I enjoy reading excellent books. And I love talking with the authors who write them. And now I want to share with you my conversations with them.

So I’m pleased to announce the launch of a new podcast from Desiring God. We’re calling it Authors on the Line. These 20- to 40-minute podcasts will explore significant theological themes and relevant current events with the authors of important Christian books.

Episodes of the new podcast will be announced on the DG blog. You can subscribe to the new podcast in iTunes here.

With that, here’s episode #1:

Charity and Its Fruits: An Interview with Kyle Strobel about Love and Jonathan Edwards (39 minutes)

In this inaugural episode, we put Jo…

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Jesus is the most valuable treasure in the world, John Piper reminds us in the following sermon excerpt from his recent sermon. “The fight of faith is the fight for joy,” he says. “I wake up every morning and fight that fight. Am I wanting to look at Twitter before I look at Jesus? It sounds stupid. That’s how stupid sin is. Every morning there’s war in the Piper household, and it’s not against my family, it’s against me.”

Here is John Piper on the preciousness of Christ, and the daily fight to be happy in him (2 minutes):

This excerpt was taken from the recent sermon, "God Is Most Glorified in Us When We Are Most Satisfied in Him."

Other video excerpts from this message—

• Why Opr…

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God created the world for his own praise. And that thought is why Oprah Winfrey, Brad Pitt, and the early C. S. Lewis all walked out on God. They all stumbled over God’s self-promotion. So what is the solution to this apparent problem? John Piper explains in the following 5-minute excerpt from his recent sermon:

This excerpt was taken from the sermon, "God Is Most Glorified in Us When We Are Most Satisfied in Him."

Sexual pleasure is too earthy. Enjoying delicious food is too unspiritual.

That’s a two-point outline for a demonic sermon that has no place in any church — so Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 4:1–5.

In fact, in a paradoxical twist of reality, the apostle says that sex and food were created by God with the intent that these gifts be received with thanksgiving. Positively, this means that marriage and food are properly used according to God’s design when believers accept these gifts with Godward thanksgiving. Negatively, this means unbelievers who are not thankful to God for these gifts have no right, in God’s economy, to food or to sex.

Or to say it even stronger: Unbelieving sex and unbelie…

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In 2004 John Piper wrote the following in his article, “How God and Christians Treasure Christ”:

The central experience of the universe and the Christian life — namely, treasuring Christ — is sustained in churches.

God has ordained that when people find the “treasure hidden in the field [Christ!]” (Matthew 13:44) and are converted from world-treasuring to Christ-treasuring, they are sustained and strengthened and matured and transformed and refined and guided and mobilized in organisms of Christians called churches.

When Paul says, concerning the church, “Let all things be done for building up” (1 Corinthians 14:26), he means for deepening and intensifying and strengthening the expe…

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What foundational biblical texts provide the bedrock for Christian hedonism, the idea that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him?

This was a question asked of Pastor John in a discussion recorded back in 2011. He responded with a cluster of texts: Psalm 16:11, Psalm 37:4, and Philippians 1:20–21. Here’s his brief exposition (3 minutes):

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For more on the basics of Christian Hedonism, see:

• John Piper, article, “Rebuilding Some Basics of Bethlehem: Christian Hedonism” (2009)
  
• John Piper, book, The Dangerous Duty of Delight (112 pages)
  
• John Piper, book, Desiring God (368 pages)

In light of the national conference this past weekend on sanctification, our friends at Westminster Bookstore have arranged a special online sale for Kevin DeYoung’s new book, The Hole in Our Holiness.

"This book is vintage DeYoung — ruthlessly biblical," says Pastor John. And for a limited time this book is $10, 44-percent off the list price.

On a related note, we recently recorded a series of clips with Kevin about his book:

• What’s the Hole in Our Holiness?
  
• My Sanctification in Redemptive History
  
• The Imitation of Christ
  
• The Most Neglected Theme in Sanctification
  
• The Many Motivators For Personal Holiness
  
• Extraordinary Holiness Through Four Ordinary Means
  
• How Far Is To…

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The following quotes are taken from Steve DeWitt's outstanding book, Eyes Wide Open: Enjoying God in Everything (Credo House, 2012).

“Created beauty eclipses God’s beauty in the desire factory of man’s heart. It is a case of mistaken identity. Every created beauty was created by God to lead our affections to Him. That’s why He made the pleasures of earthly beauty so fleeting — so that on the other side of the pleasure we might experience either wonder and worship and ultimate satisfaction in God or the pursuit of the pleasure that beauty provides for its own sake. If we choose the latter, we will only be disappointed again.” (7)

“What if we were to realize that every sunset viewed, every…

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In his new book on holiness, Kevin DeYoung devotes an entire chapter to the pressing issue of sexual morality (chapter 8), and a large portion of that chapter addresses Christians who are dating or courting. So what would he say as a pastor to a man and woman who are asking the question, "How far is too far before marriage?" Kevin answers in this clip (4 minutes):

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Kevin DeYoung is a plenary speaker at our National Conference (which starts Friday). Visit the event page to learn more and register while there’s still time. Today is the last day for online registration.

Here’s a full list of clips from our 7-part interview series with Kevin DeYoung on The Hole In Our Holiness —

• What’s t…

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If you're not able to join us in Minneapolis for the conference this weekend, each of the main sessions will be live-streamed in both English and in Spanish at www.desiringgod.org/live.

Transmisión en Español provista por MisiónVirtual.org.

The following is a schedule for the live-stream feed (all times Eastern). The live-stream feed will not include musical worship. Messages marked with an asterisk (*) are approximate start times only. The actual start times may vary based on the length of musical worship prior to teaching. Be sure to tune into the stream a few minutes earlier than scheduled for these sessions.

Friday, September 28

8:30* – 9:30 PM, John Piper, Prelude to Acting the…

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