Desiring God, Revised Edition: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist [Paperback]

John Piper (Author)

Book Description

Release date: January 18, 2011

Experience the Lifelong Pleasures of Knowing God!

Satisfaction…Happiness…Joy. According to John Piper, the pursuit of pleasure in God is not only permissible, it’s essential.

Desiring God is a paradigm-shattering work that dramatically alters common perspectives on relating to God.  Piper reveals that there really is no need to choose between duty and delight in the Christian life. In fact, for the follower of Jesus, delight is the duty as Christ is most magnified in His people when they are most satisfied in Him.

Constantly drawing on Scripture to build his case, Piper shows why pursuing maximum joy is essential to glorifying God. He discusses the implications of this for conversion, worship, love, Scripture, prayer, money, marriage, missions, and suffering.

Piper beckons us to approach God with the hedonist’s abandon. Finally, we are freed to enjoy Jesus—not only as our Lord and Savior, but also as our all-surpassing, soul-satisfying Treasure.

Desiring God may turn your Christian world upside down. And that will be a good thing, for the glory of God, and for your deepest joy.

Includes a study guide for individual and small group use.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Mind hammering and heart warming." – Os Guiness

"A must read for every Christian and a feast for the spiritually hungry." – John MacArthur

About the Author

John Piper is pastor for preaching at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has written over forty books, including Desiring God, A Godward Life, Don’t Waste Your Life, and The Pleasures of God. John and his wife, Noel, have five children and an increasing number of grandchildren. Learn more about his ministry at DesiringGod.org.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Multnomah Books; Rev Exp edition (January 18, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1601423101
• ISBN-13: 978-1601423108
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.7 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (300 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,307 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #30 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Religious Studies > Theology

More About the Author

John Piper is the Pastor for Preaching at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and studied at Wheaton College, where he first sensed God's call to enter the ministry. He went on to earn degrees from Fuller Theological Seminary (B.D.) and the University of Munich (D.theol.). For six years he taught Biblical Studies at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and in 1980 accepted the call to serve as pastor at Bethlehem. John is the author of more than 30 books, including Sex and the Supremacy of Christ, Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, What Jesus Demands from the World, and Don't Waste Your Life.

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#39 in Books > Religion & Spirituality

#69 in Kindle eBooks > Religion & Spirituality

#39 in Books > Religion & Spirituality

#69 in Kindle eBooks > Religion & Spirituality

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

73 of 76 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Read one of the best books in Chrisitan thought today! April 16, 1997

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

John Piper's God-exalting book is one of the most stimulating and engaging books that I have ever read. The chief end of man, Piper writes, is to glorify God by enjoying him forever. He expands on this by repeatedly teaching us that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. God gets the glory, we get the pleasure and happiness. In other words, God's desire to be glorified and my desire for lasting peace, happiness, joy, and satisfaction are not at odds with each other, but are one and the same goal.
Reading this book will take you through a whirlwind tour of God-centered Christianity by a careful and very wise guide. Piper shows how a Christian Hedonist uses her money, loves his neighbor, worships his God, and seeks to have others join in worship by exalting God in missions and rejoicing in suffering. Using our sword (the Word) and empowered by prayer, we can be obedient in this battle.
This book could reawaken countless numbers of Christians to exalt God for who he is, and is even recommended for the non-Christian who believes that this particular faith is a usual, boring one. It is no exagerration to state that this book will point one to the fountain of joy: God Himself. Therefore, I would recommend this to all who are Christian Hedonists and all who desire to become one!

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "Desiring God" refreshed my soul and reshaped my faith. October 30, 2001

By Hephzibah

Format:Paperback

This is my testimony on how Dr. John Piper's "Desiring God" has transformed my life and strengthened my walk in the Lord with it's God-centered, God-glorifying good news.

I am a 6.5-year-old Christian. In the first 4 years, I thought I was "working" very hard in serving the Lord "with ALL my heart, with ALL my soul, with ALL my mind, and with ALL my strength (Mk. 12:30)", till the point that I felt almost "used up, burnt out, and dried up". Seeing me struggled, an accountable friend of mine kept mentioning this name "John Piper" and his God-anointed insights and perspectives to me for about 1.5 years! Yet, I paid little attention, and my heart and ears were not tuned to accept this help from God. It was not until one day, when I sunk in Dr. Piper's "Desiring God" and a few other books of his about one year ago that my entire life was transformed.

After reading "Desiring God", dramatic changes happened: my spiritual eyes were opened when I read God's word, so that I can feel the author of Ps.119's passion and hunger for God's word, and would join Jeremiah to say, "When Your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear Your name, O Lord God Almighty. (Jer. 15:16)"; leading Bible studies is not any more a mere "duty" for me, but a deep "delight"; when I pray for others, I realize that I am able to "weep with those who weep with an unshakeable joy"; there are still troubles and sufferings in my life, but "sorrowful, yet always rejoicing (2 Cor. 6:10)" becomes one of the most frequently-recalled, hope-given life verses of mine, etc....

Although I once wished I could have come across this book years ago, I later realized that back then, I was not mature enough (both spiritual-wise and language-wise) to take in, appreciate, and then be changed by what Dr. Piper presented in this book. Now I think I owe a big "THANK YOU" to my friend who introduced Dr. Piper's works to me; to Dr. John Piper, who passionately and clearly presented his "God-centered, Christ-exalting, Spirit-wrought, Bible-saturated", sound, biblical doctrine in a very practical way; and to God who granted me understanding and made all these things happened.

Dear brothers and sisters, many of my friends are Desiring more of GOD daily since I shared this book with them. Pray that you'll be the next one to be blessed. Be ready to be challenged by the author, changed by God, and called to "Spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples". You will think deeply and differently, but rightly on what you believe. "GOD is most glorified when we are most satisfied IN HIM."

Growing (with you) in the family of our Father.

P.S.
Both "Desiring God" and Dr. John Piper's other fundamental masterpiece, "The Pleasures of God", are rated 5 stars by DiscerningReader.com, and both are labeled as "A 20th Century classic!" Read more ›

99 of 113 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The most life-changing book I have ever read May 23, 2000

By Brian G Hedges

Format:Paperback

The Bible aside, this is the most life-changing book that I have ever read. If I could bump it up to six stars, instead of five, I would! John Piper has done the Christian community a great service by focusing a Biblical lense on the whole concept of Christian motivation. And what he so eloquently reveals is that the key to it all is delight - not duty - because delight IS our duty! The concepts of "Christian Hedonism" are hammered out with iron-clad logic and lyrical prose. Piper is both a poet and a scholar and both his clear thinking and his deep feeling about a God-centered God who delights to be the delight of His people come through. His chapter on The Happiness of God is worth its weight in gold. His reflections on conversion are very helpful in our day of easy-believism and seeker-oriented evangelism that produces decisions, but not conversions. The reflections on worship are absolutely paradigm-shifting, and the application chapters on Scripture, prayer, money, marriage, missions, and suffering all provide a biblical compass to give direction to the hungry-hearted disciple. After reading this book three times, I am still getting help from it, and I recommend it whole-heartedly to all who dare risk considering "the meditations of a Christian Hedonist!"

35 of 39 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Most Important Book (except the Bible) I've Ever Read! February 18, 2004

By Brian G Hedges

Format:Paperback

Desiring God: The Meditations of a Christian Hedonist is, hands down, the most important book (except the Bible) that I have ever read. It is a series of profoundly biblical meditations on Scripture, rooted in painstaking exegesis by a competent and well-trained New Testament scholar, illustrated from the pages of history, and validated by the changed lives of hundreds of young men and women from the past 18 years (the first edition was released in 1986).

Piper's thesis is that the chief end of man is to glorify God BY enjoying Him forever. This is based on the conviction that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. The call to Christian Hedonism is thus a call to abandon the short-term, low-yield pleasures of the world for the magnificent joys of knowing God in whom is fullness of joy and at whose right hand there are pleasures for ever more.

Don't be misled by negative reviews about this book. Piper does not seek "to create Christians that are nothing more than self-seeking clones that ignore the Biblical concepts of humilty," nor does he attempt "to make God into some type of tool that Christians can use for their enjoyment." Rather, he claims that people have already made a god out of what they derive the most enjoyment from. If you get more joy out of golf than out of God, you are worshiping an idol. The reason God commands (yes COMMANDS) us to enjoy Him (Psalm 37:4; Psalm 100:2; and dozens of other texts) is because this brings Him praise and honor. My wife is not honored by my taking her out to dinner if it is motivated by a desire to do my duty rather than by a spontaenous affection for her that delights in her presence. She is honored when I pursue her joy because it makes me happy to see her happy. That is true Hedonism....

This book is a radical call to deny yourself the fleeting pleasures of sin and to embrace the risk-taking lifestyle that has marked martyrs and missionaries across the ages. It is not a health/wealth/prosperity book, but a weighty Bible-saturated book of practical theology that is designed to produce saints who can be satisfied in God even though they suffer for the sake of Christ and the nations.

I have met John Piper (though he would not remember me) and corresponded with him more than once. I've listened to dozens of sermons, have heard him in person on numerous occasions and have read almost every book he has written. He is one of the most humble men I know. He gives every penny of his book royalties away and lives a simple life, pastoring a church in downtown Minneapolis. He has no love for money and no desire for glory for himself. His life is authentic and so is his message. Read this book and learn afresh the joy of following Jesus! Read more ›