Beyond Mediocrity Blog

(Image courtesy of https://media.swncdn.com.) "And God blessed [Adam and Eve].  And God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth...'" (Genesis 1:28). My family recently received a puppy from my grandparents.  We were initially excited... and then we remembered how much time and attention a puppy demands.  Add two young children to the mix and the puppy, which we called Rosie, became too much for us. There were several times Rosie was found digging in the flower garden.  Typical, right?  No matter how much time I spent training her, she simply couldn't be trusted out of my sight for more than two minutes.  She always found herself back in the flower garden, trampling our fragile plants into the dirt.

(Image courtesy of https://www.apostolic.edu.) I always know when I've struck literary gold.  While reading a book, if I come across a sentence or a concept that moves me greatly, I frantically reach for my trusty highlighters and begin painting the page an obnoxious corn yellow or Pepto Bismol pink.  I know many of you can relate, so stop laughing at me. ... [M]y pickaxe recently made contact with a treasure trove of thought-provoking sentences in John Piper's classic work on world missions, Let the Nations be Glad!  To set the scene, let me share one of the nuggets that made my mental gears turn: