Don't underestimate the title...

books:

	• God Is the Gospel: Meditations on God's Love as the Gift of Himself John Piper Crossway Books, 2005 - 192 pages average customer review:based on 18 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

The Title Says It All

I have read most of John Piper's books and this is my favorite. The title says it all. John does a good job of keeping the main thing the main thing. God is the beginning and end of everything.If God is not the central theme in everything we do then we are not glorifying Him..Tell me what you think of my Christian fiction novel..The Palace Theatre

God is the Gospel

Every Christian should read this book. It is so simple, yet so profound. In this day of misuse of scripture, with the blending of humanism in many teachings, this tells it like it is. Bottom line, why were we created, why did Jesus come to earth, why did he die and why am I here. These are all answered in this book, like the answer or not. Truth, truth, truth.

for more information click here

Worth reading

John Piper is one of my favorite contemporary authors. Few books have impacted me as deeply as did his Desiring God. I still frequently drink from Piper's well and am refreshed.

God is the Gospel is a good and passionate reminder that God himself is the best gift given to us in the gospel. This book is an important antidote to the me-ism and self-esteem-driven drivel that permeates so much contemporary pop Christian culture.

This is also one of Piper's more exegetical books, with much extended reflection on Scripture.

But it doesn't live up to his earlier books, at least not for me. The freshness and vitality of Desiring God, The Pleasures of God, and Future Grace are not there. There is much less in terms of illustration and application. That original trilogy is hard to beat.

God is the Gospel is very good - but not Piper's best. So, if you've not read Piper, start with something older. Get some vintage Piper. Dive into Desiring God (don't settle for the abridgement - The Dangerous Duty of Delight - you'll miss way too much!). But if you're a long-time Piper reader, then don't skip this one (like you would!). It's worth the read.

for more information click here

Don't underestimate the title...

John Piper called this book his most important that he has ever written. With that in mind, I decided to read it. I have a lot of respect for this man in his preaching, his ecclesiology, his missiology and especially his overall orthopraxy. As I started to read the book though, I felt like it was beginning to be a little repetitive and really didn't know how Dr. Piper was going to fill up close to 200 pages on the subject. But, I started to feel like Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting when the character played by Robin Williams kept saying, "Will, it's not your fault" and Matt Damon's character, Will, kept saying, "I know." It took Will Hunting a while to get it, but he finally breaks down and understands what Williams character is trying to get across to him.

This is how I felt about this book. Dr. Piper keeps preaching that God is the Gospel until the reader gets it. This is probably why I really liked the latter part of the book, because I think I finally started to understand it in my heart and not just in my head. Because of this, the book is very well done.

The one quote that affected me the most though, came at the beginning, on page 15:

If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ were not there?

This quote is the thesis by which the entire book is based. The main Scripture that is used over and over in the book is 2 Corinthians 4:4,6:

in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Dr. Piper uses these two main verses to show how understanding that God is the Gospel will affect all areas of your Christian walk. It will affect your prayers, the gifts that Christs gives you (both good and bad), evangelism, teaching, confirmation of the Spirit, etc.

This book ends up being extraordinary, when at first I found it to be kind of overemphasizing. What I didn't realize is that it wasn't the book that was overemphasizing, but it was myself who was UNDERemphasizing this great importance. Most of what we think of the gospel and of forgiveness and glorification, almost get us there, and Dr. Piper, based on Scripture, takes you the rest of the way. You will no doubt have to re-read some of the parts in the book to get the full understanding, but it is well worth it.

I highly recommmend this book to everyone. It will show you or at least confirm to you practically, what the Gospel is meant to be and that is that God is the Gospel.

The just died for the unjust so that he could bring us to God.

for more information click here

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

Saturated with Scripture, centered on the cross, and seriously joyful, this book leads us to satisfaction for the deep hungers of the soul. It touches us at the root of life where practical transformation gets its daily power. It awakens our longing for Christ and opens our eyes to his beauty.
Piper writes for the soul-thirsty who have turned away empty and in desperation from the mirage of methodology. He invites us to slow down and drink from a deeper spring. This is eternal life, Jesus said, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. This is what makes the gospel and this book good news.

for more information click here

hot