An early review of the new Piper book Finally Alive. HT:SM

I typically stay away from these kinds of titles—Worldliness—judging the book by its title. However, knowing a bit about the author I decided to crack the cover. C. J. Mahaney did not disappoint; in fact, he stirred me to love Christ not “the world.” This book is sure to ruffle some feathers, and you won’t agree with everything in it, but why just read books that reinforce your opinions and worldview? Consider this excerpt from C.J.’s heart-centered view of worldliness:

David Powlison, paraphrasing John Calvin, wrote, “The evil in our desires often lies not in what we want, but in the fact that we want it too much.”10 It’s difficult to improve upon this insight. The “cravings of sinful man” are legitimate desires that have become false gods we worship. It’s wanting too much the things of this fallen world. A sinful craving is when a legitimate desire for financial success becomes a silent demand for financial success; an interest in clothes and fashion becomes a preoccupation; love of music morphs into an obsession with the hottest band; or the desire to enjoy a good movie becomes a need to see the latest blockbuster.

There may be nothing wrong with these desires in and of themselves; but when they dominate the landscape of our lives, when we must have them or else!-we’ve succumbed to idolatry and worldliness. And as Calvin says, our hearts are a perpetual factory of idols. We’re pumping out these thingson a regular basis.

Preface (by John Piper) and first chapter here.

This interview clip gets at what I have been talking about here and here regarding the goal of preaching. In these posts I argued that our aim in preaching should be change on the spot, and impression upon the mind, and a convincing of the heart, not primarily a application, here’s-how-to-live-it sermons. Here John Piper shares about how this goal in preaching is experienced by the preacher. You will begin to smile when he talks about the joy of forgetfulness in preaching because you have probably experienced those moments. However, Piper is quick to point out that his experience of “anointing” or “forgetfulness” doesn’t always correlate with what is happening in his listeners. He offers some balanced comments regarding our personal sermon evaluation.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3tBx7u4vLA&feature=related]

Desiring God Ministries will be hosting a conference with John Piper on the topic of Suffering. It will be October 17-18. Register here.

The registration fee is $25.00 per person if received on or before August 31, and $35.00 per person if received after August 31. It will be hosted at Hill Country Bible Church.

This video contains some gems, especially Piper’s remarks on the longevity of a pastor in his church.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky0Ld9USidc]

A friend recently asked me for a list of books on Pastoring. Honestly, I have found very few that are worth our time. Here is are the few I have found:

Darrin Patrick on Eldering and Pastoring

The Reformed Pastor, Richard Baxter

Pastoral Trilogy by Eugene Peterson (Angles, Stones, Plant)

On Church Leadership, Driscoll

Brothers, We Are Not Professionals, Piper

The Art of Pastoring, Hansen

Here is a link to the audio from a recent symposium at Wheaton College, where Nathan Hatch (Democratization of American Christianity), Mark Noll (Scandal of the Evangelical Mind), and John Piper (Desiring God) discussed the strengths and weaknesses of American Evangelicalism over the past 40 years.

HT:JT

The ancient Arminian/Calvinist hornet’s nest has been stirred. In his Resurgence address, Piper commented:

Here’s my rule of thumb: the more responsible a person is to shape the thoughts of others about God, the less Arminianism should be tolerated. Therefore church members should not be excommunicated for this view but elders and pastors and seminary and college teachers should be expected to hold the more fully biblical view of grace.

Piper clarifies in a follow up blog post:

What is not precise here is the implication of the word “should.” “The less Arminianism should be tolerated.” By way of clarification, I would say: In an Arminian institution, Arminians should be allowed to teach. But in institutions that regard Arminianism as defective view of God’s grace, they should not be allowed to teach. Or, more broadly, in an institution that thinks the truth is better served by having advocates of Arminianism and Calvinism, both should be allowed to teach.

Read the rest.

After being out of a week-to-week pulpit for about two years, I have been forced to rethink and redevelop homeletical rhythms. In trying to develop these rhythms I have re-listened to a few preachers from my past—I have been fortunate enough to sit under some great preaching: Tommy Nelson, Haddon Robinson, Michael Quicke & John Piper, as well as soak up influence from Tim Keller.

All of these experiences have been formative in different ways. One thing I have learned is that I am none of these men, nor will I ever have such preaching stature, but that has not kept me from trying to learn how to preach the Scriptures better. Here are a few more things I have learned from them:

• Tommy Nelson – explain the word of God clearly and push it into the crevices of life.
• Haddon Robinson – organize your sermon around a central idea and restate it repeatedly and differently
• Michael Quicke – cultivate communion with the Trinity during the sermon writing process, relying on the Spirit
• Mark Driscoll – always ask “why or how do I/we resist the message?”
• John Piper – preach the argument of Scripture, with God at the center, and bank on the promises of God.
• Tim Keller – preach to the heart, not the will, and be culturally literate, always keeping the non-Christian in mind. Raise the problem of application and solve it with the solution of the gospel.

We read This is No Fairy Tale children’s book to our son once or twice a week. It is among the best I’ve come across. In fact, I read some excerpts from it to a group last night and people seemed to really like it.

Dale alternates between what the fairy tale version of the Jesus story would be and the biblical version. For example:

If this were a fairly tale, the young prince Jesus would have been taught to rule over people so that when he grew up, he would become their king.

The truth is, Jesus learned to work hard with his hands. His father taught him how to make things for people out of wood.

Dale Tolmasoff also happens to be a friend. His big heart and a deep love for God and others really come through in this book. The book concludes with a delightfully simple, Christian Hedonistic phrase (you’ll have to read it to find out!). Fittingly, the book’s forward is by John Piper.