4 Stars Out Of 5
4 out of 5
(5)
(0)
(0)
(1)
(1)
Quality:
4.4 out Of 5
(4.4 out of 5)
Value:
4.4 out Of 5
(4.4 out of 5)
Meets Expectations:
4.2 out Of 5
(4.2 out of 5)
71%
of customers would recommend this product to a friend.
SORT BY:
SEE:
Displaying items 1-5 of 7
Page 1 of 2
  1. Bob Hayton
    St. Paul, MN
    Age: 35-44
    Gender: Male
    5 Stars Out Of 5
    Challenging, sober read which should wake us up
    January 12, 2013
    Bob Hayton
    St. Paul, MN
    Age: 35-44
    Gender: Male
    This review was written for Bloodlines: Race, Cross, and the Christian.
    John Piper gives us a sober, challenging read which should shake some of us out of our lethargy, when it comes to racial harmony. Piper brings up his own past, of growing up in a segregated south where the conservative Church turned a blind eye to the black man's struggle. He exposes his own racism, and labors to show how Scripture and specifically the gospel of Christ, cuts at the root of racism.

    Piper is known for his rational thought and his Calvinism. While admitting that Calvinists have historically fared poorly if judged on racial concerns, he nevertheless builds a pretty strong case that each of the Calvinistic doctrinal points should lead toward a greater solidarity between races. None of us are favored because of our own actions, our race shouldn't determine our fate, what's more is that Jesus Christ died specifically to redeem men and women of every race. A multicolored and multi-ethnic throng surrounds the throne of the Lamb in Revelation 5. And that should be our goal, to make heaven's will a reality here on earth.

    Along the way, Piper discusses practical aspects for how to implement a culture that aims for racial harmony, and he counters numerous objections. He delves into a cultural analysis too of structural racism and white guilt, among other topics. I found some of the appendices most helpful. One was a detailed discussion of the curse of Ham, which has long been a fundamentalist rationale for rigid racial segregation and separation. Another appendix shared some of the vision and policy statements of Piper's church, Bethlehem Baptist.

    This book is accessible, and personal. It is also informative and provocative. I believe it is very helpful and may have a lasting impact on the church at large. This topic is worth thinking through and praying long and hard about, and John Piper is just the man to help us on this journey. His prayers and his struggles bleed through the pages of this weighty little book. I hope that people of all colors will pick up this book and see the vision for the multi-ethnic church that Christ died for. We all can learn from the wisdom in these pages. I highly recommend this book.
  2. Clarke
    Greenville, SC
    Age: 25-34
    Gender: male
    5 Stars Out Of 5
    A much-needed wake-up call
    November 4, 2011
    Clarke
    Greenville, SC
    Age: 25-34
    Gender: male
    Quality: 5
    Value: 5
    Meets Expectations: 5
    This review was written for Bloodlines: Race, Cross, and the Christian.
    In Bloodlines: Race, Cross, and the Christian, John Piper's story begins 40 years before mine but only a 15-minute drive away. Piper grew up in Greenville, SC in the 1950's -- the same time as my father. They are the exact same age, and they went to school 15 minutes away from each other. So, Piper's recount of racism in Greenville in the 50's and 60's, for me, is a small window into my father's childhood. Interestingly enough, only a few miles away, also in Greenville, another young boy a few years older was viewing racism from a completely different angle -- the young Jesse Jackson.

    Piper's discussion of racism doesn't begin from a pulpit or academic treatise. It begins with confession -- a confession of sins both active and passive in nature. Sins from his past that he would take back if it were possible. Sins that I know can haunt forever, save for the grace of Christ.

    Intertwining his personal experiences and the historical events of the time, Piper illuminates the dynamic impact the gospel of Jesus Christ has (or can have) on the racism and sin still abundant in today's society. He touches both on the academic discussions of racism between ivy league professors and on the real life challenges minorities face today, but continues to bring the discussion back to the only true Answer to the hatred in the world.

    Piper goes on to explain in detail how Reformed Theology and the Gospel itself abolish any form of ethnocentrism or racism. He demonstrates the numerous angles God takes through the Scriptures to show that He is one God, and He sent His Son to die for one people -- the church. There is no more Jew or Greek. If we believe in Christ, we are all Abraham's descendants.

    Finally, Piper challenges the church to see God working the bloodlines of race into one bloodline of the cross. He is not asking for social activism, but for Christian responsibility to love as Christ loves.
  3. Dave Jenkins
    Caldwell, Idaho
    Age: 25-34
    Gender: male
    5 Stars Out Of 5
    Learn how the Gospel applies to real life issues
    November 26, 2011
    Dave Jenkins
    Caldwell, Idaho
    Age: 25-34
    Gender: male
    Quality: 5
    Value: 5
    Meets Expectations: 5
    This review was written for Bloodlines: Race, Cross, and the Christian.
    Watch the news very often in the United States on any news channel and you're likely to hear someone bring up issues of race and how to solve it in the United States. John Piper a well known Pastor, scholar and theologian knows this concern very well as he grew up during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's. In this book Piper traces the voices calling out for racism to end in popular culture and in academics.

    The unique thing about this book is that it doesn't stop at just diagnosing issues related to racism. In typical Piper fashion, Dr. Piper seeks to apply a biblical and theological framework to deal with racism. In fact most of the book is an extended treatment on how the Gospel applies to issues of racism. Rather than turning to organizations, education, famous personalities, or government programs to address racial strife, Pastor Piper teaches about how the good news about Jesus Christ deals with the sins that feed racial strife, and lead to a many-colored and many-cultured kingdom of God. In this book you will learn how to pursue ethnic harmony from a biblical perspective and relate to people different than yourselves, as you take part in the bloodline of Jesus that is compromised of "Every tongue, tribe, and nation."

    I recommend that you read Bloodlines Race, Cross, and the Christian not just to read another book by Piper but to learn how the Gospel is relevant to daily life and especially a sensitive topic like racism.
  4. David Gough
    Alexandria, VA
    Age: 55-65
    Gender: male
    5 Stars Out Of 5
    Ethnicity and the Gospel
    October 4, 2011
    David Gough
    Alexandria, VA
    Age: 55-65
    Gender: male
    Quality: 5
    Value: 5
    Meets Expectations: 5
    This review was written for Bloodlines: Race, Cross, and the Christian.
    As the white pastor of a predominantly African-American congregation, I was eagerly awaiting the release of this book. Since he arrived at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis more than 30 years ago, John Piper has devoted one Sunday each January (corresponding with Martin Luther King Day) to preaching on the topic of racial reconciliation. This book is more than a mere compilation of what he has shared there. It is the story of his own racist attitudes as he grew up in the segregated south of the '50s and '60s. By God's grace he was able to see the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the only way to conquer the sinfulness of ethnic-superiority. Today he shamelessly recommends and proclaims that saving and sanctifying grace to others. Bloodlines is more than self-revealing; it also commends the power of the Gospel as a means of not only bringing racial harmony for our time, but of it actually magnifying the purpose of God to glorify Himself throughout eternity. As in all of his writings, Piper's reformed background emerges clearly as he demonstrates how that theological interpretation of Scripture serves to unite all persons as having come from the one Creator. It further displays how the Church (the family of God) is a testimony to a watching world of God's design to preserve ethnic distinctiveness for the glory of His name. I highly recommend this book for our day when our minds are daily saturated by media-led racial stereotypes that further divide the human race. Thank you, John Piper, for leading not only by word but through your non-hypocritical example.
  5. Blooming with Books
    Bloomer, WI
    Age: 35-44
    Gender: female
    5 Stars Out Of 5
    August 21, 2011
    Blooming with Books
    Bloomer, WI
    Age: 35-44
    Gender: female
    Quality: 5
    Value: 5
    Meets Expectations: 5
    This review was written for Bloodlines: Race, Cross, and the Christian.
    BLOODLINES: Race, Cross, and the Christian

    By John Piper

    Physical differences should not divide the Church. Just as God judges the people of the world with equity so should the Church. All are deserving of God's gift of salvation! Jesus' ministry was not ethnocentric, He came for the New Israel whose people are not determined by an ethnic tag but by their link and belief in Jesus.

    As today's world becomes more urban, ethnic diversity is increasing and the need for ethnic and racial harmony is a necessity. The growth of today's Church is in the Global South while its presence in Europe is diminishing.

    Since the 1950's mainstream America has seen a rapid decline in morals across the racial divide at the same time God is disappearing for the American life. But there can be no racial blame cast because it is sin and everyone has committed sin and blame has never saved a single soul! The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the answer to the moral quagmire we find ourselves willingly being sucked into.

    The Gospel is not political; it supports no political agenda. It does support God and the salvation that is offered to all people through Jesus' death on the cross. The Gospel can break the binds of pride that separate the harmony that God intended for all of humanity.

    True Christianity does not persecute or advance by the sword, but by love, prayer and thoughtful persuasion. Without the Gospel and the hope for a life after this individuals pursue their own good over that of the whole of humanity. For our good we must forgive instead of blame and we must love instead of hate. We were all, (man and woman) of every ethnic group, made in the image of God to deny this is sin! And all of humanity must realize we are all dying of the same disease and that disease is sin. There is but one cure the blood of Christ which was shed upon the cross and it is freely given to anyone that accepts it!

    Racism will come to an end when according to Colossians 3:11 "Christ is all, and in all," because when you turn to Christ and He comes into you it will be evidenced by your treatment of others of a different race. A true believer who has Christ as the central focus of their life is unable to shun, disparage, or hate another because they are different. We must become dead to everything except Christ so that we can show the love of Christ to everyone without exception! This is not a new problem even Peter behaved differently towards the Gentile believers when Jewish believers were present. Showing partiality towards a certain type of person is sin and it reveals the evil lurking within our hearts.

    Diversity in the fellowship of believers shows the power of Christ. From one man came all peoples. God is not against interracial marriage as is evidenced by his judgement upon Arron and Miriam questioning of Moses' fitness in leading when he had a wife that was a Cushite.

    The greatest problem in America is Chronological Snobbery when we judge other generations sins while glossing over our own as not that bad. Sin is sin in the sight of God and the only way to break free is to turn to Christ and to look to Him as our example!
Displaying items 1-5 of 7
Page 1 of 2