Joe Rigney

Joe Rigney is president of Bethlehem College & Seminary and a teacher for desiringGod.org. He is a husband, father of three, and pastor at Cities Church. His most recent book is More Than a Battle: How to Experience Victory, Freedom, and Healing from Lust.

Article

What Spoils the Lord’s Supper?

How Not to Come to the Table

Sep 11, 2022

In many churches, the Lord’s Supper feels somber, heavy, and introspective. But is that what Jesus intended when he broke the bread and poured the cup?

Article

Be Comforted in Your Smallness

Aug 31, 2022

Does one of your callings in life feel overwhelming? Let C.S. Lewis help you take comfort in your smallness.

Article

Everything in God Is God

How to Think About His Attributes

Aug 1, 2022

How might we think in an orderly way about God’s attributes? Here’s often overlooked help from Jonathan Edwards.

Article

Do Infant Baptisms Count?

Reconsidering Open Membership

Jul 27, 2022

If a Christian wants to join your baptist church but they tell you that they were baptized as a child, what do you do?

Article

The Prudence Bucket

Applying the Bible to Gray Areas

Jul 14, 2022

Many of the most difficult decisions churches face are ones the Bible does not clearly address. This means pastors have to regularly practice humble, Bible-saturated prudence.

Article

Triage in the Trenches

When Do Second-Tier Issues Divide?

Jul 10, 2022

If sexuality and baptism are both second-tier issues, why is the former often more divisive in the wider church today?

Article

Immersed into Mission

Why Jesus Commands Us to Baptize

Jun 21, 2022

Being baptized into the church means being immersed in its mission. The old has passed and a new life now begins.

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Do Unto Authors

Four Principles for Reading Well

Jun 10, 2022

The best readers gladly observe the Golden Rule: they read others as they would want to be read.

Article

Submit Your Felt Reality to God

May 19, 2022

Our own sense of reality is not the same as reality itself. And simply recognizing that distinction can be the first step toward aligning our thoughts and emotions with God’s word.

Article

A Most Harmful Medicine

How Subjectivism Poisons a Society

May 9, 2022

The surest way to give the world over to evil is to begin to deny such evil exists. And this is exactly what we have begun doing.

Article

Invisible and Unmistakable

How Scripture Pictures the Holy Spirit

Apr 21, 2022

If you want to understand the Holy Spirit better, you can begin by grasping the images of the Spirit given in Scripture: wind and breath, spirit and river, oil and bird.

Article

I Have No Good Apart from You

Prayer of the Satisfied Heart

Apr 11, 2022

Many of us struggle to experience contentment because we look for it in the wrong places. The satisfied heart prays, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”

Article

Kneeling Among Lions

Learning to Pray Like Daniel

Mar 20, 2022

Before Daniel courageously survived the lions’ den, he courageously knelt before his God. What can we learn from his brave prayer?

Article

The Stories We Tell Ourselves

Questioning How We Frame Reality

Mar 12, 2022

Are you ever perplexed that two people can experience the same event and come to very different conclusions about what happened?

Article

Walk the War Before You

What It Means to Live by the Spirit

Feb 17, 2022

If the Spirit lives in you, you do not need to give in to sinful desires anymore. You will not be perfect, but you can be increasingly free.

Article

Lord, Deliver Me from Me

A Daily Prayer Against Unbelief

Feb 7, 2022

When doubts assail and fears prevail, run to your Father in prayer: “Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in you.”

Article

The Deepest Part of You

How Feelings Relate to Choices

Jan 20, 2022

How much do our feelings reveal who we are? What might we learn from a seeming disagreement between John Piper and C.S. Lewis.

Article

Trials Prove True Joy

What Jesus Says About Happiness

Jan 8, 2022

Joy is not always a sign of spiritual vitality and strength. Some joy wears away quickly and easily, while other joy endures, even through difficult days.

Article

The Good War Against Moods

How Stubborn Faith Overcomes Feelings

Dec 26, 2021

Saving faith is a stubborn thing. It holds onto Christ even when our emotions and moods bid us to let go.

Article

More Shocking Than Christ

Why We Call Jesus Lord

Dec 5, 2021

When the New Testament writers call Jesus “Lord,” they often mean much more than “ruler” or “king.” They mean Yahweh himself.

Article

Give Thanks and Give More

A Guide to Joyful Generosity

Nov 23, 2021

Generosity isn’t first about giving more, but about receiving better. If you want to be a more generous giver, ask God to make you a more grateful receiver.

Article

Courage for Normal Christians

Nov 7, 2021

Courage is not the character trait of super-Christians; it is the God-empowered gift of every child of God.

Article

Beware the Anger of Your Soul

How to Restrain Ungodly Passion

Oct 17, 2021

As we feel the temperature of our souls rising, we need to stop and remind ourselves that ungodly anger will only add iniquity to our injury.

Article

Our Lives in His

How Justification Leads to Holiness

Oct 5, 2021

Does our right standing before God depend on our becoming more like Jesus, or does our becoming more like Jesus flow from our right standing before God?

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Pray and Obey Anyway

How God Meets Us in the Valley

Sep 19, 2021

Do you want to know what devastates the halls of hell? A Christian who feels abandoned by God and yet still believes, still prays, still loves, still obeys.

New Resources
in Your Inbox

A digest from Desiring God

Joe Rigney

What Spoils the Lord’s Supper?

How Not to Come to the Table

Be Comforted in Your Smallness

Everything in God Is God

How to Think About His Attributes

Do Infant Baptisms Count?

Reconsidering Open Membership

The Prudence Bucket

Applying the Bible to Gray Areas

Triage in the Trenches

When Do Second-Tier Issues Divide?

Immersed into Mission

Why Jesus Commands Us to Baptize

Do Unto Authors

Four Principles for Reading Well

Submit Your Felt Reality to God

A Most Harmful Medicine

How Subjectivism Poisons a Society

Invisible and Unmistakable

How Scripture Pictures the Holy Spirit

I Have No Good Apart from You

Prayer of the Satisfied Heart

Kneeling Among Lions

Learning to Pray Like Daniel

The Stories We Tell Ourselves

Questioning How We Frame Reality

Walk the War Before You

What It Means to Live by the Spirit

Lord, Deliver Me from Me

A Daily Prayer Against Unbelief

The Deepest Part of You

How Feelings Relate to Choices

Trials Prove True Joy

What Jesus Says About Happiness

The Good War Against Moods

How Stubborn Faith Overcomes Feelings

More Shocking Than Christ

Why We Call Jesus Lord

Give Thanks and Give More

A Guide to Joyful Generosity

Courage for Normal Christians

Beware the Anger of Your Soul

How to Restrain Ungodly Passion

Our Lives in His

How Justification Leads to Holiness

Pray and Obey Anyway

How God Meets Us in the Valley

New Resourcesin Your Inbox

New Resources
in Your Inbox