Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist

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Multnomah, 2011 - Religion - 411 pages

THE MODERN CLASSIC THAT HAS TRANSFORMED OUR UNDERSTANDING OF HOW WE RELATE TO GOD.

For 25 years, pastor John Piper has been provoking Christians with the simple but paradigm-shattering truth that "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him."
Satisfaction. Happiness. Joy. The pursuit of pleasure in God is not only permissible; it's essential.
Building his message on hundreds of Scriptures, especially from the Psalms, the apostle Paul, and Jesus himself--and echoing the likes of Blaise Pascal, Jonathan Edwards, and C.S. Lewis--Piper beckons us to approach God with the hedonist's abandon. Finally, we are freed to enjoy Jesus not only as our Lord and Savior, but also our all-surpassing, soul-satisfying Treasure.
As important today as ever, "Desiring God" may turn your Christian world upside down. And that will be a good thing, for the glory of God, and for your deepest joy.
This 25th-anniversary reference edition includes an updated introduction by John Piper, appendices and supplemental resources, and brief testimonials from readers profoundly affected by "Desiring God.
"I do not come to the Bible with a hedonistic theory of moral justification. On the contrary, I find in the Bible a divine command to be a pleasure-seeker--that is, to forsake the two-bit, low-yield, short-term, never-satisfying, person-destroying, God-belittling pleasures of the world and to sell everything 'with joy' (Matthew 13:44) in order to have the kingdom of heaven and thus 'enter into the joy of your master' (Matthew 25:21). In short, I am a Christian Hedonist not for any philosophical or theoretical reason, but because God commands it (though He doesn't command that you use these labels!)....
"Only one thing ultimately matters: glorifying God the way He has appointed. That is why I am a Christian Hedonist. That is why I wrote this book."
--"John Piper ""

 

Contents

How I Became a Christian Hedonist
17
Foundation for Christian Hedonism
31
The Creation of a Christian Hedonist
53
The Feast of Christian Hedonism
77
The Labor of Christian Hedonism
111
Kindling for Christian Hedonism
143
The Power of Christian Hedonism
159
The Currency of Christian Hedonism
185
A Matrix for Christian Hedonism
205
The Battle Cry of Christian Hedonism
223
The Sacrifice of Christian Hedonism
253
Copyright

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About the author (2011)

John Piper is an internationally known pastor and author. He serves as pastor for preaching at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is a graduate of Wheaton College, Fuller Theological Seminary, and the University of Munich, Germany (Doctor of Theology). Winner of three Gold Medallion book awards, he has written over forty books, including "Future Grace, A Godward Life, The Dangerous Duty of Delight, " and "The Pleasures of God." John and his wife, Noel, have five children and an increasing number of grandchildren.

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