Years ago John Piper said something about reading that I have found to be spot on:

It is sentences that change my life, not books. What changes my life is some new glimpse of truth, some powerful challenge, some resolution to a long-standing dilemma, and these usually come concentrated in a sentence or two. I do not remember 99% of what I read, but if the 1% of each book or article I do remember is a life-changing insight, then I don't begrudge the 99%. And that life-changing insight usually comes in a moment, a moment whose value is all out of proportion to its little size. That's why I call it an “immeasurable moment.”¹

This is the reason we read books — for life-changing moments. And it…

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Minnesota is not the first place most people would choose to visit in February. But you wouldn’t have guessed it this past Monday to Wednesday in the warm confines of the Minneapolis Convention Center. Gathering for the 26th time, the Desiring God Conference for Pastors took up the theme of the supernatural in pastoral ministry.

We’d like to thank those who joined us onsite and helped make this such a memorable event — especially our eight plenary and seminar speakers. Also, we are grateful for nearly 5,000 of you who tuned in through the live-stream and hope you were blessed.

The audio and video of each talk is now available for free streaming and download.

Centrality of the Church in Di…

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The doctrine of the Christian life — also known as ethics — is about Christian wisdom.

It is not about merely having the proper answers to a list of tricky moral questions, but discerning between good and evil in a changing and complicated world. Whether it’s in-vitro fertilization, stem-cell research, or human cloning — just to name a few — today’s challenges simply are not the same issues as yesteryear, and tomorrow’s moral dilemmas won’t be the precise set we face today.

It won’t do to memorize the answers to the last generation’s flashpoints. We must become the kind of people who deeply know biblical revelation, what it says about God and man and the world, and how to apply it to every…

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Live-Stream Schedule: Wednesday, February 6

Watch the live-stream at www.desiringGod.org/live.

Updates on the conference will be available through Desiring God’s Facebook page and Twitter account (hashtag #DGPASCON).

Note: All times are approximate and listed here in Eastern Standard Time. For those onsite, see the schedule here in Central Standard Time.

10:00 - 11:00 AM EST, Mack Stiles

• Supernatural World Missions: “With Man This Is Impossible”

11:30 - 12:30 AM EST, Speaker Panel

• Hughes, Patrick, Koleoso, Stiles, Meyer, Piper

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Live-Stream Schedule: Tuesday, February 5

Watch the live-stream at www.desiringGod.org/live.

Updates on the conference will be available through Desiring God's Facebook page and Twitter account (hashtag #DGPASCON).

Note: All times are approximate and listed here in Eastern Standard Time. For those onsite, see the schedule here in Central Standard Time.

10:00 - 11:00 AM EST, Jason Meyer

• Pastoral Transition after a 32-Year Ministry: Strategy and the Supernatural

11:30 - 12:30 AM EST, Tope Koleoso

• Sovereign Grace, Spiritual Gifts, and the Pastor: How Should a Reformed Pastor Be Charismatic?

2:45 - 4:00 PM EST, John Piper

• The Pastor-Shepherd as Poet and Prophet: Thoughts from t…

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Live-Stream Schedule

Watch the live-stream at www.desiringGod.org/live, beginning at 2:30 PM EST today.

Updates on the conference will be available through Desiring God’s Facebook page and Twitter account (hashtag #DGPASCON).

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Note: All times are approximate and listed here in Eastern Standard Time. For those onsite, see the schedule here in Central Standard Time.

Monday, February 4

2:30 - 3:30 PM EST, Mark Dever (Sponsored by Fidelis Foundation)

• Centrality of the Church in Disciple-Making

4:00 - 5:00 PM EST, Seminar with Mark Dever

• Connecting the Dots Between Shepherding, Disciple-Making and Meaningful Membership

8:30 - 9:30 PM EST, Kent Hughes

• Liberating Ministry from the Succ…

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The bread and butter of Christian ministry is supernatural.

It’s been a decade since John Piper made his plea to fellow pastors, Brothers, We Are Not Professionals. Ten years later, he stands by that message as much as ever, and has updated and expanded the book — which officially becomes available today.

Here’s how Piper puts it in the new preface:

Nothing has happened in the last ten years to make me think this book is less needed. In fact, instead of going away, the pressure to “professionalize” the pastorate has morphed and strengthened. Among younger pastors, the talk is less about therapeutic and managerial professionalization, and more about communication or contextualization. T…

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We are not, in ourselves, the vehicle of God’s grace and kingdom-building. Making this mistake will eventually lead us to fatigue, even despair, says Russell Moore.

Commemorating the release of John Piper’s revised edition of Brothers, We Are Not Professionals, we recently asked Dr. Moore for an exhortation to pastors and church leaders under the “Brothers” theme. In short, witchdoctors can’t do Christian ministry, so stop acting like one. He explains:

Get John Piper’s Brothers, We Are Not Professionals: A Plea to Pastors for Radical Ministry (Updated and Expanded Edition, 2013), now available.

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[Video transcript]

Brothers, we are not witchdoctors. I say that because several years…

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As you board the spiritual-gifts roller coaster, you know that some are committed to having their hands in the air, while others very intentionally keep them tucked away under the safety harness. But before this train pulls away from the station, perhaps there’s no better voice to hear over the loudspeaker than that of self-proclaimed “charismatic Calvinist” Sam Storms.

Storms is the lead pastor of Bridgeway Church in Oklahoma City and author of The Beginner’s Guide to Spiritual Gifts (due out in a new version in March, now available for pre-order).

In this new episode of Theology Refresh, we asked Storms to give us some general orientation on the Christian spiritual gifts, and in particul…

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John G. Paton believed in doing missions when dying is gain. The 19th century Scottish missionary to the New Hebrides, a chain of islands in the South Pacific, was no stranger to suffering. Soon after he arrived to the islands in 1858, he buried both his wife and newborn child. He had left the ease of Europe for the hardships of the Hebrides, and he would become well acquainted with pain.

Over the next several years his life was characterized by loss and sickness, criticism from respected friends, dangers from the cannibalistic natives, and deep communion with Jesus.

Perhaps it is his fellowship with God that is most fascinating. Against the background of so much affliction, Paton walked c…

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