Desiring God Blog

A Conversation with Doug Wilson and John Piper

Tony Reinke — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:00:00 -0600

The recent Conference for Pastors concluded with this two-hour-long conversation between John Piper and Douglas Wilson, moderated by Joe Rigney. Download the audio and video.

Time-markers —

0:01:06 — Unpacking the meaning behind the individual mission statements.

0:07:09 — The differences in how those mission statements are framed.

0:10:48 — Unpacking, comparing, and contrasting two sub-themes: "Don't waste your life" (Piper) and "Living out the good life one family at a time" (Wilson).

0:19:14 — Counteracting the negative tendencies of these sub-themes (burnout/comfort).

0:23:00 — The shaping influence of Jonathan Edwards.

0:31:50 — On making the doctrine of the trinity prominent in ministry.

0:35:50 — Edwards on the Trinity.

0:39:12 — The shaping influence of C. S. Lewis.

0:52:00 — Defining Christian hedonism, differences and similarities.

1:02:05 — Does gratitude for material gifts lead to joy in the Giver? Or, does joy in God lead to enjoyment of the material gifts?

1:09:52 — On the role of self-denial in the Christian life.

1:15:22 — Discussion over Wilson's statement: "God is most glorified in me when I love what he has given to me, for its own sake."

1:32:05 — God delights in us because of Christ. But does he love me for me? Does he even like me, my personality, etc?

1:40:35 — Engaging the public square on social issues. Go deep on a few key issues (race, abortion), or address broader range of issues (taxation, climate change, etc)?

1:49:00 — Responding to cultural sins with tears of sorrow or stinging satire?

1:58:53 — Closing prayer (Piper)

This Momentary Marriage — Small Group Special

Josh Etter — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:10:00 -0600

In This Momentary Marriage Pastor John unpacks the biblical vision of marriage, with all of its unexpected contours and weighty implications, for married and single folk alike.

Pastor John:

Most foundationally, marriage is the doing of God. And ultimately, marriage is the display of God. It displays the covenant-keeping love between Christ and his people to the world in a way that no other event or institution does.

To encourage churches to use this resource for small group studies, we are making the book available as affordable as possible — 24 books for a suggested donation of $75. Shipping is free within the Continental United States.

To order, please call 888.346.4700 Monday to Friday, 9am – 3pm (CST).

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Other case specials —

Finally Alive (60 books for $160)
Don't Waste Your Life (52 books for $150)

Where There's a Praying Mother, There's Always Hope

Tony Reinke — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:00:00 -0600

Mark 7:26,

". . . Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter."

J. C. Ryle comments,

The woman who came to our Lord, in the history now before us, must doubtless have been in deep affliction. She saw a beloved child possessed by an unclean spirit. She saw her in a condition in which no teaching could reach the mind, and no medicine could heal the body — a condition only one degree better than death itself. She hears of Jesus, and beseeches him to “cast forth the devil out of her daughter.” She prays for one who could not pray for herself, and never rests till her prayer is granted.

By prayer she obtains the cure which no human means could obtain. Through the prayer of the mother, the daughter is healed. On her own behalf that daughter did not speak a word; but her mother spoke for her to the Lord, and did not speak in vain. Hopeless and desperate as her case appeared, she had a praying mother, and where there is a praying mother there is always hope.

Expository Thoughts on Mark (1859).

Stream or download John Piper's recent biographical sketch of J. C. Ryle.

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Recent posts from "They Still Speak" —

Christianity Without Discipleship Is Christianity Without Christ (Bonhoeffer)
What Is Essential to Being a Christian? (Jonathan Edwards)
The Leading and Quenching of the Spirit (Martyn Lloyd-Jones)

Free Seminar on Future Grace on March 16-17

Josh Etter — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 03:00:00 -0600

On March 16-17 at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Pastor John will be giving a free, two-day seminar on the theme of Future Grace —

Details

Bethlehem Baptist Church
720 13th Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55415

Day 1
Friday, March 16
7:00 - 9:00pm (two sessions, + Q&A)

Day 2
Saturday, March 17
9:00am - 12:00pm (three sessions)

Register

Please register online. There is no cost to attend, and included in your registration is a free copy of the book Future Grace.

Recommended Hotels

Comfort Suites
425 South 7th Street
Minneapolis, MN 55415
612.333.3111

Holiday Inn Metrodome
1500 Washington Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55454
612.333.4646

Hilton Minneapolis
1001 Marquette Avenue S
Minneapolis, MN 55403
612.376.1000

Q&A with Pastors Conference Speakers

Jonathan Parnell — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:00:00 -0600

One highlight of the Conference for Pastors is the hour-long panel where speakers interact with questions from the pastors in attendence. Download the audio and video.

Time-markers —

00:50 — What is biblical femininity? (Wilson, Patrick)

05:12 — Does Christianity have a feminine feel? (Piper, Loritts, Patrick)

11:25 — How can fathers best care for their daughters? (Wilson, Patrick, Loritts)

15:44 — How do we know to apply strictness or mercy? (Wilson, Piper, Loritts)

24:55 — How do we model Christ in parenting foster children? (Piper, Wilson)

28:40 — Lessons for courage, boldness, and wisdom. (Atallah)

30:56 — How does Christian worship threaten the pattern of this world? (Wilson)

33:43 — How does masculinity relate to our worship music? (Piper, Wilson)

40:45 — What are strategies for building godly men? (Loritts, Patrick)

43:45 — How do we surround ourselves with godly men? (Patrick, Loritts, Wilson, Atallah)

52:53 — Counsel for fathers who want to rebuild relationships. (Wilson, Loritts, Piper, Patrick)

59:00 — Closing prayer. (Piper)

No, We're Not God

John Knight — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:00:00 -0600

When the Journal of Medical Ethics released the article, “What makes killing wrong?” in January, they set off a mini-storm of outrage and controversy. The authors, from Duke University and the National Institutes of Health, asserted that ‘universally and irreversibly disabled people’ could be killed for the sake of retrieving their organs for people who are not totally disabled.

On the whole, the issue raised is when it becomes appropriate to retrieve organs from one person for the sake of another. The governing rule that a person must be dead before vital organs can be removed, known as the ‘dead donor rule,’ has many difficult aspects to it that make even its proponents uncomfortable.

But a dry journal article on the philosophical and ethical issues around such an issue would not have been interesting.

So, these authors created a provocative scenario involving a poor crime victim named Betty who becomes ‘universally and irreversibly disabled.’ They argue that her condition is equal to (or possibly worse then) being dead. Thus, it does not harm her to kill her and take her organs.

A Larger Issue

If they were trying to solicit outrage they succeeded. Too many of us took the bait and responded rashly, calling the authors evil, misguided, immoral. While they may be all of those things, there is a larger issue in the article that changes the way we think about this and any other issue related to human life and disability.

The larger issue is simply a matter of who is in control. The authors conclude that "we" are. But you might ask, "who is we?" Answer: the strong, the capable, the wise, the educated. The article attempts to subtly draw everyone into this presumption of human control.

The logical fallacies that abound in their article are too numerous to address and ultimately distracting from that core issue of control. The idea of God or religion having authority is dismissed in a single sentence: “However, these arguments have no force at all for those of us who prefer our moral theories to be independent of religion.”

From this standpoint, how can they lose? They are not governed by any authority except their own. Further, they also get to govern anyone who disagrees with them because our appeals to a different authority have been rejected.

Drawing a New Line?

The whole article could be considered absurd and not worth the time to read, except for their closing assertions about organ donations and people with disabilities:

Critics might object that abandoning the dead donor rule will take us down the slippery slope to procuring vital organs from the mentally retarded or other groups of vulnerable individuals with disabilities. Absolutely not. We can hold the line for vital organ donation by continuing to restrict it to those in a state of total (universal and irreversible) disability. It is only these donors who would not be harmed or wronged by vital organ donation, since all other donors have abilities to lose.

In other words, they assert that the "we" who have created the artificial line between worthy life and unworthy life can also be trusted never to move that line. The very fact that they have created a new line proves how illogical and disingenuousness the very statement is.

Only God Is God

Have we learned nothing from history? Once we hand over authority on such basic matters as what constitutes life and its value, we should not be surprised when the line moves for the ‘good’ of others. Eugenics, the Holocaust, abortion — and it could get worse.

End-of-life issues are horribly complex and emotionally devastating. But we shouldn't confuse that issue with what these authors have raised. We also shouldn't begin to assume that end-of-life issues are the same as the issues related to living with disabilities.

Ultimately, the authors of the article are trying to be God. They're attempting to assert an independent authority over life. But worse, it's a high-handed takeover of lives that are weaker than their own. They want us to believe we have that authority as well.

Let us remember — and then winsomely remind others — that God alone has such authority over his creation. And that we will not let the vulnerable among us be abused, no matter what title the oppressor carries, nor how many times they'd tell us it is for our 'good.'

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Recent posts from "The Works of God" —

Ramez Atallah on Pastoring with Vision, Creativity, and Courage

Jonathan Parnell — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0600

Ramez Atallah, general secretary of the Bible Society of Egypt, spoke at the 2012 Conference for Pastors on ministering with vision, creativity, and courage. Download the audio and video.

Memorable Quotes

"Obligated, eager and not ashamed — these should characterize a church with the gospel."
"When I came to understand the gospel for the first time, I knew that this is what my peopled needed."
"A Christian leader has to have a vision — he must see things other people don't see and empower them to capture it and incarnate it."
"Faith respects people who are eccentric and marginal."
"Humility allows us to be mission oriented, rather than gift oriented."

What Does It Mean to Be a Pilgrim?

Jonathan Parnell — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:00:00 -0600

The gospel turns people into pilgrims. It comes with a culture-correcting force that creates aliens and exiles of the world.

Drawing from a 1733 Jonathan Edwards sermon, John Piper offers seven descriptions of what this looks like:

Pilgrims are not diverted from their aim.
Pilgrims are to hold the things of this world loosely.
Pilgrims become like what they hope to attain.
Pilgrims will not be satisfied with anything less than God.
Pilgrims are not grieved by their arrival at the journey's end.
Pilgrims ponder what they pursue.
Pilgrims travel together.

Read the entire article, Jonathan Edwards on the Pilgrim Mindset.

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John Piper's Biographical Message on J. C. Ryle

Jonathan Parnell — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:00:00 -0600

John Piper gave his annual biographical message at the 2012 Conference for Pastors. This year he spoke about the life and ministry J. C. Ryle. Download the audio and video.

Pastor John begins the message by explaining what he means that "Christianity has a masculine feel."

Theology and church and mission are marked by overarching godly male leadership in the spirit of Christ, with an ethos of tender-hearted strength, and contrite courage, and risk-taking decisiveness, and readiness to sacrifice for the sake of leading, protecting, and providing for the community — all of which is possible only through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
It’s the feel of a great, majestic God, who by his redeeming work in Jesus Christ, inclines men to take humble, Christ-exalting initiative, and inclines women to come alongside the men with joyful support, intelligent helpfulness, and fruitful partnership in the work.

Love That Jesus Calls the Weak

Jonathan Parnell — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0600

I want to be like Jonathan Edwards, don’t you? The guy was amazing. He was a polymath, an incomparable scholar, “probably the greatest America mind ever” (as they say). Writing a treatise on spiders was like a few rounds of Angry Birds to him. He was the pastor-theologian. A school president. A missionary to unreached peoples. A leader in a movement that changed America. He was a giant.

Paul Talks About Us

And then the Apostle Paul reminds us with the Corinthians: “not many of you” were wise or powerful or noble. “Not many of you.” It doesn’t apply to everyone, but it does to most of us.

Most of us don’t come to faith in Jesus with the intellectual respect of secular scholars. Most of our conversion stories don’t include anything close to a Nebuchadnezzer-like experience of boasting in our kingdom. Most of us weren’t born into noble families with financial freight and international influence. It doesn’t take any soul-searching to figure this out. Quite simply, we understand that Paul is talking to us.

Feeling Our Weakness

We understand that we’re weak. We’re weak and called by God and so we enter seminary for theological and pastoral training. Yet here’s the thing: we want to be trained, yes. To grow and to learn, yes — but it's not to become unweak.

1 Corinthians 1 can begin to make less sense to us. We learn dense theological truth, and fumble through the original languages, and consult high-level scholarship, and sign up for a Student Membership in ETS. We’re trying to get stronger. We either don’t feel very foolish in the way we’re able to dissect Edwards’s Essay on the Trinity, or perhaps we realize we’re so far off the map that we resent God making us the way he did. Why can't I be smarter! Forget Edwards, who cares?

Christ Crucified

Whichever we are, let’s come together, each with our own measure of faith assigned by God, and let’s love that Jesus calls the weak. Let’s love the biblical narrative: how Abraham embarrassed himself twice in the pseudo-sister incidents, how insignifcant Judah should have been, how Gideon was just Gideon, how David was the little one. . . .

That no matter how remarkable our giftings may be or how simple our understanding is, the message we proclaim is stupid to the world. Let us be known less for our strengths in academic rigor and more for how that rigor goes deeper in grasping what it means that a man was crucified to save the world.

Intellectual proficiency takes a back seat when our only hope is in what some call offensive, and others call folly.

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How to Stay Christian in Seminary:

Darrin Patrick on Being and Building Men

Jonathan Parnell — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 11:55:00 -0600

Darrin Patrick's message at the 2012 Conference for Pastors was on being and building men in the local church. He expounded Galatians 5 and walked through the on-the-ground work of killing sin and living in the Spirit. Download the audio and video.

Memorable Quotes

"When you become a leader of men, you plug your life into an ampiflier and everyone hears it."
"You don't obey for your acceptance, you obey from your acceptance."
"You don't measure your maturity by comparing yourself with others. You judge maturity by comparing yourself to Jesus."
"Paul tells us to crucify the flesh. Crucifixion is a slow death, but it is a certain death."
"Your flesh is anything you use other than Jesus to get God’s approval. Your flesh will take your ministry and make it your righteousness."
"A key to killing your spiritual flesh is through surrounding yourselves with brothers. You have to have some guys who aren’t impressed with you. You need elders who tell you no."
"You need guys around you who hate your sin. You need guys who are pursing Christ to the degree that when you look at them you say 'I want to pursue Christ like that.'"

Read and Share "Filling Up the Afflictions of Christ" for $5

Josh Etter — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0600

The price William Tyndale, Adoniram Judson, and John Paton paid to translate the Word of God, pave the way for missionary mobilization around the world, and lead the hostile to Christ was great. Yet their stories show how the gospel advances not only through the faithful proclamation of the truth but through representing the afflictions of Christ in our sufferings.

You can now order the book for just $5.

(Offer good only for purchases made through our online store and while supplies last.)

Other Specials

Finally Alive ($5)
The Dangerous Duty of Delight ($5)
Think ($5)
A Holy Ambition ($5)
Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ ($5)
Fifty Reasons Jesus Came to Die ($5)
The Gadarene ($5)
Portrait of Calvin ($3)
God Is the Gospel ($5)
With Calvin in the Theater of God ($5)
Ruth: Under the Wings of God ($5)

Crawford Loritts on Lessons Learned from His Father

Jonathan Parnell — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:00:00 -0600

Crawford Loritts' message included practical insight and a short exposition of Galatians 5 on what it means to live and walk by the Spirit. Download the audio and video.

Memorable Quotes

"Manhood is not a private matter. It is a public thing. A man aspires to be the desired destination at which others arrive."
"This summarizes my dad: Stepping up, never walking away, if it belongs to you, you do something with it."
"Our disproportionate desire for relevance is injecting embalming fluid into the next generation."
"Out of struggle comes strength; out of strength comes discipline; out of discipline comes integrity; out of integrity comes inheritance."
"How people treat you should never define you. It's not what people call you, but what you answer to."
"All we have to give to the next generation is what we have become."

Read and Share "Ruth: Under the Wings of God" for $5

Josh Etter — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 12:00:00 -0600

This four-part poem recounts God's care for Naomi and the love between Ruth and Boaz. It's a story told from the perspective of the couple's son, an aged Obed, as he recounts it to his eight-year-old grandson David, the future king of Israel.

You can now order the book for just $5.

(Offer good only for purchases made through our online store and while supplies last.)

Other Specials

Finally Alive ($5)
The Dangerous Duty of Delight ($5)
Think ($5)
A Holy Ambition ($5)
Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ ($5)
Fifty Reasons Jesus Came to Die ($5)
The Gadarene ($5)
Portrait of Calvin ($3)
God Is the Gospel ($5)
With Calvin in the Theater of God ($5)

Doug Wilson on Leading in the Home

Jonathan Parnell — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0600

Doug Wilson's first message at the 2012 Conference for Pastors was about the role of fathers in leading the home. Download the audio and video.

He noted six things to learn about fatherhood in the baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3:16–17),

When Jesus was baptized, his father was there.
The Father made his presence felt.
The Father made his presence known by speaking.
The Father's statement identified with his son.
The Father expressed his love for his son.
The Father expressed his pleasure in his son.

Memorable Quotes

"Fatherhood in the home and pastoral care in the church are analogous activities. This makes sense only if they are related activities."
"When Paul considers the leadership of the church he doesn't first refer to a rigorous M. Div. program."
"The way we image the Father is to be open-handed and generous in all that we have."
"Masculine toughness has to lay underneath masculine tenderness. It is a velvet covered brick."
"Biblical authority knows how to bleed for others."
"If you want to preach the gospel to your wife and to your children, then die."
"When men take up their responsibilities to provide and protect, it resonates with their being. When men walk away from their responsibilities, they walk away from their assigned masculine identity."
"Fathers are speaking about God the Father constantly. They have no option to shut up."
"The Father is not guilty of the sins you are repenting of. We have not truly repented if we turn to the Father thinking that he will receive us the same way we would have received ourselves before repentance."
"Know that your heavenly Father is looking down the road for you."

Now Available: Messages from the Conference for Pastors

Jonathan Parnell — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:40:00 -0600

Audio and video from the 2012 Conference for Pastors is now available for free streaming and download.

"Father Hunger" in Leading the Home
Doug Wilson

Lessons on Biblical Manhood Learned from His Father
Crawford Loritts

Being and Building Men for the Local Mission
Darrin Patrick

"The Frank and Manly Mr. Ryle" — The Value of a Masculine Ministry
John Piper

"Father Hunger" in Leading the Church
Doug Wilson

Pastoring with Vision, Creativity, and Courage in Hard Places
Ramez Atallah

Speaker Panel
John Piper, Crawford Loritts, Darrin Patrick, Doug Wilson, Ramez Atallah

The Supremacy of Christ in All of Life: The Pastor and His Worldview
A Conversation with Doug Wilson and John Piper

Careful here, brothers. Conferences can make a lot of hearers, but we're called to more than that. May God give us grace to fulfill our roles as men in the home and in ministry.

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Read and Share "Don't Waste Your Life" for $5

Josh Etter — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:33:00 -0600

In this book Pastor John describes his journey toward one great, single passion—endless joy in the crucified Christ—and challenges the reader to the same pursuit. The cost is great. But the joy is worth any cost.

(Offer good only for purchases made through our online store and while supplies last.)

Update: We have SOLD OUT of Don't Waste Your Life. You still purchase the book from WTS Books ($7.49) or Amazon ($9.99).

Other Specials

Finally Alive ($5)
The Dangerous Duty of Delight ($5)
Think ($5)
A Holy Ambition ($5)
Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ ($5)
Fifty Reasons Jesus Came to Die ($5)
The Gadarene ($5)
Portrait of Calvin ($3)
God Is the Gospel ($5)
With Calvin in the Theater of God ($5)

Jesus Chooses and Uses Failures

Jon Bloom — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0600

“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was grieved. Sitting on the beach after breakfast, Jesus had just asked him for the third time if he loved him. Peter had already wholeheartedly answered yes twice. What else was he supposed to say?

With these questions, the Lord was putting his finger on a very tender wound in Peter’s heart. Peter’s failure on the night of Jesus’ trial had been simply horrible. In the hour of his Lord’s greatest anguish, Peter had denied even knowing him. This sin shook Peter to the core of his being.

Jesus had told him that he would do it.¹ But in the Upper Room, over the Passover meal, with his fellow disciples around him, Peter did not believe it. He could still hear himself proclaim, “I will lay down my life for you.”²

He had had no idea how weak he really was. He had imagined himself boldly standing before the Sanhedrin side by side with Jesus, come what may. But that night, as Jesus was doing that very thing, Peter couldn’t even stand before a servant girl. “You also are not one of this man’s disciples are you?” He had completely caved: “I am not.”³

I am not. Those words had kept Peter up at night. He was supposed to be a rock.⁴ That night he had crumbled into pieces. He was not who he thought he was. Peter had never been less confident in himself.

So when Jesus questioned Peter’s love for a third time that morning, Peter grieved that he might have lost the Savior’s trust. He had failed. But he did love him. All he could do was appeal to Jesus’ omniscience:

“Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”

And Jesus did. In fact, later Peter realized what Jesus had done in that painful conversation. He had not doubted Peter’s love at all. Rather, he had allowed Peter to confess his love for every wretched denial he had made on that dreadful night. Amazing grace.

And the Lord had a word for Peter. In the future there would be another opportunity to confess his love publicly in the face of great cost. And then he said, “Follow me.”

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Shame over past failures and sins can haunt and inhibit us in many ways. And Satan seeks to steal and destroy our faith by shoving our failures in our face. But Jesus intends to redeem us completely.

When Jesus chose you to be his disciple, he foresaw your future failures as sure as he foresaw Peter’s. We may not want to believe that we could deny Jesus by engaging in a sin that contradicts everything we believe. But Jesus knows what is in us.⁵ So he exhorts us along with Peter to “watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”⁶

And when we do fail, we must remember what Jesus said to Peter before his failure: “I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”⁷ Peter was going to sin — miserably. But Jesus had prayed for him. Jesus’ prayer was stronger than Peter’s sin, and it’s stronger than our sin too. “He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.”⁸

And Jesus is the great restorer of failures who repent. Jesus had said to Peter “when you have turned again [repented], strengthen your brothers.” And there on the beach he again gave Peter the greatest invitation any of us can receive on earth: “follow me.” The failure was to be left behind. There was kingdom work to do, and eternal life to enjoy.

Peter’s failure did not define him. And ours will not define us. They are horrible, humbling stumbles along the path of following Jesus, who paid for them all on the cross.

And Jesus specializes in transforming failures into rocks of strength for his church.

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¹ John 13:38

² John 13:38

³ John 18:17

⁴ Matthew 16:18

⁵ John 2:25

⁶ Matthew 26:41

⁷ Luke 22:32

⁸ Hebrews 7:25

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Previous posts from Jon Bloom —

Psalm 119: The Life-Giving Power of the Word

Jason Meyer — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:10:00 -0600

Psalm 119:25,

My soul clings to the dust; give me life according to your word!

Have you ever felt something of a schizophrenic relationship to the Bible? At times our hearts are alive to the word of God, while at other times our hearts feel dull and almost dead. This is not merely a frustrating dynamic; it is a fearful condition.

But we find a kindred spirit in a surprising place: Psalm 119.

I say “surprising” because Psalm 119 is a poem of love for the word of God. Going here with our problem seems like a person struggling with singleness going to a wedding celebration! Help, however, comes in the stanza devoted to the Hebrew letter daleth (Psalm 119:25–32).

The Struggle of Dust

The psalmist cries out in anguish that his “soul melts away for sorrow” (Psalm 119:28). His struggle, however, is not simply sorrow. The psalmist confesses that his soul “clings to the dust” (Psalm 119:25). “Dust” here is not a generic metaphorical way of saying that he is struggling. It is a pointed theological reminder of the brokenness that comes from humanity’s fallen state. This word for dust appears as part of God’s pronouncement of curse upon the human race: “till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19). The psalmist, like us, finds himself struggling with the effects that flow from his own fallen, broken state.

But the fall is not the final word. We can find hope to delight in God again, even in a fallen world. This stanza opens with the psalmist “clinging to the dust,” but it ends with the psalmist running in the way of God’s commandments because God has enlarged his heart (Psalm 119:32).

From Clinging to Dust to Running to God

So how can we move from clinging to running?

The answer lies in the life-giving power of God’s word. The opening verse (verse 25) consists of both a confession and a prayer: “my soul clings to the dust” (confession), “give me life according to your word” (prayer). The same structure is seen in verse 28: “My soul melts away for sorrow” (confession); “strengthen me according to your word” (prayer).

Understanding this answer requires us to move both backwards and forwards in the Bible.

First, overhearing the psalmist pray for God to give life to dust takes us back to Genesis 2:7. “Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”

Second, God’s breath of life shows up again in 2 Timothy 3:16 in connection with the word of God because “all Scripture is breathed-out by God.”

When We Read the Bible

These connections help us see that now God breathes his breath of life into a book, not directly into us. We breathe in that breath of life when we read the Bible.

It seems almost counterintuitive, but when we wrestle with a brokenness that causes us not even to desire the Bible, the solution is to turn to the Bible. This solution is not a vote of confidence in ourselves (as if our reading skills could ever overcome our fallen state); but in the word itself as God’s life-giving breath.

May God move you from clinging to dust to delighting in his Word. May his breath fill up your lungs to run the race of faith.

Jason Meyer is the Assistant Professor of New Testament at Bethlehem College and Seminary. He's the author of The End of the Law (B&H Academic, 2009) and Preaching: A Biblical Theology (forthcoming).

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Recent posts in "Seeking God in the Psalms" —

When God Speaks to Us

Jonathan Parnell — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:00:00 -0600

The Bible is clear. While we can't exhaustively comprehend it all, the divine authorial intention communicated through the human authors is suffuciently clear for all purposes of salvation (WCF 1.7).

But why is Scripture clear? Here's one of the most basic and solid arguments:

John Frame writes,

Since Scripture is God’s word, it is his communication to us. In Scripture, God speaks, not primarily to himself or to the angels, or to the winds and waves, but to us human beings. God cannot fail to accomplish his purpose, so his communication cannot be anything less than successful. If words are unclear, they fail to communicate; they are not communication. So Scripture must be clear.

The Doctrine of the Christian Life, (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2008), 147.

"All Are Yours" is a new column featuring quotations from living authors writing from a God-centered, gospel-rich perspective.

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Read and Share "With Calvin in the Theater of God" for $5

Josh Etter — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0600

Reflecting on 500 years of Calvin’s legacy, John Piper, David Mathis, and other contributors invite us to join Calvin in the theater of God and see how the biblical vision of the glory of God in Christ is the most practical reality in the universe. This volume includes chapters by Julius Kim, Douglas Wilson, Marvin Olasky, Mark Talbot, Sam Storms, and John Piper.

You can now order the book for just $5.

(Offer good only for purchases made through our online store and while supplies last.)

Other Specials

Similarities and Distinct Emphases of John Piper and Doug Wilson

Jonathan Parnell — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:00:00 -0600

Joe Rigney, Instructor of Theology and Christian Worldview at Bethlehem College and Seminary, has assembled a list of resources from John Piper and Doug Wilson that characterize their similarities, influences, and distinct emphases.

C. S. Lewis

Homosexuality

Interpreting History

Because the World Is a Story (DW)
Rein in that Renegade (DW)
Politician or Prophets? (DW)
The Tornado, Lutherans, and Homosexuality (JP)
Clarifying the Tornado (JP)
Putting My Daughter to Bed Two Hours After the Bridge Collapsed (JP)

These resources are related to the conversation with Doug Wilson and John Piper, "The Supremacy of Christ in All of Life: The Pastor and His Worldview." This discussion will be available for free streaming and download on Friday.

Pastoring with Vision, Creativity, and Courage: Quotes from Ramez Atallah

Jonathan Parnell — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:15:00 -0600

Session 6, Ramez Atallah on "Pastoring with Vision, Creativity, and Courage in Hard Places" —

"Obligated, eager and not ashamed. These should characterize a church with the gospel."
"A Christian leader has to have a vision — he must see things other people don't see and empower them to capture it and incarnate it."
"When I came to understand the gospel for the first time, I knew that this was what my peopled needed."
"What approach would not threaten the Egyptian Orthodox church? Answer: Inductive Bible study: Observe, understand, and apply the text."
"Effective leaders should have vision which empowers others."
"Trust in God's sovereignty gives meaning to even failtures."
"Creavitiy which transforms obstacles into opportunities."
"Faith respects people who are eccentric and marginal."
"Humility allows us to be mission oriented, rather than gift oriented."

Next message: Wednesday at 11:30AM (EST); Speaker panel with Ramez Atallah, Crawford Loritts, Darrin Patrick, Doug Wilson, and Darrin Patrick. (desiringgod.org/live)

Read and Share "God Is the Gospel" for $5

Josh Etter — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:00:00 -0600

The wonder and majesty of the gospel are that we are given the greatest gift imaginable: God himself.

The glorious truth that God is the gospel touches us at the root of life where practical transformation gets its daily power. It awakens our longing for Christ and opens our eyes to his beauty.

You can now order the book for just $5.

(Because our inventory is limited, this offer is good while supplies last; only available over the web)

Other Specials

New Christian Website for Arabic Speakers

Tyler Kenney — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0600

Today we are pleased to announce the launch of our new Arabic website, attuuqlilaah.org.

Last September, just before our National Conference, we told you about the need for more online resources in Arabic, and the opportunity we had to create a website. And we invited you to join in supporting that work.

Through gifts made on the web and at the conference, the Lord raised all that we needed and much more. Praise him! We are using that extra money to develop even more resources for the site.

There are already 20 Arabic resources available. Many more are on the way, which we will be adding gradually over the coming months (God willing).

Leading the Church: Quotes from Doug Wilson

Jonathan Parnell — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:25:00 -0600

Session 5, Doug Wilson on "Father Hunger" in Leading the Church —

"Remember the good newsness of the gospel. The gospel is outside of us. It is for us, but is external to us."
"We must always remember the gospel because we are tempted to forget the gospel in throughout the busyness of ministry."
"We are privilege to carry around our sin the same way David carried Goliath's head."
"The gifts to the church are windows you look through, not murals you look at."
"Because we don't understand how imitation governs the world, we've neglected one of the most important realities we're to imitate."
"Grace and peace in your life come to you in a person, the Holy Spirit."
"The church needs fathers who model the Father."
"Unfortunately the church shows all the signs of being managed by ecclesiastical single moms."
"For several centuries we've exalted some very feminine virtues to the highest place in the church. If we don't know what masculine piety looks like and we've exalted feminine virtues then we're stuck."
"I believe honestly we're scared by masculine piety. We'd rather have sweet virtues."
"Generations of the 'nice young man'" in the church have been urged by the old ladies to consider the ministry."
"Authority flows to those who accept responsibility."
"There is the authority of office (i.e., having the checkbook) and the authority of blessing (i.e., money in the bank)."
"The reason the church is filled with pencil necks is because in many ways we've refused to worship God the Father in truth."
"When someone says they want to reivent themselves, that is a religious confession. Sexual expression is a religious expression."
"Sadly, standards have not slipped, they have changed. Or more bluntly, we have exchanged gods."
"If you don't like what you see around you, there is only one thing that must happen. We need to worship God the Father."
"Christians don't need to worry about how they vote, but how they worship."
"When God's people worship him he transforms them into his likeness."

Next message: Wednesday at 10:00AM (EST); Ramez Atallah on "Pastoring with Vision, Creativity, and Courage in Hard Places." (desiringgod.org/live)

Biographical Sketch of J. C. Ryle: Manuscript from John Piper

Jonathan Parnell — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:25:00 -0600

Session 4, John Piper's biographical sketch of J. C. Ryle —

Read the entire manuscript of the message:
"The Frank and Manly Mr. Ryle" — The Value of a Masculine Ministry"

The audio and video will be posted on Friday.

Being and Building Men for the Local Mission: Quotes from Darrin Patrick

Jonathan Parnell — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:50:00 -0600

Session 3, Darrin Patrick on "Being and Building Men for the Local Mission" —

"When you become a leader of men, you plug your life into an ampiflier and everyone hears it."
"There's nothing more destructive for people who are trying to know God than legalism."
"You don't obey for your acceptance, you obey from your acceptance."
"You don't measure your maturity by comparing yourself with others. You judge maturity by comparing yourself to Jesus."
"You can’t legislate inner character. It can’t be done. Law cannot do anything with the root of anger, greed and lust."
"Paul tells us to crucify the flesh. Crucifixion is a slow death, but it is a certain death."
"Your flesh is anything you use other than Jesus to get God’s approval. Your flesh will take your ministry and make it your righteousness."
"A key to killing your spiritual flesh is through surrounding yourselves with brothers. You have to have some guys who aren’t impressed with you. You need elders who tell you no."
"You need guys around you who hate your sin. You need guys who are pursing Christ to the degree that when you look at them you say 'I want to pursue Christ like that.'"
"You must allow other people to bear your burdens. You’re not the Savior."

Next message: Tuesday at 2:45PM (EST); John Piper's biographical sketch on J. C. Ryle. (desiringgod.org/live)

Lessons Learned from His Father: Quotes from Crawford Loritts

Jonathan Parnell — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:20:00 -0600

Session 2, Crawford Loritts on "Lessons Learned from His Father" —

"Greatness is not pop or fad. Greatness has a staying power."
"Manhood is not a private matter. It is a public thing. A man aspires to be the desired destination at which others arrive."
"This summarizes my dad: Stepping up, never walking away, if it belongs to you, you do something with it."
"There is a correlation between being a man and keeping promises."
"Every child is born with two broad categories of emotional need: nurture and discipline."
"Manhood is imprinted."
"Our disproportionate desire for relevance is injecting embalming fluid into the next generation."
"Out of struggle comes strength; out of strength comes discipline; out of discipline comes integrity; out of integrity comes inheritance."
"How people treat you should never define you. It's not what people call you, but what you answer to."
"All we have to give to the next generation is what we have become."
"You don't produce the fruit of the Spirit. It is the fruit of the Spirit."
"Repent of wallowing in our self pity and deifying our disfunction. Yield. 'God, I can't do this. Help me!' Believe him."

Next message: Tuesday at 11:30AM (EST); Darrin Patrick on "Being and Building Men for the Local Mission." (desiringgod.org/live)

Leading the Home: Quotes from Doug Wilson

Jonathan Parnell — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:00:00 -0600

Session 1, Doug Wilson on "'Father Hunger' in Leading the Home" —

"Begin with gospel, walk in the gospel, end with the gospel."
"Fatherhood in the home and pastoral care in the church are analogous activities. This makes sense only if they are related activities."
"When Paul considers the leadership of the church he doesn't first refer to a rigorous MDiv program."
"Is there anything that the Father has which he has withheld from us?"
"The way we image the Father is to be open-handed and generous in all that we have."
"Masculinity is the glad assumption of sacrificial responsibility."
"Masculine toughness has to lay underneath masculine tenderness. It is a velvet covered brick."
"Biblical authority knows how to bleed for others."
"If you want to preach the gospel to your wife and to your children, then die."
"When men take up their responsibilites to provide and protect it resonates with their being. When men walk away from their responsibilities, they walk away from their assigned masculine identity."
"Men don't carry things because they have broad shoulders; they have broad shoulders because they are meant to carry things."
"Dads, your authority was given to you as a gift to your children."
"In the gospel, the fatherless no longer are."
"Fathers are speaking about God the Father constantly. They have no option to shut up."
"If we are strict where God is merciful and merciful where God is strict, then we are supplying the pole dancers of tomorrow's strip clubs. We are destroying people."
"The Father is not guilty of the sins you are repenting of. We have not truly repented if we turn to the Father thinking that he will receive us the same way we would have received ourselves before repentance."
"Know that your heavenly Father is looking down the road for you."

Next message: Tuesday morning at 10:00AM (EST); Crawford Lorrits on "Lessons on Biblical Manhood Learned from His Father." (desiringgod.org/live)

This Week's Sermon: "Let's Be Rich Toward God"

Jonathan Parnell — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:00:00 -0600

Jesus tells us a story about a fool in Luke 12.

This fool was a rich man — a productive farmer who built big barns to store his increase. And there's nothing necessarily wrong with that. We need productive farmers in this world.

But if it's not riches that makes this man a fool, what is it?

Expounding this story and giving personal application, John Piper explains the heart matter of money, and how what we do with it brings hazard or help.

Stream or download this week's message.

Read and Share "Portrait of Calvin" for $3

Josh Etter — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:00:00 -0600

This Desiring God reprint of T.H.L. Parker’s classic 1954 biography was published to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Calvin’s birth in 1509.

"I am eager for people to know Calvin not because he was without flaws, or because he was the most influential theologian of the last 500 years (which he was), or because he shaped Western culture (which he did), but because he took the Bible so seriously, and because what he saw on every page was the majesty of God and the glory of Christ." (Pastor John)

You can now order the book for just $3.

(Because our inventory is limited, this offer is good while supplies last; only available over the web)

Other Specials

Read Your Bible More and More

John Piper — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 04:00:00 -0600

Don’t rest on past reading. Read your Bible more and more every year. Read it whether you feel like reading it or not. And pray without ceasing that the joy return and pleasures increase.

Three reasons this is not legalism:

You are confessing your lack of desire as sin, and pleading as a helpless child for the desire you long to have. Legalists don’t cry like that. They strut.
You are reading out of desperation for the effects of this heavenly medicine. Bible-reading is not a cure for a bad conscience; it’s chemo for your cancer. Legalists feel better because the box is checked. Saints feel better when their blindness lifts, and they see Jesus in the word. Let’s get real. We are desperately sick with worldliness, and only the Holy Spirit, by the word of God, can cure this terminal disease.
It is not legalism because only justified people can see the preciousness and power of the Word of God. Legalists trudge with their Bibles on the path toward justification. Saints sit down in the shade of the cross and plead for the blood-bought pleasures.

So lets give heed to Mr. Ryle and never grow weary of the slow, steady, growth that comes from the daily, disciplined, increasing, love affair with reading the Bible.

Do not think you are getting no good from the Bible, merely because you do not see that good day by day. The greatest effects are by no means those which make the most noise, and are most easily observed. The greatest effects are often silent, quiet, and hard to detect at the time they are being produced.

Think of the influence of the moon upon the earth, and of the air upon the human lungs. Remember how silently the dew falls, and how imperceptibly the grass grows. There may be far more doing than you think in your soul by your Bible-reading. (J. C. Ryle, Practical Religion, 136)

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What Is the Biblical Definition of Worship?

Jonathan Parnell — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 19:00:00 -0600

In this five-minute excerpt, Doug Wilson gives the biblical definition of worship:

Doug will kick off our Conference for Pastors Monday night with his message, "'Father Hunger' in the Leading the Home." The message will be live-streamed at 8:30PM (EST).

See the full live-stream schedule.

Christianity Without Discipleship Is Christianity Without Christ

Jonathan Parnell — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:00:00 -0600

Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

Discipleship means adherence to Christ, and, because Christ is the object of that adherence, it must take the form of discipleship.

An abstract Christology, a doctrinal system, a general religious knowledge on the subject of grace or on the forgiveness of sins, render discipleship superfluous, and in fact they positively exclude any idea of discipleship whatever, and are essentially inimical to the whole conception of following Christ.

With an abstract idea it is possible to enter into a relation of formal knowledge, to become enthusiastic about it, and perhaps even to put it into practice; but it can never be followed in personal obedience.

Christianity without the living Christ is inevitably Christianity without discipleship, and Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.

The Cost of Discipleship, 1937, (New York: Touchstone, 1995), 59, paragraphing added.

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Recent posts from "They Still Speak" —

What Is Essential to Being a Christian? (Jonathan Edwards)
The Leading and Quenching of the Spirit (Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
Do You Dread a False Deity? (Samuel Bourn)

Watch the Pastors Conference in Four Languages

Josh Etter — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 14:05:00 -0600

If you aren't able to make it Minneapolis this year for the conference, that doesn't mean you have to miss it. The entire conference will be live-streamed, for free. And this year in addition to English it will also be live-streamed in Spanish, Chinese and Russian.

Update 1/30: Regretfully, the Chinese live-stream is not available.

Live-Stream Schedule (EST)

Monday

8:30 - 9:30 PM
Doug Wilson
- "Father Hunger" in Leading the Home

Tuesday

10:00 - 11:00 AM
Crawford Loritts
- Lessons on Biblical Manhood Learned from His Father

11:30 - 12:30 PM
Darrin Patrick
- Being and Building Men for the Local Mission

2:45 - 4:00 PM
John Piper
- Biographical sketch of J.C. Ryle

8:30 - 9:30 PM
Doug Wilson
- "Father Hunger" in Leading the Church

Wednesday

10:00 - 11:00 AM
Ramez Atallah
- Pastoring with Vision, Creativity, and Courage in Hard Places

11:30 - 12:30 PM
Speaker Panel
- Doug Wilson, Darrin Patrick, Crawford Loritts, Ramez Atallah, John Piper

2:00 - 4:00 PM
A Conversation with Doug Wilson and John Piper
- The Supremacy of Christ in All of Life: The Pastor and His Worldview

Read and Share "The Gadarene" for $5

Josh Etter — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 10:00:00 -0600

"My prayer for this adaption of The Gadarene is that God will awaken in every ready the kind of faith in that Deliverer that never gives in to despair." (Pastor John)

You can now order the book for just $5.

(Because our inventory is limited, this offer is good while supplies last; only available over the web)

Other Specials

What Is Essential to Being a Christian?

Tyler Kenney — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:00:00 -0600

Being a Christian doesn’t only mean that you assent to a certain set of doctrines. There are other equally important things that must be true. Jonathan Edwards explains.

It is essential to Christianity

that we repent of our sins,

that we be convinced of our own sinfulness,

that we are sensible we have justly exposed ourselves to God’s wrath,

that our hearts do renounce all sin,

that we do with our whole hearts embrace Christ as our only Saviour;

that we love him above all, and

are willing for his sake to forsake all, and

that we do give up ourselves to be entirely and forever his.

Religious Affections, 334; bullets added.

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Recent posts from "They Still Speak" —

The Leading and Quenching of the Spirit (Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
Do You Dread a False Deity? (Samuel Bourn)
Why Some Prayers Fail (Charles Spurgeon)

Read and Share "Fifty Reasons" for $5

Josh Etter — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 10:00:00 -0600

The death of Jesus is of foremost importance for the world. In this book Pastor John gathers from the New Testament fifty reasons behind the crucifixion of the Christ. Not fifty causes, but fifty purposes—in answer to the most important question facing us: Why did Jesus suffer and die?

You can now order the book for just $5.

(Because our inventory is limited, this offer is good while supplies last; only available over the web)

Other Specials

If We’re Going to Be Skeptical, Be Skeptical of Our Perceptions

Jon Bloom — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 04:00:00 -0600

There he sat, the scum of society on the footstep of heaven on earth, begging the condescending mercy of pious passersby going in and out of the temple. Enough mercy today and he could eat.

This man was blind. He had been born that way. And it was his own fault. As a fetus this man had sinned in the womb against the Almighty. Either that or his parents had sinned and brought a curse upon him. Whichever it was, he was suffering a just punishment.

Those who had been righteous fetuses walked by and sometimes dropped a coin in his hand. This would merit them even more divine favor.

You see, in the law and prophets God had not explained exactly why one sinful person suffers more than another sinful person. So theologians had deduced that a person’s suffering must result directly from a specific offense(s) against God.

Interestingly, Job’s three friends¹ had reached the same conclusions about Job’s suffering. Only God had rebuked them, “you have not spoken of me what is right.”² He was poised to deliver a similar rebuke.

Jesus’ disciples had learned from the theologians. So seeing the blind man on the temple steps triggered their curiosity: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

God the Son stopped and looked at the man. Then he gave an answer that would turn their theology on its head and affect the futures of millions: “It was not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

Okay, let’s catch our breath.

Jesus restated: God made this man blind³ in order to demonstrate his power in him. The purpose of this man’s disability was not punishment but proclamation. It’s just that no one knew it until that day.

And when Jesus spoke these words, he understood their full implications. He knew what this moment of proclamation had cost in the currency of this man’s pain.

All those years the man and his parents had labored under a perception that God had brought his judgment upon them for an unknown reason. All those years they had endured insults, indignities, injuries, poverty, loneliness, and isolation. How many were his tears? How many his prayers for mercy? No hope for an education. No hope for marriage. His only vocational option: begging.

And, according to Jesus, this was God’s plan. Was it worth it? We shall see, if God wills.

After his world-shaking statement, Jesus made the man see! In that moment everything changed. See the power of the Word! Light shown into dark eyes. A brain that had never processed optical stimuli was given immediate ability to interpret a visual world.

But even more revolutionary in its repercussions, the man went from being perceived as the object of God’s wrath to being the object of God’s kindness! And everyone discovered that God’s purpose in his blindness was to let the Light of the world shine.

So was it worth it — all the suffering? It all depends on what God gave him in return.

God so loved him that he gave his only Son so that by believing in him, this man would not perish but have eternal life.⁴ What this man received beyond his miraculous physical healing was the far more miraculous forgiveness of all his sins and eternal life in God’s presence where full joy and pleasures never end.⁵ Such a gift would be worth a thousand blind lifetimes.

Let us be very careful in interpreting God’s purposes in suffering. The man born blind reminds us that our perceptions and God’s purposes can be very different, even opposite. If we are going to be skeptical, it’s best to be skeptical of our perceptions.

And he reminds us that when Jesus finally reveals the real purposes, we will find them more glorious than we ever dreamed, and his reward so overwhelming that there will be no trace of bitterness, only overflowing gratitude.

¹Job 2:11: Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar

²Job 42:8

³Exodus 4:11: “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?’”

⁴John 3:16

⁵Psalm 16:11

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Previous posts from Jon Bloom —

Speaking to Muslims About the Crucified Christ

Jonathan Parnell — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:20:00 -0600

John Piper writes,

Jesus said, “I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him” (John 5:42–43).

When Jesus says, “receive him,” he means receive him for who he really is: the divine, eternal Son of God who lays down his life for the sheep and takes it up again in three days. If a person does not receive him in this way, that person, Jesus says, does not love God.

Jesus said, “The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him” (John 5:22–23).

When Jesus says, “Honor the Son who sent him, he means honor the Son for who he really is as the divine, eternal Son of God who laid down his life for the sheep and took it up again in three days. The person who does not honor him in this way, Jesus says, does not honor God.

Jesus said, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also” (John 8:18–19).

This means “know” Jesus for who he really is. So the person who does not know Jesus as the divine, eternal, crucified, risen, Son of God does not know God.

Historically Muslims do not know Jesus, honor Jesus, or receive Jesus for who he really is — the divine, eternal, Son of God, who laid down his life on the cross for sinners and rose again the third day. Therefore, Jesus says, such Muslims do not know God and do not honor God and do not love God. As offensive as this is, Jesus said it to the most Bible-saturated, ritually disciplined, God-aware, religious people of his day. . . .

I believe with all my heart that, as forgiven sinners, who owe our lives to blood-bought grace alone, we Christians can look with love and good will, and even tender-hearted compassion, into the eyes of a Muslim and say: I do not believe you know God or honor God or love God. I hope through our conversation that you will see the truth and beauty of Christ-crucified and risen for the sins of everyone who trusts him. And if we were threatened right now, I hope that I would lay down my life for you.

Stream or read the entire document.

You can also stream or download the full discussion on A Common Word from the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society.

Other resources on the biblical perspective of Islam:

Ed Stetzer on Spiritual Warfare

Jonathan Parnell — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:00:00 -0600

Theology Refresh is a podcast for pastors and Christian leaders designed to sharpen our grasp of key doctrines used in everyday ministry. Each podcast is around 15-minutes (or less), which is the time it takes for the average daily commute.

The latest discussion is with Ed Stetzer on spiritual warfare.

It's a mistake to dismiss the battle that's going on around us. God is sovereign, reigning over all, and his creatures have rebelled. This includes everyone until Jesus intervenes to save. Then we become citizens of another kingdom — we rebel against the rebellion.

Stream or download this 13-minute audio.

Recommended resources on spiritual warfare:

Spiritual Warfare and Missions, by Ed Stetzer and Jerry Rankin
Spiritual Warfare and Prayer, audio from John Piper

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Recent Theology Refresh podcasts —

New Piper Messages Now Available

Jonathan Parnell — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:00:00 -0600

John Piper recently gave a series of messages at the Campus Outreach National Conference in Chattanooga, TN.

All the messages are now available for streaming and download:

For the full conference media of other speakers and seminars, check out Campus Outreach National Conference.

Read and Share "Seeing and Savoring" for $5

Josh Etter — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:00:00 -0600

"The aim of this book is to help you see and savor Christ. It is not my word that counts, but God's. He has borne witness to his Son. His witness is compelling. May he give you eyes to see and hearts to savor." (Pastor John)

You can now order the book for just $5.

(Because our inventory is limited, this offer is good while supplies last; only available over the web)

Other Specials

Parents, Beware: Proverbs Are Not Promises

David Mathis — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 04:00:00 -0600

Far too many of us who (rightly) renounce the so-called "prosperity gospel" (wrongly) coddle our own little version of it as we focus on our families.

Richard Pratt:

In recent decades, Christian television has spread what many call the “prosperity gospel” — the misguided belief that if we have enough faith, God will heal our diseases and provide us with great financial blessings. Of course, most people reading this article scoff at the thought that faith can yield such benefits. But don’t laugh too hard.

We have our own prosperity gospel for our families. We simply replace having enough faith with having enough obedience. We believe that we can lift our families out of their brokenness if we conform to God’s commands.

You’ve probably encountered this outlook at one time or another.

Teachers and pastors tell wives that they will enjoy wonderful relationships with their husbands and children if they will become “an excellent wife” (Proverbs 31:10). After all, Proverbs 31:28 says: “Her children rise up and bless her; her husband also, and he praises her.”

At men’s conferences, fathers recommit themselves for the sake of their children because “the righteous who walks in his integrity — blessed are his children after him!” (Proverbs 20:7).

In much the same way, young parents are led to believe that the eternal destinies of their children depend on strict and consistent training. You know the verse: “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).

Passages like these have been taken as indicating that Christian families experience blessings and loss from God, quid pro quo. We believe that God promises a wonderful family life to those who obey his commands.

Now, we need to be clear here. The proverbs commend certain paths to family members because they reflect the ways God ordinarily distributes his blessings. But ordinarily does not mean necessarily. Excellent wives have good reason to expect honor from their husbands and children. Fathers with integrity often enjoy seeing God’s blessings on their children. Parents who train their children in the fear of the Lord follow the path that frequently brings children to saving faith.

But excellent wives, faithful husbands, and conscientious parents often endure terrible hardship in their homes because proverbs are not promises. They are adages that direct us toward general principles that must be applied carefully in a fallen world where life is always somewhat out of kilter.

As the books of Job and Ecclesiastes illustrate so vividly, we misconstrue the Word of God when we treat proverbs as if they were divine promises.

Read Pratt's whole article "Broken Homes in the Bible."

"All Are Yours" is a new column featuring quotations from living authors writing from a God-centered, gospel-rich perspective.

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Psalm 121: What It Means That Yahweh Is Your Guardian

Jason DeRouchie — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:00:00 -0600

Psalm 121 is a treasure of promise for the suffering believer, whose “help comes from the Lord ” (verse 2). After personally celebrating Yahweh’s guardianship in verses 1–2, the psalmist turns to give assurance to others in verses 3–8. He declares the nature of God’s guarding role in verse 3–4: “He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.”

The Perseverance of the Saints

I was surprised to find that the word combination depicting the stumbling step in verse 3 is never used in Scripture of physical falling. Rather, all four of its other occurrences employ it figuratively for someone who is (or anticipated being) overcome by divine judgment (Deuteronomy 32:35), personal sin or weakness (Psalm 38:16[17]), or enemy oppression (Psalm 66:9; 94:18). When the psalmist declared, therefore, “He will not allow your foot to slip,” he was most likely speaking of the perseverance of the saints.

The psalmist is not promising the absence of pain or even failure. But he is promising that, amidst seas of adversity, the elect will remain upheld, not because of their own doing, but because of the preserving hand of God. No one can snatch God’s sheep out of his hand (John 10:27–30), and the one who has justified will never again condemn (Romans 8:33–34). What mercy! What promise! The sure confidence we have today that we will remain with God tomorrow is God himself. Thank him. Remain dependent on him. Plead for his sustaining grace.

He Watches Over Our Souls

Along with ensuring our perseverance (verse 3a), the Lord ’s guardianship also means he is constantly watching over our souls (verses 3b–4). The Hebrew of verse 4 suggests a development from what precedes. Whereas verse 3 suggests “your Guardian” will not slumber now, verse 4 stresses “Israel’s Guardian” will never slumber nor sleep. God “gives to his beloved sleep” (Psalm 127:2), and we are able to rest only because we know God never does. “The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary” (Isaiah 40:28). Yahweh is always awake, always aware, and always watching over his children.

Do not put your hope today in yourself, for were it not for God, you would surely slip. But because of his ever-sustaining mercy, your faith will remain. As asserted in Psalm 94:16–18: “Who stands up for me against evil doers? If Yahweh had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence. When I thought, ‘My foot slips,’ your steadfast love, O Yahweh, held me up.”

It is the steadfast love of the Lord that sustains. It never ceases but it is replenished every dawn (Lamentations 3:22–23).

Look to Your Guardian

Whether your sleepless nights are filled with tears and prayers, diaper changing, or paper writing, God is with you with all the energy and grace you need. Don’t forget him. Look to him at any hour –– in the light or in the night. Yahweh’s guardianship means that he ensures our perseverance. He constantly watches over his own.

Jason DeRouchie is the Associate Professor of Old Testament at Bethlehem College and Seminary. He's also the editor and contributer to What the Old Testament Authors Really Cared About (Kregel: forthcoming 2012) and co-author of A Modern Grammar for Biblical Hebrew (B&H Academic, 2009).

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Read and Share "A Holy Ambition" for $5

Josh Etter — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:30:00 -0600

A Holy Ambition is a short missions primer of collected sermons from John Piper to help you cultivate a holy ambition for the name of Christ to be proclaimed among the unreached and unengaged peoples of the world.

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The Leading and Quenching of the Spirit

Josh Etter — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:53:00 -0600

Martyn Lloyd-Jones:

Here again is a most extraordinary subject, and indeed a very fascinating one, and, from many angles, a most glorious one. There is no question but that God's people can look for and expect "leadings," "guidance," "indications of what they are meant to do." There are many examples of this in the Scriptures and I take one at random. You remember the story in Acts 8:26ff of how Philip the Evangelist was told by the angel of the Lord, "Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goes down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert". . .

Now there are leadings such as that . . . If you read the history of the saints, God's people throughout the centuries and especially the history of revivals, you will find that this is something which is perfectly clear and definite—men have been told by the Holy Spirit to do something; they knew it was the Holy Spirit speaking to them, and it transpired that it obviously was his leading. It seems clear to me that if we deny such a possibility we are again guilty of quenching the Spirit.

The Sovereign Spirit, 89–90.

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Desiring God's Younger Cousin

John Piper — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 03:00:00 -0600

I am overjoyed that The Pleasures of God is here in a new edition. You can order the book, DVD and study guide, all for $10 total.

Here’s how I would describe it. First, compare it with its older cousin, Desiring God.

Desiring God is about our glad experience of God. The Pleasures of God is about God’s glad experience of God. Desiring God argues that the essence of man’s virtue and worship consists in our delight in God. The Pleasures of God argues that the essence of God’s virtue and worship consists in his delight in God. Yes, God worships: He infinitely prizes and delights in the single Object of infinite worth—God. He is not an idolater in his delights.

The Pleasures of God is a book about the nature and character of God. The premise is that the excellence of a soul is measured by the object of its delight. If we delight in wicked things, we are wicked.

So I decided to explore if the Bible showed this to be true of God. Does what God delights in, show the excellence of his soul? The answer is yes. And The Pleasures of God is a tour of those discoveries.

What the church and the world need today—now as much as always—is to know and love God—the great, glorious, sovereign, happy God of the Bible. Few people think of God as supremely happy. And even fewer think that the objects of his happiness are one of the clearest displays of his magnificence.

My hope and prayer with this book is that more and more people would meditate with me on the pleasures of God; and that, in doing so, we would focus our attention on his glory. In this way our souls would be increasingly satisfied with God and changed into his likeness.

Here are the divine delights we focus on.

The Pleasure of God in His Son
The Pleasure of God in All He Does
The Pleasure of God in His Creation
The Pleasure of God in His Fame
The Pleasure of God in Election
The Pleasure of God in Bruising the Son
The Pleasure of God in Doing Good to All Who Hope in Him
The Pleasure of God in the Prayers of the Upright
The Pleasure of God in Personal Obedience and Public Justice

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Eight Ways to Approach Scripture

Jonathan Parnell — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:00:00 -0600

J. C. Ryle was a man of the Word.

The first bishop of Liverpool, and subject of John Piper's biographical message at next week's Conference for Pastors, wanted his people to read the Scriptures. And we want the same thing, for ourselves and for you.

To help us out, Erik Kowalker recently compiled a list of tips straight from Ryle's book Practical Religion. Here are eight profitable ways to read the Bible:

Begin reading your Bible this very day.
Read the Bible with an earnest desire to understand it.
Read the Bible with child-like faith and humility.
Read the Bible in a spirit of obedience and self-application.
Read the Bible daily.
Read all of the Bible — and read it in an orderly way.
Read the Bible fairly and honestly.
Read the Bible with Christ continually in view.

For more on these eight ways read the full post.

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