Desiring God 2008 - Final Session, John Piper

John Piper was absolutely riveting this morning as he brought the message "Is There Christian Eloquence?" Using 1 Cor 1:17 and 2 Cor 2:1 as his text, he was able to lead us to the conclusion that God will glorify Himself in spite of..... and at times.... because of our language and how we use it.

The thought of this should keep us humble, knowing that God will use us they way He intends to use us and is reliant upon neither our expertise nor our weaknesses for Him to save people.

With Piper, the message is always solid and challenging. There are a lot of teachers who can provide that level instruction but Pastor John always accompanies the message with his own distinctive and energetic brand of total engagement. His full-body immersion into his material and the passion he delivers it with are as much a part of the learning experience as the message itself is.

Dr. Piper somehow managed to demonstrate a very high degree of Christian eloquence while maintaining a humble and contrite nature, giving God the glory for everything He has done. What he showed us in about 75 minutes was the pure and unadulterated essence of the message he brought to us; if we are humble before the Lord, careful to give Him the glory, then God can use our eloquence for His kingdom. John can be very engaging in his exhortation and involvement. Short of physically taking you to a Piper conference, I thought I'd try to give you a little taste of what he's like to listen to:



His message was inspiring to Pastors and should be a blessing to anyone involved in the arts, particularly poetry or songwriting. You can listen to it here. As an added treat, you should be able to see the entire session at the same location sometime over the next 24 hours.

The entire conference has been a refreshing breeze and a challenge at the same time. This level of teaching always inspires and stretches the spirit but also brings a level of newness and excitement for what's ahead. For me, it's an opportunity to sit and be ministered to. But much more than being ministered to, conferences like this one also serve to equip me. I can see some of the great theological minds of our time, sit under their teaching, watch their technique and approach to the Scriptures and be instructed by and motivated by the Holy Spirit at the same time.

I come away thankful to men like John Piper for making something like this available for such a reasonable price. To be able to go this deep in such a short period of time with so many excellent teachers is pretty amazing.

But I come way with another blessing as well.

I talk to other Pastors and see other churches and am constantly reminded of how special our congregation is. That I am able to attend something like this is only because the folks at WBF are so gracious and patient in helping me to become equipped to stand in the pulpit on Sunday mornings. We are blessed mightily in what God has done among us and through us and I am so appreciative to God....and to our brothers and sisters at WBF for making it all possible. I'm excited to bring it all back home and see what God does with it!

We fly home EARLY tomorrow morning!