The Morning I Heard the Voice of God

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/2007/2021_The_Morning_I_Heard_the_Voice_of_God/

...the right way to be rich

All the airplane magazines say, "You've earned it! Buy a La-Z-Boy!"

What does that mean? It means that the chair you sit in should look like what you make. And my answer is, "No it shouldn't. No it shouldn't. It should look like Jesus is valuable, more valuable than chairs. That's what it should look like."

So you say to rich people, "Be rich in good deeds (1 Timothy 6:18)," which means you start doing as many good deeds as you can and on the way there you live a kind of life that would make Jesus look like your treasure.

Now on the other end, should you ever want to go there (and Paul is just crystal clear), "Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into many senseless and hurtful temptations that bring the soul into ruin" (1 Timothy 6:9). Wanting to be rich is dangerous.

--Excerpt from The Right Way to Be Rich, yesterday's "Ask Pastor John"

missions when dying is gain

http://media.desiringgod.org/audio/1996/19961027.mp3

where else would you go to hear a message like this?

i mourn that the pulpits of America are dominated by comfort-seeking, weak-willed, business-executive, crowd-pleasers who are interested in pleasing their audiences rather than pleasing their God, who believe receiving a nasty e-mail is tribulation, who seek their own safety, their own glory, their own fame, their own kingdoms on earth rather than embracing radical risk-taking for the Glory of Jesus Christ to be made known to all nations and all peoples, for HIS Kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven...

why are we pleased with the gospel of America? when has the Way of Jesus ever been the path of the masses, to be found in the megachurches and magazine racks, christian music and best-sellers lists..? Luther was not a friend of the state, Calvin was not on Larry King live, and Jim Elliot was not found at book-signings... they were regarded as the scum of the earth because they did not seek the treasures the popular culture values... they sought a much greater Treasure, and when they found it, they gave up everything in their great joy to make it's value known to the world.

if you worship a Slaughtered Lamb, why does your religion promise comfort, peace, and prosperity?

thank God for Dr. John Piper.

may God fill us with radical passion for His Kingdom that defies all comfort, defies the American dream, defies the American church, and exalts His name above all things even at the cost of suffering, even at the cost of death.

John.Piper.

I have no deeper respect for any living being than this man. I pray that at the age of 62, I have the legacy, the passion, and the authenticity of Dr. Piper.

I echo what Mark Driscoll posted in his blog post "Why I Love John Piper"

Piper does not meet the culturally hip/relevent standard of acclaimed pastors today. Piper is real. Biblical. Passionate. God has used his writings to utterly change my life in ways that no other person has. I hope to meet him someday. I'm not speaking out of idolatory and worship, but out of thankfulness.

Read Don't Waste Your Life, and When I Don't Desire God (along with every other book Piper has written), and allow them to penetrate your life.

God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.

The difference between an entertainment-oriented preacher and a Bible-oriented preacher is the manifest connection of the preacher’s words to the Bible as what authorizes what he says.

The entertainment-oriented preacher gives the impression that he is not tethered to an authoritative book in what he says. What he says doesn’t seem to be shaped and constrained by an authority outside himself. He gives the impression that what he says has significance for reasons other than that it manifestly expresses the meaning and significance of the Bible. So he seems untethered to objective authority.

The entertainment-oriented preacher seems to be at ease talking about many things that are not drawn out of the Bible. In his message, he seems to enjoy more talking about other things than what the Bible teaches. His words seem to have a self-standing worth as interesting or fun. They are entertaining. But they don’t give the impression that this man stands as the representative of God before God’s people to deliver God’s message.

The Bible-oriented preacher, on the other hand, does see himself that way—“I am God’s representative sent to God’s people to deliver a message from God.” He knows that the only way a man can dare to assume such a position is with a trembling sense of unworthy servanthood under the authority of the Bible. He knows that the only way he can deliver God’s message to God’s people is by rooting it in and saturating it with God’s own revelation in the Bible.

The Bible-oriented preacher wants the congregation to know that his words, if they have any abiding worth, are in accord with God’s words. He wants this to be obvious to them. That is part of his humility and his authority. Therefore, he constantly tries to show the people that his ideas are coming from the Bible. He is hesitant to go too far toward points that are not demonstrable from the Bible.

His stories and illustrations are constrained and reined in by his hesitancy to lead the consciousness of his hearers away from the sense that this message is based on and expressive of what the Bible says. A sense of submission to the Bible and a sense that the Bible alone has words of true and lasting significance for our people mark the Bible-oriented preacher, but not the entertainment-oriented preacher.

People leave the preaching of the Bible-oriented preacher with a sense that the Bible is supremely authoritative and important and wonderfully good news. They feel less entertained than struck at the greatness of God and the weighty power of his word.

Lord, tether us to your mighty word. Cause me and all preachers to show the people that our word is powerless and insignificant in comparison with yours. Grant us to stand before our people as messengers sent with God’s message to God’s people in God’s name by God’s Spirit. Grant us to tremble at this responsibility. Protect us from trifling with this holy moment before your people.

--John Piper

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/2008/3243_In_Honor_of_Tethered_Preaching/

//cp