God is the only true Giver, and He needs nothing from us. But still He wants us. He gave us life so that we might seek and know Him.

We live in a relativistic culture, where people are more con- cerned with being liked than being truthful. In A Sweet and Bitter Providence, John Piper does an outstanding job of bibli- cally defending key truths that the church often ignores. He gives us an example of how to take a bold and educated stand on issues of race, purity, and God's sovereignty.

For a person to be truly discipled and growing in their faith, they need more than one person discipling them.

Churches we build only by our own efforts and not in the strength of the Spirit will quickly collapse when we don't push and prod people along.

People accuse me of going overboard preparing for my first ten million years in eternity; in my opinion, people go overboard in worrying about their last ten on earth.

Only the Holy Spirit can give you the power to not think about yourself, to set you free from yourself.

It's much less demanding to think about God's will for your future than it is to ask Him what He wants you to do in the next ten minutes.