Some of you got really excited as soon as you read the title to this post.
You got excited because you knew exactly which family Barnabas, Abraham, John, and Noel belong to.
You got excited for the same reason that you eagerly downloaded Mark Dever’s interviews with John and, more recently, Mark Driscoll’s interview (video or audio).
You got excited because John Piper changed your life.
Maybe it was his books, maybe it was his sermons, whatever it was you were transformed in your understanding of God, love for his glory, and desire to find your satisfaction in Him because of the biblical ministry of this man.
You got excited because you know the writer, you know the preacher, and you love to learn more about the man, the husband, the father.
This post, re-posted in part, is written by Barnabas (son of John and Noel) and posted on Abraham’s (also son of John and Noel) blog – 22 Words.
If you don’t read/subscribe to Abraham Piper’s blog, you really should. It’s outstanding.
Here’s Barnabas:
1. “Dussy da puppy”—What my daughter Grace said, when asked “what do you like about Grandmamma and Granddaddy?”
3. Mother’s leftover food creativity.
5. That Olive Garden classifies as a “fancy restaurant” in their book. (It wasn’t until after college that I realized this wasn’t really true in the public’s eyes.)
6. That they were excited to expand our family by adopting when they were 50 or close to it.
8. Daddy’s aversion to “cool”—I wouldn’t have it any other way.
9. That I had 18 years of unofficial homiletics to carry into my first preaching opportunities.
10. That Daddy is a living reminder of what the Trinity is like—he is one man in the pulpit and another man at home, but they are the same man.
11. That Daddy and Mother’s marriage is another reminder of the Trinity. They are very one and very two.
12. That they were strict without being legalistic when I was growing up.
13. Their delight at every additional grandchild.
15. That they taught me to enjoy going to church.
18. That they don’t meddle, but they’re always available with counsel when asked.
19. No TV—I’m so glad I learned to love reading and doing outside stuff.
20. That they encouraged me in my hobbies by getting me things like hand tools, power tools, baseball gloves, bikes, and paying the fee for every single sport I played for about 13 years.
22. That I learned to pray from listening to countless prayers from both of them.
If you were paying attention, you noticed gaps in the numbering. The gaps are intentional, they are motivators, spurning you forward to check out 22 Words and see what Abraham Piper and his son Orison have to say via the world wide web.
Thank you Barnabas and Abraham for sharing a little bit of your family with guys like me.
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Below is a list of some of my favorite John Piper books, just in case you have recently fled from an Amish community or Buddhist mountain temple compound and have never been exposed to John Piper (if you are in this category of individuals: 1. Congrats on figuring out the internet and 2. You need to buy these books and read them, like yesterday).
What to Do When You Don’t Desire God
Swans are Not Silent Biographical Series (scroll down to bottom of link for full series)
You should check out This Momentary Marriage by Piper. An amazing and refreshing book about Christ and the Church focus of a gospel-centric marriage. It will soon be a favorite of yours.