If you’ve been a Christian for a number of years or if you grew up where Christmas is traditionally celebrated, the idea that a member of the Godhead became veiled in flesh may have lost its strangeness. It’s Christmas, the most wonderful time of the year! It’s kind Joseph, serene Mary, and incandescent baby Jesus in a manger. It’s a crèche with quaint figurine shepherds, three wise men, sheep, a donkey, and an ox. Oh, and the chubby cherub with the “Gloria” scroll.

Precious baby Jesus; you just want to pick him up and give him a squeeze.

And if you could have, you would have been holding Yahweh who at that moment was upholding you along with the entire universe by the word of his powe…

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Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s. (2 Chronicles 20:15)

The Predicament

In 2 Chronicles 20, the armies of Moab, Ammon, and Edom were on the move. Destination: Jerusalem. These were relatives of the Israel, Moab and Ammon being descendants of Lot and Edom of Esau. But this was no family reunion. This was a slaughter in the making.

These three nations bordered Israel and Judah on the east and south. And since the reigns of David and Solomon, they had off-and-on been subject to the kings of Israel, paying a tribute tax and providing forced labor.

But it had been over 60 years since Solomon’s death, and Israel had split i…

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Brothers, praise somebody other than God.

I can hear blasphemy sirens going off in readers’ minds. If “praise somebody other than God” means “praise somebody instead of God,” or “more than God,” the concern is warranted indeed. But if “praise somebody other than God” means “do it because God is honored by it,” that’s another thing entirely.

Commending Whom God Commends

Is it possible that God actually receives more honor from us when we praise somebody other than God? The answer can be yes. In the same way that the heavens are declaring the glory of God (Psalm 19:1), God’s common kindness in everyone around us (both saint and sinner) is declaring his glory as well. But just as God doe…

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The impressive new feature film Lincoln brings with it a high-definition reminder of the tremendous strengths and flaws of, and the challenges faced by, the 16th president of the United States.

One struggle that finds its way into the movie — and one scene in particular — is the strained and complicated marital relationship between Mary Todd and Abraham Lincoln. And yet from their marital mess, there’s an abiding counter-cultural lesson from which all couples could learn, as John Piper explains in the following excerpt from his 1997 devotional A Godward Life, pages 33–35.

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Enduring the Pain of a Flawed Marriage

Abraham Lincoln’s marriage was a mess, and accepting the pain brought deep s…

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What does "complementarian" mean?

In this short video, John Piper explains that affirming the glorious differences of men and women locates Christians between two lamentable errors.

This excerpt begins at the 2:29 mark of this week's sermon.

This Advent is the 33rd John Piper has spent among the people of Bethlehem Baptist Church. And it is his last Advent as senior pastor.

God willing, Pastor John will serve as an associate in the first quarter of 2013 and officially finish his course as a local-church pastor on Easter Sunday, March 31, 2013.

Here’s an except from his final Advent letter to the church. We thought this section in particular might be of interest beyond the local congregation.

Memory has a way of simplifying things. It strips away a few million details that at the time seemed major, and it leaves only the big outlines. Of course, God was in those details. It was he and not I who wove them into the tapestry t…

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The theology of Jonathan Edwards is built around the living, triune God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

But just how central is the Trinity for Edwards? How early in his life did the Trinity begin shaping his theology? How does this govern how Edwards understands love, and understands the origin of God’s impulse to create the universe, and understands the character and experience of heaven? And how does the Trinitarian nature of the Living God contrast all other forms of single-person or mono-person deities? And maybe most fundamental of all, just how biblical was Jonathan Edwards’ doctrine of the Trinity in the first place?

With these questions we put Edwards scholar Michael McClymond o…

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What would eight thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer’s praise sound like?

Well, if you want ten thousand male voices, it will sound a lot like the new album, Together for the Gospel Live II. The album releases today, and the tracks were recorded during musical worship at the T4G gathering in April (and some from the 2010 gathering).

To mark the release of the album, our friends at Sovereign Grace Music have given us permission to offer track 12 — “All I Have Is Christ” — as a free download to our blog readers. Click on the following link to download or listen:

Together for the Gospel Live II — “All I Have Is Christ” (10 MB MP3)

Here are links to both T4G Live albums —

• Togeth…

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“When it comes to human sexuality,” John Piper begins, “the greatest display of God’s glory, and the greatest joy of human relationships, and the greatest fruitfulness in ministry come about when the deep differences between men and women are embraced and celebrated as complements to each other.”

This is a way of life shaped by Scripture and thus it rejects two kinds of errors: One side is chauvinistic, harsh, and abusive under male domination. It is rejected. The other side is sex-blind, gender-leveling, and neutered under a unisex culture. It also is rejected.

Examining key biblical texts, John Piper explains what it means to be “complementarian” — that is, the way we understand God’s …

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I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. . . . He set me apart before I was born, and called me by his grace.

 You were aflame, a Pharisee.
      I  was. Without a flaw.
Then blameless? Perfect purity?
     Yes, in the law.

Did you consent to Stephen's death?
     More than consent, approved.
And did you hear his final breath?
     I did, unmoved.

Did you condemn the innocent?
     More than condemn, blasphemed.
And was your sentence violent?
     It was. They screamed.

Did you not once lament all this?
     Not once. Nor felt regret.
Or feel the …

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