Ask Pastor John

By Desiring God

Religion & Spirituality Christianity

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John Piper answering tough theological and pastoral questions.

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Evidence for the Cross and ...

10.02.2023

God has not left us without evidence for the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. But evidence alone will never open the eyes of the blind.

Ask Pastor John episodes:

10.02.2023 Evidence for the Cross and Resurrection God has not left us without evidence for the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. But evidence alone will never open the eyes of the blind.
09.28.2023 Does God Love Us Simply for His Glory? God-centered theology can raise all kinds of questions about God’s love for us. Pastor John asks and answers nine of them.
09.25.2023 If Sin’s Penalty Is Eternal, Why Isn’t Jesus Still Suffering? If the penalty for sin is eternal punishment, how could Jesus’s finite sufferings pay the price of our redemption?
09.21.2023 Six Reasons Jesus Left Earth After Easter Why did Jesus leave earth after his resurrection? Pastor John gives six reasons for Jesus’s ascension to the Father’s right hand.
09.18.2023 Even If Our Faith Is False, Aren’t Christians Happier People? If Christ has not been raised, Paul says, then Christians are “of all people most to be pitied.” But why should we be pitied when we live with such joy?
09.14.2023 What Does Piper Mean by ‘Satisfied’? “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.” What does Pastor John mean when he talks about “satisfaction in God”?
09.11.2023 Christ, Our Sabbath Rest at Work Christ is our rest on Monday as well as Sunday. But how do we experience the peaceful rest of Jesus in the midst of our labors?
09.07.2023 How Can I Become a Humbler Calvinist? The doctrines of grace are designed to destroy human boasting. So, what can we do if we find our theology becoming a platform for pride?
09.04.2023 Will We Work in Eternity? At least six biblical pointers give us reason to expect some kind of work in the age to come. But whatever eternity holds, it will be a future beyond disappointment.
08.31.2023 Ten Authors for Your Soul Rich doctrine makes the heart sing. So, where might Christians start if they want to read time-tested, soul-deepening books?
08.28.2023 Why John Piper Reads Books With so many demands on our time, why should we carve out precious minutes for books? Pastor John gives seven reasons he loves to read.
08.24.2023 I Don’t Feel God’s Love — What Can I Do? When life is hard and heaven seems silent, how can God’s people still feel his love? Pastor John offers six reminders for those in spiritual darkness.
08.21.2023 Ten Reasons You Need Unconditional Election How important is unconditional election for the Christian life? Pastor John offers ten reasons why Christians need this crucial doctrine.
08.17.2023 Ten Criticisms of John Piper’s Preaching Anyone who preaches for long will find his preaching criticized — sometimes unfairly, but often wisely. Pastor John shares ten criticisms that have shaped him.
08.14.2023 Do Christians Really Suffer in America? If Jesus and his apostles promised that faithful Christians would suffer, how can comfortable disciples make sense of their experience?
08.10.2023 How Can I Explain Christian Joy to Unbelievers? The Bible rings with the language of pleasure and joy in God. But how can we explain that pleasure and joy in ways non-Christian loved ones may understand?
08.07.2023 Why Does God Choose the Foolish? World evangelization would spread more quickly, it may seem, if God had chosen the wise and powerful. So, why did he choose the foolish and weak instead?
08.03.2023 Resisting the Inner Skeptic in Our Bible Reading When doubts disrupt our Bible reading, how can we resist the inner skeptic? Pastor John offers six ways to fight for faith in daily devotions.
07.31.2023 Can I Still Have Joy in Seasons of Doubt? Seasons of doubt may afflict our minds and shake our hearts, but they need not take our joy. Beneath the waves of doubt, joy’s deep waters can still remain calm.
07.27.2023 How Does God’s Joy Become My Joy? The New Testament seems to connect the person of the Holy Spirit with the joy we experience as believers. But how do the two relate to each other?
07.24.2023 Fifty Years of Theological Battles If you want to prepare for the unknown controversies of tomorrow, know your Bible deeply, thoroughly, confidently, joyfully.
07.20.2023 What Does It Mean to Be Spiritual? Some Christians identify spirituality with gifts like speaking in tongues and healing. Does that view match the Bible’s own description of truly spiritual people?
07.17.2023 How Are We Being Saved Right Now? If we are in Christ, then God has saved us from our sins in the past, and he will save us from his wrath in the future. But in what sense is he saving us right now?
07.13.2023 How Can I Encourage Without Flattering? How can we celebrate the good we see without succumbing to flattery? Pastor John traces a key distinction between godly and ungodly praise.
07.10.2023 What Do We Give to God? God is self-existent and self-sufficient, far beyond any need or lack. So, what can we give to God when we gather for corporate worship?
07.06.2023 What Does It Mean to Serve God? The command to “serve the Lord” appears all through Scripture — but Scripture also assures us that God has no needs. So, how do we serve an all-sufficient God?
07.03.2023 Learning to Forgive Family For some, forgiving family from the heart may be one of the hardest steps of obedience. Pastor John offers five ways forward when forgiveness feels impossible.
06.29.2023 On Sibling Rivalries Sibling rivalries have fractured families since Cain and Abel. So, how does God work redemptively between siblings, and how might parents do their part to promote peace?
06.26.2023 Manhood and Womanhood in Parachurch Ministry Increasingly, parachurch ministries are allowing women to occupy positions of spiritual authority once reserved for men. Do they have biblical warrant to do so?
06.22.2023 What Will We Remember in the New Creation? In Isaiah, God promises that “the former things shall not be remembered” in the new creation. Will we really have no memory of this age in the age to come?
06.19.2023 Better Than Scrolling Your Phone in the Morning Why do so many of us reach instinctively for our phones in the morning? Pastor John identifies six temptations and points to a better way to begin our day.
06.15.2023 Dangers in Exposing Cultural Sins How can a preacher faithfully call out a culture’s sins while still sounding the dominant note of amazement at the glories of God in Christ?
06.12.2023 The Sick Love of Controversy How can we recognize what Paul calls “an unhealthy craving for controversy” in ourselves and others? Pastor John identifies six traits of a controversy-loving spirit.
06.08.2023 How Much Should Pastors Make? “The laborer deserves his wages” — including those who labor in preaching and teaching. But how might a church decide what a pastor’s wages should be?
06.05.2023 Can Single Men Pastor? In Paul’s elder qualifications, he seems to assume that pastors will be married. So how should churches assess the qualification of a single man who wants to pastor?
06.01.2023 Why Do We Pray for Our President? Why does Paul call Christians to pray for kings and other political rulers — and what specifically might we ask God to do in them and through them?
05.29.2023 Hope for the Fragile and Fragmented In a world filled with wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes and famines, a right understanding of the end times can bring stability to anxious minds.
05.26.2023 The Joy of Jesus’s Return When Jesus returns, he will magnify the radiance of his glory by multiplying our own joy in that glory. We will happily marvel, and he will forever shine.
05.24.2023 Why God Wills Suffering for the Children He Loves If we’re going to rejoice in even the worst circumstances, then we need clear and strong reasons for why God wills suffering for the children he loves.
05.23.2023 Upcoming Changes to APJ Tony Reinke shares two upcoming changes to ‘Ask Pastor John’ in light of a brand-new John Piper sermon podcast called ‘Light + Truth.’
05.22.2023 Go to Work, Go to Church — Christ Is Coming Back! Throughout the New Testament, Jesus and the apostles draw some profound connections between the glorious second coming and our ordinary everyday lives.
05.19.2023 Death Can Only Make Me Better: Remembering Tim Keller (1950–2023) On May 19, 2023, Tim Keller entered the reward of his Master. In this special episode of Ask Pastor John, Tony Reinke shares a sermon clip from Dr. Keller on the joy of God in the face of cancer.
05.19.2023 Popular Blunders About Christ’s Return Discussions of the second coming often spiral into speculation — or misconception. Pastor John explains five mistaken beliefs about Christ’s return.
05.17.2023 Five Ways to Find Wisdom In the midst of a busy life, how can we find the time to read great Christian books? We might begin by setting aside just fifteen minutes a day.
05.15.2023 Nicotine, Amphetamines, and Holy Concentration God does not give us a list of foods and drinks we can and cannot consume. Instead, he gives us his words and his Spirit to shape how we see all of life.
05.12.2023 A Beautiful Savior for the Unattractive If we are going to find lasting satisfaction in the beauty of Christ, despite the pain of rejection, four massive changes need to happen in our hearts.
05.10.2023 The Hardest Act in Parenting Teens Headship calls a man to put away his anger and initiate reconciliation — no matter how much of the fault lies with his wife or with his children.
05.08.2023 The Path from Orthodoxy to Demon Theology The movement from orthodoxy to demon theology happens sometimes slowly and sometimes suddenly — but always because love for Christ has grown cold.
05.05.2023 ‘Nothing Is to Be Rejected’ — Including Pot? “Nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,” Paul says. So can Christians enjoy pot if they thank God for it?
05.03.2023 What Makes You Happiest? What is the deepest source of your joy — what God gives to you, or who God is for you?

Older episodes

Ask Pastor John

What's Ask Pastor John about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Ask Pastor John episodes:

Evidence for the Cross and Resurrection

Does God Love Us Simply for His Glory?

If Sin’s Penalty Is Eternal, Why Isn’t Jesus Still Suffering?

Six Reasons Jesus Left Earth After Easter

Even If Our Faith Is False, Aren’t Christians Happier People?

What Does Piper Mean by ‘Satisfied’?

Christ, Our Sabbath Rest at Work

How Can I Become a Humbler Calvinist?

Will We Work in Eternity?

Ten Authors for Your Soul

Why John Piper Reads Books

I Don’t Feel God’s Love — What Can I Do?

Ten Reasons You Need Unconditional Election

Ten Criticisms of John Piper’s Preaching

Do Christians Really Suffer in America?

How Can I Explain Christian Joy to Unbelievers?

Why Does God Choose the Foolish?

Resisting the Inner Skeptic in Our Bible Reading

Can I Still Have Joy in Seasons of Doubt?

How Does God’s Joy Become My Joy?

Fifty Years of Theological Battles

What Does It Mean to Be Spiritual?

How Are We Being Saved Right Now?

How Can I Encourage Without Flattering?

What Do We Give to God?

What Does It Mean to Serve God?

Learning to Forgive Family

On Sibling Rivalries

Manhood and Womanhood in Parachurch Ministry

What Will We Remember in the New Creation?

Better Than Scrolling Your Phone in the Morning

Dangers in Exposing Cultural Sins

The Sick Love of Controversy

How Much Should Pastors Make?

Can Single Men Pastor?

Why Do We Pray for Our President?

Hope for the Fragile and Fragmented

The Joy of Jesus’s Return

Why God Wills Suffering for the Children He Loves

Upcoming Changes to APJ

Go to Work, Go to Church — Christ Is Coming Back!

Death Can Only Make Me Better: Remembering Tim Keller (1950–2023)

Popular Blunders About Christ’s Return

Five Ways to Find Wisdom

Nicotine, Amphetamines, and Holy Concentration

A Beautiful Savior for the Unattractive

The Hardest Act in Parenting Teens

The Path from Orthodoxy to Demon Theology

‘Nothing Is to Be Rejected’ — Including Pot?

What Makes You Happiest?

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