Dear Friends at Bethlehem and Beyond,
I’m writing to invite you to an unusual conference. This Fall’s Desiring God National Conference is one of the most extraordinary we have conceived. Our expectations are very high that its effect will be mind-sharpening, heart-humbling, mouth-seasoning, backbone-strengthening, and Christ-acclaiming. Our theme is The Power of Words and the Wonder of God...
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Our grandson, Orison, is three years old. Judging by his interests during our Sunday afternoon backyard picnic, I would have said he was aspiring to stardom as an ace batter or as a trumpet player in a marching band (using the wiffle bat as his trumpet).
It would be fine if he achieved either of those goals. But I smiled when I read his mom’s blog this morning and glimpsed much deeper, higher, and broader possibilities: “Mom, I’m going to Kenya.”
That was make-believe, but games reflect a child’s desires and interests. My smile reached deep into my heart when I read Molly’s yearning that God make her ready for whatever he has for Orison in future years.
May we all pray with Moll…
Jonathan Edwards put it this way:
God doubtless will entertain his saints according to the state of the King of heaven, when he comes to entertain them at the feast that he has provided.... We read of Ahasuerus, a great king, when he made a feast unto all his princes and servants, he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom, and the power of his excellent majesty, and gave drink in vessels of gold, and royal wine in abundance, according to the state of the king [Esther 1]. So doubtless the happiness of the saints in heaven shall be so great, that the very majesty of God shall be exceedingly shown in the greatness, and magnificence, and fullness of their enjoyments and delights…
My theology is the conviction that this quote from St. Augustine tells us more about God’s good design than our bad depravity.
The desire for happiness is not in myself alone or in a few friends, but is found in everybody. If we did not know this with certain knowledge, we would not want it with determination in our will. But what does this mean?
If two people are asked if they want to serve in the army, it may turn out that one of them replies that he would like to do so, while the other would not. But if they are asked whether they would like to be happy, each would at once say without the least hesitation that he would choose to be so. And the reason why one wo…
Short answer: No. God never says anything like: “I am not God.” Or: “You are not sinful.” Or: “Christ is not a great Savior.” Or: “If you believe in Christ, you will not be saved.” Or: “It is foolish to follow my counsel.” Or: “My word is unreliable.”
But God does ordain that lying happen as part of his judgment on the guilty. That is why the question comes up...
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Because the Psalms are so personal, they often do not represent the mood or the situation we are in when we read them. For example, a couple mornings ago I read Psalm 142. It says,
There is none who takes notice of me; no refuge remains to me; no one cares for my soul. (v. 4)
And,
I am brought very low! (v. 6)
I do not share this lament at this time. There are many who care for my soul. And I am not presently very low. I have known times more like this. But it is not true of me now.
So what should we do when we read psalms that do not represent our present experience?
Dear Jon,
Your faithfulness as the creator and leader of Desiring God has been a gift to me beyond all deserving or imagining for these last fifteen years.
Who would have dreamed the little church tape ministry would be Desiring God? God alone. You are exactly the leader Desiring God needs. You embody the spirit and life that I long for this ministry to awaken in others.
Some can say things accurately; you feel the preciousness of what is said and the reality behind it.
You have tasted the Treasure that Christ is.
You have drunk at the fountain of sovereign grace.
You have absorbed the humbling impact of the glory of free mercy.
You live the amazed life of g…
July 15th marked 15 years since you started as John Piper’s assistant and soon started Desiring God and became the Executive Director. (People wondered what you would do with that anthropology major!)
As your wife I’ve been watching, admiring, and learning from you through this adventure of faith. And today I want to publicly celebrate God’s grace in your life and honor you, my dearest earthly love.
A passion for God has characterized you since before we met (me at 15, you at 17). That’s what I found so attractive and still do. You not only talk about abiding in Christ, you do abide in him and his Word abides in you.
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abide…
One of the reasons God rarely gives micro reasons for his painful providences, but regularly gives magnificent macro reasons, is that there are too many micro reasons for us to manage, namely, millions and millions and millions and millions and millions.
God says things like:
But we can always object that th…
Happy birthday, John Calvin. Today we celebrate your 499th birthday. Your preaching inspires me to press on with this great and glorious task of heralding the Word of God.
T. H. L. Parker’s 1975 biography tells why:
And so we trace him preaching on Sundays with one hundred and eighty-nine sermons on the Acts between 1549 and 1554, a shorter series on some of the Pauline letters between 1554 and 1558, and the sixty-five on the Harmony of the Gospels between 1559 and 1564. During this time the weekdays saw series on Jeremiah and Lamentations (up to 1550), on the Minor Prophets and Daniel (1550-2), the one hundred and seventy-four on Ezekiel (1552-4), the one hundred and fif…
