There is a murderous logic to those who advocate aborting children with disabilities. It goes something like this:

• People with disabilities suffer in this world. Abortion is a kindness that prevents such suffering.
• The caregivers (primarily parents) of children with disabilities also suffer.  Abortion is a kindness that prevents their suffering, too.
• Society suffers. Financially and administratively, the burden on society is significant. Abortion is a kindness to the rest of society to prevent such a burden from existing.

The argument has become more sophisticated over time, but the main point is this idea of preventing hardship. Everybody just wants to be comfortable. We like things…

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This is not a plea to be thoughtless. It’s not an argument for ignoring strategy. God uses strategy (Joshua 8:4).

“The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord” (Proverbs 21:31). Yes. Make the horse ready. But it is also true: Sometimes the enemy strikes when there is no time to get the horse ready. And victory still belongs to the Lord.

For example, Jeroboam tricked Abijah, king of Judah, by laying an ambush behind him: “His troops were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them” (2 Chronicles 13:13). Abijah was outwitted.

What happened? “They cried to the Lord . . . and God defeated Jeroboam.” (2 Chronicles 13:14–15).

Abijah was outwitte…

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In this two-minute video, Noel Piper reflects on her and Pastor John's first years of marriage in seminary and the formation of what we now call Christian Hedonism:

Watch the entire End-of-Year Video Update.

The longer I live the more complexities I see in living. They’re not as paralyzing as they used to be. I pray more for a spiritual nose to sniff out the path between precipices.

Take tender-heartedness, for example. I think one of the most practical and important passages in the whole Bible is Ephesians 4:31–32. God put that there for me. It is one of the most important mandates in my life.

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

There are dozens of situations where I should be more tenderhearted than I am.

But what about 2 Ch…

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Pastor John:

When Paul calls the power of Christ which changed him from great sinner to great apostle — when he calls this power "mercy," he exalts not himself but the Savior. The Christmas gift of change is always a gift, and never a wage. It can never be boasted in. It can be sought after the way a helpless, hungry man seeks food; and it can be accepted by faith. But it can never be earned. And so none of the changes God gives can be the basis of pride. The more like Christ you become, the more you exalt Christ and not yourself.

What God did on the first Christmas and what he does in forgiving and changing people today he did and does in utterly free, sovereign mercy, so that all his peo…

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Charles Spurgeon:

We have a fixed faith to preach, my brethren, and we are sent forth with a definite message from God. We are not left to fabricate the message as we go along. We are not sent forth by our Master with a general commission arranged on this fashion — "As you shall think in your heart and invent in your head, so preach. . . ."

Verily, we read not so. There is something definite in the Bible. It is not quite a lump of wax to be shaped at our will, or a roll of cloth to be cut according to the prevailing fashion. . . .

Believing, therefore, that there is such a thing as truth, and such a thing as falsehood, that there are truths in the Bible, and that the gospel consists in som…

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Three things came together in the last thirty-six hours to create this post. The death of Christopher Hitchens, the Desiring God Board meeting Thursday, and the word of God.

1. Christopher Hitchens died Thursday night. He was, perhaps, the most aggressive of the “new atheists.” I am sobered and made quiet by the probability (though we do not know his final hours) that he is in torment today awaiting his final judgment and the lake of fire.
2. Also on Thursday the Desiring God Board clarified and refined the Ultimate Goal, the Mission, and the Core Strategy of Desiring God. The Mission of Desiring God is to help people everywhere understand and embrace the truth that God is most glorified in us w…

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The newest Theology Refresh features a discussion with Ray Ortlund on the doctrine of union with Christ.

As one writer explains, "Union with Christ is theological shorthand for the gospel itself — a key image that pulls together numerous motifs in the biblical witness" (J. Todd Billings, Union with Christ). It's perhaps the least likely of all doctrines to stifle in the abstract. Saturating the writings of Paul, union with Christ changes everything in how we conceive of ourselves and minister to others.

Stream or download the 15-minute audio.

Recommended resources on union with Christ:

• Circle of Strength, by Raymond Ortlund, Sr.
• Saved by Grace, Anthony Hoekema
• Doctrine of the Chr…

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(Un)Planned Detours

“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps" (Proverbs 16:9). As Jesus’ earthly father discovered, this is just another way of saying that when your plans are detoured and redirected, you find out who’s really charting the course.

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Nazareth. It felt good to Joseph to be back home. The same old market and the same old merchants. The same old neighbors with the same old complaints. The same old synagogue and the same old rabbi. 

Oddly, though, the normalcy felt a bit strange after the unexpected adventures of the past couple of years. What an odyssey this simple Galilean carpenter had been on.

It had all started with Mary’s world…

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Char Ransom was on the search committee that brought Pastor John to Bethlehem Baptist Church in 1980. In this two-minute video, Char gives us a glimpse into those first years at Bethlehem and the beginning of our ministry here at Desiring God.

Watch the entire End-of-Year Video Update.