{"id":302300,"date":"2011-07-04T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-07-04T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/following-the-call-of-christ\/"},"modified":"2011-07-04T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-07-04T15:00:00","slug":"following-the-call-of-christ","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/following-the-call-of-christ\/","title":{"rendered":"Following the Call of Christ"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>John Piper, senior pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church and founder of Desiring God Ministries, encourages Christians who&#8217;ve been called by Christ to live every day for Him<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":294104,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"https:\/\/web.familylifetoday.com\/fl2011-07-04.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:","filesize":"22.77M","filesize_raw":"23871505","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2822],"tags":[4929,4722,4159],"podcast_series":[7299],"cwp_profile":[8883],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-302300","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growing-in-your-faith","tag-christian-life","tag-christianity","tag-gospel","podcast_series-dont-waste-your-life","cwp_profile-john-piper","series-familylife-today"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg?w=508","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2023\/02\/image-scaled.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-download\/302300\/following-the-call-of-christ","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/302300\/following-the-call-of-christ","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303?mt=2&app=podcast","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/feed\/podcast\/familylife-today","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"bqhEGYisar\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/following-the-call-of-christ\/\">Following the Call of Christ<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/following-the-call-of-christ\/embed\/#?secret=bqhEGYisar\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Following the Call of Christ&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"bqhEGYisar\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg",508,508,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"kfairris@familylife.com","author_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/author\/kfairrisfamilylife-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"John Piper, senior pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church and founder of Desiring God Ministries, encourages Christians who've been called by Christ to live every day for Him","meta_box":{"show_notes":"","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2011-07-04.pdf","transcript_content":"<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John: <\/strong>\u00a0We need to help people see why the universe was created.\u00a0 It wasn't created for people to become famous, for people to become powerful.\u00a0 It was created to display the worth, excellencies, beauty, and wonders of God.\u00a0 We are here to receive that excellency and reflect it out in our lives so that other people see it.\u00a0 It's all about God.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u201c\u2026from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.\u00a0 To Him be the glory forever and ever!\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>\u00a0 <\/strong>\u00a0\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 This is <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> for Monday, July 4<sup>th<\/sup>.\u00a0 Our host is the President of FamilyLife Dennis Rainey, and I\u2019m Bob Lepine.\u00a0 Understanding why we're here is Step 1 in the process of not wasting our lives.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWelcome to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>; thanks for joining us.\u00a0\u00a0 I have a distinct memory of an event that took place when I was in high school.\u00a0 I was in an English class, and we were in a unit study on the subject of existentialism, <em>Existentialism and Man.<\/em><em>\u00a0 <\/em>We were reading Camus, Sartre, and that guy who wrote the story about being a cockroach\u2014Kafka, Franz Kafka.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 This was in high school?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong><strong>\u00a0 <\/strong>This was in high school, and Mrs. Venary was our English teacher.\u00a0 Mrs. Venary said one day\u2014she asked us, \"What's most important in your life?\"\u00a0 I remember we were going around the room and answering that question.\u00a0 We got to me, and I don't remember what I said.\u00a0 If I had to guess today, I would have probably said, \"One of the really important things in my life is music.\"\u00a0 I was in a band.\u00a0 I played guitar.\u00a0 I really liked music.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBy the time we got to one of my classmates (who was about halfway through the group), she said, \"Really, the most important thing in my life is my relationship with God.\"\u00a0 I remember thinking, \"Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's the right answer.\u00a0 I need to remember that next time.\"\u00a0 Then, it dawned on me that if I didn't have that as the right answer when the question came around, it probably wasn't really the most important thing in my life, you know?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes, I was thinking how I would have answered it\u2014I'm sorry that God would not have been my answer, either\u2014athletics would have been.\u00a0 I think whether you're in high school and how you would have answered it then or where you are today, the question is still a good question.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe have someone today with us on <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> who I think is going to help you\u2014well, either realign your spiritual tires or maybe answer the question in the right way for the first time.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tJohn Piper joins us on <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\u00a0 John, welcome to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John:<\/strong><strong>\u00a0 <\/strong>Thank you.\u00a0 I'm glad to be here.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 John is the pastor of preaching at Bethlehem Baptist Church where he has served since 1980.\u00a0 He and his wife, Noelle, have four sons and a daughter; live in Minneapolis, Minnesota.\u00a0 He is a prolific writer.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob, it's not often that books come to our attention here at <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> through our wives, but this one did.\u00a0 Back last Christmas, Barbara came to me.\u00a0 She said, \"You know, there is one book I want to give our kids for Christmas.\"\u00a0 I said, \"Oh, really?\u00a0 Who is it by?\"\u00a0 She said, \"John Piper.\"\u00a0 I immediately thought of some of the books that I have had the privilege of reading, browsing my way through: <em>Desiring God<\/em>, among others.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tShe said, \"It's a new book called <em>Don't Waste Your Life<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 I thought, \"Now, that's a good title,\" because we have a generation of people, I believe, who are really not getting around to the question you asked, Bob, \u201cWhat is most important in your life?\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tJohn, you tell a story about a couple who had retired on the coast of Florida.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 I got the story from <em>Reader's Digest<\/em>.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t(laughter)\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 That's okay.\u00a0 Ronald Reagan got a lot of his stories from <em>Reader's Digest<\/em>, too.\u00a0 There's nothing wrong with that.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John:<\/strong>\u00a0 It was written by them; so, it's not told about them.\u00a0 I won't give any names.\u00a0 They were marveling that at, I think, age 51 and 52 or something like that, they were able to retire early, go to Florida; and the peak of their excitement about this stage in their life was that they could play softball and collect shells.\u00a0 I just read that and thought, \"You've got to be kidding.\"\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t(laughter)\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Now, we're talking about the ultimate experience in their lives?\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John:<\/strong>\u00a0 Evidently.\u00a0 I'm thinking, in the last chapter of my life, I am mainly preparing to meet the Judge of the Universe and give an account, with my little vaporous life on this earth.\u00a0 He is not going to ask, \"Can I see your shell collection?\"\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t(laughter)\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Who won the softball game?\u00a0 It's not going to matter, is it?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John:<\/strong>\u00a0 It is not.\u00a0 So, it became a kind of paradigm story for me of the American Way.\u00a0 Tragically, the AARP and most people giving counsel on what to do with your latter years are telling you to go play them away on a golf course somewhere or something.\u00a0 I'm thinking, \"That is not the way I want to spend my life at all\u2014let alone my last years, in the months just preceding seeing the King of the Universe.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 I think that's important.\u00a0 The message in this book, <em>Don't Waste Your Life<\/em>, is not just about not squandering the latter years of your life; but it's about the whole of your life.\u00a0 It's a stewardship that we have been entrusted with, right?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John:<\/strong>\u00a0 Right.\u00a0 Young people are making incredibly important choices early on, especially right at the juncture of early college years and post-college years of \u201cWhat am I going to do with my life?\u201d\u00a0 I think they are eager and ready to hear somebody to call them to a radical kind of life that has a significance about it that is eternal and deep.\u00a0 So, that's what I've tried to talk about.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Going back to your shell collection, as I read that, I thought\u2014and you ask the question in your book.\u00a0 You can't imagine someone appearing before the Judgment Seat and God asking to see our shell collection.\u00a0 I thought, \u201cWhat other kinds of collections do we have?\u201d\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIt could be our golf scores, our trophies, our businesses, our portfolio of stocks, our home that we built, the car we drive, the wardrobe or jewelry.\u00a0 It could be our family.\u00a0 We could make the family the chief end of man, or it could be our bank account.\u00a0 You know, man has been collecting stuff, John, from the beginning of time.\u00a0 It may not be as silly as a shell collection; but we have the wrong object of worship, going all the way back to the Garden.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhen you were a young lad growing up, in your home there was a\u2014was it a plaque?\u00a0 What was it?\u00a0 Was it in the kitchen, as I recall, is that right?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John:<\/strong>\u00a0 Right, it was in the kitchen.\u00a0 Probably, it had as much to do with the title of the book as anything.\u00a0 I remember it hung up where a clock started to hang later, but I now have it in my living room at home; so, it's been on the wall for 50 years of my life, at least.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIt says, \"Only one life 'twill soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last.\"\u00a0 That was emblazoned on my mind as a child that significance and lasting reality is going to come from connectedness with Jesus.\u00a0 If something is done to display the worth of Jesus, then that something will have value and significance.\u00a0 If it didn't, it won't last.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 So, you would say that from early on, you understood this idea of the stewardship of your life and that it needed to be focused and rightly directed?\u00a0 It's not something that came to you later in life?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John:<\/strong>\u00a0 I would say in my high school years, as I reflected back on the kinds of things I was thinking, the kinds of things I was writing and reading, as I reviewed those; it was amazing to me how much I was thinking about in those days.\u00a0 The other thing that probably affected the title of this book, <em>Don't Waste Your Life<\/em>, is the story my dad, as an evangelist, would tell when he was doing evangelism.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHe came home one time and with tears in his eyes, he said, \"A man came to Christ who must have been in his 70\u2019s, and he'd been a sinner in the community for years.\u00a0 People had prayed for him, and he resisted the Gospel.\u00a0 He walked to the front.\u00a0 He sat down. After the service, as I sat beside him and counseled him, he just wept and wept.\u00a0 When I asked why he was weeping, he just repeated over and over, \u2018I've wasted it. I've wasted it.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI tell you, as a teenager, that story from my dad landed on me with such power that I thought, \"Never, ever, ever do I want to be able to say that, I've wasted it.\"\u00a0 So, from maybe age 16, 15 on, I had this impulse in me to \u201cDon't waste it.\u00a0 Don't waste it.\u201d\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 I have, for some reason, been kind of chewing on Acts, chapter 13, verse 36.\u00a0 It reads, \"For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and he was buried.\"\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI thought, you know, if that could be said of my life at the end, that I fulfilled God's purpose for my generation\u2014whether you're a mother, a father, a businessman, a businesswoman, a single person\u2014to be smack dab in the middle of walking with God and fulfilling what He has for you, that's what you're talking about in the book.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou are talking about people who have a confidence that they are fulfilling not only God's will for their lives; but they are part of a grand scheme, a bigger picture, of what God is accomplishing on this planet.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John:<\/strong>\u00a0 Right.\u00a0 We need to help people see why the Universe was created.\u00a0 It wasn't created for people to become famous, for people to become powerful.\u00a0 It was created to display the worth, excellencies, beauty, and wonders of God.\u00a0 We are here to receive that excellency and reflect it out in our lives so that other people see it.\u00a0 It's all about God.\u00a0 \"\u2026from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.\u00a0 To Him be glory forever and ever,\" Romans 11:36 says.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo, I think significance must be defined in terms of God: depending on Him; being guided by Him; giving Him all the praise, all the glory, and all the honor.\u00a0 Then, \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tfinding lifestyles and ways of talking, thinking, feeling, and acting that make God look really good to this culture.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 In the \u201860\u2019s, your passion intensified for finding God's purpose and making sure you were about what he was doing.\u00a0 It was your encounter with two different people that ultimately changed the course of your life.\u00a0 Why don't you share those two people that you encountered in college?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John:<\/strong>\u00a0 Now, I have three in mind; so, I'm not sure which two you have in mind.\u00a0 I'll mention Dan Fuller as a living teacher, who had a tremendous impact in the way I read the Bible; and then, I mentioned the dead person, Jonathan Edwards; and I mentioned another dead person, died in '63 (the same day as John Kennedy died), C.S. Lewis.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo, that triumvirate in the years, say, '64, as I began college, to '68 when I went away; and then, in the years '68-'71 in seminary, that's where Dan Fuller and Jonathan Edwards conspired.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t(laughter)\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe key of the living teacher and the dead teacher was to show me that there is no final conflict between God's passion to be glorified and my passion to be satisfied.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI had grown up, for whatever reason\u2014I'm sure it wasn't my dad's fault or maybe even the preacher's fault\u2014thinking, \"You can't have both of those.\u00a0 Either God is going to be glorified, or I'm going to be happy.\u201d\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI heard\u2014maybe it wasn't said, but this is what I heard\u2014people would say, \"Well, you should stop doing your will and do God's will.\"\u00a0 I kind of wanted to say, \"Isn't there a third alternative?\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t(laughter)\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tLike, maybe I would want to do God's will?\u00a0 Maybe I would enjoy doing God's will?\u201d\u00a0 What those men showed me is that God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in Him; that God's glory shines in my being happy in Him.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo, there isn't this necessary conflict between my pursuit of pleasures and His pursuit of glory if, in fact, my pursuit of pleasure is pleasure in Him.\u00a0 That insight from Jonathan Edwards, mainly, mediated through Dan Fuller and C.S. Lewis, in his one page in the <em>Weight of Glory<\/em>, where he said, \"The problem with the world is not that we are pursuing pleasure but that we are far too easily pleased.\u00a0 We are like children fooling around with mud pies in the slums when we could have a holiday at the sea; and we can't imagine what it's like.\"\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhat he meant was we're fooling around with that list you gave earlier, Dennis, about just money, even family, possessions, and business.\u00a0 If we could see what a holiday at the sea that is a relationship with God, delight in His beauty and power and excellencies was; then, we'd see the problem in the Universe is not that people are pursuing pleasure, but that they are settling for the low, fleeting, wrong, suicidal pleasures. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo, that's what I learned from Lewis, Edwards, and Dan Fuller between '68 and '71; and it changed everything.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 You later expressed that, or referred to that, as Christian hedonism.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John:<\/strong>\u00a0 Right.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Hedonism is the philosophy that says the highest goal is the pursuit of pleasure.\u00a0 You said, \u201cIf we understand the Scriptures right, that's true; but the only real pleasure we're going to find is not in what the culture tells us will bring us pleasure.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John:<\/strong>\u00a0 Right.\u00a0 The reason that is not in conflict with saying, \u201cThe highest goal is the glory of God,\u201d is because God is glorified, precisely, in my being satisfied in Him.\u00a0 That was the insight that makes lights go on, I find, for a lot of people these days.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 I have to read a passage that I know you're passionate about, Psalm 16:11\u2014\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 \u201c\u2014Thou\u00a0 will make known to me the path of life.\u00a0 In Thy presence is fullness of joy.\"\u00a0 We don't believe this last third of the verse here.\u00a0 It says, \"In Thy right hand, there are pleasures forever.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John:<\/strong>\u00a0 Right.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Frankly, it\u2019s what you described, that for a number of years kept me at a distance from Christianity.\u00a0 I didn't believe I could have a good time; that I could truly experience pleasure, happiness, and fulfillment and walk with Jesus Christ.\u00a0 I thought becoming a Christian was having to put on something black, put on a sour look, and be unhappy for the rest of my life.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow, I don't know where I got that picture, because I really grew up in a good church.\u00a0 Nonetheless, I had a caricature of Christianity that I was rejecting.\u00a0 It wasn't this.\u00a0 It wasn't the idea of a glowing, vibrant life filled with smiles, laughter, and, as this says, enjoyment and pleasure.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John:<\/strong>\u00a0 Right.\u00a0 I think there are a lot of people who have said something like that and given it a little bit of a wrong twist.\u00a0 That is, I think there have always been \u201cRah!\u00a0 Rah!\u201d evangelistic, youth crusades where we feature the athlete and the smiling beauty queen who say, \"You really can have a great and happy life if you'll be a Christian.\"\u00a0 The ordinary folks look at that and thought, \"That's not quite what I'm thinking.\u00a0 That's not going to work for me, because I've got pimples, and I'm not strong.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe difference with my message\u2014it's where you were going, I think\u2014is that what I want to hold up is a joy and is a God who, in Himself, when all the beauty goes and all the strength goes and all the popularity goes and all the parties go, He's enough, and He's thrilling.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou know, my wife and I were married in December of 1968.\u00a0 We chose Habakkuk 3, the last four verses, I believe, of the book, to be read at our wedding.\u00a0 I don't know it all by heart, but I can paraphrase it.\u00a0 It goes something like this: \u201cThough the olive fail, though there be no fruit on the vines, though there be no cattle in the stall, though there be no sheep in the fold\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 In other words, we're talking famine and devastation.\u00a0 Then, he says, \"\u2026yet, will I rejoice in the Lord, my God.\"\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tPsalm 63:3 says, \"The steadfast love of the Lord is better than life.\"\u00a0 Or Paul says, \"To die is gain.\"\u00a0 So, my message is a little more radical than what I was hearing from the \u201cRah!\u00a0 Rah!\u201d evangelistic crusades\u2019 \"Yes, we can all have a good time\" message; but rather you may have an absolutely horrible life and smile your way all the way to heaven.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIn fact, 2 Corinthians 6, verse 10, Paul uses this phrase; that, for me, has really stamped the way I want to talk about joy.\u00a0 He says, \"\u2026sorrowful, yet always rejoicing\u2026.\"\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo, I wanted there to always be a kind of minor key playing in the background of my parties and my celebrations because I know the world is absolutely filled with pain and filled with suffering.\u00a0 When I am rejoicing with those who rejoice, there is somebody very close to me weeping with those who weep.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo, I just want to present an authentic call to radical pleasure at God's right hand when you may be wracked with cancer, your wife may have left you, your kids may be prodigals, your business may be failing; and you can say, \"The Lord gives, and the Lord has taken away.\u00a0 Blessed be the name of the Lord.\"\u00a0 So, there is a flavor, I think, to this hedonism that I have; that I hope is really realistic.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 The time to develop that kind of relationship with Jesus Christ is not when you go through the valley.\u00a0 The time to develop it is now.\u00a0 It is to become focused on Him as your absolute source of life, of pleasure, of joy and begin the process of walking with Him moment by moment.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou know, I couldn't help but think, John, as you were talking, about how those of us here at FamilyLife watched Bill Bright die.\u00a0 The last two and a half years of his life were marked by him only having about 40% lung capacity.\u00a0 He was\u2014literally, his body was starving for oxygen; and yet, every time I saw him (and everyone else, too) he was praising God, talking about Him being his strength, his joy, his portion.\u00a0 He never complained.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI contrasted his life with how I've watched others die.\u00a0 I thought, \u201cYou know what?\u00a0 Bill Bright taught me how to live; he also taught me how to die.\u201d\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John:<\/strong>\u00a0 That\u2019s beautiful.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 What I want to do with my life is I want to do the same thing.\u00a0 I want my deathbed to be as vigorous in the enjoyment and the pursuit of God; even though, there will undoubtedly be pain.\u00a0 It will not be easy, but I'd like it to be the way Bill Bright demonstrated as a man.\u00a0 We can do that if we get into the Scripture and we find out who God is, because it's only as we know Him as He is that you can relate to Him as the God of the Universe.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 You talk about somebody who didn't waste his life; Dr. Bright is a great example of somebody who had the right focus, the right priority, who understood the implications of the Christian faith.\u00a0 It changed the direction of everything.\u00a0 It shaped every decision he made.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI\u2019ve talked to people who have read the book that you wrote, Dr. Piper, <em>Don\u2019t Waste Your Life;<\/em> and they\u2019ve had the same kind of response.\u00a0 The book pointed them in a new direction.\u00a0 The book reorganized their priorities for them.\u00a0 It put them on the right path.\u00a0 It caused them to think through, \u201cWhat really does matter in life and is that what I\u2019m living for?\u201d\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI want to encourage our listeners: if you don\u2019t have a copy of Dr. John Piper\u2019s book, <em>Don\u2019t Waste Your Life<\/em>, contact us here at FamilyLife.\u00a0 Go to FamilyLifeToday.com or call 1-800-FL-TODAY.\u00a0 The book includes a DVD featuring Dr. Piper speaking on this subject; so, you get the book and the DVD together.\u00a0 The information about how to get both of these resources can be found on our website, FamilyLifeToday.com.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou may want to get multiple copies of this book and go through it with the students in the high school ministry in your church or the college ministry at your church.\u00a0 It is a great summer time study.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAgain, go to FamilyLifeToday.com for more information; or you might want to write this number down, 1-800-FL-TODAY.\u00a0 Because of the holiday here in the US, you\u2019ll need to call us tomorrow; but we\u2019ll have folks here available who can take your call then.\u00a0 Again, if it is easier, just go to FamilyLifeToday.com, and you can order online if you\u2019d like.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tLet me also mention that it was decade ago that I heard you speak on the subject of marriage, Dr. Piper.\u00a0 You spoke at an event called <em>Building Strong Families in Your Church<\/em> in Dallas, TX.\u00a0 It was the first time I\u2019d heard you speak live.\u00a0 The message was a great message on marriage.\u00a0 We have that message available on either audio CD or as a DVD.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo, if you can help us with a donation, go to FamilyLifeToday.com; and as you fill out the online donation form, when you come to the key code box, type in either \u201cGLORYCD\u201d or \u201cGLORYDVD\u201d if you\u2019d like the video version.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAgain, let me just say thanks for your support of the ministry.\u00a0 Your financial support is what makes this daily radio program possible.\u00a0 So, we appreciate those of you who partner with us.\u00a0 We want to thank you again for your generous support.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow, tomorrow we're going to continue our conversation with Dr. John Piper about what it means to live a life that has purpose, that has meaning, and that is focused in the right direction.\u00a0 How do we not waste our lives?\u00a0 We\u2019ll talk about that tomorrow.\u00a0 Hope you can be back with us for that.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, and our entire broadcast production team.\u00a0 On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I'm Bob Lepine.\u00a0 We will see you back tomorrow for another edition of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHelp for today.\u00a0 Hope for tomorrow.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t________________________________________________________________\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe are so happy to provide these transcripts. However, there is a cost to produce them for our website. If you've benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/donate\">donating today<\/a> to help defray the costs?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tCopyright \u00a9 2011 FamilyLife. 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