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Summary: Life-transforming material for the growing Christian
Review: John Piper is completely annointed by God. His entire book is backed up 100% by biblical references. The thesis of the book is "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisified in Him." He urges every Christian to become a Christian Hedonist: one who seeks complete pleasure in the pursuit of knowing God. He discusses many Christian topics including missions, money, and suffering. If you read nothing else from this book, read the chapter on suffering! Dr. Piper, thank you. All glory be to God, our Father!
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Summary: for the joy of all peoples
Review: Someone else wrote, "It's hard to write a review about a book that has singlehandedly changed your life". I feel pretty much the same way.I live overseas. No other book made me want to cry to see there is no translation for it for my native pastor or friends. John Piper's writings have been translated into 13 other languages. When I read of those whose lives have been changed by the Christian Hedonism concepts and who pass on the book to friends, I'm frustrated at not being able to do so myself, not having a book in my friends' language. There may be other sources of good reading, but they're still not the same as "Desiring God". Piper shows how we don't serve God and trust Him for the strength and joy in it, but how we actually live for the JOY of it, how God receives greatest glory when we find our greatest satisfaction in Him.
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Summary: Your image of God will change after reading this book...
Review: Desiring God has simply been THE most influential book in my life besides the Good Book and Mere Christianity (by C.S. lewis). I used to wonder, "What is the connection between pleasure/happiness and the Christian faith? What should my motivation be for following God?" This book answers these questions. We shouldn't follow God out of fear or duty. The ultimate reason for following/serving God should be leaning into the deepest pleasures available to the human heart. Happiness and pleasure are the motivations of everyone, as Piper illustrates--using Pascal in the introduction, and the good news is that God is the ultimate pleasure available. The rationale for thinking that God is the ultimate pleasure giver is given in the first chapter: God is a 'happy God.' God, in his 'society of love'--the trinity--has been eternally happy and created the world to share the love that He already has within His tri-unity. We reflect God's own happiness (and thus give Him glory) by serving Him out the pleasure that comes from seeking His company through every action in life. Hence the tag line of the book, "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." I have re-read the introduction and the first chapter to this book 10 times at least in the last 5 years. Frankly, you can get the jist of the whole book by reading just the intro and first chapter. I simply can't overstate the impact this book has had on my view of God, and the connection it highlights between my happiness and pleasure in life to my faith in God. My faith would be impoverished today if it weren't for the wisdom of this book. For a pleasureable experience that will last you a life time--read this book.
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Summary: Most Spiritually Challenging Book You Will Ever Read!
Review: Dr. Piper lays the truth of the gospel out on the table in a way that is both accurate and convicting. His sweeping statements about the nature and characteristics of God demand a response from the reader. The response is worshipping God. Dr. Piper hits you where you need to be hit: our pride. He challenges us to be humble and respectful to God while realizing that the only way to glorify Him is to have our thoughts completely immersed in Him. I would recommend this volume without reservation. You will be challeged and stretched to think differently about worship and God. Excellent work.
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Summary: Glorify God by Enjoying Him Forever
Review: Desiring God has been one of the most influential and favorite books I've read. It opened my eyes on how the Christian ought to live in a way that glorifies God. Christians today tend to place a high premium on moral acts performed out of a sense of duty; delight in these moral acts is considered optional at best. This book hit me with truths I saw in the Bible but never dared to believe ... that when it comes to serving and knowing God: delight *is* our duty. John Piper discusses how the Christian may apply the Biblical concept of "Christian hedonism" in the following areas: conversion, worship, love, Scripture, prayer, money, marriage, missions, suffering.
The Westminster Confession of Faith says the chief end of man is to glorify God *and* enjoy Him forever. In this book Piper goes beyond that, and effectively shows how the Scripture indeed teaches us that "The chief end of man is to glorify God *by* enjoying Him forever."
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Summary: Thoughtful, but lacking
Review: There is no doubt in my mind that John Piper is a passionate, gifted writer and speaker for the church of Jesus Christ. I will not doubt this or question this, but his book really did not break any existing barriers or introduce anything new to me.
If anything, it reinforced what I have already learned and provided thoughtful meditations on what a Christian should feel.
The book spends too much time attempting to be a work of philosophy than a book of encouragement. To a trained and critically thinking mind, the book lacks any real depth and dynamo and is, at times, boring and redundant.
Piper's stories and droning thoughts on suffering do not really make much sense and he fails to really give a clearly outlined theme or model of what he's trying to convey. The book has meat, but never cuts it up the correct way to serve it.
Most Christians will find this book well written, thoughtful and deep and cheers to them for that and cheers to Piper for being so open and honest with what he believes.
For the deep thinkers and men of philosophy and beyond, the book has some good thoughts, but offers nothing new and can seem whiney and sorrowful at times, which as I have said before, makes the book somewhat boring and redundant.
I give it one star for its effort and honesty, everything else was a waste of time and money.
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Summary: A biblical picture of the Christian life
Review: In this work, John Piper has drawn a biblically accurate blueprint for Christian living from the foundation up. Dr. Piper starts with a crucial, and often neglected, premise -- that God is infinitely happy and infinitely lovely -- and from that premise establishes that a God-centered life must therefore be a gloriously happy one. Even suffering on earth cannot detract from the joy that comes from the hope of spending eternity with God.
I should note that Dr. Piper emphatically does not advocate a non-biblical hedonism in this book. I suspect that the reviewers who trash the book for that reason have not really read it. Dr. Piper is very realistic about the fact that Christians will suffer and that Jesus calls us to suffer for His sake. If anyone has any doubt on that score, notice that the last chapter of the book (before the wonderful appendices) is devoted to suffering. This work does not advocate do-as-you-please, eat, drink, and be merry hedonism, nor does it encourage people to ask God to give them the weak, godless pleasures they enjoy. Rather, it accurately observes that because God is all-pleasing, running the race set before us will, with its hardships, be incredibly happy so long as we "fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith."
C. S. Lewis once warned his readers that "theology is practical." In this book Dr. Piper neatly demonstrates that Lewis was right. In an era in which practical and devotional books without any significant theological content abound, Dr. Piper freely mingles exhortation and theology, life and doctrine. The result? An excellent work that is worth anyone's time to read.
Dr. Piper has devoted another book--The Pleasures of God--exclusively to establishing the foundation of this book (and of the Christian life): the happiness of God. I would therefore recommend that if you have yet to read Desiring God, consider reading The Pleasures of God first. This isn't absolutely necessary; Dr. Piper devotes Chapter One of Desiring God to establishing God's happiness. For readers who want a deeper foundation, though, it could prove helpful.
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Summary: I'm not just saying this...
Review: I'm not one who is given to hyperbole; but Desiring God has easily had the most significant impact on my life of any contemporary book. Because of the controversial way in which he terms things, Piper has opened himself up to criticism; but those who give the book an unbiased reading should be pleased with the results. Having grown up in a Christian home, it's easy to equate Christianity with all things "churchy." What Piper forced me to do was to reevaluate Jesus' command in Mark 12:28-31 in light of my attitudes toward God. Did I really love Him? How was my love of God (or lack thereof) revealed in my passions and delights? There's much more that could be said, but the best option is to read the book yourself. It's not often that one finds a combination of love for God, deep scholarship and biblical concern in one package. Read the book!
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