William Petruzzo

If John Piper wrote a book about a mystical journey to rescue a doomed kingdom, it’s unlikely that I would read it. But, lucky for all of us, he doesn’t write books like that. The Pleasures of God nearly sums up the benefit we all enjoy. Even though this book is hard to read, Piper’s thoughts are too important to miss.

The Pleasures of God is self-describing. It’s about the pleasures of God. Plain and simple.

The book is broken down into ten chapters; The pleasure of God in His Son, the pleasure of God in all he does, the pleasure of God in his creation, the pleasure of God in his fame, the pleasure of God in election, the pleasure of God in bruising his son, the pleasure of God in doing good to all who hope in him, the pleasure of God in the prayers of the upright, the pleasure of God in personal obedience and public justice, and the pleasure of God in concealing himself from the wise and revealing himself to infants.

Each chapter is an extended treatise on one of God’s specific pleasures. Each chapter is an exegetical endeavor over a single verse, from which Piper explores an impressive expanse of scriptural thought.

The first four chapters deal directly with God’s complete self-sufficiency. Or, God’s pleasure in himself, to be brief. Then, over the next two chapters, he begins to explore God’s pleasure in his interaction with us. Finally, in the last four chapters, Piper moves into God’s pleasure in his people. The breakdown, says Piper, is crucial because before we can rightly be affected by God’s pleasure in us, we must understand and appreciate God’s pleasure in himself.

The Pleasures of God explores many of the same concepts as Desiring God does, but it approaches them with a eye to more thorough theology. At least partially at the fault of Piper’s writing style, The Pleasures of God took nearly twice as long for me to read as did Desiring God. But, that complaint should be taken with a grain of salt because I believe the extra effort was absolutely worth it. Piper approaches with passion and integrity concepts that many attempt to keep under the carpet.

As with Desiring God and most of Piper’s literature, his style can feel somewhat cumbersome at times. Light readers, or readers without very much resolve, will probably find themselves frustrated by his style, and The Pleasures of God is no exception. In fact, it’s probably even more prevalent. To get through this one, a commitment to learn from Piper’s teaching will be necessary. Although, in my view, the benefits are invaluable.

The Pleasures of God is an indispensable work that the church today needs to hear. However, most will have difficulty with this one. Therefore, for the average reader, I suggest they seek first Desiring God. If after they, a fire has set beneath them to continue, The Pleasures of God is a must. If however, you’re a more ambitious and committed reader, go right for The Pleasures of God. You won’t regret it.

What am I?

The grass says,

“I am grass. I am green.
but I wish I were that grass; greener.”

The wood says,

“I am wood. I am hard.
but I wish I were stone; harder.”

The song says,

“I am a song. I sound sweet.
but I wish I were a love song; sweeter.”

The man says,

“I am human. I am useful.
but I wish I were you; just you.”

But the grass,
The grass knows better.

In the chapter on God’s pleasure in the prayers of the righteous, John Piper has this to say. From The Pleasures of God:

“My hope is that a desperate sinner, who lives in a Death Valley desert of unrighteousness, hangs on this biblical truth: that God is the kind of God who will be pleased with the one thing I have to offer–my thirst. That is why the sovereign freedom and self-sufficiency of God are so precious to me: they are the foundation of my hope that God is delighted not by… resourcefulness… but by the bending down of broken sinners to drink at the fountain of grace.”

The whole context around that statement is Piper’s take on the tho views of God’s pleasures. Do we see God as a kind of watering trough, which, when drank from, empties. Or, do we view God as a mountain spring, which is always self-replenishing and satisfying? If we see God as a trough, then he is pleased when we serve him by refilling the water. But, if we see God as a mountain spring, then he is pleased when we simply enjoy him.

I find this analogy, and Piper’s statement powerful. While I consistently fall at the weakness of my knees, the Father is not pleased chiefly by my willpower to stand. He’s pleased mostly by my desire that he would help me to stand.

Tim Keller’s, The Reason for God, is one of the best books I’ve read–ever. Maybe it’s because I have a philosophical mind, or maybe it’s because I’m just a sucker for apologetics. Either way, The Reason for God is an absolute winner. Here’s my take on why.

I saw this book on the bookshelf at the store long before I knew anything about Keller, his ministry, or this book. The title perplexed me and kind of annoyed me. I read it like, “The reason that God is”, or “what purpose does God serve us”. But, I interpreted the title wrong. Maybe reading the subtitle would have helped. The title is saying, “The Reason, the logic, the reasonableness of the idea of God”.

The Reason for God is divided into fourteen chapters, in two sections. The first seven chapters deal with the negative side of belief. Basically, making the argument that it’s not unreasonable to believe in God. He lays out the arguments, or “clues” for God without necessarily arguing that anyone should believe. In the second seven chapters, he moves into the positive side of belief. Not only seeing belief in God as reasonable, but belief in the Christian God as a better explanation than any alternative.

The book is written for believers and skeptics alike. Few authors can do this successfully. Usually it hits the mark on one and misses the other, or vice versa. Not so with The Reason for God. Well, I think anyway. Keller writes encouragingly to the believer and sympathetically to the skeptic. In the beginning chapters of the book, he argues that all world views require leaps of faith and encourages understanding and compassion to people who’ve taken different leaps.

Keller has been compared to CS Lewis, and it’s not hard to see why. His literary style is compelling, but easy to read. He has a manner of taking very large, philosophical ideas and makes them manageable and easy to digest. Much like Lewis in Mere Christianity. It’s not an unexpected comparison either–Keller is consistently quoting Lewis (as well as many, many other authors and thinkers).

All in all, The Reason for God will challenge, encourage, enlighten and entertain. I recommend that the curious and the decided alike take the time to read this book. Talk, think, share and then read some more.

Especially in an age like ours, this book should be read by everyone.

In the final chapter of Tim Keller’s The Reason for God, he makes the argument that the God found in Christianity is the only religion in which you find a doctrine that leads logically to believe God is a God of love–an idea that would be necessarily absent from other religious views. He has this to say:

“But what if there is a God? Does love fair any better? It depends on who you think God is. If God is unipersonal, then until God created beings there was no love, since love is something that one person has for another. This means that a unipersonal God was power, sovereignty, and greatness from all eternity, but not love. Love then is not part of the essence of God, nor is it at the heart of the universe. Power is primary… However, if God is triune, then loving relationships in community are the “great fortune… at the center of reality.”

What exactly does Keller mean? He means that in order for God to “be love”, he would have to exist in more than one person. In essence, he would have to be biune (if that’s a word), or triune or something more. But he could not be “unipersonal”.

This makes the Trinity a profoundly logical doctrine and really the only logical deduction when we view God as a being defined largely by his love. This is the first time I’ve heard this argument made. It’s still turning in my mind.

I just got home from a nearly two hour conversation about church practice and theory. Not by any means a bad conversation, however, in all that time, it’s easy to become distracted from the heart of ecclesiological doctrines. I thought the quotation of this old hymn was in order.

There is more substance in the four minute hymn written by by Samuel Stone over 100 years ago, The Church’s One Foundation. It’s a nearly complete history and ecclesiology.

The church’s one foundation
Is Jesus Christ her Lord,
She is His new creation
By water and the Word.
From heaven He came and sought her
To be His holy bride;
With His own blood He bought her,
And for her life He died.

Elect from every nation,
Yet one over all the earth;
Her charter of salvation,
One Lord, one faith, one birth;
One holy Name she blesses,
Partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses,
With every grace endued.

Though with a scornful wonder
Men see her sore oppressed,
By schisms rent asunder,
By heresies distressed,
Yet saints their watch are keeping;
Their cry goes up, "How long?"
And soon the night of weeping
Shall be the morn of song.

The church shall never perish,
Her dear Lord to defend
To guide, sustain and cherish,
Is with her to the end
Though there be those that hate her,
And false sons in her pale
Against a foe or traitor,
She ever shall prevail

Mid toil and tribulation,
And tumult of her war,
She waits the consummation
Of peace forevermore;
‘Til, with the vision glorious,
Her longing eyes are blessed,
And the great church victorious
Shall be the church at rest.

Yet she on earth hath union
With God the Three in One,
And mystic sweet communion
With those whose rest is won.
O happy ones and holy!
Lord, give us grace that we
Like them, the meek and lowly,
On high may dwell with Thee.

The Past couple days I’ve been listening to various recordings of the hymn I Need Thee Every Hour. My favorite so far is the version found on Indelible Grace’s album “Side A”. But, regardless, the lyrics are rich and soothing. I’m hung on the line, "…teach me Thy will; And Thy rich promises in me fulfill”.

I Need Thee Every Hour

I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.
I need Thee every hour, stay Thou nearby;
Temptations lose their power when Thou art nigh.

I need Thee, O I need Thee;
O I need Thee every hour;
I need you Lord, O bless me now,
My Savior, I come to Thee.

I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide, or life is vain
I need Thee every hour, teach me Thy will;
And Thy rich promises in me fulfill

I need Thee every hour, most Holy One;
O make me Thine indeed, Thou blessed Son

I need Thee every hour,
I need Thee every hour,
I need Thee every hour,
I need Thee every hour.

Life flows from God, flows from God.
To the weak man, to the hurt.
Life flows from God, flows from God.
To the addicted, to the questioner.
Life flows from God, flows from God.
To the poor, to the homeless.
Life flows from God, flows from God.
To the drug dealer, to the prostitutes.
Life flows from God, flows from God.
To Iraq, to Afghanistan.
Life flows from God, flows from God.
To Africa, every country in Africa.
Life flows from God, flows from God.
To all across the world, His creation is His.
Life flows from God, flows from God.

-Charlie Hall, “You Are God”, from Passion 2007

If you’re still breathing, then God has specifically, personally, purposefully caused it. If you’re heart is still pumping, then the Almighty has sovereignly commanded that organ not to stop. If blood still flows through your veins, then the Rock of Ages has decreed from all eternity that, this moment, nothing stand in its way.

Every inhale, every exhale, every blink, sniff, cough, sneeze, itch and ache, is a persistent, driving mercy and grace from a good God, who’s infallible intentions for his children are good and Always Good.

Life does indeed flow from God.

In Piper’s The Pleasures of God, he quotes Patrick Johnstone. The quotation is profound. I absolutely had to share it. Piper quotes:

“We are being compelled to return to a more biblical and radical position—that of being a minority in the world not of it… The church deprived of political power is free from the burden of trying to use human power to dominate and influence the world… Our reference point is not territorial or church growth aggrandizement, but building a kingdom that is not of this world, yet which will fill the earth as a contrasting alternative society. We need to return to the concept of a pilgrim Church, the church that will be hated, rejected, despised, persecuted, yet be an incisive, decisive, victorious minority which one day soon, will be ready for its heavenly Bridegroom as the perfected Bride.”

Holy crap. Seriously. “The church deprived of political power is free from the burden of trying to use human power to dominate and influence the world” . Lets take a minute and digest that one. I’m not even sure I fully understand the ramification of that idea, however, it’s compelling and attractive and at the same time frightening.

I suppose that should God deem fit to give us political power, it would be a grace that we ought to steward properly. But, it seems that perhaps we haven’t and that grace is being removed.

Today marks the 365th day of daily, consecutive blogging—without missing a single day! I’m like a hero. Alright, Well maybe not. But regardless, I am proud of myself for sticking to it. But, I admit, I’m a bit compulsive. Usually I like to do things in even increments. Like for example, if I’m going to take a walk, I want to walk one whole block, or five whole blocks. I wouldn’t like to walk two and a half blocks, then get picked up by someone.

So, with this blog, I’m presented with quite a paradox. I’m pleased that it’s now been one even year of blogging, but I’m distressed that it’s an uneven 365 days. What’s a compulsive person to do? I suppose I’ll be trapped in a cycle of blogging until the day I die.

Anyway, In the interest of this post being as much like tv-show-flashback-special as possible, I thought it would be an appropriate to recall a few of the posts over the last year that we especially well read or liked or hated or whatever. So, here we go.

December 18th, 2007 - Top 10 Seriously Epic Songs

This was originally posted on my blog hosted on Wordpress.com before I switched over to my own server. This was written mostly as a pseudo-inside joke between some friends who love to dub things as "epic" with a unique definition of the word. Since it was written last year, it’s had about 4,000 readers. Pretty weird.

June 21st, 2008 - A Good Bible Reading Plan to Plan on Reading

John Piper recommended the Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan in his book When I Don’t Desire God (reviewed here). I tried it out and found it to be quite fantastic. This post was a write up encouraging others to try it also. Since then, quite a few people I know have (although I can’t necessarily take credit for that). I’m still using it, and still loving it.

April 21st, 2008 - Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

The documentary Expelled came out earlier this year, I wrote a fond review of the film, citing that it made some good points. But, within hours of posting it a small war broke out in the comments field of the post. I attempted to put a calm on the topic, but reason and personal relations were lost on the comment authors. I ended up deleting the entire thread of inflammatory comments and their retorts (including mine) and closing down commenting on the post altogether. That action however made me into a suspect of being part of the gigantic conspiracy to suppress science in then name of religion (Hmm, news to me). The flurry of negative attention was surprising and a tad comical, but nevertheless, lesson learned: turn the comments field off on all hugely controversial topics. No sense in cultivating irresolvable controversies.

April 24th, 2008 - 10 Ideas for Better Study & Devotion

I can’t remember where the idea for this post was born out of, but I got a fair amount of positive feedback, both in the comments field and in person from folk’s who’d read it. The gist was to share some of the practical things that have helped me, and people I know, to enjoy better times reading the bible and praying.

November 15th, 2007 - The Ever-Being in the Center

This is kind of a prose that was born after finishing CS Lewis’ The Great Divorce. I’m not sure I recall exactly how the inspiration came from that, perhaps just literary style. But, regardless, it was one of the writings that inspired me to start a blog in the first place. It’s still something I’m pleased with, even though I’ve never gone back and made modifications.

Well, I think that about does it for this year.  Check out these hi-lights and drop in your opinion, if you want. As for me, it looks like I’ll keep on blogging every day–at least until we get the calendar officially changed so that a year is an even 400 days!

Bah, good luck with that!