January 11, 2012
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Happy Birthday, John Piper ~ reflections on year-ends, aging, fruit bearing & Christian hedonism
In my last post, a little child leads us into the New Year, I included an excerpt from Robert Murray M'Cheyne's account of thirteen-year old James Laing as an example for us from the great cloud of witnesses by which we ought to examine ourselves. In this post, I'd like to set before us an older saint, John Piper, who is celebrating his 66th birthday today...
The Sobering Effect of Year-Ends from Desiring God on Vimeo.
"But year-ends have had a very sobering effect upon me for assessing mainly –
Have I lived up to what I teach?
Have I pursued Him with all my heart and soul - or am I starting to begin to coast?
Am I just getting lazy?
Am I am just starting to enjoy stuff to the degree that Jesus is being diminished?"* * *
Reflections on Fruit Bearing from Desiring God on Vimeo.
"I believe with all my heart, that for the Christian the best is yet to come. When I think about fruit bearing at the end of my life, it's the same as always, 'Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone.' Well, I can die. I can die. I should be better at dying at 60 than I was at 50 or 40. And so, if I could learn to die to sin, die to fear, die to greed, I could come alive to new possibilities."* * *Psalm 16: The Heart of Christian Hedonism from Desiring God on Vimeo.
"Right at the heart of Christian hedonism is Psalm 16:11, where God says, 'In my presence is fullness of joy, at my right hand are pleasures forevermore.
"Those two words 'fullness of joy,' 'forevermore' - those two things together: my heart maximally satisfied forever CAN'T be improved on, by definition, which means God is THE place to pursue, the place to go. He IS our pleasure. The whole goal of life then is to maximize that, to protect ourselves from losing that, and to have that so fully that it spills over onto other people."* * *Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
What weights and clinging sins keep you from running with endurance the race set before us . . .
What weights and clinging sins keep you from looking to Jesus . . .
What weights and clinging sins keep you from . . .
living up to what you profess and teach?
pursuing Christ with all your heart and soul?
magnifying Christ over all else?
enjoying Christ over all else?
dying to self?
living to new possibilities?
bearing much fruit that will last?
pursuing your pleasure in Christ alone?
being maximally satisfied forever in God's presence?
Related...From Desiring God, God-centered resources from John Piper...
Desiring God Resource Page (includes links to Piper's sermons, etc.)
John Piper's Biographical Messages
Desiring God Blog
Desiring God online books (free downloadable PDFs)Related posts:
Thank you, John Piper
my holy ambition
Are You Working on the Wall? (redemption, spiritual gifts, the glory of God, joy & holy ambition)
adopting God's purpose for the nations is for your joy & His glory (Letter 76 on joy)
Are you getting up into the high mountain or have you become lukewarm?
Resurrection Day: Don't Waste Your Life (Lecrae) | Whose Life is it anyhow?
Kingdom-Obsessed People Don't Retire
Christian, are you bearing fruit in keeping with repentance?
Why read Christian biography? To help us examine our love for God.
Is your faith living – or is it dead? (Isaac Watts)
Have you believed with your heart ... all your heart? (Acts 8:37)
Half a heart, half a heart (How long? If the LORD is God, follow Him)
His seed (If ye be Christ's ~ He came seeking fruit)
In which circle do you take your stand? ~ Hewitson's holy ambition ~ Are you a true disciple?
What is a nominal Christian?My posts on the New Year including...a little child set in our midst leads us into the New Year
don't waste your new year ~ teach us, satisfy us, make us glad (Psalm 90:12-15)Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Work found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Johnpiper3.jpg - by American Eagle - PD.
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Comments (1)
These were great little vignettes of a life lived desiring God above all else. Should be the same desire of every believer.
I think that those "weights" sometimes sneak up on us; and even though we are aware of and constantly battling our sins, we are unaware of the subtle deadening of the weights that we have not laid aside.
Really enjoyed this post.
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