The Power of Words and the Wonder of God [Paperback] [2009] (Author) John Piper, Justin Taylor, Paul Tripp, Sinclair B. Ferguson, Mark Driscoll, Daniel Taylor, Bob Kauflin

by John Piper

Excellent Book

Genres: Theology, Christian, Nonfiction, Christian Living, Writing, Christianity, Religion

Paperback

First published September 12, 2009

About the author

John Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as senior pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

He grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and studied at Wheaton College, Fuller Theological Seminary (B.D.), and the University of Munich (D.theol.). For six years, he taught Biblical Studies at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and in 1980 accepted the call to serve as pastor at Bethlehem.

John is the author of more than 50 books and more than 30 years of his preaching and teaching is available free at desiringGod.org. John and his wife, Noel, have four sons, one daughter, and twelve grandchildren.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! These chapters by different authors are a compilation of speeches from a Desiring God conference. I loved the different lenses by which the speakers looked at aspects of the spoken, written, and sung word!
I think the chapter that really resonated with me was about the importance of stories in our lives as believers. As an avid reader, I agree wholeheartedly with this. As Taylor says, “Powerful stories have the potential to change us. They do not exist to kill time but to redeem time.”
I highly recommend this book to believers who love literature and the art of words.

[Sharon Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

We start in the middle of an ongoing story!!? What a rich thought! How is it that His words can even become our words!? This book had me stilled and muted at points.

[Myra]

I found this post conference book (Desiring God 2009 National Conference) on the power of our words to be edifying. Tripp's chapter was a good summary from his book War of Words, and he is a very convicting, honest, and entertaining writer. Sinclair Ferguson's chapter, an exposition of James 3:1-12 was one of my favorites. An added bonus was the script from two panel discussions. I really enjoyed getting to read the personal testimonies of Ferguson and Tripp, along with Bob Kauflin's account of a spiritually dark and difficult time and how the Lord brought him back to a place of hope.

[Randy Alcorn]

Given the contributors, I expected this book to be good, but it exceeds expectations. There’s no weak link. Every chapter, including the introduction, brings a unique and vital perspective to a critical subject. It’s impossible to overstate the power and eternal impact of our spoken and written words, for good or evil. With stylistic diversity but thematic unity, these men bring a rich, biblical, Christ-centered, interesting and immensely helpful perspective. I wholeheartedly recommend The Power of Words and the Wonder of God.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent study on the power of words! Each chapter is written by a different author and they each cover a different aspect of this subject.

"What you say always produces some kind of harvest. What is the lasting legacy of your words?" ~ Paul David Tripp

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a worthwhile read, but Mark Driscoll's writing in chapter 4 really put me off. I think he was trying to "speak the truth boldly" but it did not seem to come from a place of love and instead came across as arrogant and immature. The rest of the book was much more thoughtful. I especially liked the chapters on eloquence, story, and music (ch. 3, 5, & 6).

[Andy Febrico Bintoro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally from 2008 Desiring God Conference. This book consists of many chapters from different panelists. The main theme here was the words that spoken out from our tongue. These words have power so we need to control our tongues.

[Nahte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a wonderful book. I absolutely loved it. I highly recommend it. Worth going over again and again.

[Hunter Wheatcraft · Rating 2 out of 5]

Paul Tripp and Sinclair Ferguson’s articles are fantastic.

[Cassandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! So profound. Thankful to God that my friend gifted me with this book written with such humility and wisdom.

[Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 2008, I traveled with a group of young men and women from our college ministry, out to the twin cities where we spent a few days taking in the Desiring God Conference. It was an excellent several days, taking in the instruction from God's Word and fellowshiping with those with whom we traveled. As I read through The Power of Words and the Wonder of God, I was taken back in my recollection to the time spent at the conference, given that the pages of this book are, in essence, the manuscripts of each of the talks given at the conference.
The conference featured speakers such as Paul Tripp, John Piper, Sinclair Ferguson, Bob Kauflin, Mark Driscoll, and Danile Taylor. Tripp's talk on the War of Words was standard Tripp. A great challenge to the heart for sure. The second talk was by Sinclair Ferguson. It was a talk based upon James 3:1-12 and Ferguson broke this passage down in an excellent, gospel-centered, exhortation, encouragement, and warning to all who heard/read. One of the talks, seen in chapter 3, was by John Piper and it pertained to the issue of Christian Eloquence. This chapter (talk) took a look at the Corinthian culture within which the Apostle Paul ministered, and Piper explained how there is an eloquence that the culture of then (and today) embraced and promoted, an eloquence which actually was/is antithetical to the cross of Christ, while showing at the same time, that there is a way to be eloquent in such a way that it promosts the wonders of the cross of Christ. This was an excellent chapter. Another notable chapter is the one by Bob Kauflin regarding the Words of Wonder: What Happens When We Sing? Kauflin brings his expertise in leading worship to the pages of this chapter and gives very helping insight into the words we sing, why we sing, and what happens when we sing, individually and collectively.
The chapters by Drisoll and Taylor were simply okay. Taylor challenged me to think about role of "story" in our faith and gave me some elements to chew on.
Last, the final parts of the book were the manuscripts from a Q&A Time with the various speakers. These were excellent and provided glimpses into the life and ministry and doctrine of each of the speakers. These two sections were very encouraging, to say the least.
Overall, I found The Power of Words to be a pretty good read pointing the reader to the Wonder of God.

[Adam R. Clarke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This edited work by John Piper and Justin Taylor is a must read for any church leader.

There are seven other contributors to this work and it does just as the title suggests - it informs us that words are powerful and they can be used or abused. I never fully understood how much of an influence my voice had until I started to lead and minister to youth, and this was a wonderful example of how to best use this influence in my ministry.

The first entry is about actively making decisions that put your heart in the right place, so that your words speak truth. Therefore your words correctly represent your heart. Our greatest danger, as Paul David Tripp points out, is not when we speak about the outside influences in your life, but when we allow those outside influence fill your heart. (read more below)

The theme of heart health carries into an exposition of James 3:1-12 by Sinclair B.
Ferguson. The learning point in James would be that “tongue mastery is the fruit of selfmastery.” For Ferguson, the dilemma we will face if we donʼt tame our hearts is that our
tongues will allow everyone to notice our false intentions. This problem will ultimately
trickle down into our ministries, causing them to flounder beneath our sometimes
unknowing eyes.

John Piper provided, for me, the most intriguing piece as he addressed the problem of
eloquence in Christian prose, and within the Biblical Narrative. Paul would experience
this problem in Corinth and speak out against the Sophists, as eloquence was their tool
of clever deceit. But as Piper points out, there is room for Christian eloquence in writing
and speech as it engages emotionally, and reflects the beauty and greatness of God.

Mark Driscol provides the reader with a cutting edge approach to dealing with the
“sheep, wolves, swine and dogs” that dwell within the church. Christ and others
addressed these different individuals with a passion and an anger that isnʼt addressed
today.

Are we too afraid of conflict to save the sweep from those that seek to lure them away?

He suggests that true gospel will separate people into repentant and non-repentant,
instead of the typically and more usually present “righteous or not.” Driscol surprised me
in his writing, and his passion for truth within the church is very apparent in his very
pointed approach to his texts.

Story Shaped Faith, by Daniel Taylor, was the reason I picked the book up, and it
provided a new approach to teaching for me. Quite simply: Move away from teaching
only the propositions of the Bible (God is powerful, Jesus did rise on the third day, etc.)
and place them into the larger context of the story. The propositions are great as they
provide the stories with historicity, but when left by itself, it teaches a faith that is based
only on facts and not experiences. The story teaches the proposition.

Joshua 4 tells us that God is powerful - how?

Earlier in the story, the God shows His power by providing a path that is free and clear
of water. The proposition or fact is placed within the larger story and allows us to
connect to the broader meta-narrative of Godʼs restorative plan.

Singing is important to God, but many times it will divide a congregation. Bob Kauflin
suggests that singing helps us to remember phrases and connects emotionally with
words, as well as helping us express unity among us. The question becomes: Are we
allowing generational differences to divide us before we allow the words of Jesus to
unite us?

This book is all about the power of words. Words that will unite us in solid teaching,
solid living, and allow us to be the solid influences that our youth need and expect. Pick
up a copy of this book and read it constantly, so we remember how much of an impact
our words and heart have in our relationships.

[Philip Worrall · Rating 2 out of 5]

Paul Tripp's essay and John Pipers were definitely the best ones within this book. I have a lot of respect for guys like Ferguson and the others, yet they are not really great in my opinion as writers. I'm not talking poetically writing, I mean taking a subject and concisely putting it in a way engaging an audience in a journey of learning. Their content is good, but they did not do a good job of changing up the tone from a speech to written form. Yet, I think it is a great book for many of us to understand the importance of our words.

[Mark A Powell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book (the transcript of the 2008 Desiring God conference) deals with the role, importance, and usage of words. Exploring the connection between language and the Lordship of Christ is much-needed. The contributors here took some good jabs but couldn’t quite connect on the knockout punch. Each chapter seemed too distant from the others, almost as if the topic was too broad and nebulous to get a bead on. It’s solid, but well short of exceptional.

[CJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting collection of thoughts of Christian leaders on a subject not often talked about - Words. The meaning, morality and messages of our everyday words. The most interesting for me is Daniel Taylor's ideas that we are story shaped creatures, that we need a story to engage our whole being not just our minds.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful. Great encouragements, and advice for anyone teaching in any capacity in the Church. Very multi-faceted treatment of the role of words in the world, and in the Church. I was surprised how full of treasure the "conversations with the contributors" were at the end - make sure you don't skip these.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great and OK.

[Stephen Willcox · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are transcript sermons. Driscoll's and Piper's chapters are fantastic!

[Joe Valenti · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is on of the best books I have read in a long time. Highly recommended.

[Fayelichua · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked this book. 'nough said.

[Aaron Carlberg]

What can I say, such great preachers...read the book.

[Emily Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read for writers who want to use their gift to serve the church.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an amazing conference to attend!

[Jeremy]

PDF available here. Followup discussion here.

[R. Arsenault]

This book was very thought provoking