Desiring God by John Piper is probably the most significant book I have read in the past few years, but its subtitle, “Meditations of a Christian Hedonist”, might lead you to wonder what’s coming. Is this a book about the Prosperity Gospel perhaps – if you give to God he will make you rich? Or perhaps Piper is saying that if you have faith all your problems will disappear and you will never be sick or in trouble every again and be happy every day?

Emphatically no! The clue is in the title – Desiring God. This is a book to stop you seeking pleasure anywhere else other than in God Himself. What Piper has discovered is a golden thread that runs through the Bible, through the life of Jesus and St Paul, the great theologians Augustine, the Puritans, Jonathan Edwards to C S Lewis and beyond

John Piper is pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, and has been for almost 30 years. Before that he was a seminary professor, and he holds a PhD from the University of Munich. He is a passionate preacher, pastor and thinker.

But early in his career he was struggling with the fact that “if I did something good because it would make me happy, I would ruin its goodness.” He felt somehow, as C S Lewis explained it, that “there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing…” And yet other Christians across the ages had discovered something different:

Blaise Pascal wrote: “All men seek happiness. This is without exception.”

Jeremy Taylor: “God threatens terrible things if we will not be happy.”

Augustine: “If I were to ask you why you have believed in Christ, why you have become Christians, every man will answer truly, ‘For the sake of happiness.’”

We all desire joy, and happiness but somehow feel that these desires should be suppressed and that “to be motivated by a desire for happiness when [volunteering] for Christian service or [going] to church – that seemed selfish…” However hard we try, though, it seems we have “an overwhelming longing to be happy, a tremendously powerful impulse to seek pleasure.” Through the writings of C S Lewis, Jonathan Edwards and others Piper finally saw that ”I must pursue joy in God if I am to glorify Him as the surpassingly valuable Reality in the universe.”

So through looking at Conversion, Worship, Love, Scripture, Prayer, Money, Marriage, Missions and Suffering, John Piper seeks to show that “the chief end [purpose] of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever” and that “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”

This brief overview cannot do the book justice. Piper does not avoid the hard questions. The chapter on Suffering is a real challenge to the comfortable Christianity of much of the Western Church. Occasionally Piper seems to stretch a point or over-complicate, and you might need to re-read the odd paragraph to get the argument, but these are small points. Overall the book creates a desire, at least in me, to pursue knowledge of God, delight in God and the glory of God more and more, which leads to the most radical Christian discipleship.

As a musician and “worship leader” (although I think only the Holy Spirit can truly lead us in Worship) I find Piper’s writing always creates excitement in me to see God worshipped and glorified in my life and in the Church. I cannot recommend this book too highly.

John MacArthur calls Desiring God "A soul-stirring celebration of the pleasures of knowing God... A must-read for every Christian and a feast for the spiritually hungry." This book is a tremendously valuable book and a powerful corrective to stoic Christianity. It is not only relevant, it is important. I believe the thoroughly Biblical theology presented here has the potential to transform the mind and the heart. Piper shows how God is most glorified by us when we are most satisfied in Him. Saving faith is not a decision. Saving faith is not an intellectual assent to a doctrinal scheme. Saving faith is savouring and embracing the person and work of Jesus Christ. I would encourage all believers (especially but not exclusively) to read this book carefully and then read it again! ( )

Once in a while, a privileged person happens to read a magnificent book at just the right point in their life, and it permanently changes them for the better. In 2005, I was that person, and Desiring God was that book.

In it, Piper plumbs the Bible to find the purpose for which the universe and in particular mankind was created, concluding that "the chief end of man is to glorify God *by* enjoying Him forever," paraphrasing the old Westminster confession. He then develops the philosophical, theological, and practical implications of this stunning phrase.

I cannot recommend any non-canonical book more highly. ( )

Discusses the debate many Christians face between duty and delight, and explains how delight is our duty.

Great theology