| July
3, 2008
 I
am reading an excellent new book by John Piper
entitled, God is the Gospel and wanted to share
with you a salient quote to make you think.
Piper
writes on page 15 of God is the Gospel…
The critical question for our generation-and for
every generation-is this: If you could have heaven,
with no sickness, and with all the friends you
ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked,
and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed,
and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all
the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no
human conflict or any natural disasters, could
you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not
there?
That
is a sober and piercing question isn’t it?
It really cuts to the heart of our commitment
and involvement with the Church and our pursuit
of eternity. The question we must each ask ourselves
is, am I serving and following Jesus because of
what I can get from Him or because I want nothing
but Jesus Christ alone? What a powerful and difficult
question to ask but we must ask ourselves that
question daily. Has your relationship to Christ
and His Church become an exercise in your own
personal satisfaction or has just knowing Jesus
Christ become the highest gain of your satisfaction?
We must strive to serve Christ and His Church
not because we receive anything in return but
because we are overwhelmed with the joy of knowing
Christ above all else. If in answering the question
above you can say you would be satisfied with
the type of heaven described above without Christ,
please talk with me or another brother or sister
in Christ to help you see that Jesus Christ is
the highest satisfaction and pleasure that we
can ever attain.
For
the Glory of God,
Pastor Joe Taylor
|
|
|
What
Pastor Joe is
reading now:
The Bruised Reed,
Richard Sibbes
God is Gospel,
John Piper
How Would Jesus Vote,
D. James Kennedy
Knowing
God,
J.I. Packer
Knowledge
of the Holy,
A.W. Tozer
|
Pastor
Joe's Blog