This is the last question from the Ask Pastor John Live session we recorded earlier this year. Due to Pastor John's leave, we will not be rolling out any more new episodes for at least the rest of this year. Search all previous episodes.

Podcast subscribers, stay tuned for more information about our forthcoming "Everything Video" podcast.

John Piper says you don't have to be ordained to be a minister. Watch or listen to him explain. Scroll down to read an edited transcript.

The following is an edited transcript of the audio.

Would there be any specific counsel you would give a business person about glorifying God in their work?

You must have heard a talk I gave earlier today. I gave a talk to the Christian businessmen's group downtown today on how to glorify God from 8 to 5.

The first thing I want to say is that I totally believe in secular work, meaning non-church work. We are all ministers, we are all priests—priesthood of the believer. I'm not drawing that kind of distinction. I'm just saying, as far as the office goes, your priesthood may be at a computer company, or in nursing, or as a doctor, or in carpentry or whatever. And my priesthood happens to be in pastoring.

So I'm totally there, and I believe the Bible says we should be staying generally where we are. Only if God leads in a clear way should we leave the job we are in when we are saved.

So the counsel I would give is to seek to do your work in such a way that Christ looks more important than your work. Seek to make and use money in such a way that Christ looks more important than money. Seek to have relationships with people in the work place such that Christ is more important than those relationships.

Now, that doesn't imply that relationships go down in effectiveness and importance. It means, in fact, that they go up! Because if Christ is infinitely precious to you, you will now have resources for the relationships and for the work that you wouldn't have had otherwise, if those relationships were god.

If they are god, you are drawing strength from them and eventually people are going to feel that. "You are using me. You may be really really interested in me, and you may want to spend time with me. But I'm starting to feel drained by you."

Whereas, if Christ is all, and he sends you into that relationship with resources, then the feel should be, "I like being around you because you are ministering to me. You are not taking from me."

So whether it is people, whether it is money, whether it is activities, we do them all. We are very good at them. We should be creative and industrious and excellent in all of our work in order to adorn the gospel and do it in a way that Christ is shown to be more valuable than any of those things.

The chapter in the book Don't Waste Your Life called "Making Much of Christ from 8 to 5" is where I'm getting all that stuff.

• James K. A. Smith with a eulogy for Clark Pinnock
• And a eulogy for Donald Bloesch (whose books made a big impression on me when I was first getting interested in theology)
• Stanley Fish with an incisive comment on the furor surrounding the so-called Ground Zero mosque
• Andy has gotten me into Rev., a hilarious new TV series about an inner-city Anglican vicar. Episode 2 (about a charismatic minister) is absolutely priceless: here's an excerpt.
• A new dissertation on Melville's theology – I'm staggered by the suggestion that there's no publisher for this. We all need more Melville in our lives! (Have you tried Baylor UP? They have a few series in religion and literature, and they've been doing good things in this area of heterodox writers.)
• For those interested in the Uniting Church, there's a report on the recent conference where I spoke about the church's confession of Christ
• Steve Holmes on analytic theology and conceptual clarity
• William Cavanaugh on Christopher Hitchens and religious violence
• Sam Wells on forgiveness and justice
• Paul Griffiths on impotent religions and state violence
• And Paul Griffiths on plagiarism again
• Milbank on Christianity, Enlightenment and Islam
• The importance of genuine argument
• The Bonhoeffer effect in Australian politics
• A bad liturgical invention: giant papier-mâché Calvinist puppets of doom
• How a dead fish nearly destroyed a childhood
• A reader informed me that this F&T post is cited in the latest New Blackfriars – that's nice to see!
• A good review of Sufjan Stevens' beautiful new EP, All Delighted People
• Someone has even assembled a Sufjan Stevens order of service (sounds creepy when you put it like that, but it's great stuff)
• And, wonders never cease, there are some job openings in theology: theology at Duke; theological ethics at Duke; theology and ethics at Fuller
• Finally, since we've been talking about drawing, I leave you with some astonishing lead pencil art

Scripture is brutally honest with us, revealing the faults and vices of the saints, as well as their virtues. We see inappropriate conduct even from great men such as Abraham, Moses, and David. Thus, the fact that the Bible tells us that various men tried to bargain or negotiate with God should not communicate to us that this is the appropriate way to deal with Him. Scripture is simply revealing this common human tendency, not sanctioning it. The fact is, people do this all the time. I’ve found myself trying to make deals with God, saying, “God, if you’ll just give me one more chance, I’ll do this, this, this, and this.” God doesn’t listen to that kind of prayer, for we are in no position to bargain with Him. To attempt to do so is to insult His character.

Scripture also contains examples of people almost lashing out at God in prayer. Is it ever legitimate to complain to God or to express anger to God?

We have manifold references in Scripture to believers bitterly complaining and almost accusing God of unfairness or harshness. We sometimes look at these instances and think, “Well, if Moses can do it, if Job can do it, then it must be my prerogative as a Christian to voice my bitterness and complaints.”

But we need to notice not just the complaints the biblical saints sometimes make, but the responses God gives. Let’s take Job’s complaint as an example. As Job struggled with his afflic- tions, he found it impossible not to grumble that God would let one as righteous as he was suffer so greatly. Eventually, however, God answered Job’s complaints with stern words: “Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me” (Job 38:2–3). What did Job say? Did he continue to complain? No. Instead, he declared: “I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. . . . Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (42:3b, 6). He was severely rebuked for the attitude that he expressed to God. Likewise, Habakkuk the prophet complained bitterly that God was not being just by allowing wickedness to go unchecked. He demanded an answer from God, and when God gave it, Habakkuk said, “My body trembled; my lips quivered at the voice; rottenness entered my bones; and I trembled in myself” (Hab. 3:16a).

It’s vital that we understand prayer in terms of the qualifications that are found throughout the Bible. By considering the scope of the Bible’s teaching on this subject, we may conclude that it is acceptable to bring all our cares to God, including matters that may move us to frustration or anger. However, we must not come to God in a spirit of complaint or anger against Him, for it is never proper to accuse God of wrongdoing.

*****

Excerpted from The Prayer of the Lord by R.C. Sproul.

Pun intended.

This is probably my favorite thought/quote from Blaise Pascal. Except perhaps his quote on happiness.

What is man in nature? A nothing compared to the infinite, a whole compared to the nothing, a middle point between all and nothing, infinitely remote from an understanding of the extremes . . . equally incapable of seeing the nothingness from which he emerges and the infinity in which he is engulfed. . .

Let us then realize our limitations. We are something and we are not everything. Such being as we have conceals from us the knowledge of first principles, which arise from nothingness, and the smallness of our being hides infinity from our sight.

Our intelligence occupies the same rank in the order of intellect as our body in the whole range of nature.

Limited in every respect, we find this intermediate state between two extremes reflected in all our faculties. Our senses can perceive nothing extreme; too much noise deafens us, too much light dazzles; when we are too far or too close we cannot see properly; an argument is obscured by being too long or too short; too much truth bewilders us.

—Blaise Pascal, Pensées, 61-63 (emphasis mine)

I love this quote because it reminds me of how humble I should be about what I think I know. It's also good to keep in mind as I prepare for our conference theme this year.

Praise God that he has not left us lost in the middle. He has spoken. And what is more, he has entered in.

Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary student Michael Graening performed a Hip-Hop song to Kanye West’s “Heartless” working through the Greek Alphabet. You can find the MP3 through Justin Taylor’s blog.

In addition, Dave Kulp and Matt Howell wrote a Hebrew alphabet Hip Hop song when they were students at RTS-Charlotte. The song was sung and produced by Matt Howel. The MP3 is also available at Justin Taylor’s  blog.

When I was a kid, my older brother used to take me fishing. He loved it…I hated it. It was incredibly lifeless, especially when the fish weren’t biting (which was most of the time). I think I’m too ADD for fishing.

People often look to the top leader in any organization for vision casting. Casting is a fishing term. It’s when you throw a line out in the water with hopes that a fish will take the hook. As a lead pastor, vision casting is one of my primary roles for the church. I am expected to receive vision from God and then” cast” it to the church. But one thing I’m learning as I grow as a visionary is that I must impart vision and not simply cast it.

The difference between casting and imparting is paramount.

Anyone can cast a vision, but not anyone can impart one. To impart is to take a piece of something in you and put it in someone else. To impart vision, the vision must be genuine and really in you.

I went through a six-month period of time when I was so desperate for God’s vision for our church that I fasted and prayed almost every day for it. I lost about 25 pounds that year through much angst and internal turmoil. I was so desperate to see a clear vision from God. If I didn’t, I was going to quit the ministry. I remember praying, “God, if something doesn’t change within a year…I’m done.”  Through that broken experience God ignited a red-hot vision inside of me. It wasn’t any different from the vision we set out to accomplish, but it was now alive in me, and that made all the difference.

It can be so easy for a pastor to grab another person’s vision and try to cast it in his church. I have seen that fail. But if you own your vision, believe it and truly receive it from God, then it will come out of you with fervor and zeal. It won’t be a lifeless cast, but something communicated with passion and desperation.

People want an inspiring vision to follow. People want to be part of something bigger than themselves. Yet many are not inspired because they are given diagrams and five-year plans on paper rather than receiving the vision through impartation.

If you want people to truly be passionate about your vision, impart it, don’t just cast it.

__________

This guest post was submitted by Tim Moore, Senior Pastor at Crossroads Church in Lithopolis, Ohio. (He also happens to be the pastor for my wife’s mom and dad.)

Related Posts:

• 5 Questions to Clarify Vision
• Are You Addicted to People-Pleasing?
• My Church is Not The Best
• Current Focus at West Ridge
• A Vision Statement Doesn’t Mean You Have Vision

Yesterday I spoke about how Terry Virgo and Tope Koleoso are both great at promoting books. Today I want to highlight another aspect that they both in my view stand out in, and it is one that is even more important. This is their commitment to prayer, and corporate prayer in particular. Prayer is vital to the Christian and in this short video shared by my friend Bryan Mowrey Tope explains why.

At the beginning of the year we captured Tope praying in public at Jubilee, and unusually decided not to remove the prayer from the beginning of his sermon. We shared it then to inspire many to pray especially at points of transition. As we enter the new season, why not pray along with him and add your “Amen” to his prayer as I did this week.

So let me tell you about some of the features of this atlas, all of which are plenty impressive, even if I don’t know how they stack-up against the competition. According to the publisher’s description:

Capitalizing on recent advances in satellite imaging and geographic information systems, the Crossway ESV Bible Atlas offers Bible readers a comprehensive, up-to-date resource that blends technical sophistication with readability, visual appeal, and historical and biblical accuracy.

All the key methods of presenting Bible geography and history are here, including more than 175 full-color maps, 70 photographs, 3-D re-creations of biblical objects and sites, indexes, timelines, and 65,000 words of narrative description. The atlas uniquely features regional maps detailing biblically significant areas such as Egypt, Mesopotamia, Italy, and Greece. It also includes a CD with searchable indexes and digital maps, and a removable, 16.5 x 22-inch map of Palestine.

This carefully crafted reference tool not only sets a new standard in Bible atlases but will help ESV readers more clearly understand the world of the Bible and the meaning of Scripture.

The Atlas contains:

• 175 full-color maps
• 70 full-color photographs
• 3-D re-creations of biblical objects and sites
• Indexes
• Timelines
• 65,000 words of narrative description

Let me say a word about its structure. Part 1 contains an introduction and overview to the biblical world; Part 2 takes a look at the historical geography of the biblical world, which is to say that it looks at the Bible from one historical era to the next; Part 3 turns to the regional geography of the biblical world and looks to the biblical lands region by region; and Part 4 contains appendixes, indexes and timelines. When I think of an atlas I think of book that contains only maps. Simple, right? This atlas contains far more than that. It weighs in at 350 pages and is jam-packed with information.

Already I’ve found the Atlas useful in family devotions. We have been reading 2 Samuel and have found a few occasions to look up maps, buildings or diagrams. It would have been very useful when we were in Exodus, reading about the Ark and Tabernacle. I also anticipate that it will come in handy as I study the Old Testament on my own; it is always difficult to keep separate in my mind all the regions, nations and cities and I know that Atlas will help with all of these things.

Overall, the ESV Bible Atlas seems to be a very valuable reference and one that will benefit any individual or family. But don’t just take my word for it. Here is what Wayne Grudem says (and you know he is far more qualified to pass judgment than I am): “A remarkably beautiful and rich resource for historical, geographical, and archaeological background material that will deepen our understanding of each section of the Bible and increase our appreciation of the Bible’s amazing historical accuracy.”

You can get yourself a copy at Westminster Books or Amazon. If you want to give it a trial run, you can access 45 pages of it at this link.

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