Our Bible reading plan takes us through the story of the plagues and the exodus. Here is a hymn from John Piper at Desiring God: In connection with John Piper’s sermon on the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart (Feb. 9, 2003), he wrote the following hymn in order that we might publicly proclaim the glory and … More The glory and freedom and justice of God
“Then the Lord said to him, ‘Who made man’s mouth? Who makes him dumb or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?’” Exodus 4:11 John Piper, in a sermon, “Who Made Man’s Mouth?” from Exodus 4: The first thing this verse means is this: Moses, the God you have been talking … More Remember Who it is Who gives the promise
John Piper comments on Exodus 3, a passage in our Bible reading plan today: The most common and the most important name for God in the Old Testament is a name that in our English versions never even gets translated. Whenever you see the word LORD in all capital letters, you know that this name … More The Meaning of Yahweh from Exodus 3
The following excerpt comes from “Twelve Appeals to Prosperity Preachers” found in the new edition of Let the Nations Be Glad.(John Piper)with a reference to our reading for today, Acts 14. Missing from most prosperity preaching is the fact that the New Testament emphasizes the necessity of suffering far more than it does the notion … More What is missing from most prosperity preaching?
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” —Matthew 9:36-38 ESV … More Pity, potential and prayer
John Piper concludes a message from Acts 13:1-12 this way: God is a searching and saving God; that he is a God on a mission; he has straight paths that lead to faith; he is still sending us “to seek and to save the lost.” He is not aloof or passive or indecisive. He is … More Mission Control sometimes uses this launch pad
John Piper preached a sermon, “He Saw the Grace of God and Was Glad,” from Acts 11:23. Here is an excerpt; please read or listen to the entire sermon at DesiringGod.org The Grace of God Uses Suffering In other words, the good news about Jesus Christ came to Antioch because of persecution. Barnabas saw this … More God’s grace becomes visible when it makes the anguish of persecution a means of spreading the good news of Jesus.
A few comments on Matthew 8:18-20 “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go”: After witnessing the miracles of Jesus, many folks thought following Him might be more “glamorous” than it really was. I imagine that Jesus may have received many spontaneous offers like this. We, too, tend to buy in to the prosperity gospel … More Don’t believe the prosperity preachers
The brothers of Joseph had committed great sins. They knew this, were no doubt plagued with guilt, but thought they had gotten away with it. Now, after obtaining life-saving grain in Egypt from Joseph (NOT knowing who he really was) they discover the payment for the grain was back in their sacks. Their immediate response? … More God: sovereignly summons and saves
John Piper, in a sermon, “Exalting Jesus so the Spirit Falls”– another long post today, but oh so important to see how Peter exalted Jesus: So my answer to the question: Is there any correlation between the way Peter preached and the coming of the Holy Spirit in power? is YES. The correlation is that … More How Peter Exalted Jesus
Knowing God through His Word ... Day by Day 