Pierced by the Word

a book by John Piper (one of my favorite Christian authors)
Purchase link

This short book won the 2004 Gold Medallion Book Award in the Devotional Category. It contains 31 meditations that will "awaken (you) to violent prayer, piercing pleasure and fearless faith". I've used this book as a devotional, and I assure you it's a good read for anyone who wants to rouse long-forgotten, holy longings for the perfect, living God and His living words.

(Please be patient with the links below. They're not complete yet and I heard DG might be changing the section name soon... I don't want to have to update all the links when the time comes so I'll jprobably ust wait till they change the section to complete the links to the articles in the book. You can search DG's Online Library for the titles you're interested in though. Most of them are available in Fresh Words.)

Chapters:

1. How strange and wonderful is the love of Christ - read this
   
2. God is the Gospel - read this
   
3. Pierced by the Word of God - read this
   
4. Be not mere shadows and echoes - read this
5. How to drink orange juice to the glory of God - read this
6. Big, sweeping - but not insipid - prayers - read this
7. What is humility? - read this
8. Wilderness, worship, treason and God - read this
9. How to be a refuge for your children - read this
10. Going deep with God by having Him carry our loads - read this
11. Persevere in prayer! -
12. Dorothy Sayers on why hell is nonnegotiable - read this
    
13. To you who believe, He is precious - read this
14. What does Jesus want? - read this
15. How does the law help me know my sin? - read this
16. A passion for purity vs. passive prayer - read this
17. The battle for breakfast blessing - read this
18. You have one precious life - read this
19. Terrorism, justice and loving our enemies - read this
20. How is God's love experienced in the heart? - read this
21. Reasons believers in Christ need not be afraid - read this
22. Embracing the pain of shame - read this
23. How Jesus helped His disciples increase their faith - read this
24. The strange ways of our wonderful builder - read this
25. A.N.T.H.E.M: Strategies for fighting lust - read this
26. Mealtime prayers with the Pipers - read this
27. It is never right to be angry with God - read this
28. The church was spoken against everywhere - read this
29. By what death will you glorify God? - read this
30. John G. Paton's father - read this
31. Helping people have the assurance of salvation - read this

* John Piper is pastor of preaching at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis. He received his doctorate in theology from the University of Munich and taught at Bethel College for six years before becoming a pastor. His other books include Desiring God, Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ, A hunger for God (all of which I highly recommend), Don't waste your life, Future Grace, The pleasures of God, The passion of Jesus Christ (I have all these and they will be added to my reading list soon), A Godward life, When I don't desire God, God is the Gospel and many more. More God-centered resources from John Piper including audio sermons, free e-books and Christian literature can be found at desiringgod.org. Anyone who can is welcome to contribute to this noble ministry... let's do what we can to help keep these resources free for everyone.