
Ask Pastor John
2,290 episodes — Page 16 of 46

What Does My Stealing Say About My Soul?
Whether we steal time, money, glances, or anything else, our impulse to take what is not rightfully ours reveals a lot about our view of God.

Will the New Creation Look Like This One?
The new creation will probably seem familiar to us. But there will also be new dimensions of life and joy we can’t even begin to fathom.

Is Angry Prayer Okay?
We have nothing to hide from God since he already knows our hearts. But that doesn’t mean we can do or say whatever we want in prayer.

How Did John Piper Become a Calvinist?
When John Piper entered seminary in 1968, he believed in the self-determining will of man. But then he encountered Philippians 2 and Romans 9.

When Should I Follow My Heart?
If a Christian desires God above all, then shouldn’t he follow his heart? Or are our hearts so deceitful that we can never trust them at all?

Ten Reasons to Read the Bible Every Day
If we are going to grow up into maturity in Christ, we need to feast on Scripture — and not just here and there, but every day.

How Does Christ Change How I Work?
When you come to know Jesus Christ, something about everything in your life changes — including how you approach your vocation.

How Do I Lead Someone to Christ?
To lead someone to Christ is a spectacular gift from God. But what should you actually say and do in the moment?

Do We Need Extrabiblical Texts to Understand the Bible?
Extrabiblical sources can help fill in some details of our Bible study, but all the gold we need to mine for life and godliness is in our English Bibles.

Did God Save Me to Call Attention to Himself?
Over and over in the Bible, God says that he saves us in order to draw attention to himself. Why did God design salvation that way?

Are Christian Couples Required to Have Kids?
The Bible is clear that children are a gift from God. So is there any room for a Christian couple to decide not to have any?

Can a Christian Hedonist Get Depressed?
If we glorify God by enjoying him, how do we think about seasons of darkness in the Christian life, when joy seems far away?

How Do I Wait for God?
God works for those who wait for him. But what does it mean to wait for God?

John Piper Interviews J.I. Packer
In a 72-minute interview, John Piper and J.I. Packer discuss the Puritans, theology, the Christian life, and our heavenly hope.

How Do I Glorify God in My Daily Life?
God created us to glorify him by enjoying him forever. But how do we fulfill that purpose in the little things, in the small moments, in the day to day?

Am I Wasting My Life in a Secular Job?
Our vocation doesn’t automatically determine our fruitfulness for Jesus. God uses all kinds of people in all kinds of places to accomplish his purposes.

How Does God Become Totally for Me?
God won’t settle for anything less than perfection from us. Either we depend on Christ’s perfection in our place, or we keep the entire law.

How Do I Wage War on My Self-Pity?
At the cross, Christ canceled all our sins through his blood. Now, by the Spirit, we work to conquer every canceled sin.

A Seriously Happy Puritan: Praising God for J.I. Packer
On the morning of July 17, J.I. Packer passed into glory. Pastor John shares a tribute to the man he looked up to as a father in the faith.

Seven Lessons for Productivity
After fifteen hundred episodes of the Ask Pastor John podcast, Pastor John shares seven lessons that have inspired him to labor faithfully over decades.

What Does Freedom from the Love of Money Look Like?
Our hearts were never meant to find their meaning in money. God made us for something far more valuable.

How Can I Disagree with My Husband and Still Submit?
How can a wife disagree with her husband about a decision while still submitting to his leadership in the home?

How Do I Know If I’m Doing Enough for God?
Before you get overwhelmed by all of the Bible’s commands, remember your right standing with God and focus first on the anchors of faithful obedience.

Why Do I Need to Be Saved?
At the cross, God not only clears a path for sinners to himself. He also vindicates his righteousness after passing over centuries of sin.

Why Does ‘Atonement’ Disappear in the New Testament?
The word “atonement” appears all over the ESV’s translation of the Old Testament, but never in the New. Didn’t Jesus make atonement for our sins?

How Much Patriotism Is Too Much Patriotism?
If Christians are first and foremost citizens of heaven, then is it ever appropriate to show patriotism for a homeland?

How Can I Be Free from Materialism?
For many Western Christians, materialism has transformed our wants into needs and distorted our view of biblical Christianity. How can we be free?

Did Moses Think Sinners Could Keep the Law?
The Mosaic law requires obedience over and over again. Does that mean old-covenant believers earned their way to a right standing with God?

Do I Need to Understand the Trinity to Be Saved?
What does someone need to know about the Trinity in order to have saving faith in Jesus?

How Do I Find Freedom from Worry?
In the moment when troubles come or worries rise, we need the precious truth of specific promises from God’s word.

Would God Have Been More Loving Not to Create Anyone?
If God knew before he created the world that millions of people would suffer eternally in hell, would he have been more loving not to create at all?

Which Characters in Job Can We Trust?
Job is a famously difficult book to understand and apply. But God has not left us without interpretive guides to help us discern the book’s message.

Update from John Piper and How You Can Help Us
Hear from Pastor John on his latest ministry projects, and learn how you can partner with us to spread joy in Jesus Christ for years to come.

What Do You See When You Look at the Sky?
All creation rings with its Maker’s praise. If we pause to look and listen, God can show us glory in all that he has made.

Why Does Christ Want Some Not to Believe?
If God desires all people to be saved, why did Jesus sometimes speak in a way that kept people from believing?

How Should Christians Respond to Climate Change?
Climate-change activists warn of dire consequences if nations and individuals refuse to care for the environment. How should Christians respond?

Why Must Our Bodies Get Resurrected?
Our resurrection bodies will allow us not only to experience life without disease and decay, but also to enjoy God in the bliss he intended.

Does the Law Aggravate Our Sin Nature?
The Mosaic law raises countless questions for Christians. But how might we begin to understand the function of the law in redemptive history?

What Are the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven?
Jesus gave his disciples the keys to the kingdom of heaven so that they could loose and bind. What does that mean for Christians today?

What Do You Say to Evangelicals Who Affirm So-Called ‘Same-Sex Marriage’?
When someone close to you affirms so-called “same-sex marriage,” how do you respond in both faithfulness to Scripture and love for that person?

My Pastors Don’t Preach Against Sin — Is That Okay?
Addressing sin and repentance may sound harsh to some, but genuine biblical preaching names and denounces specific sins.

Does John Piper Deny Personal Assurance?
God gives believers warnings not to strip us of our assurance, but to keep us clinging to Christ and killing sin by the Spirit.

What Are God’s Purposes in a Recession?
God has thousands of purposes in all that he does — including recessions. What does Scripture tell us about God’s designs in our financial uncertainty?

How Much Joy Did the Curse Cost Me?
Because of the fall, we are by nature dead to joy in God. Because of the cross, we can experience more joy in God than we ever could have had in Eden.

Do My Sins Ruin God’s Plan for My Life?
Some sins unalterably change the course of our lives, leaving us to live with the consequences. Do these sins sabotage God’s best plan for us?

The God over Viruses
If we say God is sovereign, does that mean he’s in charge of everything — even down to the tiniest molecule?

Does Christ Govern Every Storm?
Jesus stilled a storm for his disciples two thousand years ago, but does that necessarily mean he controls every single storm today?

Am I Living by Faith or Unbelief?
The Bible calls us to walk by faith, but how can we actually know if we are living by faith instead of unbelief?

Could a Recession Serve Our Joy?
Sometimes it takes a recession to dig up the roots of our lives and replant them in soil that causes us to bear the fruit of generosity.

What Is Hyper-Calvinism?
Doctrinal systems can help us summarize the Bible’s teaching, but they are never a substitute for Scripture itself.