A Hunger For God

I guess I will need to read the book - I have not liked a fair amount of what John Piper has to say (which is unfortunate, since my church loves everything he says). But I happened across Slice of Laodicea and read the following quote today, which is exactly how I have been thinking recently:

The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we drink in every night. For all the ill that Satan can do, when God describes what keeps us from the banquet table of his love, it is a piece of land, a yoke of oxen, and a wife (Luke 14:18-20). The greatest adversary of love to God is not his enemies but his gifts. And the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of earth. For when these replace an appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable and almost incurable. -- John Piper
Posted by Jon Daley on November 13, 2006, 6:02 pm | Read 4400 times
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He has a point, though I expect if I read further I would find I disagree significantly with him, because I believe all God's gifts are good, and good for us, and the "simple pleasures of earth" are more likely to help us love God than not. (Note: I do not classify "the prime-time dribble of triviality we drink in every night" as a simple pleasure, nor as an unalloyed gift of God.)

But in truth I'm not likely to read enough to be able to argue with him. Piper may have valuable things to say, but I'm not willing to trust anything said by a man who is content that his own children be damned.
Posted by SursumCorda on November 13, 2006, 7:03 pm
While I won't defend his statement (at the very bottom of the page, if you are interested, then you won't have to read the whole thing), I think calling him, "content" is unfair.

... though I think I would give my life for their salvation ...
Posted by Jon Daley on November 13, 2006, 8:04 pm
...if they should be lost to me, I would not rail against the Almighty

He gives himself more credit for loving his children than he gives God.
Posted by SursumCorda on November 13, 2006, 8:15 pm
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50 Days of Heaven - Day 4
Excerpt: I sort of got discouraged on days 2 and 3, where I didn't find much that was edifying. But day 4 had a couple interesting things.One was a question I have about "Eden has been trampled, torched, and savaged." I have thought Eden ...
Weblog: Daley Ponderings
Date: November 14, 2006, 5:51 am
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