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David Mathis

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.

Grace Gone Wild

Grace is on the loose. Contrary to our expectations, counter to our assumptions, frustrating our judicial sentiments, mocking our craving for control, the grace of God is turning the world upside down. He is shamelessly pouring out his lavish favor…

The X-Factor in Bible Reading

The X-Factor in Bible Reading

The Bible is no magic book. But saying it that way might give the wrong impression.

Tapestry: A Vision for Trans-Cultural Church

Leonce Crump describes the vision as “trans-cultural.” Not multi-cultural, but trans-cultural. Crump pastors Renovation Church in Atlanta and has found the image of a tapestry to be helpful. The individual pieces are essential, but the whole is more beautiful than…

Keeping King’s Dream Alive

It truly was the dream speech. Fifty years ago today — on August 28, 1963 — Martin Luther King, Jr. rose to a podium on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and delivered one of the most important addresses in…

Why We Won’t Back Down

Why We Won’t Back Down

What if Tom Petty wrote the anthem for twenty-first-century evangelicals?

Twelve Gospel Passages to Soak In

Twelve Gospel Passages to Soak In

Mere truth cannot save or sustain the soul; only the gospel can. Here are twelve gospel-rich passages to jump-start and drive your worship.

No Christian Suffering Is Meaningless

Everyone in the world wants this. Every person on the planet aches for real hope — to find the secret of real strength and joy and significance. Put another way, no one longs to lose heart. No one desires to…

Ten Gospel Verses to Keep Warm

Ten Gospel Verses to Keep Warm

When you memorize a gospel verse, you have the very point of the whole Bible and all of history hidden in your heart.

Keller and Piper Talk C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis claimed he was no theologian. At least that wasn’t his day job. But it didn’t stop him from seriously shaping some of today’s most influential theologians. Lewis was a world-class scholar of English literature, and a Christian layman…

Ten Passages for Pastors to Memorize Cold

Ten Passages for Pastors to Memorize Cold

These ten passages will prove especially useful for pastors and Christian leaders, but it’s a good list for all Christians as well.

Born Again on the Fourth of July

Born Again on the Fourth of July

While the Fourth’s flood of Americana is all-too-enticing for many, it can rub many others the wrong way.

Not by Sight: Marking 20 Years of Happy Service

Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. It was these words from Jesus in Luke 13 that the 42-year-old preacher took as his sermon title on June 5, 1988. Little did he know, a 22-year-old newly-wed was in…

A Christian Guide to the Zoo

A Christian Guide to the Zoo

Summer is in full swing in the Northern Hemisphere, and if you haven’t yet made a family visit to the zoo, perhaps it’s just around the corner. The zoo is a wonderful opportunity for the Christian — both for personal…

In and Out, In a Blaise of Glory

In and Out, In a Blaise of Glory

Few have written with such passion and economy of expression. Rarely does one turn such manifest angst to articulation and channel such blood-earnestness into precise words. Blaise Pascal burned with the kind of intensity and aggression uncharacteristic of those who…

What Makes Dad Special

All around the world, dads are special today. Father’s Day is the third Sunday of June in the United States and more than 80 nations. It is fitting that we not only annually honor moms on Mother’s Day, but our…

Entertaining Pulpits and the Legacy of “Tethered Preaching”

Initially, it may be tough to tell the difference. A gifted Bible-expositor and an entertainment-oriented preacher, with a penchant for garnishing his ideas with some Bible, may not demonstrate much disparity at first. But give it some time. And check…

The Unmarked Tomb of a Well-Known Soldier

Today many of us in the United States will visit cemeteries and find other ways to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving in the Armed Forces. Memorial Day, observed annually on the last Monday of May, began…

We Are Far Too Easily Pleased

We Are Far Too Easily Pleased

It’s a beautiful thing when a single sentence reorients a soul for good.

Her Children Arise and Call Her Blessed

Her Children Arise and Call Her Blessed

Mother’s Day Meditation

Mother’s Day is a sweet opportunity for Christians to celebrate one of God’s most significant means of his common and redeeming grace.

The Outrageous Claim of the Ascension

The Outrageous Claim of the Ascension

The ascension reminds us that Christianity is not only an historical faith, but a faith of the present and future.

Meet the New John Piper

“I feel like I’m 22 again,” says the newly transitioned John Piper. Now that his pastorate at Bethlehem Baptist Church has officially ended, Piper says he feels like a recent college grad who is free to do anything God lays…

Jackie Robinson and the Pattern of Jesus

Jackie Robinson and the Pattern of Jesus

It was 1948, during Jackie Robinson’s second season in Major League Baseball, when some bigots in Cincinnati were really giving him the business.

Pity the Fool

Only in Jesus can we truly have Wisdom and then be sufficiently changed to not merely mock folly, but pity the fool.

Piper’s Final Weekend as Pastor

This Easter marks the end of an era at Bethlehem Baptist. John Piper served as the church’s primary preacher from July 13, 1980, until December 31, 2012. Since January 1 this year, he has been associate pastor, and his final…

The Old Man and His Big Book

Update: Robert Duncan Culver died February 7, 2015, at the age of 98. It felt as though we were traveling back in time. Snow was falling, the roads were icy, and civilization was in the rearview. Tony Reinke and I…

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