John Piper, Tim Keller, and Don Carson have each been used by God to influence millions. But who influenced them? And what sources beyond themselves would they encourage you to pursue and learn from?

“I really think you have to have multiple influences,” Keller observes in a new roundtable video with Piper and Carson. “If you cut a good minister like a tree, there should be a lot of rings. If you’re only learning from one or two individuals or kinds of sources, you risk becoming a clone.” He commends diving into the Puritans, Jonathan Edwards, and C. S. Lewis, among others.

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Carson carries Keller’s observation a step further: “If you listen to one preacher, you’ll become a bad clone. If you listen to two, you’ll become confused. But if you listen to many, you’ll have multiple influences shaping you and will actually be freer to be yourself under the authority of the Word.” He cites John Calvin’s Institutes and Arnold Dallimore’s biography of George Whitefield as being particularly formative for him personally. Carson also highlights the profound influence of personal mentors, noting the impact of an ordinary local pastor who taught him to pray.

“I want people to go toward the Edwardsian author because today I don’t think we suffer today from an overabundance of earnestness,” Piper explains. “We do not suffer from an excess of the weight of glory.” Both Edwards and Martyn Lloyd-Jones can be helpful cultural correctives in this regard.

Watch the full 11-minute video or listen to the audio on how Piper would describe many preachers today, the book that made Carson weep, and more.

Free eBook by Rebecca McLaughlin: ‘Jesus Through the Eyes of Women’

If the women who followed Jesus could tell you what he was like, what would they say?

Jesus’s treatment of women was revolutionary. That’s why they flocked to him. Wherever he went, they sought him out. Women sat at his feet and tugged at his robes. They came to him for healing, for forgiveness, and for answers. So what did women see in this first-century Jewish rabbi and what can we learn as we look through their eyes today?

In Jesus Through the Eyes of Women, Rebecca McLaughlin explores the life-changing accounts of women who met the Lord. By entering the stories of the named and unnamed women in the Gospels, this book gives readers a unique lens to see Jesus as these women did and marvel at how he loved them in return.

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Tim Keller (MDiv, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary; DMin, Westminster Theological Seminary) was founder of Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Manhattan, chairman of Redeemer City to City, and co-founder of The Gospel Coalition. He wrote numerous books, including The Reason for God. He and his wife, Kathy, had three children.

John Piper (BA, Wheaton College; BD, Fuller Theological Seminary; ThD, University of Munich) serves as founder and lead teacher at Desiring God and is chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, Piper served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, and he is a Council member of The Gospel Coalition. He has authored more than 50 books, and more than 30 years of his preaching and writing are available free of charge at Desiring God.

Don Carson (BS, McGill University; MDiv, Central Baptist Seminary, Toronto; PhD, University of Cambridge) is emeritus professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, and cofounder (retired) of The Gospel Coalition. He has edited and authored numerous books. He and his wife, Joy, have two children.