A little while ago, Mind & Media sent out a note to the reviewers to pray for John Piper, author of many Christian books, including one of my favorites, Desiring God. Piper recently found out that he has prostate cancer and will be undergoing surgery and treatments starting next month.

I wanted to share this with you so you can go to his website and read the letter to his congregation, which is posted there. Already, he’s demonstating a great faith and peace.

This news has, of course, been good for me. The most dangerous thing in the world is the sin of self-reliance and the stupor of worldliness. The news of cancer has a wonderfully blasting effect on both. I thank God for that. The times with Christ in these days have been unusually sweet.

For example, is there anything greater to hear and believe in the bottom of your heart than this: “God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him” (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10)?

God has designed this trial for my good and for your good. You can see this in 2 Corinthians 1:9, “Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” And in 2 Corinthians 1:4-6, “He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God … If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation.”

I hope you can go read the rest of his powerful words, and I thank God for his leadership as he enters a new chapter in his life. Piper recently had dinner with two good friends of ours in Alabama. He spoke at a gathering of over 1200 college students, and they said his inspirational message was one of great power.

If you would like to email him a note of encouragement, his address is encouragement@desiringgod.org.

On a personal note, I’m also anxiously waiting for a phone call to find out about my uncle who underwent surgery this morning to remove cancer. We’ve covered him and his family in prayer, but this letter from John Piper also bolstered my faith.