John Piper has a contagious passion for God's glory. When I read his books or listen to his sermons, he guides me to see how overwhelmingly amazing Jesus Christ is. He is most well known for his book Desiring God-Meditations of a Christian Hedonist. In this book he contends that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. Therefore we should seek to find our full joy in God and He will be glorified from that. I am thankful for Dr. Piper. You should listen, and glean from the passion of this man of God.
John Piper is the pastor for preaching at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has written a ton of books, and has a lifetime worth of content at DesiringGod.com.
Well, right now I’m in the air between Colorado and Atlanta in an airplane perhaps practicing for the rapture one day. I just got finished with a few day retreat in Vail with the Acts 29 church planters and their wives. The retreat was great and it was fun to connect with some couples we deeply love and respect. The only glitch was something called altitude sickness. Being, 8,500 feet in the air gave me a ripping headache and some nausea. One of the pregnant women diagnosed me as perhaps being in my first trimester.
The most curious part of the trip was some elderly guru dude walking around our retreat center in a bright colored robe and a turban. I’m not sure who he was, but a bunch of old white guys in white robes with pony tails who looked like they really grooved on the sixties kept kneeling in front of him and bowing in reverence. It was an interesting contrast to our church planters retreat where men and their wives simply hung out as friends and none of us are regarded as any kind of guru as Jesus is the only dude we’ll bend our knee to in worshipful reverence. All Christians are just loving members of God’s family by grace. I’m glad I get to worship Jesus who is humble enough to serve and not some sinner dude who makes me wear a white dress and spend lots of time at his feet which are plodding a path to hell.
I would like to take this opportunity to explain some of the elements in the pre-conference of the National Resurgence Conference: Text & Context / Acts 29 Church Planting Bootcamp. On Sunday February 24, 2008 we are having a slotted time to meet with Mars Hill Church pastors and staff from 2:00pm to 3:30pm PST. Space is limited so sign up ASAP to reserve a spot in the various pre-conference tracks listed below. As well, if you attend this Sunday pre-conference track you will be able to see the evening services at Mars Hill Church. Remember when you sign up to check the appropriate track you want to attend so we can accommodate accordingly.
One of the least talked about devastations in masculine formation is the boy who was not rescued from the bosom of women and initiated into the world of men. Many fathers fail to initiate their sons into the masculine journey which has very damaging, long-term effects. Preachers and teachers must figure out a way to initiate these men into kingdom mission.
Finding a starting point for a Christ-sharing conversation is not easy. Maybe you've heard before:
"So, do you consider yourself a good person? Yes, well I've got some bad news…"
"Nice to meet you, Stephen. Did you know that there was a guy in the Bible who was stoned to death for his beliefs about Jesus? What do you believe about Jesus?"
Wow! 5 months out of the shoot and we are having a blast (planted Epiphany Fellowship in September ’06). We feel like we are in a support group with Bobby Brown. We have High, highs and Low, lows. Planting in our particular context has made us bi-polar. Our emotions are sometimes like rubber bands. So one of the things we have been developing as a congregation are buzz/slang words that reflect a more comprehensive picture of redemption of our community from the inside.
In Proverbs 3:5-6 and Ezekiel 36:25-27, generally the word heart is used to describe euphemistically, where the redemptive process begins. Heart, in these passages, defined further represents the mind, the emotions, and the will (BDB, HALOT). In the Ezekiel 36:25-27 passage, we find that under the New Covenant redemption begins with the mind (which can be equivalent to our values), emotion (which could also be said “passions”) and the will (or another way for us to say it is volitional application).
