Spread great joy in a big God. Join us →

John Piper Photo

John Piper

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.

The Lion and the Lamb

The Lion and the Lamb

The worth and beauty of the Son come not just from his majesty, nor just from his meekness, but from the way these mingle in perfect proportion.

More Thoughts on Friends Who Fail You

Last Sunday’s message struck a chord with many when I spoke of Christian friends letting you down. I argued that sometimes they forsake you never to return — like Demas. He loved “the present world,” and so abandoned the great…

Church Growth God’s Way

Church Growth God’s Way

By all means work. But always look to the Lord for the decisive, supernatural work needed to fulfill his purposes.

Six Things It Means to Be in Christ Jesus

Six Things It Means to Be in Christ Jesus

Never grow weary of exploring and exulting in the inexhaustible privilege of being “in Christ Jesus.”

Forgiven for Jesus’s Sake

Forgiven for Jesus’s Sake

The Father’s infinite pleasure in his own perfections is the fountain of our everlasting joy and forgiveness.

Life Is Cheap in Norway: C. S. Lewis on the Sentence of Anders Breivik

Anders Breivik’s sentence for killing 77 people in Norway on July 22, 2011 is outrageous. He was deemed sane and sentenced to serve 21 years in prison “in a three-cell suite of rooms equipped with exercise equipment, a television and…

Jesus Will Trample All Our Enemies

Jesus Will Trample All Our Enemies

The extent of Christ’s reign reaches to the smallest and biggest enemy of his glory in your life, and in this universe. It will be defeated.

He Stood by Me and Strengthened Me for the Sake of the Gospel

He Stood by Me and Strengthened Me for the Sake of the Gospel

No matter how rough the road of your life, Jesus is a rock-solid friend who encourages and strengthens you to press on.

Shadows and Streams

Shadows and Streams

God rejoices in the works of creation because they point us beyond themselves to God himself.

God's Delight in Being God

Session 3

God’s pleasure in election, the death of Christ, doing good to those who hope in him, and the obedience of his people all stems from his fundamental pleasure in his own excellency.

God's Delight in Being God

Session 2

The destruction of the wicked is not ordained by God with the same kind of delight as the redemption of his people, though he is profoundly sovereign over all things.

When God’s Love Is Sweetest

When God’s Love Is Sweetest

The sweetest experience of God’s love is conditional on our transformation into the kind of people whose emotions and choices and actions please God.

God's Delight in Being God

Session 1

God’s delight in being God consists in his happiness in himself as the triune God and his passion to do all things for his name’s sake.

The Message of Creation

The Message of Creation

Day and night are saying one thing: God is glorious! Turn away from the creation as your supreme satisfaction, and delight yourself in the Lord of glory.

God Is Not an Idolater

God Is Not an Idolater

God is love precisely because he relentlessly pursues the praises of his name in the hearts of his people.

When a Sermon Becomes a Poem

After preaching on the inestimable value of God’s inspired word on August 11th, I was so moved that the desire to say it again another way kept urging me on. So I wrote this. The Truth A Meditation on 2…

Pleased to Praise

Pleased to Praise

If God loves us enough to make our joy full, he must not only give us himself; he must also win from us the praise of our hearts.

An Unshakably Happy God

An Unshakably Happy God

God’s pursuit of praise from us and our pursuit of pleasure in him are the same pursuit.

Jesus Is Who You’re Looking For

Jesus Is Who You’re Looking For

The Bible is a window that opens onto the sunrise glory of the risen Christ.

What the Resurrection Means for Us

What the Resurrection Means for Us

Christ’s resurrection is God’s declaration that we cannot work our way to glory, but that he intends to do the impossible to get us there.

Preach the Word, For the Time of My Departure Has Come

2 Timothy 4:1–8, I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and…

Hope to Obey Hard Commands

Hope to Obey Hard Commands

You will always be better off to obey than to disobey Jesus, even if that obedience costs you your life.

What It Means to Bless the Lord

What It Means to Bless the Lord

Authentic speaking about God’s goodness and greatness must come from the soul. Blessing God with the mouth without the soul would be hypocrisy.

Why You Give In to Sexual Sin

Why You Give In to Sexual Sin

If we are to be sexually pure, God must have the supreme place in our feelings and thoughts.

Beware of Elevated Vagueness

The term “elevated vagueness” caught my eye. It was in a tweet by Fred Sanders linking to his article about F. W. Robertson, a 19th century British preacher. Even before I read the article I could smell the rot…

New Resources
in Your Inbox

A digest from Desiring God