Notes and full audio and video from each session are now available.

Joel Beeke — Cultivating Private Prayer as a Pastor

Beeke says, "Prayer is often treated as the appendix to our work rather than the foundation. . . . The problem is not that we don't pray, but rather it is that we seldom pray prayerfully." He explains two parts required for prayerful praying: taking hold of yourself and taking hold of God.

Paul Miller — Helping Your People Discover the Praying Life

Miller exhorts us, "God wants the 'muddy you'—you in all your brokenness—to come to him as a child in prayer." He says that when most people try to create a habit of prayer, they create a 'spiritual' version of them to …

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We are excited to announce that the 25th Anniversary Edition of the book Desiring God is now available.

Who could have known what God's gracious intentions were 25 years ago when this volume first arrived for publication? Looking back, we have only praise and thanksgiving to God for how He has used it to encourage and equip the Church.

And as we look forward, it is our faith-filled prayer that God will glorify himself through the truths in this book, opening the eyes of millions around the world to seek Jesus Christ as their treasure and joy.

January 27, 1987—

Yesterday when I walked into the office there was a package in my box. . . . It was the first copy of DESIRING GOD.

I shu…

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When he was in South Africa in October, alongside giving his message at Lausanne, John Piper spoke at two smaller conferences: Piper 2 Leaders, and Rezolution 2010. We posted the audio of these Piper messages at that time.

What we didn't post (until now) was the audio of the other man who spoke at these events: Conrad Mbewe, pastor of Kabwata Baptist Church in Lusaka, Zambia—a.k.a. the African Spurgeon.

Why is he called the African Spurgeon? The comparison isn't so new. A 2003 article in World Magazine (full text here) popularized the connection and gave some explanation:

Mr. Mbewe isn't sure why listeners compare him to the British "Prince of Preachers." Perhaps it is because Mr…

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I wish I could have been at Tom Schreiner's presentation last night at the ETS Annual Meeting. According to Justin Taylor, it was a helpful, careful, and charitable critique of N. T. Wright's teaching on justification.

The debate over justification—which is the doctrine in focus this year at ETS—has brought about an emphasis in recent days on differences between believers. That is appropriate, considering our understanding of justification can be a life and death issue, touching the very heart of the gospel. Any differences simply must be paid attention to and worked through if we are to faithfully maintain and pass on the apostolic word.

However, it is always essential to remember that…

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According to Jonathan Edwards, Satan's desire to destroy man in the garden grew out of envy. His haughtiness and pride were insulted to see earthborn creatures receiving such honor while he, a native of heaven with such natural strength and knowledge, was cast down and dishonored. Thus, in this jealousy, Satan deceived Eve to bring an end to the insult.

Edwards paints the scene, and then he exposes the irony:

And oh, how may we conclude Satan triumphed when he had brought 'em down! How did he as it were laugh, to think how sorrowfully they found themselves disappointed in their expectations of coming to higher honor and being like gods.

But their fall has been the occasion of the…

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Jonathan Edwards, from Miscellanies #139:

I am convinced that there are many things in religion and the Scriptures that are made difficult on purpose to try men, and to exercise their faith and scrutiny, and to hinder the proud and self-sufficient.

John Piper addresses this same issue, speaking particularly about difficulties we encounter in Scripture, in his sermon, "Why God Inspired Hard Texts." He says God has given us hard texts to prompt at least four things, which seem to match well with Edwards' thoughts above:

1. Desperation - A sense of utter dependence on God's enablement.
2. Supplication - Prayer to God for help.
3. Cogitation - Thinking hard about biblical texts.
4. Education -…

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Justin Taylor and I are excited that we are now free to talk openly about For the Fame of God’s Name: Essays in Honor of John Piper (Crossway, 2010).We’ve been diligent to protect the secrecy of this project ever since we first sat down three years ago in a Wheaton, Illinois, restaurant to talk and pray about a project that has become very dear to our hearts.

The first obstacle we had to overcome was our sense that John might not be as excited about this book as we were! But we quickly overcame any lingering concerns by reminding ourselves and our contributors that this book is about the fame of God’s name, not that of John Piper. Still, we are unapologetic about wanting to honor John and …

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Two days ago at our National Conference, Sam Storms and Justin Taylor took the stage just before lunch to make an unexpected announcement: after 3 years of undercover communication and composition, a special book had been prepared.

There on stage, Sam and Justin presented to John Piper a book written in his honor: For the Fame of God's Name: Essays in Honor of John Piper.

Sam began by reading from "A Note to John Piper," the first section of the book, in which he and Justin express (and defend) their hearts in masterminding the project. Then Justin read the name of each of the 27 contributors and the titles of their chapters (see below).

It was a weighty moment—in the happiest sens…

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Sam Crabtree recently commented on his blog,

Mothers Day is not primarily about being a mother and receiving honor, but thanking God for the mother he gave you, and giving honor. The people giving honor should include all moms. Persons receiving honor as moms should also be giving honor for their God-given moms.

Mothers are a gift from God, and every last person has one. So Mother's Day is really a holiday for everyone, a day for thanking God for his goodness in giving us mothers, and an occasion for letting that gratitude play itself out in tangible expressions of special honor.

From the Mother's Day sermons John Piper has preached, here are a few you may find…

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Bethlehem’s Organizational Elders voted unanimously Tuesday, April 27, to “name Kenny Stokes Interim Pastor for Preaching during Pastor John’s leave.” I think this is a very wise action and am thrilled that Kenny and his wife, Kathy, have expressed their willingness to take up this mantle. What it means is that Kenny will be the main preacher and that he will be in charge of shepherding the flock of Bethlehem through the pulpit during my leave.

The rationale for this decision is threefold...

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