John Piper:

May we never lose sight of this one phrase: “Brought near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13). Brought near to God and therefore brought near to each other. By the blood. By the cross.

Ponder this implication of “by the blood.” Paul says in Galatians 6:14 — and I hope we say with him — “Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Boast only in the cross. Does this not mean, among other things, that we want the meaning and the worth and the beauty and the power of the cross of Christ to be seen and loved because of the way we live?

And if one design of the cross of Christ is to reconcile alienated ethnic groups to each other by reconciling them…

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Pastor John:

So when you go home each week from these messages, be stunned that you are a beneficiary of mercy – be reminded and stunned that you and I deserve nothing but wrath from God, and in Christ receive nothing but mercy from him. Be stunned. And then pray that God would make you merciful to the undeserving.

Oh, how sweet marriages would be if we stopped thinking about what we deserve and thought more about how to show more mercy – how to do more undeserved good to each other. Oh, how sweet would be the fellowship of the church if we all really felt undeserving of any good and lavished with God’s mercy. And, oh, how bright the gospel would shine if we touched the poor with Christ-…

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Martin Luther:

Although it hurts us when he takes his own from us, his good will should be a greater comfort to us than all his gifts, for God is immeasurably better than all his gifts.

Luther: Letters of Spiritual Counsel, trans. and ed., Theodore G. Tappert, 1960, (Vancouver, BC: Regent College Publishing, 2003), 54.

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Recent posts from "They Still Speak" —

• "If You Are Thirsty, Come and Drink" (C. S. Lewis)
• Jesus Is Our All-Sufficient Comforter (Richard Sibbes)
• A More Determined Quest for Him (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

Did you ever wonder how a book idea is born in an author’s mind? Here is one way it happened.

The Pleasures of God was published in 1991. The first inkling I had of the conception behind this book came to me on September 12, 1986. Here is how it came — a direct quote from my journal from that day:

As I was praying today, the thought came to me that another book to write would be “The Happiness of God.” It could begin as a series of sermons and could be based on biblical texts where God rejoices or laughs or sings. . .

I have never collected all these texts, and Naves Topical Bible has no subtopic on God's joy or happiness. But I think of Jeremiah 32 and God's rejoicing over us to do us…

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Doug Wilson will speak on the subject of "father hunger" at our 2012 Conference for Pastors (Jan 30 – Feb 1). Registration is now open.

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Recent posts for the 2012 Conference for Pastors —

• What Does It Mean to Be a Man? (Video from Doug Wilson)
• Departing from Masculinity: Two Ditches to Avoid (Video from Doug Wilson)
• Dads, Your Leadership Role Is Inescapable (Video from Doug Wilson)

Jesus guides us in many different ways. Sometimes he makes the next step clear as day. Other times, like Peter discovered in John 21:1-14, it feels like we’re left to muddle through, only to find that Jesus was leading through our muddling.

“I am going fishing.”

Peter didn’t know what else to do. The past few weeks had been indescribably intense with the nightmare of Jesus’ crucifixion and the ineffable wonder of his resurrection.

Now he was sitting with Thomas, Nathanael, James, John, and two others. They were just waiting. It was disorienting. Jesus wasn’t there and he hadn’t told them what to do next.

Peter used to know just what to do: prepare the nets and boat, go fishing, tak…

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Thank you, Father, for my life.
Thank you for my precious wife.

Thank you, Father, for my girl.
Thank you for this deep-sea pearl.

Thank you, Father, for my sons,
Fathers, wives, the little ones.

Thank you for the church I serve,
Staff and friends I don’t deserve.

Thank you, Father, for my birth,
Who can measure parents’ worth?

Thank you, Father, for the schools,
Mental tools, and passion fuels.

Thank you, Father, for my eyes,
Wonders of the earth and skies.

Thank you, Father, for my ears,
Priceless music through the years.

Thank you, Father, for my friends,
Comrades, care, and common ends.

Thank you, Father, for the books,
Deeper currents, distant looks…

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Giving thanks is no small thing for the Christian.

But far too many of us have the wrong impression. Deep down we may see the summons to thanksgiving as pretty peripheral. Giving thanks — whoop dee doo — What really excites me is fill-in-the-blank.

It is tragic when gratitude seems obscure to the very people who have the most to be thankful for. To sinners forever saved by grace, thanksgiving should be significant. Even central. Healthy Christians are thankful Christians.

Central to Honoring God

In fact, Romans 1:21 shows us that thanksgiving is what we were created for, and it is “at the heart of what it means to be a Christian,” says Tremper Longman.

Although they knew God, they …

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Pastor John in 1981:

History has shown that God's way of stirring up his people to great acts of love and mission has often been to draw together a small praying band who lay themselves open to him and get a vision for service. Where will the new works of mission and charity come from in our church, if not from holy brain-storming in small groups of zealous people?

Not only does vision for love get stirred up by such fellowship, but also strength to see it through to reality. Love and good works are not easy to sustain over the long haul. There has to be much lifting up of the downcast. As Ecclesiastes 4:9–10 says, "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. F…

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Since 1863, on the fourth Thursday of November, families and friends in the United States have gathered to commemorate an old tradition linked back to the early European settlers.

You know the story: The pilgrims and Native Americans came together for a happy feast to celebrate the harvest and forge new friendships. A few hundred years later, this event became a legislated holiday and got Norman Rockwelled into the fabric of American life. We call it Thanksgiving.

The Aim of Paul's Ministry

It's interesting that we name a national holiday after an emotion — a very good emotion. In fact, an emotion for which the apostle Paul aimed his ministry. He tells it like this in 2 Corinthi…

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