Ask Pastor John
John Piper answering tough theological and pastoral questions.
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desiringgod.org/ask-pastor-johnEpisodes
Wasted Talents
Without Christ-exalting love, spiritual gifts serve as self-promotion ? even when they produce powerful results.
2026-04-20Link to episode
Where AI Fails
How important are emotions in the Christian life? Pastor John looks to AI and suffering to clarify the essence of what makes us unique as human beings.
2026-04-16Link to episode
Long Sorrows Set the Stage
In Scripture, long periods of suffering and pain serve as a backdrop for God?s great kindness. Pastor John offers three reasons for long sorrows.
2026-04-13Link to episode
The Bondage of Singleness
What does true freedom look like in the Christian life? Pastor John describes the apostle Paul?s burden for both single and married believers.
2026-04-09Link to episode
Sex Is Worship
If sex outside of marriage doesn?t hurt anyone, why does Scripture call it sin? Pastor John unfolds the spiritual significance of sex from 1 Corinthians 6.
2026-04-06Link to episode
The Wrong Kind of Cross-Centered
Should every sermon make a beeline to the cross? Pastor John traces the pattern of the New Testament from the death of Christ to the holiness of Christians.
2026-04-02Link to episode
Will You Be Happy in a Million Years?
Eternity with God can sound too good to be true ? even impossible. Will heaven really never end? And if not, will we still be happy after a million years?
2026-03-30Link to episode
Made Lonely by Holiness
How should we respond when friends embrace worldly entertainment? Pastor John offers encouragement for when personal convictions lead to loneliness.
2026-03-26Link to episode
Dying to Live
How do we present ourselves to God ?as a living sacrifice?? Pastor John applies Romans 12:1?2 to believers? daily lives.
2026-03-23Link to episode
Stop Waiting for a Sign
Should all believers assume they are called to missions? Pastor John provides seven factors to direct a desire for ministry at home or abroad.
2026-03-19Link to episode
Your Only Roadblock to Heaven
God?s sovereign grace is strong enough to overcome all human sin and rebellion ? changing belief in Jesus from ?will not? to ?want to.?
2026-03-16Link to episode
Everything Happens for a Reason
Does the Bible teach that everything happens for a reason? Pastor John offers grounding from Romans 8 for God?s purpose in our suffering.
2026-03-12Link to episode
Your Main Calling in the End Times
When Christians encounter signs of the end times, how should we respond? Pastor John outlines a biblical approach to waiting well for Jesus?s return.
2026-03-09Link to episode
Five Escapes from Dry Devotions
How can believers push past surface-level Bible reading to the reality behind the words? Pastor John offers five practices to enliven dry devotions.
2026-03-05Link to episode
Why Smart People Reject God
Why do people reject God when creation proclaims his presence? Pastor John explains how truth becomes suppressed, both internally and externally.
2026-03-02Link to episode
Hope for Screwups
How can those who have wandered far from God come back home to him? Pastor John offers hope in the face of deep failure.
2026-02-26Link to episode
Marks of a Godly Boss
How do Jesus?s teaching and example shape our leadership? Pastor John examines the traits of a godly leader in the home, church, or workplace.
2026-02-23Link to episode
Waiting Is the Hardest Part
What is God doing while we wait in a painful place? Pastor John shows how God uses waiting to produce a new security, a new song, and a new significance.
2026-02-19Link to episode
The Gospel of Gorgeous
How can we find peace when struggling to see the goodness of our individual design? Pastor John illustrates God?s love and wisdom in his creation.
2026-02-16Link to episode
Regretting the Day I Was Born
When does faithful lament become sinful complaint? Pastor John offers five statements on lament to help us cry out to God in great pain.
2026-02-12Link to episode
Aging with Joy
How do we cling to Christ when faced with the unknowns of aging? Pastor John encourages older Christians in the battle against bitterness and fear.
2026-02-09Link to episode
The Hardest Heart God Can Save
By nature, we are selfish and God-ignoring and God-belittling. But no matter how hard a heart may be, the sovereign God can still save.
2026-02-05Link to episode
Life Guidance for Sinners
Indwelling sin still pervades those who are in Christ. But God?s mercy is more than enough to meet, match, and master any guilt we bring to him.
2026-02-02Link to episode
Learning to Delegate
How might pastors approach the many administrative needs of a congregation? Pastor John draws four helpful guidelines from Jethro?s counsel to Moses.
2026-01-29Link to episode
Is Sex as Dangerous as Christians Make It Seem?
Why do Christians make such a big deal about sex? Pastor John shows what godly sexuality says about the God who made us and the Christ who redeemed us.
2026-01-26Link to episode
Why Is Christianity the Best Religion?
Why is Christianity the best religion? Pastor John offers four reasons, including the hope of the gospel and the uniqueness of the God-man.
2026-01-22Link to episode
Why Mental Clarity Arrives at Night
How does God?s word guide our heart?s instruction in the night? Pastor John explains the ways God uses nighttime counsel to teach and lead us.
2026-01-19Link to episode
Three Metrics for Your Fitness
When does stewardship of the body cross over into self-glorification? Pastor John helps us test our motivations with three questions.
2026-01-15Link to episode
Are Raised Hands in Worship Just Showing Off?
When we lift our hands in worship, are we displaying public faithfulness or public performance? Pastor John gives three ways to test our hearts.
2026-01-12Link to episode
Piper, Did You Miss Something?
How do we rejoice in God without neglecting to rejoice in our salvation? Pastor John clarifies how to rightly rejoice in God and his good gifts.
2026-01-08Link to episode
Maximize Your Daily Bible Reading
How does reading the Bible lead to life transformation? Pastor John offers three suggestions to experience more of the Spirit?s power.
2026-01-05Link to episode
Make a Life Plan for 2026
How do we craft a personal mission statement? Pastor John helps us draw the details of our lives into God?s ultimate purpose.
2026-01-01Link to episode
God Wants Your Resolve
How can we make New Year?s resolutions in a way that honors God? Pastor John explains the mystery of fulfilling resolves in the strength of another.
2025-12-29Link to episode
The Gift Trap
How can we root our joy in Jesus rather than in his gifts? Pastor John gives four strategies for loving God in and above every gift.
2025-12-25Link to episode
What a Fruitful Devotional Feels Like
What does it feel like to meet the living God in the pages of Scripture? Pastor John gives us a glimpse into a profound encounter with God.
2025-12-22Link to episode
Complacency: A Silent Killer
How do we avoid falling into spiritual complacency amid daily routines? Pastor John warns of the danger of viewing God as a nonfactor in everyday life.
2025-12-18Link to episode
When You Get Accused
How should we respond when we face accusations, especially if they seem unwarranted? Pastor John helps us bear all kinds of criticism with gutsy guilt.
2025-12-15Link to episode
Loving Aging Parents Well
How can we love our aging parents through the many challenges of caregiving? Pastor John shares counsel from Scripture and personal experience.
2025-12-11Link to episode
Keeping Sovereign Grace in Gospel Partnerships
Why would a gospel-driven ministry define itself as Reformed? Because Reformed theology guards and glorifies the grace at the heart of the gospel.
2025-12-08Link to episode
Marriage Survival After Betrayal
How can trust regrow in the aftermath of adultery? Pastor John identifies two needed miracles for a marriage to survive and thrive again.
2025-12-04Link to episode
The Apostasy of Impatience
Can a Christian lose patience and not be in sin? Pastor John explains why patience and impatience may be more complicated than we think.
2025-12-01Link to episode
Improving the Body Without Fixating on Image
As we steward the body, our appearance might change for the better. How do we keep our focus on being a whole person, not just an attractive shape?
2025-11-27Link to episode
Why Satan Persists
Satan wouldn?t exist if God didn?t keep him around ? so why is he here? Pastor John explains four ways in which God is using Satan for his glory.
2025-11-24Link to episode
What False Teachings Should Make Me Leave a Church?
Differences in belief can feel bigger than they are ? but sometimes they are truly big. What separates personal opinion from soul-damaging theology?
2025-11-20Link to episode
The God Who Breaks Us with Kindness
If God refuses to act ?for our sake,? does that mean he refuses to do us good? Pastor John resolves a perplexity and holds forth lavish grace from Ezekiel 36.
2025-11-17Link to episode
How One Bible Verse Disarmed a Mob
Does Psalm 82 teach that human beings are gods? Pastor John describes the moment when Jesus quoted the psalm to escape an early death.
2025-11-13Link to episode
Shame Today Is Worth It
How could Jesus, the King of kings and true Son of God, be ashamed at the final judgment? Pastor John digs into Jesus?s argument for following him.
2025-11-10Link to episode
What Is a ?Fleshly? Christian?
Are ?fleshly? Christians truly Christian? Pastor John traces Paul?s distinctions between natural people, carnal Christians, and spiritual Christians.
2025-11-06Link to episode
Eight Ways to Live Out Your Assurance
How can we learn to rest in the saving work of Jesus Christ? Pastor John offers eight God-given ways to increase our confidence in him.
2025-11-03Link to episode
How Can I Know I?m a Christian?
What is the bottom-line, existential, frightening, glorious question of Romans 8? Pastor John draws out two signs that a professing Christian is secure in Christ.
2025-10-30Link to episode