Barnabas Piper's Blog, page 19

Harvesting Joy From Tears

“Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!” (Psalm 126:5)

All of us go through times of great sorrow–a loss, depression, consequences for our sins, sins committed against us. It hurts. Each day feels like a burden, and they seem like they will never come to an end. This is when it matters so much that the Bible is a profoundly real book, speaking to your life and mine. Psalm 126:5 says, “Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!”

The Bible acknowledges sorrow and speaks directly to its reality in our lives. More than that, it compares sorrow to a farmer sowing seed, to the grueling hard work of planting in the hopes that they will grow into something fruitful. That is what periods of sorrow and pain feel like, right? They are agonizing and exhausting; all we can do is hope they will end and become something good.

Those faint hopes can cling to this promise! Because of God’s faithful, loving sovereignty and because of the work of Jesus, our sorrows will grow into abundant joy. Maybe we will see the fruit of redemption (when God takes something bad and recreates it into something good) in this life. Or maybe we bear our sorrow until we step into eternal life with Christ. But our joy is assured in Jesus. Our sorrows and pain will grow into a harvest of gladness, laughter, and joy.

I originally wrote this post for my church, Immanuel Nashville, in our Daily Pulse email. If you want encouragement from God’s word delivered Monday thru Friday to your inbox, I encourage you to subscribe!

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Published on June 03, 2024 04:52

An Invitation to Help Our Church

Earlier today my friend and lead pastor, TJ Tims, shared this video regarding a significant need and opportunity our church, Immanuel Nashville is facing. We want to get the word out to all our friends and supporters, especially those for who the ministry of Immanuel has been meaningful over the years. Would you consider praying for us and helping spread the word?

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TRANSCRIPT:

Hey, friends, if you’re watching this, consider it your invitation to join an eight week journey with Immanuel Nashville. Now, here’s the deal. You can find all this in this. (tenthgeneration.org)

Our church home is being sold and we’re trying to buy it. Our landlord, Rolling Hills Community Church has accepted an offer of $15.5 million for the property that we’ve been leasing for the last decade. We have roughly eight weeks to match the offer, and we need your help in giving and praying and especially in getting the word out to others who can do the same.

I know there are many friends of Immanuel around the world: people who have benefited from our pastors or our podcast or our songs, people who would be upset if they found out after the fact that they could have helped us keep our home if only they’d known. So please help us get the word out about our need for help to buy our home in Nashville on a street corner where God has so blessed us and, I hope, given us a chance to bless you too.

And this eight-week push gets kicked off officially tomorrow, Sunday June 2, as we start a new sermon series in Revelation called “The Light of Christ in the Life of the Church.”

And in true Immmanuel fashion, I want you to know that this is an anti-building-campaign campaign. We’re going to hyper-focus right now on the glorified Christ in the first three chapters of Revelation and recalibrate to his vision of a church that radiates his glory because our most urgent need as always, especially right now, is to come into contact with the risen Christ.

And because, however this turns out at the end of eight weeks, we know that our forever home is with Christ. We are at home where he is. So whether you’re around the world or whether you can be here [in Nashville] with us tomorrow morning, I hope that you’ll join us for this eight-week journey as we dig into the glory of Jesus Christ.

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Published on June 01, 2024 12:53

Kindle Deals for June 1

A few Kindle deals worth your mind and money today:

The Young Lions: A Novel by Irwin Shaw – $2.99

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald – $1.98

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain – $1.99

The Eleventh Man: A Novel by Ivan Doig – $2.99

Deep River: A Novel by Karl Marlantes – $3.99

Only Killers and Thieves: A Novel by Paul Howarth – $3.99

To Sir, With Love by E.R. Braithwaite – $2.99

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Published on June 01, 2024 06:43

Kindle Deals for May 31

A few Kindle deals worth your mind and money today:

The Pastor’s Kid: What It’s Like and How to Help – $2.99

The Curious Christian: How Discovering Wonder Enriches Every Part of Life – $3.99

Encouragement for the Depressed by Charles Spurgeon – $6.64

How Do I Get Started in Evangelism? By J. Mack Stiles is $1.89

The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O’Neil’s America by Joe Posnanski – $2.99

Silence: A Novel by Shusaku Endo – $6.98

The Real All Americans: The Team That Changed a Game, a People, a Nation by Sally Jenkins – $6.99

American Passage: The History of Ellis Island by Vincent Cannato – $3.99

COMPANY COMMANDER the classic infantry memoir of WWII by Charles B. MacDonald – $4.99

Pegasus Bridge by Stephen E. Ambrose – $1.99

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Published on May 31, 2024 04:22

A Book Turns 10

On June 1, 2014–ten years ago almost to the day–The Pastor’s Kid released. It was my first book and at the time it felt like a risk because, aside from some small articles, it was my first publication and I didn’t know if it was any good. But even more so it felt like a risk because it was an effort at being honest about hard things without tearing down people (my parents) and an institution (the church) that I loved. It felt a little like putting my words in a bottle and tossing them into the ocean, just hoping they would reach the right eyes and hearts. In fact, writing still feels a bit like this a decade later.

In the ten years of this books’s life I have been stunned by the accounts I’ve heard from PKs and pastors alike, even up to this past week. The bottle floated to the right people, the people I wrote for in the first place.

I’ve heard from teenagers who feel spoken for and understood.

I’ve heard from elderly former PKs with complicated feelings toward the church because no one ever spoke up for them.

I’ve heard from pastors raising teenagers who were able to have heartfelt conversations and learn what was really going on in their kids hearts for the first time.

I’ve heard from pastors raising young children grateful to see ahead of time some landmines to avoid.

I’ve heard from Pastors who desired to repent toward their kids and kids who desired to repent toward their parents and their church.

I remember praying on that release day that God would use this book to encourage people, to build up, and to lead to some healing within his church. What I have seen and heard in the last ten years is that, in some small ways, God has answered that prayer. Today I pray that, so long as copies of The Pastor’s Kid exist, it continues to encourage people, to build up, and to lead to some healing within his church by pointing to the grace of Jesus.

To celebrate 10 years in publication the publisher, The Good Book Company, is offering the ebook for just $2.99 this month.

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Published on May 31, 2024 03:10

Kindle Deals for May 30

A few Kindle deals worth your mind and money today:

The Crucified Life: How to Live Out a Deeper Christian Experience by A.W. Tozer – $1.99

Jesus, Justice, and Gender Roles: A Case for Gender Roles in Ministry by Kathy Keller – $2.99

The Power of the Cross: Putting it to Work in Your Life by Tony Evans – $2.50

Becoming a Welcoming Church by Thom Rainer – $5.69 (and only $5.99 in hardcover)

The Everlasting Man by G.K. Chesterton – $.39

The Curious Christian: How Discovering Wonder Enriches Every Part of Life – $3.99

The Importance of Being Foolish: How To Think Like Jesus by Brennan Manning – $2.99

Warning to the Churches by J.C. Ryle – $.99

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Published on May 30, 2024 05:43

Curious Curmudgeons Episode 5: Graceful Exits and Fresh Starts

Leaving a church is never a simple decision. It’s comes with emotional and spiritual weight bearing down on us, wrestling with whether it was the right time to move on. This episode is all about those moments—whether you’re leaving due to painful experiences or positive life changes, we share practices and priorities to ensure a Christ-honoring exit. We share personal stories to reveal the complex dynamics of quietly disappearing versus formally saying goodbye, and how one’s role in the church and its size can influence these decisions.

We delve into the importance of open, humble communication and how a leadership’s response can reflect the church’s culture. If you’re married, we talk about the crucial role of prayer and thoughtful consideration with your spouse before making such a significant decision. Personal anecdotes underscore the ongoing struggle to forgive and the profound impact of God’s grace in healing and forgiveness, illuminating the path to moving forward with a clear conscience.

Once you’ve decided to leave, the next step is finding a new church that feels like home. We discuss the essential elements to look for, from gospel-centered preaching to genuine community warmth. And for a bit of fun, we wrap up with a conversation about music preferences—our nostalgic ties to old favorites and how those early influences shape our current tastes.

Listen to Episode 5

Spotify
Apple Podcasts
Amazon

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Published on May 29, 2024 06:37