Live From The Desiring God Conference-Morning Session

9:29
Spent a great time in praise and worship. Dr. Piper states, "Preaching does not follow worship, it is worship".
-We should see parables of God's glory everywhere.
-God's so called megalomania, is him seeking my joy.
-God is just stuck with being glorious, he can't point us anywhere else for Joy. He's the one being in the universe in which self-exhaltation is the most loving act.

9:30
-Think about why people do what they do. Why do they go to movies to get scared? Why do they jump out of airplanes, like in the trailer for Fast5. We were made to see galaxies made, not car crashes. Get a life! There's good stuff in the universe, not in the movies.


9:40
-No chapter on suffering in the first ed. of Desiring God. There has been one since then.
-Rom 2:9 Paul had unceasing anguish. Caring about the lost is anguish.
-2 Cor 11:28 Daily anxiety for all the churches.
-2 Cor 6:10 sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.
-2 Cor 7:5, 1:8 we despaired of life itself.
-Joy is not the absence of suffering. Joy is warfare.

9:46
-Always be on a quest, pursuing maximum joy in God.
-Delight Yourself in the Lord
-Pastors should work for the joy of their people 2 Cor 1:24. Paul's mission was working for their joy. Happy in God at the cost of his life, Phil 1:25
-We should pursue our Joy based on how faith is defined. John 6:35 Believing in Jesus is coming to him for soul satisfaction.

9:54
Evil is tasting God's all satisfying fountain and saying I don't like it, turning to the world and tasting the dirt and liking it. If you don't want to be evil, go to the fountain and drink and say awwww that's worship. People should come to church to GET GOD AND ALL OF GOD THEY CAN GET.

9:57
-Matt 13:44 Nothing is more precious than the Kingdom. Being in the Kingdom is having a King that valuable. -To treasure Christ is to be converted.  Treasure is a noun and a verb.
-Deut 28:47 God threatens terrible things if we will not be happy.

10:04
-What about self-denial? Jesus says that we take up our cross and follow him. Why? So if we lose our life for him, we will save it. He wants us to save our life, so lose it!!!
-John 12:25

10:12
-Piper admits that he can only read as fast as he can talk. It's a weakness, but he can atleast read a paragraph and squeeze the juice out of it.
-Be ok with the way God made you and lay envy down. We should be glad with weakness.

10:17
-2 Cor 8:2,8 In their affliction, the Macedonians were abundant in Joy and generosity. That is love. What is love? The grace of God was shown in the churches. Sovereign Grace came down and took hold of these people. Affliction increased. Joy in creased. Poverty did not go away. The joy overflowed with a wealth of generocity. Love is the overflow of joy in God, that meets the needs of others. High pressure zone of joy meets a pocket of need is wind. That wind is love.
-The more authentic your joy in Jesus is, the more there will be an impulse to include other's in it.

10:24
-Evangelicals care about suffering, including eternal suffering.
-Jesus wants a cheerful giver. When you give, God wants you happy. Giving to look good is hypocrisy. Knowing it isn't joyful and still not hypocritical.


10:37
-Joy gets bigger when it is shared with someone else.
-Christ suffered, the righteous for the unrightouss, to bring us go God, as who's right hand pleasurres forever more. Psalm 40


11:05
-Didn't get to meet Dr. Piper. I was the next person to meet him, and a bunch of people cut in front of me. Dan it!!!!!!!!

11:08 Q and A
-If we can do all things to the glory of God, we can love the people in our lives to the glory of God without making them idols.
-How do you study and find time for devotional reading? John 15:11, the Bible is for your Joy. If it hasn't moved you, it hasn't accomplished it's purpose. We can come to the Bible bored.
-IOUS is an acronym Piper uses. I-Incline my heart to your testimonies Ps 119:36. The Psalmist prays to want to go to the Bible. O-Open my eyes to see wonderful things 119:18 U-Unite my heart to fear your name Ps 86:11  S-satisfy me in the morning with your love. Psalm 90:14
-Be rigorous in your meditation and attention to the words. Say it over and over til it is memorized. Savor it. Taste it. It will take time.

11:23
-How do we deal with our affluence in So.Cal yet tithe to little? Everyone in America is wealthy. We live in the Disneyland of the world, it's called America. There are warnings against the desire to be rich. There is nothing wrong with making a lot of money, but not with keeping a lot of money. You don't have to have all the accoutrements.
-The meek will inherit the world. We are on our way. When you turn 65, the finish line is closer, and you can see Jesus more clearly. So what should we do, build a house?

11:43
-Missions is displaying the superior worth of Jesus among unreached people groups. Showing that Islam, is false, buddhism is false, secularism is false and Jesus is true.

11:50
-What is the baptism of the Holy Spirit? 1 Cor 12:13 or Acts 1:8 or Luke 24 doesn't mean a second special event. It happens at conversion. We are made to drink of one Spirit. As Christians we are baptized in the Holy Spirit. Puritans used baptism's. In Acts 1, the people are already saved, but filled with the power of the Spirit. We can ask to be filled anew with the Spirit.
-Should you doubt your salvation if you're not treasuring Jesus? Not necessarily, it could only be a season. Nobody who is distant from Jesus should be comfortable with that. 

God is doing a Nu Thang!!!

Somehow, I doubt his career took off. 

Live From The Desiring God Conference

Friday Night
6:36-Registered for the conference and got a free book!


All attendants got a free copy of John Piper's Think. "It's your ticket in". Best ticket ever :)


So far I've met a friend and fellow blogger, and made friends with the good people at The Gospel for OC. I can't wait to see their coverage of this event. If you're following along, there's after party tomorrow as well.


7:08- The event should have started, but we're still waiting for people to make it. The place is definitely getting packed.


7:11-Rick Warren is up front shaking hands. That was random.


7:13- I should add that the event is very diverse. Lot's of Asians, Hispanic, White, Young, Old, Geek, Chic, etc... It truly is good to worship God with so many people from many backgrounds.

7:24-"You look like Franklin Graham, but better looking" Rick Warren said that to my Pastor. It's true, he does look like Franklin Graham.


7:34-Finally starting. Scott Anderson has given a great welcome.


8:05-Great time of worship. Now, Rick Warren is giving an introduction to tonight's message, and an encouragement to follow the leaders in our lives.


8:07 -Dr. Piper takes the state. Rick Warren is much bigger than him.


8:12-Why does he do this? Because it makes him happy. There are truth's that are just strong enough to still our boat when it is being rocked by things going on in the world. What is the origin of the book Desiring God? It was born out of the moral issue of being happy. At least it's in the Bible, so his back is covered.


8:14 The problem of motivation became a problem. Paul writes that it is good to be alone and living for other's. But he wanted to get married and be a minister. I want, I want, I want, I can't stop wanting. Human beings were made to want.


8:16 John PIper just started singing "Wouldn't it be nice" by the Beach Boys :) That is how he was feeling when he was engaged.


8:18 5 Steps
 1. God and what motivates him
      -How my wants relates to his wants.
      -God is into being God. He has no one to report to but himself.
 2. He bids all of us to join him in the goal that he be glorified.
 3. The most important discovery: God is most glorified in me, when I am most satisfied in him.
     -This is the banner that must fly over our lives.
 4. The implications: We should devote our lives to being happy....in God.
    -We must maximize our joy.
   -Love is like a high pressure zone, that just wants to fill massive pockets of joylessness.
  -It must expand to other people.
 5. This is the only path to radical love for other people.


8:39- What drives God as the cross? Christ took on God’s wrath to show God’s righteousness. There is a link between sin and glory. People lack the glory of God.

It is God’s unwavering commitment to uphold the value of his glory. He didn’t sweep sin away, he dumped it on his son. Every day I wake up and say I’m not in hell, it’s a good day where I belong.

God does everything to display the infinite value of his Glory.

8:43 We are asked by God to join him in this goal. 1 Peter 4:11 Let him who serves, serve in the strength that God supplies, so that in everything GOd may get the glory.  Be the receiver. We do the good works, God get's the glory.

8:59 -point 3: God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.

It’s called desiring god, not arriving at joy in god, this isn’t finished sanctification, this is war. Don’t think any of your teachers is Jesus, none of us measure up to what we preach. John Piper

The Trinity: The nature of the Trinity is a reason for why God has designed us so that he is most satisfied in us when we are most satisfied in him.


They are 3 divine persons, one essence (appreciate the difficulty). The father has always had an image of himself, he’s always known himself, this knowledge is so full of all he is, that this self known is a fully divine person. The energy and love that flows between father and son (each with divine perfections) carries in it him, all he is, and a third person is there, The Spirit. So at the heart of God’s being is God knowing and God enjoying.



When he made us, he made our souls with two main capacities, the capacity to know and feel. What about will? The capacity to will and feel are the same.

9:07- God is glorified not only by his glories being seen, but in their being rejoiced in-Jonathan Edwards.

Phil 1:20-23  Why would death be gain? When he’s about to lose everything, and all he gets is Jesus. He’s losing everything but HIM.

9:19 -C.S. Lewis was a sceptic at 29. God’s constant command for us to praise him, is like an old woman wanting complements. Matthew 10:34-39 Some people would see Jesus’s words as an egomaniac.

Piper uses an ad for granola bars to make a point. Two people at the top of the mountain, “you never felt more alive, you never felt more insignificant”. Who are they marketing to? Do people like to feel insignificant? WHy do they go to the grand canyon, to feel big? Here’s the ad http://bit.ly/jECQ8f

Lewis realized that we praise what is praiseworthy. God is ultimately praiseworthy.

11:43 -Final Update
Wow, what a day! Dr. Piper has a lot of energy and passion for the message of joy in God. I'm really glad I got to meet some old friends, and made some new ones. Keep checking here and at twitter.com/frankfusion for my updates tomorrow.

Live Blogging Tonight's Desiring God Conference

Tonight I'll have the pleasure of going to the Desiring God Conference being held at Saddleback Church (gasp!). I've always wanted to hear John Piper preach, so I'm glad to be able to share in that with a lot of Southern California Reformed bretheren. If you're going tonight, please let me know, I'd love to say hi. I'm really excited. Thanks again to my Pastor for playing a role in making this happen. You can find him over at his blog  Treasuring Christ. See you guys later.