Microscopic vs. Telescopic Worship

"But there are two entirely different ways of magnifying God, one of which exalts him and the other demeans him. First, you can magnify God the way a microscope does by focusing on something quite small, most often invisible to the naked eye, and causing it to look much, much, bigger than it really is. this is magnification by distortion! This is not how we are to magnify God! Tragically though, that's how many Christians think of God and how they are to worship him. They think that in their lives and in their prayers and in their praise they are causing God to look bigger and greater and more glorious than he really is, in and of himself. Worship is not like blowing up a balloon. God is not honored by human inflation, as if the breath of our praise enhances and expands his visibility and worth. To think that apart from our praise God remains shrunken and shriveled is to dishonor him who "gives to all mankind life and breath and everything" (Acts 17:25).

But you can also magnify God the way a telescope would. A telescope helps people who are small and distant to see something indescribably huge and massive by making it to appear as it really and truly is. A telescope peers into the distant realms of our universe and displays before our eyes the massive, unfathomable, indescribable dimensions of what is there. Only in this latter sense are we called to magnify the Lord."

Sam Storms, For the Fame of God's Name: Essays in Honor of John Piper. p.58

...But a Delightful Conviction...

Edwards on the doctrine of God's sovereignty...

"From my childhood up, my mind had been full of objections against the doctrine of God's sovereignty.... It used to appear like a horrible doctrine to me. But I remember the time very well, when I seemed to be convinced, and fully satisfied, as to this sovereignty of God....

But never could I give an account, how or by what means, I was thus convinced, not in the least imagining at the time, nor a long time after, that there was any extraordinary influence of God's Spirit in it; but only that now I saw further, and my reason apprehended the justice and reasonableness of it. However, my mind rested in it; and it put an end to all those cavils and objections.

And there has been a wonderful alteration in my mind, in respect to the doctrine of God's sovereignty, from that day to this; so that I scarce ever have found so much as the rising of an objection against it, in the most absolute sense....I have often since had not only a conviction but a delightful conviction. The doctrine has very often appeared exceeding pleasant, bright, and sweet. Absolute sovereignty is what I love to ascribe to God. But my first conviction was not so."

-quoted in Desiring God p.38-39

Piper's 5 Convictions of Christian Hedonism

1) The longing to be happy is a universal human experience, and it is good, not sinful.

2) We should never try to deny or resist our longing to be happy, as though it were a bad impulse. Instead, we should seek to intensify this longing and nourish it with whatever will provide the deepest and most enduring satisfaction.

3) The deepest and most enduring happiness is found only in God. Not from God, but in God.

4) The happiness we find in God reaches its consummation when it is shared with others in the manifold ways of love.

5) To the extent that we try to abandon the pursuit of our own pleasure, we fail to honor God and love people. Or, to put it positively: The pursuit of pleasure is a necessary part of all worship and virtue. That is...

The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever.

-Desiring God, p.28

The Tragedy of Living for the American Dream

HT: Berttucci and Lawrenz

Augustine's Prayer

"O God, command what you will, and grant what you command"

The Only Thing I Want in Old Age

"Theology is not something they merely study and teach. It is something they breathe. The Bible is not something they only read and preach. It is the food upon which they feed. R. C. Sproul and John Piper love Jesus Christ. They love to glory and revel in their Redeemer. Yes, they are extraordinarily gifted preachers, prodigious authors, talented theologians. But they have never gotten over the stunning fact that they were treasonous rebels who were graciously summoned to the King’s banqueting table and clothed with the righteous robes of the King’s Son. They have now walked with Jesus for decades, but they have never lost their childlike wonder that they have been called God’s sons. For them, to teach and preach God’s Word is not a duty but a delight. And they will continue to do so, as Dr. Sproul has said, until someone pries the Bible from their cold dead fingers."

--Justin Taylor

Never, Never, Never, never never never Outgrow Your Need For the Gospel

Piper on His Future Ministry

"Eleven days after I return to ministry, I turn 65. One could look at this two ways: 1) it’s the age most people retire, or 2) it’s the age Winston Churchill became Prime Minister and led England and the Western World to victory over Hitler’s aggression. I find Churchill much more inspiring than retirement."




Champ.

Piper Poem on Suffering

Piper Poem on Suffering: "Piper Poem on Suffering from the Desiring God blog."

Unreal Edwards Quotes

Piper on Edwards - "God is glorified most not merely by being known, nor by merely being dutifully obeyed, but by being enjoyed in the knowing and the obeying"

Edwards - "God made the world that he might communicate, and the creature receive, his glory; but that it might be received both by the mind and heart. He that testifies his having an idea of God's glory doesn't glorify god so much as he that testifies also his approbation of it and his delight in it."

Piper summarizes: "In all our life and all our study and all our ministry let us seek to glorify God by being satisfied in him above all things. Let us press on to know in the depth of our being that 'the steadfast love of the Lord is better than life' (Ps. 63:3). And so let us find the god-exalting freedom from this world that will make us the most radical, sacrificial servants of good on earth--that men may see our good works and join us in glorifying god by enjoying him forever."

UNREAL. How do we even begin to wrap our minds around that?

God's Passion for His Glory

"This is a stunning truth: Namely, that God's passion for His glory is the measure of His commitment to our Joy"

Directly linked. To the degree that God passionately pursues the magnification of his supreme glory, is to the degree that he is committed to our joy.