Picking Piper's Brain: Think (1)

I want to begin this series of entries on the topic of thinking by putting before us some scriptures to let them be our guide. The Bible commands us to love God with all our minds, so what does the Bible tell us about thinking? We see both warnings and promises...

• Now concerning food offered to idols, we know that "all of us possess knowledge." This "knowledge" puffs up, but love builds up. (1 Corinthians 8:1)

• And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. (John 8:32)

• If you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; (Proverbs 2:3-6)

• My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; (Hosea 4:6)

We live in a time, especially in America, when the church is subject to two dangers in regards to thinking. One danger is to take the warning against the kind of "knowledge that puffs up" and descend into a sort of anti-intellectualism. In chapter 1 of his book "Think", John Piper writes autobiographically about the role of thinking in his life and quotes some other writers on anti-intellectualism in the church...

Mark Noll began a book on this topic by stating, "The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind."

John Piper on Abortion and the Golden Rule

I just watched John Piper's most recent sermon, preached on January 23, 2011. The title of the sermon is "Abortion and the Narrow Way That Leads to Life". Here is the sermon, and below it is a summary of what I take to be the important points.



Piper talks about abortion some within the video, but the topic of abortion serves more as an entrance into the two questions of 1) how we as Christians should respond to suffering in the world, and 2) how we should think about the relationship of this world's suffering and eternal suffering in hell. Part of his text for the sermon is Matthew 7:12-14.

So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Dear Michael (my brother)

Dear Michael,

I thank God for you.

I hope and pray that this writing, a letter of sorts, will be a means of grace and peace to you. I pray that its words would reveal my heart towards you and towards God - that you would feel more truly both my love for you and God's love for you as a result of my writing to you. It is my aim to be frank and honest.

I write this, as well, for the sake of the others who might read, and because of our bond in the Gospel, our desire to see it shared, to see it take root in people's lives, to see the name of Jesus praised more deeply from more hearts, I am confident in Jesus that you will agree with why I have chosen to write this in a place where others can read. It is my hope that the Spirit would speak through me, with my honesty magnifying the grace of God, and that you would be encouraged, that this encouragement might see fruit in your straining toward the goal, and that other reader's hearts would be softened and strengthened to likewise speak with humility, grace, love, and Gospel-purpose to their loved ones.

You are about to leave for Brazil in two days for half a year, and I want to take this opportunity to thank you for who you have been to me. By way of entrance into that thanksgiving, I want to look at Psalm 119:97-104.

Continued from Previous Entry: Thoughts on Sharing the Gospel

A command, not a suggestion: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded of you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20)

John Piper tweeted today that Christians [should] care about all suffering, especially eternal suffering, else they have a defective heart or a flameless hell.

Right love will aim toward the greatest good of its recipient. That is why God is not unloving to be jealous for our love, demanding that we satisfy ourselves in him and not other things, broken cisterns, lifeless idols. Christ is our greatest good. Joy in Christ is supremely greater than joy in other things, and so God's love, as demonstrated decisively in the cross, is calculated to break our affections for these other things and reseat them in Christ. In that way God is glorified and we are satisfied. Our good and his glory come together at the cross. 

My New Blog

Friends,

Please consider following me on my blog. I am essentially inexperienced in the blogging world, but I want to try it for a few reasons, and I hope that you will join me as a fellow pilgrim on the journey Home into the Father's embrace. Here are my reasons for this endeavor.