Saturday, October 20, 2007

Piper!

Lately I've been surprised to find myself becoming a fan of John Piper. I never really thought this would happen. Not that I had anything against Piper but he is the hero of many a Calvinist and I'm not one of them. But after having received a burned CD of Piper sermons from one of my colleagues here at the med school I've spent a number of nights listening to Piper preach as I lie in bed before I fall asleep. Piper is certainly one of the best preachers I've ever heard. He is eloquent and passionate in his preaching and his messages are always intelligently presented. So far what I've listened to are biographies of certain Christians and missionaries like Adoniram Judson, John Owen and Martin Luther. One of the things I like best about Piper is that he is very uncompromising. He knows that holding Scripture as the highest authority for the Christian is fundamental to us being the Church. I realize that he would strongly disagree with some of my theological positions but I have a greater respect for someone like Piper than for some relativist who is afraid of stepping on anyone's toes. I look forward to listening to more of Piper's preaching and maybe checking out some of his books.

2 comments:

Rodney Olsen said...

I listen to a couple of sermon podcasts each week, one of them is Piper.

He has a great ability to draw so much truth and meaning out of each verse. He doesn't rely on gimmicks or entertainment, he simply teaches God's Word.

Peter said...

I used to go to Bethlehem Baptist for Pastro's Conferences when I lived in Iowa. I heard the Luther presentation live -- great stuff.

I no longer am a high Calvinist like Piper, but I still appreciate him and his preaching. A lot of his stuff stirs my soul and draws me to the Lord.