READING REFLECTION - DESIRING GOD by John Piper - TURABIAN FORMAT Essay

READING REFLECTION - DESIRING GOD by John Piper - TURABIAN FORMAT - Essay Example He supports his arguments by citing Judas Iscariot’s betrayal of Jesus Christ, which was a sin to fulfill God’s plan and will. Piper states that God’s pursuit of pleasure from us and our pursuit of pleasure from him are the same things.2 The main purpose of conversion is to select the few that will enter the Kingdom of heaven. Not all people who talk of God will enter the Kingdom, but only those who turn away from sin, repent and trust in God. From his book, Piper likens worship to a feast of Christian hedonism. He states that from biblical interpretations, worship includes outward acts including praying, preaching, cleansing, reciting, ordaining, lifting hands, bowing, and performing rites of eating.3 In addition, true worship must include inward feelings and thoughts that reflect on God’s worth and glory. Piper continues by stating that love is the overflow of joy in God. Love is reflected from outward acts and activities performed by people. God is love, and He loves a cheerful giver. Piper continues to state that what a person feels about money can either destroy or build one. What one does with his money forms a foundation that can build his happiness or ruin him forever. In marriage, husbands are told to love their wives because their wife’s body is theirs. They are required to do so just like Jesus died for the church. Christians are expected to continue with Paul’s missions of preaching the gospel. They are supposed to preach it in new regions and territories and to people who have not yet received it. In going out to missions, Christians are supposed to expect suffering, but put it in their hearts and minds that all their suffering is for Christ and with Christ. As such, they are not supposed to despair, but put in more efforts until they achieve their goals. The primary thesis of the book, which is Christian hedonism, relates to both private and public worship in many ways. This is mainly