Resources
for training in truth and love
Here are a two helpful, quick video snippets from John Piper, who had pastored in Minneapolis, MN for over 30 years. The first video though entitled with 'church buildings' only contains the paying and sermon topics. The second video specifies more about pastoral pay (income, salary, wages). He includes a few New Testament examples and explanations, along with sound thinking and counsel for churches to pay pastors.
What is the ultimate goal in reading the Bible? To do list? Life manual? Self-help? David Mathis appropriately and accurately answers in the above video, also linked from the Desiring God website.
I have been greatly impacted and inspired by people God has affected to live for him throughout history, like Adoniram Judson (August 9, 1788 – April 12, 1850). Adoniram Judson was an American who trusted in the gospel and was led to the country of Burma to share the gospel and God's word to those who needed to hear the gospel of Christ, where he then encountered the greatest hardships of life from the loss of family, falsely arrested by an outside intervening government, and a deep, dark depression that turned hopeful in the end.
John Piper from DesiringGod.org answers the question at Google.com in Mountain View, CA, "Is Jesus Christ an Egomaniac?" Piper begins with:
My hope in these few minutes is to listen carefully to four people who have been troubled by the self-exaltation of Jesus and of God in the Christian Scriptures, and then to offer a serious answer to their objections that has not only been satisfying to my mind, but a great source of joy and worship of Jesus Christ.
The four people Piper quotes before sharing his answer are:
Piper ends the talk with this:
Conclusion: Therefore, when Jesus tells us that we must love him — treasure him, be satisfied in him — above all others, he is loving us. He is desiring and working and willing to suffer to enthrall us with the fullest and longest happiness, namely, himself.
Here is the end of the matter: God is the one being in the universe for whom self-exaltation is not the act of a needy ego, but an act of infinite giving. The reason God seeks our supreme praise, or that Jesus seeks our supreme love, is not because he’s needy and won’t be fully God until he gets it, but because we are needy and won’t be fully happy until we give it.
This is not arrogance. This is grace. This is not egomania. This is love.
And the very heart of the Christian gospel is that this is what Christ died to achieve — our full and everlasting enjoyment of the greatness of God.
Note: The audio breaks up a few times during the entirety of the talk and answer time.
John Piper, retired pastor over 30 years to Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, MN, wrote a book called Desiring God that became a foundation and website resource, DesiringGod.org. Piper has also been known for his message Boasting Only in the Cross which provided the popular phrase, "Don't Waste Your Life." This also turned into a book and rap song by Lecrae. The DesiringGod.org website contains an incredible amount of content that covers specific Bible passages, topics, question and answers, difficult subjects, conference information, and biographical sermon series of Christian people throughout history. The resounding message Piper makes from pastoring and Desiring God is that "God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in him."
John Piper preached "Boasting Only in the Cross" for the 2000 Passion One Day in Memphis, TN to thousands of young adults. The sermon became the catalyst to the book and Lecrae's rap song, "Don't Waste Your Life:"
Sinclair Ferguson, pastor of 42 years to date of the video and professor, gave a short snippet lesson at the Desiring God Conference for Pastors in 2014 about the life of pastoring, highlighting the Greek and biblical concept of telos (aim, goal) and its relationship to pastoring, the church, and Christ. Watch and listen to the below video to learn of mistakes and wisdom to pastor or learn what to look for in pastors and churches. Listen to how Ferguson references the centrality and aim (telos) of the church being love understood from the verse and context of 1 Timothy 1:5.
“Training people in truth and love, knowing that what centers our hearts aims our life.”
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