Mission friendly iphone app

This looks like a really cool new app for your iPhone.

(HT: Z)

Read Full Post »

Why John Piper doesn’t own a TV

Andy Naselli has compiled a long list of 30 years of writings or talks that explains why John Piper doesn’t have a TV. Here’s one quote.

Sam Storms, “Christian Hedonism: Piper and Edwards on the Pursuit of Joy in God,” in For the Fame of God’s Name: Essays in Honor of John Piper (ed. Sam Storms and Justin Taylor; Wheaton: Crossway, 2010), 49–50.

John Piper is known for many things. . . .

Some would likely mention the fact that he’s never owned a television! I vividly remember my first visit to John’s home in 1992. He had invited me to speak at his annual pastor’s conference which, as it turns out, is regularly scheduled during the week following the Super Bowl. Upon arriving at his home after the Sunday service, I told John that I had been looking forward for quite some time to watching the game with him. “Not at my house,” he said. “We don’t have a TV.” After I recovered from the initial shock, John graciously agreed to take me to the home of a church member where I could indulge myself in this annual affair. And yes, John stayed and actually watched the game!

[Footnote] As strange as it may sound to those unacquainted with Piper, his decision to rid his home of the influence of television was not from a disdain for pleasure, but an expression of his radical pursuit of it. What John regards as the banal and mind-numbing distractions of TV serve only to diminish his capacity to enjoy the one preeminent delight that never fails to satisfy, namely, the mind-expanding and ever-fascinating knowledge of God as revealed in the face of Jesus Christ. The rationale for this will, I pray, become clearer in the course of reading this chapter. See also John’s article, “Why I Don’t Have a Television and Rarely Go to Movies,” June 25, 2009, available at http://www.desiringGod.org

Interested in reading more? Click here.

[I'm not advocating that you should get rid of your TV.  We have one but rarely watch anything other than sports on it anymore.  We don't have cable so can't get the news channel I would want.  Also what Piper articulates in the article can also be applied today to other areas of entertainment such as video games, internet surfing and much more.  And one final note:  Piper does own a computer and even an iphone--so he is not just anti-technology--although he did exhort pastors recently about how such technology easily distracts the soul if not used properly.]

Read Full Post »

Take it slow and quiet

Maybe you can’t take today slow and quiet.  But we all need days like that every once and awhile.

Remember “hurry is the death of prayer.” –Samuel Chadwick.

Read Full Post »

Break down every idol

James Nicholson wrote, “Break down every idol, cast down every foe, now wash me and I will be whiter than snow.”

Some people worship “brick and mortal idols.”  All people need to be on guard against “mental idols” and “heart idols”.  Mental idols are embracing a twisted view of the true God.

Idols of the heart are less noticeable and easily excused, but very damaging. “A man’s god is that for which he lives, for which he is prepared to give his time, his energy, his money, that which stimulates him and arouses him, excites and enthuses him.” –Lloyd Jones.

So, “little children, keep your hearts from idols.”  (1 John 5:21)

 

Read Full Post »

Weeping over 1 Corinthians 13:4

At the end of one of his lectures, Gordon Fee recalled a time when he was writing his commentary on 1 Corinthians, especially the morning he arrived at the famous words in 13:4, “Love is patient and kind.”

I remember the morning when I came to this passage: “Love is patient, love is kind.” It’s actually a verb: “Love does patience.” Or better yet, the KJV: “love suffers long.”Patience is what you show when your computer doesn’t work. Long-suffering is what you show when people don’t work, and you’ve been around them a long, long time. That’s what it means to suffer long. And I looked at those words and then realized that Paul was here describing God’s character. Those are exactly the words he uses of God back in Romans 2. Then it dawned on me, the first (long-suffering) is the passive side of His love; the other (kindness) is the active side of His love. And then I started to cry for a long time. It took me a long time to return to my computer. What if God was not like this toward us?

(HT: Tony Reinke)

 

Read Full Post »