Piper doesn’t make a dime off of his books. All revenue goes right back into the ministry. To my knowledge, his only income comes from his salary as a pastor (and possibly speaking fees). Since I noticed you’re into McLaren and other prominent Emergent members, do you know what they do with their book revenue? While I agree that tracts don’t resonate like they used to, no method or situation is ideal when talking to the unregenerate. It’s all foolishness (to them) until the Spirit causes them to be reborn.

email me and we can chat about Fuller.

jztothejc@yahoo.com

Also, I echo Todd’s words about Piper’s financial integrity. Desiring God is the most generous publisher I have ever spoken to or worked with – they’ve given our church a ton of books and materials to give away for obscenely cheap prices. Piper isn’t in this for the profits.

Thank you for noting that my words were “lovely.”

I echo what Ken writes. Some plant, some water, but God gives the increase. It seems that your philosophy of evangelism relies too heavily on personal opinions based upon your experiences.

By the way, Piper does not keep his book royalities and he lives in an urban area where most white pastors would avoid. Know more facts before you make a not-so-subtle attack on a brother’s character.

Why, because people didnt pray the prayer? Bruh, if they the gospel out then they are effective. What if preaching the gospel yielded no decisions for 5 years (which it has done in certain contexts) would we conclude preaching is a waste of breathe? No, we would keep getting the message out. Well, I think the same is true of tracts, airplane conversations, sky writing, random calls in phone books, evangelistic fortune cookies, and the like…ok, so I was joking past airplane conversations, but you get my point.

cheers mate,
bones

I’d love to know about your experience at Fuller Seminary. I was extremely close to going there and still think very highly of it. I love John Goldingay and would love to have him as a professor. I know Joel Green is there now as well. What’d you think about it? Favorite profs? Favorite classes?

i have a big problem with shot gun evagelism. We are so quick to have the converstaion on the airplane or give them a tract. Then, we invite them to say the sinners prayer. After that we give them a high five and give them a hug and then leave.

Do ya’ll see my point? If we are not doing life with that particular person, it is very difficult to follow up on their spiritual life. That is my only beef with the tract/airplane evagelism method.

Denny//

I will accept your 4th point. I am open and thanks for bring that perspective. However think about how many people have been saved who are not fully functioning in a church body presently? For example the Billy G’s crusades.

Bones//
I was merely relying on my personal experience and hearing about others stories. Although at seminary I conducted a 4 -week research study on the effectiveness of tracts. Needless to say, I found that tracts were merely a waste of paper.

Lance//
I was talking about the follow up/ checking up on the individual you lead to faith.

Todd//
I appreciate your lovely words.
I would not be opposed to sharing the faith to others who i do not know. However I would be very cautious. I think the airplane is such a cheesy and pseudo-fake environment. I actually had a really interesting conversation with a gentlemen on the airplane who was sooo opposed to Christianity that he literally cussed me out for 15 minutes as he explained to me every F******* Christian want to convert him. He basically stated he just wanted someone to listen to his story and for Christians to shut their mouths. It is my belief that actions speak louder than words. So I just sat there and listen. To this day him and I have coffee in the LA area once every 3 or 4 months. And he still is not a Christian. I wonder if Piper’s tracts would solve this problem for me? I think not.

Ben//
Thank you captain obvious. At first I wanted to keep it short, but it is Piper…..so I had to keep critiquing.

Joshua//
Christianity is not about selling a record. Christianity is not about promoting your newest book. Christianity is about a movement. By the way I wonder how much of the profit Piper keeps? I wonder if he should make t-shirts? If we are comparing Piper to U2, lets make a DVD of Piper? Seriously, lets market Piper like we market bands.