John Piper has invited Rick Warren to speak at the 2010 Desiring God National Conference. Like many, I am a bit concerned by this. I am not overly fond of Rick Warren. But here’s the thing – I trust John Piper. His preaching is solid, his mastery of Scripture is solid, his devotional life seems solid, his walk seems solid, etc. He is not a perfect man. He makes mistakes. Inviting Rick Warren could prove to be one of those mistakes. But I trust John Piper and if Piper decides to invite Warren, I may not like it, but I will trust Piper’s choice and will be interested to hear what Warren says.

Update:
Here is Piper explaining why he invited Warren. I may be re-evaluating my view of Warren.

Taking advantage of the special offer from Desiring God, I’ve just ordered 216 copies of John Piper’s devotional book 50 Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die. We will be giving out these books at our church but I thought I’d offer a few copies on here as well.

The description of the book reads:

John Piper has gathered from the New Testament fifty reasons behind the crucifixion of the Christ. Not fifty causes, but fifty purposes—in answer to the most important question facing us in the twenty-first century: Why did Jesus suffer and die?

I am giving away 5 copies of the book. If you would like a copy, the requirement is simple: add a comment to this entry and in your comment give a sentence or two telling why the death of Jesus is so precious and necessary. I will draw names from these comments. Be sure and fill in your email address when you add your comment, the address won’t be posted but it will ensure I can get in touch with you if you win.

Now, I don’t even think I have five readers of this blog, so the chances of getting a copy are pretty good. If you know someone else who might like a copy of the book, spread the word to them.

Update:
Okay, okay, this is my first giveaway – cut me some slack. I forgot to mention when the giveaway will end. I’ll draw names on Good Friday, April 10th.

Also, if you’re a member at Immanuel you don’t have to enter, you’ll get a free copy anyway.

I may post some thoughts about the inauguration later. For now, John Piper has posted an excerpt from a sermon he preached in 1993, Being Pro-Life Christians Under a Pro-Choice President, with application to our new president. Below is the excerpt of the sermon found on the Desiring God page:

I closed with eight ways to honor a pro-choice president. The seventh was this:

We will honor you by expecting from you straightforward answers to straightforward questions. We would not expect this from a con-man, but we do expect it from an honorable man.

For example,

1. Are you willing to explain why a baby’s right not to be killed is less important than a woman’s right not to be pregnant?
2. Or are you willing to explain why most cities have laws forbidding cruelty to animals, but you oppose laws forbidding cruelty to human fetuses? Are they not at least living animals?
3. Or are you willing to explain why government is unwilling to take away the so-called right to abortion on demand even though it harms the unborn child; yet government is increasingly willing to take away the right to smoke, precisely because it harms innocent non-smokers, killing 3,000 non-smokers a year from cancer and as many as 40,000 non-smokers a year from other diseases?
4. And if you say that everything hangs on whether the fetus is a human child, are you willing to go before national television in the oval office and defend your support for the “Freedom of Choice Act” by holding in your hand a 21 week old fetus and explaining why this little one does not have the fundamental, moral, and constitutional right to life? Are you willing to say to parents in this church who lost a child at that age and held him in their hands, this being in your hands is not and was not a child with any rights of its own under God or under law?

Perhaps you have good answers to each of these questions. We will honor you by expecting you to defend your position forthrightly in the public eye.

You have immense power as President of the United States. To wield it against the protection of the unborn without giving a public accounting in view of moral and scientific reality would be dishonorable. We will honor you by expecting better.