I have come to the realization that John Piper at least in my opinion, is the modern day Charles H. Spurgeon. Make no mistake about it, I don’t say this because of the God-given ability that he has to memorize huge amounts of scripture. (If you didn’t notice, in this video he speaks forth the whole book of Philippians from memory in the beginning.) But I say this because he continually shows that he has the heart of a true shepherd and prophet of God’s people.

The last couple of years have been hard for me and my family. Ever since my theological views changed a couple of years ago things haven’t been the same. There have been some great joys and some not so great sorrows. When God got a hold of me again and began to show me these things (Calvinism, Covenant theology, etc..) in His word, I wrestled with it for months. After about 6 months or so I couldn’t fight it anymore and my theological views officially changed. Once I saw the implications for His supreme sovereignty and His extreme benevolent love for His people, it increased my love for Him and offered me overwhelming comfort as well. God is truly gracious in a special way toward His own! I took great joy in how gracious and merciful God was.

But at the same time, as many of you know I was serving in a church that did not hold to these views and so me and my wife were removed from ministry there after many years of faithful service. Both my wife and I were extremely hurt in all this… my wife because it was the only church she had known and she was not on the same page as me theologically, and me because I was felt like I was treated and looked at as a heretic by my friends.

All this to say that through all of this I can truly say that John Piper has been my pastor during this difficult time and I have come to appreciate him and love him very much. I see how much he loves Jesus and his congregation, and his passion to preach God’s Word faithfully and it just brings this wonderful sense of joy to my heart. His faithful preaching, his love for Christ, and his service to his people there at Bethlehem truly points me to how great God really is! I see God working in and through this man and it reminds me of what God can do in a person for His glory!

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