Today is Lukas Naugle's last day at DG. And we’re feeling a mixture of sadness, deep gratitude, and excitement about what the Lord has in store. 

Lukas joined the DG staff in 2004 as our Customer Service Manager (CSM). He didn't remain in that position very long. Not because he wasn't good at it, but because he was good at many other things too. 

I discovered quickly that Lukas is not one to color inside the lines. I have come to love that about him. The fact that his job description didn't say anything about creating new resources mattered little. He just started doing things. Sometimes he'd come to me with a new idea and sometimes he would just go ahead and do it and tell me about it l…

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(Click through if you don't see the video.)

As you may have already heard in the sermon from March 27-28, the elders graciously approved on March 22 a leave of absence that will take me away from Bethlehem from May 1 through December 31, 2010. We thought it might be helpful to put an explanation in a letter to go along with the sermon.

I asked the elders to consider this leave because of a growing sense that my soul, my marriage, my family, and my ministry-pattern need a reality check from the Holy Spirit. On the one hand, I love my Lord, my wife, my five children and their families first and foremost; and I love my work of preaching and writing and leading Bethlehem. I hope the Lord gives me at least five more years as the…

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John and Noël are in Egypt this week to meet with others in preparation for Lausanne 2010. And since they knew they would be there already, they planned a few other activities as well.

Today they got to tackle one of these other plans and visit several ancient Egyptian historical sites. You can go to Noël's blog for more pictures and thoughts about what they saw.

Alongside the emergence of Bethlehem Seminary, there is a sister institution, Bethlehem College. The fall of 2010 will mark the admission of its first four-year class.

The reason I can thank God for it, though it hasn’t happened yet, is that we have been doing the same thing in one-year and two-year programs for some time. And all the pieces are in place for next fall’s move to a four-year launch—even an installation service on October 3rd with Albert Mohler as our main speaker.

The curriculum is not traditional. And there will be no football team. We will offer a 2-year degree in Christian Worldview, a 4-year degree in the History of Ideas, a 4-year degree in Biblical and Theologi…

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In September, 2009, we admitted the first class in the four-year program of Bethlehem Seminary. Here at the end of the year I want to give public thanks to God and take some of you with me into this vision. Not everybody. But some of you carry a special, God-given burden for the preparation of future generations of God-centered leaders.

Bethlehem has been training future pastors, teachers and missionaries through The Bethlehem Institute for over ten years. That two year program has now become the four-year Bethlehem Seminary. We plan to admit 15 men every year to the seminary. The number will be kept small so that the vision for mentored ministry and church involvement can be sustained.…

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Dear fellow shepherds of God's people,

For over 20 years, we have assumed the foundation of Christian Hedonism at the Desiring God Conference for Pastors. But we have never focused on it. Until now. I thought it was time. Our theme for 2010 is

The Pastor, the People, and the Pursuit of Joy
The Apostolic Aim of Pastoral Ministry

At least twice, the apostle Paul sums up the goal of his ministry in the joy of his people. First, to the Corinthians:

"Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy." (2 Corinthians 1:24)

Second, to the Philippians:

I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith…

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Pastor Tim Smith of Mars Hill church in Seattle did a brief (7.5 minute) interview with me at a recent conference on how Desiring God got started 15 years ago.

John Piper has been on writing leave for about five weeks and has three more. Here's a 4-question interview on how it's going.

What have you finished so far?

I have completed a manuscript titled Seek It Like Silver: The Place of Thinking in the Pursuit of God. It’s the same length as Finally Alive.

To explain the title, here’s the last paragraph of the introduction:

If you...raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver...then you will...find the knowledge of God” (Proverbs 2:3-6). I need all the help I can get to love the knowledge of God more than the profits of silver. I assume you do too. So I wrote this to remind myself of the place of think…

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The Elders at Bethlehem have graciously given me an 8-week writing leave that starts today, Thursday, February 5, 2009. I like to think of it as a “writing assignment.” It is part of my calling as an elder at Bethlehem. I am working—probably harder and longer hours than when I am not on writing leave.

At this point, I am still praying about what projects to make a priority. There are so many things I want to write! Below are the possible projects. Prioritizing requires some extended reflection and prayer that I will do in the first days of the leave...

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