Think It Not Strange
Navigating Trials in the New America
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John Piper
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John Piper
@JohnPiper
John Piper is founder and teacher of Desiring God and chancellor of Bethlehem College and Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is author of more than 50 books, including Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist and most recently Foundations for Lifelong Learning: Education in Serious Joy. Read more about John.
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, , Tim Cain
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Tim Cain
Tim Cain is lead pastor of Kaleo Church in El Cajon, California. He and his wife, Abbey, have two adopted children.
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, , Tim Keesee
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Tim Keesee
Tim Keesee is the founder of Frontline Missions International. He has traveled to over one hundred countries, reporting on the church. He is the executive producer of the Dispatches from the Front film series and the author of several books, including A Day’s Journey: Stories of Hope and Death-Defying Joy.
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, David Mathis
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David Mathis
@davidcmathis
David Mathis is executive editor for Desiring God and pastor at Cities Church. He is a husband, father of four, and author of A Little Theology of Exercise: Enjoying Christ in Body and Soul (2025). Read more about David.
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, Joe Rigney
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Joe Rigney
@joe_rigney
Joe Rigney serves as a fellow of theology at New Saint Andrews College. He is a husband, a father of three, and the author of a number of books, including More Than a Battle: How to Experience Victory, Freedom, and Healing from Lust.
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, Brian Tabb
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Brian Tabb
@BJTabb
Brian Tabb is president and professor of biblical studies at Bethlehem College and Seminary, general editor of Themelios, and author of multiple books, including After Emmaus and All Things New. He and his wife, Kristin, have four children and are members of The North Church.
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, Dieudonné Tamfu
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Dieudonné Tamfu
Dieudonné Tamfu is assistant professor of Bible and theology, and coordinator of the Cameroon Extension Site for Bethlehem College and Seminary. He and his wife, Dominique, live in Yaoundé, Cameroon, with their two children.
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, and Steve Timmis
John Piper
@JohnPiperTim Cain
Tim Keesee
David Mathis
@davidcmathis
Joe Rigney
@joe_rigney
Brian Tabb
@BJTabb
Dieudonné Tamfu
For 350 years, the church on American soil has enjoyed relatively little affliction for her fidelity to the Scriptures. This nation, though, is an anomaly in church history. And those days seem to be passing, more quickly than many of us expected.
But panic would not be a Christian response. For two thousand years, this has been what it has meant to identify with Christ in the world — the normal experience of those who follow a man who was crucified. Suffering for the gospel was not just tolerated in the early church; it was expected.
For now, we may be prone to think it strange. But soon enough, the expectations of American Christians will adjust to what is normal in other times and places. We will realize that when we proclaim a gospel like ours, and make the sort of claims we do, the world won’t receive it well. For Christians, it really is strange not to be persecuted.
In these short chapters, a diverse team of contributors, representing six continents, joins together to help American Christians get ready for the insults, trials, opposition, and even persecution that may lie ahead.