Tag Archive - John Piper

Life belongs to God. Not us.

January 23, 2011 in life, videos with 1 Comment

Today is Sanctity of Life Sunday, which is the Sunday that falls closest to Jan 22.  Jan 22 is the day in 1973 when the United States Supreme Court decided on the Roe V. Wade and Doe V. Bolton cases which legalized the murder and dismemberment of unborn (aka – abortion) babies in the United States.  Sanctity of Life is the Sunday closest to that horrible day where we celebrate life.  Not destroy it.

Do me a quick favor; stop reading this post for a second and find a mirror.  No seriously.  Go look at yourself in it.  Don’t you like living?   Life is pretty cool, huh?   (I’ve yet to meet anyone who says, “You know Rick, I really wish my mom would have murdered me before I was born.”)

Our son Noah was born on December 15, 2010.  It was seriously one of the most awesome days of my entire life.  Here is a crazy statistic,  on the same day we were celebrating the birth of our son, we should have been mourning the murder of the other 115,000 babies who were killed that day. (There are approximately 115,000 babies murdered by abortion every day in the world.  Crazy, huh?)

I was recently introduced to the website Abort73.com by John Piper.  Their website is the most accurate, and informative I have ever seen.  (They are also the ones who created the video posted above.)  I would HIGHLY suggest visiting their website and clicking through all of the links about this horrible injustice.  They do a much better job then I ever could, so please take the time to read through their site.

I really enjoy their section on personhood. Here is an excerpt;

“Embryos and fetuses are fully and individually human from the moment of fertilization on. If this were not true, if unborn children were not genetically-distinct human beings, there would be no need to even talk about rights of personhood. “Removing a fetus” would be the moral equivalent of pulling a tooth.

Finally I can’t say enough about how much respect I have for John Piper and his strong stance on the murder of unborn babies.  He was written and spoke much about this, and tonight will be broadcasting live about this very topic (I highly suggest tuning in.)  I have posted one of videos that I really liked in the past, and below you’ll find another. His website has lots of great resources if you’d like to learn more about the proper response we should have toward this great injustice.

One last thing.  I know that this is a topic that brings a tremendous amount of pain, and heartache for those who have participated in this in their past.  First, let me say that God can heal the deepest of pains.  He loves you more then you could ever fathom.  Even though some say God is simply an “imaginary being,” He isn’t.  He is very real.  And one day those who think He isn’t will meet Him (sadly the hard way.)  He longs to know you, to love you, and to heal pains you never thought could be healed.  If you have any questions about this at all, please contact me.  I’d love to pray for you, or help you any way I can.

My friends at Focus on the Family have some great material that you can read if you have ever gone through this process, or are thinking about it.  I highly suggest visiting their site, and reading through some of their material.

As you’ll hear John Piper say in the video above, I’m thankful that God knitted me together in my mothers womb.  That He is the creator of life.  And life belongs to Him, and to Him alone.  It is absolutely none of our business, and to tamper with things that belong to God alone is incredibly dangerous.  Let me be very clear, I HATE ABORTION!  It sickens me that we live in a world that you even have to discuss if it is “right or wrong” to murder millions of babies every year. Babies that can’t run from their murders.  Babies who have no choice in the matter (even those who promote this injustice claim to be “pro-choice.”)  Babies who want a mommy and a daddy.  Babies who want to cry.  Babies who want to smile.  Babies who want to be loved.  Babies who are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Dear God, please have mercy on us for how bad we have messed this world up.

If you are a Christian, please take a few minutes right now to stop and pray for God to put in end to this horrible tragedy.  That God would touch the life’s of moms and dads thinking about murdering their unborn baby.  And that God would protect these wonderfully, made in the image of God, babies.

I have more to say, but I hear our 5 week old son in the other room, and I can’t wait to go hug on him!

Do you have a love for “the lost?”

January 14, 2010 in life with 3 Comments

I am reading “Let the Nations Be Glad!” by John Piper for a class, and came across this quote tonight, and thought I would share.

“Have you ever wondered what it feels like to have a love for the lost? This is a term we use as part of our Christian jargon. Many believers search their hearts in condemnation, looking for the arrival of some feeling of benevolence that will propel them into bold evangelism. It will never happen. It is impossible to love “the lost.” You can’t feel deeply for an abstraction or a concept. You would find it impossible to love deeply an unfamiliar individual portrayed in a photograph, let alone a nation or a race or something as vague as “all lost people.”

This quote really made think about how often I share the Gospel of grace that has so radically changed my life with people in my life. How often I think I need to wait for some “feeling.” (whatever that is)

It saddens me that I’m not so in love with God that I can’t do anything BUT tell everyone I meet of us grace, and love. Not just when I’m on a stage, or “working,” but always, everywhere – sharing, and talking about God’s love and mercy, and how He made a way for us to come into a personal relationship with Him through His Son – Jesus Christ, as the Holy Spirit opens us hearts to the Gospel.

What I need to do is love my God so much, that I, like Peter, can’t shut up about Him. That it oozes out of me.

At this point in my life, it doesn’t. And I hate that.

I can’t wait for that day when the Love that God has for people oozes out of me. I know deep down in my heart how deep, and wide this love is, I just want my actions to match up with what I know.

That’s the hard part.

Well done Mr. Piper

May 21, 2009 in life, videos with 0 Comments

I’m a big fan of everything that God creates – especially people! (then again I am a bit byist since I am one!) That’s why I can’t even believe that in our country we debate things like this. I mean really, the killing of a person, we really debate if that is right or wrong? Seems like Romans 1 to me, but I digress.
I came across this link a few days ago on desiring God – and I thought it was really good. I’ll be honest, I’m not one of those John Piper weird – o’s (you know the ones – the ones that almost worship him, the ones who treat all of his books like Scripture, the ones who quote John Piper more then they quote Scripture – we all know people like that – that’s not me!) But I think think this content of this video was legit. Well done Mr. Piper.