Parents Interpret for their Kids

Any time you turn on the news, something bad has happened. The big news right now is the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 and it is terrible to watch and think about. This morning I also saw the story of the mudslides in Washington and the difficulty the search and rescue teams are having in locating survivors. Those are only two of the sad stories the news carried just today.

This morning I listened to a conversation between Ken Coleman and John Piper. The conversation turned to parenting, including raising adopted kids as both gentlemen have adopted children into their family. Ken then presented the question to John Piper about how to communicate with our kids about the bad things that continue to happen in the world. There are so many ways our kids can hear about tragic events and Ken Coleman asked Piper how do we deal with that. I thought John Piper’s answer was great: “We have the golden opportunity to take the initiative, if they hear it from the news on TV or the iPad, to get the interpretation from mom and dad.” He went on to say that we won’t have all the answers, but we can help our kids interpret the evil in the world and what God has to say about it.

Now that my wife and I have a 6-month old in the house, we are kind of beginning the parenting process all over again. It was a good reminder to me that whatever the future brings and whatever evil takes place in the world, we can help our son interpret it and point him to a loving Heavenly Father who is bigger than any of the evil we experience.

Passion 2012 Live Stream

I’ve been on the live stream of Passion 2012 today as kind of the background for my day.  Passion is a gathering of literally thousands of college students at the Georgia Dome.  Not sure how many people are actually there, but the place looks packed.

Been able to listen to Chris Tomlin, David Crowder and Matt Redman lead worship and heard bits and hear Francis Chan, Beth Moore and John Piper read scripture.

One of the coolest parts was the “How Great is our God World Edition” performed live during session four.  Pretty cool.

You can watch previous session on the Passion 2012 website.  Would be a cool place to be.

Desiring God review

Desiring God by John Piper is part defining, part defense, and part describing a concept Piper has embraced:  Christian Hedonism.

Hedonism is “living for pleasure” or “the pursuit of our devotion to pleasure.”  The word pleasure raises many eyebrows, which leads to the definition and defense components in this work.

Piper contends that Christian Hedonism is based on the idea that we find our utmost pleasure when we pursue the things of God.  In one part of his book he writes, “If God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him, them we must make it our aim to be as happy as we can in God.” If we are truly seeking pleasure, we find it when we seek to please God.  Most followers of Jesus would agree that we should pursue the things that please God, but perhaps bristle at the term Hedonism.

This is the 25th anniversary of the original book and the revised edition I read included some quotes from people who didn’t fall in line with the idea of Christian Hedonism.  Throughout the book Piper defended his view of Christian Hedonism and seemed to try to answer some of his critics.

Where this book is most beneficial is in the describing portion of the book.  Piper gave some very practical applications on what it means to live to please God.  He spoke to directly to worship, love, scripture, prayer, money, marriage, missions and suffering.  Through much scripture and some good illustrations, he laid out in practical terms how to glorify God in these areas.  Whether the reader can bring himself to say he is a Christian Hedonist, he can walk away from the book with what it means to glorify God through involvement in worship and missions, through the reading and application of scripture and how he spends his money.

Desiring God is a challenging read.  There are times when the reader finds himself reviewing a paragraph to make sure the concept Piper presented is understood.  It is a good book to use to stretch your thinking and challenge how you might view some of the areas he addresses.

This book would be a good tool in the hands of a Christian who desires to think a little more deeply on what it means to live a life that glorifies God.

To gain more information on this book and read an excerpt of the book, click here.

(I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review)

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