Book Review: THINK by John Piper

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Author: John Piper
Publisher: Crossway,
Year of Publication:  2010
Pages: 226
Reviewer: Ikenna Nwachukwu

John Piper feels that much of modern Christianity, especially the evangelical movement, has developed a rather frosty relationship with thought. The church emphasizes sense experience and emotionally charged encounters with the Divine, and encourages the faithful to seek the Lord who reveals Himself through a still small voice, in acts of provision and protection, and yes, through scriptures. But there always seems to be a warning attached, a warning not to approach the word with the philosopher’s mind, with the haughty style of the intellectual who tries to question the Almighty’s sovereignty and wisdom. We are to read the Bible with reverence, bow humbly before its contents, and get on with the job of being obedient doers of the word.

But Piper thinks this way of dealing with the Bible’s message, and the whole way of life it reflects and produces, doesn’t do much good for Christians. His point is that Christians should have a healthy thought life, one that brings glory to God through its robustness. Not thinking through what the Bible is actually saying to us, is dangerous. A lazy, emotional approach to the word results in flawed interpretations of it, false doctrines, and outright heresy- things which plague Christianity today. Christians who do not engage God’s word and the culture that surrounds them by examining them with the tools of systematic thought end up being unable to speak confidently about, and in defense of their faith when confronted by skeptics. Sometimes, even the simplest question about what they believe throws them off balance.

Think begins autobiographically. Piper shows us how thinking for him has been a practice of devotion to God, and how his intellectual pursuits have yielded some of the most profound moments of worship in his life. He turned to full time ministry when his academic project covering the book of Romans ignited a passion in him for the truth of the gospel. 
In the next few chapters, Piper points out that reading literature (including the Bible) involves thinking- trying to make connections between symbols, words, sentences, ideas and themes. Thinking also plays a great part in the process of coming to believe in Jesus (potential converts have to weigh the options before taking the “step of faith”).

The extremes of thought are dealt with within the book as well. There’s an examination of the dangers of anti-intellectualism, and the problems it brings about for modern Christianity; there’s also a warning about approaching God’s word cynically and spitefully. The author’s submission at the end is that thinking to glorify God is not only possible, but a command. It doesn’t apply to meditating on Bible text alone; it embraces “all learning, all education, all schooling, formal or informal, simple or sophisticated”.       
Think is a call to Christians to become more aware of what they believe, and how they believe. It is an appeal to the believer to use the mind God has given them as a tool, not only to properly divide the word, but also to love and worship their maker. Thinking is worship- when it is done to the glory of the Creator. As Piper says, God has given us our minds, so that “we might seek out and find all the reasons for treasuring Him in all things and above all things” (Page 15). There is real joy to be experienced in doing this.

EVERYDAYJESUS clears contradictions! (A review)

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Let’s study a bit

Take what we have known and put them in perspective of the whole bible and see what we find…

Let’s start from the beginning.

And when I say ‘beginning’ I mean Genesis.

Let’s start from ‘Moses’

There are thoughts which should have come to your mind if you read the bible and if they haven’t, let me bring them.

Moses was born in Exodus 2.

But he wrote the book of Genesis?

You would be careful in reading the things that he wrote happened before Abraham and especially before NOAH.

Then we think most of the things he wrote were by inspiration and he wrote to his understanding… We believe Moses wrote Genesis to Deuteronomy but I saw Deuteronomy 34:5-6  
5 …Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. 

  1. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab…

Was that by inspiration too? 

The only explanation is that someone else wrote that Book. But then, studies in the Old Testament show us that other parts of the Torah or Pentateuch are stylistically inconsistent. For example, have you noticed that there are two creation accounts? And they are not like the accounts of the gospels. The gospels as you know, even with differences, often say the same thing. So while in Mark, Jesus could do no mighty works in a certain place, in Matthew Jesus could also do no mighty works in the same place.  
But in Genesis, we see God makes male and female in Chapter 1 but makes a male alone at first in Chapter 2 before a woman. Jesus even quotes this passage Matthew 19 and Mark 10. If Moses was operating under inspiration, would the inspirer contradict himself or would Moses, writing, not notice his own inconsistencies?  

Yet for me the most compelling proof against the authorship of Moses is the fact that the Pentateuch is written in Third person. Why would I refer to myself in third person when writing about myself?  

Other examples can be found in Amos, Hosea and Isaiah (amongst others) of prophets whose ministry was documented by other people. It doesn’t reduce the authenticity or audacity of the books or the prophets. Ezekiel is the only Major Prophet that wrote by himself, and it can be seen in his style. He writes in first person perspective. It’s very simple.  

Now, a lot of Christians believe the curse at the end of Revelation will apply to them if they dare think through scripture like this. So they’d rather let some pastor take the blame while they blindly follow him. It’s OK…  

However, the curse in Revelation can only apply to the book of Revelation since the Bible was not compiled by then. With knowledge like this, we can better understand the anachronisms and variations in the Pentateuch.   

In Mark 5, Jesus says Moses was talking about him; that is to say, Moses is reported as saying things which actually were about him, Jesus.   

Study for yourself… Dig into the Old Testament… Because EVERDAYJESUS is our clarity too. 

Review by Daniel, Achikanu (December, 2016).      

EVERYDAYJESUS’ Eagle story (the original full story)!

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Whew, writing a project on my topic, under my supervisor, with my exact mix of colleagues, in my department, in my school, as me, just to get awarded with the very same degree that I am working for, is one of the hugest things ever in my little white eyes. C’mon, I was to collect some human breast milk samples from African Nigerian ‘woman beings’, and do some technical nonsense on them, my God!
Every single material I needed for the technical nonsense was ready but every single ‘maternity’ help- as in milk donor ran into thickets, leaving me behind with just promises only good enough for me to pass the far spent time with.
Every day, as the bomb ticking time made me uneasy, Jesus told me the family story of the Eagle, and the truths in it kept me alive in the lonely, scary, hand- tied moments, that could make a supervisor such as mine to lose faith in you. ‘The Eagle story’ however became ‘My Story’ because I soon discovered that the story gave me a starting point for carrying out my project ‘Eagle style’.
Soon my entire work was done in roughly fourteen days and was ready too for final assessment preceding defense just like the rest of the students. Mouths started wagging (I guess), because at least one girl’s mouth in my group murmured out loud (MOL), and I heard it. Surprisingly, I found myself saddened by the girl’s ‘MOL’ especially when I remembered the sequel of other sad things that my supervisor put me through that same day, prior to the ‘MOL’. In fact she said that she did not see any reason why some people have their project ready in two weeks whereas every other person was still struggling to be done after two months. I knew she was referring to me because she said that just immediately after asking me if I was done- with a generous dose of all the sarcasm a woman her age can muster.
That night, while I ruminated over the events of the day, the Lord brought to my remembrance that story that kept me, and instructed me to give the news flashes of it to anyone who confronted me with a mouth that chooses to ‘MOL’ all day long
The Eagle and the rest faced the very same hostile air current. The rest beat the air with all her might and was rewarded with a mouthful of balance just good enough to take her best to the height of a great iroko tree. The Eagle on the other hand, spread her wings with that effortless swagger that can sweep Cleopatra off her feet. Soon, her wings spoilt her to a bounteous treat of a flight that mounted her
gracefully on a cliff miles higher than the highest point on Everest’s hill. There, she made her nest, sat in peace to at least relax with the thought of a piece of meat.
This is the difference between the races and medals of they that trust in the Lord, and that of they that trust in human efforts.
“Do you not know”?
“Have you not heard”?
“The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint”. –ISAIAH 40: 28-31 (NIV).
By Favouromeje (July 2016)