Marriage is not maintenance mode. Justin Buzzard, author of Date Your Wife, explains that the biblical vision for marriage means more than mere commitment. Husbands are to love their wives like Jesus loves his church, and that means sacrifice. It means pursuit.
Watch the trailer and get the book from Amazon or WTS Books.
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Interview with Justin Buzzard:
Here are some helpful quotes from Jonathan Dodson's new ebook, The Unbelievable Gospel (GCD Books, 2012).
"Too many Christians look to clear their evangelistic conscience by simply mentioning the name of Jesus or saying that he died on the cross for sins. Saying Jesus' name in conversation earns us a √. Mentioning what Jesus did (on the cross) earns us a √+. This performance-based approach to evangelism is incredible because it fails to embody the truth we preach." (8)
"The gospel is both bigger and smaller than we think. Sometimes we can't imagine the scope of the gospel, as news so good that it changes everything — society, culture, and creation. People really need to hear this. This …
Christianity Today's four-part dialogue between John Piper and David Brickner of Jews for Jesus is now fully published online. The topic is the relationship and attitudes American Christians should have toward Israel.
In Piper's second and final response (part four), he draws attention to the apologetic of Israel's ongoing existence:
On the 60th anniversary of the birth of the modern state of Israel (May 7, 2008), I celebrated the astonishing apologetical power of the sheer existence of Israel. I drew attention to Anne Rice, the vampire novelist who some years ago turned from 30 years of atheism because of Israel. Even her more recent misgivings about institutional Christianity do…
Why do bad things happen to good people?
Few questions are more ancient. Job was blameless and upright, he feared God and turned away from evil (Job 1:1). And yet he suffered affliction at every turn. He was laid low in misery.
A few years ago Desiring God published a final printing of John Piper's interpretive poem of this Old Testament story, along with new illustrations by artist Christopher Koelle. Though the book itself is out-of-print, producer Will Parker recently assembled a small team to create their own animated film from this work. Watch the trailer:
You can now get this full movie on iTunes for $4.99, or if you would like it for your church, fill out this form to sc…
Tim Challies has done a helpful work in compiling a list of at least 12 songs (10 of which are hip-hop) that either feature John Piper preaching or have been directly influenced by him or one of his books.
The list consists of
See Challies' post for links to watch or listen to these songs.
The foundation to our joy in God is God's own joy in himself. Christian Hedonism only makes sense when we understand God's supremacy in all things. He really is sovereign and he really is good.
And the five points of Calvinism are where we see these truths come together. The doctrines of grace articulate how God saves us in Jesus, for his glory and our joy.
This is why I'm excited about a forthcoming book from Crossway: Greg Forster's The Joy of Calvinism: Knowing God's Personal, Unconditional, Irresistible, Unbreakable Love (preorder from Amazon).
Forster has written this book to show that "real Calvinism is all about joy" . . .
I want to tell you what Calvinism says, especially…
The KINGDOM Bible Reading Plan is another option to consider as you think about reading through the Bible in 2012. Compiled by Bethlehem professor Jason DeRouchie, this plan offers five distinctives:
John Piper was recently interviewed for the Catalyst podcast on race and the gospel, what it means to enjoy God, and lessons on leadership. The discussion with Pastor John starts at the 15:40 mark.
Vern Poythress shares about how he and his wife thought about training their boys to become Christian men:
When does a boy become a man in [American culture]? When he gets a driver's license? When he graduates from high school? When he moves away from his parents? When he can vote? When he gets his first full-time job? When he is 21? When he gets married? When he owns his own home?
No one can say. There is no clear point of transition. There is no one "rite of passage." One of the unfortunate effects can be that boys are insecure. They don't know when they are men. . .
What do we do to give proper guidance? I know and you know that there is no magic formula. God must be at work in teachin…
I read Jonathan Edwards’ sermon, “Christ’s Agony.” Stunning. I could not stop till I was done. So penetrating. So full of wine from the crushing and wringing of these grape-texts. So many questions posed. Such answers!
It is simply amazing to me that almost all of Edwards’ published works are available online, or in multiple Kindle editions (for $.99 or $1.99, the one I have).
May God touch you as deeply as he has me—and more—as you linger in the kind of preaching and writing that makes every minute worth it.
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Recent posts from John Piper —
