Name: John Piper
Why you’ve heard of him: Dr. Piper is one of the most influential and popular preacher/authors in American evangelicalism.
Position: Senior Pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, MN; Host of the daily radio program Desiring God; Founder of Desiring God ministries.
Previous: Associate Professor of Biblical Studies, Bethel College, St. Paul, MN
Education:
B.A., Wheaton College
B.D., Fuller Theological Seminary
Dr.theol., University of Munich
Denomination: Baptist (Baptist General Conference)
Books: Piper is the author of over twenty books, including Love Your Enemies: Jesus’ Love Command in the Synoptic Gospels and the Early Christian Paraenesis (1991); Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist (1986); Donít Waste Your Life (2003); A God Entranced Vision of All Things (2004); and The Passion of Jesus Christ (2004)
Sample Resources: “How Much is Jesus Worth?” (podcast, 1982); What made it OK for God to kill women and children in the Old Testament? (podcast, 2010)
Assessment: Piper’s life goal and ministry have been focused on spreading ìa passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples.” His writing and preaching have had a significant impact on many young Christian leaders, including pastors, seminarians, and members of the bands Third Day and Switchfoot. Espousing a concept he calls “Christian Hedonism,” Piper carries on the tradition of a complete God-centered worldview that he picked up from the Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards, one of his most significant influences. As noted by Al Mohler, who called Let the Nations Be Glad “the most important book on missions for this generation,” Piper has also had a major impact on the state of modern world missions.
[Special thanks to Justin Taylor for his input on this entry.]
(This post is part of the Know Your Evangelicals series.)
September 22nd, 2010 | 4:26 pm | #1
Great idea for a series. Now, if you just edit the pictures to look like baseball cards, you’ll hit a home run!
September 22nd, 2010 | 4:36 pm | #2
Even better — sell them with chocolate frogs.
September 22nd, 2010 | 6:30 pm | #3
If Calvinism is true, then I guess we can say eternity past was an election year.
September 22nd, 2010 | 7:47 pm | #4
That’s quite a dynamite post for Pastor John Piper.
He’s one of the good ones.
“And he [Christ]….. shepherds/pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” Eph. 4:11-16
“Return, O faithless children,
declares the Lord;
for I am your master;
I will take you, one from a city and two from a family,
and I will bring you to Zion.
“‘And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.” Jer. 3:14-15
September 22nd, 2010 | 7:49 pm | #5
Whoops. Christ “gave” pastors-teachers, or pastors and teachers. Sorry about that chief.
September 22nd, 2010 | 7:53 pm | #6
I forgot one more Scripture that fits, if that’s alright.
“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” Hebrews 12:22-24
September 23rd, 2010 | 7:29 am | #7
I guess they are still legally the Baptist General Conference, but their new branding name is Converge Worldwide. :)
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