Ask Pastor John – Tony Reinke

Tony Reinke, Ask Pastor John (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2024), 499 pp.

I cannot think of a living writer who has wielded more influence in my life than Dr. John Piper. My personal journey began with Piper’s epic book, Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist. To say the book was pivotal would be a massive understatement. Desiring God was a theological tidal wave that crashed into my life with force, authority, and passion.

After embracing Piper’s Christian Hedonism, many more books followed that only reinforced and encouraged my heart and mind. Reformed theology took hold and I’ve never been the same. The cry of Piper, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him,” has left a permanent mark on my heart.

Almost forty years later, Tony Reinke captured Dr. Piper’s theological convictions and worldview in his book, Ask Pastor John. As the subtitle suggests, the book contains 750 Bible Answers to Life’s Most Important Questions. The book is an extension and overflow of the podcast that bears the same name, Ask Pastor John.

Readers have a front-row seat in this book as it presents topics that range from Bible reading, memorization, divorce and remarriage, spiritual warfare, suffering, technology, and hundreds of other topics. The book goes straight to the heart of John Piper. It not only sets forth his theological positions; it also reveals his heart, his joys, his struggles, his temptations, and his triumphs.

Ask Pastor John is heartfelt, transparent, and humble. Anyone familiar with John Piper will recognize that he presents his positions with authority and dogmatism. Some may react to such confidence and boldness. I am personally drawn to this kind of writing. 

But the most important feature of Ask Pastor John is the deep love of Piper’s love for God, his Son the Lord Jesus Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit, the authority and sufficiency of Scripture, and the preciousness of the gospel. It is impossible to read this book and walk away unaffected. Even after reading Piper’s works for nearly forty years, I can say that my heart was even more transfixed and transformed after reading Ask Pastor John.

Thanks and gratitude go out to Tony Reinke, who curated the podcasts and gifts this wonderful book to the church. Ask Pastor John is truly a labor of love, one that countless thousands of people will cherish for years to come.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.