If I can’t find what I’m looking for on the internet within one minute, I usually conclude that it’s not there. Last week, however, I was determined to find the latest biographical sermon by John Piper on William Tyndale. I found the manuscript and I found links to all of the other messages. And of course I found the mp3 CD which you can buy for $20. That’s easily one of the best values for the money anywhere in the universe but I already bought most of those messages twice (once on cassette and then the mp3 CD a year or two ago). I just wanted this latest message and so I spent about 30 fruitless minutes, concluding at the end that I’d post about my failure with hopes that somebody could help me.
Well, I didn’t have time yet to post, but Justin Taylor today provides the answer. All of the biographical messages, including this year’s, are now online here.
They are all free.
What is your response to a free offer like this? My response is to want to give to this kind of ministry. The ministries that charge for everything – well, I figure that I’m paying and I’m not motivated to give anything else. But Desiring God has for a long time distinguished itself by their generosity. That’s not because they don’t have bills to pay, but because they trust God to provide for their needs while they give their stuff away. The result is this: Ministry A which charges $5/sermon gets no-few purchases from me and nothing in donations. Ministry DG charges $0 and gets far more than they’d get if I paid fair market value.
I don’t say this to reveal what my right hand is doing, but to encourage you to consider your own response to those ministries which benefit you.
And if you haven’t heard me say it before, listen to these messages. They may change your life. My favorites include John Bunyan, Adoniram Judson, John Paton, and Charles Spurgeon.
I agree with everything you said. The messages are especially impactful and DG is well-worth giving to. I think they run their ministry based on the radical faith and giving principles that Piper preaches, which I find to be 100% consistent and personally challenging.
Todd,
I just found your blog through looking at Gunner’s new one. I’m excited about it.
I praise God for John Piper and his sermons online for free. It is a testimony of grace and the supremacy of Christ as Treasure, not money. That isn’t to say that those who do charge for sermons are treasuring money, but when you don’t charge it says something.
What do you think about D. A. Carson’s sermons? (Don’t feel obligated to reply; it is a huge question) I have been working on collecting the free ones and making them available to people.
Todd,
Thanks so much for this link. I have all of Piper’s older biographical sermons, but didnt know that he had ones even as recent as this year. I continually find them so challenging and look forward to listening to these newer ones.
Thanks also for the reminder to give to the ministries that impact us. DG has definitely been such in my life.
P.J. – I haven’t listened to much of Carson’s stuff, so I can’t give you any feedback. I remember one sermon I listened to recently was quite deep (on John 5). Everyone else can find the sermons that P.J. mentions at his blog here:
http://pjtibayan.wordpress.com/2006/10/17/d-a-carson-audio-sermonslectures/