Can we glorify God in our desire to enjoy him even when we do not feel the joy? Or do I bring glory to God only when I experience the joy?

Andrew in Naples, Florida asks, “Pastor John, do your pro-life convictions change when it comes to situations involving rape, incest, or matters of a mother’s life?”

A missionary in China asks, “Can a missionary lie in order to do ministry in a closed or persecuted country? For example, can he sign a statement saying he agrees to obey the laws of that country when he actually plans to break some of them, particularly religious based ones?”

How do I explain my own personal fluctuating experience of joy in God when then source of my personal joy (the Holy Spirit) is constantly, personally, present in me at all times?

Pastor John explains why is it important for folks in churches to pray for their pastors.

John Piper shares his takeaways from the 2013 conference for pastors in Minneapolis.

“If I am walking in obliviousness to God’s activity in the world, how am I going to interact with people at a God-level where he might be preparing them for some word from me or from some action from me?”

“Our prayers are part of the causality of the final victory of God.”

If the Lord hears our prayers, why is it necessary to pray for the same things over and over and over again? Why not once? Why do we pray repetitively for the same things?

“This Holy Week fix your gaze steadily on Christ as he loves you to the uttermost” (p. i).

“The greatest ministry you can have to me is for you to enjoy Christ. Turn that around and ask, ‘How can I be the greatest blessing to the people around me?’ The answer: Get up in the morning, go to the word of God, and, like George Mueller said, ‘Get your heart happy in God’ before you meet other people.”

A pastor writes and asks John Piper: “Have you personally conducted funerals for non-Christians? If so how, is that funeral tailored differently from a funeral for a believer?”

“We use our intelligence, usually considered an instrument of independence, to lead us to increasing dependence on God.”

“Every woman you look at on the street is a potential queen of heaven because she is created in the imago Dei (the image of God).”

John Piper: "Government, in keeping a cap on the evil of the world and restraining evil and bringing some kind of order, is a great gift in a world of falseness."

Pastor John explains Romans 13 and its implications.

John Piper: “God is always disciplining us. He is always doing things good, hard and gentle to us.”

Pastor John how would you care for a young couple coming to terms with their infertility and feelings of failure? What would you want them to know about God in light of his apparent withheld blessing?

“No pastor lives up to what he preaches. If he does, he is preaching too low.” You wrote that on Twitter a few years back, Pastor John. How does a pastor think through this? Talk to the pastor who is preaching high, and feels overwhelmed and burdened because of it. Is this a healthy tension for him to feel?

Pastor John what are your thoughts on Republican senator Portman's editorial supporting so-called same-sex marriage?

In Episode 49 John Piper talks about why he uses hand gestures while preaching.

In Episode 50 John Piper says, “Preaching, to me, is expository exultation. Expository means I am explaining things. I want to make them clear. And so my hands are trying to do in the air what I am saying with my mouth.”

In Episode 51 Pastor John talks about faith and relationships.

In Episode 51 Pastor John talks about faith and relationships.

In Episode 52 talks about predestination and the glory of God.

In Episode 53 Pastor John talks about creation and evolution.

In Episode 54 Pastor John talks about Christian communication, including the relationship between God’s sovereignty and our creativity with words.

In Episode 55 Pastor John talks about how we discern whether we love God’s gifts more than we love him.

In Episode 56 someone asks if men reading biblical commentaries written by women violates Paul’s instruction 1 Timothy 2:12.

In Episode 58, Pastor John talks about what makes Easter special.

In Episode 59, Pastor John talks about how to enjoy Sunday when "Monday’s coming.”

In Episode 60, Pastor John follows up on Episode 19 on the battle against lust.

In Episode 61, Pastor John talks about why and how he uses Twitter.

In Episode 62, Pastor John shares more ideas on how to best use Twitter.

In Episode 63, Pastor John talks about how the church’s works “exceeds the works of Jesus.”

In Episode 64, Pastor John offers advice to discouraged, unemployed college graduates.

In Episode 65, Pastor John talks about the biblical vision of womanhood.

“What the world needs from the church is our indomitable joy in Jesus in the midst of suffering and sorrow” (p. 177).

In Episode 66, Pastor John talks about the relevance of good theology.

In Episode 67, Pastor John talks about the parent’s role in a child’s gender development.

In Episode 68 Pastor John talks about his influence on Christian hip hop.

In Episode 69, John Piper talks about the exclusivity of Jesus Christ.

In Episode 70, John Piper discusses the historical validity of Jesus Christ.

In Episode 71, John Piper explains why Muslims do not worship the God of the Bible.

In Episode 72, John Piper explains that Christian fasting is longing for the “not yet” of the kingdom.

In Episode 73, John Piper gives a theology of sex and answers the question on “how far is too far” in dating relationships.

In Episode 74, John Piper talks about the weighty responsibility of teaching the Bible.

In Episode 75, John Piper reflects on his last sermon at Bethlehem Baptist Church.

In Episode 76, John Piper talks about the grace-fueled power of serving others.

In Episode 77, John Piper talks about whether it is okay for Christians to legally smoke marijuana.

In Episode 78, John Piper shares his approach when Jehovah’s Witnesses knock on his door.

In Episode 79, John Piper talks about how to fight the sin of laziness.

In Episode 80, John Piper helps us think through whether to give money to people who ask for it.

In Episode 81, John Piper talks about the legacy of C. S. Lewis.

In Episode 82, John Piper talks about when he was first introduced to the works of C. S. Lewis.

In Episode 83, John Piper talks about how C. S. Lewis has influenced him.

In Episode 84, John Piper talks about the spiritual and emotional boundaries in dating.

In Episode 85, John Piper talks about how he processes public tragedy.

In Episode 86, John Piper talks about how the writings of C. S. Lewis prepared him to understand and love the writings of Jonathan Edwards.

In Episode 87, John Piper talks about how to long for the new creation while appreciating creation now.

In Episode 88, John Piper talks about C. S. Lewis and Christian Hedonism.

In Episode 89, John Piper talks about how to choose a seminary.

In Episode 90, John Piper talks about a mother’s role in raising boys.

In Episode 91, John Piper talks about persevering in suffering.

In Episode 92, John Piper talks about Chris Broussard’s comments regarding NBA player Jason Collins’s announcement of being gay.

In Episode 93, John Piper talks about the cultural reaction to Chris Broussard’s comments on what the Bible says about homosexuality.

This poem is a new start of an old tradition in American journalism: the news poem. Hardly a vile murder or a military victory went by without colonial poets bemoaning or celebrating the occasion in verse, with the work then published on a single page “broadside” and sold for a penny. Happily, my favorite pastor/theologian, John Piper, is also a poet, and below are his thoughts on justice in regard to Connecticut’s school shooting and Boston’s Marathon bombing. —Marvin Olasky

In this special edition, John Piper explains the meaning and motive of his poem, “Grace Forfeited.”