Discovering Him
July 15th, 2010
If Piper Could Say One Thing to Rising Church Leaders
Excerpt:
If at the end of your life you could say one thing to the next generation of church leaders, what might it be?
…I think I’m going to say to them on my death bed, “Make the Bible the supreme intellectual and emotional authority in your life, for the sake of magnifying Christ in the fullness of his person and his work, so that generation after generation preserves the foundation and the capstone of the glory of God in Christ, and the grace that is the apex of that glory.”
… “Hold fast to the Bible. Base everything on the Bible. If you are going to criticize somebody, criticize them from the Bible. If you are going to affirm somebody, affirm them from the Bible. If you are going to do a strategy, do it from the Bible. Be a Bible saturated people.” That’s what will make for long term staying power for the gospel.
…People who reject the Bible for God become idolaters. The only God worthy of knowing and loving is the one we meet in and discover through the Bible. I do want him to be everything, and the Bible is secondary compared to him; but if we try to say him or something about him without stressing the foundation of the Bible, then we will lose what we are trying to preserve after a generation.
Read the whole article and watch the video here.
Yes and AMEN.
Related:
Do You Believe the Scriptures are Sufficient?
Couldn’t have said it better. I’ve been a member in churches (on both ends of the liberal/conservative spectrum) that overlooked Biblical aspects of God they didn’t like. We need this reminder now more than ever. Thanks for sharing! :)
Sarah Mae-you are a blessing-thank you so much. The Word of God is the Word of God-timeless and perfection in every season – what a great ‘reminder’ to become ensconced in His Truths/His Word and to STAY there.
Sarah Mae! Do you hear it? Nail. Hit. Head. Seriously, perhaps this is why I love digging deep into God’s word so much! Amen!
Yes,I believe the Bible and that it is sufficient.
Yes and amen. Love him!
Come check out my hair disaster. It will give you a good laugh (just don’t laugh too hard at me)
Yes, good—but I can’t help but wonder what people think the believers in parts of the world who don’t have bibles in their languages are to do. The more important thing is the relationship with the Lord—not the relationship with the bible. Not trying to argue–this is just something I think about often (I’m a missionary) and wonder if we sometimes get too hung up on the actual book.
Good words! I love how John Piper expresses things and he’s so right that we must always keep the Bible as our foundation. It’s how we can know God, why wouldn’t we want to be “people of the book”?
Kristine McGuire´s last blog ..The Imperfect Quest for Perfection