners. We will close down the voting on Friday (noon), and hope to an…

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Puritan writers like John Owen are well-known for teaching Christians to pursue holiness and kill sin. This is helpful, but Puritans like Owen also recognized that this can also lead to a serious misunderstanding on the part of Christians. In the pursuit of holiness, Christians are tempted to dwell too much on their own sins and forget the kindness of their Heavenly Father.

Think through the logic. We know that God hates sin. And although we fight sin in ourselves, no matter how hard we try, we will always find a lamentable degree of remaining sin on this side of glorification. Therefore, God must be perpetually angry with me, right?

You can see how this type of thinking can lead to lega…

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Scottish pastor Robert Murray McCheyne (1813–1843) left us with one quote that has become quite famous, and for good reason. It goes like this: “For every look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ.” The quote is short, sticky, and it helps to both keep our focus on Christ and protect us from the trap of over-introspection with our own sins.

The line is taken from a letter published in Memoir and Remains of the Rev. Robert Murray McCheyne [(Edinburgh, 1894), 293]. Here’s a little more of the context:

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Jer. 17:9. Learn much of the Lord Jesus. For every look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ. He is al…

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Monday mornings are notoriously difficult, and Charles Spurgeon was aware of the challenges his congregation faced to begin the week motivated to work diligently for God’s glory. In one of his sermons he reminded his congregation that “the sacred has absorbed the secular.” God’s purposes for our lives brings new vision to all of our vocations and weekly tasks. For God’s children all of life is ministry. Here's how Spurgeon put it in his aptly titled sermon “All For Jesus”:

To a man who lives unto God nothing is secular, everything is sacred. He puts on his workday garment and it is a vestment to him. He sits down to his meal and it is a sacrament. He goes forth to his labor, and therein…

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Today many of us will gather in local churches to hear the preaching of God’s word from faithful ministers. So what is the proper spiritual posture we should take for listening to the sermon? In our recently released ebook, Take Care How You Listen, John Piper offers us help in preparing our hearts on Sundays. At one point Pastor John writes this:

Come in a spirit of meek teachability. Not gullibility. You have your Bible and you have your head. But James says, “In meekness receive the implanted word” (1:21). If we come with a chip on our shoulder that there is nothing we can learn or no benefit we can get, we will prove ourselves infallible on both counts. But if we humble ourselves be…

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On Saturday mornings we usually feature artwork from a talented designer. This time, we'd like to invite you to design a quote image in light of our forthcoming conference on sanctification. In this contest, three winners will walk away with a $75 Amazon gift certificate. Here are the details.

The designs will feature this sentence from John Piper (please include his name somewhere in the design):

“When it comes to killing my sin, I don’t wait for the miracle, I act the miracle.” –John Piper

Please put the emphasis on the last four words of the quote: ". . . I act the miracle."

The design format is up to you. You can sketch this quote with a pen and scan it or photograph it. Y…

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What follows is a collection of 20 quotes that caught my attention as I read Kevin DeYoung's forthcoming book The Hole in Our Holiness: Filling the Gap Between Gospel Passion and the Pursuit of Godliness (Crossway; August 31, 2012):

“Not only is holiness the goal of your redemption, it is necessary for your redemption. Now before you sound the legalist alarm, tie me up by my own moral bootstraps, and feed my carcass to the Galatians, we should see what Scripture has to say. . . . It’s the consistent and frequent teaching of the Bible that those whose lives are marked by habitual ungodliness will not go to heaven. To find acquittal from God on the last day there must be evidence flowing out…

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Missionary William Carey (1761–1834) said this in a sermon on May 31, 1792:

Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.

(Design submitted by Jennifer Knight.)

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Previous quote images —

• Wimpy Theology Makes Wimpy Women (Jennifer Knight)
  
• The Essence of Christian Hedonism (Jennifer Knight)
  
• Holy Women Who Hope in God (Jennifer Knight)