...And Now For Something Completely Different: A Man Who Thinks His Wife Is a Calvinist!

I do believe this man has met my wife:





--HT: Between Two Worlds

Pastor John Piper With Hope for Hard Times

HT: Desiring God Blog

What Is Sin?

The glory of God not honored,
the holiness of God not reverenced,
the greatness of God not admired,
the power of God not praised,
the truth of God not sought,
the wisdom of God not esteemed,
the beauty of God not treasured,
the goodness of God not savored,
the faithfulness of God not trusted,
the commandments of God not obeyed,
the justice of God not respected,
the wrath of God not feared,
the grace of God not cherished,
the presence of God not prized,
the person of God not loved.

-- John Piper, The Greatest Thing in The World (sermon on Romans 1-7)

Where Are You, God?

“Thursday in Minneapolis it was so gorgeous walking home I thought: I should write a post on how astonishing it is that no earthquake swallowed up this city today.

Instead God sent warmth and crystal skies and cool breezes and golden leaves and hanging sea gulls over Elliot Park.

Amazing. Absolutely amazing!

We deserved the 52-story IDS tower to fall, and bridges to collapse, and poisonous gas to kill thousands. But instead God gave us over-the-top foretastes of heaven.

This is why everyone is crying out, Where was God on Thursday! Where were you God! How could you do this? Why did you let this happen?

Everybody is saying that, aren’t they?”

- John Piper

Piper to Preach Through Gospel of John!

A cause for great rejoicing!

For those of you who haven't yet heard John Piper's sermons on Romans, you should. Pastor John preached 224 sermons on this book. The DVD contains all of them as mp3's and is worth its weight in gold.

How long will it take him? You do the math:

Hebrews has 303 verses: he preached 52 sermons on Hebrews.

Romans has 433 verses: he preached 224 messages.

John has 879 verses...

But, however long the Lord gives him to preach this tremendous book, don't miss it!

Shocking Questions

How many Christians do you know who could say, "The lifestyle I have chosen as a Christian would be utterly foolish and pitiable if there is no resurrection"? How many Christians are there who could say, "The suffering I have freely chosen to embrace for Christ would be a pitiable life if there is no resurrection"? As I see it these are shocking questions.

- John Piper

HT: Absolute Dominion

Johnny, We're Sorry We Knew Ye

When John Armstrong tries to take on John Piper, it's a bit like watching a gnat try to swat an elephant. You just know the gnat is going to lose.

Here are a few of the lowlights:

"My frustration with Piper [Armstrong writes] is that he represents the “low” ecclesiology of evangelicalism and then argues that we should go back in our reading to old writers." [As opposed to my exalted “high ecclesiology of evangelicalism," whatever that means]

"But he goes back only to the Puritans [egad!], never even suggesting that the Fathers, both East and West, were vastly more important for the health of the Church today." [What “Fathers? Moe, Larry and Curley? What???]

"He [Piper] also argued that knowing God, the Scriptures and the truth were central to everything." [This was so shocking, so appalling to me personally that I was compelled to type it entirely in bold face!]

"While I completely agree with his arguments here they were almost entirely rooted in a foundationalist epistemology and a heavily propositional approach." [As opposed to the sacred and revered “chastened epistemology:"]



"It seemed to me that John was arguing for a Bible that was quite clear to all who read it and that by reading it well we can all know the truth." [Oh, the horror! The horror!!]

"I would argue that Noll was much closer to the Christian position when he said we know Jesus Christ as truth through the revelation of the Holy Scriptures. Piper, however, is surely to be commended for his passion for mission and the gospel." [Golly, thanks, Father, er, I mean Pastor, er, I mean, Dr. John!]

Piper: Truncated Theology of God=Truncated Lives

"American Christianity is plagued by truncated views of all God’s attributes. And a truncated view of God will give raise to truncated Christian living and truncated awakenings. Therefore the awakening and revival that I pray for will be not just for the fullness of the Spirit’s power, but for the fullness of the Spirit’s illumination of God in the word."

And better yet:

"Nine percent of born again people (who say they have made a personal commitment to Jesus which is still important in their lives) have a biblical world view (absolutes exist, God is the all-knowing, all-powerful, Creator who still rules the universe; Jesus Christ lived a sinless life; Satan is a real, living entity; salvation is a free gift, not something we can earn; every Christian has a personal responsibility to evangelize; and the Bible is totally accurate in all it teaches). However, this group of people stand out with significantly different behavior from the worldly “born-againers” and “evangelicals.” Here is Sider’s [Ron Sider, "The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience" in Books and Culture] comment:

"Barna’s findings on the different behavior of Christians with a biblical worldview underline the importance of theology. Biblical orthodoxy does matter. One important way to end the scandal of contemporary Christian behavior is to work and pray fervently for the growth of orthodox theological belief in our churches” (Jan/Feb, p. 42)."

(HT: Between Two Worlds)