John Piper is back in his pulpit

My cat leads a simple, uncomplicated existence...we humans do not.

I love John Piper. He has been a prolific writer, a pastor with a lengthy stay in one pulpit, Bethlehem Baptist, in Minneapolis, and as he nears retirement he is the gentle spokesman for a huge wave of Calvinistic preachers and church planters that are part of the Acts 29 network.

He has beaten prostate cancer, and was given a long, eight month leave of absence to rest, and refocus himself for the last decade of his ministry. He spoke at a college conference over the weekend, according to IMonk website, and I realized again that although I respect him and the movement, I am no longer comfortably in that camp, for I believe, with all respect to his great impact, that he and most from his school of theology have a weakness....for it seems as though he does not understand the full implications of the doctrine of reconciliation.

Study 2 Cor. 3-6 to see Paul's teaching. It enables you to say what Piper refused to say in his talk, that God loves sinners, even while they are entangled in their sin. God has reconciled the world to Himself in Christ, He tells us to announce it as ambassadors of this finished work, this accomplished fact. God is not waiting for you to believe so He will stop hating you....out of His great love for you He is inviting you to receive the love He as already declared and accomplished on the cross.

It seems like a small distinction until you think about it for a while. I still love and respect John Piper and all his theological kin.