Ask Pastor John

False teachers threaten churches all over the world. Every Christian, and especially pastors, should know how to respond to their danger.

A wife’s submission to her husband is qualified submission. She follows Jesus first, and then does whatever she can to honor her husband’s leadership.

The Bible describes degrees of happiness for the saints in heaven. Does that mean there are degrees of despair in hell?

If John Piper wants Christians to find their ultimate happiness and joy in God, why hasn’t he ever told a joke from the pulpit?

We make plans and prepare for what’s ahead, but only God orders our steps. Pastor John shares his path toward a lifetime of fruitful ministry.

The Bible commands us to be baptized, but what does the water actually do? Does it save us, like 1 Peter 3:21 appears to say?

Pastor John recently finished a book on the providence of God — the purposeful sovereignty of a heavenly Father who loves and cares for his children.

God has called us sons and daughters, but his people sometimes talk as if we were still slaves. What does it mean to talk like children of God?

When we are saved, we’re united to Christ by the Spirit. Our old self — our unbelieving, rebellious, sin-loving self — dies, and we live by the Spirit.

Jesus said, “Sell your possessions, and give to the needy.” Are we disobeying Jesus if we don’t literally give away all that we have?

How can we forgive others who have hurt us deeply? Pastor John gives three practical suggestions for pursuing forgiveness.

The fall has made childbirth painful and dangerous. But in Christ, the deepest dangers of the curse have been removed.

God keeps his children through midlife crises by empowering them to keep fighting to be kept.

What role does God play in the redemption and damnation of sinners? Is he just as sovereign over both?

A godly father will want to show God the Father to his children. He will want to model for them the heart of Jesus.

If God created the world to display the fullness of his attributes, would he have been less glorious without creation?

We go from a rebel against the King to a child of the King. God’s attitude toward us completely changes. But does he still get angry at us when we sin?

Both Calvinists and Arminians see grace as powerful and necessary, but not in the same way. Pastor John gets at the heart of the theological divide.

If you are a Christian, then you have the Holy Spirit. But is this the same as being baptized in the Holy Spirit? Pastor John explains the difference.

We know God will accomplish his purposes for good, but he doesn’t promise our children’s eternal good. How can we be satisfied in God with this unknown?

When we think God has hardened someone’s heart, we should not assume that the hardening is permanent. God can and does break in and save.

“Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and nagging wife.” What are readers of Scripture supposed to learn from a proverb like this?

Is it wise for a girlfriend and boyfriend to travel together and stay in the same hotel? Should they? Pastor John gives three reasons why they shouldn’t.

At any moment, God can put a complete stop to the plans of man. Rebellious human plans never threaten a sovereign God.

Job is a profound book on human suffering, worthy of a lifetime of study. But was Job himself a real, historical character? And does it matter?

Why would God take some of his children home as a means of discipline when he could have prevented their sin another way?

Faith kills pride by forcing us to look away from ourselves to God to receive the gift of salvation that we could never earn on our own.

Jesus said we should love our neighbors as ourselves. How is this kind of self-love different from the mantra we hear in advertising and social media?

All Satan’s power is by permission. He has no authority to do anything God does not permit for infinitely wise purposes.

Are Christians righteous or unrighteous? Pastor John explains two forms of righteousness in Scripture that get to the core of the gospel.

Deciding when to start a family can be complex. Pastor John shares how he and Noël decided, and what biblical truths should inform the process.

It’s better for us that Jesus is gone. He said so when he left. But why is Christ’s physical absence from us better for us than his physical presence?

Sex in marriage, just like other physical gifts from God, is not an absolute cure for lust, but it can be a great help in the battle.

Letting the truth of election deter evangelism isn’t only illogical, but unbiblical. Pastor John shows how election moves us to action, not inaction.

The union of two men or women is not “gay marriage.” It’s no marriage. When they come to Christ, that former relationship has no binding authority.

Pain surrounds us in this world, and for those in Christ, the exact opposite awaits us after we die. Is it sinful to want to die and be with Jesus?

Scripture tells us that the last days will bring an upsurge of evil in the world. Does that mean we should stop expecting revivals to take place?

The Bible has a lot to say about the issue of self-hate. Where should we begin if we’re talking to a non-Christian who struggles in this area?

Jesus is our substitute, the one who became sin so we might be saved. So does his righteousness also cover our joylessness?

God’s sovereign control is complete, not partial. He governs every aspect of nature, every aspect of history, and every aspect of personal life.

Over ninety times, Paul speaks of “the flesh.” So what does this word mean to the apostle? Pastor John forms a definition from two key passages.

We testify to the hope of resurrection when we choose burial over cremation. But if we first donate our body to science, is cremation okay then?

When it comes to food, many of us are in greater danger of judging people where we shouldn’t than of eating what we shouldn’t.

Our satisfaction in God will be in measure, not in fullness, until the day we see him face-to-face.

God promises lasting joy. But what should we do when we feel full on Sunday but empty by Monday?

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all tell us that Simon of Cyrene helped carry Jesus’s cross. What’s the significance of this story?

At the cross, the triune God was at work, securing our redemption. But what role did the Holy Spirit play in Jesus’s crucifixion?

Fear does not govern the Christian life. But we have a skewed view of the Christian life if we exclude fear.

Many of today’s skeptics ask questions that God himself has already addressed. Sometimes, we just need to hear how God responds to his critics.

“Woe to you who are rich. Woe to you who are full now. Woe to you who laugh.” What do Jesus’s woes mean for middle-class Americans?