Ask Pastor John

Christ shared in our suffering as fallen mortals so that we could be included in the divine family, with Christ as our superior older brother.

The command to “pray without ceasing” should motivate rather than intimidate us. Armed with joy and thankfulness, we can overflow in prayer.

Nowhere in the New Testament is it commanded or forbidden that local churches meet in homes. Leaders must use other factors to make that decision.

Pastors must affirm the absolute power, goodness, and wisdom of God during the most tragic of circumstances to give their people comfort and hope.

Jesus’s miracle of fish and bread proves it. An appetite for miracles is no proof one is a Christian. As John Piper explains, “Seeing the mere event of an external physical miracle should never be the goal of the Christian.”

Yes, we can overdo Christian Hedonism, “because it is possible to overemphasize anything,” says John Piper. So what are the warning signs?

When you want God over everything else, you glorify the value of God.

“The division of humanity into languages and ethnicities was a judgment from God,” says John Piper. And yet it was also part of his unfolding plan to save the nations.

Evangelicalism’s global growth is mainly Pentecostal, says John Piper. This is cause for celebration, and for concern, because the growth is often entangled by prosperity theology.

In the digital age, needs surround us. So how do we avoiding inactivity paralysis? We return to God, says John Piper, whose shoulders alone can bear the crushing weight of global suffering.

If Christians are born again and have therefore died to sin, why do we need to fight so hard to put sin to death?

Personal suffering should not surprise us (1 Peter 4:12). The Bible not only promises it, it also teaches us how to “squeeze as much Christ-exalting meaning out of our suffering as we can.” John Piper explains.

What drives John Piper? “This is one of the greatest discoveries of my life,” he recent told an audience in Italy, “that God’s purpose to be glorified and my passion to be satisfied are not at odds.”

If you’re married, keep your promise. If you’re divorced and remarried, keep your promise. Don’t break your word a second time.

The greatest stumbling block for children in worship is parents who don’t cherish their own worship. We can’t impart what we don’t possess.

“Until we find our rest in Christ, we will be trying to invent ourselves in ways that will only end in tears.” Rob Smith on the hopes, tensions, and roadblocks of the transgender movement.

“Transgender surgery often contradicts the Hippocratic principle of ‘Do no harm,’” says theologian and ethicist Rob Smith in today’s episode. “You are now perhaps mutilating a perfectly healthy body to try and address a psychological problem.”

“Christians should get as good a grasp on questions about transgender, whether or not we have transgender friends,” says theologian and ethicist Rob Smith. “Because when a person hurts themselves, it hurts others.”

“God has given us distinct body and soul, but they exist in psychosomatic unity,” says theologian and ethicist Rob Smith. “The two are knit together (Psalm 139:13).” So what does this mean in the transgender debate?

“Gender dysphoria ought to evoke our compassion,” says Rob Smith, our guest this week on the podcast. “It is a horrific affliction to bear.” Smith is a theologian and ethicist at Sydney Missionary and Bible College in Australia, and for him, gender dysphoria hits home.

What John Piper prayed at the funeral of Jamison and Kathryne Pals, 29, and their three children, 3-year-old Ezra, 23-month-old Violet, and 2-month-old Calvin.

“Here is the greatest redemptive event in the Old Testament to which subsequent revelation points to again and again and again,” says Don Carson. It’s worth understanding well.

Any given Sunday — thinking biblically about pastor salaries, buildings, and the place of preaching.

If you trust God, renounce self-reliance, and bring him into every life situation, he will make your paths straight.

The same criteria we use to discern which passages don’t belong in the Bible are the same criteria we use to discern which passages do belong.

Pastor John helps a listener who doubts his salvation discern when to seek a wife.

Pastor John advises a married couple who disagree on whether or not to have kids.

Is humor appropriate in the Christian life? Pastor John gives 5 thoughts.

Pastor John explains a "peculiar" glory in this message excerpt.

In an age when many of us are infected with the vocabulary of entertainment and amusement, we need to see models of serious joy.

Pastor John gives reasons from the Scriptures on why the Epistles are still relevant to us today.

We all long for enduring joy, but we often forgot a simple step: start by praying for your Bible reading before you begin.

Blasphemy against the Spirit is a willful, determined opposition to the present power of the Holy Spirit. Christians cannot commit that kind of sin.

In this sermon excerpt, Pastor John preaches on the glory of God and the miracles that surround our life.

It's possible to overthink the Christian life, but the majority of the Christian life is spontaneous.

We are not made to find ultimate joy in being glorious. We are made to find ultimate joy in God.

Tony Reinke continues his interview with guest, D.A. Carson on the topic of sonship.

Pastor John urges Christians to remember the reward when loving others.

Can true, born-again Christians be devoured by Satan? No. Pastor John explains.

The joy of Jesus in us is the presence of the Holy Spirit himself. Pastor John explains.

Pastor John helps Christians drink deeper of the glories from the cross of Christ.

Conflicts will come between how Christ our King calls us to live and how our homeland expects us to live. Christians are first pilgrims, not patriots.

Christ was sinless, but he learned obedience while on earth. Pastor John explains.

The hour is coming. No one knows the time or day, but God has promised that Jesus is coming back. Are you ready?

Pastor John encourages Christians to seek the Lord for wisdom when it comes to medical treatment.

God has given us parents for a reason, but that does not mean that their word is the final and binding authority. That belongs to God.

Tony Reinke’s interview with Glenn Paauw dives into the pros and cons of contemporary Bible design.

God created man to have need for rest. Jesus' example provides us a framework for thinking theologizing rest and recreation.

Until we supremely value Christ, our attitude toward clothing will be controlled by forces that don’t honor God.

Tony Reinke interviews Michael Reeves on delighting in the Trinity.