Pastor John has thought in terms of two heart dispositions:

Gravity:

For the LORD spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he will become a sanctuary. (Isaiah 8:11-14)

Gladness:

Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling! Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.

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Pastor John in 1984:

Now let's see what we can learn from this text about the way a pastor should preach in order to help his people make progress in practical holiness. I'll only mention four things briefly. These are not the only way to preach practical holiness. Nor must every sermon include them all. But in your overall ministry of the word I believe these should have a large place. . . .

In sum,

1. Teach your people to know God.
2. Exhort your people to practical holiness.
3. Put one and two together and help your people see all their life in relation to God.
4. Warn the people of God's vengeance.

Read the entire sermon, Preaching Practical Holiness.

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Recent posts from "Piper's P…

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A couple months ago Collin Hansen from The Gospel Coalition sat down with John Piper for an 11-minute interview on the mixed legacy of race relations among evangelicals:

Time-markers —

0:05 — Is there more white supremacy today than 50 years ago?

1:42 — Does ethnic diversity bring out more racism or help eradicate it?

3:03 — Why do some Bible-believing Christians disobey what the Bible teaches?

3:44 — How opposing interracial marriage was the foundation to segregation.

6:00 — How does the Bible or specifically, Reformed theology, abolish racism?

Check out Collin's commentary on the video and read his review of Bloodlines.

“Lord, what about this man?” (John 21:21)

Peter asked Jesus this question when he learned that Jesus had ordained very difficult things for Peter’s future. So Peter wanted to know about John. Was Jesus going to give John a better deal?

Jesus responded, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me” (John 21:22)! In other words, How I deal with John is not your concern, Peter. If I deal differently with him, you must trust me. I want you to be faithful to the calling I have given you.

“What is that to you?” This is a question you and I need to be asked every day. Because how God deals with other people is frequently of excessive concern to us.

The …

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What does Jonathan Edwards have to do with baseball? It relates to how he saw the world. The technical term is typology — the mechanism of his God-entranced vision of all things. He explains,

God does purposely make and order one thing to be in agreeableness and harmony with another. And if so, why should not we suppose that he makes the inferior in imitation of the superior, the material of the spiritual, on purpose to have a resemblance and shadow of them? We see that even in the material world God makes one part of it strangely to agree with another; and why it is not reasonable to suppose he makes the whole as a shadow of the spiritual world? . . . ("Images of Diving Things," A Jonatha…

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Four-minute clip from this week's sermon:

Join us tonight from 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM (EDT) for the live-stream of Pastor John's message on race and the gospel, including an hour of Q&A.

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Related posts —

• Bloodlines: Live-Streamed Event for Small Groups and Churches
• Bloodlines: Race, Cross. . . and Your Local Church
• Jesus Died to End Abortion and Racism

What exactly is meant by the confession: "The Bible is without error in the original manuscripts?"

The doctrine of the inerrancy of Scripture is foundational to evangelical faith, yet there is some diversity in the opinion of what inerrancy entails. Back in 1976, John Piper sought to bring clarity to this issue in a short paper, "How Are the Synoptics 'Without Error'?"

This paper was recently transcribed as another new-old resource to feature in the Resource Library under The Life of the Mind column. Coming from Pastor John's professor days, these resources are mostly academic in nature, though this particular work concludes with a pastoral word of application:

From history and from…

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Here's a 12-minute interview on women's ministry with Pastor John from the Women's Katoomba Convention in Australia:

Time markers:

00:23 — How long have you been a Christian?

1:41 — Why are you still a Christian at 65 years old?

3:03 — What are the obstacles you see to living a worthy life?

5:39 — What advice would you give to women about a worthy life?

8:36 — On the ministry of mothers.

9:34 — What do you benefit so much from Christian biography?

Together for the Underestimated Gospel, April 10-12, 2012, in Louisville, KY.

Tomorrow night Pastor John will gather with a group of urban leaders in Minneapolis to speak on this issue of race and the gospel. The event will be live-streamed from 7:30PM (EDT) to 9:30PM (EDT), including an hour of Q&A. We encourage you to join us online by watching and discussing with your small group or church.

When I was a single woman in my mid-thirties, I invited the elders of my church and their wives to a formal holiday dinner as a way of expressing my thanks to them for their care and ministry. As I served the standing rib roast on a table set with china and crystal, one man remarked, “Wow. I never would have done this when I was single. It would have been pizza for everyone!”

This pastor offered this comment as an expression of thanks and I received it that way. But I did ponder it afterward, realizing that for many people the link between youthful inexperience and singleness is inextricably linked. In my early 20s, I too would have served pizza on paper plates, if indeed I had thought at …

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