piper

this summer, i reveived my first john piper book, don't waste your life. i know plenty of people who have read piper before, but i must admit that i was rather intimidated by things that i've heard about his writing. and no wonder. the man is truly on fire for Christ. i was scared that i wouldn't understand what he was talking about. i just finished the book...and to my amazement, i understood it. many times, i was convicted of the way i'm living my life. is christ exalted in me? do other people around me notice me for Christ? some amazing things in this book that i want to post...

* "Paul's whole life was one stressful risk after another. He said in Acts 20:23,'the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.' But he never knew in what form they would come, or when they would come, or by whom they should come. Paul had decided to risk his life in Jerusalem with the full knowledge of what it might be like."

* "How much food and clothing are necessary? Necessary for what? we much ask. Necessary to be comfortable? No. Jesus did not promise comfort...What Jesus meant was that our Father in heaven would never let us be tested beyond what we are able (1 Cor. 10:13). If there is one scrap of bread that you need, as God's child, in order to keep your faith in the dungeon of starvation, you will have it. God does not promise enough food for comfort or life-he promises enough so that you can trust him and do his will."

* "Again Ralph Winter illustrates: America today is a "save yourself" society if there ever was one. But does it really work? The underdeveloped societies suffer from one set of diseases: tuberculosis, malnutrition, pneumonia, parasites, typhoid, cholera, typhus, etc. Affluent America has virtually invented a whole new set of diseases: obesity, arteriosclerosis, heart disease, strokes, lung cancer, venereal disease, cirrhosis of the liver, drug addiction, alcoholism, divorce, battered children, suicide, murder. Take your choice. Labor-saving machines have turned out to be body killing devices. Our affluence has allowed both mobility and isolation of the nuclear family, and as a result, our divorce courts, our prisons, and our mental institutions are flooded. In saving ourselves we have nearly lost ourselves."

* "Of course, we do not use the word "cool" to describe true greatness. It is a small word. That's the point. It's cheap. And it's what millions of young people live for. Who confronts them with urgency and tears? Who pleads them not to waste their life? Who takes them by their collar, so to speak, and loves them enough to show them a life so radical and so real and so costly and Christ- saturated that they feel the emptiness and trivality of their CD collection and their pointless conversations about passing celebrities? Who will waken what lies latent in their souls, untapped- a longing not to waste their lives?"

So much good stuff in this one book on what it's like to lead a radical christian lifestyle. overall, why would i want to settle for living my life for mediocracy? taking risks for christ...something i seem to live out at different periods in my life...definitely throughout the summmer consistantly. but what about after the summer? what about the fall, and winter, and spring? am i living my life, taking risks for the sake of christ? am i merely living my life? or am i living the abundant life, the life to which i was called. wow. that's a lot to sleep on.
just for the record, i highly recommend this book! HIGHLY! thanks, emily r., for sending it to me!