I just want to thank Desiring God for the excellent website that you all have provided. It has been a wonderful resource for me and my wife. I am an adult Sunday School teacher and use the materials in teaching each Sunday. We have used the resources to witness in our neighborhood and community in general. The excellent web interface is so easy to use and the availability of resources that you provide is outstanding. We do send support frequently and will send more. Thank you again.

Thank you so much for the "Don't Waste Your Life" website and all of your available resources on the desiring God website.

I am so grateful.

I am a police officer and on my breaks I go to these two websites for encouragement. Two of my children ages 6 and 10 now ask me to pray for them that they would not waste their lives because they want to live for Jesus. What joy is put in my heart when I hear those words come out of their little mouths! Thank you very much Desiring God staff and John Piper. It is my prayer that the Lord would sustain you all and that you would live your lives for the Glory of the Risen Christ.

Dear Desiring God Ministries,

Thank you so much for coming to our side as we ministered to the students of Virginia Tech after the April 16th shooting.

We greatly appreciate the 300 books you gave us -- they are almost completely gone. It was so great to see our students leave our weekly meeting with "Don't Waste Your Life" in their hands. Thank you for your generosity -- you truly ministered to our students.

Thanks again.

Sincerely,

The staff of Campus Crusade for Christ at VT

About two and one-half years ago, I lost my father, my brother and my thirteen-year-old nephew in a boating accident in the Gulf of Mexico; two other little nephews were rescued after hours at sea. My nephew, Drake, was unaccounted for at the time of the other rescues and recoveries. Four days later, my husband preached the funerals. He stood above and behind three identical grey caskets that lined the front of my home church. He stood, paradoxically, in the exact place where my family had watched me, even as I had watched them, make our public professions of faith, pray as a deacon, commit to full-time Christian service, and marry. Now, we were once again occupying that same place, but for a reason previously untenable. The day before the funerals, a group of about 40 of us held hands and prayed that God would miraculouly bring Drakey's body home to us in time for the funerals. That did not happen. At the service, two of the three caskets were open; they flanked the closed and empty casket in the middle--the one that had only a frame with a precious little boy's picture atop it. Symbolically, that was Friday, but then came Sunday! Nine days after the accident ,and three days after the funerals, the coroner arrived at my sister's house to say that they were sure they were "bringing Drakey home." Again, the funeral home brought that same matching casket to the funeral service; this time God allowed us to inter it. At Drake's funeral, the casket was still closed, but our eyes and hearts were unabashedly open in wonder and amazement, as we beheld and proclaimed the sovereignty of ou r God. By way of information, our family was strong in the Lord. Our parents were devoted Christians and provided a homelife that was always God-honoring. My husband, our children and I had served with the IMB for 15 1/2 years prior to feeling the Lord's leadership in bringing us back to the States about a year before the accident. Once again, His sovereignty. My brother, who had only been married for a year and one-half to a widow with four little boys, was on the way to Austrailia with his family for missions. My nephew, Drake, had accepted the Lord with his mother only two months before his home-going. His favorite hymn--the one he always sang to his mother-- "Love Lifted Me". ("I was sinking...far from the peaceful shore; but Love lifted me.") The Misery of Job and The Mercy of God was given to me by a family friend. After returning to my home about a month following the funerals, I asked my husband to listen to the CD with me as we followed your reading. As he held me in his arms--there were no words--we heard you say, " I cling with feeble fingers to the ledge of your great grace..." I dissolved in tears. Someone, somehow, had managed to wrench, with amazing precision, the words and emotions from my pent-up soul and express them. I read the words over and over. And even as I traced them with my finger upon that page, God was tracing them upon my being. Apart from God's precious, sustaining Word, your inspired words have brought healing balm and solace to me in the midst of human agony and anguish. As they embraced my spirit, they gave wings to my emotions and expression to my faith. What I had been tau ght, what I had professed, and what I was now being called upon to live out had been experienced by another: God's sovereignty was enough. His timing impeccable. His ways past finding out. His goodness beyond description. Because of God's sovereignty, I feel no desire to question the reason for a "rogue wave on a gorgeous day"; or why He didn't allow my brother to go as a missionary; or why He chose for us to wait nine long days before bringing my nephew home; or why two were rescued and yet three were taken... To all who hesitantly pose the questions to me, I feel somewhat like Job as he tried to answer Jemimah's questions to him. My answer: day-by-day, "the rod of God is becoming the tender kiss of God."

"Words fail to truly capture the impact your ministry has had on our lives. We have seen a clearer, more profound view of our Glory-driven King through Dr. Piper's daily broadcasts. I often listen to a sermon each day online as I do the data entry aspect of my job. These nuggets of truth equip me to overflow with His love and grace to my co-workers."

“I can't believe it took me 2 whole years to understand what is said in the audio sermon ‘Education for Exultation in Christ.' I am a Jew, a Christian Jew and since 2 minutes ago I believe that Jesus is God…. God used that audio sermon to crush the mind of this stubborn Jew…. My eyes went open. Just today I was angry with God. I said to Him: “Why are you letting me search without finding answers?” Well I found it now. Jesus is Elohim! Thank you John Piper! I love you! And now I love God more because He used you!”

“Please know that my wife and I praise the Lord often for the wonderful ministry of the Gospel that He is working through Desiring God. Our lives have been so helped and blessed and changed as our souls are being empowered more and more to feast upon Christ alone for our hope and joy. It is our prayer that God will equip you to continue and expand your authentic and powerful ministry of the Word. Along with that prayer, He has enabled us to include this small gift toward your many financial needs.”

“I am writing this e-mail to let Pastor John Piper [know] that his messages on ROMANS saved both my human and spiritual life. I learned with him to engage in a battle against sin and invest everything in moving from homo to heterosexuality. Thanks.”

“It is with great excitement that I send this first financial gift. Your ministry has meant a great deal to me, helping me to value the glory of Christ more and more. Nothing compares to knowing Him, and to help others do the same. Your ministry is helping me grow in both senses.”

“Last May… I was dealing with the deep disappointment and grief of a broken relationship which I wholeheartedly hoped was going to end in marriage.… [B]yGod's grace, I discovered the Desiring God radio broadcast. Words cannot do justice to the encouragement that Pastor John's messages brought to me, how they were used of God to help me survive some very dark days, and how they taught me to put my hope in God and in the everlasting life and joy which will be ours at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Doing so, even though imperfectly, has given me a joy in God greater than I have ever known before, and one which transcends the grief and disappointment of the loss of one whom I dearly love, and enables me to bear it. I write all this just to add another testimony to the fact that the Lord is using your ministry to bear much fruit. I thank Him wholeheartedly for you—to Him be all the glory for His overflowing grace.”

To begin, I would like to say that I love, love, LOVE this program. I would gladly lose every other program from the radio if I could still have this one.

I just wanted all of you that are involved in this radio ministry to know how powerful the Spirit is working through John and this radio show. Please continue to be lead by HIM in everything you do. And please express my deepest appreciation to John for his faithfulness.

I love being able to access your radio program on the internet. You can be heard in Mobile on the Radio at 2:00PM. I am not always able to listen at this time, but since the program can be downloaded to the computer I am able fit every program into my schedule. Not only has this been a blessing to me, but at the end of each month I burn the programs to a disk and share them with people who are not familiar with John Piper and Desiring God Ministries. Shut-ins have found these MP3's especially beneficial, and listen to them over and over. I am also sending the disks to a young Nepali man who for 5 years had been working outside his country…. God led him to return to Nepal and teach God's Word to the unreached people of his tribe. When he returned to Nepal this summer, he took several of the MP3's, together with other materials from Desiring God Ministries…. I have also printed the manuscript of several programs and sent them to a retired minister who is hearing impaired. He has been unable to understand the MP3's but enjoys the manuscripts. I want to thank you for sharing these resources. May the Lord continue to bless you.

Lately I have been discouraged and had thoughts like "is it really worth it, how do I know it is?" And then I listened to the radio broadcast "How can I keep on hoping? The Scriptures". Again I found myself at the feet of my Saviour worshiping. Nothing could be more worthwhile than a God satisfied life....or my God is not sovereign. Thank you in the Lord's name.

My wife and I have 3 boys (with a 4th baby on the way!) and have had strong Christian faiths, until our second son was diagnosed with a neurometabolic disorder. This disability has caused lots of pain and struggle for our family, debilitating our son and causing him to be severely developmentally delayed. He has life threatening seizures of a rare type and his disease is so rare they cannot classify it. Last fall I started listening to John Piper's messages on the radio. The Lord has used Desiring God to help me understand that suffering isn't bad, in fact it is necessary for God to reveal his full character to me. I had heard of John Piper's book Desiring God quite a few years ago but never took the time to read it. This last fall, listening to the radio sermons prompted me to purchase a copy for myself and for a good friend of mine and we are working our way through it, a chapter at a time. It is so profound and we find lots to discuss. It is helping me work through a severe depression and increase my faith and perspective on God. When I see God for who he really is, then I can think and live the Christian life. Thanks for your ministry! I hope you continue to broadcast on the air. It is difficult for us to support your ministry financially, but I will lift it up in prayer and spread your message and your radio broadcast by word of mouth.

I look forward to every night listening to Brother John Piper's message… the messages every night really fill me, and teach me something new almost every night. I pray God continues to grow me, first and foremost, through his word and prayer, and also by ya'lls ministry…. Please, if you would, anyone, brother or sister, pray that I succeed in these trials and that the Lord continues to open my eyes to his love and PATIENCE.

I am a 16-year old missionary kid from the Canary Islands, Spain…. Listening to Desiring God radio after school every day is what I look forward to most, and I want to thank God for using the people at Desiring God to provide the means for me and for my Christian brethren all around the world to build up that doctrinal base which is so important in a free, accessible way. May the LORD bless you all and encourage you daily in this ministry…. I honestly don't know where I'd be if it weren't for Desiring God ministries. Praise be to God!!!

I recently discovered “Desiring God” radio early this year and have been blessed by your faithfulness to God. I am the only pastor in small church in British Columbia, Canada…. I have been aware of John Pipers ministry for years having read many of his books as well as hearing him speak at a [conference] several years ago. I am so exited to be able to listen to his radio program, downloaded since there are no local radio stations, free of charge. With our church transition finances are still an issue and I have had to eliminate all my tape subscriptions since they are so expensive (especially with the exchange). Your ministry has been a breath of fresh air. I look forward to being feed by God’s word through John’s ministry.

I've been taking the guys in my small group through Future Grace, for the past year (1 section a month), and been reading, listening, consuming Dr. Piper's work on the side. It's totally changing the way I think and feel toward God and others, and for the first time in my 14+ yr. Christian walk, I am able to fight off a bondage to sin, with faith and joy, instead of miserable suffering and pleading to God which didn't grant much victory. To see how I have relied on the flesh and live with a legalistic mindset, which I knew was wrong, but didn't realize I was doing it, and now have hope and to feel excitement in drawing near to God and trusting His promises instead of a vague/generalized truth is mind-blowing. I'm loving it. Thank you and everybody involved. God's glory truly is beautiful.

Today I received a thank-you letter from you for my contribution to the radio project. In it was a testimony from someone whose experience with DG's ministry so closely parallels mine that I felt compelled to tell you about it. In the few years I became aware that, although I was well taught in the doctrines of grace, I had little passion or joy in the Gospel, and I was mourning the lack. I began to long and pray for more of God. About two years ago I was given a copy of Desiring God. The title drew my heart like a magnet, but, along with the joy of what I was reading came the worry that perhaps this teaching was too good to be true. I began to pray that God would show me if what I was reading was truly Biblical. Like the man in your letter, I wondered if this was the same Gospel. However, the more I read the greater was my conviction that outside of the Bible itself, the book was the most God-glorifying piece of writing I'd ever come across. Through it the Holy Spirit has developed in me a hot-heartedness and longing to be totally satisfied with all God is and all His promises in Lord Jesus. The joy of this is heart stopping, breathtaking--beyond my words to express. I absolutely see the immense importance of "seeing truly and feeling duly". Now I'm praying all the time. My mind is continually coming back to God. I am experiencing much more boldness and desire to share the Gospel. I pray every day to be totally satisfied in God and to display that satisfaction by His grace in every way I can. God has taken a very timid quiet person and opened my mouth to encourage "heart hunger" for Him in everyone who will listen. We now have a prayer group in our church that prays for God to awaken our church to desire all He is for us above anything else. I'm giving away copies of The Dangerous Duty of Delight and Desiring God whenever I can. I want to spread this teaching like a holy infection to as many people as I can. I am so grateful to God for leading me to you. This is profoundly of His sovereign grace! I pray that He will continue to prosper His word and work through you.

I would like to express my appreciation to you for making the book The Dangerous Duty of Delight available. It quickly became one of the books that I have both treasured and recommended to others. As a mother of young children, one of the central concerns of my life is evangelizing my children. I have always been conscious that as they observe my Christian life, they see two things: 1. That the way I live my life proves the faith that I express with my words is true. I don’t want there to be a disconnect between my faith and my actions. 2. The Christian life is a life of joy, not grim-faced duty. Unfortunately, last year I ran into some circumstances which severely tested my resolve on the second point. I had been assigned to serve the church in a situation that was overwhelming and frustrating. I was struggling with resentment and anger. It was at this low point, that I read the book The Dangerous Duty of Delight. While I was reading the book, my heart was shouting, “Oh yes! This is what is missing. None of this is any good without the joy.” I was not only convicted of where I had been failing–I was also given new hope for a future of joy-filled service. Thank you again for publishing this book. It was so helpful to me.

I've been reading your book Don't Waste Your Life and God has truly spoken to me through it. I'm 19 and just became a youth minister at a church in South Texas. I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to tell every young person I see - I'm going to beg them not to waste their life on the superficialities of this world - not to be too easily pleased. I feel it would be a great tragedy for me to do otherwise.

By the grace of God, the Lord in His wonderful, loving providence has used the book Don't Waste Your Life to instill within me a fresh passion to do all things for the glory of God. Your book not only confirmed all the things that the Lord was speaking to me through his Spirit by his Word, but has made me rethink my whole life's ambitions. I thank God for your ministry and for this book. They have been used by our Lord to help edify me to a closer relationship with the Father and his Son.

Don't Waste Your Life is changing my life in a radical way. I feel the Lord is calling me to reach college students in this generation, and the next, to become passionately in love with who God really is.

Just wanted to say God bless you and Thank you. My wife and I are currently reading Don't Waste Your Life, which has inspired a weekly chat with our church. Just wanted to say thanks.