Know the End from the Beginning
Welcome to our summer challenge at Grace Church!
My prayer is that you will be blessed as you read “Desiring God” this summer. This will be an exciting thing, but also a very challenging one. If you are in the habit of reading, get ready to be stretched. If you haven’t read for a while, get ready for the trip of a lifetime. This book is not the Bible, it can never be compared to the eternal Word of God, but it will point you to God in a new and exciting way from start to finish!
I don’t ever like to do this, but in this case, I highly recommend that you start at the end of the book. This book has been around for a while, so after the author wrote it and had a chance to absorb the reviews and criticisms, he wrote a couple of very important pages which were put at the end of this edition, starting on page 289. The reading will be a little out of context, no doubt, but do not be discouraged by it. John Piper argues in this book that God commands us to pursue joy, but some have disagreed with him. Well, he answers his critics in these pages. When you understand his reasoning, the whole book will make more sense to you. So be of good cheer and read on. :).
Read all pages explaining the six reasons why he wrote the book (289-307). Also, understand the concept of “Christian Hedonism” (pages 308-312).
For those who are reading this as part of a small group experience, or if you just want to think through questions as you read the book, there is a nice resource at the end with discussion questions (322-343).
Now this exercise will take at least 11 weeks, if you do the epilogue and one chapter per week. Some of you might find this pace a little too fast, so you may want to break up some of the chapters. My recommendation is for you to choose a pace that makes sense to you and then follow it as closely as possible. Allow others to keep you accountable. You will be tempted to quit. But with the encouragement of other brothers and sisters, it will make it more difficult for you to give up.
One more thing, I welcome your comments. I will make sure we keep a conversation going.
Enjoy the ride!
With joy,
Pastor Ivanildo C. Trindade
pastor ivanildo 