Desiring God Blog : Posts from 2009

Carolyn Mahaney wrote “Homemaking Internship ” especially for moms with daughters. It’s about how to pass on to the next generation of young women some of the most important things in life. She says, 

But the truth is that homemaking involves so much more than just cleaning a house. The commands in Scripture to love, follow, and help a husband; to raise children for the glory of God; and to manage a home encompass a vast responsibility. Homemaking requires an extremely diverse array of skills—everything from management abilities, to knowledge of health and nutrition, to interior decorating capabilities, to childhood development expertise. If you are to become an effective homemaker, then you must study these subjects and many more. 

It turns out that, in God’s plan, the home is the University and mom is the Professor of this all-encompassing sub…

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In September, 2009, we admitted the first class in the four-year program of Bethlehem Seminary. Here at the end of the year I want to give public thanks to God and take some of you with me into this vision. Not everybody. But some of you carry a special, God-given burden for the preparation of future generations of God-centered leaders.

Bethlehem has been training future pastors, teachers and missionaries through The Bethlehem Institute for over ten years. That two year program has now become the four-year Bethlehem Seminary. We plan to admit 15 men every year to the seminary. The number will be kept small so that the vision for mentored ministry and church involvement can be sustained.

At the heart of this vision is the invincible God, the infallible Bible, and the indispensible Gospel of Jesus Christ. We want future pastors to be stunned by the greatness of…

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John Piper will be speaking tomorrow and Thursday at Campus Crusade's TCX 2009 conference. We will be live-streaming both messages.

• Wednesday, December 30, 7:45 PM CT
  "God's Passion for His Glory"
• Thursday, December 31, 7:15 PM CT
  "Holy Ambition: Paul's and Yours"

As the year winds down, if God has placed it on your heart to help us meet our year-end financial need (we've updated our status), here's important information if you want your gift to count toward 2009:

• Until 11:59 p.m. CT on Thursday, December 31 through Desiring God’s website.
• Until 4:00 p.m. CT on Thursday, December 31 by calling Desiring God at 888-346-4700.
• All gifts postmarked on or before December 31 will receive a gift receipt for 2009 even if received and processed by Desiring God in January.  (Please note: checks with a December date but postmarked on or after January 1, 2010, by regulation are considered donations in 2010). 
  
  Checks can be mailed to:
  
  Desiring God
  PO Box 2901
  Minneapolis, MN 55402-2901

God has kindly provided many opportunities for spreading a passion for his supremacy in 2009. Here are just a few ways tha…

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The fact that hundreds of the pages of God’s inspired word are devoted to poetry moves me. One of the effects is to make me aware that God thinks the sound of language matters. 

God has blessed and humbled me with the inability to speed read. I read about the same speed that I talk. I hear what I read as I read it. For years I tried not to. Speed reading consultants (I took their courses—in vain.) say that pronouncing the words, even in your head, turns a rabbit reader into a turtle. No use. I’m a turtle. 

So I take heart that so much of the Bible is poetry. It is self-evident to me that poetry is not meant to be speed-read, but ordinarily read aloud. So I would encourage you to supplement your speed with slow savoring of the way things are written to be heard. 

Consider this observation about what happens when poetry is read aloud and read well by a per…

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Yesterday, John Piper preached at The Village Church in Dallas, where Matt Chandler pastors. You can now listen to his message, "Subjected in Hope" from Romans 8:18-25.

If you're coming to our pastors conference, here's why we think you might want to register before the end of the year.

1. The price is only $110 right now, but it goes up on January 1.
2. Everyone who registers this year will be entered to have all their conference expenses paid—travel, lodging, food, registration and even books.
3. Seats are limited and filling up for Paul Tripp’s pre-conference seminar.

We're looking forward to seeing you in February!

A couple of years ago, Rick Steen, a military chaplain and friend of DG, received copies of Don’t Waste Your Life to give to members of the military. Recently, he was assigned to the National Science Foundation base in Antarctica where he distributed his last copies! 

He’s also sending a copy to the library at the South Pole. As Rick wrote to us, “I think it is safe to say that “Don’t Waste Your Life” has made it to every continent!”

Pictured below are some of the men who received a copy. Thank you, Lord, for giving us passionate spreaders! 

Each year Christmas night finds members of my family feeling some melancholy. After weeks of anticipation, the Christmas celebrations have flashed by us and are suddenly gone. And we’re left standing, watching the Christmas taillights and music fade into the night.

But it’s possible that this moment of melancholy may be the best teaching moment of the whole season. Because as long as the beautiful gifts remain unopened around the tree and the events are still ahead of us, they can appear to be the hope we are waiting for. But when the tree is empty and events are past, we realize we are longing for a lasting hope.

So last night, as Pam and I tucked our kids into bed, we talked about a few things with them:

• Gifts and events can’t fill the soul. God gives us such things to enjoy. They are expressions of his generosity as well as ours, but gifts and celebrations them…

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Noël and Talitha and I recorded a Christmas greeting for you and a “glimpse” into our home and traditions.

And since I didn’t write the advent poems this year, I wrote this Christmas poem to read at our Christmas Eve services last night, in the hopes of sharing my love for Jesus and my joy in him.

In this smelly place he lay,
Smelly like the swine,
Smelly like the rotting hay,
Like your sin, and mine.
Do you see how low he lay?
Do you see how low?
There is lower yet to go.
Lower yet to go.

He is lying where they eat,
Lying where the swine—
Lying like a piece of meat
Where the hungry dine.
Do you see the flow complete
Do you see the flow?
There is greater love to show
Greater love to show.

Such a happy toddler there,
Happy like the birds,
Happy like …

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