Influential pastor John Piper made his joyful reaction clear via the Web shortly after getting word that his congregation had overwhelmingly agreed with church elders on their choice of Jason Meyer as his successor.

“God came down and kissed Bethlehem tonight. 784 Yes. 8 No. Jason Meyer has been approved to take hold of this baton,” Piper tweeted on Sunday after the vote taken at Bethlehem Baptist Church located in the Twin Cities metro area of Minnesota.

Meyer will fall under Piper’s pastoral mentorship and an “overlap” period between the two beginning Aug. 1.

A decision on when Meyer takes Piper’s lead position as Pastor for Preaching & Vision will not be made until the church’s Council of Elders makes sure Bethlehem’s congregation has time to interact with his “preaching and other visible avenues of leadership/grooming that he will take on before the second congregational vote.”

Piper, an influential author and theologian, continued to express his jubilation over the church’s decision on Monday, tweeting and posting on his “Desiring God” blog.

“I am up early this morning. Unable and uneager to sleep. My heart is seeking ways to praise the Lord, thank the Lord, be devoted to the Lord,” he wrote. “What shall I render to the Lord? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. I will fix my eyes on the gospel of the glory of Christ.”

In a letter to his church posted on its website, Piper stated that he has “no memory of any all-church strategy meeting with 800 people in attendance” such as what occurred Sunday.

He continued, “Last night (May 20), 792 members gathered at Bethlehem’s Downtown Campus to complete the confirmation of Jason Meyer as the Associate Pastor for Preaching and Vision. Of these, 784 confirmed the unanimous recommendation of the elders that Jason be called, beginning his ministry on or before August 1, 2012.”

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