A true story and an example to emulate. . . .

Kristina (my niece) is a young woman with a complicated life. 

She was born with a rare genetic disorder that resulted in orthopedic issues across her entire body alongside limited intellectual capacities. She has undergone dozens of surgeries, has endured countless medical tests and hospitalizations, and will always need someone to look out for her. She is very vulnerable and her behaviors can be challenging.

She attends a church of about 200 people. 

What if you were her pastor? You barely have the resources, both financial and human, to serve the needs of the ‘normal’ folks in your congregation. How do you love her and prepare her fo…

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Did Jesus teach that miracles are useless for those who reject the word? Here’s the story he told:

From hades the rich man implored Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his five brothers not to come to that place of torment.

But Abraham said, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.”

The rich man said, “No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.”

Abraham disagreed: “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.” (Luke 16:31)

God Must Open Eyes

Does this mean that miracles are useless among people who have biblical truth, but don’t believe it? Sounds like it: If the prophe…

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The church isn’t the only thing growing in China. Like in so many other countries these days, Internet use is booming too. At the Chinese government’s last official counting (June, 2010), 420 million of its people were online. No doubt there are millions more by now.

Along with the Internet, social media is also catching on. China Daily recently reported that over 300 million Chinese are registered micro-blog (think Twitter) users.

We’re excited about this growth because the Internet and social media are quick, inexpensive, and strategic ways for us to make gospel-centered resources available for the growing Chinese church.

Here are some ways we're working to serve Chinese speakers…

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Pastor John:

There is a principle here that applies to you and me: God takes small, imperfect things and builds them into a habitation for his glory. O, how we should take courage in our little spheres of influence! And is this not the message of Advent and Christmas?

What more appropriate word could God have said to Mary as Jesus was growing up: Take courage, young mother, you build more than you see. And so it is with every one of us. Nothing you do is a trifle if you do it in the name of God. He will shake heaven and earth to fill your labor with splendor. Take courage, you build more than you see.

Excerpted from Take Courage: You Build More Than You See (1982).

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You can purchase the book directly from Desiring God, as well as from Amazon and WTS Books.

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Recent posts on Bloodlines —

• John Piper on Race, Cross, and the Christian
• One Way to Glory in the Cross
• America — Not as Mature as We Should Be

Pastor John:

Creation out of nothing was an awesome event. Imagine what the angelic spirits must have felt when the universe, material reality of which they had never imagined, was brought forth out of nothing by the command of God. The fall was an awful event, shaking the entire creation. The exodus was an amazing display of God's power and love. The giving of the law, the wilderness provisions, the conquering of Canaan, the prosperity of the monarchy — all these acts of God in redemptive history were very great and wonderful. Each one was a very significant bend in the river of redemptive history, bringing it ever and ever closer to the ocean of God's final kingdom.

But we trivialize Ch…

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A Painful Decision

When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. (Matthew 1:18-19)

Joseph felt a twinge of anxiety. He sensed something unusual in Mary’s request that he come.

When he arrived she was standing under the tree near her father’s house where, as a betrothed couple, they were given some supervised privacy. Mary wasn’t herself. She was staring at the ground. She seemed burdened.

“Mary, is something wrong?”

She looked up at him intensely. “Joseph… I’m pregnant.”

A blast of shoc…

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Bob Kauflin, author of Worship Matters (Crossway, 2008), recently joined us for an interview on the theology and practice of worship:

Time markers:

01:04 — How did you come to Christ and become a worship leader?

04:21 — Tell us about how God brought you through a battle with hopelessness.

07:59 — How should we think about worship as an event and as all of life?

11:35 — What does it mean for worship leaders to be clear and specific?

14:30 — What should we do with songs that don't explicitly mention Jesus?

17:07 — How do we anticipate the new creation in our worship events?

19:45 — How might worship be different in the new creation?

22:06 — How should we consider the horizontal …

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Pastor John, from the 2008 True Woman Conference:

Wimpy theology makes wimpy women. That’s my assumption that I bring to this evening. Wimpy theology simply does not give a woman a God that is big enough, strong enough, wise enough, and good enough to handle the realities of life in away that magnifies the infinite worth of Jesus Christ.

Wimpy theology is plagued by woman-centeredness and man-centeredness. Wimpy theology doesn’t have the granite foundation of God’s sovereignty or the solid steel structure of a great God-centered purpose for all things.

Stream or download the entire message.

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Recent posts from "Expository Exultation" —

• The Supremacy of God in Preachi…

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I stand in awe of Michael McClymond and Gerald McDermott’s massive The Theology of Jonathan Edwards (Oxford University Press, 2011). Edwards is worthy of this scope of treatment.

But may I register a disagreement with one way this book is being commended.

Alistair McGrath said that it is “unquestionably the best starting place for anyone wanting to grapple with the ideas of America’s greatest theologian.”

And Kenneth Minkema said, “This volume provides the single best entry point into Edwards’ writings and ideas for the specialist and general reader alike.”

If what they mean is that this is the best secondary source for entrance into the thought of Edwards, then I won’t quarrel. Bu…

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