In Honor of John Piper: 30yrs ago He was called to the Pastorate

John Piper (January 1979): Courtesy JT

I wrestled with the notion of this post: should I post it or not? For some reason I was compelled to.

As I pointed out over at Justin Taylor’s Between Two Worlds:

Thanks JT. Though I’ve had my share of disagreements with Dr. Piper’s pen, I’m so grateful to the Lord for Piper’s God-centered ministry over the years. I’ve read and listened to him with delight.

For the last five years, I’ve been sitting at the feet of John Piper on a number of issues.  Why?  He’s a pastor with an incredible pen.  Sometimes I have to reread a text of his and be in awe of how well-crafted it was (he majored in Literature at Wheaton College).

After taking a sabbatical in 1979 to pen a defense of his Calvinistic reading of Romans 9: Justification of God: The Justification of God: An Exegetical and Theological Study of Romans 9:1-23—John Piper was called to the pastorate.

Justin Taylor writes:

But God had more designs for this sabbatical than the production of a book. He would use this time to call Piper away from being a professor to become a pastor.  full post…

Though I share my disagreements with Piper on this blog from time to time, I thank God for his use of Piper in shaping much of my thinking.