Capitulo 3 – Exaltando solo en la cruz, el centro ardiente de la gloria de Dios

After taking notes from group discussion, and gathering everyone's thoughts, I personalized the following...

This chapter is more focused and more practical, and it is a way to adapt the knowledge of the encouragement of Paul to our daily lives.

What does boasting means? There are two views, the secular one which refers to the self, like showing off. The Christian view of boasting is on the cross, meaning that we are dead to this world and that we should only boast on the amazing display of God’s grace on the cross through His son Jesus. As Piper notes, “boast” can be translated to “exult in” or “rejoice in”. And his encouragement is for us to live a single passion boasting and rejoicing on the cross.

Piper also talks about “tragedy in the making”, when people pursue the dreamed retiring life, having a house in the beach and collecting sea shells. At the same time, on Chapter 2, Piper states that to glorify God is to take delight and enjoy this life at the fullness. What is the difference between these two ways of living life?

Going deeper into this single passion (in Latin, it means “willing to suffer for”), what is it to practically live out this single passion? Can we purely have only one single passion in our lives? Because of our sinful nature, we cannot perfectly achieve to have only one passion, as every single individual has different struggles to overcome. But Romans 12 states to “offer ourselves as living sacrifices” and to be “transformed by the renewal of our minds” that indicates that this is indeed a continuing process. Through this, we can let God work in us so that we can solely focus on Him, and glorify Him in all we do. A practical way is to take Chapter 2, to delight in God in good times and even in bad times (God turned this into goodness). To live a lifestyle of rejoicing in God in every circumstance is what I have experienced to keep alive this single passion in my heart.

Where does this passion come from? It is already there? Or it needs to be built up? Well, I believe that it is from God, as “Christ’s love compels us” (2 Corinthians 14) to do all the things we do for Him. But at the same time, it requires our part to surrender to God in this continuing process so that through the power of Holy Spirit, this passion can grow stronger. Paul encourage us to “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” (Philippians 2:12-13).

The main challenge is to die for Christ. What does it mean? Galatians 2:20 is very clear with the fact that our old self is dead on the cross, while the life we live now is by faith in Christ. The key is faith, as it is by faith and through the Spirit that we obtain righteousness that we hope (Galatians 5:5). This is the first step, to have faith and cling to this hope so that we can persevere in this continuing process of dying ourselves. It is a life process, as I continue to stab my pride and self-righteousness with a knife everyday, and as I continue to give up my rights to be angry, to complain, and to claim what I deserve. Indeed, a big challenge and sacrifice as Jesus said “to deny himself and take up the cross and follow him [Christ]”. This is a tough road to walk, but as we die ourselves, we are gaining the fullness of life in Christ, which is far surpassing better than anything else.

So yeah:

• Rejoice in all circumstances
• Treat life as a gift of God
• Pursue specific ways (or ask for a vision) that this single passion can be fully expressed

Glorifying God

With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12

chapter deux

You are right Jon -- press on, press on! But I hope you are not equating the Holy Spirit with coffee. For one, the Spirit is much better for your health. :)

We started out by clarifying what message(s) Piper is trying to bring through in this section. It can get a little convoluted sometimes, as he weaves us in and out of his experiences and lessons. but the first half talks of the importance of recognizing the Bible as objective Truth -- not something we can freely apply to our personal situations as we see fit. You will all definitely hear more about this during Sunday's Doctrine talk!

Piper explains the influence Edwards had on him, and how the two "contradictions" finally came together for him -- glorifying God and pursuing happiness is not either/or. It is the SAME thing, because "if my life was to have a single, all-satisfying, unifying passion, it would have to be God's passion...[and] God's passion was the display of his own glory and the delight of my heart" (28).

Like Ken said, that is such a simple & obvious statement... so TRUE...but how often have you thought about it like that?? God wants the best for you -- so he wants you to have Himself. To delight in His glory, and to glorify Him, because He is the best!

If your life is not spent glorifying God & boasting solely in the cross of Christ, then you are not pursuing the best. Your life is wasted.

Well, I think I will leave the responsibility of sharing your own sharings to each of you (does that make any sense?) because my brain is starting to shut down :P We talked about some favourite passages and similes used in this chapter. And we delved into "how can you discern God's will for your life?" which is why I sent out those emails with further resources to check out.

The passage that resonated with me the most was the following (when reading it, I thought, "I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THAT'S LIKE!"):
I felt like my little brown path of life had entered an orchard, a vineyard, a garden with mind-blowing, heart-thrilling, life-changing fruit to be picked everywhere. Never had I seen so much truth and so much beauty condensed in so small a sphere. The Bible seemed to me then, and it seems today, inexhaustible.

When the Spirit starts aligning your perspective with God's as presented in His Word, the result is phenomenal! It's happened gradually to me for the last few years, but really picked up in the past 2 years or so. If this has not been your experience, PRAY to God that He would grant you the same. He listens to the persistent prayers of the righteous, and you will be changed.

Goodbye little brown path of life!

Karen heart coffee?

hummm...I was wondering why Karen likes coffee so much even put the image on top of this site!? But now I see why, because coffee make us awake, make us aware of life!! so kind of related.
p.s. very thoughtful Karen =)

Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:14

WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE UP!! "Toward what is ahead"....Be award that there is a much bigger dream then the "American dream", as Carmen mentioned. Keep running and running...run run run..."press on toward the goal"....Perhaps it is another clue for us to figure what is the Real purpose of life. This is the call from God, is to display His glory. Thanks john pipper..haha

I know it is not easy!! and I always get distracted...Ahhhhhh.....thats why we can't do it alone, but with the help of the Holy Spirit. So yea...coffee coffee...I need COFFEE!!

if I'd known that those notes were going up on "The Internet"...

... I might've wasted more time trying to polish things up a bit. :)
Isn't that what we all do to some extent? Spend time ensuring that our best foot is forward when we think it counts. But when does it really count? Is that time well-spent?
Just some thoughts. Not to say that sending you updates is unimportant.

I think... I just wanted to post something. Haven't done so in a looong time (*tumbleweed*).
This layout is so refreshing. I feel like I'm having a coffee with you, Karen (and everyone else). :)

Alright, here's something of substance so your time reading this is not wasted.
(from the intro to the study guide of DWYL)
A newly retired couple moves to New Mexico to spend their twilight years on the golf course. A middle-aged man labors all day at the ofice to make enough money to provide his family with a nice house in a safe neighborhood and un vacations in the summer. A young student enters college in hopes of gaining the education and skills needed to have a good career. Is this all there is to life? Or did God make us for something greater than the America Dream?

It is our conviction that God did indeed create us for more than the American Dream. Nevertheless, millions of people waste their lives in pursuit of the vain trappings of this world because they never discover the simple, obvious, glorious, biblical reality that "[God's] steadfast love is better than life" (Psalm 63:3). They are never gripped by the truth that "to live is Christ, to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21) ...

Our prayer is that God would use this [book] to awaken in you a consuming desire to not throw your life away on "fatal success." Our desire is that Jesus Christ would explode into your life, unite your fractured dreams and fragmented heart, and produce a single, whole, all-embracing passion for his name. And then our hope is that in this passion you would be set free from small dreams and weak visions, that you would lay down your life for the cause of Christ in the world. As Jesus said, "Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it" (Mark 8:35).

For many, the American Dream is still something to chase after. It's not a vision only for Italian immigrants from the 1950s when they first set eyes upon NYC's Statue of Liberty, as mainstream media would have you believe. Are you falling prey to that "dream"?

Prologue and Chapter 1- A Single Passion to Live By

Discussion Notes:

We had a good start tonight, mainly talking about why we chose to join this book study, how the title interests us (cuz really -- who wants to waste their life?), a favourite section or idea presented in the preface & chapter 1. We looked at the chapter titles and discussed which one(s) we are looking forward to reading... e.g. James is looking forward to chapter 10 already to see what prayer Piper is talking about ;) Jon wants to know what kind of "Risk is right"; Jorge mentioned chapter 2, the Beauty of Christ, my Joy (Philippians!); I'd like to see what Piper has to say about "The Majesty of Christ in Missions and Mercy"

Miscellaneous comments:

-what does it mean to "lose your life" for Christ's sake? Because we are made holy through Him, we are to be set apart, die to your old self & sinful desires. Perhaps some of us will die in the service of Christ.
-love the first 3 words of the Preface
-the question of "whether something is permissible" should fade... remember what Cal taught us many years ago, that we should stop peering over the edge ("if i take one more step, will I fall? hmmm") and instead run towards the centre & core of safety --the main thing, the essential thing
-throughout history, not just the present day or even the recent decades, humans have tried to creat their own meaning/purpose ... these days it just has a new name, "postmoderism"
-often (especially if you are in arts, apparently!) school really does teach you the obvious... or if not in content, then at least in experience. What is human nature? how does our world work / not work? What's real? What are the illusions?
-C.S. Lewis and John F. Kennedy died on the same day!
-do you seek out the "wisdom of the ages" often enough, or are you too preoccupied with "the tyranny of novelty"?
-what does it mean to "give up" something? It does not mean to abandon everything you have a passion for (unless that passion is getting in the way of your relationship with Christ), but to place all dreams & desires at His feet and let Him lead us where He will. How will we know? We must be in a right relationship with Him to know & to recognize His voice & to discern it from other, competing voices.
-Noel Piper's response was very telling ("If that's where God leads you, that's where I'll go")

-You can listen to "Nowhere Man" here (ignore the slightly psychedelic video) and "Blowing in the Wind" here (a song I totally grew up with! did any of you?)

Contributed by Carmen

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One of the reasons why I wanted to join this group is that He has been very real to me recently. I wish that I could say that I'm always on fire for Him and desire to serve Him 24/7… but the fact is that I'm not. I get lazy, I get tired, I lose sight of my purpose in life at times. However, being reminded and refreshed with His presence, it has become more clear to me how I don't want to look back and say that I didn't risk doing something because I was just waiting for a confirmation, because I feel incompetent, or simply because I wanted to wait to make sure that my decisions were the 'right' ones to make- i.e. is this from God?? This is why this book excites me so much… I want to have the courage to pursue what God has in store for me, to stop sitting, and to take action and to serve Him with my all.

A few points really stuck out to me in the first chapter:

1) Waiting and seeking (with reference to 'Waiting for Godot' pg. 15)

Many times, I take the time to pray and wait and seek the Lord's will for me. I wait and wait and still don't know if this is God's will or if it is the right choice… and I think this is interesting because in that time, I could've done something for the Lord. There are various areas that I've been praying about serving in and I do feel that I may not be the best person to take the position, or that I may lack the skills… however, perhaps God IS calling me to take action, otherwise, this thought should not be tugging so persistently in my heart.

Still chewing on this one. If you want to know more- feel free to just ask me:)

2) Learning to See (Reference: pg. 18)

'there are daily wonders that will waken worship if we open our eyes.'—love this line!

"you can't go through life just 'seeing through' things forever…" – C.S. Lewis

Once again, a great reminder. You can't go through life trying to think that once you get from point A to B, you'll be set- you need to live each moment. Every moment is a new adventure, a new way to glorify His name… how fulfilling! Even in tough times, we need to live in that moment and see the situation for what it is… as a new challenge to grow, and to see it as God given… as a new opportunity to serve and take another risk for His glory!

Contributed by Karen


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In the DWYL, it also mentioned a bible verse: "there is nothing new under the sun". (In Ecclesiastes, one of my favoured book..yeah). It is true that every second could be a new adventure, because there is so much we don't know about our infinitely God. If we get into the right attitude of learning/seeking, we will know more and more about Him, even though through doing some of the routine work in our daily life, such as dish washing, busing/driving to work/school, looking at people's eyes ball everyday, :P and etc.

May the Holy Spirit continuous work into our heart and we continuous confess our sin and be a true believer, Monday to Sunday, 24/7, instead of Sunday church goers!!

Contributed by Jon

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One part from your sharing that quite jumped out at me....... "I don't want to look back and say that I didn't risk doing something because I was just waiting for a confirmation, because I feel incompetent, or simply because I wanted to wait to make sure that my decisions were the 'right' ones to make- i.e. is this from God??............... perhaps God IS calling me to take action, otherwise, this thought should not be tugging so persistently in my heart." I'm sort of going through this thought process too on something..... although I really think I know what God is whispering to me, and I'm on the cusp of committing myself one way. I just haven't done it yet, because you know. We can be so chicken to leap sometimes. But truly, I don't know what I'm waiting for (the answer to this situation is so ridiculously obvious as I type out these words!).

Why I wanted to join thie DWYL group: It's really not a deep spiritual reason...... I've been wanting to read something by Piper for awhile, and one of the last times I went to Mitchell's in TO, I looked up his books. This was the only one available, so that's what I picked up! It has been on my shelf since, and it worked out perfectly that this was the book Carmen was interested in reading this summer. Eventhough my reason is pretty much to satisfy my personal curiosity/interest, I have no doubt that this book and this group will be a tool used to shape me this summer! And so I'm excited to be on this journey with all of you. :)

One detail that caught my eye from the chapter: I really loved how one simple sign in his childhood home.... one simple image on a simple plaque, had such significance in Piper's life. I guess I just love things like that.... little every day things that end up making such a big difference. It's a big reminder that there is nothing that is too unimportant to make a difference to someone.

The book isn't in front of me at the moment, but the thing from the chapter that connected with me most was also the citation from CS Lewis about seeing through everything, and how that amounts to seeing nothing at all. It doesn't have a direct application for anything I'm going through in life right now, but the clear logic in his writing always amazes me, and I found his point to be so true. In this world where there is so much to capture our attention, it is far too easy to miss (willingly or not) seeing the unshakable Truth. And on the other hand, it's easy to see how frail and wrong the world is and become critical, trying to see through the surface of everything to find the underlying flaws....... stubbornly unconvinced that anything can be good and solid and sovereign. Both is a sort of blindness..

Good thing for us, there IS a God that is above all this, who promises to be found if we would but seek Him (Ps 9:10, Jer 29:13). Lately, something God has been letting me realize more and more is how frail we are, and how broken the world is. It is SO GOOD to realize that there is a God that stands apart from all this.... who is all-good and all-powerful and unchanging, and is NOT frail and flawed. And that He actually WANTS to be the one to heal us, and WANTS to be known by us?! How unbelievable is that?? I keep thinking of the gods and goddesses that the ancient Greeks and Romans worshipped, each with their own vices. They were immortal, but they were definitely not perfect. What security it is that we do not put our trust in a God like that!

It's soooo good, isn't it. :) And if we know that, how can we keep "wasting our lives"? I'm so encouraged to be surrounded by peers who don't want to waste their days living for their own desires. As we continue on with this book, may it be a tool to teach us, and may we spur each other on in pursuing the purpose that the Lord has for us!

Contributed by Steph