Podcasts about pastor john piper

In 2008, Pastor John Piper addressed what he called the most influential people in the world. Who were they? The answer might surprise you.

Political scientist Adam Carrington looks as some of the Presidential Easter proclamations in recent history, including that of the most recent US President.  He also reflects on the loss of his friend and mentor, and the hope we have in The Resurrection.  CBN FaithWire's Billy Hallowell looks are recent news stories where God shows up. Plus, he talks about Pastor John Piper's response to statements by Jordan Peterson around suffering and what's needed to endure.  Faith Radio podcasts are made possible by your support. Give now: Click here

In this special stand-alone sermon for our 10-year anniversary as a church, Pastor John Piper visits us with a message from Psalm 19. This passage focuses on two foundational pillars for us as a church. Pastor John exhorts us that these cherished pillars are essential for our future, helping us answer questions about ultimate reality and ultimate truth. And they came to us in Jesus Christ our Redeemer.

What is the difference between a mission and a vision? Six weeks ago I kicked off our series “We Are Cities Church” by talking all about our mission, and today I'm gonna close the series talking all about our vision — and so what's the difference between those two words? When we talk about mission, we're talking about what we're sent to do.Vision is what it looks like if we get it done.Mission is assignment, vision is success.Mission is action, vision is the result of you fulfilling the action.So, let me connect this to our passage this morning, Revelation 7, verses 9–12.Revelation 7 ConnectionThe whole Book of Revelation is basically all vision (John is describing what he sees in the future, and the purpose is to encourage us). So in Revelation 7, notice what he sees, verse 9:9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”This is a scene. John has seen this, and we're supposed to see it with him. That's what vision does. Vision is meant to be envisioned.So what are we envisioning here? What do we see?It's a crowd of people from all over the world — every nation, all tribes and peoples and languages are altogether. And what are they doing altogether?They're saying with a loud voice, verse 10:“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”These people are saying this to the Lamb, before his throne — and the Lamb, of course, is Jesus. So see this: these people are worshipping Jesus along with the heavenly host.Who again are these people?They're people from all nations worshiping Jesus. Revelation 7 is a vision of Jesus-worshipers from all nations. Can you see it?Back to Matthew 28This vision is the result of some action that's been fulfilled. But what action? What assignment must have been done in order for there to be Jesus-worshipers from all nations?Oh, we know this one! Matthew 28:19, the Great Commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.”See that's the mission! That's what the church is supposed to do — make disciples of all nations — and when the church is ultimately successful, when the church gets that done (which she will get done!), these disciples of Jesus from all nations will be worshipers of Jesus from all nations forever.The disciple-making mission of Matthew 28 is what leads to the Jesus-worshiping vision of Revelation 7.What you do — mission; what it looks like when it's done — vision.In the ultimate sense, Matthew 28 and Revelation 7 is our church's mission and vision. And it's the mission and vision of every faithful local church. This is non-negotiable. To be a real church means to exist with the mission to make disciples of Jesus for the vision of Jesus being worshiped forever.That's why we're here. And we are here.Applied Here and NowWe live in a particular place and time — we live within a particular culture with it's particular challenges and opportunities. The “first half of the 21st century in the Twin Cities” has its unique provisions and needs, resources and limitations, blessings and burdens. And the question is: How do we apply that non-negotiable mission and vision to when and where we are?Well when it comes to our mission, we've tried to capture that with more details in the form of a statement. What do we mean exactly when we say “make disciples”? We mean that we want to make joyful disciples of Jesus who remember his realness in all of life. And that word “disciple” includes a four-fold calling:We are Jesus worshipersWe are joyful servantsWe are generous disciplersWe are welcoming witnessesThese are the kind of disciples we want to be and make. This is our mission. And when it comes to our vision — that Jesus is worshiped forever — how does that look now? How does that future reality get reflected here?That's what I want to tell you in this sermon. With the Book of Revelation as our ultimate vision, I want to show you five facts about our vision here. And these facts are not part of a statement — I don't expect you to memorize these things — but I'm trying to paint a picture for you. This is what it would look like if we are effective in making joyful disciples of Jesus who remember his realness in all of life.1. We are a healthy, vibrant church entranced by God as our all-satisfying joy. Again, this is something you have to imagine. We're talking about a vibe here. And the vibe is that we are a happy people. It's something that you just feel in the air when you're here and you're around us. We have joy — and it's not joy in our circumstances, because those are changing everyday — but we have joy down deep in our souls because God loves us. And we know God loves us because he has proven it to us — it's that when we were still sinners, dead in our sins and undeserving of anything good, Jesus Christ died for us. Jesus took the punishment for our sins! Jesus removed all of our guilt and shame! And on the third day, he was raised from the dead. Jesus has secured our eternal life and freedom in him. He has given us his Spirit as our Helper, to guide us in his truth. Jesus has drawn us into the joyous fellowship that he has had with the Father before the foundations of the world.We are now “in on” the divine smile that is behind everything.And do you know what that means? It means that we can smile here.Hey, it's gonna be okay. We are the richest people in the world! Did you know that even the hard things in your life are being used by God for your ultimate good? Look, there's not a hair that falls from your head without the will of your Father in heaven, in fact, all things must work together for your salvation! God sees you and knows you and loves you, and he wants you to know that he loves you. Because the more you are assured of his love for you (and how much you don't deserve it), then the more you're gonna be humbled and filled with joy, and then the more you're gonna be poured out in love, and this all amounts to magnifying the glory of God. And that's the point!The purpose behind it all is that God's glory be magnified in our being satisfied in all that he is for us in Jesus.We're a happy people because we have God — “Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy!” (Psalm 43:4)Can you see it? We are a healthy, vibrant church entranced by God as our all-satisfying joy. Also …2. We are deepening our knowledge of God for a life of faithful discipleship and gospel advance.We're a people happy in God, and we're a people who seek him.“4 Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. 5 Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation … (Psalm 25:4–5).We want to know God and the ways of God, because our faith is according to knowledge. The more we know about God, the more we can trust him. This is why Jesus says that making disciples means that we teach one another all that he has commanded us. We're supposed to learn together how to follow Jesus.So get this: we don't learn to get fat heads. The end-goal is not what you know, but it's who you are becoming, shaped by who you know. Christ clear for Christlikeness.We will be a well-taught church, able to discern truth from error, not tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of human doctrine, but we're gonna speak the truth in love and we are gonna be transformed (see Ephesians 4:14–16). We are a truth-telling outpost that serves as a refuge from the world of lies that surrounds us, but even more than that, we are a church that lives in the wonder of who God is. Yes, we will defend God's truth, but first we are amazed by God's truth! This is what The Cities Institute is trying to do.It's a recovery project to bring back the primacy of teaching in the local church, because that is the church's history. In the earliest days of the church, people were coming to Christ from all kinds of different religious backgrounds. That's what mission to the Gentile world meant. You had all the pagans who were getting saved and they had no Bible background. And so the church realized: if we don't teach these people sound theology, they're gonna mix some stuff up and eventually it's going to ruin our witness, so the early church had a “teach or die” mindset. They were just listening to Jesus, because Jesus said to teach. That's part of what discipleship is. So that's what we're going to do. We're going to seek to know God, to be amazed by him and transformed by him, to faithfully follow Jesus and be his witnesses.Do you see it? We are deepening our knowledge of God for a life of faithful discipleship and gospel advance. 3. We are actively organizing our lives to share our joy in Jesus with others. One of the great things about church planting is that sharing the gospel is on the front-burner of how you live. Every encounter with other people could turn into a spiritual conversation. You know God ordains divine appointments, and so you're just looking for them. I remember when we first moved into our current neighborhood. It was 12 years ago — Elizabeth was five. Melissa and I taught her that the reason we lived where we did was to tell our neighbors about God. I remember Elizabeth actually told our neighbors that. Not kidding. People would be out walking their dog out in front of our house and Elizabeth would be like “Hey, we're here to tell you about God.” And it was true! And all of us thought that way. But here's the thing: we're all just so busy now. There's so much going on, and over time, sharing Jesus is not on the front-burner, but it gets moved to the back, over to the side, and before you know it, you're just running through the motions like every other lost person in these cities. I'm not saying don't be involved in stuff — be involved, plug in, be active, but do it as a Christian. Everywhere we go we are a welcoming witness to Jesus Christ. We are opening wide our arms to make Jesus known, which means we want to double our joy. I remember a story years ago that Pastor John Piper told about his dad. His dad was a passionate evangelist who had been in ministry for decades, and one day, toward the end of his life, Pastor John asked him, “What the key to your joy?” How have you remained so happy for so long?And his dad said: “soul winning.” Leading other people to Jesus.See, when you're happy in Jesus, you wanna share that happiness with others, and when you do, your happiness doubles and deepens. It's like a fountain that just keeps overflowing.We say to God, Psalm 4:7, “You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound!”And that's never gonna satisfy them, I want them to have this joy that I have in you!That's the prayer we take everywhere we go. That's what we're looking to do … in our neighborhoods, and in our work relationships, and at those school events, and through all those youth sports — we want to share Jesus. We want more people to be happy in God. And they will be.Through our witness, more and more people will trust in Jesus and be baptized. Because baptism is that symbol. Jesus gave us baptism as the way to declare that we are alive in him. And right now we have baptisms three or four times a year, but what if we had baptisms 12 times a year? What if so many people start coming to Christ through our witness that we start having “Baptism Sundays” every month!Can you see it? — we are actively organizing our lives to share our joy in Jesus with others. Also…4. We are deliberate to invest in the faith of future generations.We believe children matter. All children matter: pre-born children, little children, growing children. Children matter and families matter. And we all believe this whether we're unmarried or married, have a house full of kids or no kids at all, whether we're empty-nesters or newly-weds — we all share this conviction because of the Bible.And when we think about where we're headed as a church, I don't know if there's anything more important to remember than this: At some point, we're going to be handing the torch to our children. And we need to be preparing for that hand-off now. This is a new way of thinking for us compared to how we thought ten years ago when we first planted this church. When you're planting a church, you're just trying to get off the ground. You're starting something brand-new and that takes a lot of attention, and so we poured a lot into that, and we also had kids so we did ask: “Hey, what do we do with the kids?” But see, that's not the question we're asking anymore. In those early years, we were trying to build something, and we thought What about our children? — but now we're trying to build something for our children. Does that make sense?We're better now at thinking more long-term. And that's certainly the case with this steeple project. What we've done here is no “flash in the pan” restoration, but we've done it the way we have for our children's children. That's the way we're thinking now. We're building something for future generations. We're investing in the faith of those who will come after us.And this is something that comes naturally to women as cultivators and nurturers, but now this is something our men must think more about as builders. I just had a conversation last week with a few of our men in their thirties; they're all business leaders who've been transformed by Jesus; and they want to use their skills and expertise to start companies and create jobs and to build a legacy of generosity. See, it's thinking big picture. Long-term. I heard a story years ago about the Reformer Martin Luther, and I can't actually verify that this conversation really happened, but supposedly, somewhere at some point, Luther was out walking with some of his students one day, it was a beautiful fall day like today, and little Hans spoke up and said, “Herr Doktor, if you knew that the world would go to pieces tomorrow, what would you do today?”And Luther looked at him with a smile and said, “I would plant an apple tree.”His point was that he would do something most of which would not immediately, directly benefit himself — he wouldn't sit under the shade of that tree and he wouldn't eat any of its apples — but those who come after him would. And that's how we're thinking now. Can you see it? — we are deliberate to invest in the faith of future generations. And speaking of planting, fifth and final:5. We are a healthy, vibrant church with a high priority and capacity to multiply more churches in the Twin Cities who are entranced by God as our all-satisfying joy. In other words, we are a church who plants more churches like ours here.Since the very beginning, this has been the way we talk about vision. We want to multiply people, multiply Community Groups, multiply churches. And overall, to date, we've sent out six church planting couples to start new work, and countless couples to support new work. And I miss these people. Our budget misses these people. But we believe in Spirit-led sending — it's a value of ours — and we want to do more of it. Wherever you wanna go in the name of Jesus, we're gonna get behind you!And when it comes to our vision for here and now, it's to plant more churches in the Twin Cities metro, and there are a few reasons why:1. Growth leads to spreading.We learn this from nature. As an oak tree grows and matures and is healthy, it produces more oak trees. There comes a point when that oak tree itself is not going to get any higher and wider — it's solid and full and maxed — but it's got these acorns, and that's what will make the one tree become two and three and four — this is where forests come from. And that's the way we see it here. We're gonna use every square inch of this building for our church — and we do have some room, and we will make some room — but we want to see God work in the lives of more people than we can fit in here. So we're gonna multiply this and do it more places than just here. We've been planted, rooted, and now we're branching out.2. Spreading (or multiplication) makes a bigger impact than centralization.One strategy might be to move this whole thing to a third-ring suburb, get a smoke machine, and try to triple our size. See, this is the thinking: let's just make this bigger, whatever it takes (it's centralization). But that's not the long-term thinking. Multiplication, not centralization, makes a bigger impact for a longer period of time. We want Jesus to be impossible to ignore in the Twin Cities. If you come to these cities, we want it to be Jesus in your face. And you may not believe him — like our state government right now you may reject him — but you will not be able to ignore him, and you will recognize that these cities are saturated with churches of men and women and boys and girls who believe and live like Jesus is real. Multiplication.3. Planting reminds us that this whole thing is so much bigger than us.This vision to plant more churches in the Twin Cities is both impossible and possible at different levels. At the level of impossibility, it's just us. I don't know about you, but every morning I wake up I'm just happy to be here for another day. I made it for another one! That's a lot of us, right? We're just trying to survive — I'm just trying to get my kids to school on time and not forget that they have to be picked up — and here I am talking about starting a multiplying church planting movement that aims to make more people happy in Jesus forever — it feels impossible, at one level.But then at another level, we remember God, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence things that do no exist, and he is often pleased to bring his people to places where he must be who he says he is. …It is possible with God that he put it in the heart of a man and his wife to lead a new church plant, and then that he'd put it in the hearts of others who would plant with them. It is possible that they could build a team of 20-30 people who would want to branch out and be a new church. God could do that — God could do it once, twice, six times, fifty times — north, south, east, west — and before you know it, there is a movement of churches everywhere you look in these cities entranced by God as our all-satisfying joy. Can you see it? Impossible, and possible — and certainly way bigger than us. That's where I want to live. Don't you? If we're going to multiply, we need God to be God!That's our vision, church — but remember it's our vision here and now, until Jesus comes back. We can't forget the ultimate vision.Longing for New JerusalemThere may be just a few of you in here who were there on December 14, 2014. We were less than a month away from officially becoming a church, right at the starting line, and we had a meeting in the cafeteria at Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis. And I gave a short message about our vision and I want to read to you what I said. Here are the exact words from December 14, 2014:Church plants can be high-adrenaline work. Many of us have been meeting since August, others since March, and some have been dreaming of this thing for five years, and we are getting close. I mean, this event right now [in the cafeteria] is a testimony to God's faithfulness to us, to his blessing on this vision and this church and what we want to do in the Twin Cities for his name. And with all this waiting and anticipation, with Cities Church just about to get off the ground, let me remind us (me!), that we have not arrived. That is the temptation, you know. As God blesses this thing, and we pray he does, there is going to be this subtle thing that happens where we want to start patting our ourselves on the back. We're going to feel like we've made it! Here we are! This is the dream! But no, it's not. Because, you see, our goal — our ultimate goal — is not a new church plant, but a new Jerusalem.Amen to that ten years later. And may we say that ten more years from now, and ten more years from then — and if Jesus hasn't come back yet, may our children's children say that! Because what we most want to see…a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”Jesus-worshipers from all nations. That is where we're headed, Cities Church. That is what we want. And that's what brings us to the Table.The TableHere at this Table we remember the death of Jesus for us, and we give him thanks. We come to this table to rest in him and to worship him together. And because of what this table means, it's only for those who trust in Jesus. If you're a Christian, we invite you eat and drink with us. But if you've not yet trusted in Jesus, let the elements pass, but look: you can become a Christian this morning, if you just put your faith in Jesus. Right now, turn from your sin, and ask Jesus to save you.

The time Pastor John Piper almost quit—but God had solutions. Thank you for listening to Encourage-Mint. If you've been refreshed, don't forget to subscribe, Leave a review on iTunes, and share a little Encourage-Mint with someone you love. Encourage-Mint is a podcast from Family Radio. These stories are just a taste of the stories you can hear every day. Listen at FamilyRadio.org or find more encouragement on the Family Radio app.  Get daily Scripture and encouragement by following Family Radio on your favorite social media platforms:FacebookInstagram Twitter

In this episode we do a brief overview of Ruth and draw out three truths.Other episodes referenced in this one:Episode 21: "I never knew youEpisode 24: The GospelEpisode 31: "Until I went into the sanctuary of God"Quotes used in this episode:NET footnote from Matthew 22:24: "The brother of a man who died without a son had an obligation to marry his brother's widow. This served several purposes: It provided for the widow in a society where a widow with no children to care for her would be reduced to begging, and it preserved the name of the deceased, who would be regarded as the legal father of the first son produced from that marriage."NET footnote from Ruth 2:3: "The text is written from Ruth's limited perspective. As far as she was concerned, she randomly picked a spot in the field. But God was providentially at work and led her to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who, as a near relative of Elimelech, was a potential benefactor.""God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them" (Pastor John Piper)."This is a BIG message in a SHORT story. It shows how God is constructing his grand story out of the small, seemingly inconsequential stories of everyday people. This little story is intentionally framed at the beginning and end by the larger storyline of the Bible. Ruth shows how God is at work in the day to day activities of average people. All the characters face life's normal challenges (death, moving, lack of financial resources, familial responsibilities, etc.) and find God is weaving a story of redemption out of all the details. The Book of Ruth encourages us to view our day-to-day lives as part of God's bigger plan for our lives and world" (The Bible Project)."The characters talk about God a few times, but the narrator hardly ever mentions God explicitly doing anything in the story. This is its subtle brilliance because God's providence is at work behind every scene, weaving together the lives of the characters" (The Bible Project)."Endurance is faith expressed over time" (Pastor J. D. Greear).Scriptures referenced:Ruth 1:1-5Ruth 1:15-18Ruth 2:1-17Leviticus 19:9-10Leviticus 23:22Deuteronomy 24:19-22Ruth 2:20-23Ruth 3:1-13Deuteronomy 25:5-10Matthew 22:23-33Ruth 3:16-18I WANT TO BE DISCIPLEDI am on staff with another ministry called Mentoring Men for the Master (M3). M3 is a discipleship ministry; so, if you are interested in being discipled and having someone come alongside you to invest in you and your walk with Jesus, feel free to email us at info@mentoringmen.net. You can also check out M3's website by clicking "I want to be discipled" above. Please also note that despite the ministry's name, M3 disciples both men and women; so, the offer is open to all!I WANT TO SIGN UP FOR THE NEWSLETTERIf you would like to sign up to receive newsletter updates, simply click "I want to sign up for the newsletter" above and fill out the form. Also, feel free to check out our most recent newsletter.I WANT TO SUPPORT THE PODCASTIf you feel so led, you can support the podcast by clicking "I want to support the podcast" above. I Just Want to Talk about the Bible is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, which means that any donations made are tax-deductible. Thank you so much for giving as the Lord leads!Take care!

Well, the war was finally over. At least that's how it appeared. Following ten long years of battle, the Greeks had finally given up hope of taking the city, they'd gotten back on their ships, and set sail for home. The Trojans were overjoyed. Their opposition was gone. That night, they slept well. Really well. Surprisingly well, in fact, for a people who'd hung up their swords, set down their shields, taken off their armor, left all their doors unlocked despite the fact that members of the enemy army were, at that moment, inside their very gates, still armed, still dangerous, eager to shed blood, and standing no more than 5, 10, feet away from some of them as they laid down for bed. But the Trojans didn't see them. Had no idea they were there. They thought the war was over. They didn't realize the war was being waged from within. That night they laid down and slept well, really well, surprisingly well, and many never woke up, because that same night, several members of the Greek army crawled out from a trap door of a wooden statue of a horse that'd been parked in the center of the city, and within a blink of an eye, captured all of Troy.Our unity as God's people, our Holy Spirit unity, our unity centered on Jesus as our shared, surpassing treasure, is, as Pastor Jonathan showed us last week, an embattled unity. A unity amidst opposition. The opposition comes from without – opponents out there who do not love Jesus and do not love his people. We saw them last week in chapter 1 verse 28. And, opposition also comes from within through the sin that still dwells in each one of us. This sin is a danger to our unity together as God's people. God, through the Apostle Paul, is calling us today to flee from it with everything we've got, in pursuit of something far better. Let's pray, and ask God, together, for his help.So, our focus is on unity amidst opposition from within. And we're going to work our way through it in three steps: Unity directed, Unity developed, Unity Defended. Unity Directed (Verse 2)First, unity directed, and this is going to have us beginning with verse 2, where Paul says,“complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.”One of the first things to note here is that Paul is taking a layered approach to directing the Philippians toward unity. He's not, in other words, directing them toward it by way of four distinct, independent requests. Do this, this, this, and this, and if you do, then the combined result will be unity. Rather, he's directing them to pursue unity itself, four times over, in more or less the same way. We can see that with the first and the fourth phrase in this list. “(Complete my joy by) being of the same mind, (and) being of one mind.” Tremendous overlap between the two, wouldn't you say? I mean to be of one mind is to have the same mind — one that holds to the same truths, calls out the same lies, gives priority to the same things. Both directives point to the same main idea of unity.And the third one, “being in full accord.” Well, to be in accord with someone is to be in agreement with them. They say that's true, you agree that's true. You say that's false, they agree that's false. They say that's sin, you agree that's sin. You're in accord, you're in agreement, you are of the same mind. You are of one mind. You're experiencing unity.“Having the same love,” is basically right there as well — if you're in accord with someone, of one mind with them, it'd be awfully strange if you were to find that your loves differed from one another. In fact, if you did happen to find your loves differed from one another, the most obvious explanation would be that you really aren't of the same mind after all. Paul, in other words, is directing these Philippians four-times over, though in slightly different ways, be unified, be unified, be unified, be unified. Paul is a brilliant communicator. He's no slouch when it comes to writing. Repetition, by him, is never accidental. Why, then, is he repeating the same idea four times over? Same reason any of us might repeat the same thing four times over. Emphasis. A hammering home the importance of one main idea. This thing really matters! Christian unity, Paul is saying, really matters. Like you really need to have it. So be unified. Be a people who, though likely very different in a whole host of other ways, nevertheless are of the same mind, have the same love, are in full accord and of one mind when it comes to who and what is most important in all the world — Jesus, and the glory of God.How do these people get such unity? How do they develop it? This will bring us back to verse one, Unity developed.Unity Developed (Verse 1)Once again, we have a fourfold pattern here. “So (1) if there is any encouragement in Christ, (2) any comfort from love, (3) any participation in the Spirit, (4) any affection and sympathy.” And this fourfold pattern makes up the first part of what is one big “if/then” statement. We know how an if/then statement works, right? “If its sunny, then the game will start at 6 pm. If it's storming, then the game will be postponed till tomorrow.” This entire section of Philippians is one big “if/then” statement. Here, in verse one, are all the “ifs”. If encouragement, if comfort, if participation, if affection.” Followed by all the “thens” in verse two, which we just saw. So, if something, something, something, something, then be unified, then be unified, then be unified, then be unified.And, just as all the “thens” in verse two, though slightly different from one another, were hammering home the same main idea (be unified), so all the “ifs” here, though slightly different from one another, are too hammering home one main idea. Which, I believe, is this: “If you are experiencing the grace of being a Christian…” Let me show you how I got that. Look at “Any participation in the Spirit” It's the third phrase you see there in verse one. We're going there because some of these other phrases are a bit vague, this one's most clear. “Any participation in the Spirit.” Okay, so we've already seen “standing firm in one Spirit” (1:27). Here we have “participation, (also translated fellowship) in the Spirit.” And the thing we know right away, without doubt concerning participation/fellowship with the Spirit, is that there's no way to have it, apart from being a Christian. If you're not a Christian, you have no participation in the Spirit. Jesus says it this way, speaking of the Holy Spirit in John 14, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper…even the Spirit of truth (The Holy Spirit), whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him.”The world, non-Christians, cannot receive the Spirit. They have no participation, no fellowship, in the Spirit. Jesus says they don't see him, or know him, and cannot receive him. But, Jesus continues, saying of believers,“You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”Christians, followers of Jesus, know the Spirit. Have a participation in the Spirit. He dwells with them. In fact, he dwells in them. So Paul, in saying, “If you have any participation in the Spirit…” is saying, “If you are experiencing the grace of being a Christian…” Set that main idea next to the other phrases in this verse. First one, “If there is any encouragement in Christ.” Well, who are those who've received encouragement in Christ? Those who are, in fact, in Christ. God's promises are yes for those who are in Christ. “Whoever has the Son has life, whoever does not have the Son does not have life.” Do you have encouragement in Christ? Let me ask another way, are you experiencing the grace of being a Christian? Keep going down the list, “Any comfort from love.” This from the same man who wrote, “For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too” (2 Cor. 1:5). Comfort is experienced through Christ. Who are those who experience comfort from love? Those who are in the love of Christ. People who are Christians.Lastly, “Affection and sympathy.” What affection? Look back at 1:8, “For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.” Who are those who have the affection of Christ? Those who are in Christ. Those who are Christians.Paul's main idea is, “If you are experiencing the grace of being a Christian.” In other words, unity is developed within God's people who, together, experience the grace of being Christians. Paul says, verse one, “If you Philippians are experiencing the grace of being Christians, then live it out through unity with one another. If you're all Christians, dwell in unity with one another. And, one way to do that is by defending the unity we have from the sin we have in ourselves. From our sin that threatens our unity from within. So, verses 3-4, Unity defended. Unity Defended (Verses 3-4)“Do nothing from selfish ambition and conceit.”This, my brothers and sisters, is the two-headed monster lurking within all of us — selfish ambition and conceit. And it is a threat to our unity as God's people. A real, live, dressed to kill threat, that must not be coddled, must not be kept, but crushed beneath the feet of every single one of us. That's why Paul says, “Do nothing, nothing, nothing from selfish ambition and conceit.”What is selfish ambition? It is, simply, the thing inside of all of us that says, “I gotta get mine.” And, we've seen it once already in this very book in Chapter 1. Talking about the people who are preaching Christ not sincerely, but thinking to afflict Paul in his imprisonment – it says they're doing so motivated by “Selfish ambition.” That's chapter 1:17. Now, we're seeing it again, this time alongside one of its strongest allies, conceit. And if selfish-ambition says, “I gotta get mine,” then conceit says, “mine is the most important, for I am the most important.” Together these two, selfish-ambition and conceit, take aim against our being of the same mind, and same love. They'd like our being in full accord to get twisted up into discord. Selfish ambition and conceit join hands with quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, disorder (2 Cor. 12:20). In fact James says of selfish-ambition specifically that wherever you happen to find it, there also will you find “disorder and every vile practice” (James 3:16). For that reason, again, Paul warns, my brothers and sisters, “Do nothing from selfish-ambition or conceit but, in humility, count others more significant than yourselves.”Note, Paul could have just said, “Count others more significant than yourself.” He didn't. He specified the action — “count others more significant than yourselves” and he specified the manner in which you are to do that action, “in humility.” The manner matters, so much so that if you get the manner wrong, the action is pointless. Selfish-ambition, after all, is not an action. It, too, is a manner. In fact, I think there's even a way you could, in selfish ambition, “count others more significant than yourself.” You're doing it, thinking, now what can I get from them now that they're in my debt? The manner, doing it “in humility,” matters. So what is it? What is humility? Merriam-Webster offers a definition, saying humility is “freedom from pride or arrogance.” I believe that's true as far as it takes us. Humility is freeing. Frees us from pride, frees us from arrogance, frees us from the terrors of selfish-ambition. Another definition, along similar lines, CS Lewis describes humility as: “not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.” That's good. Humility is not thinking you're worthless. Not thinking you're a worm. I mean, after all, both ways of thinking have the focus still on you. No, says Lewis, humility is a turning of the lens away from self. “Not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.”Okay, so humility features a freedom from pride. Humility involves a focus away from self. But if not pride, and if not self, then what does humility focus upon? Others? I'll have you know what'd happen to me if I turned from self to others and that's all I did. It'd go something like this, “Wow, they're kind of intimidating. They look impressive. I wonder what I need to do to be liked by them? To earn their approval? Make sure I don't embarrass myself before them?” Does that sound like humility? Sounds more like selfish ambition to me.Humility includes a freedom from pride, and a focus away from self, but it must be so much more than that to be true humility. So let me suggest a definition given by Pastor John Piper, during a BCS Chapel about two years ago. I was at this chapel, on accident. Truth be told I didn't know BCS even had chapel, of course, now that I think of it, it makes a lot of sense. But I'd just gone there on that Wednesday two years ago to check out their bookstore. Said to one guy in the bookstore, “Man, there's a lot of cars in the lot today, what do you think is going on?” Quickly found out Piper was giving the chapel message so I headed on over. That message was on the topic of humility. Piper's definition for humility went like this:“Humility is the disposition of the heart to be pleased with the infinite superiority of Christ over ourselves in every way.”I really like this definition for at least two reasons. First, it puts our focus on Christ, the only being beautiful and great enough to render our pride and self-ambition complete foolishness. Both our pride and our selfish ambition just burn up in the atmosphere of his presence. Second, because this definition says we see this superiority of Christ and take pleasure in it. We don't just see it. We don't just acknowledge it. The world will one day see it, acknowledge it, and it will not bring them pleasure. But we see it, and oh, it just makes us happy! It pleases us. It pleases us because he's not just some Christ … He is our Christ. Not just some Savior. He is our Savior. Not just some King. He is our King. We see him and say, “I know him, I love him, he's the one that died for me, called me to himself, says I belong to him.” We can say, “Jesus, be great! Be glorious! Keep shine bright like a billion blazing suns as we look upon you overjoyed and overwhelmed by the magnitude of your glory. Now tell me a person could turn from such a moment and soon say, “Now how can I get mine?” You don't have to tell me. Truth be told I already know a person could do such a thing, because I've done it. Perhaps you have as well. See because we still got this part of us, the old self, which never truly stops whispering “Hey, seriously, you gotta start looking out for number one. You gotta make sure you're getting yours. You got other people over there passing you by. Other people who don't get how significant you really are. Get going. Get your hands up. Start grabbing for what you can before anyone else gets it instead of you.”But if we could just keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, even when that whisper starts up — keep our satisfaction in him unhindered, though the voice of selfish ambition tries to steer us away — then we will begin to hear that voice differently than we used to. We'll stop hearing it and thinking, “Yeah, I guess you're right.” We'll start hearing it and thinking, “Man I think there's been some sort of mistake, voice. I think you must be confusing me with somebody else, or perhaps the somebody else that I used to be. See, I'm a Christian now. On the day I became one, God's word tells me all of heaven and its angels rejoiced in joy over me. My Father is the King of Heaven, he calls me his son, because that indeed is what I now am. God tells me he knew my name before I was even born because he wrote it out for me in his book of life. He formed my being, he's counted the hairs upon my head, he knows just how many days I have left to live here before I get to go home to him. And when I do get home, oh, I will see Jesus then, face-to-face. He will wipe away every tear from my eye, death shall cling to me no more, Jesus will bring me to my room, the one he's made just for me, but he'll say, “don't settle in just yet, because I've set out a feast upon my table, and you must go and eat with me there. You, and all the others I've called to myself.From now till then, my treasure in heaven will be kept imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. My faith in Jesus will remain secured, for the Lord intercedes for me before the Father, as does the Spirit. God himself has promised that nothing shall be able to separate me from this love, for neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor even my own whispering voice of selfish ambition, will be able to separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.Oh, and there is much more we could say to our selfish ambition, but I believe what has already been said has well rendered all sense of “us getting ours here” quite ridiculous — scraps compared to what God has in store for you and me. No, no we don't need to get ours in this world. But what we do get is one remarkable opportunity to look to the interests of others, with a peculiar form of intrigue, that asks, “Now how might that man, or that woman: be brought to enjoy Jesus more fully, see heaven more clearly, praise God more gladly, believe God more steadfastly, pray to God more fervently, serve God more joyfully, be even more compelled to live even more in accord to the reality of God. And how, how, might God use me, even me, to help them get there? What a thrilling way to live. A way that both defends the unity we have together as a people and gives us a front row seat to what God is doing in the world through those all around us. So, I want to close with four points of application. First two will go along with verse 3. Final two with verse 4.1) In humility, count others more significant, by remembering whose blood was spilled for them. We're talking about you and other Christians, remember this is about unity within the family of faith — Christian to Christian unity. And you're endeavoring to look at other Christians less through the lens of what they do for a living, their outward appearance, their personality, their quirks or areas of immaturity, and more through the lens of — wow, Jesus, my Jesus, spilled his blood for them. Has washed them clean in the sacrifice of his blood. Precious ointment was broken and poured out upon Jesus, Jesus has his very own body broken and poured out for them. My goodness, how significant, in the eyes of God, is this individual! In humility, count others more significant, by remembering whose blood was spilled for them.2) In humility, consider how much God desires to bring that person all the way home. God is, right now, working all things for the good of that Christian in front of you. God, right now, has predestined them, called them, justified them, and will glorify them. This is one of God's sheep, and God loses none of his sheep, no one tears them out of his hand. They are the apple of his eye. They might not look all that awesome to you. They may have some areas to grow in. God will get them home. How might you, play a role, in getting them home? In humility, consider how much God desires to bring that person all the way home.3) In humility, look not only to your interest but also to theirs by praying for them.Paul prayed for these Philippians. He used his energy, that he could have used for other things. His mental focus, which he could have used for other things, to pray for others, prayers that no one else would ever see, other than God. It's good for you to pray to God. It's in your own interest to spend time in prayer before God. How do you look not only to your own interest but also the interest of others? By spending time in prayer to God on behalf of others.4) In humility, look not only to your interest but also to theirs by showing up for others even when you don't feel like it. Brothers and sisters, be there for your church family. Don't underestimate how your presence might encourage your church family. You're tired during the week, bless your Community Group by showing up all the same as a reminder to them, fellowship matters. You're exhausted by the time Sunday comes around, bless your church by showing up all the same as a reminder, corporate worship, hearing God's word, being with God's people, matters. You get a phone call from a friend late at night. You still got a lot to do to prepare for tomorrow. Pick the phone up, answer it, remind them, they matter to God, they matter also to you. In humility, look not only to your interest but also to theirs by showing up for others even when you don't feel like it. The TableAnd all of these words to us are what bring us to the table, for it is at this table we're reminded of how Jesus spilled his blood for us. It's symbolized for us every Sunday when we drink the cup. At this table, we're reminded Jesus left heaven, took on human flesh, so that he might dwell among us, and that he might have it broken for us. It's symbolized for us every Sunday when we eat the bread. It's at this table we remember, and we celebrate, that Jesus has come and has given himself, sacrificially, for the good of his people.

Message Us!Are you equipped with the lamp oil of faith, ready for the unanticipated moment when Christ returns? Pastor Hunter, with thoughtful contributions from Pastor John Piper, joins us to dissect the profound parable of the ten virgins, prompting a soul-searching examination of our spiritual readiness. We're not just discussing theology; we're confronting life's ultimate reality check. As we navigate through the parable's depths, we're invited to scrutinize the authenticity of our own faith and the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, emphasizing the critical personal journey towards readiness.The gravity of personal spiritual responsibility is at the core of this episode. Through Pastor Hunter's guidance and Pastor Piper's insights, we discover that readiness for Christ's return isn't about the outward display of religiosity but a deep, inward preparation that cannot be borrowed or assumed. The conversation bravely tackles the tough questions about the nature of our faith and church involvement, steering us toward a transformative relationship with the divine, rooted in worship and genuine affection. Prepare to be challenged and inspired as we consider what it truly means to live in anticipation of the bridegroom's arrival.In this final call to action, your heart might recognize the tug of something greater, urging you to pivot from worldly distractions towards the joyous anticipation of Christ's return. If you've been wrestling with the tension between earthly pursuits and heavenly focus, you're not alone. This episode extends a warm invitation to explore and deepen your relationship with Jesus. For those in the Richmond, Kentucky area, the doors of Real Life Community Church are open, welcoming you into a community ready to support and celebrate your spiritual journey.Support the show

When your vehicle starts drifting to the left or to the right, in most cases, the problem is that you need a front end alignment. The same holds true in the life of the believer.Because of the remaining corruption in our flesh, it is possible for any child of God to find themselves looking at the easy and successful life of the unsaved and begin to ask the question, what is the point of me living my life for Jesus? Such was the case of Asaph in Psalm 73.In verse 3, the psalmist confesses that he is in the grip of envy and jealousy. The problem here, beloved, is that the Psalmist was defining prosperity, success and happiness by this fallen world's value system. Because Asaph's heart was out of alignment with God, he began to ponder why everything in their life seemed to be going fine and trouble free. They not only seemed to have everything, they also appeared to be getting away with everything.Every believer, writer and reader alike has those “pity party” and “why do the wicked prosper” moments in life. After all, they speak blasphemously against God and they spread their godless philosophy of what life is all about throughout the earth. They speak against the Genesis account of creation. They speak against the Genesis account of gender. They speak against the Genesis account of marriage to name just a couple of things.Beloved, one of the devil's most potent fiery darts is when you start comparing your life to the rich and godless and begin to think that it is vain to serve the Lord. So what does God do? He puts this wrong perspective in Scripture so that you and I would not fall prey to this twisted and perverted way of seeing things in this life!!What turned things around for Asaph or any other Asaph reading this devotional today? The first step out of the sinkhole of resentment, envy and a wrong perspective is when we come into the presence of God together and simply worship Him. The psalmist entered the sanctuary, and in the presence of the Living God, his vision cleared and he begins to see the eternal perspective of life on earth. All of the griping, complaining, envy and jealousy did not solve his wrong perspective of life, it actually fed it. We would call what he ate “devil's food cake”!What gave him the eternal perspective of life was when he went into the sanctuary or presence of God and worshipped. And in verse 25 he declares, “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee”. This is getting things back in the right perspective again. This perspective in life is the ultimate “front end alignment of the heart” before God. This is the gospel-shaped, life-changing perspective for the child of God. Pastor John Piper wrote: "If you can't see the sun you will be impressed with a street light. If you've never felt thunder and lightning you'll be impressed with fireworks. And if you turn your back on the greatness and majesty of God you'll fall in love with a world of shadows and short-lived pleasures."May God Almighty grant unto Koinonia Fellowship, both individually and collectively this much needed heart alignment in life in order that we might be a Jesus-following, cross-bearing, Gospel-shaped, Word-driven, Spirit-led congregation for the glory of Abba. SELAH

In this sermon "The Pain of the World and the Purposes of God," Pastor John Piper addresses the difficult question of why God allows suffering in the world. He begins by acknowledging that the problem of suffering is a real one, and that it is often difficult to reconcile with our belief in a loving and all-powerful God. Piper then goes on to offer four reasons why God might allow suffering in the world: To display his glory. Piper argues that the suffering of the world is a parable of the horrors of sin. It shows us how evil sin is, and how much we need to be saved from it. To conform us to the image of Christ. Piper teaches that suffering can help us to become more like Christ, who suffered and died for our sins. When we suffer, we learn to rely on God, to forgive others, and to love our enemies. To provide opportunities for compassion and service. Piper argues that suffering can create opportunities for us to show compassion and mercy to others. When we suffer, we are more likely to empathize with those who are suffering, and we are more likely to be moved to help them. To prepare us for eternal glory. Piper reminds us that this life is temporary, and that suffering will one day be abolished. When we suffer in this life, we are storing up treasures for the afterlife, where we will experience perfect joy and peace. Piper concludes by acknowledging that the problem of suffering is still a mystery, but that we can trust that God is good and that he is working all things together for our good. In summary, Piper says that God allows suffering in the world to display his glory, to conform us to the image of Christ, to provide opportunities for compassion and service, and to prepare us for eternal glory. Date Preached: April 26, 2015 Passage: Romans 8:18–25  For more information about this sermon, please visit Desiring God Ministries or click here. Copyright Notice: By John Piper. © Desiring God Foundation. Source: desiringGod.org John Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For more than thirty years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis. He is author of more than fifty books, and his sermons, articles, books, and more are available free of charge at desiringGod.org. This sermon is being shared in accordance with Desiring God Copyright Policy, which allows for the reproduction and distribution of audio and video messages digitally. We have followed all copyright policies set by Desiring God Ministries to ensure the lawful sharing of this sermon. For any questions or concerns regarding this episode, please feel free to contact us at expositorysermons@gmail.com. Learn more about Desiring God copyright policy here: https://www.desiringgod.org/permissions --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/expositorysermons/support

Exultación Expositiva - Pastor John Piper - Ante Su Palabra 2019 by radioebenezerrd.com #biblia #photooftheday #cristianosrd #emisoracristiana #gospelmusic #holidays #juventudcristiana #musicacristiana #spotify #noticiascristianas #radiocristiana #radioonline #versiculodeldia #versiculosbiblicos #radioebenezerrdThis show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/3279340/advertisement

Exultación Expositiva - Pastor John Piper - Ante Su Palabra 2019 by radioebenezerrd.com #biblia #photooftheday #cristianosrd #emisoracristiana #gospelmusic #holidays #juventudcristiana #musicacristiana #spotify #noticiascristianas #radiocristiana #radioonline #versiculodeldia #versiculosbiblicos #radioebenezerrdThis show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/3279343/advertisement

Exultación Expositiva - Pastor John Piper - Ante Su Palabra 2019 by radioebenezerrd.com #biblia #photooftheday #cristianosrd #emisoracristiana #gospelmusic #holidays #juventudcristiana #musicacristiana #spotify #noticiascristianas #radiocristiana #radioonline #versiculodeldia #versiculosbiblicos #radioebenezerrd

Exultación Expositiva - Pastor John Piper - Ante Su Palabra 2019 by radioebenezerrd.com #biblia #photooftheday #cristianosrd #emisoracristiana #gospelmusic #holidays #juventudcristiana #musicacristiana #spotify #noticiascristianas #radiocristiana #radioonline #versiculodeldia #versiculosbiblicos #radioebenezerrdThis show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/4064350/advertisement

Exultación Expositiva - Pastor John Piper - Ante Su Palabra 2019 by radioebenezerrd.com #biblia #photooftheday #cristianosrd #emisoracristiana #gospelmusic #holidays #juventudcristiana #musicacristiana #spotify #noticiascristianas #radiocristiana #radioonline #versiculodeldia #versiculosbiblicos #radioebenezerrdThis show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/4231678/advertisement

In this episode, Pastor John Piper looks at the Puritan view of obedience from the heart. With the joy and passion that has define his ministry for over 40 years, Piper exhorts believers to seek the deep, affectionate faith of the Puritans.Click here to check out resources from this episode: www.heritagebooks.org/categories/puritan- conference/the-joy-of-the-puritans.htmlReformation Heritage Books presents The Puritan Conference Podcast, which brings you the addresses from The Puritan Conference (2022). This once-in-a-generation event provided an unparalleled opportunity for believers to immerse themselves in the history and teaching of those who lived courageously, believed with reverential precision, and died boldly for Christ in a way that continues to shape the Christian faith. Listen to theologians and pastors like Joel Beeke, Kevin DeYoung, Steve Lawson, John Piper, and more as they discuss various aspects of Puritan history and theology!Want to read more of the Puritans? Click here: www.heritagebooks.org/categories/puritan- conference.htmlFollow Reformation Heritage Books on social media:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heritagebooks.orgTwitter: https://twitter.com/RHB_BooksInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/reformationheritagebooks/Support the show

Kim jest Bóg… i jak możemy Go poznać? W dzisiejszym odcinku Pastor John Piper, odpowie na to niezwykle ważne i często zadawane pytanie.

Kim jest Bóg… i jak możemy Go poznać? W dzisiejszym odcinku Pastor John Piper, odpowie na to niezwykle ważne i często zadawane pytanie.

Pastor John Piper joins the podcast to share a hopeful vision for the second coming of Jesus. Hear how anticipating the return of Christ can help people who are suffering with hardship and disability today, plus the importance of cultivating a deep love for the Savior as we await his return.John Piper serves as founder and teacher at Desiring God and is chancellor of Bethlehem College and Seminary. For 33 years, Piper served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church. He has authored more than 50 books, and more than 30 years of his preaching and writing are available at DesiringGod.org.KEY QUESTIONS:What will happen when Christ returns?How can anticipation of Christ's return provide help and hope when you're suffering?How can you cultivate a deeper affection for the Lord while longing for his return?  KEY SCRIPTURES:1 Thessalonians 41 Corinthians 15Matthew 13:43Luke 12:372 Timothy 4:8Galatians 2:20  Read more in Pastor John Piper's book Come, Lord Jesus: Meditations on the Second Coming of Christ.As you listen, send the podcast team a message with your comments and questions.  ----Find more encouragement on Joni Eareckson Tada's Sharing Hope podcast  and daily devotional.Follow Joni and Friends on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.Your support  makes this podcast possible!Joni and Friends envisions a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. Founded by  Joni Eareckson Tada, we provide Christ-centered care through  Joni's House, Wheels for the World, and Retreats and Getaways, and offer disability ministry training.

What is the nature of Faith, and how does Faith Alone operate in the age of "trusting in self" through your "feelings alone." We also discuss some controversial words from Pastor John Piper regarding Sola Fide.

In 2000 at the “Passion One Day” Conference, Pastor John Piper gave a stirring speech where he challenged this listeners not to waste their lives in pursuit of a retirement on the beach, collecting shells and having a nice boat. John Piper would be glad to know that Clark and Carol put their business, their house on the water and their boat up for sale to answer God's call on their life. Today Clark and Carol are serving as global missionaries working to "equip the saints for the work of ministry" though E412 Ministries. They are Savannahians that are using their gift of life to do the work that God has graciously prepared for them. This is their testimony.

Hello everyone! It's January 2! Today's episode is an odd one for the beginning of the year, but a lot of things in my life have been pointing to the topic of living our lives with the end in mind, or with eternal perspective. I share a new year's eve reflection and thought, as well as a testimony I heard at church today. I guess I've been thinking a lot about how to live this year intentionally with eternity in mind, and so many things just aligned with this thought. At the end, I also share a devotional by Pastor John Piper titled "Death Rehearsal," and I thought it was the perfect title to this episode, as well. I hope that this episode gave you some reflection points as we start this year! (:

Pastor John Piper został poproszony o wyjaśnienie tego, kim jest baptysta. Posłuchajmy odpowiedzi. Podcast Zapytaj Pastora to odpowiedzi pastora Johna Pipera, na często zadawane, czasem trudne pytania od słuchaczy. Przeczytaj lub posłuchaj tego wywiadu i sprawdź pozostałe odcinki: https://www.ewangeliawcentrum.pl/zapytajpastora Subskrybuj nasz kanał: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-wnwNvcEg75Qo3xxuAag6w?sub_confirmation=1

Buenas Nuevas de Salvación. Lecturas devocionales para adviento del Pastor John Piper.

As if 2021 cannot get any stranger, there was plenty happening the last several days to make the world shake. Kanye West holds his first Sunday service since releasing his Donda album earlier this year. Pastor John Piper of Desiring God ministries explains how God uses ugliness as a grace gift. Finally, firm believers in Q Anon crowded the streets of downtown Dallas with the hopes of seeing a resurrected JFK, Jr and a restored Trump presidency. Join Dr. Neal as he discusses this and other topics of the day.   www.lorenzotneal.com Show sponsors are www.skillshare.com  Legalshield www.legalshield.com Become a patron-www.patreon.com/LorenzoTNeal

Sermon Manuscript On September 28, 1962, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was giving a closing speech at the Christian civil rights organization he led. The small auditorium was packed. About 300 civil right leaders and pastors were hanging on each and every word. What they didn't realize is that a man seated on the second row grew angrier and angrier. He was part of the American Nazi Party. He snapped. Rushed forward. Hit Dr. King square in the jaw. King was thrown sideways but the man didn't stop. He lurched forward at King and began to hit him over and over.You can imagine the reaction of the crowd. Horrified at what was going on. In a matter of a few seconds, people began rushing to the stage. Adrenalin filling their veins as they witnessed the bloodied face of their hero. Several grabbed the attacker, ready to retaliate. Before they could inflict pain, “a voice rang out above all the others” as one historian put it. “Don't touch him. Don't touch him. We have to pray for him.” Dr. King pleaded. Moments later, he sat with the man and prayed for him.This aggression against Dr. King, as you know was commonplace. 6 years earlier while he preached to a crowd of 2000 people near his home, a segregationist detonated a bomb on his front porch. Dr. King's wife and daughter were home. When word came, King rushed home. They were safe, but soon an angry crowd arrived - supporters of his with weapons and shovels. They wanted revenge on whoever did this. As King came out onto his porch, they erupted with cheers and shouts. But in an apostle Paul sort of way, he raised his hand, a great hush came over them. And he said “He who lives by the sword will perish by the sword… that is what God said. We are not advocating violence. We want to love our enemies.”Think about everything that has happened to the apostle Paul on his three missionary journeys. • In Lystra, stoned and dragged outside the city. Left for dead.• Beaten with rods and then imprisoned in Philippi, his feet locked in stocks• Attacked in Thessolonica.• Mocked in Athens. • Accused in Corinth.• Threatened by the riot in EphesusThat's only what is recorded in Acts. From 2 Corinthians, we know he received 39 lashes from the Jews multiple times. Beaten with rods two other times besides at Phillipi and flogged – whipped.And you would think it would turn him against his enemies – the unbelieving Jews. Or that he would want to retaliate. Did he get angry? Yes, a righteous anger. Multiple times he turned his attention away from the Jews and to the Gentiles. But have you noticed, he always came back to them.As Paul was brought towards the barracks, the mob continued their aggression. The Roman soldiers didn't even know what was going on. They thought he was an Egyptian, because in recent weeks, an Egyptian had led a revolt. Paul quickly put that misunderstanding to an end. He began speaking to the soldiers in Greek. That got their attention. “I am a Jew,” he said, “from Tarsus of Cilicia, a citizen…” And then he asked them a shocking question. “I beg you, permit me to speak to the people.” Permission granted.And so, Paul, bruised and beaten, likely bloodied - bound with 2 chains, turned around – He was already elevated on the steps of the garrison. It was adjacent to the temple mount, because the Romans needed to oversee the Temple and activities given the hostility. The mob was still shouting with voices raised. Chanting “away with him.”Paul raised his hand – a request to speak. The last verse of chapter 21. A great hush came over the crowd.8 or 9 years ago I was teaching a 1st and 2nd grade Sunday school class. A majority of the class were boys. And on one particular day, the craziness started to spin out of control. Kids started bouncing out of their chairs, jibber jabbering. You can probably imagine. And I started to whisper. All of a sudden it got really quiet. They wanted to hear what I was saying. It worked for about 5 minutes. Then I had to impose Marshall law.The crowd wanted to hear what Paul was going to say! There were no microphones or speakers. They had to quiet down. Paul opened his mouth and began to speak probably in Aramaic. It says “the Hebrew language.” The common spoken language of the Hebrew or Jewish people was Aramaic.Many of the Jews there didn't know much about Paul. Chaos had set in. Mind you, in all the other situations where Paul was beaten – it was after he spoke or after his ministry. But here, the beating came before his speech. It's quite remarkable. Despite what had just happened to him, his desire was still to convince them of the Gospel. He wanted them to see and hear the truth.And so what did Paul tell them? Chapter 22. He shared his own testimony of faith. Now, you may be asking, “Why did Luke include this here? I mean, back in chapter 9, we read of Paul's conversion. It's the same story, after all”Well, there are multiple reasons. For one, we're hearing it from Paul's mouth. There are some unique emphases that he makes. Also, remember, Luke's wrote Acts as a letter to Theophilus. He was writing to inform Theophilus what had been going on. Likely Theophiles wanted to know what the turmoil in Jerusalem was all about. Chapter 22 here is a significant part of the history.In fact, when we get to chapter 26, Paul yet again will share his testimony, but he'll highlight yet another important aspect of his call.In some ways, this testimony, here in chapter 22, is a model testimony of faith for us. If you are here and you are a believer in Jesus alone for salvation – you have a testimony of faith. It may be that you grew up in a Christian home and you embraced Christ at a young age. You acknowledged your need for him, trusted him, and turned your life to him in repentance. Or it may be that you were older, a teenager or adult, and someone shared the hope of Jesus with you and you believed.Well, you will, no doubt, have opportunities to share your testimony of faith in Christ with others. And Paul's testimony is helpful for us. For one, he includes the necessary parts of anyone's testimony. • A clear testimony of who Jesus is. Here he's identified as “Jesus of Nazareth.” Paul refers him as “Lord” multiple times. And calls him the “Righteous One.”• Next, a clear testimony of turning from unbelief or sin – in Paul's case, it was a combination of rejecting Jesus and persecuting Christians, but then turning to him, acknowledge him as “Lord.” And entirely forsaking his ways.• Then also there's a clear testimony of faith – verse 16 - calling on Jesus's name and embracing God's washing away of his sins.• And, finally, a clear testimony of God's Gospel mission – the Gospel of Christ is for anyone. Any tribe, tongue, and nation.All these elements are captured in there and helpful for us. Sometimes when we share our testimony, we leave out important parts of the Gospel. Our sin, or our need for Christ, or who Jesus is or what he has done, or how we came to him.So that's one benefit here for us – a model for us to emulate.But also, Paul's testimony is helpful for another reason. He has a passion and desire that the people would hear him. That they would believe in Jesus. And part of Paul's passion for them is seen in his sensitivity to them. Paul is tuned in to his audience. He hones in on them. Their background, their understanding. He passionately wants them to believe.Let's focus now on Paul's heart for the Jews and his sensitivity to them. These aspects don't necessarily pop out at us from a surface level reading of the passage. But they are there, and they instruct us as we seek to share God's work in us. Or maybe, if you are exploring Christianity – Paul's passion and his compassion will challenge you to listen and believe.And really, the first 4 words of chapter 22 capture all of that. “Brothers and Fathers, hear”• Paul called them “Brothers and fathers” – these are the very ones, who just moments earlier were beating him and shouting at him. The ones who wanted to kill him. Yet Paul appealed to them as “brothers” …and respectful called the older men “fathers.” Right here from the beginning, he communicated his heart for them.• And then he asks them to listen: “hear the defense that I now make before you.” He wanted them to hear and believe.In fact, these verses are full of seeing and hearing language. Six times in these verses, the word “hear” is included. Paul wants them to see and hear what he has seen and heard. And so he describes for them what he saw and heard on the road to Damascus. A great light caused him to go blind, he heard the voice of Jesus, but could not see. Then God's healed him through Ananias. And jump down to verses 14 and 15. God spoke to Paul through Ananias. More words of seeing and hearing. Ananias said, “The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth; for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard.”That's what Paul was doing here in his testimony. He was fulfilling God's call for him – witnessing what he had seen and heard so that others would see and hear. Of course, we know that they would not see and would not hear. We'll come back to their response in a few minutes.Paul took this call seriously. Everywhere he went, he testified to Christ. We've heard multiple sermons and speeches by Paul. And one compelling aspect of each is his understanding of his audience. • Think of his Mars Hill address in Acts 17. It was a very different crowd. Greek philosophers and followers of the various Greek gods. He connected with them. He brought them from thinking God was unknown, to hearing about the creator God who knows us and can be known.• Or think of a very different message. Paul's sermon to the Ephesian Elders. Believers in Christ – Jew and Gentile believers. And then we get to this speech - Paul's testimony to this hostile Jewish crowd. These were zealous unbelieving Jews. And at first glance, you may not notice just how sensitive Paul is to their Jewish identity. But scan down with me through these verses:• As already noted, he began, “Brothers and fathers.” Paul was connecting his Jewish identity with them.• He spoke in their language• In verse 3, Paul highlighted his Jewish credentials. He was educated by Gamaliel – the most famous Jewish rabbi.• Verse 4, Paul, himself, was zealous. He even persecuted this “way.” He had Christians killed.• Verse 5, Paul affirmed that he was approved by the High Priest and the counsel in what he did. Even going all the way to Damascus to imprison the Christians.• Jump down to verse 12. Paul identified Ananias as a “devout man according to the law who was well spoken by all the Jews who lived there.” In that verse alone you can sense how desirous Paul is to get the crowd to see that this is all legitimate.• In verse 14, even Ananias's words to Paul echo his Jewish connection - “The God of our fathers”• This includes Jesus's title of Righteous One, which comes right from the Hebrew Scripture, Jeremiah and Zechariah. It referred to the coming Messiah.• In fact, did you notice that only once is the name Jesus used. His self-identification in verse 8. Elsewhere, Paul calls him Lord (Adoni).So, in very intentional way, Paul was speaking to them. He appealed to their Jewish heritage and Scriptures. But also, Paul emphasized something else throughout his testimony. God's sovereignty.• The great light from heaven and voice from heaven would have validated the authenticity• Jesus told Paul to go to Damascus and find Ananias. Paul went. Everything that Jesus predicted came true. It affirmed God's divine plan in this.• Even Paul's blindness and then miraculous healing indicated God's control over the situation.• You'll see the word “appointment” used twice. Verses 10 and 14. It's in reference to God's will for Paul.• As we get down to verse 17, even the trance and vision indicated to them God's divine oversight.You see, Paul sought to authenticate everything he saw and heard according to their Jewish roots and the Hebrew Scriptures. He sought to validate God's involvement in it all. He so desired that they would believe.With all that in mind, we think, “yes, surely they will hear and believe.”I know at least one of you has a dear friend who is an orthodox Jew. Maybe others here have Jewish friends or co-workers. And everything about you wants them to see and hear and believe. And you can go to Isaiah 53, you can show them the book of Hebrews, they can hear these words from Acts 22… yet they don't believe. And we cry out to God, “why?” “Lord, open their eyes and hears to see… hear and believe. For only you can.” We get to the end of Paul's testimony. The crowd had been listening to Paul. It says that (verse 22). All the way up to this point, the hush continued. • They heard Paul describe his Jewish background. • They listened to his testimony of the light, and blindness, of Jesus words to Paul, and his healing. • Even when Paul identified Jesus as “Lord” and “Righteous One,” they were not triggered.They attentively listened until we get to 21. Paul said this: “And he [that is, the Lord] said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.'” This triggered the crowd. They began throwing off their cloaks and flinging dirt in the air (verse 23). These gestures showed just how disgusted they were.The barrier to receiving the Gospel in anyone's life is sin. That sin takes on many forms. For them (for this Jewish crowd), their sin was their prejudice. It was a form of racism – a nationalistic one. The roots of their sin were so deep. It involved a blinding pride in their Jewish identity. They saw themselves as the only true religious ones. Everyone else were Gentiles. Dogs to them. Literally, that's how they saw anyone who wasn't a Jew. They were the clean ones, the Gentiles were unclean. Their barrier to Gospel belief was their empty zealous legalism which included hatred of the Gentiles.And for them to hear Paul say that God had sent him to the Gentiles… drove them far from the Gospel. This Gospel - Jesus's death on the cross to forgive sins and his resurrection to new life that gives eternal hope… is for any and all who call upon his name. Any ethnicity, any nation, any language. We've seen this all throughout Acts. Earlier in the service we read Ephesians 2, “now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” It continues “For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.” Or consider Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”As you well know, Martin Luther King, Jr. fought for equality and dignity and peace. He believed that any inferiority was a myth. He believed forgiveness was needed. Dr. King wrote this: “Forgiveness means reconciliation, a coming together again. Without this, no man can love his enemies.” In a way, this encapsulates the apostle Paul here. Forgiving them, loving them, desiring them to hear and believe.Pastor John Piper wrote a chapter in a book about Dr. King's Letters from a Birmingham Jail. Piper wrote it in a letter form, addressed to Dr. King as if he would read it. In it, Piper wrote this: “There are times I wished you had made the biblical gospel clearer. But I am sure you would agree that the power you wielded was rooted in God.” Piper went on to write to Dr. King about the struggle of the church today. He wrote that what the church's need today is this: “God-centered, Christ-exalting, Bible-saturated churches where the gospel is cherished — these are the birthplace of the kind of racial harmony that give long-term glory to God and long-term gospel-good to the world.”Although the deep-seated prejudice of the Jews is different from the racism and prejudice that we see and struggle with today, the roots are the same. It's sin that exalts one group over another or one person over another based on their ethnicity. We're all image bearers of God, and we all need Christ.I want to close with something different than usual. This long passage is structured in a type of Hebrew and Greek parallel. These parallels start at the beginning and end and work their way in to the middle• Our text begins and ends with Paul speaking Greek to the Roman guards. He first speaks of his citizenship coming from Tarsus. He ends with his identity as a Roman citizen.• The crowds had been stirred up until he began his speech. They were stirred up again at the end, wanting to kill him.• Paul began his speech speaking of his persecution of Christians. Did you notice he ended his speech, revisiting his persecution of Christians.• Verses 6-11 continue that movement towards the center. The great light, verse 6 and verse 11. Damascus verse 6 and 10. Jesus words, “why are you persecuting me” the end of 7 and again, end of 8, “whom you are persecuting.”• At the very center of this whole passage is the beginning of verse 8. Paul asks, “who are you, Lord” and Jesus replies “I am Jesus of Nazareth”He is the center of it all. He is the one who is our Lord… to whom we repent and from whom we receive forgiveness. He's the one who breaks down the barriers of unbelief… the one that enables us to love our enemies. The only one through whom we can be truly reconciled to God and one another. Is he the center of your testimony, your life?

Pastor John Piper exposits Matt 28-19 and gives an explanation for Who the Nations are that Jesus is referring to.

Pastor John Piper exposits Matt 28-19 and gives an explanation for Who the Nations are that Jesus is referring to.

Exultación Expositiva - Pastor John Piper - Ante Su Palabra 2019 by https://linktr.ee/radioebenezerrd

Pastor John Piper exposits Matt 28:19 and gives an explanation for Who the Nations are that Jesus is referring to.

Pastor John Piper exposits Matt 28:19 and gives an explanation for Who the Nations are that Jesus is referring to.

A friend of mine recently asked me: Is God a jealous God? Isn't jealousy a sin? If we are not supposed to be jealous of one another, what does the Bible mean when it says God is jealous?I thought, “Wow! This is a challenging question, isn't it? But it is a very good question.Several times in the Old Testament the Bible says God is a jealous God. Consider these verses.Deuteronomy 4:24 - “For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.”Exodus 20:5 - “You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God”Exodus 34:14 - “for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.”So, this is a bit confusing, right? What does all of this mean?When we think of the sin of jealousy we define it as resentment at what some one else has. When we want what someone else has we might covet, be envious, and be jealous in a desire to have what they have. Instead of being grateful for what God has given us, we want what someone else has whether that be their house, their car, their vacation time, or whatever.Sinful human jealousy has been the cause of countless difficulties and heartache in human relationships. But this is not the jealousy God experiences. God is not jealous or envious of anything we possess. The jealousy of God is seen when someone gives to another something that rightly belongs to Him.When God tells the Israelites in Exodus to not worship other gods because He is a jealous God, He is saying do not give the the worship and allegiance that belongs solely to Him to false idols.He is saying that it is sin to worship or to serve anything or anyone else but God. Worship, praise, honor, and adoration belong to God alone, for only He is truly worthy of it.Pastor John Piper explains it this way… “God is not jealous like an insecure employer who fears that his employees might get lured away by a better salary elsewhere. God's jealousy is not the reflex of weakness or fear.Instead God is jealous like a powerful and merciful king who takes a peasant girl from a life of shame, forgives her, marries her, and gives her not the chores of a slave, but the privileges of a wife—a queen. His jealousy does not rise from fear or weakness but from a holy indignation at having his honor and power and mercy scorned by the faithlessness of a fickle spouse.”Because of His love for us, God is not content to allow us to worship and serve false gods, whether they be other religions, materialism, or even ourselves. If he does not care when we love idols more than him, he would allow himself to be dishonored and let us settle for so much less than he intends us to have from life.God is a jealous God meaning that we belong to Him.  He has a rightful claim to the highest level of our love, attention, affection, and especially our worship.1 Corinthians 6:19-20 - “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price.”Today's Challenge: Let's make time to today to give God the glory, honor, and praise that belongs to Him. Let's give him our allegiance and make him the Lord of our lives.

Sermon Manuscript What kind of job should I pursue? What school should I attend? Should I move? Which apartment should I rent or house should I buy? What church should I attend? Should I date or marry this person?We seek God's direction in decisions – big decisions, little decisions. We pray for the Lord to reveal what's best. But sometimes we become paralyzed. In our desire to know exactly what God would have us do, we sit and wait and wait and wait. Not knowing what to do can be discouraging. We can even question whether God even cares because he hasn't made it clear.Alternately, we can be so stubborn with what we want, that we push forward without sensitivity to God's leading. That can sometimes have disastrous consequences.These verses, here in Acts 16, help us avoid both extremes. I think Proverbs 16:9 summarizes them well. “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”That's what is happening here. Paul had a plan. He was moving forward with that plan, but God directed his steps. The result? The Gospel reached a brand-new region. Through his leading, God continued to accomplish his grand plan - the good news of Jesus to the ends of the earth.This morning, as we journey with the apostle Paul and Silas, we'll see some clear leading and guiding. We'll see that even though they made plans, they were open to the Lord redirecting them. And that's all helpful for us. The question is this: how do our plans integrate with God's providence? God's providence, by the way, is how God upholds, directs, and orders the universe that He created. The Scriptures teach us that God ordains everything that comes to pass. He oversees is all for his purposes and plans. That's God's providence.Now, before going any further, let me step back and talk about how we apply the Bible. When we try to apply the Bible to our life situations, we need to think carefully about how each passage relates to us. Like whether a particular book of the Bible speaks directly or indirectly to our situation and in what ways. Or how a particular event relates to God's big picture redemptive plan. Or the people in the Bible – we should ask: are their actions something that we should emulate? Sometimes… people's specific roles or actions in the Bible are there for a special reason. Like to point us to Christ, or to accomplish a special task in God's big picture. Often times it's a mixed bag. Let's take the apostle Paul, for example. • He's a New Testament believer in Christ. In that sense we can look to him as a model of a mature Christian. A couple of times in his letters he even instructs the churches to imitate him as he imitates Christ. That's helpful• But we can't look to Paul as a positive example in every situation. He is a sinner. Think of our study last week – Paul and Barnabas got into a sharp disagreement. But that's not something we should emulate. I mean, it would be a little awkward if I said to you - “Hey, um, we haven't had a good disagreement in a while. Can we get together and have a Paul and Barnabas style conflict?” You'd be like “huh?” That's obvious, I know.• But also, Paul had a special role as an apostle. So, we also have to understand when that special role is coming into play. Like the signs and wonders he performed. He had these God-given special gifts for that special time – that's when God's kingdom in Christ was inaugurated. A time before the New Testament was written.Now, in past Acts sermons, we've looked to the examples of the early Christians – models of prayer, models for the church, models for teaching and evangelism, and models for missions. Those have been helpful for us. So to summarize, many times we can apply examples right to our lives, but we need to first discern how the specific situation relates to ours. I wanted to say that up front because Paul and Silas display a faithfulness to the Lord. They demonstrate a sensitive to the Lord's leading. And we can apply their model to our situations as we likewise seek to be faithful and let the Lord lead us in our decisions.Now, before we look at these verses, which are positive. Think about our study last week. Paul and Barnabas split up. It happened because they disagreed. But what was the result? God used that situation for his providential purposes. There were now two missionary teams. Barnabas and John Mark, who went off to Cyprus. And Paul and Silas who then picked up Timothy along the way and whom God would lead to Macedonia. Even in the difficult things and through sin, God is working his providential plan. This is not the first time we've seen this. back in Acts 7 when Stephen was martyred, God accomplished his purposes as the Christians were scattered. Even the disunity leading up to Acts 15. The disagreement over circumcision - God used it to bring together his church and ultimately bring unity. You see, God accomplishes his purposes not despite sin and persecution, but through it.That has been a tremendous encouragement to me – to know that even in the hard times, God is accomplishing his plan. To be sure, that's not a license to sin. No, not at all. We are still called to seek truth and righteousness. So the question is not whether God's providence will prevail in our decisions – it will. Rather the question is how can we be faithful to God's call and his leading in our decision?Let me give you 3 principles from our text:#1: Make faithful plans#2: Allow God to redirect you#3: Seek Gospel opportunities Now, that's not an exhaustive formula on how to seek God's leading in your decisions. In fact, the foundational things include being in God's Word and in prayer and seeking Godly counsel. Rather, these 3 principles from the text – (1) Make faithful plans, (2) allow God to direct you, (3) and seek Gospel opportunities - are practical ways to take steps forward in faith.#1: Make faithful plansSo first, make faithful plans. Really, that's how this new missionary journey started. The end of chapter 15. Paul began by saying “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” Little did Paul know that God had different plans. Yet that did not stop his planning. And his plans were reasonable and faithful. Paul wanted to encourage the believers and strengthen the churches. Those are worthy ideas.Now, there's a difference between making plans and making faithful plans. A faithful plan is a plan that seeks to honor God. To honor him in our job pursuits, or family, or service, or church. That means, first of all, pleasing him in our thoughts, words and actions. Also, being humble – recognizing he is the one who upholds us. He gives us talents and resources.As a contrast, a plan that is not God honoring is one that is self-seeking and doesn't consider God.James, in chapter 4 of his letter, puts it this way: “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit'— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.'”In other words, planning is not the problem. No, rather the problem is planning with selfish desires and without consideration of God's providence. Faithful planning involves planning with an open hand… planning with the knowledge that the Lord alone knows what tomorrow will bring. ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.' Lord willing.That realization has been a journey for me. I'm a planner. Some of you know that. I think about goals and all the plans needed to reach those goals. Over time, the Lord has had to pry my hands open. He's made me realize, the hard way, that his providence is sovereign. Like March of 2020. We were ready to launch our church. Our core team, many of you, had worked hard. We had plans in place. And then COVID hit (deep sigh!). The Lord had to open my hands even more. As you know, we had to put things on hold for a period of time. The original location we had planned to rent fell through. It was a healthy reminder to all of us that we can plan… and we should but God ordains everything. Even though our plans were put on hold, God's plan was still in place – and looking back, it's been an encouragement and blessing to see the Lord's provision. Our faithful plans need to be submitted to our faithful God.So we should make plans, as Paul did. Those plans should seek to be faithful to our call as Christians – which is to glorify God and serve Him – not ourselves. And next, we take steps forward. All the while, submitting those plans to the Lord.Look at verses 6 and following. Over and over, there's movement. “they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia” and verse 8 “they went down to Troas” and verse 11 “they made a direct voyage”You see, not only did they make faithful plans, but Paul, Silas and Timothy started to follow through on those plans. They took steps forward. Of course, with much prayer and care. They didn't sit back and twiddle their thumbs and wait for the green light from God… nor did they recklessly charge forward. Rather they trusted the Lord and stepped out in faith.#2: Allow God to redirect your stepsThis brings us to point #2. So first, make faithful plans – submitting them to the Lord. But second, allow God to redirect your steps.All throughout these verses, God led them. His providence directed their steps. One door was open, another closed. That led to another open door and another closed one.As they travelled through Phrygia and Galatia, which is the western part of Asia Minor - modern day Turkey. They wanted to stop and share the Gospel and plant more churches. But it says they were “forbidden by the Holt Spirit”. So they continued west. When they got to Mysia, which, by the way, is the northwest part of Asia Minor, they tried to go further north to Bithinia, but again it says, “the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.” So they continued on to Troas – on the northwestern edge of Asian minor. Right on the Aegean Sea, which is between modern day Turkey and modern day Greece.Now, we don't know exactly how the Holy Spirit re-directed them. Silas was a prophet, if you rmemeber, so he could have received a revelation. There could also have been a physical barrier of sorts. Maybe the road was closed. Perhaps the Spirit gave them a unified sense that they shouldn't travel north. Some doors were closed, others opened. They didn't force their way in where they weren't being led. They didn't say “well, we made these plans, so come hell or high water, we're going to move forward.” No, rather, they moved forward and let God direct or re-direct their steps.In a recent podcast, Pastor John Piper put it this way, “God loves to steer a moving ship. If you are tied up in the harbor... God ordinarily will not give you clear direction. He gives direction to captains who point their ship out of the harbor, into the storm." Piper also gave some practical advice. He said, “One of the ways to be moving without knowing exactly where you are going is what I might call investigative moving. You are moving when you are pursuing possibilities with serious investigation. That, too, is moving.”God can leads us in different ways, such as through the wisdom of trusted advisors who know us. Another way God leads is when we take steps forward, he also closes doors. Closed doors can be especially hard. When we've put so much vested interest in something. It can be a big let down. That job opportunity didn't work out. That house contract fell through. Several years ago I was meeting with a young man. He was convinced that this girl he liked was God's chosen one for him. I asked him, “what does she think of that?” …”Well,” he said, “she doesn't want to date.” That was a really hard conversation and a really hard realization for him… his plans were not God's plans.Notice that Paul and Silas willingly went where God lead them. In verses 9 ad 10 – God gave Paul a vision of a man urging them to come to Macedonia. They discussed it and, as it says, “concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.” So they went. And the word is “immediately.”And guess who they meet along the way? Luke! The author of Acts. I know what you're thinking. “but he's not mentioned here.” No, he is. Look at verse 10. “Immediately we sought to go to Macedonia.” “We” first person plural. So Luke is now travelling with them… This is the first time that Luke includes himself in the mix. Verse 11, another “we” “we made a direct voyage” … they passed through a couple of cities and verse 12 after arriving in Philippi, again “we remained.” Another “we” in verse 13. In God's providence, he brought Paul, and Silas, and Timothy to Luke. Through their faithfulness in letting God direct their steps, He orchestrated this divine encounter. Luke would hear of all their journeys. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Luke would eventually write them down. We have the book of Acts today… because they allowed God to direct their steps. And not just that, the Gospel has reached Macedonia – Greece! In the bigger picture of Acts, we've reached a new milestone. The Gospel had crossed the Aegean sea. And it had a profound impact over the next generations. From ancient Greece the Gospel spread to the rest of southern and central Europe, and eventually western and northern Europe.Now, let me make a side note here. Remember, in Acts, we are given significant events about God (1) inaugurating His kingdom and (2) establishing his church. That involved Jesus' ascension and His ongoing work through the Holy Spirit. As people come to faith in Christ in Acts, churches are established. Well, each of those churches then sent out missionaries – to declare the Gospel, call people to faith, and plant new churches. Even though Paul, Silas, and Timothy were directed west to Macedonia – the Gospel was also going north, south, and east. We have record of Thomas, one of the 12 disciples of Jesus going to southeast Asia. The Gospel also arrived in northern Africa. We were given a glimpse of that back in Acts 8 when the Ethiopian Eunuch believed. The church was expanding through God's people stepping out in faith. The point is - God's providence leads and guides and turns us… when we take steps. Through thoughtful planning, moving forward in faith, but allowing God to direct and redirect. And in Acts, churches were being established all throughout the Mediterranean – through out the middle east – and from there, on the path to the ends of the earth.#3: Seek Gospel opportunities And next – not only did they make faithful plans and allow God to direct their steps. But everywhere they went, they sought Gospel opportunities. This is point number 3. Seek Gospel opportunities.They had arrived in Philippi – a leading city in Macedonia. Verse 12. Luke was also now with them. And while they were there they looked for opportunities to share Christ. Now, on this particular day, verse 13, the sabbath day – they would usually have gone to the local synagogue. Presumably there was no synagogue. I think that's a good assumption… because instead they went to the nearby river supposing there were people praying. And sure enough, a group of women had gathered for prayer.One of them was Lydia. Well, it turns out that she was from the city of Thyatira. Lydia was from the very region forbidden by the Holy Spirit up in verse 6. In God's providence, he brought together Lydia and these women together with Paul and his companions. In Philippi, nonetheless. Lydia was a God-fearer, meaning she believed in the God of the Jewish Scriptures – but she didn't know Christ. And as Paul began to share about Jesus, the Messiah… as Paul spoke about Jesus' fulfillment of the promises, his sacrifice on the cross, his resurrection … and the call to repent and believe. Lydia believed! Verse 14. “The Lord opened her heart.” Yet another emphasis on God's providence. His leading, his directing, his work through people and in hearts for his kingdom.Seek Gospel opportunities, and let God do the work.This point is for me. Often what's on my mind during the week… is what's in front of me - getting ready for Sunday – getting together with or communicating with many of you. But often I'm not seeking out opportunities. This is a reminder and challenge to me. Every interaction is an ordained interaction. Not every interaction presents an opportunity to share Christ. But God has placed people in our lives – in my life. And it's God who does the work when we faithful share Christ.And look at the impact – Lydia believed. And her whole household was baptized – her family and servants – verse 15. A church would soon be planted in Philippi. The testimony of Christ presented there on the riverside – had lasting and ongoing impact. From Lydia to then her family and household to then the city, and the region, and ultimately a link in the chain to the ends of the earth. And do you know what? The church in Philippi would become one of Paul's greatest supporters. In Paul's letter to the Philippians – at the very beginning, he says this to them: “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now”And where did it all begin? Faithful planning back in Antioch… even a disagreement and separation – but despite that trusting the Lord taking steps forward… allowing God to lead and at times redirect… all the while looking for opportunities to share Christ. And it's all under God's providence. They submitted their plans to God's providence. Coming to Philippi was not in Paul's plan, but it was in God's plan, and he brought Paul there. And we can look back and see the result – a new companion, Luke; the Gospel to a whole new region, a prominent woman coming to faith in Jesus and her household, and a new church – one that would support and continue this Gospel work to the ends of the earth.ConclusionAs you seek God's path for your life – where you live, your work, your family, where to serve - Keep those things in mind. Don't recoil back in fear of not being in God's will – no, rather let God steer you – the rutter of a ship doesn't do anything when it's anchored in the harbor. Make plans with an open hand – plans seeking God's glory through Godly wisdom. Then step forward in faith, but allow God to lead, even if that means He turns you in a different direction than you originally planned. And as God leads and guides, seek opportunities to declare the love of God in Christ. And let him work.In summary, submit your plans to God's providence.“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”

The most insidious, the most thorough-going work of principalities and powers on earth is the -5 trillion mega-institution of Public Education in the secular humanist worldview. Pastor John Piper summarizes it this way- -There's no safe place in the world for kids. --A- radically Christian education at home. . .will be needed in order to build into the children's lives two deep and unshakable convictions.- -What does a family do in Sweden who has no alternative to the homosexualized, secularized, nihilistic ethics of the public schools---This program includes---1. The World View in 5 Minutes with Adam McManus -Calgary Pastor Arrested and Jailed for Church Meetings, Ransomware Attack on Pipeline Costs -170 Million, Ecuador Moves Pro-Abortion---2. Generations with Kevin Swanson

Abraham Piper, son of Pastor John Piper, goes viral on TikTok blaspheming God and then proclaiming that life has no ultimate meaning therefore you can have meaning. Hawk Nelson's John Steingard Walks Away From Faith https://youtu.be/XUqe5avk9vA Immortal - How the Fear of Death Drives Us with Dr. Clay Jones https://tinyurl.com/45ht9rzd 

Rick and Clark discuss a tough question asked by many, "Why does God allow suffering?" As in so many questions about Christianity, arriving at the most helpful (and right) conclusions depends upon your starting point. We'll talk about that, and as always, we seek to do so with compassion and respect for those who wrestle with tough questions. Here are some more excellent resources related to this question: We highly recommend the book, "The Problem of Pain" by C.S. Lewis. https://www.amazon.com/Problem-Pain-C... Here are some free online resources: Video by Pastor Timothy Keller - https://youtu.be/xZaOjKoAVyE Another shorter clip by Tim Keller - https://youtu.be/dkn5lfutSrY A video by Pastor John Piper - https://youtu.be/a-9RPTPnIR0 Here's an amazing story by Nightbirde, the 30-year-old who has been battling cancer (and depression and doubt), and who received a Golden Buzzer on America's Got Talent. https://www.nightbirde.co/ If you have a question for Rick and Clark, send them an email at: ccothernii@gmail.com

Abraham Piper's -ministry- is now twice the size of Pastor John Piper's when it comes to -followers- online. But, his is apologetics for atheism.--Although the tone is mockery, we take the questions seriously and address them one by one. But there is still a sadness and such apostasies yield -sorrow and continual grief- for our countrymen who are cut out of the olive tree.----This program includes-----1. The World View in 5 Minutes with Adam McManus -Another mass shooting claims 8 lives in Indianapolis, Franklin Graham- Christians need to -pray that God would intervene-, U.K. landlord cancels rental deal when she discovers church's faith-----2. Generations with Kevin Swanson

Dzisiejszy odcinek dotyczy tematu Bożej chwały. Na przestrzeni lat Pastor John Piper wiele razy poruszał ten temat w swoim nauczaniu. Dziś prezentujemy Wam fragment kazania Pastora Johna Pipera, z 17 grudnia 2006 roku, pt. „Jemu niech będzie chwała na wieki”, w którym stara się odpowiedzieć na pytanie “czym jest Boża chwała?”, co mamy na myśli kiedy mówimy o Bożej chwale? __________ Podcast Zapytaj Pastora to odpowiedzi pastora Johna Pipera, na często zadawane, czasem trudne pytania od słuchaczy. Przeczytaj lub posłuchaj tego wywiadu i sprawdź pozostałe odcinki: https://www.ewangeliawcentrum.pl/zapytajpastora

- "In Spite of the Presence of the Vaccine, the Prayer Line at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has Seen a SPIKE IN CALLS Amid Fears About COVID 19" - LARRY O'DONNELL III: Management Waste: 5 Steps to Clean Up the Mess and Lead with Purpose - CALL-IN: Pastor John Piper Believes any Christian Who Married an Unbeliever SHOULD BE EXCOMMUNICATED FROM THE CHURCH Until their Unbelieving Spouse Becomes a Christian. His Point is Technically Valid - But Do You Agree with His Suggestion?

We take up a topic Christians have debated for centuries: hell. Should we think of hell as “eternal conscious torment,” that is, unbelievers tossed head over heels into the fire to suffer forever, or is hell…something else? Is hell temporary? How might we think about the ethics of hell in light of a loving God? Artifact for the week: “Farewell Rob Bell” (a tweet by Pastor John Piper, condemning Rob Bell and his book Love Wins)

Kevin McCullough talks with Dr. Albert Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, discuss Pastor Tim Keller and Pastor John Piper's statement on Christian conscience and the election.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Zach and Dave discuss Donald John Trump's relationship with Evangelicals via a letter supporting his re-election written by Dr. Wayne Grudem on Townhall.com. Note: This is not the recent letter that Grudem wrote responding to former Pastor John Piper's thoughts on the election as we recorded this episode before Grudem wrote his most recent piece. Here is the Piper article which was written after we recorded this episode: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/policies-persons-and-paths-to-ruin Mentioned on the show: Article, featuring a survey, on Evangelicals and morality in public leaders. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2016/10/19/has-trump-caused-white-evangelicals-to-change-their-tune-on-morality/ Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood by John Piper and Wayne Grudem (Dave made an error on the show calling this book "Rediscovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood".) Purchase a vinyl copy of Zach Malm's Christmas album "The Darkest Night of the Year" by going here: https://muzach.bandcamp.com/album/the-darkest-time-of-year Read Dave's occasional blogging at: www.dangeroushope.wordpress.com. Twitter: Zach- @muzach Dave- @Davejlester Email: vocwpod@gmail.com Podcast music by Zach Malm Logo by Zach Malm

A new MP3 sermon from Generations Radio is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Pastor John Piper and Donald Trump- Is Trump Repentant? Speaker: Kevin Swanson Broadcaster: Generations Radio Event: Radio Broadcast Date: 11/2/2020 Length: 37 min.

As the election looms large, Phil, Jase, and Zach weigh in on Trump's viral dance moves, fear of the coronavirus among voters, and the policies supported by Trump and Biden. Zach criticizes the unbiblical view of authority in the American church and points out how and why social distancing has damaged our culture. And the guys react to Pastor John Piper's controversial stance on whether it's more harmful to vote for politicians who promote bad policies or candidates with personality flaws. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pastor John Piper isn't voting for Donald Trump or Joe Biden for that matter, this election.--But King Mannasseh repented.--Can we say the same for Donald Trump---Is it appropriate to equate the sins of Joe Biden to the sins of Donald Trump when it comes to their political and personal lives---The principle remains the principle. Is there any fear of God here or there----This program includes----1. The World View in 5 Minutes with Adam McManus -Operation Rescue- Trump is most pro-life president ever, Joni Eareckson Tada's heart cry for America, Biden promises to push radical homosexual-transgender agenda---2. Generations with Kevin Swanson

Bob Enyart shares Pastor John Piper's four criticisms of Donald Trump, the reasons he gave for why he will not vote for him. And he had already laid out his case against Joe Biden's immorality and socialism. So there you have it. Except that Bob then compares Piper's four to BEL's half-a-dozen Trump bullets laying out the far more serious case regarding Donald Trump. By the end of the program Bob realized he would have to postpone until tomorrow his summary of The Sexual Holocaust, the message of one of BEL's geneticist heroes, Dr. John Sanford, still working hard but retired from Cornell University. Today's Resource: God's Principles of Government Join Bob Enyart as he explores God's Principles of Government. From Against Democracy where we look at the biblical principles related to the idea of majority rule, to a Representative Republic and its similarities with democracy, to a real Alternative to Democracy, to what a Bible-based Constitution actually looks like, after this series, the Scriptures' principles of governance will permeate your thinking like never before! Or your money back. (Really.)

Mike Slater compares Trump and the Christian vote by taking a look at a quote from Pastor John Piper about how he will not be voting for neither Trump nor Biden in this election and his reasoning behind this decision. David Harsanyi joins Mike to discuss the confirmation of the newest Supreme Court Justice, Amy Coney Barrett.

In the final installment of this message, I wrap up my commentary concerning the wicked attempt to try to separate the Christian vote from Trump by Christian brethren operating with a spirit of self righteousness. Most prolifically, with fellow brethren who are quick to "point out the splinter" in Trump's eye, "while ignoring the plank" in Biden's eye. This message is commentary to an article written by Pastor John Piper, "Policies, Persons, and Paths To Ruin". My analysis and commentary includes commentary on the article's response from Dr. Michael Brown, as well as the spiritual weaknesses within the black church. -Brother Craig

During the presidential election of 2020, will the wicked attempt to try to separate the Christian vote from Trump succeed or fail? I say the attempt will generally fail. But, since there is already a split in the church, and it has always been the "wheat vs. the tares", those who are demonically inclined will try to take as many as they can with them to oppose God's will for our nation. This includes trying to "point out the splinter" in Trump's eye, "while ignoring the plank" in Biden's eye. This message addresses the article written by Pastor John Piper, "Policies, Persons, and Paths To Ruin", with my commentary, and my commentary on the article's response from Dr. Michael Brown, as well as the spiritual weaknesses within the black church. -Brother Craig

Christian college professors Matt Parks and David Corbin explore the ideas behind today's headlines.Part 1 (0:59): Headlines - We discuss the conservative case for and against voting for Donald Trump as featured in a National Review symposium and an essay by Pastor John Piper. Links: Andrew McCarthy for Donald Trump; Ramesh Ponnuru against Donald Trump; Charles C.W. Cooke: undecided; John Piper on character and policy; the Massachusetts Body of Liberties. Part 2 (31:10): Required Reading - We consider the character of Donald Trump in light of the ancient teaching of Xenophon on the tyrant’s search for peace and happiness. Links: Xenophon’s Hiero.   Part 2 (40:57): Open the Grade Book - We grade the performances of Donald Trump and Joe Biden in the second presidential debate.Part 3 (48:43): Tocqueville's Crystal Ball - After six weeks of picks, Matt’s record is 18-12 and Dave’s is 10-20. This week we pick: game three of the World Series between the Dodgers and Rays (MLB), #18 Michigan at #21 Minnesota (CFB), Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals (NFL), Dallas Cowboys at Washington Football Team (NFL), and #23 North Carolina State at #14 North Carolina (CFB).  Opening and closing music is from the beginning of "Happy Life" by Ryan Andersen from his 2018 album, Americana volume 1. Available here. Licensed by Creative Commons.Matt Parks is an Associate Professor of Politics at The King’s College in New York City. David Corbin is a Professor of Politics and the Vice President of Academic Affairs at Providence Christian College in Pasadena, California. All views expressed in this podcast are their own.

Are demons real? What are demons? What does the Bible say about demons? How should we think about them? Hosts Geren Street and Travis Tyler as they discuss these issues from a biblical perspective. Helpful Links: 1. What does the Bible Say about Demons? 2. Pastor John Piper's Encounter. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/appalachian-baptist-network/message

Sound of Sanity examines an article by Pastor John Piper on why it's okay for missionaries to not have kids.

There is something calming, satisfying and fulfilling in possessing the tools and skills of a trade and enjoying working in your chosen trade. Having that can do attitude with the tools and skills to back it up will provide you the confidence required for people to choose you over those less confident. Links To Show Notes and/or Video/s: Exercise To Help You Determine or Improve Your “Tools of the Trade: https://oportuno.org/files/Exercise_To_Help_You_Determine_or_Improve_Your_Tools_of_the_Trade.pdf 10 Animals That Use Tools: https://youtu.be/bF5FBBb29FY Otzi The Iceman - 5000 Year Old Mummy: https://youtu.be/m5oXjYMY2pM The Stargazers - The Happy Wanderer ( 1954 ): https://youtu.be/UPfGL0tDP30 "How Do I Delight Myself in the Lord?" by Pastor John Piper: https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/how-do-i-delight-myself-in-the-lord Website: https://oportuno.org/podcast.html

Los Pastores Carlos Vidal y Eddy Osorio conversan en esta oportunidad sobre la más reciente y apasionante publicación del Pastor John Piper, abordando especialmente el Capitulo 4 y 5 del Libro, ahora el diálogo se centra en La Soberanía de Dios en medio de la Pandemia.. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/dialogo-de-fe-y-salvacion/message

Los Pastores Carlos Vidal y Eddy Osorio conversan en esta oportunidad sobre la más reciente y apasionante publicación del Pastor John Piper, abordando especialmente los Capitulos 6, 7 y 8 del Libro, ahora el diálogo se centra en el juicio de Dios y en el estar despiertos para la Segunda Venida de Cristo.. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/dialogo-de-fe-y-salvacion/message

Los Pastores Carlos Vidal y Eddy Osorio conversan en esta oportunidad sobre la más reciente y apasionante publicación del Pastor John Piper, abordando especialmente el Capitulo 2 del Libro, el cual lleva como tema: Un Fundamento Sólido. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/dialogo-de-fe-y-salvacion/message

Happy Friday, Faithful Friends. Today's Big Bible Word is Alliteration. Oh wait, it is actually peace-making. Everybody knows that Jesus said that the peacemakers are blessed (for they will be called children of God), but many may not know what it actually means or looks like to be a peacemaker. Today we read Numbers chapter 1, Psalms 35, Ecclesiastes 11 and Titus 3, which is one of the best and most practical chapters on peacemaking in the entire Bible - even if it doesn't use the actual word peace-maker. Follow the commands in the chapter, and you will be a bringer of peace to almost any situation. I love how Spurgeon closed a sermon on the Beatitudes many years ago, commending the life of peacemaking to his congregation: Are any suffering? Let us weep with them. Do we know one who has less love than others? then let us have more, so as to make up the deficiency. Do we perceive faults in a brother? let us admonish him in love and affection. I pray you be peacemakers, everyone. Let the Church go on as it has done for the last eleven years, in holy concord and blessed unity. Let us remember that we cannot keep the unity of the Spirit unless we all believe the truth of God. Let us search our Bibles, therefore, and conform our views and sentiments to the teaching of God’s Word. I have already told you that unity in error is unity in ruin. We want unity in the truth of God through the Spirit of God. This let us seek after; let us live near to Christ, for this is the best way of promoting unity. Divisions in Churches never begin with those full of love to the Saviour. Cold hearts, unholy lives, inconsistent actions, neglected [prayer] closets; these are the seeds which sow schisms in the body; but he who lives near to Jesus, wears his likeness and copies his example, will be, wherever he goes, a sacred bond, a holy link to bind the Church more closely than ever together. May God give us this, and henceforth let us endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. C. H. Spurgeon, “True Unity Promoted,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 11 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1865), 11. Spurgeon is absolutely right - disunity and peace-breaking almost never begin with those who are full of love for Jesus. If you love the body of Christ - the people of God - you will be unwilling to do anything that could harm them. Christians should do everything possible to maintain unity in the church! That said, we need to see that this passage in Titus concerns our conduct and treatment of people in the church AND outside of the church. Sometimes I have seen Christians that are overeager to fight, quarrel, argue and otherwise stir up trouble online, and with non-believers. I believe Titus 3 - and many other Bible chapters - steer us away from such behavior. Is your social media a sounding board for complaints or disagreements? Do you regularly ignite arguments with your strong opinions? Are you prone to getting into quarrels with people who just don't get it, and need to be set straight? Well, I think Titus 3 might have something to say to us - let's read it! Remember that Titus is part of the pastoral epistles - letters written by Paul to Timothy and Titus to help them know how to pastor/shepherd and teach Christians in these young churches. It is very clear that the Holy Spirit, speaking through Paul, is urging peace and unity to be critically important facets of any church. Remember these passages back in Timothy:  23 But reject foolish and ignorant disputes, because you know that they breed quarrels. 24 The Lord’s servant must not quarrel, but must be gentle to everyone, able to teach, and patient, 25 instructing his opponents with gentleness. 2 Timothy 2:23-25 The Lord's servant - you and I! is not allowed to quarrel with people. Instead, we must be gentle and patient. Consider all of the peace-making passages we've just read in Titus - it is very clear that Paul is ending this letter with a hope that the church would abound in peace and avoid fighting and controversy and division: Titus 3:2-3 "to slander no one, to avoid fighting, and to be kind, always showing gentleness to all people 3 For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved by various passions and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, detesting one another." Titus 3:9, "But avoid foolish debates, genealogies, quarrels, and disputes about the law, because they are unprofitable and worthless." Titus 3:10-11 " 10 Reject a divisive person after a first and second warning. 11 For you know that such a person has gone astray and is sinning; he is self-condemned." The advice is crystal clear: No fighting. No slander. Avoid debates, quarrels, and disputes. Reject divisive people. Be kind. Show gentleness to everybody. As a reminder, this applies to our behavior in church and out of church - with Christians and with everybody. Christians are the last people that should be looking to argue or quarrel online (or anywhere!) - about politics, theology, religions, etc. We are to be a peace-seeking and -peace-loving people. The world has enough debates, quarrels and disputes, says Paul, let's not add to it, but, rather let us be gentle and, rather than fuss, fight, debate and quarrel, rather "Let our people learn to devote themselves to good works for pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful." (Titus 3:14) Forbearance is a great word that is not used very frequently anymore, except in debt relief. It is almost an archaic word. Are you familiar with it? It means to refrain from exercising a legal right - especially to refrain from enforcing a debt owed. So, in a Christian sense, when we practice forbearance with each other, we are being graceful, overlooking offenses and the need for somebody to pay us back if they have slighted us somehow. Pastor John Piper tells in this little snippet, which we will close with, how the practice of forbearance is helpful for the practice of peace-making and unity building: He pleads with the church to walk worthy of our calling. Specifically, the way he wants to emphasize is that we be “diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (v. 3). We walk unworthily of our calling in Christ if we disregard the unity of the body and don’t expend any effort to safeguard what Christ died to obtain. “Be diligent,” Paul says, “Be eager, be earnest” to keep the unity given by the Spirit of God and obtained with the blood of Christ (2:16). This is Paul’s prison burden for the church at Ephesus. If we have any empathy for a suffering saint, it should make us say, Yes, that is utterly crucial. How, brother Paul? How shall we do this? His answer is found in verse 2. The character traits that will preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace are humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance, and love. So he says that a life worthy of our calling and leading to unity of Spirit is “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love.” If you are humble, you will be gentle, and if you are patient, you will be forbearing or enduring. And if you are gentle and forbearing in love, you will be a peacemaker and a unity preserver. So be diligent and eager to be a humble and patient person by the power of Christ. John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (1990–1999) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2007).

Happy Friday, Faithful Friends. Today's Big Bible Word is Alliteration. Oh wait, it is actually peace-making. Everybody knows that Jesus said that the peacemakers are blessed (for they will be called children of God), but many may not know what it actually means or looks like to be a peacemaker. Today we read Numbers chapter 1, Psalms 35, Ecclesiastes 11 and Titus 3, which is one of the best and most practical chapters on peacemaking in the entire Bible - even if it doesn't use the actual word peace-maker. Follow the commands in the chapter, and you will be a bringer of peace to almost any situation. I love how Spurgeon closed a sermon on the Beatitudes many years ago, commending the life of peacemaking to his congregation: Are any suffering? Let us weep with them. Do we know one who has less love than others? then let us have more, so as to make up the deficiency. Do we perceive faults in a brother? let us admonish him in love and affection. I pray you be peacemakers, everyone. Let the Church go on as it has done for the last eleven years, in holy concord and blessed unity. Let us remember that we cannot keep the unity of the Spirit unless we all believe the truth of God. Let us search our Bibles, therefore, and conform our views and sentiments to the teaching of God’s Word. I have already told you that unity in error is unity in ruin. We want unity in the truth of God through the Spirit of God. This let us seek after; let us live near to Christ, for this is the best way of promoting unity. Divisions in Churches never begin with those full of love to the Saviour. Cold hearts, unholy lives, inconsistent actions, neglected [prayer] closets; these are the seeds which sow schisms in the body; but he who lives near to Jesus, wears his likeness and copies his example, will be, wherever he goes, a sacred bond, a holy link to bind the Church more closely than ever together. May God give us this, and henceforth let us endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. C. H. Spurgeon, “True Unity Promoted,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 11 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1865), 11. Spurgeon is absolutely right - disunity and peace-breaking almost never begin with those who are full of love for Jesus. If you love the body of Christ - the people of God - you will be unwilling to do anything that could harm them. Christians should do everything possible to maintain unity in the church! That said, we need to see that this passage in Titus concerns our conduct and treatment of people in the church AND outside of the church. Sometimes I have seen Christians that are overeager to fight, quarrel, argue and otherwise stir up trouble online, and with non-believers. I believe Titus 3 - and many other Bible chapters - steer us away from such behavior. Is your social media a sounding board for complaints or disagreements? Do you regularly ignite arguments with your strong opinions? Are you prone to getting into quarrels with people who just don't get it, and need to be set straight? Well, I think Titus 3 might have something to say to us - let's read it! Remember that Titus is part of the pastoral epistles - letters written by Paul to Timothy and Titus to help them know how to pastor/shepherd and teach Christians in these young churches. It is very clear that the Holy Spirit, speaking through Paul, is urging peace and unity to be critically important facets of any church. Remember these passages back in Timothy:  23 But reject foolish and ignorant disputes, because you know that they breed quarrels. 24 The Lord’s servant must not quarrel, but must be gentle to everyone, able to teach, and patient, 25 instructing his opponents with gentleness. 2 Timothy 2:23-25 The Lord's servant - you and I! is not allowed to quarrel with people. Instead, we must be gentle and patient. Consider all of the peace-making passages we've just read in Titus - it is very clear that Paul is ending this letter with a hope that the church would abound in peace and avoid fighting and controversy and division: Titus 3:2-3 "to slander no one, to avoid fighting, and to be kind, always showing gentleness to all people 3 For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved by various passions and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, detesting one another." Titus 3:9, "But avoid foolish debates, genealogies, quarrels, and disputes about the law, because they are unprofitable and worthless." Titus 3:10-11 " 10 Reject a divisive person after a first and second warning. 11 For you know that such a person has gone astray and is sinning; he is self-condemned." The advice is crystal clear: No fighting. No slander. Avoid debates, quarrels, and disputes. Reject divisive people. Be kind. Show gentleness to everybody. As a reminder, this applies to our behavior in church and out of church - with Christians and with everybody. Christians are the last people that should be looking to argue or quarrel online (or anywhere!) - about politics, theology, religions, etc. We are to be a peace-seeking and -peace-loving people. The world has enough debates, quarrels and disputes, says Paul, let's not add to it, but, rather let us be gentle and, rather than fuss, fight, debate and quarrel, rather "Let our people learn to devote themselves to good works for pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful." (Titus 3:14) Forbearance is a great word that is not used very frequently anymore, except in debt relief. It is almost an archaic word. Are you familiar with it? It means to refrain from exercising a legal right - especially to refrain from enforcing a debt owed. So, in a Christian sense, when we practice forbearance with each other, we are being graceful, overlooking offenses and the need for somebody to pay us back if they have slighted us somehow. Pastor John Piper tells in this little snippet, which we will close with, how the practice of forbearance is helpful for the practice of peace-making and unity building: He pleads with the church to walk worthy of our calling. Specifically, the way he wants to emphasize is that we be “diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (v. 3). We walk unworthily of our calling in Christ if we disregard the unity of the body and don’t expend any effort to safeguard what Christ died to obtain. “Be diligent,” Paul says, “Be eager, be earnest” to keep the unity given by the Spirit of God and obtained with the blood of Christ (2:16). This is Paul’s prison burden for the church at Ephesus. If we have any empathy for a suffering saint, it should make us say, Yes, that is utterly crucial. How, brother Paul? How shall we do this? His answer is found in verse 2. The character traits that will preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace are humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance, and love. So he says that a life worthy of our calling and leading to unity of Spirit is “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love.” If you are humble, you will be gentle, and if you are patient, you will be forbearing or enduring. And if you are gentle and forbearing in love, you will be a peacemaker and a unity preserver. So be diligent and eager to be a humble and patient person by the power of Christ. John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (1990–1999) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2007).

Gott hat das Corona-Virus im Griff und möchte dadurch verschiedene Dinge in dieser Welt bewirken. Diese These vertritt der Pastor John Piper in seinem neuen Buch „Corona und Christus“ (https://www.evangelium21.net/media/1966/corona-und-christus) und untermauert sie mit einem fundierten Schriftstudium. Matthias Mockler und Matthias Lohmann haben das Buch gelesen und stellen es im Pastoren-Podcast vor.

Los Pastores Carlos Vidal y Eddy Osorio conversan en esta oportunidad sobre la más reciente y apasionante publicación del Pastor John Piper -Coronavirus y Cristo- --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/dialogo-de-fe-y-salvacion/message

Our readings start with Exodus 9 which features a continuance of the struggle between Pharaoh and his magicians in the blue corner, weighing in at a combined weight of 550 pounds, and Moses and Aaron in the near corner, weighing in at around a hair under 300 pounds. Yes, it's a handicap match, but it is Pharaoh and his boys that are ultimately on the underpowered side. Job 27 sees Job continue his painful discourse and Luke 12 contains many powerful teachings of Jesus, including His cure for anxiety. Today we begin a three part series on spiritual gifts. Because this podcast follows the Robert Murray M'Cheyne plan, which was designed during a non-leap year, we will have an extra day in February to work with. Thus for the next three days, we will focus on 1st Corinthians 12-14, and on the 29th, we will discuss 1 Corinthians 15 - the resurrection chapter of the Bible. The next time we go through 1st Corinthians, our focus will be much more on the love chapter - 1st Corinthians 13. But, as a nod to the extreme importance of 1 Corinthians 13, and as a foretaste of our future discussion on the passage, I'd like to turn to our friend Pastor Charles Spurgeon to help us frame our discussion of spiritual gifts in their proper context: Two things are in the text [of 1st Corinthians 12-13]. There is, first, a good way. And, second, there is “an even better way.” First, the good way is for each individual Christian to “desire the greater gifts.” Paul was referring to spiritual gifts—gifts we ask God for, gifts we may expect the Spirit of God to bestow on us, gifts that can be used in the church of Christ, gifts we desire to possess that we may use them to the glory of God. A certain way may be good, but another way may be even better. Gifts are good, but love is better. We should desire spiritual gifts, but above all we should seek love—the best love, the noblest love, the greatest love—that is, love to God, love to fellow believers, and love to the church of God. This is “an even better way.” We should seek this love, first, because we need it. I do not know if we need all the gifts, but I am sure we need this love. Next, we should seek this love because we can have it. There is no limit to God’s love. Perhaps even though we covet earnestly the greater gifts, there may be some gifts we will never receive. But all can have love. We need to get more love, also, because we will then be more useful. I am not sure any of us would be more useful if we had more gifts. Not every gift makes a person useful, but I am sure divine love makes us useful. A gift is often barren, but love is always fruitful. We need to get more love so we will glorify God. How little glory God often gets out of great gifts! Gifts may be prostituted to the vilest purposes, but love always brings glory to God’s holy name. Remember, also, that though we are to desire great gifts, we will lose them one day. But if we have this love, we will keep it, and it will keep us. This divine love gives us the foretaste and pledge of glory. The person who is full of the majestic grace of divine love truly is blessed. Spurgeon, The Spurgeon Study Bible: Notes (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1551. The Bible never gives us a direct and inspired definition of what a spiritual gift is exactly, but there are enough teachings in the Bible on the topic that we can come up with a pretty good definition ourselves, based on what the Bible teaches. I'll list a few, and then give you mine: [Spiritual gifts] are gifts of grace granted by the Holy Spirit which are designed for the edification of the church. Thomas Schreiner from his book: Spiritual Gifts, What They are and why They Matter. A spiritual gift is a God-given ability, distributed to individual Christians by the Holy Spirit that allows him/or her to work through their lives to help the church execute its mission on earth. Dr. Roger Barrier https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/how-to-identify-and-effectively-use-your-spiritual-gifts.html A spiritual gift is an expression of the Holy Spirit in the life of believers which empowers them to serve the body of Christ, the church. Lifeway's Gene Wilks: https://www.marinerschurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/DOC-Spiritual-Gifts-List-LW.pdf “[Spiritual] gifts are abilities God gives us to meet the needs of others in Christ’s name.” Pastor Tim Keller Spiritual gifts [are] the abilities given by the Spirit which express our faith and aim to strengthen the faith of others; they are abilities by which we receive the grace of God and disburse that grace to others. Pastor John Piper: https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/spiritual-gifts I completely agree with all five definitions above - they are all solid, and each one captures a slightly different nuance of the Bible's teaching on gifts of the Spirit. Note how the focus is on who the giver is - the Holy Spirit - and the focus is on what the purpose of the gifts are - the building up of the followers of Jesus. Almost every definition above makes mention of those two dynamics, because Paul's teaching on spiritual gifts makes those two points crystal clear. Here's my own personal definition: "Spiritual Gifts are various supernatural empowerments of grace given to Christians by the Holy Spirit to be used for building up others and pointing them to Jesus." The main things I add to my definition is that spiritual gifts are SUPERNATURAL - they are not natural talents, but rather supernatural abilities. This doesn't mean that Christians have super-powers, of course, but that the power-source for these abilities is not human, but of the Spirit, thus making it supernatural. I also suggest that spiritual gifts should point people to Jesus and build them up because it seems to me that this is what Paul is driving at in Ephesians 4: 11 And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 equipping the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness. 14 Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. 15 But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head—Christ. 16 From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part. Ephesians 4:11-16 The Spiritual gifts therefore work to build us up/edify us and also work to point us upwards towards (and into) maturity in Christ. I'll close our discussion on these gifts today with: Three Foundational Truths About Spiritual Gifts: 1.Everybody in the Body of Christ has a spiritual gift. Every saved believer in Jesus has been empowered with at least one special, supernatural ability to serve others and glorify God. 2. These gifts are distributed by the Holy Spirit as He wills. Paul makes it very clear in 1st Corinthians 12, below, that these abilities from God are directly given to believers by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the giver of spiritual gifts AND is “active in them,” indicating that He is not only the initial gift-giver, but also the gift-activator, and the gift-sustainer. 3. These gifts are given for the benefit of others. According to Paul, who repeats this truth multiple times in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14, spiritual gifts are not primarily given for self-edification, but for the building-up of others in the Body of Christ/church. This is why Paul challenges the Corinthians, who were zealous for the operation of spiritual gifts, “So also you—since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, seek to excel in building up the church.” 1 Cor. 14:12 Note that Paul did NOT chastise the Corinthians for being interested in spiritual gifts – not even the controversial gifts like healing, miracles, prophecy and tongues. In fact, Paul says things like this, “I thank God that I speak in other languages more than all of you.” 1 Cor. 14:18, and, “Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and above all that you may prophesy.” 1 Cor. 14:1 Though Paul orders the Corinthians to have orderly parameters on the operation of spiritual gifts, he never disparages ANY of the gifts, and he implores the Corinthians multiple times to desire the operation of spiritual gifts among them, especially the gift of prophecy. It is NOT immature to be interested in spiritual gifts – it is actually commanded that we be desirous of these graces in our midst. Primary Scriptural Foundation for Truths #1-3:  1 Corinthians 12:7-11:  “7 A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person to produce what is beneficial: 8 to one is given a message of wisdom through the Spirit, to another, a message of knowledge by the same Spirit, 9 to another, faith by the same Spirit, to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another, the performing of miracles, to another, prophecy, to another, distinguishing between spirits, to another, different kinds of languages,to another, interpretation of languages. 11 But one and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each person as He wills.” This is the amazing story of God’s grace. God saves us by His grace and transforms us more and more into the likeness of His Son by His grace. In all our trials and afflictions, He sustains and strengthens us by His grace. He calls us by grace to perform our own unique function within the Body of Christ. Then, again by grace, He gives to each of us the spiritual gifts necessary to fulfill our calling. As we serve Him, He makes that service acceptable to Himself by grace, and then rewards us a hundredfold by grace. Transforming Grace by Jerry Bridges

Our readings start with Exodus 9 which features a continuance of the struggle between Pharaoh and his magicians in the blue corner, weighing in at a combined weight of 550 pounds, and Moses and Aaron in the near corner, weighing in at around a hair under 300 pounds. Yes, it's a handicap match, but it is Pharaoh and his boys that are ultimately on the underpowered side. Job 27 sees Job continue his painful discourse and Luke 12 contains many powerful teachings of Jesus, including His cure for anxiety. Today we begin a three part series on spiritual gifts. Because this podcast follows the Robert Murray M'Cheyne plan, which was designed during a non-leap year, we will have an extra day in February to work with. Thus for the next three days, we will focus on 1st Corinthians 12-14, and on the 29th, we will discuss 1 Corinthians 15 - the resurrection chapter of the Bible. The next time we go through 1st Corinthians, our focus will be much more on the love chapter - 1st Corinthians 13. But, as a nod to the extreme importance of 1 Corinthians 13, and as a foretaste of our future discussion on the passage, I'd like to turn to our friend Pastor Charles Spurgeon to help us frame our discussion of spiritual gifts in their proper context: Two things are in the text [of 1st Corinthians 12-13]. There is, first, a good way. And, second, there is “an even better way.” First, the good way is for each individual Christian to “desire the greater gifts.” Paul was referring to spiritual gifts—gifts we ask God for, gifts we may expect the Spirit of God to bestow on us, gifts that can be used in the church of Christ, gifts we desire to possess that we may use them to the glory of God. A certain way may be good, but another way may be even better. Gifts are good, but love is better. We should desire spiritual gifts, but above all we should seek love—the best love, the noblest love, the greatest love—that is, love to God, love to fellow believers, and love to the church of God. This is “an even better way.” We should seek this love, first, because we need it. I do not know if we need all the gifts, but I am sure we need this love. Next, we should seek this love because we can have it. There is no limit to God’s love. Perhaps even though we covet earnestly the greater gifts, there may be some gifts we will never receive. But all can have love. We need to get more love, also, because we will then be more useful. I am not sure any of us would be more useful if we had more gifts. Not every gift makes a person useful, but I am sure divine love makes us useful. A gift is often barren, but love is always fruitful. We need to get more love so we will glorify God. How little glory God often gets out of great gifts! Gifts may be prostituted to the vilest purposes, but love always brings glory to God’s holy name. Remember, also, that though we are to desire great gifts, we will lose them one day. But if we have this love, we will keep it, and it will keep us. This divine love gives us the foretaste and pledge of glory. The person who is full of the majestic grace of divine love truly is blessed. Spurgeon, The Spurgeon Study Bible: Notes (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1551. The Bible never gives us a direct and inspired definition of what a spiritual gift is exactly, but there are enough teachings in the Bible on the topic that we can come up with a pretty good definition ourselves, based on what the Bible teaches. I'll list a few, and then give you mine: [Spiritual gifts] are gifts of grace granted by the Holy Spirit which are designed for the edification of the church. Thomas Schreiner from his book: Spiritual Gifts, What They are and why They Matter. A spiritual gift is a God-given ability, distributed to individual Christians by the Holy Spirit that allows him/or her to work through their lives to help the church execute its mission on earth. Dr. Roger Barrier https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/how-to-identify-and-effectively-use-your-spiritual-gifts.html A spiritual gift is an expression of the Holy Spirit in the life of believers which empowers them to serve the body of Christ, the church. Lifeway's Gene Wilks: https://www.marinerschurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/DOC-Spiritual-Gifts-List-LW.pdf “[Spiritual] gifts are abilities God gives us to meet the needs of others in Christ’s name.” Pastor Tim Keller Spiritual gifts [are] the abilities given by the Spirit which express our faith and aim to strengthen the faith of others; they are abilities by which we receive the grace of God and disburse that grace to others. Pastor John Piper: https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/spiritual-gifts I completely agree with all five definitions above - they are all solid, and each one captures a slightly different nuance of the Bible's teaching on gifts of the Spirit. Note how the focus is on who the giver is - the Holy Spirit - and the focus is on what the purpose of the gifts are - the building up of the followers of Jesus. Almost every definition above makes mention of those two dynamics, because Paul's teaching on spiritual gifts makes those two points crystal clear. Here's my own personal definition: "Spiritual Gifts are various supernatural empowerments of grace given to Christians by the Holy Spirit to be used for building up others and pointing them to Jesus." The main things I add to my definition is that spiritual gifts are SUPERNATURAL - they are not natural talents, but rather supernatural abilities. This doesn't mean that Christians have super-powers, of course, but that the power-source for these abilities is not human, but of the Spirit, thus making it supernatural. I also suggest that spiritual gifts should point people to Jesus and build them up because it seems to me that this is what Paul is driving at in Ephesians 4: 11 And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 equipping the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness. 14 Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. 15 But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head—Christ. 16 From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part. Ephesians 4:11-16 The Spiritual gifts therefore work to build us up/edify us and also work to point us upwards towards (and into) maturity in Christ. I'll close our discussion on these gifts today with: Three Foundational Truths About Spiritual Gifts: 1.Everybody in the Body of Christ has a spiritual gift. Every saved believer in Jesus has been empowered with at least one special, supernatural ability to serve others and glorify God. 2. These gifts are distributed by the Holy Spirit as He wills. Paul makes it very clear in 1st Corinthians 12, below, that these abilities from God are directly given to believers by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the giver of spiritual gifts AND is “active in them,” indicating that He is not only the initial gift-giver, but also the gift-activator, and the gift-sustainer. 3. These gifts are given for the benefit of others. According to Paul, who repeats this truth multiple times in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14, spiritual gifts are not primarily given for self-edification, but for the building-up of others in the Body of Christ/church. This is why Paul challenges the Corinthians, who were zealous for the operation of spiritual gifts, “So also you—since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, seek to excel in building up the church.” 1 Cor. 14:12 Note that Paul did NOT chastise the Corinthians for being interested in spiritual gifts – not even the controversial gifts like healing, miracles, prophecy and tongues. In fact, Paul says things like this, “I thank God that I speak in other languages more than all of you.” 1 Cor. 14:18, and, “Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and above all that you may prophesy.” 1 Cor. 14:1 Though Paul orders the Corinthians to have orderly parameters on the operation of spiritual gifts, he never disparages ANY of the gifts, and he implores the Corinthians multiple times to desire the operation of spiritual gifts among them, especially the gift of prophecy. It is NOT immature to be interested in spiritual gifts – it is actually commanded that we be desirous of these graces in our midst. Primary Scriptural Foundation for Truths #1-3:  1 Corinthians 12:7-11:  “7 A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person to produce what is beneficial: 8 to one is given a message of wisdom through the Spirit, to another, a message of knowledge by the same Spirit, 9 to another, faith by the same Spirit, to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another, the performing of miracles, to another, prophecy, to another, distinguishing between spirits, to another, different kinds of languages,to another, interpretation of languages. 11 But one and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each person as He wills.” This is the amazing story of God’s grace. God saves us by His grace and transforms us more and more into the likeness of His Son by His grace. In all our trials and afflictions, He sustains and strengthens us by His grace. He calls us by grace to perform our own unique function within the Body of Christ. Then, again by grace, He gives to each of us the spiritual gifts necessary to fulfill our calling. As we serve Him, He makes that service acceptable to Himself by grace, and then rewards us a hundredfold by grace. Transforming Grace by Jerry Bridges

Happy Monday, friends. May the Lord bless you and carry you through this sometimes grim day. Today's Bible readings include Exodus 7, wherein Pharaoh's magicians perform some amazing feats, a topic that we will tackle in episode #56 tomorrow. Job 24 continues Job's epic speech? Rant? Lament? I'm not sure how to classify his third speech. It's something, though - wow! In Luke 10 Jesus sends out not 12, but 72 disciples and also tells us the amazing Parable of the Good Samaritan, one of the most well-known stories in all of human history. Our focus question comes from 1 Corinthians 11. This is an interesting and fairly controversial chapter. The first part concerns head coverings, and the second contains instructions, exhortations and warnings about The Lord's Supper/Communion/Eucharist/Breaking of the Bread. (These four phrases all refer to the same ordinance in the Christian church. Eucharist comes from the Greek word for 'Thanksgiving' and it is found in 1 Corinthians 11:34) We will probably cover head coverings later this year when we go through 1st Corinthians again, but today we are going to zero in on Paul's mysterious and terrifying warning about the dangers of taking Communion in an unworthy manner. Let's read the text and pay special attention to the warning, then we will come back and discuss it. Just in case you missed it, here is the text that we are discussing today: 27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself; in this way let him eat the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 This is why many are sick and ill among you, and many have fallen asleep. 31 If we were properly judging ourselves, we would not be judged, 32 but when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined, so that we may not be condemned with the world. 1 Corinthians 11:27-32 When you understand that 'fallen asleep' is a biblical metaphor used to indicate death, then you understand how serious Paul is being here. He is saying that some in the Corinthian church have become weak, sick and some have even died because of the way they handled the communion. Pause and let that sink in for just a moment. The New Testament is telling us here that, if we partake of communion in an improper way on Sunday morning, then we are running the risk of weakness, sickness or death. When I first read that in the Bible many years ago, I was quite shocked - especially so because I don't recall having ever been warned about such a thing in the churches I grew up in. It might surprise you to hear that communion is such a serious matter, but we should know that it was at the very center of Christian practice in the first few centuries of the church. I believe the modern church takes the practice of communion far too lightly, and probably far too infrequently. It was a dispute over the meaning of communion in England in the 1500s that caused Bloody Mary, the Catholic Queen of England, to order the deaths of almost 300 Protestants who had a different view of communion than did the Catholics. This number included 55 women, 4 children and more than two dozen church leaders and pastors. What was the exact nature of the dispute? Here's British Bishop J.C. Ryle on the answer to that question: The doctrine in question was the real presence of the body and blood of Christ in the consecrated elements of bread and wine in the Lord's Supper. Did they, or did they not believe that the body and blood of Christ were really, that is corporally, literally, locally, and materially, present under the forms of bread and wine after the words of consecration were pronounced? Did they or did they not believe that the real body of Christ, which was born of the Virgin Mary, was present on the so-called altar so soon as the mystical words had passed the lips of the priest? Did they or did they not? That was the simple question. If they did not believe and admit it, they were burned. John Charles Ryle, Light from Old Times (Moscow, Idaho: Charles Nolan Publishers, 2000, first published 1890) Thankfully, Catholics don't kill Protestants over communion disagreements anymore, but the above struggle does demonstrate that communion is not merely a quarterly snack of crackers and juice that the church sometimes does. Rather, it is a life-giving, Gospel-proclaiming, faith-building, thankful heart-producing, Christ-focusing act that causes us to remember and proclaim that central truth of Christianity - that the body of Jesus was broken (instead of ours!) for sin; and the blood of Jesus was violently spilled out (instead of ours!) for our sin. When we eat and drink the bread and fruit of the vine, we proclaim the Lord's death and resurrection and return together. How can such an act be dangerous? I believe the answer to that question lies in the very importance of the act itself. Though some churches treat it as such, communion is no light matter, or peripheral issue. Listen again to Paul's instructions on the matter: 17 Now in giving this instruction I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. 18 For to begin with, I hear that when you come together as a church there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. 19 Indeed, it is necessary that there be factions among you, so that those who are approved may be recognized among you. 20 When you come together, then, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper. 21 For at the meal, each one eats his own supper. So one person is hungry while another gets drunk! 22 Don’t you have homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I do not praise you in this matter! 1 Corinthians 11:17-22 It would appear that the central trouble to communion in the Corinthian church was related to disunity. Something was causing disunity - a lack of unity so profound that Paul is suggesting that they would be better off to not even have church on Sunday! (vs. 17, reminiscent of Malachi 1:10, "How I wish that one of you would shut the Temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you," says the LORD Almighty, "and I will accept no offering from your hands.") What was the exact nature of this disunity? Apparently people were selfishly seeking to eat and drink (so the early church communion was more than simply a tiny cracker, and a thimbleful of juice!) and not allowing the whole church to eat and drink! Some were overeating, and some were getting drunk, while others were going hungry and thirsty. Verses 33-34 confirm that this dynamic is going on: 33 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, welcome one another. 34 If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you gather together you will not come under judgment. 1 Corinthians 11:33-34 Thus the purpose of communion was not necessarily to eat a full meal and receive nutritional sustenance, it was more of an act of worship and remembrance - but some people were taking the opportunity to 'pig-out' and, in doing so, were being unwelcoming, rude, inhospitable and downright selfish. Modern Christians have a funny view of sin - funny in that it is not often very informed by biblical truth, but more by societal dictates and our own logic. We rightly realize the soul-endangering nature of sexual sin, but consider greed and verbal abuse to be somewhat lesser sins, and yet 1 Corinthians 6 notes that all of those sins are soul-endangering and disqualifying from the Kingdom of Heaven. What about complaining? We almost laugh it off, but God sent a deadly judgment of fire against complaining Israelites in Numbers 11. Likewise, the kind of pride and selfishness that characterized some of the Corinthians' practice of eating and drinking all of the food before others could eat seems fairly innocuous to us, but it was deadly serious (literally!) to the Lord. There is no place in the Body of Christ for a 'me-first' kind of selfishness. And that gets us to the antidote and proper approach for communion, which was, according to Paul: 27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself; in this way let him eat the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. 1 Corinthians 11:27-29 Before communion happens, we must examine ourselves and reflect on the rest of the church, considering our place in the Body of Christ. As members/body parts - we are no more or less important than anybody else. We must honor them above ourselves, and we must put their needs ahead of our own. They must do the same for us, and when we are doing that in union - we become the beautiful, radiant, sweet-smelling Body of Christ - lovingly caring for each other in a kind of unity that proclaims the gospel of Jesus to a lost and dying world. (see John 17) Allow me to close with a wonderful meditation from Pastor John Piper on this passage. We, as humans, consider a punishment of death or even sickness to be incredibly harsh. This is primarily because our understanding only covers the 70-80 years of our lives. Our Heavenly Father does not view time in this narrow lens. If we are saved by Jesus and adopted as His brother and a Son of God, then we are eternal beings. Our mortal life on earth is but a finger-snap. If, in death or sickness, God can spare us from worse things (yes, there are many things worse than death for created beings who are saved to live in eternal bliss with God the Father!) then it is gracious of Him to do so. In this we can see that even discipline is love. Consider well Pastor Piper's words: Sometimes death is a disciplinary deliverance to save us from condemnation. “A number [have died]…so that [they] will not be condemned along with the world.” This is not the reason for every death of God’s precious saints. Don’t jump to the conclusion that your sickness or your death is owing to a trajectory of sinning that God must rescue you from. But suppose that this is indeed what happens? Is that encouraging? Will thinking about this help you die more peacefully and with greater faith and hope? My answer is that everything in the Bible is meant to help you die and to be encouraging for your faith in the light of truth (Romans 15:4). How then would this truth strengthen us for a hope-filled death? It would happen like this: is not a great threat to our peace the thought that we are sinners? Does not the thought that God is sovereign and could lift this sickness threaten us with fearful feelings that he must be against us? And how shall we handle these fears when we know that we are indeed sinners and have corruption remaining in us? In those moments, we look for some encouragement from the Bible that God is willing to save believers who have sinned and are very imperfect.Yet we know that God is holy and hates sin, even sin committed by his children. We also know that God disciplines his children with sorrowful experiences (Hebrews 12:11). We are not among those who say God has nothing to do with the painful experiences of life. So we look for help and hope from God’s utterly realistic Word. And we find it in 1 Corinthians 11:32, that even the death of saints—even the death of saints which is “discipline” and “judgment”—is not condemnation, but salvation. God is taking this sinning saint because he loves him so much he will not let him go on in sin. This is our solid encouragement. What it says to all of us is this: we do not need to be certain whether the time of our death is owing to our sinning, or to the devil’s cruelty (Revelation 2:10), or to God’s other wise purposes. What we need is the deep assurance that even if my dying is owing to my own folly and sin, I can rest peacefully in the love of God. At such a moment, these words will be precious beyond measure: “We are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned.” Learning to die with you all, Pastor John https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-if-our-dying-is-discipline

Happy Monday, friends. May the Lord bless you and carry you through this sometimes grim day. Today's Bible readings include Exodus 7, wherein Pharaoh's magicians perform some amazing feats, a topic that we will tackle in episode #56 tomorrow. Job 24 continues Job's epic speech? Rant? Lament? I'm not sure how to classify his third speech. It's something, though - wow! In Luke 10 Jesus sends out not 12, but 72 disciples and also tells us the amazing Parable of the Good Samaritan, one of the most well-known stories in all of human history. Our focus question comes from 1 Corinthians 11. This is an interesting and fairly controversial chapter. The first part concerns head coverings, and the second contains instructions, exhortations and warnings about The Lord's Supper/Communion/Eucharist/Breaking of the Bread. (These four phrases all refer to the same ordinance in the Christian church. Eucharist comes from the Greek word for 'Thanksgiving' and it is found in 1 Corinthians 11:34) We will probably cover head coverings later this year when we go through 1st Corinthians again, but today we are going to zero in on Paul's mysterious and terrifying warning about the dangers of taking Communion in an unworthy manner. Let's read the text and pay special attention to the warning, then we will come back and discuss it. Just in case you missed it, here is the text that we are discussing today: 27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself; in this way let him eat the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 This is why many are sick and ill among you, and many have fallen asleep. 31 If we were properly judging ourselves, we would not be judged, 32 but when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined, so that we may not be condemned with the world. 1 Corinthians 11:27-32 When you understand that 'fallen asleep' is a biblical metaphor used to indicate death, then you understand how serious Paul is being here. He is saying that some in the Corinthian church have become weak, sick and some have even died because of the way they handled the communion. Pause and let that sink in for just a moment. The New Testament is telling us here that, if we partake of communion in an improper way on Sunday morning, then we are running the risk of weakness, sickness or death. When I first read that in the Bible many years ago, I was quite shocked - especially so because I don't recall having ever been warned about such a thing in the churches I grew up in. It might surprise you to hear that communion is such a serious matter, but we should know that it was at the very center of Christian practice in the first few centuries of the church. I believe the modern church takes the practice of communion far too lightly, and probably far too infrequently. It was a dispute over the meaning of communion in England in the 1500s that caused Bloody Mary, the Catholic Queen of England, to order the deaths of almost 300 Protestants who had a different view of communion than did the Catholics. This number included 55 women, 4 children and more than two dozen church leaders and pastors. What was the exact nature of the dispute? Here's British Bishop J.C. Ryle on the answer to that question: The doctrine in question was the real presence of the body and blood of Christ in the consecrated elements of bread and wine in the Lord's Supper. Did they, or did they not believe that the body and blood of Christ were really, that is corporally, literally, locally, and materially, present under the forms of bread and wine after the words of consecration were pronounced? Did they or did they not believe that the real body of Christ, which was born of the Virgin Mary, was present on the so-called altar so soon as the mystical words had passed the lips of the priest? Did they or did they not? That was the simple question. If they did not believe and admit it, they were burned. John Charles Ryle, Light from Old Times (Moscow, Idaho: Charles Nolan Publishers, 2000, first published 1890) Thankfully, Catholics don't kill Protestants over communion disagreements anymore, but the above struggle does demonstrate that communion is not merely a quarterly snack of crackers and juice that the church sometimes does. Rather, it is a life-giving, Gospel-proclaiming, faith-building, thankful heart-producing, Christ-focusing act that causes us to remember and proclaim that central truth of Christianity - that the body of Jesus was broken (instead of ours!) for sin; and the blood of Jesus was violently spilled out (instead of ours!) for our sin. When we eat and drink the bread and fruit of the vine, we proclaim the Lord's death and resurrection and return together. How can such an act be dangerous? I believe the answer to that question lies in the very importance of the act itself. Though some churches treat it as such, communion is no light matter, or peripheral issue. Listen again to Paul's instructions on the matter: 17 Now in giving this instruction I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. 18 For to begin with, I hear that when you come together as a church there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. 19 Indeed, it is necessary that there be factions among you, so that those who are approved may be recognized among you. 20 When you come together, then, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper. 21 For at the meal, each one eats his own supper. So one person is hungry while another gets drunk! 22 Don’t you have homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I do not praise you in this matter! 1 Corinthians 11:17-22 It would appear that the central trouble to communion in the Corinthian church was related to disunity. Something was causing disunity - a lack of unity so profound that Paul is suggesting that they would be better off to not even have church on Sunday! (vs. 17, reminiscent of Malachi 1:10, "How I wish that one of you would shut the Temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you," says the LORD Almighty, "and I will accept no offering from your hands.") What was the exact nature of this disunity? Apparently people were selfishly seeking to eat and drink (so the early church communion was more than simply a tiny cracker, and a thimbleful of juice!) and not allowing the whole church to eat and drink! Some were overeating, and some were getting drunk, while others were going hungry and thirsty. Verses 33-34 confirm that this dynamic is going on: 33 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, welcome one another. 34 If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you gather together you will not come under judgment. 1 Corinthians 11:33-34 Thus the purpose of communion was not necessarily to eat a full meal and receive nutritional sustenance, it was more of an act of worship and remembrance - but some people were taking the opportunity to 'pig-out' and, in doing so, were being unwelcoming, rude, inhospitable and downright selfish. Modern Christians have a funny view of sin - funny in that it is not often very informed by biblical truth, but more by societal dictates and our own logic. We rightly realize the soul-endangering nature of sexual sin, but consider greed and verbal abuse to be somewhat lesser sins, and yet 1 Corinthians 6 notes that all of those sins are soul-endangering and disqualifying from the Kingdom of Heaven. What about complaining? We almost laugh it off, but God sent a deadly judgment of fire against complaining Israelites in Numbers 11. Likewise, the kind of pride and selfishness that characterized some of the Corinthians' practice of eating and drinking all of the food before others could eat seems fairly innocuous to us, but it was deadly serious (literally!) to the Lord. There is no place in the Body of Christ for a 'me-first' kind of selfishness. And that gets us to the antidote and proper approach for communion, which was, according to Paul: 27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself; in this way let him eat the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. 1 Corinthians 11:27-29 Before communion happens, we must examine ourselves and reflect on the rest of the church, considering our place in the Body of Christ. As members/body parts - we are no more or less important than anybody else. We must honor them above ourselves, and we must put their needs ahead of our own. They must do the same for us, and when we are doing that in union - we become the beautiful, radiant, sweet-smelling Body of Christ - lovingly caring for each other in a kind of unity that proclaims the gospel of Jesus to a lost and dying world. (see John 17) Allow me to close with a wonderful meditation from Pastor John Piper on this passage. We, as humans, consider a punishment of death or even sickness to be incredibly harsh. This is primarily because our understanding only covers the 70-80 years of our lives. Our Heavenly Father does not view time in this narrow lens. If we are saved by Jesus and adopted as His brother and a Son of God, then we are eternal beings. Our mortal life on earth is but a finger-snap. If, in death or sickness, God can spare us from worse things (yes, there are many things worse than death for created beings who are saved to live in eternal bliss with God the Father!) then it is gracious of Him to do so. In this we can see that even discipline is love. Consider well Pastor Piper's words: Sometimes death is a disciplinary deliverance to save us from condemnation. “A number [have died]…so that [they] will not be condemned along with the world.” This is not the reason for every death of God’s precious saints. Don’t jump to the conclusion that your sickness or your death is owing to a trajectory of sinning that God must rescue you from. But suppose that this is indeed what happens? Is that encouraging? Will thinking about this help you die more peacefully and with greater faith and hope? My answer is that everything in the Bible is meant to help you die and to be encouraging for your faith in the light of truth (Romans 15:4). How then would this truth strengthen us for a hope-filled death? It would happen like this: is not a great threat to our peace the thought that we are sinners? Does not the thought that God is sovereign and could lift this sickness threaten us with fearful feelings that he must be against us? And how shall we handle these fears when we know that we are indeed sinners and have corruption remaining in us? In those moments, we look for some encouragement from the Bible that God is willing to save believers who have sinned and are very imperfect.Yet we know that God is holy and hates sin, even sin committed by his children. We also know that God disciplines his children with sorrowful experiences (Hebrews 12:11). We are not among those who say God has nothing to do with the painful experiences of life. So we look for help and hope from God’s utterly realistic Word. And we find it in 1 Corinthians 11:32, that even the death of saints—even the death of saints which is “discipline” and “judgment”—is not condemnation, but salvation. God is taking this sinning saint because he loves him so much he will not let him go on in sin. This is our solid encouragement. What it says to all of us is this: we do not need to be certain whether the time of our death is owing to our sinning, or to the devil’s cruelty (Revelation 2:10), or to God’s other wise purposes. What we need is the deep assurance that even if my dying is owing to my own folly and sin, I can rest peacefully in the love of God. At such a moment, these words will be precious beyond measure: “We are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned.” Learning to die with you all, Pastor John https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-if-our-dying-is-discipline

Is an armed Christian man doing the godly thing if his wife and daughter are threatened? Allie explores the tough issue of the right to bear arms through scripture and the work of Pastor John Piper. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 1) - Nancy Leigh DeMossA Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 2) - Nancy Leigh DeMossA Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 3) - Nancy Leigh DeMossA Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 4) - Nancy Leigh DeMossA Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 5) - Nancy Leigh DeMossFamilyLife Today® Radio Transcript  References to conferences, resources, or other special promotions may be obsolete. Responding to Your Husband Day 3 of 5 Guest:                        Nancy Leigh DeMoss From the series:       A Biblical Portrait of Womanhood Bob: A lot of women bristle at the idea of submission, which is talked about in the Bible.  In some cases, that's because the concept has been abused or misapplied.  Nancy Leigh DeMoss says one reason women bristle is because they haven't wrestled with the concept of surrendering to God and His purposes. Nancy: Proverbs tells us that the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, and the Lord turns the heart of that king as the rivers of water.  The greatest evidence of how big I believe God is, is my willingness to trust God to work through authority that He's placed in my life and to give Him time to change the heart of that authority. Bob: This is FamilyLife Today for Wednesday, June 18th.  Our host is the president of FamilyLife, Dennis Rainey.  A lot of women and men struggle with the idea of submission and what that ought to look like in our lives.  Stay tuned. And welcome to FamilyLife Today, thanks for joining us on the Wednesday edition of our broadcast.  I was remembering, Dennis, the advertising campaign, that came out in the – oh, the early '70s for the Virginia Slims brand of cigarettes – "You've Come a Long Way, Baby," you remember that jingle?  Dennis: I do. Bob: And they used to sing in that jingle – "You've come a long way, you've got your own cigarette now, baby, you've come a long, long way,"  and I remember laughing at that , thinking, "Boy, that's a real sign of progress, huh?  When somebody finally has their own brand of cigarette, they've really come a long way. And yet over the last 30 or 40 years, we have looked at what it means to be a man and what it means to be a woman, it's all been in the context of coming a long way and digging ourselves out of our repressive past into our liberated future. Dennis: And, of course, in order to do that, a woman has got to roar.   Bob: That's right, that's right. Dennis: And so between cigarettes and roaring, we have redefined what it means to be a woman, and we're laughing about this here, but you know what?  It really is sad.  That definition and that roaring has occurred to great harm and detriment within the Christian community as we attempt to raise our daughters and, for that matter, our sons, with a true biblical imprint of God's image in them as male and as female.  And with us to help us perhaps counter that culture with a biblical portrait of what it means to be a woman, today on the broadcast, is Nancy Leigh DeMoss.   Nancy is a speaker to women's groups.  In fact, she has done that for the past 20 years, and this is a life message for you, isn't it, Nancy? Nancy: I just consider it an exciting challenge today to help women see that there is so much more that God has for us than perhaps what we've been enjoying. Bob: Well, and you get to do that every day on your daily radio program, "Revive Our Hearts," which is heard on many of the same stations that carry FamilyLife Today.  And you've done it through your writing, through the bestselling book, "Lies Women Believe," the Study Guide, "Seeking Him," the trilogy of books on surrender and holiness and brokenness that you've written and, this fall, you're going to be having an opportunity to challenge women on this very subject at a conference, a national conference you're doing in Chicago that is called True Woman '08."  My wife is planning to be there and really looking forward to it. Let me ask you – as we're talking about this subject of the differences between men and women, you really believe that there is a lot of confusion among Christians, both men and women, on this subject because of the messages we're getting from the culture, right? Nancy: Well, look around and see the dynamics of our culture are rooted in the twin vices of selfishness and rebellion.  Our culture is rooted in self-seeking, self-assertiveness, self-exaltation, selfishness – self-centeredness and rebellion.  We dislike authority.  We don't want to live under authority and, as women, this has been especially destructive as the feminist movement has built its case on self-seeking, self-assertiveness, and rebellion against authority. God's Word, on the other hand, teaches us the way of surrender, submission to Christ as Lord, and then to those of human authorities that God places in our lives.  Surrender versus rebellion and the way of love – being a giver rather than a taker, not self-seeking but self-denying. Dennis: Let's look at some important parts of this portrait of what it means to truly biblically feminine, of what God wants you to be as a woman.  Where do we begin as we look at this portrait? Nancy: We talked yesterday about the woman as a responder and the man as an initiator.  This becomes obvious to us as we go back again to the Genesis record and see what God designed for the man and for the woman, and then how the man and the woman distorted and perverted that design.  God made the man and said to the man, "Here is your responsibility.  Have dominion, subdue the earth, rule over it, be the king of the earth."  Then God gave to the man a helper, a woman, likewise created in the image of God but different than the man, made to complete him not to compete with him, and said to her, "You are to help him fulfill this responsibility." Then when we come to the serpent entering the scene, we find the first illustration of role reversal.  It's interesting that the serpent comes to the woman.  God had given the instruction to the man, but Satan comes to the woman independent of the man and challenges her to take the initiative; to find her declaration of independence.  To say, "I will make my own decision, I will be my own god."  He challenges her to step out from under the protection, the authority of her husband, and then when she gives the fruit to her husband, and he eats, he likewise is abdicating the headship, the responsibility for initiative that God has given to him. And from that point on, we find man and woman in a power struggle.  The woman, driven to control, to initiate, to be the head, to lead, and the man either passive or abusive but not fulfilling the God-given responsibility to initiate, which is not a consequence of the Fall but precedes the Fall that God ordained the man to be the leader, the head, the initiator.  The woman, by taking that role into her own hands in a sense emasculated the man.  Bob: That's interesting.  You're saying that Eve could have said to the Serpent, "I want to check this out with my husband.  Wait right here."  She could have gone to Adam whether he was standing there or not, but she could have looked at him and said, "Should we do this?" Nancy: What does the Scripture say in the New Testament?  If a woman has a question, let her ask her husband.  And I hear women so often today, "My husband doesn't know the Word of God.  I'm the woman, I've been sitting in the Bible studies listening to speakers and going to seminars.  My husband doesn't know all these things."  And I say to women, you'd be amazed if, with a learner's heart, a teachable spirit, a humble attitude, you are to begin to ask your husband questions, and he saw himself as being needed by you, how he might be motivated and prompted to begin to take initiative to learn the heart and the ways of God in these areas. Dennis: Today, Nancy, within the Christian community, there are those who would express that a woman shouldn't come back to her husband and ask him a question.  In fact, there are those who would even take issue with command for a wife to submit to her husband.  They would really have a problem with that. Nancy: Dennis, the entire universe created by God is structured in authority and submission relationships.  The Trinity itself models for us what it means for there to be authority and submission.  We see God the Father, who deeply loves His Son, and we see the Son saying, "I have come to this earth not to do my own will but to do the will of my Father."  We see Jesus, who was co-equal, co-eternal with God the Father, voluntarily placing Himself under the authority of His Heavenly Father so that the plan of redemption can be accomplished. So for a woman to come under the authority of her husband, under the authority of male leadership in the church, is not to be less than equal but is to say I am willing to function according to the design of God so that His purposes can be fulfilled in this earth. Dennis: And I don't want the moms and the dads who are raising the next generation of daughters and, for that matter, sons, to miss the profound statement that Nancy just made.  She is saying we've got to train our daughters to understand the importance of God's created order and of authority and of submitting to authority and that authority is not wrong. Nancy: And it is not negative.  You've got to come to see that authority, in whatever realm of life – employer, employee, elders, church leadership, and authority in the home – that these are God's means of providing protection for the lives of those who come under that authority. I had an experience a number of years ago that illustrated this to me in a helpful way.  At the time, I was traveling a great deal, and I was serving in a ministry where the authorities, the leadership in the ministry, had said that I should not fly in a single-engine airplane at night.  I loved flying, and I didn't care whether it was single-engine or twin-engine, but it wasn't an issue to me, but they felt that it was not wise for anyone to be flying in a single-engine airplane at night.  If the one engine you had went out, that was it. Well, that didn't cramp my style too much.  It wasn't often the case that that would be necessary, but I found myself one time traveling in one of those states that nobody uses, where nothing is near anything, and we had a very difficult itinerary, just one seminar to the next from one small town to the next over the period of a week.  And one of those days – I called in advance, as we were making the arrangement, and I said to the man who was setting up the logistics, "Now, I just need to let you" – he said, "We may need to charter a plane at some point to get us from one of these towns to the next where there is no commercial service available."  I said, "Well, that's fine, but you need to understand that I can't fly in a single-engine airplane at night." Well, he told me that would be fine.  He asked me if I was afraid to fly in a single-engine airplane at night, and I said, "No, that wasn't the case but that I was under authority."  Well, we got to the airport on one of those particular days, and there was one airplane at that airport, and it had one engine, and it was night.  And I said, "Carl, I can't go up in that plane."  He said, "It's the only plane we have."  I said, "Well, we can't go."  He said, "It will cost us a lot more to charter something different."  I said, "Well, we'll have to pay or we can't go."  And he tried to reason with me that there was no reason for me to be afraid to go up in that single-engine airplane at night.  They had a good pilot; he felt it was a safe plane. I said, "You know, Carl, that's not the issue.  I'm a woman under authority, and if I go up in that single-engine airplane tonight, out from under authority, I'm not safe.  And if you go up with me, you're not safe, either."  And, you know, he understood that.  And the question, then, I raise is, well, does that mean if I go up in that single-engine airplane that it's going to crash – probably not, I don't know.  But when you live under authority, it doesn't really matter.  You say, "Does a twin-engine airplane never crash?"  Yes, sometimes they do.  So you say, "What's the difference?" Well, in my mind, the difference is if a plane goes down, and I'm under authority, then I have the confidence that I'm right in the middle of God's will for my life.  But if I step out from under that covering and that protection that God has provided for me, then I make myself vulnerable to the realm, the influence, the attacks of Satan himself, which is why the Scripture says that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.  Because in stepping out from under God's protection and the authority he has placed into our lives, we open up our lives to the attack, the realm, the influence of Satan himself, and that's a dangerous place to be. Bob: In that moment, did you wrestle at all with the reasonableness of the restriction?  You're standing alone at the airport.  There is one plane.  You've got a mission to accomplish, you're trying to share the Gospel.  Did you think to yourself, "This was not a reasonable request in the first place, and maybe just this once I ought to violate it because it doesn't appear like we have any other options?" Nancy: I'm sure, although it was many years ago, I'm sure I did feel some of that at the time, and I know I have felt that way in many other instances.  But then I have to come back to what is the purpose of my life?  It's to glorify God.  How do I glorify God?  By obedience to His Word and His ways, and so many issues are simplified in my life if I will just go back to the Scripture and say, "What is God's way?  What is God's pattern?"  Not, "Do I like this?  Am I comfortable with it?  Does it make sense to me?"  But Jesus is Lord, so what does that mean for my life and for all of us in relationships where there is authority that has been established by God.  That means the willingness to bow, to surrender my will, and to say, "Not my will, but Your will be done." Dennis: Nancy, there are some of our listeners who are married to husbands who are not spiritual at all.  They don't trust their husbands' reasoning, his rationale, why he decided to do what he's done.  He's trying to take our kids fishing on Sunday morning; doesn't want them to go to church – not just one Sunday but Sunday after Sunday after Sunday.  Is there any appeal in that situation? Nancy: Well, certainly, there is, and let me back up to what you said – the woman does not trust her husband's reasoning.  Ultimately, as women, our trust is not in that husband or that man, but our trust is in God.  This is what 1 Peter 3 talks about – the holy women of old who trusted in God, and then it gives Sarah as an illustration.  Because she trusted in God, she obeyed her husband, Abraham, calling him "lord."  That's a pretty strong term, and we don't like that today, but she gave to him under – it was lowercase "L," lord, not capital "L."  God is Lord with a capital "L," but because her trust was in God the Lord, then she was able to obey her husband, to call him lord, little "L," and at times Abraham made decisions for his family that, at times, were not wise. Dennis: In fact, they were deceptive.  He asked Sarah to lie. Nancy: But Sarah found protection, and 1 Peter 3 tells us freedom from fear because her heart was to obey her husband.  Now, scripturally, we are not to sin in obeying an authority, and that's where, if we believe that authority is giving us direction that is clearly contrary to the Word of God, not just contrary to our personal preferences or feelings about things, but contrary to the Word of God that would cause us to sin, then we walk through the process of appeal.  And I think many of us don't have the patience to be willing to wait on God to change the heart of the authority.  You see, Proverbs tells us that the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, and the Lord turns the heart of that king as the rivers of water.  The greatest evidence of how big I believe God is, is my willingness to trust God to work through authorities that He's placed in my life and to give Him time to change the heart of that authority.  I may be a part of that process by going to the authority, making an appeal, but even as we do, I think it's so important that our spirit be one of humility. Those who are parents know that when your child comes to you and says, "You've told me to do this, but I don't agree.  You're off the wall, get off my back, I'm not going to do this."  Well, the parent is going to tend to stiffen in response to an attitude like that on the part of a teenager.  But can you imagine one of your daughters, Dennis, coming to you and saying, "Dad, I know that you have my best interests at heart, and I know that you want what is best for my life, but I prayed about this decision, and I sense that perhaps God is giving me a different direction.  I'm going to obey what you've said, but would you be willing to reconsider, to think this through and to pray this through and see if God would give you a different answer." Well, you're going to fall on the floor first, and then, because of a humble and obedient spirit in that teenager, you're going to be willing to go back to the Lord and to say, "Did I really get the right direction here?" Bob: Is it okay, Nancy for a woman to be an active receiver?  And here is what I mean by that – sometimes Mary Ann will come to me, and she'll say, "I need your help on something.  I need you to think this through and let me know what you think I ought to do."  And I'll say, "Okay, I'll do that.  I'll pray about that, and I'll do that." And then I kind of set it aside, get distracted, don't really think about it.  A couple of days later she may come back to me and say, "You remember that issue?  I still need your help on that, and I'm looking for your direction." She is nudging me … Nancy: She is being your helper.   Bob: Yes, she is. Nancy: This is what God made her to be.  But I think, as women, we need to be careful that in doing that, we don't intimidate, and we have to know, as women, what is the heart, what are the needs, how can we best serve and help the men that God's placed us under? Bob: Yeah, I brought that up, Dennis, because I appreciate my wife coming back and nudging me a second or a third time, because I do get distracted, and just as Nancy said, she is being my helper when she asks me to initiate. Dennis: I think a lot of people listen to conversations like we're having here, and they equate responder and submission to weakness and to being a pushover. Nancy: Well, let me say this – the Scripture does say that the woman is the weaker vessel. Dennis: Well, she may be weaker physically, but in her role, she's powerful. Nancy: She's powerful by fulfilling the role of the responder and the one who comes under authority. Bob: Exactly. Dennis: And the question I wanted to get to right here is a friend of mine who has got a daughter who is college – she is stout, she is strong.  Now, she's still a woman, and she's still a weaker vessel, that's not the issue here.  But she is very gifted, a leader, and I think you can probably identify with this, Nancy.  She has a lot of abilities, but she is a girl, she is a woman.  And my friend, who is her father, is attempting to raise her to be God's woman, and he is struggling with how do I raise this young lady to be all that God intended while possessing these public gifts, these leadership gifts?  Are you saying, by being a responder, that you can't be a leader? Nancy: We're not saying that God is asking women not to utilize the strengths and the gifts that He has given to them but to do so within the framework of acknowledging that God made that husband or that father or that male leadership in the church to have the primary responsibility for leading, and that her role is in helping him, assisting him, coming under his covering and protection. Now, the wise man will receive input and will maximize the gifts, the abilities, that God has given to his wife, but, see, we're also operating on a very 20th century and Western mindset that we have a right to exercise all of our gifts and that our purpose in life is to fulfill all of our gifts.  My purpose in life is not to fulfill all my gifts.  My purpose in life is to bring glory to God.  And if, at times, that means that God's will is that some of those gifts and strengths be put on the shelf or not be as noticed or as utilized.  It's up to God.  I am surrendered to be used however God would be most glorified, and that may mean that I'm not at the forefront, that I'm not taking the leadership or the reigns if God would receive more glory through that.   Bob: And if that's going to happen, it means that women are going to have to be taking their cues not from the culture but from the Scriptures.  They are going to have to be renewing their mind on the truth of God's Word and what God has to say about what it means to be a woman and not taking their cues from the magazines that are in the racks at the supermarket as you're checking out. Nancy, you've written on this subject in a variety of settings.  You wrote a little booklet called "A Biblical Portrait of Womanhood," that tens of thousands of women have read and passed on and have found very helpful.  We've got in our FamilyLife Resource Center , and it's available to our listeners if you'd like to get a copy. Then you've also written a bestselling book called "Lies Women Believe and the Truth That Sets Them Free," along with a variety of books – a book on surrender, a book on holiness, a book on brokenness, a study guide called "Seeking Him, Experiencing the Joy of Personal Revival."  We have a number of your books in our FamilyLife Resource Center, and if our listeners are interested in getting more information about what's available, the easiest thing to do is go to our website, which is FamilyLife.com.  On the right side of the screen, you'll see a box that says "Today's Broadcast," and if you click where it says "Learn More," that will take you to an area of the site where you can get more information about the resources Nancy has written.  You can order them from our website, FamilyLife.com, or if it's easier to call 1-800-FLTODAY and place an order over the phone, you can do that as well. Again, the website is FamilyLife.com, the toll-free number is 1-800-FLTODAY, and then don't forget the conference that is coming up in Chicago in October – October 8th through the 11th.  It's a national conference for women called True Woman '08, and it features a number of speakers including Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Barbara Rainey, Joni Eareckson Tada, Janet Parshall, Pastor John Piper is going to be speaking there, Keith and Kristin Getty are going to be leading the worship at the conference, and it looks like it is on the way to being a sellout event. So if our listeners are interested, they ought to register as quickly as they can.  Again, our website is FamilyLife.com, and there is a link there that will take you to the True Woman '08 website where you can get registered and plan to attend this two-and-a-half-day national conference for women in Chicago in October. And I want to be quick to add here that women are not alone in terms of confusion about what it means to be what God created you to be.  Men are struggling with this as well, and this month we've been making available a CD for our listeners on the subject of masculinity and understanding it biblically and keeping it in biblical balance.  It's a message from our friend, Stu Weber, that we call "Applied Masculinity."  Stu is a pastor and a retired Army Ranger, a Green Beret, and this message is a terrific message for men.  We're making it available this month when you help support the ministry of FamilyLife Today with a donation of any amount.  Because we are listener-supported, these donations are essential to keep our program on the air on this station and on other stations all across the country. So we hope you'll consider making a donation, and if you'd like to receive the CD with the message from Stu Weber, as you fill out your donation form on the Internet, just type the word "Stu" in the keycode box.  That's s-t-u – again, you'll see a box that says "Keycode," and you just type s-t-u in there, or call 1-800-FLTODAY.  You can make a donation over the phone.  Again, it's 1-800-358-6329. When you make your donation just mention that you'd like a copy of the CD form Stu Weber called "Applied Masculinity," and we're happy to send it out to you.  We really do appreciate your financial partnership with us here in the ministry of FamilyLife Today. Tomorrow we're going to continue to look at what it means to be God's woman according to God's Word with our guest, Nancy Leigh DeMoss.  We hope you can be back with us as well. I want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, and our entire broadcast production team.  On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I'm Bob Lepine.  We'll see you back tomorrow for another edition of FamilyLife Today.  FamilyLife Today is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas – help for today; hope for tomorrow.   _______________________________________________________________We are so happy to provide these transcripts for you. However, there is a cost to transcribe, create, and produce them for our website. 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A Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 1) - Nancy Leigh DeMossA Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 2) - Nancy Leigh DeMossA Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 3) - Nancy Leigh DeMossA Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 4) - Nancy Leigh DeMossA Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 5) - Nancy Leigh DeMossFamilyLife Today® Radio Transcript  References to conferences, resources, or other special promotions may be obsolete. A Woman After God's Own Heart Day 4 of 5 Guest:                        Nancy Leigh DeMoss From the series:       A Biblical Portrait of Womanhood                                   Bob: If someone told you, as a woman, that your life should be about servanthood, about serving others, would it cause your back to stiffen a little bit?  Here's Nancy Leigh DeMoss. Nancy: For us, as women, to be willing to give our lives – that's the whole message of the cross – it's a pouring out of my life, it's a laying down of my life, it's being willing to spend and be spent on behalf of others.  There is no higher role in the kingdom of God than to be a servant, and we need to lift it back up to its exalted state. Bob: This is FamilyLife Today for Thursday, June 19th.  Our host is the president of FamilyLife, Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine.  When it comes to assuming our responsibilities as men and women, it often means we have to live in a way that doesn't come naturally. And welcome to FamilyLife Today, thanks for joining us on the Thursday edition.  We're looking this week at what the Bible has to say about femininity and how we can understand biblical womanhood by looking at what the Scriptures say about what it means to be truly feminine. Dennis: And, at this point, I feel like a pastor friend of mine who gave a message on this one time, who held up a sign at the beginning of the sermon that said, "I love women."  He walked out and held it up and said, "I am about to teach what the Bible says here, but understand this – I love women."  He said, "I'm married to one, and I have daughters, and I have friends."  And he just wanted the ladies in the audience to know that this wasn't from a heart of wanting to put down anyone but, indeed, exalt.  And to help us do that here in the studio for a fourth day is Nancy Leigh DeMoss.  Nancy, welcome back. Nancy: Thank you, Dennis. Dennis: And, Nancy, we've been talking about the picture of what a true woman is and what she does, and we've talked about being a responder, a helper, a cheerleader, and one of the things you talk about in this portrait you've painted is that a woman is a servant.  How so?  How is she uniquely a servant? Nancy: You know, Dennis, it's interesting to me that in the New Testament when the Scripture speaks of service being rendered to Jesus while He was here on this earth, that every time that service is rendered by either an angel or by a woman, and there is no question that Scripture teaches that all of us, as believers, are to have servants' hearts, and that we are never more like Jesus than when we're serving. But I believe there is a distinctive role for those of us as women, as helpers to the men, to be in a serving role.  It's interesting that in 1 Timothy, chapter 5, where Paul is talking about what qualifies a widow to be cared for by the church, to have her needs met by the church, she has to have lived a certain kind of life before she was a widow.  And in verse 10 of that passage, 1 Timothy, chapter 5, Paul lists the things that must have been true of her while she was a married woman if she is going to qualify as a widow to be cared for by the church.  She has to have brought up children, she is to have lodged strangers, provided hospitality, she is to have washed the feet of the saints, served the people of God in practical ways, she is to have relieved the afflicted.   I think we see in this passage a pattern for all of us, as women, whether married or single, that there are roles and ways that we can practically serve those in the body of Christ and those outside the body of Christ, in ways that, by many women, have been considered demeaning or insignificant but when rendered in the name of Christ, they become extremely significant. Dennis: I like what you're saying here.  You're saying that we need to be looking at this list that Paul speaks about here and be training our daughters to have hearts that are enlarged for God to be creating good works on behalf of others. Nancy: You know, one of my favorite women in the Scripture is a little-known woman known Dorcas who, as you remember, lived in the town of Joppa, and she died, and when she died, all the widows of the town began to weep, because she had spent her life not leading some massive organization, not being a crusader or a campaigner, but she had lived her life making clothes and providing for the physical material needs of the widows in the town.  And it's interesting that Peter the Apostle took time out of his busy schedule to come to Joppa to perform a miracle and raise her from the dead and, really, all we're told about her is that her contribution was to minister to the needs of these widows.  That was why she was loved, that's why she was appreciated, that was the influence, the impact, the power of her life, was in that serving way. Dennis: And you're saying that she was uniquely being a woman at that point? Nancy: She was and, again, not to say – and there is so much emphasis today on men being servants to their wives and to their children – again, this is the heart of Jesus who stooped to wash the feet of his disciples.  But, you know, it's politically correct in the evangelical world today for us to talk about men serving their wives and children.  But when we begin the talk about wives who are distinctly made by God to be helpers to their husbands, wives coming into the role of servant – well, that kind of rubs the cat the wrong way, and it shouldn't. Dennis: You mentioned that in one audience you got a standing ovation when speaking to a Christian group, and in another part of the country when you mentioned the same truth, there was a deafening silence. Nancy: I've had women say to me, and we've heard it, and all of us have thought it, all of those of us who are women have thought, "I'm not going to be the slave around here.  I am not going to be a doormat."  Well, I'll tell you, a doormat has a function and a purpose; it has a design, it is useful.  And for us, as women, to be willing to give our lives – that's the whole message of the cross – it's a pouring out of my life, it's a laying down of my life, it's being willing to spend and be spent on behalf of others.  There is no higher role in the kingdom of God than to be a servant and we need to lift it back up to its exalted state. Bob: As you said that a doormat has a function, I thought to myself, what is that function?  As you come into a house, it's to clean feet.  And then I thought, what's the human equivalent of a doormat?  It's someone who would wash the dirty feet of people coming into the house.  And who did that?  Jesus Christ.  So in a very real sense, a foot-washer is a doormat.  It's fulfilling the same function, and Jesus said, "I voluntarily become the doormat for you." Dennis: And yet today, if we went on this broadcast and said, "Wives, we want to encourage you to be a doormat," what would happen? Nancy: You'd get a few letters. Dennis: You'd get a few letters. Bob: We might not be here for tomorrow's broadcast. Dennis: If we said we want them to be like Jesus Christ, "Yay, we can agree with that."  But at the point when you start putting this down to a practical level where Jesus lived, and, Bob, you make a great point.  I think the world is crowding us in, and it's creating caricatures of Christianity where we need to be careful and say, "Wait a second.  Do we want to be Christlike or do we want to have self-fulfillment?"  I'm not sure you can have both.  I think there's a lot of encouragement of women today to seek their own rights, to seek their own fulfillment, to maximize their gifts and, certainly, I want Barbara's gifts to be maximized.  I want to help her to do that.  But she is most powerful when she is being God's woman, and I want my daughters to do the same. Bob: You've talked about this servanthood and how it's uniquely fulfilled in the life of a woman in the qualities listed in 1 Timothy 5, verse 10.  Men are called to be servants, too, and yet the context for female servanthood, according to that list, seems to be a relational nurturing kind of context.  That's really a part of what's at the heart of being a woman, isn't it? Nancy: It is, and I think a wonderful picture of that in the Scripture is that passage that we're so familiar with in Proverbs, chapter 31.  There we have a picture of a woman who does a lot of household tasks, a lot of specific serving responsibilities, but it's in the context of her role as a wife and as a mother; as a nurturer of life in that home, as the maker of a home.  You find in that passage there is only reference to her doing anything for herself and that's that she is dressing in a way that will be pleasing to her husband.  In that context, she is fulfilling these responsibilities not just to keep a clean house and to keep well-clothed kids, but to minister love and service and grace, to be a means of the grace of God flowing into the life of that home. There is a distinctive call of the woman to be a nurturer.  It is the woman who is able to bear life, it is the woman who is able to nurse that infant child and as this is physically true, so there is a distinctive privilege that the woman has to pour that grace into her family. Dennis: Nancy, you're not married.  You have not given life by virtue of bearing a baby and giving birth, but you are a nurturer and a bearer of life.  How so? Nancy: I just believe God has made all of us, as women, to be bearers and nurturers of life, to encourage life to grow, to help create a climate where others around us can grow, and I have devoted my life, as a single woman, to investing in the lives of others – other younger women, children, and even the men that I serve within our ministry, investing in their marriages and their families and helping to create a climate where they are encouraged to be all God wants them to be. Dennis: Practically speaking, how have you done that? Nancy: I think if you were to talk with the families that I serve alongside of, they would tell you that they know that I pray for their marriages, that I pray for their children.  They would know that I am a friend to their sons and daughters.  I'll be leaving here today, Lord willing, flying back to Michigan to be at the volleyball game of the daughter of one of our staff to be an encourager, a cheerleader, there for her interest that she's developing.  And by having that kind of role in the life of that daughter, there is also the opportunity to have an inroad into her heart. Bob: Every parent prays for those outside influences in the lives of their sons and daughters, whether it's another mother, a single person – you pray that there will be those folks who come along strategically, and we've seen it happen with our kids as they've grown up, and they'll say, "Boy, I sure like Mrs. So-and-So, she's nice.  I like hanging around with her."  And we go how grateful we are, because we know Mrs. So-and-So, and we know she'll be a godly influence in the life of a daughter or of a son.   What a powerful, nurturing role a mom can have not only in the life of her children but in the lives of her children's friends.  What a powerful role a single woman can have by looking around at the children in her neighborhood, in her church, in her community and saying, "I'm going to assume some responsibility to be a nurturer to those kids even though I'm not the one tucking them in at night or the one who is driving them to school in the morning." Dennis: And practically speaking, I'll brag on Nancy at this point.  Our family enjoyed dinner with her a couple of nights ago, and those girls were so excited about the arrival of Nancy at our home, and Nancy is modeling for them how she is investing in their lives by being interested in their pictures and what clutters their room, and the stories of their lives and a cheerleader and an encourager.   When those girls become adults, I've got to believe at that point, Bob, they are going to reflect back on an older, single woman who stepped down and into their lives who believed in them and who loved them and encouraged them and didn't just do it at one point but stayed in touch through letters, e-mail, phone calls, little touches along the way, that says, "I love you and I believe in you, and I'm going to be a nurturer of life in your life." Bob: We think of the nurturing function as primarily a mother/daughter or a mother/son kind of a nurturing, and yet Titus 2, as it talks about older women coming alongside and equipping younger women – that's as much a part of nurturing as bearing children, isn't it, Nancy? Nancy: It is, and let me say that every woman is an older woman to some other woman.  The 18-year-old young woman is an older woman to the 15-year-old woman.  And now as approach my 40s, I find that there are some more women that are younger women, and that I have a responsibility to leave a legacy for the next generation; to invest in the lives of the next generation. Dennis: And I'll tell you, I can't tell you how strongly I feel about this one – this is one of the areas where I believe the church is missing a phenomenal opportunity.  We have scores of women today in the church who I think need to have this portrait put before them and painted so that they can have a vision for the next two decades or three decades of their lives, even beyond the empty nest.   I am getting letters from friends who are at the same stage of life as us, and they are saying, "What's our vision for us, as a couple, and my wife with the empty nest?"  And I'm going, "It's in the Bible."  And this is so valuable and you know what – it's not only so valuable, it's a necessity and one of the most powerful ways a mom can impress her daughters to do this is by modeling this.   Bob: And, you know, we've talked about how a woman can be a mentor to younger women and fulfill a nurturing role or how she can be a friend to her children's friends and fulfill her nurturing function in that, and yet as I've talked with Mary Ann about all of those opportunities that are available to her, I have said none of those can ever crowd out or get in the way of your primary nurturing function at this stage of your life, which is Amy, Katy, Jimmy, John, and David.  You have five kids at home, and they're my kids,too.  We both have a responsibility but, as a mom, you have a primary nurturing responsibility.  Your top investment has got to be in the lives of those children. Nancy: And, Bob, as a single woman, I want to applaud and affirm and celebrate those women who are out there today doing what God has called them to do – being mothers.  And applaud their willingness to have children in a world that has told us you have the right to control your own body.  And yet I thank the Lord that my mother was willing to have seven children.  At that time considered a very, very large family but for her willingness to lay down her life in giving birth and nurturing and rearing up a family; now children grown and following the Lord and reproducing her and my dad's heart in this world. We don't think of Jochebed, perhaps, as a significant woman in her own right, but when we think of how God used her offspring, how God used her son Moses, to give to the world the law of God, then we have a woman who had an incredible impact in our world. Dennis: Let me illustrate this from my own wife's life and brag on Barbara a bit here – we have a retreat that is away from the offices here in Little Rock, and it's a prestigious retreat that Barbara and I have been asked to go to, and Barbara was going to be on the program with me and do some question and answer and also be available to minister and encourage people, and she enjoys that. But, I promise you, she enjoys being a mom even more.  And so Rebecca had not only been nominated for Homecoming Court, but she had made Homecoming Court, and guess which weekend it fell on – the same weekend as this particular conference.  Now, this conference and our commitment had been for more than a year, and it's unfortunate that it fell on a time when my daughter has made Homecoming.  But we're delaying her arrival by three days to this particular retreat so that Barbara can stay home, help celebrate and anticipate the moment. I think that's the kind of commitment today that our daughters are going to remember when they become adults.  They're going to remember those special times with their mother. Bob: Well, and I have to suppose, as well, Dennis, that if you could look around right now at the women you know who are 60, 70 years old, you can probably tell, just by their spirit, by their countenance, who invested their lives as nurturers and who didn't.  You would probably see, in the face of a nurturing 70-year-old woman a radiance that is not on the face of one who invested her life in something other than nurturing her own children, younger women, the children in the neighborhood, whomever.  Mary Ann, last night, was at an Owanna [sp] meeting with the second-grade girls, hearing their Bible verses.  Now, is that how she wanted to spend her Wednesday evening?  She could have probably picked a couple-dozen other things, that if she was picking for her own fulfillment, she would have chosen to do. But she is building an inheritance that is an eternal inheritance and one that will provide her with peace and fulfillment in her later years. Dennis: And it strikes me, Nancy, whether you're a single person, like you, investing in other people's marriages or their kids or in single women's lives – all those are statements of this feminine portrait that we're talking about here of being a nurturer and a bearer of life; one who helps to give life to others.  And if you start doing that when you're young, then as you grow older, you're going to do this naturally up until the time you die.  This is what it means to be a woman regardless of your age or regardless of your physical ability to bear children. Nancy: And ultimately the joys, the rewards of a life invested that way cannot be compared with the rewards of a woman having had her own life, her own career, her own job.  The women who are reaping the blessing of God in their lives are those who have laid down their lives for their families and for the families of others. Dennis: I feel like we've given women who listened to today's broadcast a beautiful portrait of being a servant, a nurturer, a bearer of life, so that their lives will be rich and full.  And I would just challenge you, if you're a woman, to find a way today to be an encourager of life in somebody's life – just step out and be God's woman, whether it be in your children's life and bringing life to them, or whether it be to a younger woman in your church or at work – come alongside them and perhaps take them out for lunch or spend some time over a cup of coffee, or give them a phone call tonight and just encourage another person – but to cultivate that feminine side that God created you to use as a woman. Bob: And I think one of the ways a woman prepares herself to do that more regularly is by reading and thinking about and praying through the kinds of things we've talked about on today's program and by getting copies of some of the books that Nancy has written.  She has written a booklet called "A Biblical Portrait of Womanhood."  Of course, she's written the bestseller "Lies Women Believe."  All of the resources, all of the books that Nancy has written are designed to help women press these kinds of biblical qualities that exemplify godly womanhood into her heart, and we've got a number of these resources in our FamilyLife Resource Center, and a lot of these would be good resources for mothers and daughters to read through together. I'm thinking of a book like the book Nancy wrote on surrender.  It's a great book for a mother and daughter to just read through a chapter at a time and say, "What did you think?  What did you see in that chapter that caused you to examine your own heart and say, 'This is an area where I need to grow.'" Or get a copy of "Lies Young Women Believe," the new book that Nancy and Danna Gresh have written together, and go through that as a mother and a daughter.  Summertime is a great time to do that, and we've got these resources in our FamilyLife Resource Center.  You can go online at FamilyLife.com.  If you click on the right side of the home page where you see "Today's Broadcast," that will take you through to an area of the site where there is more information about a number of resources Nancy has written. Again, the website is FamilyLife.com, and you want to click on the right side of the home page where it says "Today's Broadcast."  You can order any of these resources online from us if you'd like, or if it's easier to call 1-800-FLTODAY to request these resources, you can do that as well – 1-800-358-6329, that's 1-800-F-as-in-family, L-as-in-life, and then the word TODAY.  On our website, you'll also find information about the upcoming True Woman '08 event that's taking place in Chicago – a national conference for women happening October 8th through the 11th, and it looks like it could be a soldout event.  So if listeners are interested in coming, getting a group of women together and being at this national conference that features Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Pastor John Piper, Joni Eareckson Tada, Barbara Rainey, Janet Parshall, other speakers – Keith and Kristyn Getty leading the worship – all of the information is available by going to our website at FamilyLife.com, and you can click through to the True Woman website and get details or register online for the upcoming True Woman '08 conference. Let me encourage you, when you do get in touch with us, to keep in mind that FamilyLife Today is a listener-supported ministry.  Your financial support of this ministry with occasional donations is what keeps us on the air in this city and in other cities all across the country.  And this month we are saying thank you to you when you support this ministry with a gift of any amount by sending, upon request, a CD of a message from Stu Weber on the subject of biblical masculinity.  We've been talking about biblical femininity today.  This message, from a retired Army Ranger and Green Beret, Stu Weber, is a message that helps us understand the biblical balance between being a leader and being aggressive as a man, and yet being tender and being compassionate as a man. And the CD is, again, our gift to you when you help support the ministry of FamilyLife Today.  If you are donating online at FamilyLife.com, you'll come to a keycode box on the donation form.  Just type the word "Stu" in there, s-t-u, and we'll know to send you a copy of this CD.  Or call 1-800-FLTODAY, make a donation over the phone and ask for the CD about manhood or the CD from Stu Weber.  Again, we're happy to send it out to you, and we appreciate your financial support. Tomorrow we want to talk about how a woman in the 21st century ought to view subjects like modesty and chastity and purity.  We'll have that conversation tomorrow with our guest, Nancy Leigh DeMoss.  I hope you can be here for it. I want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, and our entire broadcast production team.  On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I'm Bob Lepine.  We'll see you back next time for another edition of FamilyLife Today.  FamilyLife Today is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas – help for today; hope for tomorrow.  _______________________________________________________________We are so happy to provide these transcripts for you. However, there is a cost to transcribe, create, and produce them for our website. If you've benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider donating today to help defray the costs?Copyright © FamilyLife. All rights reserved. www.FamilyLife.com 

A Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 1) - Nancy Leigh DeMossA Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 2) - Nancy Leigh DeMossA Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 3) - Nancy Leigh DeMossA Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 4) - Nancy Leigh DeMossA Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 5) - Nancy Leigh DeMossFamilyLife Today® Radio Transcript  References to conferences, resources, or other special promotions may be obsolete. Living God's Design for Your Life Day 2 of 5 Guest:                        Nancy Leigh DeMoss From the series:       A Biblical Portrait of Womanhood  Bob: What does womanhood look like biblically at home?  Here is Nancy Leigh DeMoss. Nancy: Scripture talks about a woman as reverencing her husband, honoring him, lifting him up; a woman who loves her husband, loves her children.  Proverbs speaks of the importance of a woman having the quality of discretion.  I think so many of these come back to the fact that God made us, as women, to be responders and to allow the men to be the initiators that God created them to be. Bob: This is FamilyLife Today for Tuesday, June 17th.  Our host is the president of FamilyLife, Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine.  What are the core character qualities that define biblical womanhood?  We'll talk about that today, stay tuned. And welcome to FamilyLife Today, thanks for joining us on the Tuesday edition.  I remember when I was growing up, back then the "CBS Evening News" was hosted by Walter Cronkite – remember – Walter Cronkite, and over on NBC it was Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, and I don't remember who was on ABC and neither does anybody else because nobody was even watching ABC.  And so the executives over at ABC, I think it was Fred Silverman at the time, decided he was going to have two anchors, kind of like Huntley-Brinkley.  One of them was going to be Harry Reasoner, and the other Barbara Walters.  And for the first time, America was going to be asked to get their evening news from a woman.  There was a lot of discussion – was America ready to have a woman as a nightly news anchor?   And, you know, we look at that now from the perspective of more than 30 years, and it's almost laughable.  I heard somebody the other day saying that most of the cable news anchors are women today, and we don't think anything of it.  And yet back then we were asking a lot of questions about what is the essence of manhood, what is the essence of womanhood?  And, frankly, even though we'd look back at having a female news anchor being revolutionary, and we'd laugh about that today, I still think there is a lot of confusion in our culture today about what's at the essence of manhood, and what's at the essence of womanhood? Dennis: And because of the cultural shift, there has been a shift in the Christian community.  Unfortunately, we have lost our biblical moorings, our anchor point in the Scripture, and I fear that we're raising a generation of daughters and, for that matter, sons, who do not know what it means to be a woman or to be a man.   And that's why we're committing these broadcasts just to helping women truly have a good grasp of what it means, biblically speaking, to be a woman.  And with us in the studio to help us here on a second day is Nancy Leigh DeMoss – Nancy, welcome back. Nancy: Thank you. Dennis: Nancy has spoken to women's groups for more than 20 years, and I think it's fair to say, Nancy, that this is a life message for you – defining what it means and painting a portrait of femininity, is that right? Nancy: Well, God certainly has given me a heart to glorify Him, as a woman, and that means that there are issues that have to be wrestled with. Bob: Yes, and you spend time wrestling with this issues on your daily radio program, "Revive Our Hearts," which many of our listeners are familiar with because it's heard on some of the stations that also carry FamilyLife Today.  You have also written a number of books including a bestselling book called "Lies Women Believe."  There is a new book out called "Lies Young Women Believe."  You've written a study guide called "Seeking Him," and our listeners may not know that you're going to be hosting a national conference in Chicago coming up in October.   It's called True Woman '08, and you're going to be speaking there along with Joni Eareckson Tada and Janet Parshall and, Dennis, your wife, Barbara is going to be there, Karen Loritts is going to be speaking as well – Pastor John Piper is going to be speaking to the ladies, and there is already a lot of excitement about this conference.  In fact, it's starting to fill up.  So if our listeners are interested in attending the True Woman '08 conference, they should go to our website, FamilyLife.com, and click where it says "Today's Broadcast" on the right side of the screen, and they'll find a link to the True Woman website, and they can get registered online and plan to attend the conference. Let me ask you about this issue of masculinity and femininity.  Does the Bible give us insight into why God created us differently?  Why He created us male and female? Nancy: Well, actually, God answers that question for us in His Word, thankfully.  And we find, if we go back to the Genesis record, that God made the man first, God created the man in His image, unlike all that had preceded man, unlike the animals or the plants or the seas, the waters.  God looked at the man and said, "It's not good."  It's not good that the man should be alone.   And then it is interesting to me that God sent Adam on a little hunt to find, if he could, a completer for himself.  Adam failed in that attempt.  There was no completer for him, and then I think Adam realized that God was the one who had to provide his completion.  God was the one who had to provide that which would complement him.  And then, as we know, God put the man to sleep … Bob: And I don't know this, but I bet he snored like crazy during that nap. Nancy: Probably, probably. Bob: Just guessing on that. Dennis: You think? Bob: I just am guessing he was in a deep sleep and was sawing some mean logs. Nancy: Isn't snoring the result of the Fall? Bob: Well, that's a good question. Dennis: That's a great question.  I'm more certain of this – that when God came walking up with the answer to the question, "Why am I incomplete?"  He woke up at that point, didn't he? Nancy: He did, and the thing that's helpful for us, as women, to understand is that God made us for the man.  So much of the teaching in our generation has been that the woman was is to be independent of the man; that her identity is not to be tied into that of the man.  But as we go back to the manual of life that we have here in God's Word, the manual that tells us how life can best function, we find that God made woman for the man.  He made her from the man.  They are not independent.  They are together created to reflect the image of God.  God gave her to the man as his helper.  God is saying, "The man needs one to help him in this task of exercising dominion over the earth, and the woman is the one that I have made to be able perfectly to help him fulfill that task. Bob: And in Genesis God immediately gives that a context of marriage, but you're saying that even a single woman has been created to be a helper to man? Nancy: Well, as we go into the New Testament, which helps us to understand more of the Old Testament record we get into 1 Corinthians, chapter 11, for example, that tells us that the woman was made for the man.  So obviously that relates to the context of marriage.  But I believe that God made us as women – me as a single woman – to have a role of being a helper, to be a cheerleader, an encourager, one who helps God's men fulfill their role in life. Bob: You know, you can almost hear a woman kind of flinching as you offer that definition, because she is saying, "That's it?  I'm a cheerleader?  I stand on the sidelines while men play the game, and I cheer them on, and I run the water in during the water break, and I pat them on the back, and then I got back to the sidelines and let them play?  That doesn't sound like God to me." Dennis: Yes, and there would be those add their voices, Nancy, who would say isn't being a helper a demeaning term?  Aren't you unnecessarily subjugating me to this sinful, selfish man and, after all, that was before man sinned. Nancy: The New Testament tells us that men and women, husband and wife, are heirs together of the grace of life, and that a man's greatest fulfillment and a woman's greatest fulfillment in life will come through complementing each other, not competing with each other, but being willing to complete each other.  This is not a secondary role – the woman, as much as the man, was created in the image of God.  The woman, as much as the man, is a recipient of the grace of God and, by the way, that means for both sinners in need of the grace of God.   I look at the New Testament record in Matthew, chapter 1, of the genealogy of our Lord Jesus and included in that record are five women, which would have been unusual for a Jewish audience to include women in the genealogical listing – five women each of whom, from the Jewish standpoint, had a strike or a mark against her either because of an immoral background or a foreign background or even, in the case of Mary, the mother of Jesus, having a child without having a husband.   In that passage, I believe God even shows us this pattern that women, like men, are heirs of the grace of life – participants, full participants together in the Gospel and the redemptive plan of God here on this earth. Dennis: Nancy, you're single, and thus you're not a mom, but if you were a mom, and you had three daughters like mine, all of them teenagers.  How would you be purposeful and intentional about developing and rearing a daughter to develop her femininity in relationship to men?  There's a good chance she may be single.   Nancy: You see, whether single or married, I believe God created all of us, as women, to be bearers of life.  Not only physiologically are we designed – men cannot have babies – women are physiologically designed to be able to have babies, but I think that is a picture of a deeper, inner truth that God made us, as women, to be bearers and nurturers of life.  As a single woman, one of my roles and responsibilities in ministry is to give spiritual life, to nurture spiritual life, in the lives of other young women. And you have, Dennis, speaking of your daughters, in your wife, a woman who is a model to those daughters of what it means to be a supporter, an encourager, a cheerleader, and she's modeling for your daughters the blessing of establishing that as a priority – the building of a home. Bob: Boy, that is so key, Dennis, because what Nancy is saying is that before a mom can ever teacher her daughter what it means to be a woman, a mom has to understand and embrace it for herself, model it for her daughters, or the instruction is not going to make any sense.  And we've seen just the opposite occur.  We've seen women in the culture embracing the cultural definition of femininity and wanting to raise daughters who fulfill a more masculine design for life. Dennis: Yes, and as a result of taking on the water of the culture, their own boats are sinking, because they are confused, as women, as to what is a woman, and she can't pass it on to her daughters or to her sons.  And, by the way, I think it's very important that our sons not only know what biblical masculinity is from mothers and fathers, but that they also know what it means to be a woman, as well, so that when they see a woman, they know what a true woman is.  They don't define a woman around the exterior, which, over in 1 Peter, chapter 3, Peter warns a woman about merely placing an emphasis on the exterior.  Our sons need to be discerning about what a true woman is and what a true woman is to become. Nancy: Of course, the whole purpose of Proverbs 31 is that it was written to a king to tell him what qualities he ought to look for in a woman; what were the womanly qualities, the qualities of a woman who fears the Lord – what would she look like and how should he choose a wife? Dennis: I think a key question for every mom and, for that matter, every woman, whether you're single or married or whether you even have children – but put yourself in this position – if your daughter came to you and asked you, "Mommy, what does it mean to be a woman and not a man?"  And, Nancy, I'm going to put that question to you right now – what if you had a daughter, and she asked you that question?  How would you answer her? Nancy: You know, Dennis, since I was a teenage girl, I have searched the Scriptures, the Word of God, and also as I've talked with literally thousands of women around the world, come to see if there are certain qualities, which, when you put them together, form a portrait of God's kind of woman.  We've talked about some of those already – a woman as a helper, as an encourager, as a cheerleader, a woman distinctively in a role as a servant, a servant of God and of God's men.  We've talked about a woman as a nurturer, a mother, a bearer of life.  Scripture talks about a woman as a teacher, a teacher of her children, a teacher of younger women. And then we read in the New Testament that there are specific qualities that God considers precious and beautiful in a woman.  You talked about how it's not just the outward beauty that a woman is to focus on, but 1 Peter 3 speaks of her having the internal beauty and radiance of a spirit that is gentle, it is meek, it is quiet, a spirit that trusts in God.  Scripture talks about a woman as having a submissive spirit, being willing to come under the covering and the protection of God-ordained authority. Scripture talks about a woman who fears the Lord in Proverbs 31, is a woman who will be praised.  So there's the dimension of her personal walk with God.  There are a number of passages in Scripture that speak of women in the role of concerned praying women, and how a culture that has been taken over with secularism needs women who are weeping, burdened, praying women – how we need that in our day.  Scripture talks about a woman as reverencing her husband, honoring him, lifting him up; a woman who loves her husband, loves her children.  In addition, there are numerous passages in Scripture that speak of a woman being modest, chaste, pure in her speech, in her behavior, in her clothing.  Proverbs speaks of the importance of a woman having the quality of discretion.   I think so many of these come back to the fact that God made us, as women, to be responders and to allow the men to be the initiators that God created them to be. Bob: I want to ask you about that, but there are some women who just heard that portrait, that description, and they said to themselves, "Yuck, I don't like that.  That's not who I feel like, I'm not sure that's who I want to be." Dennis: And they are also saying, "I question whether that's the way God made me.  He didn't make me to be a responder." Nancy: Not too long ago, I had the privilege of talking with two different women on the same day who are both dear friends.  The one woman is a young mother who came and expressed to me that she was experiencing some depression, some frustration in her life, there were some issues that were unresolved between herself and her husband.  She was wrestling with the feeling that she did not feel motivated or successful in her role as a mother, so she was wanting to take on a career outside of her family, and she and her husband were wrestling through some of these issues. And she said to me – "What if my husband" – now, she has a godly husband – she said, "What if my husband wants me to be barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen for the rest of my life?"  It wasn't long after that conversation that I had another conversation with another woman who is a dear friend.  She's the wife of a pastor, and I saw, in this woman and older woman who has devoted her life to being a helper, a completer, a responder to her husband.  Her children are now grown, she has taught her children to love their husbands, to love their own children, and I saw in this older woman, a woman who is deeply at peace, who is radiant, who is fulfilled, a woman whose husband is nuts about her, because Proverbs 31 says that a woman who fears the Lord will be praised.  What woman could ask for more than that Proverbs 31 woman has, and that is children who call her blessed, a husband who praises her publicly – this is deep in our hearts, as women, what we desire and what we were made for. Dennis: And, you know, Nancy, as you were going through your list and talking about all this, I thought "How refreshing.  What a clear, refreshing voice in a culture that, again, is trying to define what it means to be a woman without reference to what the Scriptures say."  Every one of these in your list are all biblically based, and what a great portrait to hang in our living rooms for our daughters to attain to and to seek to become. I thought of, as you were talking about being modest, chaste, and pure, how boys are never challenged to be modest, chaste – now they are called to be moral.  They are called to be in control of their own sexual passions, but this is a different set of words than you would use for a boy who is being called to become a man. And a young lady who is growing up, having had this portrait lived out in front of her by her mom and then having had that portrait painted from the Scriptures by both of her parents – think of the contentment, the possibilities of her life and what she can mean to a young man, to a family, to another generation of children.  This is where Christianity becomes uniquely powerful. Bob: And, ultimately, to the woman who sees this portrait and goes, "I don't know that I like it; I'm not sure God made me this way."  The issue is not what she feels like.  The issue is whether she will come under the authority of the Word of God and be the kind of woman that God's Word says He has made women to be. Nancy: I think, equally, a man could look at the portrait of biblical manhood in the Scripture and think, "I don't think God made me for leadership.  I don't think God made me for initiative."  But joy and fulfillment in life come from saying, "Yes, Lord." Dennis: And, you know, there are women listening to this broadcast right now who are not married to godly men, they're not married to a pastor, and yet you can take this portrait that you've painted here, this is still true regardless of whether they are married to a man who is a godly man.  This is still biblical femininity.  This is what God says is the picture of what it means to be a woman, regardless of your circumstances.  There is hope there, isn't there? Nancy: There is, and I don't think that the average woman has ever begun to fathom the extent of the influence that her life, when she surrenders to the Lordship of Christ and His design, the influence that her life will have on her husband and on other men around her.  We, as women, have profound influence on the attitudes, the values, the lifestyles of the men around us whether or not we choose to embrace God's pattern for our lives. Dennis: And, Nancy, hanging in the gallery of my own heart is the picture of my mom who, although she didn't have – well, the resources that we've had today and the great teachers like you are, to be able to instruct her about what it meant to be a woman, she did get in the Scriptures, and she was a helper, a cheerleader, a nurturer, a bearer of life.  She was modest and chaste and was a woman who feared the Lord and had a meek and quiet spirit, teachable, and was profoundly influential – just exactly what you are talking about. Bob: But, you know, if we had called your mom back before she went home to be with the Lord, and we had said to her, "Do you think you're an influential woman?"  She would have laughed at that idea, and I think there are a lot of women who hear us talk about these ideas, and they look at their own lives, and they say, "I'm not influencing – okay, maybe I'm having some influence on my children, but I don't feel like a woman of influence.  I don't feel like I'm making a big difference in anybody's life."  And that's an issue, Nancy, that you've addressed in the book that you wrote called "Lies Women Believe," which has gone on to be a bestselling book.   And you've also addressed it in the new book that you and Dana Gresh have written together called "Lies Young Women Believe," because, as you've noted many times, Dennis, there are a lot of young women who are growing up, not with an eye toward home, but with an eye toward the marketplace as the center of influence for our culture.  We've got copies of the books that Nancy has written in our FamilyLife Resource Center, including the booklet called  "A Biblical Portrait of Womanhood" that addresses many of the themes we're talking about this week.  You can go to our website, which is FamilyLife.com and if you click the right side of the screen where it says "Today's Broadcast," you can get more information about the resources that Nancy has written and if you have not read "Lies Women Believe," let me encourage you to get a copy of that book and read through it.  Again, the website is FamilyLife.com, and you need to click on the right side of the screen on the home page where it says "Today's Broadcast."   And there is also information available there about the upcoming conference in Chicago, the True Woman '08 conference.  It's October 8th through the 11th, and it's a national conference.  Women from all over the country are going to be coming in to hear a great variety of speakers including Joni Eareckson Tada, Pastor John Piper, Nancy is going to be speaking, your wife, Barbara, is going to be speaking, Dennis, and Keith and Kristyn Getty are going to be there to help lead the worship.  It's going to be a wonderful two-and-a-half-day event, and if our listeners are interested, they can find out more on our website at FamilyLife.com, and they can register by clicking through to the True Woman website. Or if it's easier for you to get more information or request these resources by calling us, the toll-free number is 1-800-FLTODAY, that's 1-800-358-6329, 1-800-F-as-in-family, L-as-in-life, and then the word TODAY.  While women are wrestling with this subject of what it means to be a woman according to the Scriptures, men have been wrestling for some time with the same thing from our perspective – what does it mean to be a man, to be God's man?  And our friend, Pastor Stu Weber, who is a former Army Ranger and a Green Beret has a wonderful message on this subject that we are making available to listeners this month. When you support the ministry of FamilyLife Today with a donation of any amount, it's a message called "Applied Masculinity," and you can request a copy when you make a donation either online or by calling 1-800-FLTODAY.  Because FamilyLife Today is listener-supported, those donations are essential for us to continue on this station and on other stations across the country.   If you are making your donation online, you will come to a keycode box on the donation form, and you will need to type the word "Stu" in there, s-t-u, so that we can send you a copy of this CD, or you can call 1-800-FLTODAY, make a donation over the phone and just mention that you'd like a copy of the Stu Weber CD.  We're happy to send it out to you as our way of saying thank you for your financial support of the ministry of FamilyLife Today. Well, tomorrow Nancy Leigh DeMoss is going to be back with us.  We're going to continue to look at what it means to be a woman according to the Scriptures.  I hope you can be with us as well. I want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, and our entire broadcast production team.  On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I'm Bob Lepine.  We'll see you next time for another edition of FamilyLife Today.  FamilyLife Today is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas – help for today; hope for tomorrow.  ____________________________________________________________We are so happy to provide these transcripts for you. However, there is a cost to transcribe, create, and produce them for our website. If you've benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider donating today to help defray the costs?Copyright © FamilyLife. All rights reserved. www.FamilyLife.com 

Extraordinary Message, Ordinary Messengers Luke 2:8-21 Exegetical Main Point: God continues to choose to celebrate (announce) the coming of the kingdom with lowly shepherds of Bethlehem. Even more, they became some of the first messengers of the Good News of Christ’s salvation. Main Point of the Sermon: God chose ordinary messengers to proclaim his extraordinary message. Me: My parents didn’t grow up in Gospel centered homes. It was the grace of God that led faithful disciple-makers into their lives who would lead them to a saving knowledge of Jesus. For my father, it was young man in the Navy by the name of Gene, and for my mother it was local family, the Ledford’s, who welcomed their neighbor, an only child, into their home to be with their big family and to hear and see the Gospel of Jesus. This is why I grew up hearing the Gospel, because ordinary people shared Christ with my parents. I am indebted to my parents and to those families who shared with my parents. Each of you could share similar stories. This is how the Kingdom spreads, through ordinary messengers who have heard and seen the Good News of Jesus. Sometimes I forget how amazing this is. I could have been born into a very different family, maybe one that rejected the Gospel for a materialistic worldview. Or I could have been born in a village or country that doesn’t allow God’s Word to be printed or distributed; Even worse, I could have grown up in a place where I spoke a language that the Bible had not yet been translated to, that missionaries had never come to. There are still many people groups like these. Sometimes I forget that this message is not one that everyone knows. I’ve even had people right outside this building tell me that they have never had someone share the Gospel with them before. The Gospel of Jesus is humanity’s greatest need, and so many around us and far from us don’t know it, so I ask myself why do I have to constantly be reminded to share this Good News with others? It should be on the tip of my tongue daily! We: Why does our enthusiasm for sharing the Gospel so easily fade? Do any of you relate to this? Do you remember what it was like when you first believed? You almost can’t contain the news. You want to share with everyone! The least knowledgeable are sometimes the most vocal! Was that you? What happened? What has quenched our joy over this message? Is there something more important to us than this message? What’s it going to take rekindle that joy in sharing the Gospel? Well, a couple weeks back I preached a message titled “Hearts that Praise”, emphasizing that people who have small praise are people that have a small view of God. A fresh vision of God and self will cause us to worship greatly. This week’s text captures a similar theme, but goes a step further. When the shepherds of Bethlehem heard the extraordinary message about Jesus they were driven to share the Good News with others. Let’s get into the text to see the what motivated their joy-filled proclamation. My prayer is that our joy in sharing this message will be rekindled. Here’s where we are going today: 8-9 Extraordinary Celebration 10-16 Extraordinary Message 17-21 Ordinary Messengers Main Point:God chose ordinary messengers to proclaim his extraordinary message. 8-10 Extraordinary Celebration Context: Last week we heard that after Mary had given birth to Jesus, she laid him in a manger, a feeding trough, showing the absurd humility of our God. It was the greed of Caesar calling for a census that lead Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, the city of their ancestors. Far from home and family, surely exhausted from giving birth, young teenage Mary and her newlywed husband, Joseph, sheltered and rested looking at their first-born son – promised to be King, but lying in a manger. Feelings of joy and wonder mixed with pain and discomfort would have surely filled their hearts. In verse 8 Luke tells us that it was in the fields near Bethlehem at night when an extraordinary celebration erupted. We’re not told how much time passed since the birth, but the flow of the narrative would suggest that it was not too long. It would have been quiet and slow, as they awaited the dawn of day, keeping watch for wild beasts and thieves. Just imagine that moment, all was still as they gazed at the stars, perhaps sitting around a fire, only the sounds of crickets, crackling wood, and bleating sheep. What an accurate picture of the whole world, completely unaware of the significance of the moments that had just passed – an event that the Scriptures describe as the fullness of time. All of human history was leading to this moment, the birth of the Messiah, but nobody knew. The royal family of the United Kingdom cannot escape paparazzi who want any glimpse they can get of the royal children and family. But the King of the whole world was born while the world slept. God had just entered human history. The world would never be the same. But lest we mistake this lowly birth as a lowly event, God threw an extraordinary celebration with some ordinary people and had it recorded so that we could marvel together! Verse 9 tells us that into the darkness and silence, “an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. An angel appeared before the shepherds and blinding light mimicking the sun, risen in an instant, shone around them; they were terrified! (I would have been too). This description and response of fear is typical when God comes near to humans in Scripture (cf. think Jesus’s transfiguration; Paul’s encounter on the road to Damascus). Angel means “sent one”. Angels are created beings, God’s messengers and servants who stand in his presence. They are the closest beings to God in heaven and so when come near, God’s blazing glory lingers on them, shines around them. Though the shepherds had every reason to fear, verse 10 tells us that “the angel said to them, “Fear not.” This response is so comforting to me.Since the fall of man, angels with flaming swords were placed between God and men invoking holy and reverent fear, but God’s mercy moves him towards humans not to destroy them, but to offer comfort. Even more, to offer Good News! In verse 10 the angel says, “behold – “look or see”, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people”. In other words, I’m not here to hurt you; I’m not here to bring God’s wrath, Shepherds, but to tell you God’s “GOOD news”, a message that will bring great joy! Just imagine, God chose to celebrate the birth of Jesus not with kings and famous people, not with the holiest priests and teachers, but with the lowliest of the lowly. Just as he choose a poor peasant teenage girl to mother the Son of God, in a nowhere place like Nazareth, God chose to make the news of Christ’s birth known first to some grungy blue collar workers in the fields of Bethlehem. And this will be typical of Jesus’s ministry. Even when he raises from death the first to know of his resurrection are women, who were considered some of the lowest on the social totem pole. God didn’t come to the high places first because then the lowly and poor would be overlooked. He stooped to the low so that all peoplewould hear and God’s wisdom would be shown. Do you see the compassion and humility of our God? He knows even you? Behold our God and the Good News he brings to you today! But the celebration was not over. Let’s look at verse 11-16 to hear the extraordinary message. 11-16 Extraordinary Message 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Remember that word “for” can be translated because. Why is this message Good News of great joy stirring such a celebration? Because a savior is born, who is Christ the Lord! Notice that the angel doesn’t call the city Bethlehem, but “the city of David. He is making a point that this is the long-awaited son of David, the Christ, which is the Greek form of the Hebrew word Messiah. He is the Lord who would reign forever and ever. The Messiah was born! This is extraordinary itself, but it was even more extraordinary because of the way in which he was born! Look at verse 12: 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” The Messiah, the one expected to wipe out their enemies and bring prosperity and peace once again to Israel like in the days of King David and Solomon, would be found wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. What?! The paradox of verses 11 and 12 should cause us to worship our God in awe. The Son of God, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords having his beginning in a feeding trough far from home – literally and figuratively. This was Immanuel, God with us, the Word made flesh, come to show us God’s nature. This should cause us to marvel and worship our God for his humility! Indeed, it caused all of heaven to worship. Luke records in verse 13 that “suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God…” The one angel and the glory of God shining around them wasn’t enough of a celebration for this news! Luke records what they sang in verse 14. It required a concert of joy! They said, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.” This song is packed with meaning. It shows us that the Good News of Jesus has two primary effects: 1) it brings glory to God, 2) it brings peace to man. In the coming of the Son of God, God’s glory is revealed in that we see his gracious character, his humility, his love, poured out in this amazing birth. But God’s glory is displayed most fully in the peace that he would bring to earth. The sin-scarred world, sin-scarred mankind has long endured the effects of the fall of man, but Jesus came to recreate us, to reconcile us to God, that is to restore the peace that he had with man in the garden of Eden. But he is not only interested in restoring his relationship with you. He wants to restore peace to your own heart. When humans find peace with God, they are surprised to find so many other things falling into place. They aren’t anxious in the same ways, they don’t grumble in the same ways, they have power to fight sin. Though this all comes in an ongoing process called sanctification, this is the peace that Christ came to bring you. He also came to bring peace to your relationships – so that slander and fighting will cease, so that forgiveness can reign because of how much we have been forgiven. And he will finally even bring peace to our relationship with all of creation. The ground will no longer be cursed and we will no longer fear the beasts of the field. His rule on earth is described this way in Isaiah: “Of the increase of his government and of peacethere will be no end (Isaiah 9:7).” The birth of this Savior would truly make all thingsnew. Pastor John Piper comments on the angel’s song, “There is hardly a better way to sum up what God was about when he created the world, or [what he was about] when he came to reclaim the world in Jesus Christ—his glory, our peace. His greatness, our joy. His beauty, our pleasure. The point of creation and redemption is that God is glorious and means to be known and praised for his glory by a peace-filled new humanity.[1] But it’s important to notice in verse 14b that God’s peace doesn’t come to everyone, but only to those “with whom he is pleased.” But Daniel, didn’t the angel just say that this message is for all the people? Yes, the Gospel of peace is available for all, but will only bring peace to the one God favors. Who does God show favor to? He shows favor to those who believe in Jesus. How do you know if God’s favor is on you – if you receive Jesus as Lord. If you are here today and have not surrendered to Jesus as Lord, Oh how I pray that you would turn to him and find peace today. If you read this line “with those whom he is pleased” and think, you’re excluded because of your sin, you are mistaken. The shepherds probably weren’t the holiest men, but God offered even these lowly shepherds his peace. Their job was difficult. The wicked rulers over Israel made it even worse. The burdens they carried daily probably added greater temptation towards a life of vice, but God came to even them. Christianity is the most inclusive faith in the world, the most tolerant – inviting anyone and everyone, no matter how great your sins, to come and find peace with God. But it is also exclusive in that the saving benefits of the Gospel only belong to those who believe in Jesus who died for sins and follow him. This is the extraordinary message that compelled the Shepherds to share. Verse 15 tells us that after the heavenly celebration, the angels departed and things went back to normal. They once again heard the bleating sheep, the crickets, and maybe the heavy breathing of one another at this point. I imagine wide eyes and speechlessness, but then someone spoke up, saying, “let’s go to Bethlehem and see for ourselves!” Luke, capturing this story perhaps from the shepherds themselves, tells us in verse 16 that they rushed to see what had happened and they “found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger.” Having heard the celebration of the angels and their extraordinary message, the ordinary shepherds became God’s messengers. 17-21 Ordinary Messengers 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. This is absolutely amazing! Some of the first people to get to see the Messiah after he was born were shepherds! Even more they were maybe the first messengers of the Gospel of Jesus. When they saw it, they couldn’t help but speak, just like many of us when we first believe. They told everyone around them what the angels had told them about the child. This baffles me. It makes sense that God would send angels to share this news, but it makes a lot less sense that he would use these lowly shepherds to be his messengers. But then I consider the message of Christmas – God becoming man and lying in a manger. Then I think, who better than ordinary, broken, sinful men to carry this message? This is what makes the message so extraordinary, this is what makes God so glorious, not that any of us are worthy of benefiting from Christ’s life, not that any of us are worthy of carrying this glorious Gospel, but that in him we would become just the vessels that he wants to carry his treasure. In his humiliation we find our exaltation. In his death, we find life. Paul explains this truth: 17 If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and…committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. 2 Cor. 5:17-20 God gets the glory here, doesn’t he? He gets the glory by making sinful shepherds into missionaries of the Gospel through Christ. He gets the glory when he makes the arrogant Pastor’s kid, Daniel Simmons, into a messenger of his Kingdom! I imagine God the Father was so pleased as he watched these lowly men so excitedly share what they had heard and seen about Jesus, the Messiah. They couldn’t help but share it. Let me ask you, is this true of you this Christmas? Does this story about Jesus land on your ears and cause you to go back to work and life the same, or has this message of Jesus moved you in such a way that you can’t help but open your mouth and talk about it? What’s your response? Verse 18 shows us three different responses to the message. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. Notice the contrast that Luke sets up here between the average listeners and Mary with the conjunction “but”. Everyone wondered, but Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. The message had a deeper effect on Mary than on everyone else. This is not a throwaway statement for Luke. Luke is not talking about fuzzy feelings here, but is teaching a profound truth about how Christ’s Kingdom would spread on earth. The life and message of Christ the King would cause varying reactions, and that those reactions would reveal the thoughts of people’s hearts, even Mary’s. His Kingdom would spread in the hearts of those who received him. 1) The crowds wondered, 2) Mary treasured these things in her heart, and Luke tells us in verse 20 that“the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen… Their lives would never be the same. They worshipped God for all they had heard and seen! The Kingdom was advancing in their hearts. Pastor John Piper famously said, “Missions exists because worship doesn’t.” We spread this message today so that God would be praised for his great grace and wisdom. And this, church, is what I want to happen right now. My prayer is that as we see and hear this good news that heart worship will abound in us and that it would compel us to share the Good News like it did at first. Jesus’s small beginning shows God’s humility, but he didn’t stay there. Christ is not a baby in a manger any more! He conquered Satan, sin, and death and he is risen and reigning seated at the right hand of God as he builds his Church. His Kingdom has spread and will spread to the entire world by ordinary people like you and me, who have shared what they have seen and heard about Jesus. Shepherds; fishermen; prisoners like Philemon, murderers like Paul, Gentiles like Cornelius, tentmakers like Pricilla and Aquila… and on and on down to you and me. Many have died proclaiming this message because there is no greater treasure and no greater reward for those who follow Jesus by losing their life for his sake and the Gospel. You: So, what’s your response? Does the Gospel of Jesus produce joyful worship and witness? Unbelievers:This Jesus went to a cross, dying the death you deserved so that you might find peace. He is alive and is through me calling you to repent of your sin. Today is the day of salvation. Be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and join this family. Believers: Do you take joy in the fact that God chose to use ordinary people like you to advance his Kingdom? If you still feel intimidated with trying to share your faith, take heart. You are not alone in this! When Jesus was about to ascend in to heaven, Jesus said to his disciples, 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Church, you have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to be witnesses of Christ. Christ is in you. He is with you. Even more, he doesn’t leave us alone, but he has saved us into the church, his body, so that we can together take the message to the ends of the earth. If you want your co-workers, your childhood friends, your roommates, your neighbors, even strangers in the world to know Jesus, in the power of the Spirit and with the support and prayer of this church, I urge you share the good news! It doesn’t have to be eloquent and perfectly trained. The shepherds weren’t! You are simply called to witness what you have seen and heard about Jesus. Let me share a story I heard a few years back about a poor crippled girl in Africa who was used by God mightily. This young disabled child had little to her name, and little to offer the world, but she owned a corn-stalk doll. If you saw this little girl you would find her with her doll. In this little girl’s village church, the leaders began making calls to the people to give what they could to travel to the distant villages to share the Gospel with people who had never heard. Week after week the request came, and baskets would be passed, but only a few small coins were given. Everyone was too poor to give. Until one day, the doll showed up in the offering. When the people saw the doll they were all moved to tears and begin weeping. Before long, one man in the church shouted out, “I can give a goat.” Another said, “I’ll sell some of my chickens,” and another, “I will donate some of my crops” until there was more than enough money to provide for some of the church members to take the message to the unreached. What do you have to offer? If you have found peace in Jesus and experienced his great love, you have everything you need to be an effective witness of this Gospel. Our nation needs revival – we need a re-evangelizing of our nation. It cannot be accomplished by professionals - the seminary grads and pastors! No, we need every man and woman, boy and girl. No one in this room is too young, too immature, too theologically illiterate to talk about the peace that Jesus has brought to your soul. We all need to get on board. Will you come with me? I want to challenge you today to write down one person on your phone or notebook that you will begin praying for daily and seeking opportunity to share the Gospel with them. And share this with your DNA and spouse. Maybe that’s a co-worker, or maybe an extended relative you will see over the holidays. It could be anyone. Imagine the worship that would happen in this place if even half of us got to see this person come to the Lord and join our family in 2020! There is no greater task than to be God’s mouthpiece of a saving message! That is who you are. Remember the shepherds. Let’s say that together, “remember the shepherds.” God chose ordinary messengers to proclaim his extraordinary message. We will be spending time in our prayer meeting tonight to pray for the lost and to pray for vision for reaching our city. Would you please come? Let’s pray as I invite the worship team. [1]Piper, J. (2014). Sermons from John Piper (2000–2014). Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God.

Today we study Romans 8:12-13 using my S.H.A.P.E. Study method. Resources: •Psalm 54 •Genesis 6:9-22 •Luke 2:22-38 •New City Catechism Question 50 • “Sin Will Kill You” & “Put Sin To Death” Look At The Book Bible Study Series by Pastor John Piper (https://www.desiringgod.org/series/the-greatest-chapter/labs) •PROFESSOR HORNER’S BIBLE READING PLAN (https://www.challies.com/christian-living/ten-chapters-per-day/) --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/al-washburn/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/al-washburn/support

Join Matt Brown and Jon Bloom for a discussion on finding God's calling on your life. You will get to hear the story of how Jon helped Pastor John Piper build the global ministry of Desiring God - a ministry aiming to help people everywhere embrace a profound truth that changes everything about life and eternity: You were created for something greater than yourself. You were formed for something awesome and magnificent.Interviewer: Matt BrownInterviewee: Jon BloomProducer: Scott KarowExecutive Producer: Casey HelmickMusic: Mikey Geiger (SoundStripe)For more information about Think Eternity visit Thinke.org.

In this sermon from September 1995, Pastor John Piper preaches from Ephesians 4 about the value of small groups and every-member ministry in the life of a church.

Purity For Life is back! It's been a little while, but we've got some fresh new content for you this week. First up, it's our featured topic: "Why God Can't Keep Us Pure" where we explore what purity really is and what it isn't. Next up is a brand new purity tip you'll really benefit from and finally in our Guest Voice segment, we hear from Pastor John Piper on "Why You Give in to Sexual Sin". Some really eye-opening thoughts to consider! Enjoy the podcast! For more information about this podcast & other great content, visit pflhome.com. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/puregold/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/puregold/support

Welcome everyone to episode 204 of the Everyone’s Agnostic podcast. I’m Cass Midgley. Today, Dr. Bob Pondillo  I interview Raymond Gilford. Raymond Gilford was born in Austin, Texas and lived there until age 11 when he moved with his parents to Fallbrook, California in 1974 at age 11. His grandfather was a Baptist preacher but his parents didn't force it on him as a child. Like some of us who took Christianity more serious than our parents, Raymond converted to Christianity in 1983 as a college sophomore and stayed in the faith for over thirty years, studying Greek and Hebrew and teaching Sunday School. But it was Christianity that oversold itself and Raymond slowly saw through its preposterous claims. Today he works as a proofreader and copy editor in Austin, Texas. We taped this conversation on May 6th, 2018. We interview people you don’t know, about a subject no one wants to talk about. We hope to encourage people in the process of deconstructing their faith and help curb the loneliness that accompanies it. We think the world is a better place when more people live by sight, not by faith. Please subscribe to our podcast, and leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Also, we offer these podcasts freely. And your support truly makes a difference. You can support us monetarily in two easy ways: you can pledge a monthly donation through Patreon. that’s www.patreon.com/eapodcast,  or leave a lump-sum donation through PayPal at our website, www.everyonesagnostic.com. Credits: "Towering Mountain of Ignorance" intro by Hank Green https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3v3S82TuxU  The music behind it is "Never Know" by Jack JohnsonThe segue music on this episode is "Release It" by Afro Celt Sound System, one of Raymond's favorite bands. Thanks for listening, and be a yes-sayer to what is. Blog:  www.galacticwanderlust.comDesign site:  raymondgilford.com For Raymond, the beginning of wisdom wasn’t faith, or the fear of God. It was concrete thinking. Growing up, and for just about all his life he’s looked for the world to make sense, and he’s been disappointed when it hasn’t, perhaps this is why he looked for a source of justice or purpose in the universe. Like pretty much everyone he just wanted to get paid. He wanted to get laid. And he always found the church to be a frustrating mesh through which he was expected to filter his desires. In this conversation, we hear that Raymond always had a problem with the concept of Jesus dying for his sins. He couldn't square that with the logic and reason that plagued his intelligent mind. Eventually that square peg just couldn't be forced into the round hole, the alleged god-shaped-hole in his heart and he walked away. I want to do something here that may be triggering for some of you. I typed into the search of YouTube "the best presentation of the gospel" and the first one to come up was John Piper. Now, when I was a Christian, I loved me some John Piper. I had cassette tapes of John Piper. Piper is a brilliant man. Which is good because I want the gospel to be represented by the best in this little experiement. The second video to come up was Matt Chandler, the third was Ravi Zacharias; both of whom are smart, well-versed preachers. Chandlers was a little too emotional; Ravi's was too cerebral. Piper's is good blend of both. So I"m going to play a 4 minute presentation of the gospel by John Piper, followed by a 4 minute refute of the gospel by Christopher Hitchens. Hitch is so dear to my heart. Hitch is truly one of the top 5 heroes on my lifelong list of heroes. And Piper used to be. But I wanted to show the juxtaposition that Raymond faced, then tension he experienced for 30 years.  Here it is: first John Piper, then Christopher Hitchens. So that was Pastor John Piper, certainly not a spokesman for all the hundreds of Christianities but he's one of their big shots, especially with a Calvinistic leaning. Up next is a man I hold very dear to my heart and miss him greatly, Christopher Hitchens with a critique of the Christian gospel.   Many of us hung onto the gospel that didn't make sense to a deeply hidden part of us. Why? Because of the community. I think that's foremost over the fear of Hell. Deep down, we didn't believe in Hell because we couldn't fathom it. Nobody believes in Hell. No one can fathom eternal anything, let alone eternal suffering. Our brains just can't go there. What we do believe in...what we do understand is the friends and community that we experience right in front of us, each week. The third reason we clung to an absurd, even immoral gospel, was probably our deep need for the world to make sense, for our fear of death and meaninglessness to be silenced by a master narrative that gave us the peace we so desperately craved. And so here we find ourselves. Especially those of us who walked right into Christianity before our adult minds could scrutinize it. It latched onto us until, as awakening adults, we scraped it out of our bones with knives and chisels. And began our pilgrimage back to our lost self, rebuilt our personal agency, said yes to our reality and what it means to be ourselves and carved out a path forward to find an honest  meaning to our existence and a morality that came from within shaped by our values we forged from our own hearts. This is what Raymond did...and is doing. It's a life's work, really, and many of us are hard at it. But we've found that there's freedom and joy and strength--true strength--in ourselves. A strength that Piper denied existed and said, out loud mind you, couched in the presentation of good news that we would never, never, never, outgrow the need to preach to ourselves our wretchedness apart from Christ's redemptive work on the cross to vicariously make us loveable to a supposedly loving god.  In a moment where one of Christianity's best is presenting Christianity's best news and the point he drove home the hardest and raised his voice the most was when he chose to emphasize the absolute hopeless impotence of being a human being, never out from under the need of a savior, day in and day out for eternity. No thank you. As one who devoted my life to Christianity, the first 40 years, and now on the outside, no promise of eternal bliss or threat of eternal torture would move me to give up my hard earned self-love, my acceptance of reality, and the restoration of my personal agency. Like our guest Raymond, I wanted Christianity to be true but in the end it just didn't hold water or even pass the laugh test. Now we're free, empowered, responsible, back on a path of maturation, and happy as one might be in a meaningless universe.

Ep 68: The "Is There a Place for Female Professors at Seminary?" Edition — 01.30.18 This week the WTD Crew - Ashley, Elijah, and Ryan - look at a blog post by Pastor John Piper asking the question, is it biblical for a woman to teach at a seminary. The Crew breaks down the concepts of egalitarian and complimentarian while discussing Piper’s views. Can patriarchy be divorced from complimentarian systems of interpretation? Does egalitarianism free itself of patriarchal confines? Ashley, Elijah, and Ryan attempt to unravel some of these concepts as well as discuss their own personal positions. #ThisIsUs #FritzIsBack #Complimentarian #Egalitarian #WomenAtSeminary #WhatDidYouJustSay #ComeThroughLadies #Blackin2018 Show notes: I Am Not Your Negro (free until 1/31/18) - http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/videos/i-am-not-your-negro/ Sojourner Truth - Ain’t I A Woman? - https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/sojtruth-woman.asp Running Into the Sun (Album) - http://www.stbeautyband.com ———————————— If you wanna get at us (and we know you do) you got options: Email: wetalkdifferentteam@gmail.com Facebook: facebook.com/wetalkdifferent Twitter: twitter.com/wetalkdifferent Instagram: instagram.com/wetalkdifferent/ Website: wetalkdifferent.com You can subscribe to the podcast in iTunes, SoundCloud, or Stitcher so you'll never miss an episode! Please leave a review on iTunes as it helps other people find our podcast. iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wetalkdifferent/id1161601126 SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/wetalkdifferent Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/wetalkdifferent Also please join our Facebook group to discuss the episodes with the WTD team and other WTDers —  https://www.facebook.com/groups/wetalkdifferent/

Parenting at it’s most basic level is guiding the next generation to love what God loves. Pastor John Piper has built his ministry around the transformative idea that God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him. Scott Anderson, CEO of Piper’s Desiring God Ministries, inspires parents in the practical ways to desire God and make one’s greatest love, ambition and satisfaction be in Jesus – not easy to do in a world that is constantly offering alternatives. We are joined in the studio with David Goodwin, president of the Association of Classical and Christian Schools, a frequent guest on the show. We invite you to listen in...

Chuck Swindoll once wrote, “I know of no other single practice in the Christian life more rewarding, practically speaking, than memorizing Scripture…No other single exercise pays greater spiritual dividends!” In this episode, host Jerrad Lopes walks us through the practice of memorizing scripture as a foundation of spiritual life and loving scripture to the point that it is written on our hearts. He also shares with listeners a portion of a sermon by Pastor John Piper as he recites scripture from memory. Commentary is good but nothing beats the word of God!! Host: Jerrad Lopes Mentioned during the episode: · Man cold – It’s a real thing! · John Piper – Pastor, teacher and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary Scripture references: · 2 Timothy 3:16 – “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,” Connect with Dad Tired: · To subscribe on iOS, go to our iTunes page and subscribe. · Leave an iTunes review, this lets us and others know what you think and increases the chance that other dads will find us. · Like and Follow Dad Tired on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for updates. · Join our Dad Tired closed Facebook group for men who are trying to figure out how to be better disciples, husbands, fathers, and men.

Pastor John Piper recently responded to a question about the future of 'male headship.' In this episode, Nick and Allison are joined by Dr. Jamin Hübner and they respond to Pastor John's comments, showing that Scirpture not only supports women in ministry, but that Pastor Piper is deeply mistaken. Plus, Allison does not drink any beer!

Pastor John Piper preaches at Passion's "One Day" in 2000 on making the cross of Christ our only boast.

Pastor Brian shares with us two indicators that the Bible recognizes a baby in the womb as a person. (sermon outline from Pastor John Piper's sermon, The Baby in My Womb Leaped for Joy)

Pastor John Piper gives the fourth of four lectures on the nature and ministry of elders according to Scripture (May 1999).

Pastor John Piper gives the third of four lectures on the nature and ministry of elders according to Scripture (May 1999).

Pastor John Piper gives the second of four lectures on the nature and ministry of elders according to Scripture (May 1999).

Pastor John Piper gives the first of four lectures on the nature and ministry of elders according to Scripture (May 1999).

Today I’m in the room with Barnabas Piper. He’s a prolific blogger at both The Blazing Center and BarnabasPiper.com and he also writes for World Magazine. Most recently, he’s written his first book called “The Pastor’s Kid.” If you don’t know, Barnabas is the son of one of the most influential pastors of our generation, Pastor John Piper.In our conversation, we discuss what makes being a pastor’s kid uniquely difficult, some keys to creating a home and church culture where PKs can thrive, and 7 Rules for when you meet a pastor’s kid.Buy The Pastor’s Kid on Amazon rdmptn.org/PastorsKid.Connect with Barnabas on his BLOG (barnabaspiper.com) and TWITTER (twitter.com/barnabaspiper).

Book reviews of No One Sees God, the Dark Night of Atheists and Believers, by Michael Novak, Developing the Leaders Around Youl, by John Maxwell, A Lasting Promise: A Christian Guide to Fighting for Your Marriage, by Scott M. Stanley, Daniel Trathen, Savanna McCain, interview with Brad Ost, and Milt Bryan, When Worlds Collide segment featuring Leo Laporte and Twit talking about Pastor John Piper, movie reviews of Invictus and Toy Story 3, and two Bible readings.

sermon transcript Introduction Good morning. Why don't you take your Bibles and open to Genesis Chapter 12. This morning with God's help, we are going to finish our series in Genesis. There are 50 some odd chapters in Genesis, we are not going to ignore them, but maybe at some point as the Lord provides, we will come back to them. After this week, we are going to look at some sermons in Isaiah in preparation for Christmas, and then we will go in a different direction in the new year. We have learned a great deal haven't we, in studying through these first 12 chapters of Genesis. I think if I went through them again, I might do them differently. There are so many themes, there are so many rich themes that are in Genesis 12, but today we are going to look at the ancient origin of modern missions in the call of Abram. The Eternal Gospel: The Knowledge of God to the Ends of the Earth God’s Timeless Plan The eternal gospel, which is the knowledge of God to the ends of the earth, has been God's eternal plan. This is not something that He cooked up at the last minute, it is not something that he thought about under the pressure of the moment, it is something that he had worked out before the foundation of the world. He knew exactly what he would do, and God's methods have always been to call single individuals, simple people to obedience, the obedience that comes from faith, and then out of that single life to do great things. That is what he does with Abram, who is called in Romans our father in faith. Now, there is in our modern culture somewhat of a hostility toward missions, isn't there? A sense in which it is somewhat like cultural imperialism, we feel that we have all the answers and we have got to go to those poor people and bring them into our way of thinking. It is not that way at all. The eternal gospel was committed to us, we are stewards of that gospel and we are seeking to pass it on under His command. And so, the command to go to the ends of the earth is not something that we cooked up and it brings no glory to ourselves, but only glory to the name of Jesus Christ. I have been praying for this sermon all week and it is my prayer that there is a group of people here, I don't know who they are but God knows, who are going to be changed by what I have to say today. I feel that God may change your whole life. In fact, you might have come in here, you think you were going to do X, Y and Z with your life, and as a result of what you hear in the word today, everything changes. That is my prayer because I am laying my cards right out on the table, that is my intention and my prayer, I want something to change. There is a fork in the road and after hearing the sermon today, this was it. It happened to me. I heard a message from the Lord and my life changed. That is my desire for you. I would like you to be like Abraham and follow in the footsteps of his faith. The root of modern missions is the eternal gospel, which proclaims salvation in the name of the eternal one, and we are going to see the root of that in Genesis 12, 1 through 9. Let's look at these verses together. God’s Call on Abram Beginning at Verse 1, "The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.’ So Abram left, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there. Abram traveled through the land as far as the sight of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. The Lord appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your offspring I will give this land.’ So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him. From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev." The Context In order to understand these verses, these nine verses, we have to set it in context. And what is the context? The first context to understand is who it is that called Abram. It is the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth that called him. This is a good time for us to understand that context. Listen to the words of John Stott, "The Lord who chose and called Abraham is the same Lord who, in the beginning, created the heavens and the earth and who climaxed his creative work by making man and woman unique creatures in his own likeness. In other words, we should never allow ourselves to forget that the Bible begins with the universe, not with the planet earth; then with the earth, not with Palestine; then with Adam the father of the human race, not with Abraham the father of the chosen race. Since, then, God is the creator of the universe, the earth and all mankind, we must never demote him to the status of a tribal deity or a petty godling like Chemosh the god of the Moabites (or Molech) the god of the Ammonites, or Baal the male deity; or Ashtoreth the female deity, of the Canaanites. Nor must we suppose that God chose Abraham and his descendants because he had lost interest in other people or had given them up. Election is not a synonym for elitism. On the contrary, God chose one man and his family in order, through them, to bless all the families of the earth.” That was God’s intention. Our faith is a universal faith, committed to us by the Creator of the ends of the earth, which we understood from the very beginning of the book, Genesis Chapter 1. And so, we come to the biblical context, and this is a good chance for us to look back over what we've learned over the last 11 weeks. In Genesis 1, God created the heavens and the earth. This is the first great act of God's sovereign rule. He is the creator of the ends of the earth, and then the rest of the Bible reveals Him in His second capacity, the redeemer of the human race. God the creator, God the redeemer, one of them done in seven days to His glory, the rest worked out through human history, every step of human history for a certain purpose. Everything right on schedule to the praise of God, isn't that great? And so, God has been working out His plan, and we saw his plan, it was not changed or marred or affected by the fall of man in Genesis 3, however tragic that was, the fall of man brought in sin and with sin came death. But in the prophecy that God had given to Eve, that her seed, namely Jesus Christ would crush the serpent's head, we had the first glimmer of God as redeemer, and we have in our passage here the second clear word of the redemption of the world. In this case, that the serpent slayer that we have been waiting for all these chapters is going to be a descendant of Abraham, he's going to be what we call Jewish. In Chapters 4 through 11 in Genesis, we have just seen the devastation of sin, we saw Cain killing his brother, Abel, and we saw the development of cities that were in wickedness against God, we saw the calling out of that elect line in Genesis 5, and then the wickedness of the earth having spread to such a point that every thought and every imagination of human hearts, all the time was only evil. And so, the flood came and yet God chose one family, Noah, his three sons and their wives, and saved the human race through that one family, and not only them, but the animals that breathed there through their nostrils, the flood of Noah. God purified the world, and when Noah came out of that ark, God gave him the exact same command that had been given to Adam. And what was that command? Fill the earth, subdue it, rule over it. And why? For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Now, back at creation, as I've told you, the earth was already filled with the glory of the Lord, but not the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. God scattered the nations at the Tower of Babel, as you'll remember, sent them to the places he had assigned for them, they didn't want to go, did they? That is why they built the tower, that is why they built the city. God spread them all over the surface of the earth, and in Acts 17, Verse 26, Paul tells us that they went to the places that God had assigned for them and lived in the way that God had assigned for them. He knew that after the time of Christ, he would be sending missionaries to go out and reach them one people group at a time with the gospel, and that is exactly what is going on to the glory and to the praise of His name. And so, we have here in Genesis 12, the calling of Abram, the first clear mission call to leave your country and your people. Abram’s Circumstances Now, what were Abram's circumstances? He was in Ur of the Chaldeans when he was called. That may be a little bit unclear from the context here, but that's exactly when the call came. If you put the account together with some other verses that we learnt from the scripture, and that's a key principle in scripture interpretation, scripture interprets scripture. We put them together, they never contradict each other but they shed new light, and so Nehemiah many, many years later prayed looking backward and in Nehemiah 9:7 he prayed to the Lord and said, "You are the Lord God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham." Very important. The call came to Abraham when he lived in Ur of the Chaldeans, not when he was in Haran. Stephen testified to this as well, in his sermon in Acts 7, right before his death by martyrdom, right before he was stoned for his witness to Jesus Christ, he said this, Acts 7, Verse 2, "The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran." Could it be any clearer? While he was still in Mesopotamia before he lived in Haran, leave your country and your people and go to the land I will show you. That was his context, he was living in Ur. Now, where is Ur of the Chaldeans? Well, modern archaeology, the archaeologists feel that they've found it, they are pretty sure it is located 225 miles southeast of Baghdad in the modern country of Iraq. Well, if you think about recent history, what went on about 200 or 300 miles south of Baghdad recently? Wasn't there a war there? That's exactly where Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm were fought, in that same area around Kuwait. Mesopotamia is the region between the two rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, and that whole modern country is called Iraq. That is about where he lived. It was a powerful city, a city with a great population, advanced culture, it was the center of the southern Babylonian people, and together with the other peoples of that region, they would eventually make the great and powerful Babylonian empire. It was an important place. He lived in an important place. Now, what about his people? His people were Shemites, is that what we call it? We call it Semites, descendants of Shem. Also, he was called a Hebrew. In Genesis 14:13, it calls him Abraham or Abram, the Hebrew, that means he was a descendant of Eber, the words meaning the same thing. So, he's in that line, that Godly elect line from Shem through Eber. Now, his father's household, Terah, Nahor and Haran, they are all related, perhaps at that time also Shem, Arpachshad, Shelah, Eber, Reu, and Serug were still alive. We don't really know for sure, but they may well have been, if you would just add up the years in the genealogy, it is possible that they were still alive. So, when God calls him to leave his household, that is this whole group of people, at least this much is true, that Terah was there. Now, what about Terah? Do we know anything about Terah? Yes, we do. We know that he was a pagan. He was a polytheist. That is very significant, isn't it? Well, how in the world do we know that? We don't know it from this scripture but as I told you, scripture interprets scripture, and Joshua is the one who gives us the information about Terah. In Joshua 24:2, “Joshua said to all the people, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: “Long ago your forefathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the River and worshiped other gods.”’" Terah, Abram's father worshiped other gods, the local deities, he was involved in this, and isn't this tragic? Just an “x” number of years after the flood, Noah steps off that ark and he builds an altar to the God of creation, the God who set the rainbow in the sky. He worshipped Him in a pure way, but just a certain number of generations later, they are already into polytheism, worshiping the gods of the region. That was Terah. Now the Bible doesn't say that Abram was into that, that he himself was a polytheist, but his father was. And so, God gives him a call and God speaks clearly to him. God’s Call Do you know that God speaks? Are you aware of that? If you are a Christian, you know that God speaks. He communicates. Next week, I'm going to preach in Isaiah Chapter 1. Isaiah 1, Verse 2, "Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the Lord has spoken." God speaks. Who hears when God speaks? The believers hear. The believers, they can hear when God speaks. In John 10:27, Jesus who is our Good Shepherd said, "My sheep listen to my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand." If you are a child of God, you hear that voice and you follow. And Abram was a child of God, and he heard the voice of God and he followed. This call would shape the rest of Abram's life, nothing would ever be the same after the call came, and after he obeyed. Now, it is fascinating to me how God, when He comes to us and when He calls, He asks everything of us, doesn't He? He asks it all and offers everything to us as well, isn't that Jesus? Isn't that Jesus in the New Testament? He said to the rich young ruler, sell it all. Give it all away, follow me, and you'll have treasure in heaven. That is the Jesus I know, He is willing to command incredible things of us. Take up your cross, that instrument of execution every day and follow me, and I'll give you eternal life. I'll give you everything. See, this is the same God, the consistency of scripture, God asks everything and offers everything. And so, He says leave it all, leave your country, leave your people, leave your father's household, leave everything you know, leave it all behind and follow me to the place I will show you, I'll tell you more about it later. Just obey me. And that was the call, leave your country, leave behind everything and follow in footsteps of faith, follow an invisible God and I'll give you marching orders when you need them. When you need to hear from me, I will talk to you, and you'll have everything you need to do when you follow my voice, and that is the life of faith. And so that was Abram's call. And this began when he obeyed, this began Abram's life of wandering. He was a wanderer. Do you know that? Look in Verse 4, so Abram left, Verse 6, Abram traveled through the land, Verse 8, from there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, the tent, by the way, is a symbol of his wandering. There's no solid foundation. You are just moving from place to place. In Verse 9, then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev. Verse 10, Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while. Chapter 13, Verse 1, Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev. I thought in preparation for this sermon, I would follow every place that it says that he went and I got worn out, I didn't have time, time presses on you when you're a pastor and I said I've got to leave that behind. What I will do is tell them he wandered a lot of places, he really did, he lived a life of faith and he was never set in one place. He was following the call of God from place to place. In Genesis 20, Verse 13, Abraham was looking back at his life. At this point, his name was called Abraham, and he looked back on his life and he said, when it all began, “when God had me wander from my father's household,” that's the word he chose, when He had me wander. What is wandering? It's kind of moving around not knowing where you are going. Abram was a wanderer by faith, it wasn't without purpose though. His wandering was not without purpose, there was a purpose. He just didn't know where he was going. That is a life of faith. Hebrews 11 talks about that. Hebrews 11, Verse 8, and following “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.” That's the kind of life he lived. It was a life of faith. Not knowing where he was going. Holding on to nothing in this world. God’s Promises to Abram Three Promises So, God asks everything of us, doesn't he? But he offers everything, too. And what did he offer to Abraham here in this call? Look at it, in Verses 2 and 3. God makes some promises to him. Three promises in particular. He says, “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great.” Three promises. First one, I will make you into a great nation. Do you think that was important to Abram? Oh yes, it was. And the more you go on with Abram, the more you see how much he wanted this, how much he wanted a son, how much he wanted descendants, how important that was to him, the passion of his heart, and that's familiar to us, isn't it? That we might have children, perhaps a legacy to leave behind. That's important. It was the deepest desire, earthly desire of Abram's heart. Ultimately, Abram's name would be changed to Abraham, the father of many nations. Isn't that incredible? Even though he had no child at this point, nothing but God made him a promise, “I will make you into a great nation.” And the second promise, he says, “I will bless you, I will bless you.” Now, we talked about blessing recently, remember when Noah stepped off the Ark, God blessed him, and we talked about blessing, but it's good to remind ourselves what a blessing is from God. It means that God's creativity and his resources and his power and sovereignty are directed toward your benefit, isn't that something? To think that all that God is, is directed toward good things for you. He said, "I'll bless you." I love the words in the later covenant that came to Abram's descendants. In Deuteronomy 28:3-8, Moses was talking about the blessings of God, and this is what he said, "You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock−the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven. The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you." Isn't that incredible? Comprehensive blessing. Well, it is incredible, but it's not comprehensive, I'll give you a comprehensive blessing. How about this one? Ephesians Chapter 1, Verses 3 and 4, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ." Now that's a comprehensive blessing, and it comes to anyone who believes in Jesus Christ, every spiritual blessing that God has to give you is given to you in Jesus Christ. I will bless you he says. And then thirdly, he says, I will make your name great. Isn't this interesting? Do you remember last week? What did we talk about last week? Genesis 11, Tower of Babel. What was it that motivated the builders of the Tower of Babel? Their reputation, they wanted to make a name for themselves, to have the city with the tallest tower. It goes on today, I don't know how long it's going to take Chicago to reclaim that title, but they will get it, they will get it for a little while until some other city takes it from them. Making a name for themselves. Making a reputation for themselves, the very same thing we saw in Genesis 6:4 right before the flood. Oh, how I wish the English translations would do Genesis 6:4 properly. Those were not men of renown, they were men of the name. Men who wanted to make a name for themselves. That's what the Hebrew says. Isn't that the passion of a pagan heart? Make a name for yourself. And God says, "No, no, Abram, I'll make a name for you. I'll make a name for you. If you humble yourself before me and if you obey me, I will lift you up, and I will make a name for you that will last." That's fascinating to me. The same promise was given to David, King David. Nathan the prophet went to him. Now then tell my servant, David, this is what the Lord Almighty says, “I took you from the pasture and from following the flock to be ruler over my people, Israel, I've been with you everywhere you've gone, I've cut off all your enemies from before you.” Doesn't that sound familiar? Similar to Abram, cut off all your enemies from before you and now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men on earth. That's what God did for David. He does the same thing for Abram. You know what's beautiful? He does all of that for us in Jesus Christ. Any one of you who is a believer in Jesus Christ, think about this. How much better is what I'm about to tell you than to have a reputation or a name here on earth, this is what it says, Jesus is speaking now, Revelation 3:5, Jesus says, of your name, “I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name” the name of a believer, “before my father and His angels.” I will speak your name to my Father. To have Jesus speak your name before the throne of grace. Isn't that something? That is far better than any name or reputation here on Earth. But there is a name that is above every name. Isn't there? A name higher than the name of Abram, a name higher than the name of David, a name higher than any of your names, and that name is the name of Jesus Christ. That position has been taken, it is filled. At the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Jesus has the name that is above every name. His name is the highest, and yet God promises to make a name for Abram. And so, 4,000 years later, some Gentile pastor standing up some miles distant, and I'm speaking about this man, Abram, 4,000 years later. How many of Abram's contemporaries in Ur of the Chaldeans do you know? Can you list any of their names, some of his neighbors and people down the road? That was 4,000 years ago in Ur of the Chaldeans, but 4,000 years later, we are still talking about Abram. God keeps his promises. Doesn't he? We're still talking about David as well. God keeps his promises. That's the way He is. The Purpose of the Promises But all of this lavish blessing is for a purpose, isn't it? It's not just so that Abram can be happy and have a blessed life, it's so that he will be a blessing to the nations. God's mind is on the nations, it's on the peoples. And so, he blesses for a purpose. I will bless you so that you will be a blessing. Abram's call was with a purpose. The purpose was universal, worldwide, to bless the nations through him. The Promises Extended I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you, I will curse, and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. All peoples, all nations, all tribes, all families. That's the way we understand that. Abram was called for that special purpose, that God would bless all nations through him. Now, the blessing would come in proportion or in connection to how you related to Abram. If you blessed Abram, you would get a blessing, if you cursed Abram, you would be cursed. It's just that simple. God was going to uphold Abram, but ultimately the blessing comes through Abram's physical lineage, doesn't it? Descendants. He had a son, Isaac. Isaac had a son, Jacob. Jacob had 12 sons. One of the sons was Judah, and so on down it comes through Jesus Christ. This promise, Genesis 12:3, another clear indication of the coming of Jesus Christ, because through Abram's descendants, through his seed, all nations on earth are blessed through faith in Christ. The apostle Paul, that great Old Testament scholar, picked up on this in Galatians 3, Verse 8, “The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the Gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’” So, you know what Paul said? He said Genesis 12:3 was the gospel early on, it was an early proclamation of the gospel, and the gospel saw that the Gentiles would be justified by faith. In Galatians 3:16, “The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say ‘and to seeds,’ meaning many people, but ‘and to your seed,’ meaning one person who is Christ.” Clearly, in the apostle Paul's mind in Galatians, this is speaking of Jesus Christ, and that's the blessing of Abraham that comes to all the nations through faith in Christ. This is the second clear promise given to us of the serpent slayer, isn't it? We got the first one in Genesis 3:15. Remember what God said to the serpent? I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. You will bruise his heel and he will what, crush your head. That is Jesus Christ, the serpent slayer. And so, we get the second promise that the serpent slayer would come through Abram. In Verses 4 through 9, we see Abraham's delayed obedience and his walk by faith. Do you know there is a marriage between faith and obedience that cannot be separated? Faith produces obedience. Saving faith produces an obedient lifestyle. There is no separation between Jesus as Savior and Jesus as Lord. It doesn't work that way. Jesus is, He is the savior, He is Lord. And there is a marriage between faith and obedience. In Verse 4, Abram left as the Lord had told him, just like his ancestor, Noah, he walked by faith step by step in obedience to Him. True faith always results in radical obedience. God willing, as we turn into the new year and the millennium comes, if the Lord does not return, and we can talk about that, I don't know when we are going to get another chance on Wednesdays to discuss eschatology, but we'll do that at some point. But if the Lord does not return and if he gives us opportunity, we will study Romans. In Romans Chapter 1, Verse 5, Paul's apostleship was to call people from among all the Gentiles, that's us, to the obedience that comes from faith. And he finished the book, Romans 16, Verse 26, “so that all nations might believe and obey Him.” Do you see? Beginning and end, faith and obedience married together, they cannot be separated. Abram’s [Delayed] Obedience and Walk by Faith And so, Abraham is our father in faith. He set the example, he moved out. But obedience sometimes grows slowly, grows gradually. Did he move out from Ur of the Chaldeans? Well, yes, he did. In Genesis 11:31, we read it last week, “Together, they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan.” They are on the way to Canaan, and what happened on their way to Canaan? Haran happened. They stopped in a place called Haran and they stayed there for a little while. Now, what happened in Haran? They got off the track, Abraham got off the track. He should have kept going on to Canaan, but he stopped in Haran and he settled there. That's a key word, Genesis 11:31, they “settled” there. This is disobedience, folks. When God calls you to go, you need to go all the way to where he has called you to go. It's not enough to just start, God has destined that you finish the race, not just that you start, and so he should have kept going, but he didn't. And why did he? I don't know, but I'm beginning to think that he was waiting for his father to die. He was thinking, I need to stay with my father, that polytheist, I need to just be with him and spend time with him, etcetera. There was a time when Jesus was going around and challenging disciples to follow Him. Follow me, he said, follow me. And one of them said first let me go and bury my father. That's a Semitic expression for saying, "I need to take care of my parents and when that's all settled, maybe I'll have time to follow you." So, he gives me a chance to kind of work things out here before I follow you, alright? I need to arrange some things. And Jesus said follow me and let the dead bury their own dead. That's a good word for Abram here. Somebody will take care of Terah, that polytheist, you follow me, alright? You follow me. And Jesus said in Matthew 10:37, "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me." Follow me he says. God had called him to leave his idolatrous father, Abram perhaps wanted to wait till his father died. Finally, Abram left and his father died in Haran 60 years after Abram left. Sixty years. You count it up, you look at the genealogy, 60 years later, that's when that man finally died. He would have missed it all, he would have missed the whole thing, the birth of Isaac, that miracle. Terah died 35 years after Isaac was born. He would have missed the whole thing. Sometimes God calls you to make a decisive break and go somewhere, a place you had never even imagined, to break with the past, even to break with loved ones, and go somewhere to serve him. Don't wait. But if you go in obedience, you'll have traveling partners, you're not going alone. Lot went with him, Sarai, his wife, went with him, their household, their possessions, God gave him what he needed to settle in that new land. God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply. He'll give you what you need to do it. And so, all those things went with him and Abraham finally began his journey with God. Verses 6 through 9, he wanders by faith, he travels through the land as far as the site of the great tree at Moreh in Shechem. Have any of you ever seen that tree? Probably if it's there, it has a plaque or a shrine around it, I don't really know, but my guess is it died at some point, it was cut down and turned into a boat or a house or something like that. That's the way it is with things of this world, they are temporary, we can't find that tree and we can't find the altars that he built either. He was moving through, he was a pilgrim, he was an alien, a stranger, he wasn't looking for anything, he was led step by step through that land. How much of the promised land did he have hold of, did he own? Nothing. He didn't own any of it. Finally, he bought a burial site for his wife and that was kind of a foretaste of the promised land. God made a promise. The Lord appeared to him and said, "To your offspring, I will give this land." He made that promise. That's the second part. He said leave your country and your people and do what? Go to the land I will show you. Well, then he showed him, he said this is the land. But you're not going to get it. Your descendants will get it. And so, he worshipped Him by faith. In Verse 7 and in Verse 8, he builds an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him. Again, in Verse 8, he builds another altar to the Lord, and it says that he had appeared to him. Stephen told us that he appeared to him the first time. Face to face fellowship with God, that was his portion. It wasn't anything on earth, he wasn't getting anything on earth, he was not getting the promised land; that was going to be given to his descendants. What did he get? Genesis 15:1 tells you. “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, and your very great reward.” I am your reward. I'm what you get, you get me. You get to walk with me through life, you get to have face to face fellowship with me on earth, you get to have a sense of my pleasure and my presence, I'll give you direction. When you sin, I'll chastise you. I will guide you and navigate you, I'll bless your life, and when you die, I will take you right into my presence for eternity. That's what you get. That's better than any patch of soil found anywhere on the face of the earth. That's what you get, you get me, a walk with me. And so, he said that's enough for me. He built an altar to worship his God. Application Now, as I've been thinking about this sermon, I've been thinking, how can I apply this? What application is there? Well, I think I've come to the conclusion that this morning I was going to speak to one of three categories of people. Category number one, you have never followed the footsteps of the faith of Abraham, because you're not a Christian, you're not a believer. You have no faith, you've never heard the voice. But maybe today, for the first time, you've heard God speaking to you. If you don't follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had, you will die in your sin and spend eternity apart from God. You have to have the faith of Abraham, you have to be justified by faith in Jesus Christ, who died on the cross to take away sin, and who gives eternal life through faith in his name. Read Romans 4, you'll see the direct connection between Abraham's faith and your salvation. Category one, it could be that you have never followed and obeyed and come to faith in Jesus Christ. Come to faith today. Follow him. Category two, you came to faith in Christ, and you got sidetracked in Haran and you've been living there ever since. What are you doing in Haran? God had a call on your life, he had somewhere for you to go, he had something for you to do, and for some reason you pulled off and you've been living in Haran ever since. Ask yourself this, "Do I follow the leadership of the Spirit every day?" Galatians 5 says keep in step with the Spirit. Do I do that? Is that my life? Am I walking in the footsteps of the faith that my father Abraham had? Is there this principle of radical obedience in my life, or have I gotten sidetracked in Haran waiting for something? And then there's a third category. You are following in the footsteps of your father, Abraham, you're walking by faith. I want to exhort you to continue until you cross the finish line. The race isn't over until it's over, keep going until you cross that line, until you are faithful right to the end. Be faithful unto death, Jesus said, and I'll give you the crown of life. Be faithful right to the end. We are about to enter into a month of considering missions. I told you that this is the origin of modern missions, anyone like me who gets up to speak about missions, we usually give you one of three applications, there are three things that you need to do. You need to pray, you need to give, and you need to go. Have you heard that before? Pray, give and go? Okay, well, I'm saying, let's pray with the faith of Abraham. Let's give financially with the faith of Abraham, and let's go with the faith of Abraham. You see what I'm saying? In prayer, I was reading recently about George Müller, he prayed for 19 years and six months daily for the salvation of somebody, and then he wrote about it in his journal, and I don't know what happened after that but he continued to pray. He said, “I had been praying for some other people for 12 years. Another for six, some for four, some for three daily without stopping and I'm still waiting for the answer.” That kind of commitment in prayer is what I'm talking about, that's praying with the faith of Abraham, a lasting prayer for the salvation of 17,000 unreached people groups who are waiting for the Lord, waiting for the coming of the Gospel. What about financial giving? I am going to read an account or something from this book which challenged me and I want to challenge you with it. You know I'm concerned about America. God has blessed us abundantly, hasn't he? And if we're good Christians, we'd know how to say thank you for it. It's not enough. It's not enough just to say thank you or be thankful. That's not enough. Listen to what John Piper says, "God is not glorified when we keep for ourselves, no matter how thankfully, what we ought to be using to alleviate the misery of unevangelized, uneducated, unmedicated and unfed millions. The evidence that many professing Christians have been deceived by this doctrine is how little they give and how much they own. God has prospered them, and by an almost irresistible law of consumer culture, baptized by a doctrine of health, wealth and prosperity, they have bought bigger and more houses, newer and more cars, fancier and more clothes, better and more meat, all manner of trinkets and gadgets and containers and devices and equipment to make life more fun. They will object. Does not the Old Testament promise that God will prosper his people? Indeed, God increases our yields, so that by giving, we can prove that our yield is not our God." I'll say that again, “God increases our yield so that by giving, we can prove that our yield is not our God. God does not prosper a man's business so that he can move from a Ford to a Cadillac, God prospers a business so that 17,000 unreached people groups can be reached with the gospel. He prospers a business so that 12% of the world's population can move a step back from the precipice of starvation.” Now, that convicted me. Now, I could speak about Christians in America, but I'm not speaking to Christians in America, I'm speaking to Christians in Durham. First Baptist Durham. What is God saying to you today? Okay, pray, pray like George Müller, give like Pastor John Piper talks about here. What about go? Could God be calling someone here to leave your country, your people, and go to the land that God will show you? Could it be? Could it be that God will lead a senior citizen who's in retirement age, who's free from worldly responsibilities to follow Abraham's footsteps? How old was Abraham when he left Haran? Seventy-five years old. Seventy-five years old. Now, you could say, "Well, I'm 76, so I don't need to go." Is that what God's saying to you? There are all kinds of programs for people who want to go overseas. Instead of going on another retreat or going on a tour of this or whatever, go overseas and be useful in sharing the Gospel. Leave Haran and go to the promised land. Don't be comfortable in your old age, but use the resources you have perhaps to go. Maybe I'm speaking to somebody my age. Ron and Mary Halbrooks left a prosperous practice here and went overseas. It can be done. It can be done. You could say, "Well, I have young children. They're school-aged kids." Is that any excuse? If God's calling you to go, don't sidetrack in Haran, go to the promised land, go where He has called you to go. I may be speaking to a Duke student. It could be that you went to Duke thinking that you were going to be a doctor, a lawyer, or a pharmacologist, or who knows what. It could be that God is calling you to leave your country and your people and go to the land that He will show you. And that you will read Genesis 12 and say God's speaking to me. If today you hear the voice, don't harden your heart, don't be disobedient to God's call in your life. Follow Him. Pray, give and go but pray with the faith of Abraham, give with the faith of Abraham, go with the faith of Abraham.