
Articles by Desiring God
638 episodes — Page 8 of 13

Appointed and Disappointed: Four Lessons for Passing Leadership
Jon Bloom | Every earthly calling you accept will be one you eventually have to release. Have you thought about how to do that well?

God So Loved Himself: Overlooked Help from a Well-Known Friend
David Mathis | God created the world to glorify himself. But does this truth diminish his love for his people in Christ? Consider Jonathan Edwards’s enduring answer.

The Ministry of the Pew: Sunday Morning for Normal Christians
Greg Morse | How many of us arrive on Sunday mornings, sing, listen, and then leave?

Why Do Christians Struggle to Love?
Jon Bloom | If God gives the Holy Spirit to those who believe in Jesus, why do we still have such a hard time walking in love?

Join That Church: Why God Made You for Membership
Marshall Segal | In an age of independence and suspicion of authority, becoming a church member is a loud, arresting statement of our devotion to Christ and our need for his body.

Raw Passion and Messy Missiology: A Tribute to George Verwer (1938–2023)
John Piper | On April 14, 2023, one of the greatest missions leaders of the last hundred years passed into glory — and only glory can measure the global influence he left behind.

The Art of One-Anothering: How the Church Loves Like Christ
Scott Hubbard | To love another well, we need to put on Christ himself. We need to have his mind, offer his welcome, speak his words, show his love, and give his grace.

Beware of the Birds: How Satan Sabotages Sermons
Greg Morse | What if the distractions keeping you from listening to sermons are an act of spiritual warfare?

The Syntax of Sacrifice: Introduction to Leviticus
Joe Rigney | The book of Leviticus can seem as mystifying as a foreign language — until we learn the basic nouns, adjectives, and verbs of the sacrificial system.

The Easter Yet to Come
Marshall Segal | How pitiful would your life seem if Jesus did not rise? How promising and thrilling is it if he really did?

Tree of Shame: The Horror and Honor of Good Friday
David Mathis | Jesus endured the cross, Hebrews tells us, “for the joy that was set before him.” What joy did Jesus see on the other side of Good Friday’s shame?

The Most High on His Knees: Learning Humility from the Last Supper
Greg Morse | Before Jesus gave his hands to the nails, he used them to wash the dirt from his disciples’ feet. What thoughts caused one so high to go so low?

Redeeming Discipline: How Grace Reforms Our Effort
Scott Hubbard | When the apostle Paul lost his legalism, he did not lose his discipline — not even a little. So what did he know about discipline that we may not?

Does Alcohol Still Sober You? Five Warnings About Abuse
Marshall Segal | A healthy, godly use of alcohol remains vigilant against at least five great dangers of alcohol.

The Father’s Way: When Good Parents Say Yes and No
Joe Rigney | If we love our children, we sometimes must say no. But we would do well to think carefully about how, and how often, we say no.

He Comes Quickly: Are You Still Waiting?
Greg Morse | The last picture of the church in Scripture shows a bride looking up to heaven, crying out, “Come!” Do we still look and long for our Lord’s return?

Still on the Throne: The Glories of a Seated Christ
David Mathis | Jesus rose and ascended, then his Father seated him on heaven’s throne. But what is he doing right now up there where he’s been sitting for centuries?

What God Can Make from a Shattered Life
Scott Hubbard | In the midst of suffering, it can be hard to imagine how all this heartache could possibly end in glory. That’s why God didn’t leave us to our imaginations.

What Will Make You Resilient? Learning from a Living Miracle
Jon Bloom | Any Christian who lives in a cursed world like ours will need to learn resilience, and God hasn’t left us without staggering examples to follow.

Should We Get Married? How to Find Clarity in Dating
Marshall Segal | If you want to pursue greater clarity in a dating relationship, look carefully in three directions: your desire, your community, and your opportunity.

My Son, Give Me Your Heart: The First Desire of Fruitful Parenting
Joe Rigney | An ancient proverb teaches us that we are to aim at more than just our children’s obedience. More than anything, we want their hearts.

The Shadow We Cannot Shake: What to Do When Darkness Remains
Scott Hubbard | “Up and be doing.” It’s not the only wise counsel to give to someone walking through doubt or spiritual darkness, but it might be the counsel some need to hear most.

God of Ages Past: The Awakening We Need Today
Greg Morse | Though our experience may tell us to expect few conversions, few baptisms, and no grand spiritual movements, the God who revives and awakens is still our God today.

Thirty Days of Easter: Invitation to Enjoy the Risen Christ
David Mathis | Narnia, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter — the best stories reward re-reading. And none matches the one we rehearse each spring as Easter approaches.

Losing Christ in Christianity
Greg Morse | Christianity without Christ is a sunless solar system, a waterless ocean, an airless sky. Yet how subtly and easily we who name Christ can lose sight of him.

Do You Want to Die Well?
Marshall Segal | What would life be like if you were unafraid of death? If you knew death would really be gain, what kind of life might you be free to live?

A Holy Conspiracy of Joy: The Heart of Healthy Pastors and Churches
David Mathis | In the healthiest churches, we find a holy conspiracy between pastors who gladly care for the sheep, and sheep who do what they can so that the pastors might serve joyfully.

Sit at the Feet of Loss: What Endings Teach the Living
Jon Bloom | The wisdom we need in this world often wears black. Painful as they are, all our deaths and endings hold lessons we cannot live wisely without.

Man Enough to Weep
Greg Morse | When was the last time you cried over someone’s soul? Do you ever ask God to make the tears flow again?

Four Marks of Faithful Teaching
Scott Hubbard | In Paul’s final meeting with a group of pastors, he gives them four marks of faithful teaching — the kind of teaching God uses to win the world.

Live Against the Drift: Refocusing the Distracted Soul
Marshall Segal | For many Christians, our greatest danger is not that we will suddenly run from Jesus, but that we will slowly, subtly drift away.

The Stable Presence: Five Traits of Resilient Fathers
Joe Rigney | Our homes need men who see with clarity, stand with stability, and act with wisdom. We need resilient, sober-minded fathers.

Move the Body, Renew the Mind: A Christian Use for Exercise
David Mathis | To think seriously about Christ and his word, you will need to push your brain. And if you want to push your brain, you may need to push your body.

Friends Who Fell Away: When Apostasy Comes Close to Home
Greg Morse | They sang with us in church, confessed to be Christ’s, renounced the world and Satan — and later walked away. How can we make sense of such painful apostasies?

Suffering Proves We Are Real
Marshall Segal | No one asks for suffering. But when it comes through the hands of our wise and loving Father, we can do more than tolerate it. We can rejoice, even in this.

The Living God: What Makes Him Different and Satisfying
Joe Rigney | Have you considered how wonderful it is to draw near to the God who now and always lives?

Faith in the Wilderness of Waiting
Scott Hubbard | The gnawing ache of hopes unmet and prayers unanswered tries our faith. But God is with us in our waiting. None who trust in him to the end will be disappointed.

Beneath the Mountain of Smoke: Recovering the Awe of Worship
Greg Morse | Does Sunday morning feel like a gathering before almighty God? We can far too easily lose sight of what we’re doing when we come together to worship.

Christ Did Not Please Himself: The Joy of Bearing with Others’ Failings
David Mathis | Christians know ourselves called to love (and keep loving) difficult people. Fewer of us may realize that this hard path is also the path of joy.

Every Marriage Needs a Mission: Three Steps for Husbands
Scott Hubbard | How can a husband lead his marriage into God-glorifying mission? He might begin by taking three modest steps: dream, draw, and do.

Does Technology Help or Hurt Dating?
Marshall Segal | Technology can help dating relationships, and technology can hurt them. Unfortunately, many assume the former, while living the latter.

Be Still, My Soul: A Hymn for the Hardest Losses
Jon Bloom | Some three centuries ago, a hymn appeared that has comforted countless hearts in the deepest pain of grief and loss: “Be Still, My Soul.”

The Light and Momentary Success of the Wicked
Joe Rigney | Many see how the wicked prosper and abandon the costly path of faith and godliness. If only they could see where each path leads.

How Not to Pray: Learning from Pharisees and Pagans
Greg Morse | The look-at-me prayer of the Pharisee and the say-more prayer of the pagan both find their cure in the simple Godward sincerity of the Lord’s Prayer.

The Spiritual Power of Staying Put: Why Christians Are Slow to Leave
Scott Hubbard | In one sense, it’s never been easier to move — to find a new job, a new home, a new church. In another sense, it’s never been better to stay.

Lovers of Good: Eyes of Hope in a World Gone Bad
David Mathis | Christians believe in good. They look for good. And they do good because, at bottom, they are lovers of good.

Forgive Me and Help Me Forgive: The Lord’s Prayer for Daily Sin
Marshall Segal | Many Christians pray at every meal and often thank God for giving them daily bread. But how many pray as often about forgiveness?

Begin Where You Are: How to Renew Your Prayer Life
Joe Rigney | C.S. Lewis wrote a book on prayer in which he pens four words that might change your prayer life: “Begin where you are.”

Do the Will You Know: The First Step for Further Guidance
Scott Hubbard | How can you walk in God’s will for your life? Do the will you already know. Discern the will you don’t.

The Curse Under Our Breath: What Grumbling Sounds Like to God
Greg Morse | If we could hear all that our grumbling says, we would be slower to murmur and quicker to seek more joy in God.