Each year as pastor for preaching and vision at Bethlehem Baptist Church John Piper writes an annual report.
This year’s report is upon his return from an eight-month leave of absence. It begins this way:
For eight months of this year (May–December), I was on a leave of absence. That meant I was free from all my pastoral duties. It also meant that all my public ministry was shut down (with a few exceptions): no preaching, no writing for publication, no speaking (except for the Desiring God National Conference and two overseas engagements), no blogging, no tweeting. Therefore, this report will be on the blessings of this leave.
My heart overflows with thankfulness to God and to the elders and staff and people of Bethlehem, and the team at Desiring God. I know that the staff in particular bore a heavier burden because one of the team was missing. Thank you for this kindness.
In March 2010, I wrote to the elders about the goals of the leave, Noël and I
enter this eight-month season of detachment from public exposure and public productivity with a view to serious biblical examination, assessment, nurture, and growth in four areas: 1) our own individual persons, both physically and spiritually; 2) our marriage; 3) our relationship with our children and their families; 4) our pattern of ministry on returning to Bethlehem.
I will say a few words about each of these. But please know that the depth and magnitude of the value of these months will take the rest of my life to unpack. For example, I kept a journal which is now 265 single-spaced pages and has 214 entries. Most of these are personal reflections on what God has been doing in our lives. Perhaps I will write a book someday called The Leave.
So this report is a tiny fraction of what needs to be said, and what, Lord willing, will be said over the next months in conversations and sermons and blogs and books. . . .
You can read the rest here.
His first sermon back in the Bethlehem pulpit will be January 9-10. As of January 1, he is back on Twitter (@JohnPiper).
