Ask Pastor John

When do our hobbies glorify God, and when do they become a wartime waste? Pastor John offers three guiding questions to ask of any hobby.

What do the Scriptures say about communicating with dead ancestors? Pastor John explains four truths about God and the sufficiency of his revelation.

With so much at stake in the fight against abortion, can pro-life advocates use doctrinal falsehoods to persuade parents to keep their babies?

Intelligence without affection is barren, mechanical — even artificial. Pastor John reflects on his ministry in the light of developing AI technologies.

Given Paul’s command to “rejoice always,” do we sin when we lack joy? Pastor John offers a simple answer with three crucial qualifications.

Genuine joy in God is far deeper than a choice we make. Even so, our actions can help or hinder the spontaneous experience of joy.

Can new-covenant Christians claim old-covenant promises? As long as we keep some key distinctions in mind, we not only can, but should.

God has not left us without evidence for the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. But evidence alone will never open the eyes of the blind.

God-centered theology can raise all kinds of questions about God’s love for us. Pastor John asks and answers nine of them.

If the penalty for sin is eternal punishment, how could Jesus’s finite sufferings pay the price of our redemption?

Why did Jesus leave earth after his resurrection? Pastor John gives six reasons for Jesus’s ascension to the Father’s right hand.

If Christ has not been raised, Paul says, then Christians are “of all people most to be pitied.” But why should we be pitied when we live with such joy?

“God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.” What does Pastor John mean when he talks about “satisfaction in God”?

Christ is our rest on Monday as well as Sunday. But how do we experience the peaceful rest of Jesus in the midst of our labors?

The doctrines of grace are designed to destroy human boasting. So, what can we do if we find our theology becoming a platform for pride?

At least six biblical pointers give us reason to expect some kind of work in the age to come. But whatever eternity holds, it will be a future beyond disappointment.

Rich doctrine makes the heart sing. So, where might Christians start if they want to read time-tested, soul-deepening books?

With so many demands on our time, why should we carve out precious minutes for books? Pastor John gives seven reasons he loves to read.

When life is hard and heaven seems silent, how can God’s people still feel his love? Pastor John offers six reminders for those in spiritual darkness.

How important is unconditional election for the Christian life? Pastor John offers ten reasons why Christians need this crucial doctrine.

Anyone who preaches for long will find his preaching criticized — sometimes unfairly, but often wisely. Pastor John shares ten criticisms that have shaped him.

If Jesus and his apostles promised that faithful Christians would suffer, how can comfortable disciples make sense of their experience?

The Bible rings with the language of pleasure and joy in God. But how can we explain that pleasure and joy in ways non-Christian loved ones may understand?

World evangelization would spread more quickly, it may seem, if God had chosen the wise and powerful. So, why did he choose the foolish and weak instead?

When doubts disrupt our Bible reading, how can we resist the inner skeptic? Pastor John offers six ways to fight for faith in daily devotions.

Seasons of doubt may afflict our minds and shake our hearts, but they need not take our joy. Beneath the waves of doubt, joy’s deep waters can still remain calm.

The New Testament seems to connect the person of the Holy Spirit with the joy we experience as believers. But how do the two relate to each other?

If you want to prepare for the unknown controversies of tomorrow, know your Bible deeply, thoroughly, confidently, joyfully.

Some Christians identify spirituality with gifts like speaking in tongues and healing. Does that view match the Bible’s own description of truly spiritual people?

If we are in Christ, then God has saved us from our sins in the past, and he will save us from his wrath in the future. But in what sense is he saving us right now?

How can we celebrate the good we see without succumbing to flattery? Pastor John traces a key distinction between godly and ungodly praise.

God is self-existent and self-sufficient, far beyond any need or lack. So, what can we give to God when we gather for corporate worship?

The command to “serve the Lord” appears all through Scripture — but Scripture also assures us that God has no needs. So, how do we serve an all-sufficient God?

For some, forgiving family from the heart may be one of the hardest steps of obedience. Pastor John offers five ways forward when forgiveness feels impossible.

Sibling rivalries have fractured families since Cain and Abel. So, how does God work redemptively between siblings, and how might parents do their part to promote peace?

Increasingly, parachurch ministries are allowing women to occupy positions of spiritual authority once reserved for men. Do they have biblical warrant to do so?

In Isaiah, God promises that “the former things shall not be remembered” in the new creation. Will we really have no memory of this age in the age to come?

Why do so many of us reach instinctively for our phones in the morning? Pastor John identifies six temptations and points to a better way to begin our day.

How can a preacher faithfully call out a culture’s sins while still sounding the dominant note of amazement at the glories of God in Christ?

How can we recognize what Paul calls “an unhealthy craving for controversy” in ourselves and others? Pastor John identifies six traits of a controversy-loving spirit.

“The laborer deserves his wages” — including those who labor in preaching and teaching. But how might a church decide what a pastor’s wages should be?

In Paul’s elder qualifications, he seems to assume that pastors will be married. So how should churches assess the qualification of a single man who wants to pastor?

Why does Paul call Christians to pray for kings and other political rulers — and what specifically might we ask God to do in them and through them?

In a world filled with wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes and famines, a right understanding of the end times can bring stability to anxious minds.

When Jesus returns, he will magnify the radiance of his glory by multiplying our own joy in that glory. We will happily marvel, and he will forever shine.

If we’re going to rejoice in even the worst circumstances, then we need clear and strong reasons for why God wills suffering for the children he loves.

Tony Reinke shares two upcoming changes to ‘Ask Pastor John’ in light of a brand-new John Piper sermon podcast called ‘Light + Truth.’

Throughout the New Testament, Jesus and the apostles draw some profound connections between the glorious second coming and our ordinary everyday lives.

On May 19, 2023, Tim Keller entered the reward of his Master. In this special episode of Ask Pastor John, Tony Reinke shares a sermon clip from Dr. Keller on the joy of God in the face of cancer.

Discussions of the second coming often spiral into speculation — or misconception. Pastor John explains five mistaken beliefs about Christ’s return.