Friends of TFH,
You know that we have depended much in the past two years on the teaching of John Piper. Some of you have honestly told me that you were not sure what to make of him at first, but that you are now fully blessed by his teaching—if not always exactly sure what he is saying!
I must tell you that the teaching team has started to read a brief book of his, The Supremacy of God in Preaching. In it, he speaks of how a seminary professor told him that beyond the Bible, he should look into one theologian especially and become steeped in that writer's work, so he would have a basis from which to compare all other thought. For John Piper, that theologian has been Jonathan Edwards. Without really paying attention, for me that theologian has been John Piper.
But I wanted you to know that I am not alone. I wanted you, especially if you're still unsure what to make of the guy, to read this post by Mark Driscoll. Wow, does it confirm so much!
It is grand to know that a man who is so Word-y as John Piper is also so real and true to what he so passionately proclaims. May the Lord make me more like that!
(Since this post was originally put up, a number of new pieces have been added to Mark Driscoll's blog, including a funny video follow-up to the original piece. However, these other pieces are strong and will put you in a position to read/watch some powerful stuff that may stir your thinking in a heavey-duty way. Just wanted you to be ready. -JH, 10/5/08)
God Keeps Leading
11 years ago
6 comments:
I would like to hear more about what you find in Piper's teaching that inspires you.
I have only seen his videos, so maybe his books are different. In his videos, I have a hard time connecting the teaching to life application.
He doesn't seem to address ethical decision making. He also focuses so much on the personal, one on one, relationship of the believer to God, that one could get the impression that being connected to the church is relatively unimportant.
I must be missing something. What is it?
Could it be that the one on one relationship with God is everything, and that everything stems from this. I do agree though that Piper is hard to follow, somewhat boring, and i do not get overly excited when I see its video night.
As I sit at the sound board on video nights I watch people walk out when the video starts. Usually the same people each time. I wonder why they can't sit and see if God wants to show them something through this guy, whether they find him boring or not. I thought he was a bit stuffy and boring at first, but I prayed about it and I gave him a shot and now I see a lot of good in him. He is so genuine in his faith and fervor. If I could have half of his enthusiasm for knowing God and glorifying God I'd be grateful. It feels infectious to me. I have come to respect and cherish his insights.
I think its great that you get alot out of John Piper, I personally do not and im just being honest. I also have never walked out, I do try to get something out of it, but I dont. I am happy for you though, and hope you continue to be blessed by John Piper and his ministry, and I shall continue to endeavor to arrive at the place of blessing you have achieved.
Amy, I think anonymous does a good job of answering the question: John Piper's personal mission to lift God up above all things follows his strong belief that God is above all things. And once we have that singular priority secured, then the other things fall in line. Piper is almost surely the best out there at emphasizing the trascendence of God--and Piper would argue that God then transcends all relationships, as well as our own interior thought processes.
Because Piper maintains the title and position of pastor of a large church, I don't think there is any gap in regard to connectedness in his mind. People need the fellowship of believers. But first they need the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (he doesn't shirk on the fullness of the Trinity, either), so that those relationships in that fellowship would be built in right theological perspective.
Is any teacher flawless? Not a chance! So we don't follow anyone "blindly." And thus, one more of the things I like about Piper is that he often begins by saying or praying that the things he says that may be in error be erased from his hearers' minds and that what accurately reflects the Lord is retained.
Finally (and I hope this whole thing is not sounding like an argument, but only an explanation), as a church who has for a number of years pursued a reformed charismatic approach like we have, there is compelling reason to regularly consider Piper's writings/teachings as arguably the most known reformed pastor (and not just an academic) in the country today, who also, while not leading a charismatic church, is open to the range of gifts and supportive of those who are leading such churches, including Sam Storms and CJ Mahaney.
What is a reformed charismatic approach mean? Do we consider TFH a charismatic church, I know we are not denominational... so not to open a can of worms but what are we? Reformed...non reformed..charismatic non charismatic. To be honest ive heard the verbage before, but im not sure what it means
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