This is the eighth post in a series of twelve. The content comes from “Twelve Appeals to Prosperity Preachers” found in the new edition of Let the Nations Be Glad.

Missing from most prosperity preaching is the fact that the New Testament emphasizes the necessity of suffering far more than it does the notion of material prosperity.

Jesus said, “Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours” (John 15:20). Or again he said, “If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household” (Matthew 10:25…

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Greatly disturbed by the suffering he saw in the world, 29-year-old Prince Gautama Siddhartha (563-483 BC), who was later called the Buddha (enlightened one), left his wife and young child and set out on a search for the meaning of life.

What he observed was the impermanence of the world—nothing lasted. In spite of this, people desired these impermanent things. They desired to hold on to life, health, possessions, and each other. But life, health, possessions and people pass away. Human desires would always ultimately disappoint. This, he reasoned, was the cause of human suffering.

Therefore, he concluded that if he could kill desire, if he could be tranquilly unaffected by either…

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This is the seventh post in a series of twelve. The content comes from “Twelve Appeals to Prosperity Preachers” found in the new edition of Let the Nations Be Glad.

What is it about Christians that makes them the salt of the earth and the light of the world? It is not wealth. The desire for wealth and the pursuit of wealth tastes and looks just like the world. Desiring to be rich makes us like the world, not different. At the very point where we should taste different, we have the same bland covetousness that the world has. In that case, we don’t offer the world anything different from what it already believes in.

The great tragedy of prosperity preaching is that a person does n…

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In Deuteronomy 17 Moses instructs Israel concerning the king that they will one day appoint for themselves. He gives the following three negative stipulations:

1. he must not acquire many horses (v.16)
2. he must not acquire many wives (v.17a)
3. he must not acquire excessive silver and gold (v. 17b)

Now fast forward to Samuel and Kings. In 2 Samuel 7:12-17, God promises King David a son who will be king forever. Five chapters later his son Solomon is born, and by 1 Kings 1 this son has taken the throne. Could this be the promised eternal king?

The author of Kings leaves us in suspense. It’s not until 1 Kings 10:14-11:8 that we get a clear answer. Notice what he says there:

• 10:21 …

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In a post a couple weeks ago we requested prayer for Mary Pearson (the beloved wife of DG Board member, Mitch Pearson) who for the last 15+ months has been battling Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. Friday night, May 14th, Mary's body succumbed and at 6:39 PM she entered into the presence of Jesus.

Here is an excerpt from what Mitch wrote on Mary's Caringbridge site:

Please continue to keep us in your prayers. The days ahead will be difficult and we will need to make many adjustments.We are thankful to be the children of God.We have a hope in things to come when we will put on an imperishable body when things like Leukemia will be gone forever. We will have no more tears, no…

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A few days ago Doug Wilson wrote a very interesting post exhorting us not to be truncated Christian Hedonists (CH). Yes, it’s necessary that we pursue God as our treasure (CH 1.0).  And our understanding of God must be explicitly Trinitarian (CH 2.0)—Wilson calls it Nicean hedonism (I love it!).

But then he says, “we … need to move on to Chalcedon, to an incarnational hedonism.” This means enjoying God in all that he has made. Wilson writes,

The world is a sacramental, and everything in it. Grace is everywhere, and gets into everything. Faith can dig it out of anything. The grandeur of God can flame out from anything, like shining from shook foil.”

Amen. Read the…

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Luke included the Emmaus road account (Luke 24:13-35), no doubt, because it was a powerful testimony of the resurrected Jesus by two credible eyewitnesses (Cleopas likely would have been known to many first generation Christians). But there is also something valuable to see in how Jesus chose to reveal himself to these sad, cynical disciples.

*          *          *

It was Sunday afternoon. Cleopas and his companion exited Jerusalem’s Western Gate, heading toward Emmaus. Even a casual observer could tell that their discussion was intense.

About fifteen minutes into the journey, a man they did not recognize overtook them. “What is this conversation that you are holding with…

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Prosperity teachers sometimes teach that if we give, God will in turn give back more to us than we have given. This, then, becomes an incentive to give and a subtle way of advocating the idea that "God wants you to be rich."

There are two main problems with this worth mentioning. First, while it is true that God absolutely does give back to us more than we have given (see, for example, Matthew 19:29 or the feeding of the five thousand), this is not always (or usually) financial. God gives to us in a multitude of ways, and finances are only one such way—and, by far, not the most important.

Second, when God does give back to us, it is not so that we can keep it to ourselves—as though …

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This is the sixth post in a series of twelve. The content comes from “Twelve Appeals to Prosperity Preachers” found in the new edition of Let the Nations Be Glad.

Jesus warns that the word of God, the gospel, which is meant to give us life, can be choked to death by riches. He says it is like a seed that grows up among thorns: “They are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the . . . riches . . . of life, and their fruit does not mature” (Luke 8:14).

Prosperity preachers should warn their hearers that there is a kind of financial prosperity that can choke them to death. Why would we want to encourage people to pursue the very thing that Jesus warns can mak…

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If you haven’t yet heard, this Fall John Piper will be in South Africa along with a team from Desiring God. We will be participating in several events including a pastors’ event in Pretoria and REZOLUTION 2010 in Johannesburg.

Registration has just opened up for the latter, so be sure to sign up now. Here’s a video invitation from Pastor John.

We will also be in Cape Town for the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization. Even if you are not a part of the congress, you may be able to participate through GlobaLink which will be connecting hundreds of sites around the world through the internet.

Please pray that God will bless his people through these events and lift …

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