A Box of John Piper

I can't think of a better way to celebrate Valentine's Day then to read some John Piper. However, since all of my lovely John Piper books are in storage, I can't sit and read them as a Happy Valentine's Day to myself, but I can gather a bunch of quotes from the internet and share them with you. Enjoy! Enjoy them like you would a great big box of chocolates. Yeah, a great big box of John Piper quotes. Delicious!

Encouraging:

"Life is not a straight line leading from one blessing to the next and then finally to heaven. Life is a winding and troubled road. Switchback after switchback. And the point of biblical stories like Joseph and Job and Esther and Ruth is to help us feel in our bones (not just know in our heads) that God is for us in all these strange turns. God is not just showing up after the trouble and cleaning it up. He is plotting the course and managing the troubles with far-reaching purposes for our good and for the glory of Jesus Christ."

More encouragement:

"The strength of patience hangs on our capacity to believe that God is up to something good for us in all our delays and detours."

Sobering:

"The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for
heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not
the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we
drink in every night."

One of the reasons I like him so much:

"Reading is more important to me than eating."

This one brings tears to my eyes:

"Don't follow a defeated foe. Follow Christ. It is costly. You will be an exile in this age. But you will be free."

Conviction and encouragement:

"We are not as Christ-centered and cross-cherishing as we should be, because we do not ponder the truth that everything good, and everything bad that God turns for the good, was purchased by the sufferings of Christ."

A good question to ask:

"Do you feel loved by God because you believe he makes much of you, or because you believe he frees you and empowers you to enjoy making much of him?"

My favorite:

"God is not an employer looking for employees. He is an Eagle looking for people who will take refuge under his wings. He is looking for people who will leave father and mother and homeland or anything else that may hold them back from a life of love under the wings of Jesus."

Full o' Blogs

May I tell you something? I like to read blogs more than I like to actually blog. I'd rather read the blog of some obscure regular person than hear about the comings and goings of "celebs". I maintain a blog roll on this blog, but I also have a few blogs not listed that I regularly visit. I thought that since I've once again neglected this blog, you should know about the blogs with which I neglect it.

Firstly, I visit weight loss blogs. Why? Because I love them and they encourage me (usually) in my own weight loss.

I visit Fat Bridesmaid daily because I'm pretty sure that if I wasn't me, I would be her. As I said, I love reading weight loss blogs and this is far and away my favorite.

Another favorite weight loss blog is The Token Fat Girl. She's such a sweetheart.

ANOTHER weight loss blog I visit is Questions for Dessert. But I honestly like her thankful picture blog more. I like blogs with pictures.

The above three blogs form a sort of weight loss trifecta and the authors of these blogs do a podcast together as well. I'm pretty sure none of them are Christians, but I do like to read about their struggles and sometimes pray for them. We all share the same human struggles, but we don't all share a Savior. I wish we did, and maybe one day we will.

I visit two types of blogs - weight loss blogs and theology blogs. Usually in that order. Justin Taylor's blog is my favorite theology blog and he usually links to other theology blogs so you get the best bang for your web-browsing buck.

Another favorite is Rebecca Writes. I like it because she is a woman (obviously) thinking and writing about theology, deep, deep theology. Also, she kind of reminds me of one of my mentors who is also Canadian. I think we can all agree that Canadians are delightful.

Lastly, I really like the blog Pray for Ian. I think I may have mentioned it before, and it is certainly on my blog roll. This blog has a tremendous back story and, I think, a tremendous future. I think it really displays, more than anything, the counter-cultural thinking and living we Christians should be doing.

There are a few others, but these are the main ones. So, do you have any blogs you regularly read (besides mine obviously)? Please, please share!

Me and Obama

I was over at the house (the t-house to be exact) of a few of my ministry supporters the other week and I spotted my prayer card on their refrigerator.


Am I being held up by Obama? Why yes, yes I am. HIL-arious.

Well, we might not agree on everything (me and Obama, that is) but I hope when my supporters see me and Obama together they pray for us.

The Lord knows we both need it.