My Former Greek Professor is in Ministry Transition…

 

Update on John Piper’s Transition

by David Mathis | March 27, 2012

 

Bethlehem Baptist is one step closer to commissioning John Piper from the local church pastorate to greater involvement with Bethlehem College and Seminary and to a wider ministry nationally and internationally through Desiring God.

The Bethlehem elders are announcing to the congregation their candidate for Associate Pastor for Preaching and Vision and, God willing, John Piper’s eventual successor as the church’s senior pastor.

Jason Meyer, 36-year-old Assistant Professor of New Testament for Bethlehem College and Seminary, is the elders’ recommendation for congregational consideration and vote at a special May 20 all-church meeting. Meyer is scheduled to preach three consecutive weekends — April 29, May 6, and May 13 — and answer questions in several venues before the May 20 decision. With approval and confirmation, he would begin the position August 1 and overlap with Piper at Bethlehem for about a year. In 2013, there will be a “second vote” to affirm Meyer’s transition to the role of senior pastor and commission Piper to the wider ministry.

This new development is one of the ongoing effects of Bethlehem’s “Antioch Moment,” announced by Piper less than a year ago. On April 9, 2011, Piper called the church to six weeks of focused prayer regarding his succession and the church’s structure and long-term funding. Meyer’s candidacy is a major piece in addressing these difficult questions posed during this important season in the life of the church.

“Setting Apart” Piper for Wider Ministry

One effect of such a transition is that the church is “setting apart” Piper (to use the language of Acts 13:2 and the “Antioch Moment”) from the heavy demands of pastoring a large and complicated multi-site church for more engagement in wider ministry through writing and speaking. Piper is anticipating that his involvement with Bethlehem College and Seminary and his broader ministry nationally and internationally will not decrease after the transition, but increase, perhaps considerably. Piper writes to the congregation,

There is an ever-increasing pull on my life to be involved in ministry outside Bethlehem. Much of this feels strategic to me for the cause of Christ. While I felt competent and energized to formulate plans for the structures of Bethlehem, this outside pull was secondary. But I sense that this is changing. It seems to me that the Lord is saying: “You have led Bethlehem to this point; it is time to hand off the internal leadership labors to another; I have a few other things yet for you to do.”

Writing has always been a calling. But it has been secondary to preaching at Bethlehem and to internal leadership at this church. . . . As my years go by I realize that there are writing projects that I think God wants me to finish. This adds to the pull I feel away from the demands of internal leadership at Bethlehem.

At this time, Piper is unsure precisely how his post-pastorate life will be proportioned. Once the transition is complete at Bethlehem, he and his wife Noël plan to spend some extended time away to consider the most strategic use of their next ten years, God willing, and for Piper to make headway on a few writing projects.

In general I can say that, if God gives me life and health, these years will involve my role as Chancellor of Bethlehem College and Seminary, and my role as founder and teacher for Desiring God. I love to teach seminary students, and I love to encourage and strengthen the God-centered, Christ-exalting, Bible-saturated vision of pastors. And I love to write. So some configuration of those loves is what I expect to see.

My life’s calling remains the same: I exist to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ. Pray that I will spend and be spent for this till I can speak and write no more.

(For Piper’s full explanation, see his letter to the congregation of questions and answers surrounding the transition.)

Introducing Jason Meyer

Meyer joined the faculty of Bethlehem College and Seminary in the Fall of 2010, bringing a wide range of teaching, writing, preaching, missions, and pastoral experience. He authored a book on the difference between the old covenant and the new covenant in the apostle Paul’s letters, titled The End of the Law: Mosaic Covenant in Pauline Theology (B&H Academic, 2009) and is presently writing Preaching: A Biblical Theology (Crossway, 2013).

Prior to coming to Bethlehem, Meyer was the Dean of Chapel and Assistant Professor of New Testament and Greek at Louisiana College in Pineville, Louisiana, from 2006–2009. He taught New Testament for the Spring 2010 semester in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at the Evangelical Theological College. Previously, he served as the pastor of Orville Baptist Church while completing a doctorate in New Testament at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.

Originally from South Dakota, Meyer studied at Bethlehem from 1999–2001 with The Bethlehem Institute (TBI), now Bethlehem College and Seminary (BCS). At BCS, Meyer has provided oversight in the area of New Testament and taught for the seminary in his areas of specialization: Paul’s epistles and theology, the Law and the New Testament, preaching, biblical theology, and Greek language.

Jason and his wife, Cara, have two daughters (Gracie and Allie), and two sons adopted from Ethiopia (David and Jonathan).

Please join us at Desiring God and Bethlehem in praying for God’s leading in this process, and for Jason Meyer and John Piper in particular at this crucial juncture in their ministries.

As We Age, May We Be More Fruitful. Don Carson and John Piper Turn 65 This Year!

Not Smoking Could Even Give Us an Edge on Schlatter!

May 19, 2011 | by: John Piper |

Don Carson and I turn 65 this year. Pondering this, I wrote about it with a list of some amazing accomplishments by people older than 65.

Robert Yarbrough, one of the editors of the just-published Don Carson Festschrift, took note of my celebration of senior accomplishments, and wrote to Don and me to remind us of a very productive octogenarian, Adolf Schlatter, a German biblical scholar who died on this day in 1938.

If you’re in your sixties or seventies get ready to be inspired. Here’s what Yarbrough wrote to us:

[May I remind you of] Schlatter’s 11th hour productivity—nine critical commentaries, for example, published around or after his 80th birthday.

In fact, he published 13 major works beginning in 1926—four years past his 70th birthday.

This does not count a large number of shorter or more popular works. Nor his university lectures and seminars, which continued until [he was eighty], I believe.

Since neither of you smokes cigars at the rate he did (unless your Spurgeon sympathies are even more comprehensive than I am aware), you may well have even higher energy levels for even more years. May God grant it!

If you’re interested, here’s a list (PDF) of all his major works and when he wrote them.

What Is Present When Kneeling to Pray in Jesus’ Name

February 24, 2011 | by: John Piper at DesiringGod

Here’s what is present when we kneel to pray in Jesus’ name:

1. God the Father on his throne sovereign over the universe, with a welcoming, countenance focused on us.

2. God the Son in his high priestly role, standing as advocate before the throne as a Lamb that was slain with perfect righteousness and with all God’s promises purchased fully in his hand interceding for us.

3. God the Spirit within us, having already inclined us to pray, poised to guide our prayers, put to death our sins, awaken our faith, illumine God’s word, and produce his fruit.

4. The word of God open before us, inspired by God, alive with penetrating power for conviction of sin and indomitable hope, revealing the Father, the Son, and the Spirit to our souls, shaping and guiding our prayers after God’s will.

5. Our sin forgiven, but humbling us to need and love our merciful saving God.

6. God’s grace like a great rainbow of hope arcing from the throne to our soul.

7. Our will captured by these realities, moving words (or only groans) up out of our mind (or only heart) to God with praise and thanks and confession and requests.

John Piper on “Pray without Ceasing”

What Does It Mean to “Pray without Ceasing”?

By Trevin Wax on Dec 27, 2010

John Piper interprets Paul’s challenging command:

“Praying without ceasing” means at least three things.

First, it means that there is a spirit of dependence that should permeate all we do. This is the very spirit and essence of prayer. So, even when we are not speaking consciously to God, there is a deep, abiding dependence on him that is woven into the heart of faith. In that sense, we “pray” or have the spirit of prayer continuously.

Second – and I think this is what Paul has in mind most immediately – praying without ceasing means praying repeatedly and often. I base this on the use of the word “without ceasing” in Romans 1:9, where Paul says, “For God is my witness, who I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you.” Now we can be sure that Paul did not mention the Romans every minute of his waking life, or even every minute of his prayers. He prayed about many other things. But he mentioned them over and over, and often. So “without ceasing” doesn’t mean that, verbally or mentally, we have to be speaking prayers every minute of the day in the fight for joy. It means we should pray over and over, and often. Our default mental state should be: “O God, help…”

Third, praying without ceasing means not giving up on prayer. Don’t ever come to a point in your life where you cease to pray at all. Don’t abandon the God of hope and say, “There’s no use praying.” Jesus is very jealous for us to learn this lesson. One of his parables is introduced by the words, “And he told them a parable to the effect tha tthey ought always to pray and not lose heart. He knew our experience in prayer would tempt us to quit altogether. So he, along with the apostle Paul, says, Never lose heart. Go on praying. Don’t cease.

- John Piper, When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight For Joy, 157.

A Book in Honor of John Piper Was Presented to Him at the Desiring God National Conference

A Tribute to a Faithful Pastor with an Extraordinary God
Crossway, Friends, & Colleagues Celebrate the Life and Ministry of John Piper at the DG National Conference 2010

Nearly 30 years ago a young man with a grand view of the supremacy and glory of God stepped into the pulpit at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis. From that day, John Piper’s ministry has been marked by dynamic preaching, Christ-honoring writing, and compassionate pastoring which have influenced millions—magnifying God’s glory and encouraging the pursuit of joy in Christ. “Pastors like this do not come along very often,” expresses David Wells, Distinguished Research Professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. “And when they do, we need to take note.”

Today at the 2010 Desiring God National Conference, Crossway was pleased to recognize John Piper and thank God for his life, work, and ministry with the release of For the Fame of God’s Name: Essays in Honor of John Piper. Presented by editors Sam Storms and Justin Taylor, this 542 page festschrift includes 27 essays from Piper’s close friends and colleagues.

Despite early hesitation that Piper might not be enthusiastic about being honored in this way, Storms says, “We are unapologetic about wanting to honor John and to express our love and appreciation for his many productive years of ministry. Our lives have been greatly affected by his and we felt the time had come to say thank you in the best we knew how: by inviting several of John’s close friends and coworkers to interact rigorously and biblically with his theology in such a way that the God who has made himself known to us in Jesus Christ would be gloriously magnified.”

For the rest of the post…

Do We Savor Jesus Christ?

In the Preface of John Piper‘s book, Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ, he writes…

I invite you to join me in this serious quest fro well-founded, everlasting, love-producing joy.  Everything is at stake.  There is no more important issue in life than seeing Jesus for who he really is and savoring what we see above all else (17).

May that be our prayer as we long for revival in our lives and churches.

Expository Preaching is Essential for Revival!

Desiring God Blog

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God’s Word, Good Exposition, Great Joy, Much Strength

(Author: John Piper)

Here’s another reason I am joyfully committed to expository exultation, that is, preaching.

Look at this amazing statement of what biblical exposition is like when it’s done well—in the power of God’s Spirit and riveted on biblical texts.

Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people…. [T]he Levites helped the people to understand the Law…. They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading…. And all the people went their way…to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them. (Nehemiah 8:5-8,12)

First, there was a reader of the word of God. Then there were those who explained the words. Then there was true understanding in the minds of the people. Then there was great rejoicing “because they hand understood the words.”

It is astonishing to me how many pastors apparently don’t believe in pursuing the joy of their people in this way. Evidently they think it doesn’t work. I’m sure there are many reasons for this abandonment of biblical exposition.

But I simply want to wave the flag and say: There was joy then. And there is joy today when God’s people see real, divine meaning in texts that they had not seen before.

If you want to see a strong church, keep in mind that it is no accident that in this very context the writer says, “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).

What joy? The joy of verse 12: “All the people went their way…to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.”

God’s truth followed by faithful, Spirit-anointed exposition, leads to great joy, which is the strength of God’s people. So give the sense, brothers. Give the sense!