The following message is by pastor John Piper.

More information from desiring God is available at

W.W.

D. desiring God.

O. R-G.

Thank you so much for being a part of this.

Let me pray with you before I talk and then,

Father in heaven, there are so many things that are in my heart and mind right now.

And I need your help. A conference on Native American awareness is a place where I feel strange. I ask, oh God, that you would do exceedingly and abundantly beyond all that I can ask or think

for me, for this church,

for the churches represented here,

and for a handful of people who may be set so

a flame by what they experience this weekend

that they never turn back.

They set their face like flint

and will not rest until they see an awakening among Native American people in the Twin Cities and other regions.

So Father, I plead with you to do more than any human can do in this conference. I pray this in Jesus' name, amen. The question that has been weighing on me is why did you say yes to this invitation

to speak at this.

Because there's so many reasons why I shouldn't be speaking here.

Let me give you four reasons so that you know what the reasons are not, okay? And there's a counterpart what they are.

I have four pairs, what it is and what it isn't.

And that will lead me into a passage of scripture first.

...