In my last blog, I shared John Piper’s reflections on turning 80. What follows is not a biography of John, but just a personal remembrance of some of the connections I have had with him over the past forty years. Hence, I will mention a few of my messages by name, since those were my purpose in being there and it was John who requested me to address these various subjects. Of course, the other speakers and John himself brought their own messages, and they are readily accessible on the Desiring God website.
One of our church elders asked me years ago, “What could we do together as elders to deepen our biblical knowledge and increase our wisdom to lead our people?” (What a great question for pastors and lay leaders and anyone else!) If I had to limit myself to the works of one single person, it would be John Piper.
Here was my specific answer to that church leader: Before getting to your business agenda, regularly listen together to Ask Pastor John episodes, “Look at the Book” videos, and Piper messages and then discuss them. Doing so could transform a group of elders to think more biblically and become “able to teach” others as not only pastoral elders but lay elders are called to be (1 Timothy 3:2). Or you can listen to them on your own in the car, on planes, or as you work or tinker in the garage.
Piper is my favorite living author, and his books Desiring God, The Pleasures of God, Future Grace, Don’t Waste Your Life and many others have impacted my life deeply, as they did Nanci’s. Our daughters and sons in law (both pastors) and grandchildren have likewise been beneficiaries of his writing.
Piper and I met over the phone after we had both participated in peaceful, nonviolent civil disobedience (“rescuing”) at abortion clinics. Our first contact was when John called me in my office at Good Shepherd Community church in the spring of 1989, having heard of my involvement in rescuing. We talked about the challenging impact of our civil disobedience on the churches where we were pastors, the fact that some understood and agreed, and others did not. It turned out that we had rescued for the first time on exactly the same day, he in Minneapolis and I in Portland.
It was such an encouragement to talk to John during that difficult season where not many people understood our convictions. Both of us were receiving pushback from some in our churches, yet enthusiastic responses from others. My rescuing ended up resulting in me having to step down as a pastor, something I believe in retrospect was the perfect plan of God as it pushed me out of the nest of pastoral ministry to my main calling in life, which would have been difficult for me to do on my own. In God’s providence, John continued as a pastor for decades thereafter. He has been a great encouragement to me in the years since, both from a distance and in personal interactions in a variety of locations.
John first asked me to speak at his pastors’ conference in Minneapolis in February 2004 on “Money and Missions.” My sons-in-law Dan Franklin and Dan Stump came to the conference with me, and we had long and rich conversations together. (Nanci called them “the Dans,” and both are now senior pastors of their churches. Dan Franklin pastors at Life Bible Fellowship Church in Upland, California. Dan Stump at Cornerstone Church in Gresham, Oregon, very close to my home church Good Shepherd Community Church, where he served as an elder. Years ago, Dan Franklin also served as a pastor a Good Shepherd, which Nanci and I have been part of since it began in 1977.)
At that Desiring God pastors’ conference in 2004, I addressed biblical stewardship in three sessions and George Verwer talked about missions in a fourth. (Though we’d met before, George and I became fast friends at that conference, and any friend of George’s knows that meant many years of getting phone calls from him from all over the world, once from a ship crossing the Atlantic!)
I spoke again at John Piper’s national Desiring God conference in 2007 called “Stand: A Call for the Endurance of the Saints”, where he asked me to tell my story and talk about endurance in battling abortion. I entitled the message “Today's Decisions Determine Who You'll Be Tomorrow.”
I remember that conference like it was yesterday, because we had a lunch where the male speakers were at one table and our wives were at a nearby table with missionary Helen Roseveare. I recall hearing the women laugh. Nanci’s laugh was the loudest, and I kept smiling because I knew those women were having a blast. Our table was surreal for me because the other three speakers at the table were John Piper, Jerry Bridges, and John MacAruther. They and their books had all impacted my life deeply. And here I was, by far the youngest of them, sitting at a table and wondering how in the world I ended up grouped with these men! Needless to say, the conversation with those three men was rich and meaningful! This photo brings back great memories:
John and I spoke together again in 2008 at a college and young adults conference in Palm Springs, called Resolved, put on by John MacArthur’s Grace Community Church.
In 2010 I was one of the contributing authors to a book written to honor John, and Jesus above all, titled For the Fame of God’s Name: Essays in Honor of John Piper. The book was kept secret to John, and we were chosen because of our relationships with him and our holding similar views on the subject matters for our essays. Mine was entitled “Dethroning Money to Treasure Christ above All.” This video was the surprise presentation of that book to John. It was a pleasure to be there when it happened.
Also in 2010 at the Desiring God National Conference, I spoke on Romans 8:28. In 2013, I spoke again at the final Desiring God national conference on the 50th anniversary of the homegoing of C. S. Lewis. This time the group of plenary speakers I was part of included Piper, Doug Wilson, Philip Ryken, and Kevin Van Hoozer. I spoke on “C.S. Lewis on Heaven and the New Earth: God's Eternal Remedy to the Problem of Evil and Suffering.”
That conference was one of the most memorable of my life. To appreciate John’s view of C. S. Lewis, here is the excited preview he gave on Ask Pastor John the week before the conference.
Later I spoke at a Desiring God donors conference at Skamania Lodge on the Columbia River Gorge, not far from our home. It has been our privilege to support Desiring God over the years, and it was and is still a privilege to encourage others to give generously to this strategic ministry.
John then spoke over a weekend at my home church, Good Shepherd Community Church, where he made a Look at the Book presentation that was a delight. He also spent time with us in our home.
In 2018 when Nanci was in her first year of cancer, John and Noël Piper kindly came to our home again to visit Nanci and pray over her. It was a powerful and heartwarming and unforgettable time. (Maggie may have thought they came primarily to see her.)
Fast forward to my grandson Ty, who has benefited tremendously from John’s books and messages, and asked me if I could take him to a John Piper conference where he could meet John. So I did, choosing to accept an invitation to attend a Desiring God donors’ conference, believing that being a smaller conference it might afford an opportunity for Ty to meet John. As it turned out, John graciously invited us to have a private dinner with him on the first night, just with the three of us.
Ty asked John great questions, and it was beautiful for me to be there knowing how much Ty respects him, as do I. I was touched at how seriously John engaged with Ty’s questions. And it meant so much to both of us that John was willing and even eager to share out of his busy life with my grandson.
