Here's the scoop on another great product coming soon from Crossway. We really appreciate their partnership in putting on this year's Desiring God National Conference.

Available this Fall from Crossway, the ESV Seek and Find Bible is a great way to help kids ages 5-9 learn to love God’s Word. The Bible contains the full ESV text along with other helpful resources, like book introductions written for children, character profiles, maps, and a concordance.

The primary feature of the Seek and Find Bible is 120 full-color illustrations, all from original hand paintings. Each illustration is paired with an age-appropriate retelling of the Bible story. At the end of each story special “Seek and Find” sections help children learn more about the story through different categories:

• Where to Find the Story
• Key Bible Verse
• Three Key Questions
• Related Bible Readings

The Seek and Find Bible contains some great stuff for kids to read and discover with their parents or on their own. For information on editions and to order, visit Crossway’s website.

This year's Desiring God National Conference could not be what we're praying and planning for without the generous help of our partner ministries. We are happy to highlight 7 of them for you here.

To Every Tribe Ministries

To Every Tribe exists to spread a passion for the supremacy of God among unreached peoples throughout the earth. To Every Tribe intends to purposefully glorify God by planting national led, self-sustaining, self-reproducing, evangelical Christian churches in the interior regions of Papua New Guinea and Mexico initially, and then to other unreached peoples around the world as the Lord directs.

Our vision is to bring the gospel to those hard-to-get-to places where the name of Jesus has never been heard so God will be worshiped by every tribe, language, and nation. In addition to cross-cultural church planting, it is our desire to extend this ministry into the next generation by training new pioneers for the gospel. The Center for Pioneer Church Planting prepares and equips missionary martyrs for the challenges of church planting among people groups who have never heard the gospel. The Center for Pioneer Church Planting (CPCP) is a missionary training program that combines intensive in-class preparation and study in South Texas with 'hands-on' training in church planting locations in Papua New Guinea and Mexico.

We believe the most effective way to learn how to plant churches is by doing it with experienced church planters. We do not minimize the importance of classroom learning, but we do believe on-field mentoring coupled with the classroom is what makes our training unique.

LifeWay Christian Stores

The Northwestern Book Stores in Burnsville, Coon Rapids, Edina, Maple Grove, and Woodbury are now LifeWay Christian Stores. LifeWay is honored to be continuing Northwestern’s rich tradition of service through Christian retailing to the Twin Cities area. LifeWay offers a wide array of Christian resources like Bibles, books, music, Bible studies, home decor, children’s resources, and so much more—all at competitive prices in a family-friendly environment.

Please stop by today to let us know how we can serve you. And mark your calendars for our Grand Opening Celebration, which runs September 11 through October 9 with guest appearances from Bob, Larry, and LarryBoy from VeggieTales and Hermie from Hermie and Friends.

We have five stores to serve you:

Edina 952-927-7106
Woodbury 651-738-9200
Coon Rapids 763-252-1961
Maple Grove 763-420-3883
Burnsville 952-435-8600

Logos Bible Software

Logos 4 is robust enough for a pastor’s professional life, but easy and intuitive enough for his personal life as well. Logos 4 removes time-consuming hindrances so you can get right to the task of serious Bible study. It delivers faster and smarter searching, insights from your favorite author, and Greek and Hebrew tools that are designed for those who might not have had any training in the languages.

With things like passage analysis delivering an HD look at the grand narrative, Biblical People, Places, and Things delivering graphics that can easily be dropped into a presentation slide, and even an opening homepage that reads like an online newspaper delivering content from books that a pastor might not know he even had in his collection. So, Logos 4 delivers a powerful solution to pastors that is flexible and fits around the way they study the Bible.

Another thing Logos delivers is hands-on, personal presentations. With a large and talented national presentation team, Logos can come to your church and help you equip pastors, leaders, and laity. Check out a little about what Logos can do for you at logos.com/ministrydevelopment.

Gaba Bible Institute

Gaba Bible Institute will be sponsoring the Russian interpretation at this year’s national conference.

Africa needs leaders!—specifically, Christian leaders with a heart to share the gospel and compassion of Christ in the midst of pain and suffering. Gaba Bible Institute is an accredited evangelical Bible college located in the heart of East Africa that exists to train such leaders.

GBI opened its doors in 2007 with 35 students from Uganda, Congo and Rwanda. Today GBI now has 135 students from 9 African countries and over 60 alumni serving throughout East and Central Africa. To learn more about how you can participate with GBI in equipping Africa’s leaders please watch our 2 minute video.

95.3 Praise FM

95.3 Praise FM is a radio ministry in Minneapolis, MN dedicated to changing the way that people, churches and cities worship. Originating in Osakis, MN in 1985, Praise FM has grown from one station to four, with 95.3 Praise FM going on the air in November 2008.

In addition to our ministries in Minnesota and the Dakota’s, Praise FM has a specific heart for the nations and partners with ministries in Sweden, Africa, and the Cayman Islands. The 95.3 Praise FM signal is also streaming live online for people to listen from anywhere in the world. Within the past few months, people tuned in from 96 different nations and 42 language groups. They have seen that worship crosses generations, denominations and even language barriers.

The heart of 95.3 Praise FM is for listeners to experience the presence of God through the music and the hearing of God’s word. Our prayer is that this encounter would result in 3 things:

• A desire for God in personal daily worship
• A heart to honor God by living under authority and in community within the Church
• Obedience to God as a ministry to our families, workplace and community

Covenant Eyes

You know that the Internet is enticing your family to conform to the world. You can help renew your family’s mind with these five action points. Read more.

Pioneers

Pioneers teams are passionate about seeing God glorified by churches being planted among Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, tribal and unreligious people groups. As a sponsor of the 2010 Desiring God National Conference, we look forward to connecting with students, pastors, families and all those interested in exploring how they can expand the Kingdom among the unreached—both here and abroad.

Jonathan Edwards offers his explanation. (See below for my attempt at restating him.)

That we should say, that God has decreed every action of men, yea, every action that they do that is sinful, and every circumstance of those actions . . . and yet that God does not decree the actions that are sinful as sinful, but decrees [them] as good, is really consistent.

We do not mean by decreeing an action as sinful, the same as decreeing an action so that it shall be sinful; but by decreeing an action as sinful, I mean decreeing [it] for the sake of the sinfulness of the action. God decrees that it shall be sinful for the sake of the good that he causes to arise from the sinfulness thereof, whereas man decrees it for the sake of the evil that is in it. (Miscellanies #85, paragraphing added)

In other words, God can decree an action that is sinful for a human to perform, because he decrees it for non-sinful reasons.

A sin is only sinful because of the attitude of the heart in doing it. When humans sin, we are by definition rebelling against God. But in ordaining human sin, God doesn't rebel against himself. Rather, he ordains our sins with good ends in mind, which makes the act of ordaining them not sinful, since the attitude of his heart is not rebellious but righteous.

Some biblical expressions that seem to support this understading are Genesis 50:20 and Romans 11:32.

This past month monsoon rains have caused flooding in Pakistan worse than any they've seen in 80 years. Here is a recent update on the situation from Frontiers and an opportunity for you to join with them in showing the love of Christ:

Beyond the over 1,600 people that perished in the flooding in the Northwest region of the country, there have been over 1.6 million others who have been left without food, water, shelter and basic healthcare. This group is in the most desperate position, as flooding has left only helicopter travel as a means of reaching the population. Because basic services have been terminated by the rushing waters, these men, women and children are confronted with survival needs that can’t be met quickly enough by the Pakistani government.

Rioting and protests have erupted; foreign aid has been slow to arrive. However, Frontiers is strategically positioned in the region to provide food, water, shelter and healthcare to this distressed people.

Learn more.

Make a donation.

This past Sunday, Kenny Stokes preached his second message on 1 John 5:20-21, which ends, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols." (See his first sermon on this passage.)

Near the end he laid out 13 questions, adapted from an old Puritan sermon, to help us identify the idols of our hearts:

1. What do you most highly value?
2. What do you think about by default?
3. What is your highest goal?
4. To what or whom are you most committed?
5. Who or what do you love the most?
6. Who or what do you trust or depend upon the most?
7. Who or what do you fear the most?
8. Who or what do you hope in and hope for most?
9. Who or what do you desire the most? Or, what desire makes you most angry or makes you despair when it is not satisfied?
10. Who or what do you most delight in or hold as your greatest joy and treasure?
11. Who or what captures your greatest zeal?
12. To whom or for what are you most thankful?
13. For whom or what great purpose do you work?

Read or listen to the rest of his sermon.

As we mentioned a couple weeks ago, Tullian Tchividjian will join us this Wednesday evening for another DG LIVE broadcast.

Not familiar with Tullian? Need to get to know him a bit first? Wondering if it's worth taking the time to watch the broadcast?

Well, maybe we can help. Below we have gathered a good bit of content by Tullian on a number of different topics. Browse through, and hear what he has to say. And don't forget that you can submit questions for Tullian at any time using Twitter and the hashtag #dglive.

So enjoy the wonderful content below, and we hope you will join us for DG LIVE.

Sermons

The audio for around 200 Tullian sermons is available on Coral Ridge's website, and many of his more recent messages also have video. He recently completed a 22-part series on the Book of Colossians titled "Jesus + Nothing = Everything."

Books

• Do I Know God?: Finding Certainty in Life's Most Important Relationship
• Unfashionable: Making a Difference in the World by Being Different
• Surprised by Grace: God's Relentless Pursuit of Rebels.

Blog

Tullian hosts a blog over at The Gospel Coalition website called On Earth as it is in Heaven.

Twitter

@PastorTullian keeps the tweets coming pretty regularly.

Articles

The Gospel Coalition hosts 10 articles by Tullian on a variety of subjects.

Conference Messages

Earlier this year, Tullian gave a message at Advance10 in Durham, NC titled "Contextualization without Compromise." Watch or listen.

Interviews

Tullian has done a lot of interviews, many stemming from his books. It's probably best to break them down by type.

Audio

• About the gospel, church and culture, on Provocations and Pantings.
• About his book Surprised by Grace, on TGC Reviews.

Video

• Nine questions and answers about the gospel, filmed in anticipation of Tullian speaking at this year's Association of Biblical Counselors annual meeting.
• A 9-minute interview from the 700 Club about Tullian's testimony, the story of his time at Coral Ridge, Surprised by Grace, and what God has been teaching him.

Written

• About Christian community, on the Buzzard Blog: Part 1 and Part 2.
• About his treatment of the story of Jonah in Surprised by Grace, at The Good News.
• About the gospel and the law, especially as they relate to Christian motivation, on Between Two Worlds.
• About his book Do I Know God?, his testimony, and his thoughts on our generation, at Joshua Harris' website: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
• About learning from your critics, at Christianity Today

Other Videos

• Introducing the ESV Study Bible
• Surprised by Grace book trailer

Jonathan Edwards explains why Romans 7:8—"But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness"—happens.

[The] reason why man has the more strong inclination to moral evil when forbidden, is because obedience is submission and subjection, and the commandment is obligation. But natural corruption is against submission and obligation, but loves the lowest kind of liberty as one of those apparent goods that it seeks; and when he disobeys, he looks upon it that he has broke the obligation.

When he thinks of the perpetration of such a lust, and thinks how he is strictly upon pain of damnation forbidden, tied by such strict bonds from it, it makes him exceeding uneasy, the consideration is so against corrupt nature; which uneasiness takes away all liberty of thought, and makes the mind dwell upon nothing but the contrary and supposed good, the liberty, causes [him] to meditate upon the pleasantness of the act, and makes it appear much greater than otherwise it would do.

In other words, when sinners are given God's law, their minds become extremely uneasy thinking about the punishment they will receive when they break it. Then that uneasiness, since it is so intolerable to their fallen minds, leads them to want to think only about something pleasant, especially the thing they are being forbidden to do. And that causes them to exaggerate the sinful pleasure in their minds and think of it as being greater and more desirable than it really is.

To see how this scenario changes for those who have believed in Christ, read the rest of Miscellanies #79.

Update: The first chapter, "Who Are We and What Are We Here For?," is available as a free download (PDF).

This month Zondervan is releasing Christopher J. H. Wright's newest book, The Mission of God's People: A Biblical Theology of the Church's Mission. It is the first installment of Zondervan's Biblical Theology for Life series and complements Wright's previous book, The Mission of God.

Here's a video of Wright explaining why he wrote the book:

In addition to producing books like these, Wright keeps his hand in the cause of missions by serving as Chair of the Lausanne Committee's Theological Education Commission, among other things. Watch a panel discussion he took part in last December at Bethlehem about the needs of the global church and the work of the Lausanne movement.

Here is one more golden G. K. Chesterton quote I encountered while reading him recently (though I could list many more). He makes the case that the regularity of nature is not an argument for God's absence from it, as in deism, but rather for his perpetual, childlike presence in it.

What he says also reminds me of Jonathan Edwards' view of creation.

A child kicks his legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, “Do it again”; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony.

But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, “Do it again” to the sun; and every evening, “Do it again” to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.

The repetition in Nature may not be a mere recurrence; it may be a theatrical ENCORE.

— Orthodoxy, p. 42 (paragraphing added)

Since Crossway is one of our ministry partners at this year's National Conference, we wanted to give them a moment to highlight a wonderful, gospel-sharing opportunity they are making available to all of us this Christmas.

Looking for a way to share the gospel with your community this year? Crossway invites you to join us in reaching one million homes with God’s word this Christmas!

Crossway’s Share the Good News of Christmas is an outreach program designed to make it simple for you to share the gospel with your neighbors and invite them to the Christmas celebration at your church. The program is centered on gift bags that contain:

• An ESV Share the Good News Outreach New Testament
• A Good News of Christmas gospel tract
• A customizable invitation to your church’s Christmas event

How It Works

The program is shipped in boxes of 50 gift bags and components for $50 each; that’s only $1 per bag! Share the Good News of Christmas is a great opportunity for your family, small group, or Sunday school class to work together to invite your neighbors to a Christmas service or event at your church.

Crossway had the privilege of partnering with churches around the country (and world) to share the good news of Christmas with nearly 750,000 people in 2009! Will you join us in reaching 1,000,000 people in 2010?

For more information, visit www.goodnewsofchristmas.org where you can find ordering instructions, testimonials, and downloadable resources to help in your planning.

As a follow up to my post on Tuesday, I wanted to share some resources from old saints that have provided the most help in keeping God a priority for me and my family.

1) Sweet Comfort for Feeble Saints, by C. H. Spurgeon

No sermon I can think of has been more influential in convincing me of the goodness of Christ and my own redemption than this one. If you are constantly in the “Slough of Despond” I highly recommend this.

2) Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure, by Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones

The answer to lawlessness is not legalism and the answer to legalism is not lawlessness. Both are idolatry. True faith in Christ, resting in his work, leads to personal obedience. There is no disconnect between sola fide and personal piety as Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones masterfully teaches in this collection of sermons.

3) The Pilgrim's Progress, by John Bunyan

Reading this will help weary Christians realize that their Christian experience is a well worn road and will bring great comfort and strength. It's also an excellent story to read to the family.

4) Belgic Confession

Written by Protestant martyr Guido de Bräs, this simple and beautiful confession of the Christian faith brings sweet comfort to sinners.

5) Duties of Parents, by J. C. Ryle

This is the first book I would recommend to any parent. Not only is it supremely full of timely wisdom, but it is concise and can be read in one sitting. I strongly recommend reading "Spiritual Depression" before reading this if you are a trembling sinner.

6) Thoughts for Young Men, by J. C. Ryle

As a follow up to "Duties of Parents," I strongly recommend this for young men. Ryle is a convinced Calvinist who, like Lloyd-Jones, understood the importance of the "means of grace" in one's life, not pitting obedience against faith alone in Christ alone.

7) Lectures to My Students, by C. H. Spurgeon

I'm only just getting into this, but it's another goldmine.

You may also subscribe to audio lectures, books and sermons by most of the above pastors through the iTunes Store!

Special thanks to my pastor, Steve Altman, for recommending The Belgic Confession, Lloyd-Jones and Ryle to me.

In his Washington Post article last Friday, Stephen Anderson presents his "field notes from a one year armchair assessment of the human condition." He says the assessment was prompted by all the buzz last year about Calvin's 500th birthday.

The notes are essentially a poetic review of the past year's headlines with the conclusion, "Got depravity? Totally."

Interestingly, Stephen Anderson's first church was Bethlehem Baptist Church (back in the late 50's), and he credits his familiarity with Calvin, in part, to the instruction he got in the nursery there.

Seeing the devil is so cunning and subtile, it may seem a paradox, why he will endeavor to frustrate the designs of an omniscient being, or to pretend to counterwork him that is omnipotent, and will not suffer anything but what is for his own glory: seeing that God turns everything he does to the greater and more illustrious advancement of His own honor, and seeing he has experience of it, for so long a time, [that] all his deep laid contrivances have at last come out to his own overthrow, and the event has been directly contrary to his design.

To this I say, that although the devil be exceeding crafty and subtile, yet he is one of the greatest fools and blockheads in the world, as the subtilest of wicked men are. Sin is of such a nature that it strangely infatuates and bewitches persons: makes men deliberately choose eternal torments rather than miss of their pleasure of a few days, and to esteem a little silver and gold above eternal happiness; makes men choose a few minutes pleasure, though eternal flames be joined therewith, rather than not have it—thus do the cunningest of wicked men. Sin has the same effect on the devils, to make them act like fools, and so much the more as it is greater in them than in others.

The devil acts not according to his deliberate judgment, but is driven on to his own inexpressible torment by the fury of sin, malice, revenge and pride; is so entirely under the government of malice, that although he never attempted anything against God but he was disappointed, yet he cannot bear to lie still, and refrain from exerting himself with all his might and subtilty against the interest of holiness; though he, if he considered, might know that it will turn to its advantage.

—Jonathan Edwards, Miscellanies #48 (paragraphing added)

Last Wednesday night we hosted a 2 hour live stream interview with Dave Harvey. We have good news to those of you who weren't able to tune in during the event. The whole 2 hour event is now available in audio and video.

Listen to Dave Harvey share his testimony and answer practical questions about what it means to "rescue ambition" for the kingdom of God.

At our 1991 Pastors Conference John Piper delivered a biographical message on Martyn Lloyd-Jones titled "A Passion For Christ Exalting Power."

Nine newly-available recordings of Lloyd-Jones' Spirit empowered preaching can be downloaded for free, thanks to the Martyn Lloyd-Jones Recordings Trust.

I am now convinced, that conversion under the old [covenant] was not only the same in general with what it is commonly under the new, but much more like it as to the particular way and manner, than I used to think.

Among the children of Israel, there was always without doubt two sorts of persons, wicked and godly, and there used to be as manifest a difference between these two as there is now. It appears that the wicked were the same as they are now: vain, profane, light, proud, scornful, hating the godly. The righteous, by the descriptions we have of them, were also the same: humble, meek and lowly, devout, full of fear, love and trust in God, just, righteous and charitable. And we can't question but that there were as frequent conversions from one to the other as there is now.

This turning is very often spoken of in the Old Testament, frequently urged and encouraged; and we have no reason to believe that what was said had no effect. And undoubtedly the first motives of their turning were a sense of the dangerousness of sin, and of the dreadfulness of God's anger; and [they] were convinced so much of their wickedness, that they trusted to nothing but the mere mercy of God, and then bitterly lamented and mourned for their sins. Wherever turning is urged, such a turning as this is urged; and what instances we have were of this kind. And thus it doubtless was, not only amongst the Israelites but also among the antediluvians, and from the beginning of the world.

—Jonathan Edwards, Miscellanies #39

For 27 years, from 1982 to 2008, John Piper wrote and read a poem for each Sunday of Advent, as a gift to Bethlehem Baptist Church. Most of these poems were about biblical characters who find their lives intertwined with significant events in redemptive history. Some of them even became books, such as Job, Ruth, The Innkeeper, and The Prodigal's Sister.

Pastor John has written poetry on other occasions as well, whether to celebrate his son's marriage, his daughter's baptism, or, most especially, to express his love for Noël. (See the entire list of his online poems.)

Back in December of 2007, Pastor John spoke at an after-church event at Bethelehem titled "A Pastor and His Poetry." It was an informal presentation, intermingled with Q&A, where he answered four main questions:

1. What is poetry?
2. Why read poetry?
3. Why write poetry?
4. How do I write poetry?

You can now listen online or download the audio.

Westminster Bookstore is having a a sale on The Essential Edwards Collection, through Monday, August 2nd. The set is marked at 50% off list, making the cost for all 5 books $22.50. (That averages out to be $4.50 a book!)

Saddleback Church held its first public service in 1980 when 205 people from all over the spiritual map gathered together in Lake Forest, CA. The gathering had begun as a small Bible study in Rick and Kay Warren's small condo with one other family. Thirty years later the church has grown to host more than 200 ministries that serve the local and global community.

Saddleback highlights four signature ministries of their church:

• Celebrate Recovery seeks to celebrate God's healing and redemptive power over addictive, compulsive, and dysfunctional behaviors.
• The PEACE Plan is a massive effort to mobilize Christians worldwide to address the problems of spiritual emptiness, corrupt leadership, poverty, disease, and illiteracy.
• The HIV/AIDS Initiative was born out of the conviction that "The global HIV and AIDS pandemic is the Church's greatest opportunity to serve the hurting like Jesus did, to show God's love to skeptics, to share the Good News, and to extend a helping hand in communities around the world."
• Orphan Care is rooted in the command of James 1:27 to care for orphans and widows. The Church's role is pivotal here: "As the distribution center for hope in a community, the local church is best able to identify needs and support interventions for orphaned and vulnerable children in every community."

The redemption by Christ is particularly wonderful upon this account, inasmuch as the justice of God is not only appeased to those who have an interest in him, but stands up for them; is not only not an enemy but a friend, every whit as much as mercy.

Justice demands adoption and glorification, and importunes as much for it, as ever it did before for misery; in every respect that it is against the wicked, it is as much for the godly.

Yea, it is abundantly more so than it would have been for Adam: for him it would be only because He graciously promised; but it is obliged to believers on the account of the absolute merit of the Son of God, and upon the account of an eternal agreement between God and his Son.

—Jonathan Edwards, Miscellanies #38

N. D. Wilson will lead one of the five breakout seminars at our National Conference this October. The title for his message is "Think ‘Story’: Understanding Your Place in the Drama of Redemption.”

Nate and his wife have five children and currently reside in Idaho. He is a graduate of New Saint Andrews College and holds a Master of Liberal Arts degree from St. John's College. He has served as the Fellow of Literature at New Saint Andrews College since 2004 and is also managing editor for Credenda/Agenda magazine.

He has written many children’s books including Leepike Ridge and a fantasy series of three books—100 Cupboards, Dandelion Fire, and The Chestnut King. The series is currently being adapted into a motion picture trilogy. Another current project for Wilson is the adaptations that he is writing to make C. S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce ready for the big screen.

He is also the author of Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl, which happens to be my favorite read this year. The book was assigned as part of a class on the theology of Jonathan Edwards at Bethlehem College and Seminary. At first it seemed weird to carry a book with such a title in the same stack as A Dissertation Concerning the End for Which God Created the World. But once I started reading, it wasn’t long before I saw the connection.

The worldview in Tilt-A-Whirl is clearly Edwardian as he highlights the imprint of God on the things all around us. The book took the lofty thoughts of Edwards and applied them to the minutia of everyday life. It will cause you to laugh, think hard, and recognize the poetic supremacy of God in the things we often take for granted.

Register for the conference and come hear Nate this Fall.

Other 2010 National Conference Speakers

• Rick Warren
• Tullian Tchividjian
• Thabiti Anyabwile
• Francis Chan
• Randy Alcorn
• Kevin DeYoung
• R. C. Sproul
• Albert Mohler

A week from today is the Desiring God LIVE broadcast with Dave Harvey. Last week we posted some biographical info on him and mentioned that his name has been "buzzing around the blogosphere lately."

Here's some of that buzz.

First Crossway started rolling out a series of short videos of Dave answering questions about his newest book, Rescuing Ambition. Here are all six:

Then John Starke from TGC Reviews did a video interview with Dave about the book. 

Then The Resurgence featured several blog posts by Dave related to Rescuing Ambition, applying the discussion of ambition to three different areas:

• Ambition in a Postmodern World
• Ambition and a Future Target
• Ambition Without Risk?

Then, also on The Resurgence blog, Dustin Neely did a video interview with Dave. This one focuses more on calling and church planting.

And Justin Taylor has highlighted some of Dave's other teachings in recent months, such as

• the audio and lecture notes from a marriage seminar he gave earlier this year, and
• his four-part blog series on how Sovereign Grace plants churches.

If these resources have piqued your interest and you want to hear more biblical, experienced answers about ambition, calling, church planting, marriage and more, be sure to submit your questions via Twitter and include #dglive. Then tune in next Wednesday night at 7pm CST to Desiring God LIVE.

A great way to keep up-to-date on Desiring God news, events and specials is to sign up for our monthly email updates. Periodically we will include exclusive offers only available to our subscribers.

Our upcoming August email will include a 10% off coupon code for anything in our store, valid for the whole month of August.

To subscribe, go to our email subscriptions page and sign up for "News, Events, Specials & Ministry Updates."

Biographer Jeffrey L. Sheler describes Rick Warren as “an average guy—genial, gregarious, quick with a self-deprecating joke—someone you would more expect to be captain of a bowling team than a megachurch pastor” (Prophet of Purpose, p. 5)

Warren is the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, outside of Los Angeles. Saddleback has five campuses and reaches out to the community through over 200 ministries ranging from support for parents and children to prisoners and people living with HIV/AIDS.

Alongside his responsibilities as a pastor, Rick has worldwide influence on the topics of leadership development, poverty, health, education, and faith and culture. Known as a global strategist and committed philanthropist, he has also authored the best-selling non-fiction hardback in history, The Purpose Driven Life, which has sold over 30 million copies.

Rick is passionate about global outreach and has launched a massive effort—The PEACE Plan—to battle what he considers the “five global giants” in our world today. His topic at the conference (which you can still register for) is “Thinking Purposefully for the Glory of Christ: The Life of the Mind and Global Reality.”

Other 2010 National Conference Speakers

• Tullian Tchividjian
• Thabiti Anyabwile
• Francis Chan
• Randy Alcorn
• Kevin DeYoung
• R. C. Sproul
• Albert Mohler

If God has already willed to send rain, then why pray for it? Or if God has chosen to save you, then why fight so hard against temptation?

Edwards gives his answer to questions like these in Miscellanies #29 (reformatted for readability):

God decrees all things harmoniously and in excellent order; one decree harmonizes with another, and there is such a relation between all the decrees as makes the most excellent order. Thus God decrees rain in drought because he decrees the earnest prayers of his people; or thus, he decrees the prayers of his people because he decrees rain.

I acknowledge, to say God decrees a thing "because," is an improper way of speaking, but not more improper than all our other ways of speaking about God. God decrees the latter event because of the former, no more than he decrees the former because of the latter.

But this is what we [mean]: when God decrees to give the blessing of rain, he decrees the prayers of his people; and when he decrees the prayers of his people, he very commonly decrees rain; and thereby there is an harmony between these two decrees, of rain and the prayers of God's people.

Thus also,

• when he decrees diligence and industry, he decrees riches and prosperity;
• when he decrees prudence, he often decrees success;
• when he decrees striving, then often he decrees the obtaining of the kingdom of heaven;
• when he decrees the preaching of the gospel, then he decrees the bringing home of souls to Christ;
• when he decrees good natural faculties, diligence and good advantages, then he decrees learning;
• when he decrees summer, then he decrees the growing of plants.

Thus, when he decrees conformity to his Son, he decrees calling; and when he decrees calling, he decrees justification; and when he decrees justification, he decrees everlasting glory.

Thus all the decrees of God are harmonious; and this is all that can be said for or against absolute or conditional decrees. But this I say, it's improper to make one decree a condition of another, any more than the other a condition of that; but there is a harmony between both.