Joy in Marriage

I love my wife. I love being married to her. I love her as a person. I love spending time with her. I usually wouldn't care if I was with anyone at all, but if I have a chance to spend time with her, I always take it if I can. I am not going to lie to you.... this isn't a chore in any way shape or form... she brings me great joy.

Does this make me selfish? Am I only loving her because of the joy she brings me? On the contrary, doesn't it bring her greater honor and a greater sense of love if I enjoy my love?

Consider these words of John Piper:

The Calvinist by John Piper

The Calvinist by John Piper

See him on his knees,
Hear his constant pleas:
Heart of ev’ry aim:
“Hallowed be Your name.”
See him in the Word,
Helpless, cool, unstirred,
Heaping on the pyre
Heed until the fire.
See him with his books:
Tree beside the brooks,
Drinking at the root
Till the branch bear fruit.
See him with his pen:
Written line, and then,
Better thought preferred,
Deep from in the Word.
See him in the square,
Kept from subtle snare:
Unrelenting sleuth
On the scent of truth.
See him on the street,
Seeking to entreat,
Meek and treasuring:
“Do you know my King?”
See him in dispute,
Firm and resolute,
Driven by the fame
Of his Father’s name.
See him at his trade.
Done. The plan is made.
Men will have his skills,
If the Father wills.
See him at his meal,
Praying now to feel
Thanks and, be it graced,
God in ev’ry taste.
See him with his child:
Has he ever smiled
Such a smile before,
Playing on the floor?
See him with his wife,
Parable for life:
In this sacred scene
She is heaven’s queen.
See him stray. He groans.
“One is true,” he owns.
“What is left to me?
Fallibility.”
See him in lament
“Should I now repent?”
“Yes. And then proclaim:
All is for my fame.”
See him worshipping.
Watch the sinner sing,
Spared the burning flood
Only by the blood.
See him on the shore:
“Whence this ocean store?”
“From your God above,
Thimbleful of love.”
See him now asleep.
Watch the helpless reap
But no credit take,
Just as when awake.
See him nearing death.
Listen to his breath,
Through the ebbing pain:
Final whisper: “Gain!”

Here is this poem being read by many of my favorite authors and speakers...



The Calvinist from Desiring God on Vimeo.

C.S. Lewis on Praise

I have probably quoted this before, but bear with me as I find the need to quote it again ... I am typing this (not copying and pasting) from the book Desiring God by John Piper. (I type it because it helps me to consider each word in the phrase.) This particular Lewis quote comes from that book, though he is not the only one who has revisited this quote. Lewis' insight on Praise in this quote has, I am sure, helped many in their understanding of the strong connection between God's love for His people and His command that they praise Him.

... the most obvious fact about praise -- whether of God or any thing -- strangely escaped me. I thought of it in terms of compliment, approval, or the giving of honor. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise unless (sometimes even if) shyness of the fear of boring others is deliberately brought in to check on it. The world rings with praise -- lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favorite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favorite game -- praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, motors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, mountains, rare stamps, rare beetles, even sometimes politicians or scholars. I had not noticed how the humblest, and at the same time most balanced and capacious, minds praised most, while the cranks, misfits and malcontents praised least ...  

I had not noticed either that just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: "Isn't she lovely? Wasn't it glorious? Don't you think that magnificent?" The Psalmists in telling everyone to praise God are doing what all men do when they speak of what they care about. My whole, more general, difficulty about the praise of God depended on my absurdly denying to us, as regards the supremely Valuable, what we delight to do, what in deed we can't help doing, about everything else we value.  

I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed. 

Like I said, this is C.S. Lewis speaking. It comes from his book Reflections on the Psalms. The portion that I quoted came from the book Desiring God. You can also read an article on this by Sam Storms on the Desiring God website, by clicking here: Praise: The Consummation of Joy.

New Book from Desiring God

A couple of days ago Desiring God released a new book that sounds interesting. The title is Mom Enough: The Fearless Mother's Heart and Hope, and it is a compilation book by the following authors: Christina Fox, Gloria Furman, Christine Hoover, Rachel Jankovic, Rachel Pieh Jones, Carolyn McCulley, and Trillia Newbell. The book is edited by Tony and Karalee Reinke.

The Desiring God website describes the book in a blog post this way:

Our new book cuts through the nonsense of competitive mothering. Eight bright women expose the spiritual corruption of it and explore how gospel grace is relevant for the daily trials and worries of motherhood. In the trenches, these moms have learned to redirect their hope and trust from the shifting sands of popular opinion to the unchanging all-sufficiency of God.

I haven't actually read this book yet, but it sounds interesting, so I am sharing it for all of the mothers in my life that I know.

There are three digital formats of this book that are currently free and will work on your kindle or ipad. You can find these free versions by clicking here.

Free Advent Ebook

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/good-news-of-great-joy-daily-readings-for-advent

Desiring God is offering their Advent Ebook for free again this year.  The title of the book is Good News of Great Joy.  According to the Desiring God website:

A year ago, the team here at Desiring God did a deep dive into our thirty-plus-year reservoir of sermons and articles, and selected brief devotional readings for each day of Advent. Now we’ve slightly revised the ebook to have it optimized for 2013. Our hope is that God would use these readings to deepen and sweeten your adoration of Jesus this Advent.

It goes on to say:

Many contacted last year to ask for permission to print these devotionals not only for private use, but to share with friends and family — even their whole local congregation. We love that impulse to spread the joy, and gladly encourage you do so. Also, to serve as many as we can, we’ve worked with Amazon to make available a quality paperback version at low cost, in case that’s your preferred format.

You can go to Amazon right now for the discounted ebook version:
Good News of Great Joy: Daily Readings for Advent

Or you can go to the desiring God website for the Kindle Version, the ePub version or the pdf.
Good News of Great Joy

I have also made a pdf of their pdf to make it easier to print as a booklet.
Booklet Form

Since permission has been given to print this, I think that I am going to print some of these up for my church and try to get everyone to read it together.

A Reading of The Innkeeper by John Piper

My wonderful wife bought me this book last year. This year Crossway with Desiring God is offering a fireside reading of this book.  Desiring God hopes to offer Hope for the Hurting This Christmas.  If you haven't read this book, this is a wonderful way to hear what it is all about.

 
John Piper reads "The Innkeeper" from Desiring God on Vimeo.


To read my review of this book from last year, click here. To purchase this book on Amazon just go here, The Innkeeper.

Fake Love, Fake War

I want to direct you to an incredibly thought-provoking article.  It concerns the combined topics of porn and gaming addictions.  If you've never made that connection, then you've never really paid attention to a gamer before or you've not known or been a porn addict.  The similarities, on a purely initial-impression perspective, are striking.

The article is called Fake Love, Fake War.  It is written by Russel Moore and you can find it on the Desiring God blog.  Allow me to quote a couple of paragraphs that really grabbed my attention.

Near the beginning of the article, Moore makes this valid point:

Pornography promises orgasm without intimacy. Video warfare promises adrenaline without danger. The arousal that makes these so attractive is ultimately spiritual to the core. 

Satan isn't a creator but a plagiarist. His power is parasitic, latching on to good impulses and directing them toward his own purpose. God intends a man to feel the wildness of sexuality in the self-giving union with his wife. And a man is meant to, when necessary, fight for his family, his people, for the weak and vulnerable who are being oppressed.

It is so valid and so important to understand that what we wrestle with is not flesh and blood, but principalities and power... We are in a spiritual warfare.  If we don't recognize this, we become vulnerable to attack because of our naivety.

Near the end of the article he makes this statement... Which, when I read it, I may have given a quite verbal and vocal "amen!" or at least a "wow!"

Moreover, these addictions foster the seemingly opposite vices of passivity and hyper-aggression. The porn addict becomes a lecherous loser, with one-flesh union supplanted by masturbatory isolation. The video game addict becomes a pugilistic coward, with other-protecting courage supplanted by aggression with no chance of losing one's life. In both cases, one seeks the sensation of being a real lover or a real fighter, but venting one's reproductive or adrenal glands over pixilated images, not flesh and blood for which one is responsible.

Besides the importance of these words, especially as I attempt to raise my own boys into men, I absolutley admire Moore's ability to put to words things that I've thought in ways that make more sense than how I've thought them.

Read the entire article... It's worth it.  Click here.

Reading Through Desiring God With John Piper

Purchase through Amazon

I have started to read through Desiring God by John Piper more than a couple of times.  I would start the book, but at some point, though I would be completely unaware of this moment, the book ended up back on the shelf. I don't want you to get the wrong impression though, I didn't sit the book down because it wasn't interesting or because of poor writing that didn't "just grab my attention."  On the contrary, the book usually ended up on the shelf because it required more thought.  It wasn't, for me, a book that I could just pick up and read a few pages in my free time, I knew I would have to plow through this one with extended thought, purposeful intent, and an intellectual curiosity.

With all of that said, I am going to pick this book up again, and here is why: (From the Desiring God Site)

Beginning Thursday, March 31, 2011 from 12:00-1:00 PM (EST) John Piper will be hosting a series of five interactive roundtable discussions with the guys at Bethlehem College and Seminary based on his book Desiring God. And we’re live-streaming it on the web. 

This is a great opportunity to reacquaint yourself with Desiring God, or to read it for the very first time (and with John Piper leading the discussion!).  

If you’re unable to join us for the live-stream, we’re rebroadcasting the video and audio the same day at 3:00 PM (EST). A perfect lunch break. Or, consider watching the video with a small group in the evenings, working through the book together.

Here is a little video of John Piper giving an additional explanation:



If you hurry, they may still be giving away free copies of the book.  Go to this link and scroll down the page.

Think

I always enjoy the Desiring God Conference trailers. By themselves, they teach me. I can't imagine what it would be like to go to the actual conference. Would love to go though. Anyway, here is the trailer, definitely worth a watch.



[HT: Justin Taylor]