"Desiring God" by John Piper - ISBN 9781601423115

I recently finished John Piper's book "Desiring God" I found it hard to put his book down even though I was sometimes overwhelmed by the long-windiness and substantial imageries, but I discovered myself fascinated by the context of this heart grabbing description of how God yearnings to lavish us with His love. The lavish love of God he talked about isn’t something you often see in the people in churches and I needed to grasp this concept and try to figure a way to facilitate this in my congregation. I fear the most people in the pews are terrified of this concept and have no idea how to respond. It is the desire of God for us to desire Him in an extravagant and fanatical way. Our Creator desires us to relish Him. John Piper uses this study goes to show us how to do that. Some may find this to be a difficult read and it took me sometime to finish it, but it was worth the effort. I believe that this would be an excellent small group study is a subject that should be studied and carefully thought through. This read, in a real and tangible way stimulated my thinking about my relationship with God.

Dream, vision, or delusion...?

In a moment of weakness, while suffering from a lung infection, I was visited, (either in a dream or vision not sure which), by our Lord and Savior.

We had a long conversation and during this conversation Jesus ask me if I thought He needed me to do His work. Jesus stated that He did not (need) me, that He was Go, all He has to do is speak it and it happens. Jesus said that the work He gives us is not about the work, its about keeping our focus on Him. Jesus told me that we can not cure world hunger, or homelessness, or any other affliction that effects the world or His Church. What Jesus wants from us, His followers, His Body, His Church, is to meet the needs of the people He has placed in front of us.

Jesus said that if we see a need and have the means to meet that need, that is what He wants us to do. We do not need to travel across the globe, (although if you have the means and the passion then GO), to do Christ work, there is plenty to do right under our noses. As a part of the body, (the Body of Christ) we need to be feeling the pain of other parts of the body. If we hit ourselves real hard on the finger with a hammer, the pain is not felt only in the finger, it is felt in the entire body! So when we walk by a hunger brother or sister on the street, why are we not feeling that hunger?

If we have the means why are we not taking care of that hunger. You see Jesus cured people one at a time and he did it where they were not in a church building, or a synagogue, but on the street corners, at the well, on the mountainside.

Was this a dream, a vision, or just a crazy mans delusion? I don't know, I will probably never fully understand what really happened. I just know that in that, Christ spoke to me through the Holy Spirit and His message to me was plain, simple and straight forward. "If we perceive a need, (our perceptions are given to us by God), and have the means, (our means are given to us by God), we are to meet that need. My friends I believe this is "The Will of God!"

Dream, vision, or delusion?... does it really matter?

My prayer is that we, the Body of Christ, truly examine the life of Christ and emulate it in our lives and the lives of our congregations, to meet the needs of the world, one person at a time, where they are, and when they are... God's Love and Peace...