John Piper's Poem, "The Calvinist"

When many people speak (or hear) of Calvinism, they think of a "faith" that is cold and unfeeling. This short poem, in video form, does a wonderful job of getting at the essence of what a Calvinistic understanding of God and his word ought to look like. My prayer is that I, by God's grace, may be this kind of man.

Happy Birthday, Robert Murray M'Cheyne

300 years ago today, Robert Murray M'Cheyne was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. M'Cheyne is most famous for the Bible-reading program he developed and for his applicatory preaching. Eric J. Alexander writes of him in What is Biblical Preaching?, 'He seemed, as his preaching progressed, to advance upon you until he was standing inside your heart, applying the Word of God to all your life.'

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote of him in his wonderful book, Preachers & Preaching,

You remember what was said of the saintly Robert Murray McCheyne of Scotland in the last century. It is said that when he appeared in the pulpit, even before he had uttered a single word, people would begin to weep silently. Why? Because of this very element of seriousness. The very sight of the man gave the impression that he had come from the presence of God and that he was to deliver a message from God to them. That is what had such an effect upon the people even before he had opened his mouth. We forget this at our peril, and at great cost to our listener.  

Below is a talk that John Piper gave on M'Cheyne at the 2011 Desiring God Pastor's Conference. Check it out if you get the chance, and thank God for the presence and example of such ministers as Robert Murray M'Cheyne.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom: Ted Kluck on Cynicism and Sin

"Cynicism is described accurately by Paul Miller in A Praying Life: 'Shattered optimism sets us up for the fall into defeated weariness and, eventually, cynicism. You'd think it would just leave us less optimistic, but as humans we don't do neutral well. We go from seeing the bright side of everything to seeing the dark side of everything. We feel betrayed by life.'

"And when we feel betrayed by life--and God--sin usually follows. We sin because we fundamentally distrust that God's plan will be enough to bring us the happiness (or esteem or comfort) that we crave the most. So we look to the world to provide those things. And many times, from Christians, we're just implored to 'sin less.' We buy the forty-ninth Internet filter for our computers, or take on our fifth accountability partner. Those things, mind you, are good and helpful. But like John Piper asserts in Future Grace, we must replace the sin with something greater."

Ted Kluck
Finding God in the Dark

Sola Conference

The five "Solas" stand at the heart of Reformation Christianity and they will be the theme of a conference in Michigan this December. I look forward to attending the Sola Conference in Lansing on December 6th and 7th, and sitting under the teaching of a great group of speakers.

Heikkinen and DeYoung (the conference's organizers) speak about it in the video below:



Check it out here, register by July 31 for only $45, and I'll see you there! The schedule is as follows:

Friday, December 6, 2013 

9:00 – 1:00: Preconference Track for Pastors & Church Planters

2:30 – 4:00: Session 1 – Sola (Noel Heikkinen)
4:30 – 5:30: Session 2 – Ad Fontes: Why Going Backward Is the Best Way to Go Forward (Kevin DeYoung)
7:30 – 9:00: Session 3 – Sola Fide (Matt Chandler)

Saturday, December 7, 2013

8:30 – 9:30: Session 4 – Sola Gratia (Leonce Crump)
10:00 – 11:00: Session 5 – Solus Christus (Stephen Um)
11:30 – 12:30: Session 6 – Panel Discussion
3:00 – 4:00: Session 7 – Sola Scriptura (Albert Mohler)
4:30 – 5:30: Session 8 – Soli Deo Gloria (John Piper)

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom...Lewis on Pleasures

"Pleasures are shafts of glory as it strikes our sensibility…But aren’t there bad, unlawful pleasures? Certainly there are. But in calling them 'bad pleasures' I take it we are using a kind of shorthand. We mean 'pleasures snatched by unlawful acts.' It is the stealing of the bad apples that is bad, not the sweetness. The sweetness is still a beam from the glory…I have tried since…to make every pleasure into a channel of adoration. I don’t mean simply by giving thanks for it.  One must of course give thanks, but I meant something different…Gratitude exclaims, very properly, 'How good of God to give me this.' Adoration says, 'What must be the quality of that Being whose far off and momentary coruscations are like this!' One’s mind runs back up the sunbeam to the sun…If this is Hedonism, it is also a somewhat arduous discipline. But it is worth some labor."

C.S. Lewis
Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer
(as quoted by John Piper in When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight for Joy)

A Word for Preachers...Piper on Suffering and the Preacher

"There is one last connection between the preacher's suffering and the suffering of his people, namely, that his suffering will show him that the timing of teaching and touching is crucial. 'There is a time for everything...a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;…a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;…a time to keep silence, and a time to speak’ (Eccl. 3:1, 4-7, RSV). Preaching involves timing. Preach the whole truth about suffering and the sovereign goodness of God while it is day, and when the night comes and you stand beside the suicide victim’s pool of blood or the ice-cold, ivory body of a one-year-old boy, you won’t have to say anything. This will be a time for embracing. At this point the suffering saints will be glad that your suffering has taught you to preach the hard things and then, at the right time, to be silent."

John Piper
Feed My Sheep: A Passionate Plea for Preaching

The Inkeeper by John Piper

John Piper reads his poem, The Inkeeper. (HT: Desiring God)

A Word for Preachers...Piper on Our Aim in Preaching

"Our aim in preaching is not to help our people feel treasured, but to help them treasure God. We must aim to preach in such a way that we breed a kind of people who feel loved not when they are made much of, but when they are patiently helped to enjoy making much of God, even when they themselves are slandered, ridiculed, persecuted, and killed. This is impossible with man, but with God all things are possible. When the Holy Spirit comes in power on our preaching, people see that Christ is treasure and they are loved, and that those two things are one. God has ordained that one way they see Christ treasured in us is how we are sustained by Him in suffering."

John Piper
Feed My Sheep: A Passionate Plea for Preaching

How to Think and Talk about Election

Below is a video clip from a sermon delivered by John Piper. In it he makes reference to 2 Timothy 2:10 and points out how this verse informs our understanding of the doctrine of election, and the practical implications that it has for our lives.



(HT: Vitamin Z)

Video Available for Race & the Christian

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, John Piper, Tim Keller and Anthony Bradley got together last Wednesday to discuss the topic of Race & the Christian. Each of the three men spoke for approximately 20-25 minutes followed by a Q&A session.

If you were unable to catch this important discussion via the live stream last Wednesday, or if you did and you'd like to watch it again, Desiring God has made the videos available online. To watch them, you can either go to their website, or simply watch them embedded below.

Ministry Transitions

Many woke up this morning to news of two transitions involving among prominent church leaders:

1) The elders of Bethlehem Baptist Church are presenting Jason Meyer to the congregation their candidate for Associate Pastor for Preaching and Vision. The expectation that Meyer will become John Piper's eventual successor as the church's senior pastor. Click here for an update on Piper's transition which was posted at Desiring God.

2) In other news, Mark Driscoll announced that he will be replaced as the president of the Acts 29 church planting network by Matt Chandler. As part of this transition, Acts 29 will be moving its headquarters from Seattle to Dallas. Driscoll's Mars Hill Church will remain a part of the Acts 29 network.

Piper, Keller and Bradley Discuss Race & the Christian

The February 26 shooting of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida has brought the topic of race to the forefront of our collective consciousness. Next Wednesday (March 28) from 7-9pm (EDT), fellow Covenant Theological Seminary alumnus Anthony Bradley will moderate an important discussion with John Piper and Tim Keller on the topic of Race & the Christian. The event will be live-streamed for free at Desiring God and I encourage you to check it out. If you have questions you would like to submit, you can email them to raceandthechristian@redeemer.com.

In the words of Piper, "This is not a social issue. It is a blood issue." Here is a video invitation from him:


Invitation to Piper and Keller on Race & the Christian from Desiring God on Vimeo.

This event will be sponsored by Crossway and hosted by the Grace and Race Team at Redeemer Presbyterian Church.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom...Piper on Christian Service

"What is God looking for in the world? Assistants? No. The gospel is not a help-wanted ad. It is a help-available ad. Nor is the call to Christian service a help-wanted ad. God is not looking for people to work for Him but people who let Him work mightily in and through them: 'The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him' (2 Chron. 16:9). God is not a scout looking for the first draft choices to help His team win. He is an unstoppable fullback ready to take the ball and run touchdowns for anyone who trusts him to win the game."

John Piper
Brothers, We Are Not Professionals

Free Download of Piper's Bloodlines

You may recall a couple months ago I posted a video related to John Piper's book Bloodlines: Race, Cross and the Christian, which tells the story of his personal journey from racism to the path of redemption. I just saw that Desiring God is making the book available for free download in PDF form. Click here to take advantage of this wonderful offer.

I have once again embedded the video below. If you have not yet seen it, please set aside 17-18 minutes to do so.


Bloodlines Documentary with John Piper from Crossway on Vimeo.

Bloodlines: Race, Cross and the Christian

Last month, Crossway Publishing released John Piper's most recent book, Bloodlines: Race, Cross and the Christian. Below is a related video documentary featuring Piper as he discusses his personal history of growing up in the segregated South. In it we clearly see the transforming power of the gospel and the beauty of racial diversity and harmony in Christ.

It's a little longer than most videos I post, but please take the time to watch it. I promise, it will be 17 or 18 minutes very well spent.



Bloodlines Documentary with John Piper from Crossway on Vimeo.

The Gospel Coalition Women's Conference

From time to time I try to recommend good conferences to readers of this blog.  Though it obviously won't work for many of my readers, one such conference is The Gospel Coalition Women's Conference next June 22-24 in Orlando, with the theme Here is Our God: God's Revelation of Himself in Scripture.

If you are a woman, I highly recommend you look into this conference, and consider registering before the early registration deadline of December 31.  Among the main session speakers will be Tim Keller, Nancy Leigh DeMoss, John Piper, D.A. Carson, Paige Benton Brown and Jenny Salt, the final two of which can be seen on the video below discussing their views on teaching the Bible to women.


Dare to Go Where Few Women's Studies Will Go from The Gospel Coalition on Vimeo.

A Word for Preachers...John Piper on Producing Contrition

"Preaching that aims to produce true evangelical remorse and contrition must devote itself to making God and His holiness look alluringly attractive and satisfying, so that, by the grace of regeneration and illumination, people will come to love is so much that they feel remorse over falling short of it.  In other words, we must preach for joy in the glory of God if we would produce true grief over falling short of the glory of God.  Evangelical repentance is grounded in an appealing sight of the holiness of God."

John Piper

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom...John Piper on What God is Seeking

"What is God looking for in the world? Assistants? No. The gospel is not a help-wanted ad. It is a help-available ad. Nor is the call to Christian service a help-wanted ad. God is not looking for people to work for Him but people who let Him work mightily in and through them...God is not a scout looking for the first draft choices to help His team win.  He is an unstoppable fullback ready to take the ball and run touchdowns for anyone who trusts Him to win the game."

John Piper

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

"The critical question for our generation—and for every generation—is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever say, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?"

John Piper

Desiring God Pastors' Conference Audio

One of the great blessings of living in the 21st century is the vast array of wonderful biblical teachers alive today. Another one of the great blessings is the fact that with the advent of the internet, much of this great teaching is readily available to us at any given time.

This week, Desiring God Ministries held their annual pastors' conference, and while I was not able to attend, I am able to listen to each one of the messages, as DG has made them available online.  I've already commented briefly on Francis Chan's message which I took in Tuesday.  The Speaker Panel Q&A was good throughout, with moments of brutal honesty and profound brilliance.  I look forward to hearing the rest of the messages.  Here are the links to them all:

Session One: Joel Beeke, "Cultivating Private Prayer as a Pastor"

Session Two: Paul Miller, "Helping Your People Discover the Praying Life"

Session Three: Francis Chan, "Prayer as a Way of Walking in Love: A Personal Journey"

Session Four: John Piper, "Robert Murray M'Cheyne"

Session Five: Joel Beeke, "Leading Family Worship"

Session Six: Jerry Rankin, "Unreached Peoples and the Power of Prayer"

Session Seven: Speaker Panel Q and A