Piper Reviews

If you are wondering where the foundation of John Piper's God-centered theology may be found, this book is a good starting point. In it, Piper reintroduces a theological masterpiece that is almost three hundred years old - "The End for which God Created the World" by the New England Puritan pastor, Jonathan Edwards. Piper's own book-length introduction describes the impact Jonathan Edwards has had on his own life, suggests the relevance that this book will have to our own culture, and provides a brief, but helpful sketch of Jonathan Edwards' life. The work by Edwards is then carefully broken down into numbered paragraphs and is accompanied by Piper's helpful footnotes. Edwards' thesis is simple - God's ultimate aim in everything He does is to uphold and display the glory of His name for the joy of His people. This thesis is worked out with iron-clad logic (be prepared to think!) and meditation on dozens of Biblical passages. If yours is the prayer of Moses - "show me Thy glory" - then this is the book for you.

In this book John Piper reprints Edwards' classic, The End for Which God Created the World. The first four chapters include the insightful commentary about Edwards' work along with Piper's own reasoning for reprinting the work in the climate of today's theologically shallow church. Edwards' work is difficult reading, but his reason and biblical arguments are irrefutable as he explains that God's glory is the ultimate purpose and chief end of everything that exists.

The End for Which God Created the World represents the core of Jonathan Edwards's thought. Edwards's thesis is this: God designed everything to revel in his glory, and he desires for us to take joy in his magnificence. What's more, those who enjoy God will enjoy him with ever-increasing joy for all eternity. Isn't that a breathtaking thesis?

Edwards marshalls huge amounts of scriptural evidence to support his claim, and, as always, he brilliantly answers philosophical objections against what the scriptures reveal about the matter. His writing throughout is penetrating, perceptive, persuasive, and deeply worshipful.

I think John Piper's goals in his contribution to this work were to whet the reader's appetite for the feast of The End for Which God Created the World and to make the work more accessible to the average reader. He succeeds in both respects. After reading Dr. Piper's introduction I was eager to plow forward, and, while reading The End . . ., I found Dr. Piper's explanatory footnotes helpful.

The End for Which God Created the World is a majestic work, and I am grateful that John Piper took the time to re-introduce it to the general public. May God use this humble offering from Jonathan Edwards's pen to help our tragically parched world find the living water flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb!

Piper is the C.S. Lewis of our time. He writes another amazing book with this latest effort. Piper posits that we waste our life unless we live with a single passion to enjoy and display God's glory in all things for the joy of all peoples. Piper explains how we can magnify Christ through pain and death, taking risks for the kingdom, making others glad in God, and making much of Christ in all spheres of life, even at work. If you dare to dream of being a radical disciple of Jesus, read this book. You will not be disappointed.

I agree with the gist of the other reviewers.

I would also like to add that this book is probably a bit more hard hitting than his other stuff. He comes right out and calls people to bigger and better things. I can imagine some people actually being offended by some things that he says - that simply going to work and raising your kids aren't all that God has called you to. There's a great calling to consider cross-cultural missions work. :) He says things like:

"Oh, how many lives are wasted by people who believe that the Christian life means simply avoiding badness and providing for the family. So there is no adultery, no stealing, no killing, no embezzlement, no fraud - just lots of hard work during the day, and lots of TV and PG-13 videos in the evening (during quality family time), and lots of fun stuf on the weekend - woven around church (mostly). This is life for millions of people. Wasted life. We were created for more."

and

"God does not promise enough food for comfort or for life - he promises enough so that you can trust him and do his will."

All in all, it's a great book, and a little more application than Desiring God. A little easier read, in that it's not as theologically heavy, I think. Definitely quality

Those familiar with Piper have come to expect Scripture saturated pleadings to readers to find their ultimate fulfillment and joy in "all that God is for us in Christ." For those unfamiliar with Piper, he is a passionate writer and pastor who spurs his readers to greater depths of devotion to God and sacrificial living. He is typically motivating and convicting.

In this book, short by Piper's standards, he drives home the biblical principle that we must give up our lives to find them. Piper applies this passion for Christ in different areas of life: work, relationships, missions, etc. The chapters on risk-taking and work are alone worth the price of the book. I highly reccommend this book as a gift for graduates and college students, but it is worth reading for every believer who doesn't want to waste their life.

The Bringing The Rain to Kapiti Plain, by Verna Aardema pictures by, Beatriz Vidal is about. The Kapiti Plain when there is no rainfall there and all the animals are dehydrated. Little boy's dad is sick and cannot shot the rain down form the big black cloud above the Kaptit Plain. So the little boy has to do the job for his sick dad.
I think little kids would be interested it this book because it help to understand some or little world around you. It teaches you to care for some animals and to help people that need some help.

The PBS show "Reading Rainbow" featured this book; James Earl Jones read it; I fell in love with it and have been giving it as a gift to friends ever since. The gentle story unfolds line by line, with a tender rhythm that entrances: "These are the cows, all hungry and dry, Who mooed for the rain to fall from the sky..." Ultimately Ki-pat, who's watching his herd, brings rain to Kapiti Plain by launching an arrow into the sky. But the charm is in the telling. My 11-year-old still obliges me and lets me read it to him every once in a while.

the book was about when there was a drought and the cows did not
have anything to eat or to drink. The cows were sick and then a bird drops a feather and then it brought rain to kapiti plain. I liked the story because it was a good book and i understood it! I would reccomend it to anyone who likes indian tales

Calvin Morrison is a Pennsylvania State Trooper who suddenly finds himself lifted out of his (our) world, and deposited on a parallel Earth. In this other Pennsylvania he finds a small kingdom of bearded primitives who appear to be on the losing end of a war of conquest. The locals have so little gunpowder compared to their enemies because the secret of making it is controlled by a corrupt religious order, Styphon's House. Calvin, a student of military history, finds himself proclaimed Lord Kalvan, and given the job of rescuing a seemingly hopeless situation.

This book is very well written, and the action is gripping. I've already read this book three times, and it gets better each time.

As a lifelong fan of time travel and alternate timeline stories, I first read this yarn when it was serialized (as "Gunpowder God") in ANALOG in 1964. I came across it recently at a university book sale and decided it was time to reread it, and I wasn't disappointed. Calvin Morrison, a Korean War veteran and the son of a minister, is a corporal in the Pennsylvania State Police (an organization for which Piper evidently had a high regard). While preparing to rush a bad guy holed up in a farmhouse, he's sideswiped by a passing Paratime Patrol transtemporal vehicle and gets bounced into an alternate Pennsylvania countryside where the Aryans of India went east instead of west, occupying what did not become China and then crossing the Pacific. Morrison is extremely adaptable -- it apparently takes him only an hour or so to accept what's happened to him and that he's not going back to his own world -- and quickly finds himself "Lord Kalvan," chief advisor and war leader to Ptosphes, Prince of Hostigos. All in all, this is a delightful exercise in military and geopolitical fantasizing . . . though it seems odd that people who get scooped up willy-nilly and dumped in ancient Rome, or wherever, always seem to possess all the political, historical, and technical knowledge to set themselves up nicely. Of course, if the displaced person were an overweight fries-cooker at Burger King, or a Mary Kay saleswoman, there wouldn't be much of a story! This is by far the best (and longest) of Piper's Paratime stories. If you liked Sprague De Camp's _Lest Darkness Fall,_ you'll love this one!

Okay, the other reviews tell you about the story, I first read this story in 1977 before they stuck those damned UPC codes on the book covers! (at least on most books). I was completely enraged at H. Beam Piper for photocopying my fantasies, until I found out the story was written prior to my birth! What s-f fan, history buff, and other cool hobbyist have not dreamed of being whisked off to another world where he can "Win The Day"! If you are in the Society of Creative Ananchronisms you should checketh this out, if you are a muzzleloading buff, read it. If you are someone who just likes a good improbable/probable yarn, READ IT! If we could get the makers of "Lord Of The Ring" to make this a flick, FABULOUS!

This was one of my favorite books when I was in my late teens; I recently re-read it and found it to be as exciting as the first time around. Piper had the ability to create realistic worlds and the several worlds in this book are no exception. I think its a shame that this, along with most of Piper's other books, is no longer in print.

Prabably my all time favorite scienc fiction book. Even though I have let many of my child hood SciFi books go I continue to hang on to this one. Don't pass up a chance to read it if you can.

Lord Lucas Trask of Traskon lives on the Sword World of Gram, but is opposed to the Space Viking raids, on which numerous of the most talented Sword Worlders leave and never return. However, when his bride is killed a half-hour after their wedding, Lucas fits out a Space Viking ship and sets out for revenge. Sickened by the waste of the Space Viking life, he finds himself returning to his older convictions: that it is better to build than destroy. But, he finds that there are many who find destroying a simple and easy life, and what is the murderer of his wife up to? This is the story of one man's odyssey across the remains of the old Federation, his life, death and rebirth.

As I've said before, Mr. H. Beam Piper is probably one of the most underrated science-fiction authors ever. Here again, he produced a book with a fascinating milieu, populated by people who act consistently with their culture. I found the book to be quite gripping, proving impossible to put down as it rocketed towards the finale. I highly recommend this book to everyone!

The planet of Zarathustra sleeps quietly, the outright possession of the Chartered Zarathustra Company. However, something is about to wake it up. When Jack Holloway, a lone prospector out in the bush discovers a small humanoid race that might just be sapient, the company trembles. The company's claim to the planet is based on its classification as a Class III uninhabited planet, and the company is too big to be threatened with impunity.

But, the first of the little humanoids (Fuzzies) discovered knows nothing about charters and the law. Little Fuzzy joins Pappy Jack, and discovers a whole new world, a world full of fun and adventure. These are the adventures of Little Fuzzy, and his turning upside-down of a whole world!

This book was originally published in 1962, but is every bit as good today as it was back then. The story starts out a bit slow, but it picks up speed, and by the end you find that you can't put it down! H. Beam Piper was an author whose suicide tragically cut short what would have been a full and brilliant career. If you like good science fiction, set in a realistic and believable milieu, then I highly recommend this book to you.

I first read the Fuzzy stories over 30 years ago, at which time I began drafting a screenplay based on the Gashta (Fuzzy) saga. It lay in a notebook until a few months ago when I renewed my commitment to bringing the story of Little Fuzzy to the masses. The script now resides on my laptop where it is being polished while I await word on the legal aspects of carrying out my dream... to see Little Fuzzy join (if not lead) the ranks of Gremlins, Ewoks and other sapient furry beings everywhere. Is the world ready for "Little Fuzzy"? let me hear from you...

Little Fuzzy is written by H. Beam Piper and is the first in a series of many books on the fuzzys. The Plot of the book is simple enough, old man finds little furry people, old man keeps little furry people, old man trys to get little furry people recognized as sapient life forms. If you can get past the first 2 pages of scientific mumbo jumbo that has nothing to do with the story the you will be fine. The book is great! I generaly do not read sci fi, but I made an exception for little fuzzy, and you should to!

This is the best book I've ever read. Unlike so many books on missions, Piper does not try to cajole his readers into the mission field with tear-jerking stories of how third-world nation children are starving, as if God were in need of missionaries. Instead, Piper unfolds God's great plan to glorify himself through missions--that all nations might turn to Christ. Piper is right on when he wrote -- missions exists because worship doesn't. Soli Deo Gloria

I definately agree on the excellence of this book. Piper is obviously a man after God's heart, and listens when His father speaks. Piper gives a rather untraditional, yet much needed view of "missions." The idea that missions is for the glory of God, and NOT because the missionary has a love for a certain people or country, makes this view functional. It is a blatant and biblical answer to the high degree of missionary attrition as seen in today's sending organizations. Following this model, and heeding to the other exhortations regarding prayer and suffering set forth in this book will allow worship to resound and God to be glorified. It is a must read!

This is, indeed, one of the greatest books on missions. It offers a fresh perspective on missions offering that when non-believers witness true worship of the living God, they will be won over. It's easy to read for the general parishoner, and theologically deep enough for the seminarian. I highly recommend it to anyone with even a passing interest in learning about missions.

This was the first of the O'Hurley series that I read, because it is almost impossible to tell which one goes first! (FYI, for those who like to read things in order, I have now learned that "The Last Honest Woman" comes first, then this book, then "Skin Deep", and last, I think, is "Without a Trace".) That said, this book was very enjoyable. Maddy, the "youngest" of the O'Hurley Triplets, is a dancer by profession and by nature. She has grown up in the theater and knows nothing about hiding her emotions or her feelings -- they are meant to be acted upon! When she meets Reed Valentine and almost immediately falls in love with him, she must learn how to deal with someone who is less forthcoming than herself, and who may never be able to love her the way she does him.

Well, this is a Nora Roberts romance, so we know she'll eventually succeed, but the book was very entertaining and enjoyable in getting to that point. The theater was vividly described, and the primary characters were very sympathetic. Also I especially liked the character of Edwin, Reed's father. This is a quick read but a good one!

Nora Roberts is a romance writer who has the unique gift of being able to put her readers right between the pages of her books. In the case of Dance to the Piper, the reader feels as though they too are a dancer as a new show is about to open on Broadway. And as always with this author there is double the reading pleasure as there is also a delightful romance too.

In the second book of the saga about the O'Hurley family, Ms. Roberts tells the story of the dancing O'Hurley daughter, Maddy. Preparing for a new show, Take It Off, this spirited young woman knows she cannot rest on accolades from her ;ast performances. She fully realizes that it will take both physical and mental strength to make a hit of this show and falling in love at this time is what she least expects to do. But fall in love she does as she meets and then pursues a principal investor of the show, Reed Valentine.

I thought this book was a wonderful read. So adeptly does Ms. Roberts present the life of a Broadway dancer and star that I often wondered if she patterned this character after a real dancer she knows. I actually could see the dance numbers and feel the energy, to say nothing about how enjoyable was the romantic aspect. And as an extra benefit of this book the reader is introduced to Reed's charming father and spends more time with the other members of the O'Hurley family. I always think Nora Roberts's series books are her best and Dance to the Piper is another one of these which I highly recommend.

I loved this book. I've been reading Nora Roberts for a very short time but I've read over twenty of her novels thus far and this is the only one I've yet to get tired of (I read her books three or four times through, easily). I love the books that involve mystery and intrigue but, on the other hand, I gravitated toward this one because it was simply a woman and a man struggling to find happiness. I adored the Broadway setting and could easily picture myself there, I loved the contrast between Maddy and Reed and the realistic struggles within their relationship but, most of all, I loved the language Ms. Roberts used to weave the tale.

This book was almost as good as the first, but still had that same 'grab 'ya' action and kept me reading until the last! I believe you should read Heavenly Horse first, but buy this one too; you're gonna want to read the sequel after you're finished!

I believe Heavenly was better - loyalty to the first book maybe...! But Piper was simply 'the best' too! Couldnt put it down...went without sleep...almost! I want more horse books from this author as she is able to express what I want to believe in the world of Equines.

In my opnion Piper At The Gate is by far the best book i've ever read. Unfortunitly I havem't had the pleasure of reading it's precessor but I ordered it in hopes it would be half as good as Piper At The Gate. Mary Stanton in an incredibly talented author and I would reccomend this book to everyone I know, whether they were horse lovers or not. Definitly order a copy of this, you won't regret it for one second.

I was recommended to John Piper as I am in a stage of "God thirsting", insatiable for the truth, and getting to "know God". I purchased most of Piper's books, thus far I enjoy both versions of Godward Life the most. I read it at the airport as I travel frequently, and one time found myself borrowing a highlighter from my neighbor on the plane. The book made me understand the complete truth behind the passage "do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." My heart became very peaceful henceafter, indeed the truth shall set you free.

Some of his preaching are easy to accept, but 'hard to practice' daily in life, but I know those are the truth God is teaching me. Indeed the narrower path has its hardships, yet also its blissful rewards. My next readings will be "The Pleasures of God and Future Grace".

There are many devotional books on the market, some of them sold as new editions of the Bible, and in my experience, they are mostly fluff. Not so with _A Godward Life._ These 120 readings, 2-3 pages each, spill over with inspired thoughts on the whole gamut of Christian living and Biblical thinking.

Piper explains his intent for these readings in the introduction. He doesn't want to tempt us away from reading the Bible; he wants to inspire us to a greater passion for God Himself and to take that passion to our reading or studying of God's Word and to our living by faith through His grace. To that end, he gives us 120 brief readings on God's character, His awesome grace, life in a secular world, loving our enemies, killing the sin within us, defending the truth, and more.

These are far more than readings geared at giving you a good feeling about God over your morning coffee. They may challenge your understanding of Scripture and will certainly help you live to God's glory throughout the week. A great book for college students, especially if they are attending a secular university!

I recommend this book as good Biblical teaching; but more than that, it enables you to spend time with a passionate man of God, full of love and life.

Phenomenal book with some absolutely priceless readings. Inspiring and challenging, very good supplement for daily reading.