Don't walk away

It seems in the Church in the west at the moment there is a failure of leadership to live up to the model for ministry laid down in scripture. Recently John Piper was interviewed about this and he acknowledged that this is the case but it is not unique in church history. Jesus representatives have always had failures amongst them. He pointed out that Paul was glad the gospel was being preached even if some where preaching it out of envy or for Paul to have a harder time in prison.

 Piper speaks to those who have been hurt by Church leaders, which in some respects is probably all of us at some point in our lives:

' To walk away from Jesus because Jesus representatives are failures is to make an absurd choice. Jesus is our only hope. That He has bad representatives (including me at times) doesn't make Jesus defective, Jesus is the one person in the universe who has no defects, no failures. If you walk away from the one person who has no failures because His representatives have failures, you are walking away from the one hope of your life.' John Piper

Happy Birthday John Piper!!

Today (the 11th of January) I believe is the birthday of John Piper, Mark Dever describes Piper as an evangelical superstar. I am sure Piper would hate that description but John Piper is probably my (and many other people's) favourite living preacher! His humility adds to his appeal, I got to meet him a couple of years ago and he is very self-effacing. I have met several other leading evangelical preachers and some of them seem to believe their own press, that isn't true of Piper. Hi passion for the word is enthusing and dynamic! His war time mentality is a real challenge.

I was introduced to Piper through my affiliation to the FIEC (Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches) as he came and spoke at one of our conferences. Sadly I had read a negative article and didn't like the sound of him. That was a big lesson for me to make up my own mind about someone rather than trusting orthodox criticism. When I first read Piper's Desiring God I felt a kinship to the central reformed theology but it caused a reaction I wasn't expecting, my ultra-reformed, ultra-conservative cold heart started to melt. I started to care for people again and had a new zeal for godliness. My religiosity came crashing down and I felt myself re-reborn.

I still enjoy reading and listening to Piper and occasional leave myself open to further promptings. For example it was through reading Don't Waste Your Life that I felt it was now time to listen to the voice of God that had been calling me for years. I am so grateful to God for John Piper!

Happy birthday John may our God continue to use you mightily for the glory of God!

Stephen Barton <><