One of the great privileges of being a Christian in this age is to be able to have access to some of the best preaching happening today over the internet. Today I would like to point you over to the website of John Piper: a preacher, author, poet and thinker who has deeply impacted my own life. A good place to start (especially as this is a Christian arts blog!) is perhaps with one of his stories.
The Donkey, the Stallion, and the Strategy of the Hills
In this simple story told on Palm Sunday to his congregation, we are reminded as the King reminds his own servants:
Though arrogance and rage assail
Conspiracy will not prevail.
In death recall unerringly
That you will always reign with me
It’s a beautiful tale – if you can listen to the audio rather than simply reading then you are treated to hear the passion that Piper puts into all of his sermons, and the deep heart-knowledge he has of the glory of God. The preaching right across this site is very powerful and very varied in subject – covering huge issues such as biblical authority or God’s salvation plan, and also very earthy issues like spiritual depression in the Psalms, or struggles with anxiety, pride or envy. He also does a fantastic series of biographies of wonderful lives lived for God in the past, and what lessons we can take from them.
Finally, this is a poem that almost leads me to cry each time I hear it – a look at the consequence of Jesus’ birth for the Innkeeper who gave him somewhere to stay. What a costly birth Jesus’ was – please listen to this and be humbled:
- Stephen
