“To wait on God means to pause and soberly consider our own inadequacy and the Lord’s all-sufficiency, and to seek counsel and help from the Lord, and to hope in Him (Psalm. 33:20-22; Isa. 8:17) … The folly of not waiting for God is that we forfeit the blessing of having God work for us. The evil of not waiting on God is that we oppose God’s will to exalt Himself in mercy.” John Piper
For more about waiting for God see:
“Teach us how to fight by faith against the power of sin, in the confidence that Christ has purchased our forgiveness and secured the triumph of all who trust in him. Turn every evil design of the devil into sanctifying schemes of love. Deliver us from his deceptions. Keep the beauty of Christ clear in the eyes of our heart. Make us instruments of Satan’s defeat until you come and slay him by the breath of your mouth. Make us valiant in delivering others by the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, your great gospel. In Jesus name we pray, amen. ”
John Piper from Seeing and Savoring Jesus
This book review was written by Barbara M., one of our Fanning the Flame team members and presented at our last meeting.
Part 1 discusses making God supreme in missions through worship, prayer and suffering. He discusses missions not being the ultimate goal of the church — worship is because God is ultimate, not man. When the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity, but worship abides forever. He uses a lot of Biblical texts to “back up” his statements and he uses many statements to make his point.
Part 2 discusses making God supreme in missions — the necessity and nature of the task. The supremacy of Christ as the conscious focus of all saving faith and the supremacy of God among all the nations is the focus of this section, which also has many Biblical texts to back up his statements. Emphasis is made regarding reaching all the nations.
Part 3 discusses making God supreme in missions –the practical outworking of compassion and worship. Piper says that Jonathan Edwards (18th century pastor and theologian) impacted his thinking regarding worship and missions “so much it is incalculable.” He says if by the mercy of God, Christ becomes the treasure of the nations and God becomes their delight, then He is honored and we are saved — the goal of missions. Therefore the twofold motive of missions, mercy for man and glory for God, is one coherent goal. Also discussed was the inner simplicity and outer freedom of world wide worship.
There is a four page conclusion and then an “afterword” by Tom Sellar, Pastor for Leadership Development, Bethlehem Baptist and Dean of Bethlehem College and Seminary. Some of the above descriptions of the book are taken in part of whole from the book itself.
Lutheran Ladies Connection 