Desiring God Blog : Posts on Commentary

Do you talk to yourself?

I don’t mean when you’re wrestling through your taxes or walking through your to-do list. But do you talk yourself, really? When you are fearful, do you command your soul to trust in the Lord?  When your affections are low, do you command your heart to bless the Lord? As Paul Tripp is fond of saying, “no one is more influential in your life than you are because no one talks to you more than you do.”

In the particularly difficult moments of the day, how do you talk to yourself? How do you specifically exhort yourself to hope in God?

Psalm 103 has been immensely helpful for me as a pattern for commanding my soul in seasons of low affection. The Psalm begins (Psalm 103:1–2) and ends (Psalm 103:20–22) with David’s exhortation to his own soul to bless the Lord. While there is much to draw out of this rich text, I’d like to highlight two o…

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After a four year hiatus, the Journal of Biblical Counseling is back. Beginning with the new Winter 2012 issue, each new publication will be posted online, free to read and free to download. David Powlison announced the re-launch and new format in this video:

A number of JBC articles have appeared in Pastor John's messages and books over the years, these four in particular (posted with permission):

• Ed Welch, “Self-Control: The Battle Against ‘One More’” (Winter 2001)
• David Powlison, “‘Peace Be Still’: Learning Psalm 131 By Heart" (Spring 2000)
• Ed Welch, “Counseling Those Who Are Depressed” (Winter 2000)
• Ed Welch, “Words of Hope for Those Who Struggle with Depression” (Winter 2000)

When the apostle Paul thinks about “wealth” or “riches” what springs to his mind? What should spring to ours? Where should our efforts at enrichment be invested?

Here are all the uses of Paul’s favorite word for “riches” (ploutos). Taste and see what he lives for.

• The riches of God’s kindness and forbearance and patience. (Romans 2:4)
• The riches of God’s glory for vessels of mercy. (Romans 9:23)
• The riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! (Romans 11:33)
• A wealth of generosity on their part. (2 Corinthians 8:2)
• The riches of God’s grace. (Ephesians 1:7)
• The riches of God’s glorious inheritance in the saints. (Ephesians 1:18)
• The immeasurable riches of God’s grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:7)
• The unsearchable riches of Christ. (Ephesians 3:8)
• The riches of God’s glory. (Ephesians 3:16)
• God’s riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (Phili…

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The recent Conference for Pastors concluded with this two-hour-long conversation between John Piper and Douglas Wilson, moderated by Joe Rigney. Download the audio and video.

Time-markers —

0:01:06 — Unpacking the meaning behind the individual mission statements.

0:07:09 — The differences in how those mission statements are framed.

0:10:48 — Unpacking, comparing, and contrasting two sub-themes: "Don't waste your life" (Piper) and "Living out the good life one family at a time" (Wilson).

0:19:14 — Counteracting the negative tendencies of these sub-themes (burnout/comfort).

0:23:00 — The shaping influence of Jonathan Edwards.

0:31:50 — On making the doctrine of the trinity prominent in ministry.

0:35:50 — Edwards on the Trinity.

0:39:12 — The shaping influence of C. S. Lewis.

0:52:00 — Defining Christian hedonism, differences and similaritie…

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Mark 7:26,

". . . Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter."

J. C. Ryle comments,

The woman who came to our Lord, in the history now before us, must doubtless have been in deep affliction. She saw a beloved child possessed by an unclean spirit. She saw her in a condition in which no teaching could reach the mind, and no medicine could heal the body — a condition only one degree better than death itself. She hears of Jesus, and beseeches him to “cast forth the devil out of her daughter.” She prays for one who could not pray for herself, and never rests till her prayer is granted.

By prayer she obtains the cure which no human means could obtain. Through the prayer of the mother, the daughter is healed. On her own behalf that daughter did not speak a word; but her mother spoke for her to the…

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One highlight of the Conference for Pastors is the hour-long panel where speakers interact with questions from the pastors in attendence. Download the audio and video.

Time-markers —

00:50 — What is biblical femininity? (Wilson, Patrick)

05:12 — Does Christianity have a feminine feel? (Piper, Loritts, Patrick)

11:25 — How can fathers best care for their daughters? (Wilson, Patrick, Loritts)

15:44 — How do we know to apply strictness or mercy? (Wilson, Piper, Loritts)

24:55 — How do we model Christ in parenting foster children? (Piper, Wilson)

28:40 — Lessons for courage, boldness, and wisdom. (Atallah)

30:56 — How does Christian worship threaten the pattern of this world? (Wilson)

33:43 — How does masculinity relate to our worship music? (Piper, Wilson)

40:45 — What are strategies for building godly men? (Loritts, Patrick)

43:45 — How do we surround ourselves…

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When the Journal of Medical Ethics released the article, “What makes killing wrong?” in January, they set off a mini-storm of outrage and controversy.  The authors, from Duke University and the National Institutes of Health, asserted that ‘universally and irreversibly disabled people’ could be killed for the sake of retrieving their organs for people who are not totally disabled.

On the whole, the issue raised is when it becomes appropriate to retrieve organs from one person for the sake of another. The governing rule that a person must be dead before vital organs can be removed, known as the ‘dead donor rule,’ has many difficult aspects to it that make even its proponents uncomfortable.

But a dry journal article on the philosophical and ethical issues around such an issue would not have been interesting. 

So, these authors created a provocative scenario invol…

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Ramez Atallah, general secretary of the Bible Society of Egypt, spoke at the 2012 Conference for Pastors on ministering with vision, creativity, and courage. Download the audio and video.

Memorable Quotes

• "Obligated, eager and not ashamed — these should characterize a church with the gospel."
• "When I came to understand the gospel for the first time, I knew that this is what my peopled needed."
• "A Christian leader has to have a vision — he must see things other people don't see and empower them to capture it and incarnate it."
• "Faith respects people who are eccentric and marginal."
• "Humility allows us to be mission oriented, rather than gift oriented."

The gospel turns people into pilgrims. It comes with a culture-correcting force that creates aliens and exiles of the world.

Drawing from a 1733 Jonathan Edwards sermon, John Piper offers seven descriptions of what this looks like:

1. Pilgrims are not diverted from their aim.
2. Pilgrims are to hold the things of this world loosely.
3. Pilgrims become like what they hope to attain.
4. Pilgrims will not be satisfied with anything less than God.
5. Pilgrims are not grieved by their arrival at the journey's end.
6. Pilgrims ponder what they pursue.
7. Pilgrims travel together.

Read the entire article, Jonathan Edwards on the Pilgrim Mindset.

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Recent posts from "Piper's Pen" —

• The Pastor's Role in World Evangelization
• Planning for Spiritual Necessities in 2012
• How and Why God Changes People

John Piper gave his annual biographical message at the 2012 Conference for Pastors. This year he spoke about the life and ministry J. C. Ryle. Download the audio and video.

Pastor John begins the message by explaining what he means that "Christianity has a masculine feel."

Theology and church and mission are marked by overarching godly male leadership in the spirit of Christ, with an ethos of tender-hearted strength, and contrite courage, and risk-taking decisiveness, and readiness to sacrifice for the sake of leading, protecting, and providing for the community — all of which is possible only through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

It’s the feel of a great, majestic God, who by his redeeming work in Jesus Christ, inclines men to take humble, Christ-exalting initiative, and inclines women to come alongside the men with joyful support, intelligent helpfulness…

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