John Piper | Desiring God

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John Piper

John Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & 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 Why I Love the Apostle Paul: 30 Reasons.

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Job 2:4–10: How a Fool Responds to Suffering

How a Fool Responds to Suffering

Job 2:4–10

We have a refuge in times of trouble, safety amid life’s storms. Only a fool curses the shelter and runs into the eye of the storm.

Our Worth Is Not in What We Own: Fifteen-Minute Gospel Presentation

Our Worth Is Not in What We Own

Fifteen-Minute Gospel Presentation

We will never find true worth in what we have or who we are. True, full, lasting satisfaction can only come through all that God is for us in Jesus Christ. After the congregation sang “My Worth Is Not in What I Own,” John Piper presented this gospel message at the Sing! Belfast conference.

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Job 1:20–2:8: If God Afflicts You, Will You Curse Him?

If God Afflicts You, Will You Curse Him?

Job 1:20–2:8

No suffering takes God by surprise. He alone is the perfect help in our pain. Should all around our soul give way, he then is all our hope and stay.

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How Do I Live Like a Son Rather Than a Slave?

How Do I Live Like a Son Rather Than a Slave?

God has called us sons and daughters, but his people sometimes talk as if we were still slaves. What does it mean to talk like children of God?

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Job 1:6–22: How to Respond to Tragedy

How to Respond to Tragedy

Job 1:6–22

We cannot respond however we want when we suffer. Though we can grieve and mourn, if we never get to worship, we’ve stopped short.

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How Does ‘Christ Live in Me’ (Galatians 2:20)?

How Does ‘Christ Live in Me’ (Galatians 2:20)?

When we are saved, we’re united to Christ by the Spirit. Our old self — our unbelieving, rebellious, sin-loving self — dies, and we live by the Spirit.

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Job 1:1–2:3: Who Caused Job’s Suffering?

Who Caused Job’s Suffering?

Job 1:1–2:3

If God stripped away our gifts — our income, our family, even our own health — would we curse him or bless his name?

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Does Jesus Teach Us to Sell All Our Possessions?

Does Jesus Teach Us to Sell All Our Possessions?

Jesus said, “Sell your possessions, and give to the needy.” Are we disobeying Jesus if we don’t literally give away all that we have?

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How Can I Forgive My Parents for Childhood Abuse?

How Can I Forgive My Parents for Childhood Abuse?

How can we forgive others who have hurt us deeply? Pastor John gives three practical suggestions for pursuing forgiveness.

To Heaven and Back with No Fanfare: Why I Love the Apostle Paul

To Heaven and Back with No Fanfare

Why I Love the Apostle Paul

The apostle Paul went to heaven and back. But he mentions the experience only once, and he never uses it as a reason to believe anything he says. Why?

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Job 1:1–12: Can You Trust God in Your Pain?

Can You Trust God in Your Pain?

Job 1:1–12

Job remained steadfast in his suffering and has left us with a model for how to trust God with our pain.

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I’m Terrified of Giving Birth — Should I Still Pursue Marriage?

I’m Terrified of Giving Birth — Should I Still Pursue Marriage?

The fall has made childbirth painful and dangerous. But in Christ, the deepest dangers of the curse have been removed.

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Philippians 3:15–16: Stages of the Christian Life

Stages of the Christian Life

Philippians 3:15–16

No one starts as a mature Christian. Keep seeking God. Keep laboring to grow. And keep trusting that God will bring about our maturity.

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How Do I Survive This Midlife Crisis?

How Do I Survive This Midlife Crisis?

God keeps his children through midlife crises by empowering them to keep fighting to be kept.

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Is God Just as Sovereign over Damnation as Salvation?

Is God Just as Sovereign over Damnation as Salvation?

What role does God play in the redemption and damnation of sinners? Is he just as sovereign over both?

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Philippians 3:15–16: How God Changes Our Minds

How God Changes Our Minds

Philippians 3:15–16

God changes minds through ordinary means: Our gaze fixed upon his word, our knees bowed in prayer, and our time spent with our eternal family.

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What Is a Father’s Role in Caring for an Infant?

What Is a Father’s Role in Caring for an Infant?

A godly father will want to show God the Father to his children. He will want to model for them the heart of Jesus.

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Philippians 3:15–16: How to Disagree with a Christian

How to Disagree with a Christian

Philippians 3:15–16

We cannot disagree with Christians in any way we want. God has given us boundaries and ways forward.

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Would God Be Less Glorious If He Never Created?

Would God Be Less Glorious If He Never Created?

If God created the world to display the fullness of his attributes, would he have been less glorious without creation?

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Is God Angry at Me When I Sin?

Is God Angry at Me When I Sin?

We go from a rebel against the King to a child of the King. God’s attitude toward us completely changes. But does he still get angry at us when we sin?

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Philippians 3:15–16: What the Mature Think About

What the Mature Think About

Philippians 3:15–16

A heavenly mindset will not be lofty and self-righteous, but humble and God-dependent.

Who Will Give My Head Waters? Seven Reasons to Pray for Holy Tears

Who Will Give My Head Waters?

Seven Reasons to Pray for Holy Tears

Tears, crying, and weeping are all a proper response to the God-ordained sorrow and pain we face. Just because God is sovereign doesn’t mean we ignore our pain.

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The Heart of the Calvinist-Arminian Divide

The Heart of the Calvinist-Arminian Divide

Both Calvinists and Arminians see grace as powerful and necessary, but not in the same way. Pastor John gets at the heart of the theological divide.

Nothing Can Replace Preaching: Our Glorious and Dangerous Calling

Nothing Can Replace Preaching

Our Glorious and Dangerous Calling

As I look back over four decades of preaching, I bear witness that it has been worth every effort and every cost.

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Philippians 3:15–16: What Does It Mean to Be Mature?

What Does It Mean to Be Mature?

Philippians 3:15–16

God wants us to grow up and leave behind childish ways. And he has done everything necessary to ensure it can happen.