Rockstanding

John Piper has an upcoming book on marriage that is based on a sermon series he did last year at Bethlehem Baptist Church. Based on what I’ve heard of those messages, it should be excellent. In one of his messages, Piper talks of the wonder of marriage:

Marriage is more wonderful than anyone on earth knows. And the reasons it is wonderful can only be learned from God’s special revelation and can only be cherished by the work of the Holy Spirit to enable us to behold and embrace the wonder. The reason we need the Spirit’s help is that the wonder of marriage is woven into the wonder of the gospel of the cross of Christ, and the message of the cross is foolishness to the natural man, and so the meaning of marriage is foolishness to the natural man (1 Corinthians 2:14).

And because of that thinking, we are confused about what is intended by marriage. He explains in the following excerpt from that message:

UPDATE: The person who posted this online did so illegally. Like others who linked, I was unaware of this. My apologies. Rather, go here to see this awesome book.

What this book is about:

The Christian church has a long tradition of systematic theology, that is, studying theology and doctrine organized around fairly standard categories such as the Word of God, redemption, and Jesus Christ. This introduction to systematic theology has several distinctive features:
- A strong emphasis on the scriptural basis for each doctrine and teaching
- Clear writing, with technical terms kept to a minimum
- A contemporary approach, treating subjects of special interest to the church today
- A friendly tone, appealing to the emotions and the spirit as well as the intellect
- Frequent application to life - Resources for worship with each chapter
- Bibliographies with each chapter that cross-reference subjects to a wide range of other systematic theologies.

Desiring God is now offering what it terms the “essential Piper trilogy” of Desiring God, The Pleasures of God and Future Grace for $22.50. What are these books about? Glad you asked.

DESIRING GOD: MEDITATIONS OF A CHRISTIAN HEDONIST

The message of Desiring God is that God is most glorified in us when we
are  most satisfied in him. In this book, Piper calls this worldview
“Christian Hedonism” and explains why pursuing maximum joy is essential
to glorifying God. He discusses the implications of this for
conversion, worship, love, Scripture, prayer, money, marriage,
missions, and suffering.

THE PLEASURES OF GOD: MEDITATIONS ON GOD’S DELIGHT IN BEING GOD

One way to see the glory of God is to meditate upon the object of his
delight. In this reissued version with a new cover design, John Piper
unfo  lds for us a vision of God through the lens of his happiness. What
most delights the happiest Being in the universe? God’s gladness in
being God. If God’s excellencies can be admired in his pleasures, and
if we tend to become like what we admire and enjoy, then focusing on
these pleasures can help us to be gradually conformed to his likeness.
In other words, we will be most satisfied in God when we know why God
is most satisfied in God. This version includes the same content as the
revised and expanded edition published in 2000.

FUTURE GRACE: THE PURIFYING POWER OF LIVING BY FAITH IN FUTURE GRACE

What is future grace? It is all that God promises to be for us from
this second on. Saving faith means being confident and satisfied in
this ever- arriving future grace. This is why saving faith is also
sanctifying faith. The power of sin’s promise is broken by the power of
a superior satisfaction; namely, faith in future grace. Gratitude for
past grace was never meant to empower future obedience. Tomorrow’s
crisis demands tomorrow’s grace. And faith that future grace will be
there is the victory that overcomes the world. Future Grace contains 31
chapters - one for each day of the month - including practical chapters
on how faith in future grace defeats anxiety, pride, shame, lust,
despondency and more.

Tags: JohnPiper, Desiring God, The Pleasures of God, Future Grace, Christian Hedonism

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, the great preacher of the 20th Century, wrote “Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Its Cure,” a collection of 21 sermons he originally delivered at Westminster Chapel in London. “Christian people.” writes Lloyd-Jones, “too often seem to be perpetually in the doldrums and too often give this appearance of unhappiness and of lack of freedom and absence of joy. There is no question at all but that this is the main reason why large numbers of people have ceased to be interested in Christianity.”

Believing that Christian joy was one of the most potent factors in the spread of Christianity in the early centuries. Lloyd-Jones not only lays bare the causes that have robbed many Christians of spiritual vitality but also points the way to the cure that is found through the mind and spirit of Christ.

This summer, John Piper is going through the Psalms in a sermon series at Bethlethem Baptist Church in Minneapolis. Last week’s sermon, “Spiritual Depression in the Psalms,” leans on Lloyd-Jones’ work and looks at how Psalm 42 is an antidote for depression. Below is an excerpt, go here for the whole sermon.

Christianaudio.com is offering an audiobook of John Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress” for free as a download with the code JUN2008 when you checkout. From the site:

John Bunyan was a simple maker and mender of pots and kettles who received very little education. In spite of that, he penned the most successful allegory ever written. He lost his first wife and was imprisoned for twelve years for his compelling—but unlicensed—preaching. Nevertheless, his preaching about the gravity of sin, salvation by grace, the cost of discipleship, perseverance, and the glory of eternal life lives on in the signs and symbols of The Pilgrim’s Progress. Embark on a perilous journey with Christian, the lead character, from the City of Destruction to the luminous safe haven of the Celestial City. The journey will encourage you to “set your hope fully on the grace to be given you” amidst the obstacles of life.

And, for more free audio, go here to hear a great biography of the man who wrote “Pilgrim’s Progress.”

• NEW BOOKS FROM PIPER: Since I get much out of the writing of John Piper, as do many others, I was thrilled to hear his latest update at the conclusion of his writing leave: Four books are in the works! Great news!
• REVIEW OF THE SHACK: Tim Challies has an extensive review of William P. Young’s The Shack that takes a hard look at what makes this book dangerous and heretical to many despite its popularity.
• DEBATE ON CALVINISM: Dr. James White gives a powerful closing statement in a debate with George Bryson on Calvinism.
• MACARTHUR ON COURT RULING: John MacArthur weighs in following the recent California Supreme Court ruling that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry.

We often use a special jargon that some of us, as Christians, are “believers” while others are not. While that is true, in a sense, when talking about a belief in Jesus Christ, the truth is that we all hold to some kind of beliefs. Tim Keller, in his excellent book “The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism,” explains:

Some say [religion] is a form of belief in God. But that would not fit Zen Buddhism, which does not really believe in God at all. Some say it is belief in the supernatural. But that does not fit Hinduism, which does not believe in a supernatural realm beyond the material world, but only a spiritual reality within the empirical. What is religion then? It is a set of beliefs that explain what life is all about, who we are, and the most important things that human beings should spend their time doing. For example, some think that this material world is all there is, that we are here by accident and when we die we just rot, and therefore the important thing is to choose to do what makes you happy and not let others impose their beliefs on you. Notice that though this is not an explicit, “organized” religion, it contains a master narrative, an account about the meaning of life along with a recommendation for how to live based on that account of things.

Some call this a “worldview” while others call it a “narrative identity.” In either case it is a set of faith-assumptions about the nature of things. It is an implicit religion. Broadly understood, faith in some view of the world and human nature informs everyone’s life. Everyone lives and operates out of some narrative identity, whether it is thought out and reflected upon or not. All who say “You ought to do this” or “You shouldn’t do that” reason out of such an implicit moral and religious position. Pragmatists say that we should leave our deeper worldviews behind and find consensus about “what works”– but our view of what works is determined by (to use a Wendell Berry title) what we think people are for. Any picture of happy human life that “works” is necessarily informed by deep-seated beliefs about the purpose of human life. Even the most secular pragmatists come to the table with deep commitments and narrative accounts of what it means to be human (The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism, 15,16).

Tim Keller explains why he wrote “The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism”

Go here to hear sermons related to Keller’s book

Ligonier Ministries has graciously made available its January issue of Tabletalk magazine, which looked at the life and writings of C.S. Lewis. With Prince Caspian opening this weekend, it is as good a time as any to look at the man whose writing have inspired many people, myself included.

It has been a treasured memory of mine the time I spent reading through the Chronicles of Narnia books (in the originally published order, not the modern order) with my children. First of all, Lewis was a great writer, and it is good for children to hear and read (when they could) what good literature looks like. Secondly, the Christian message is clear throughout the books in telling the story of Narnia, Aslan and the struggle that ultimately ends in the triumph of good over evil.

But Lewis wrote much more than children’s books, and you would be missing much if you didn’t look into his other writings. Books like “Mere Christianity” or “The Screwtape Letters” or essays like “The Weight of Glory” or “The Four Loves.” Lewis is a writer who puts your mind to work and points you to God.

So, while watching a movie is enjoyable, it would also be good to pull out a good book by C.S. Lewis and stretch your mind a little.

HT: Ligonier Ministries

I haven’t posted on this yet, but last week I received John Piper’s latest book from the folks at Desiring God, entitled “When The Darkness Will Not Lift: Doing What We Can While We Wait For God — And Joy.”

Even though it comes in a mere 79 pages, it is full of great insight and advice about how we can fight the battle daily for joy and how to encourage and minister to those around us who are battling depression. The book comes from a chapter in Piper’s “When I Don’t Desire God,” which is another excellent treatment of this subject.

I received the book in the mail and sat down and read it in an afternoon. I am not a fast reader by any means but this book is very easy to read and is something I would return to often for words of wisdom and would highly recommend it for passing along to those who are hurting. Piper acknowledges that this book’s intent is not to be an exhaustive treatment of this subject — he lists several good books for those who wish to read more to explore — yet he gives good counsel in just a short number of pages.

This is an area where many of us have struggled. It is good to be able to have a book like this from one of our top Christian authors as a resource.