Barnabas Piper's Blog, page 38

New Happy Rant: Childhood Books, Christian Schools, and an Enneagram Argument

In this episode of the Happy Rant Ronnie and Barnabas do what they always do and wander (lots of wandering) to and fro through a variety of topics:

C.S. Lewis the closet Calvinist
Favorite childhood books
Childhood books we hated
How Christian schools shaped (or didn’t) reading habits
Books we came to love as adults
Books we loathe
Is the Enneagram helpful any more?

SPONSOR

[image error]Thank you to our sponsor for this week’s episode: Dwell Bible App. Dwell is a Bible listening app that we love! If you are looking for a convenient, fresh way of spending more time in God’s word Dwell is ideal. Go to https://dwellapp.io/happyrant to get 20% off your subscription.

FORTHCOMING BOOK

[image error]In his forthcoming book, Hoping for Happiness, recovering cynic Barnabas Piper helps us to throw off both the unrealistic expectations that end in disappointment and the guilty sense that Christians are not meant to have fun. He shows how having a clear view of the reality of the fall and the promise of redemption frees us to live a life that is grounded, hopeful, and genuinely happy. It’s available October 1, but you can pre-order now.

Get Your Coffee

[image error]WE ARE COFFEE MOGULS AGAIN. We’ve joined forces with Redbud Coffee, based out of Auburn IL, to bring you deliciously roasted and beautifully packaged coffee. Check out their variety of roasts and be sure to use the code HappyRant at checkout to get a 10% discount off your purchase.

Be sure to visit HappyRantPodcast.com where you can:

Order your Redbud coffee
Connect with Ted, Ronnie, or Barnabas to speak for your church, organization, or event
Support the podcast through our Patreon page . This helps us cover production and hosting costs so we can keep this thing rolling

To listen you can:

Subscribe in iTunes.
Listen on Google Play
Listen on Stitcher
Listen via just about any podcast app/streaming service out there
Leave us a rating in iTunes (it only takes 1 click and it really helps us).
Listen using the player below.

Episode #311

Is holiness opposed to happiness? (And what about joy?)

As a society, we don’t excel at nuance. This means that many cleverly stated falsehoods go unchecked. We especially love a good false dichotomy, particularly if it rhymes or is alliterated. It matters less if it’s true than if it’s memorable.

One such statement that has laid waste to many people’s happiness, and even their faith, is some version of “God wants you to be holy, not happy.” While some might put it that bluntly, more often it is applied to specific areas of life. “Marriage isn’t about your happiness but your holiness.” “Church doesn’t exist to make you happy; it exists to make you holy.” “It’s a parent’s job to lead their children toward holiness, not happiness.”

The guilt so many Christians feel for experiencing pleasure is born of the belief that to chase after happiness is to run away from God. This isn’t to say we can never be happy, but rather that happiness is, at best, a temporary and surprising circumstantial bi-product of doing what is right. We can desire and run after happiness or holiness, but not both.

A brief definition of holiness is: growing in Christ-likeness through the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives so that we pursue the things of God. So, if it’s true that God wants us to be happy, then pursuing the things of God cannot be in opposition to happiness.

So why is this false dichotomy so prevalent and so powerful in the lives of so many churches and believers?

The Wrong Kind of Happiness

The movie The Princess Bride contains a memorable exchange between self-important criminal mastermind Vizzini and Inigo Montoya, the revenge-driven Spanish swordsman. Vizzini repeatedly uses the word “inconceivable.” Everything that surprises him is “inconceivable.” After numerous such exclamations, Inigo looks sidelong at him and says, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” This is how I feel every time I hear someone pit happiness against holiness. The only way happiness and holiness can be put at odds is to misdefine them both.

We do this, first, by cheapening happiness and reducing it to something trite. The “happiness” that stands in opposition to holiness is cheap, flimsy, and temporary. It is the kind found in things of little significance that we think will fulfill us but really won’t last—the kind of happiness that we hang on weak hooks and with wrong expectations.

Certainly there is a bastardized version of happiness that can be found in sin too. Pornography arouses. Gluttony satiates. Laziness relaxes. Drunkenness stimulates or numbs, depending on what we need it to medicate. Sexual promiscuity is enthralling and ecstatic. Workaholism gives a sense of accomplishment. Gossip titillates. Criticism leaves us feeling superior.

While the feelings last, that is. Then comes the inevitable crash, leaving us with a need for another hit to keep the high going. And every high is lower than the last, so we increase our intake. In the end we are as strung out emotionally and spiritually as a heroin addict is physically and mentally. What we thought of as happiness was mere emotional self-manipulation.

This kind of “happiness” looks nothing like the joy we saw in Psalm 16, or the pleasure of enjoying every good and perfect gift. It’s not the happiness we have when we expect the right things of the right things—a solid, grounded happiness that’s earthy but not worldly, and is simply good.

So in one sense, to pit this twisted type of “happiness” against holiness is biblically right; it is in opposition to pursuing the things of God. But to call this “happiness” is inaccurate and leads people to believe that pursuing things of God reduces enjoyment in life.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Holiness Without Happiness

Misdefining happiness is only half the problem. Misdefining holiness is the other half. At least part of reason we do this is because we’ve already misunderstood happiness. Once we reduce happiness to something that is opposed to godliness, we end up seeing holiness as a dry husk; a matter of suppressing our desire for the sake what is right. We know there’s a reward in heaven—a significant reward to be sure, but it offers a bleak outlook for enjoyment during the duration of our lifetime.

If we remove happiness from holiness, pursuing the things of God is drudgery. It is a grind. We become like Sisyphus, the figure from Greek Mythology cursed to push the boulder up the hill only to see it roll down again, day after day after day for our whole lives. We become driven by a sense of moral dread and the burden of obligation. Holiness becomes a word we loathe rather than the wondrous calling and invitation it actually is in Christ. We mustn’t miss the fact that God says that the pursuit of joy is a pursuit of holiness. Remember the command to “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I will say rejoice” (Philippians 4:4), “Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous” (Psalm 97:12), and the significant number of times Jesus says to rejoice (e.g. Matthew 5:12, Luke 10:20, Luke 15:6). Consider that in Galatians joy is listed among the fruit of the Spirit. We are commanded to be joyful and told that joy will be a result of life as a follower of Jesus.

Some of you may be a bit uncomfortable right now, because you have come to believe that joy and happiness are distinctly different. In this line of thinking, happiness is a temporary, trite emotion, while joy is altogether different—a deep, lasting, rooted, and significant spiritual virtue. So, the thinking goes, joy is our reward for holiness, and happiness is something unreliable and mostly devoid of spiritual significance.

Let me pose a question in response. What would you think of a person who perpetually promoted joy, spoke of pursuing joy, expressed the deep riches of joy, but simply didn’t seem happy? They would be very confusing, right? It would seem at odds and maybe even hypocritical. That’s because joy without happiness is nothing but a theological description, at least if it remains that way. Joy that doesn’t bring about happiness isn’t genuine joy. This doesn’t mean that we will always feel happy. And it doesn’t mean that happiness will always come easily. Our peace and wholeness and comfort in the Lord will not always immediately bring about laughter and rejoicing. But real biblical joy is always moving us toward those things.

It’s true that the Bible says little about the word “happiness.” And of course, Scripture commands us to rejoice, making clear that this is much more than a mere feeling—it’s something we can choose, rather than something we passively experience. But another biblical word helps us understand the connection between happiness and joy: gladness. This is a feeling of pleasure attached to joy, an uplifting of spirit, a bubbling up of happiness. Scripture describes serving the Lord with “joyfulness and gladness” (Deuteronomy 28:47), people being “glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had shown” (1 Kings 8:66), and people having “light and gladness and joy and honor” (Esther 8:16). Psalm 32:11 rounds out the picture by saying “Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice.” Gladness is paired with joy and rejoicing; it is the feeling that stems from them and fuels them.

This means that when joy in the Lord is lived out, it breeds happiness—the Psalm-16-every-perfect-gift-with-right-expectations kind of happiness that is rich and deep and profound. This is the sort of happiness that is capable of mourning with those who mourn and living realistically under the weight of a fallen world, because it’s rooted and realistic. It can comfort the sorrowful and uplift the weary rather than badgering them with trite chipperness and insisting that they look on the bright side of life. It’s happiness that reflects God’s holiness rather than diminishing it, because if joy is our reward for pursuing holiness, then so is happiness.

Happiness through Holiness 

Having said all that, our pursuit of holiness will still be work, because of our sinful nature. It takes effort and discipline. But for those who are in Christ, this effort is done in the power of the Holy Spirit:

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12-13)

We work for godliness, but it is God who works in us. It takes effort by us, but God is the mover and accomplisher. What’s more, God works in us “for his good pleasure.” So, even more than our holiness makes us happy, it makes God happy.

This is vital to understand, because it moves us far away from thinking of holiness as drudgery. Yes, it is work. Yes, we will fail. Yes, we must persevere. But it is God who works in us, and he delights to give us the Holy Spirit who teaches and empowers and enables us toward holiness (Luke 11:13). This is a new spiritual dimension entirely, and one that reverberates with hope and happiness.

It is amazing how the changing of a single syllable can alter an entire theological argument and even the trajectory of a life. If we change the framework of our thinking from “happiness and holiness” to “happiness through holiness,” we alter one tiny word and literally everything else in life follows suit. Instead of being pitted against one another they become interdependent. No longer do we have to choose between doing the work of following Jesus or pursuing happiness. Instead we find that pursuing holiness, in all areas of life, through the power of The Holy Spirit, under the smile of God, is where true happiness is to be found.

To put it a different way, pursuing holiness pays off. In this life. As we pursue holiness, “we walk in the light” (1 John 1:7). We step out of spiritual darkness where we hid in shame and guilt and frustration and loneliness and step into the light of Jesus with all our sinful junk. And that’s where we find freedom. Freedom to be forgiven over and over again as we fight against and sin and still fail. Freedom in the Spirit to pursue the things God love. Freedom to grow genuine deep relationships. Freedom to enjoy the things of earth as God’s good gifts not as idols. Freedom from pain we have inflicted on ourselves or even that others have inflicted on us. Freedom to keep repenting, knowing that God welcomes all who are in Jesus with open arms.

In the moment, many of these actions feel like sacrifice and self-denial. It’s difficult to give up idols because of the prominence we’ve given them in our lives. It feels humiliating to repent. Turning from habits of sin is hard. Meaningful relationships are risky because vulnerability is frightening. Changing the course of our lives from self-centered to God-oriented can lead in uncertain directions. But each action is simply denying a self we left behind when we became Christ’s. They are risky, in that we can still be hurt by fellow sinners, but we know with certainty that we are accepted by God. They are losses, but only of things by which we no longer want to define ourselves and in which we no longer want to find our worth.

Pursuing holiness is the pursuit of happiness, in this life and the next. Nobody should be happier than a follower of Jesus.

Holiness through Happiness

For a Christian, everything you just read should feel right. We can grow in happiness as we grow in holiness because of the freedom we find in Christ. But we can also grow in holiness as we pursue happiness. It’s true. The Bible gives us a model how.

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

This verse begins in such a striking way; with happiness. “Delight yourself.” Find delight. Then it locates where and how that delight should be: “in the LORD.” This is a pursuit of happiness in the things of the Lord. It is freedom to run after all the delight and happiness we can find, in the Lord—his words, his presence, his people, his gifts, his direction for our lives.

And when we do that, “he will give you the desires of your heart.” That does not mean God will give you whatever your heart previously desired. It means that he will give us those delights we are seeking in him. By pursuing happiness in the Lord our very desires are reshaped. We want new and different things which God is pleased to give us lavishly.

To extrapolate this out, it also means we will begin to desire new results from old pleasures. If food was once how we filled the void of loneliness, by delighting ourselves in the Lord we will begin to desire food for enjoyment and out of gratitude. If sex was once how we sought love and validation, by delighting ourselves in the Lord we will begin to see it as the gift God intended between husband and wife within the safe and comforting bounds of marriage. If work was once where we found accomplishment and identity, by delighting ourselves in the Lord we will begin to see it as a means of using abilities he’s given us for purposes of his kingdom.

This means that, as we grow in holiness, we are free to pursue happiness because it is ultimately located in the things of God. Our delight in friendship reflects our part in the body of Christ. Our enjoyment of work and creating declares our status as image bearers. Our pleasure in eating points us to gratitude for God’s provision and for the skills of the one who prepared the food. The peace we find in cool breezes and rolling surf is the peace of the Lord shared through his beautiful creation.

God does, indeed, want us to be happy. He wants us to enjoy and to revel and to delight. God wants us to be holy too. What a miracle of his wisdom and love it is, then, that he has given us everything we need to find both.

[image error]This is an excerpt from my book Hoping for Happiness. A biblical framework for living a grounded, hopeful, and genuinely happy life, this book gets far beyond the topic of work and helps us to throw off both the unrealistic expectations that end in disappointment and the guilty sense that Christians are not meant to have fun.

New Happy Rant Sports: Listener Sports Q&A

In this episode of the Happy Rant Sports Podcast Ted and Barnabas do what they always do and wander to and fro through various sports topics. This time, they’re all topics submitted by listeners.

Why does we hate the Titans?
Best broadcasters and calls?
John Piper’s playing style
Moneyball reformed guys
Best sporting events we’ve watched
Best sporting event we’ve played in
New MLB rules – keep or ditch?

FORTHCOMING BOOK

[image error]In his forthcoming book, Hoping for Happiness, recovering cynic Barnabas Piper helps us to throw off both the unrealistic expectations that end in disappointment and the guilty sense that Christians are not meant to have fun. He shows how having a clear view of the reality of the fall and the promise of redemption frees us to live a life that is grounded, hopeful, and genuinely happy. It’s available October 1, but you can pre-order now.

Get Your Coffee

[image error]WE ARE COFFEE MOGULS AGAIN. We’ve joined forces with Redbud Coffee, based out of Auburn IL, to bring you deliciously roasted and beautifully packaged coffee. Check out their variety of roasts and be sure to use the code HappyRant at checkout to get a 10% discount off your purchase.

Be sure to visit HappyRantPodcast.com where you can:

Order your Redbud coffee
Connect with Ted, Ronnie, or Barnabas to speak for your church, organization, or event
Support the podcast through our Patreon page . This helps us cover production and hosting costs so we can keep this thing rolling

To listen you can:

Subscribe in iTunes.
Listen on Google Play
Listen on Stitcher
Listen via just about any podcast app/streaming service out there
Leave us a rating in iTunes (it only takes 1 click and it really helps us).
Listen using the player below.

Episode #44

New Happy Rant: Barnabas Piper on the Hot Seat

In this episode of The Happy Rant the boys do what they always do and wander to and from through, well, just one topic: Barnabas Piper. Ted and Ronnie come with pressing questions they’ve always wanted to ask Barnabas regarding:

What his mom taught him
The perfect day
What doors is marriage opening?
Dream jobs as a kid
That *one* dream writing project

FORTHCOMING BOOK

[image error]In his forthcoming book, Hoping for Happiness, recovering cynic Barnabas Piper helps us to throw off both the unrealistic expectations that end in disappointment and the guilty sense that Christians are not meant to have fun. He shows how having a clear view of the reality of the fall and the promise of redemption frees us to live a life that is grounded, hopeful, and genuinely happy. It’s available October 1, but you can pre-order now.

Get Your Coffee

[image error]WE ARE COFFEE MOGULS AGAIN. We’ve joined forces with Redbud Coffee, based out of Auburn IL, to bring you deliciously roasted and beautifully packaged coffee. Check out their variety of roasts and be sure to use the code HappyRant at checkout to get a 10% discount off your purchase.

Be sure to visit HappyRantPodcast.com where you can:

Order your Redbud coffee
Connect with Ted, Ronnie, or Barnabas to speak for your church, organization, or event
Support the podcast through our Patreon page . This helps us cover production and hosting costs so we can keep this thing rolling

To listen you can:

Subscribe in iTunes.
Listen on Google Play
Listen on Stitcher
Listen via just about any podcast app/streaming service out there
Leave us a rating in iTunes (it only takes 1 click and it really helps us).
Listen using the player below.

Episode #310

Is Happiness Possible – Introduction to “Hoping for Happiness”

Is happiness possible?

[image error]When I began writing this book, the answer to that question seemed like a fairly obvious “yes.” I could look up from my laptop as I wrote in coffee shops and see a world full of happy people. Across the table from me a young couple would talk softly and giggle occasionally. They seemed happy. Outside, gaggles of bachelorette partygoers moseyed along the downtown Nashville streets, combining enthusiastic off-key warbling with copious adult-beverage consumption. They seemed happy. My daughters planned sleepovers with friends, complete with movies, junk food, crafts, and very little of the aforementioned sleep. They were so happy. At the end of each week we’d head to church to worship and be refreshed and encouraged. It was a happy time.

Shortly after I turned the manuscript in, however, the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world, and all that disappeared in the space of weeks. Thousands upon thousands of people died, and the workings of entire nations ground to a halt. It was terrifying and overwhelming. Never in our collective lifetime had we faced such uncertainty. Happiness was lost for some, called into question by many, and redefined for others.

In the aftermath of a global pandemic, the answer to the question “Is happiness possible?” might sound a little different. When I set out to write this book, I thought I might have to persuade some readers to reconsider your definition of happiness—to rattle some cages and show how fleeting our sources of happiness are—before offering hope and direction. Now few of us need to be persuaded that so many of the things we look to for happiness are actually rather fragile. But more than ever, we need to know what true happiness is and how to find a version of it that cannot be shaken.

So let me begin by saying this: YES, happiness is possible. That is what this book is about—to help you find your way to a true, lasting, grounded sense of happiness. But it also seeks to answer some of those other questions that have bubbled to the surface: the ones we probably should have been asking before our worlds were rattled and that we can hardly ignore any longer.

If happiness is so attainable, why are our lives marked by such a desperate search for it? Why are we so often unsatisfied, grasping at what is next, groping for what is better, and racing after what is new and undiscovered? Why is it that even while we are in the midst of pleasure we are thinking of the next pleasure? It’s an exhausting way to live.

But let me reassure you: this book is not going to tell you to stop pursuing happiness. That would be like saying, “Give up on life.” Nor am I going to tell you to just look ahead to future joy with Christ and find all your happiness there. That would be to diminish the value of all that God has given us in the present. Instead, I’m going to show you a third option that exists in the tension between those two extremes. We must neither be so dedicated to earthly happiness as to never attain infinite joy nor so “heavenly-minded” as to be no earthly good. Both errors disconnect us from the real stuff and substance of life as God intends us to live it.

In this book, the first four chapters are, in essence, clearing the ground, helping us to see why happiness often proves elusive. Having done that, we’ll be in a position to put in place the building blocks of a better, firmer, more stable kind of happiness.

I am slowly learning to take hold of this right kind of happiness. It would be gross arrogance to say I have “arrived.” But I am learning, mistake by mistake—with my failures in view but my eyes fixed on Jesus—more of what it means to be truly happy. As you read this book, I hope that you too will discover a perspective that leads you to a new kind of happiness—a grounded and hopeful sort. I hope you’ll escape the frenzied pursuit of the next source of happiness and relish the ones God has given you, with an eye toward what he will give you forever and ever. Yes, you can be happy.

[image error]This is an excerpt from my book, Hoping for Happiness , releasing October 1, 2020 from The Good Book Company. It is also releasing as an audio book, read by me.

New Happy Rant: Listener Q&A (Part 2)

In this episode of The Happy Rant Ted and Barnabas do what they always do and wander to and fro through various topics . . . with a twist. These are all listener questions and suggestions.

Favorite music
Re-living favorite years and eras
Reformed people reading for fun
Happy Rant Origin Story
Stuck on an Island with emergent church leaders

FORTHCOMING BOOK

[image error]In his forthcoming book, Hoping for Happiness, recovering cynic Barnabas Piper helps us to throw off both the unrealistic expectations that end in disappointment and the guilty sense that Christians are not meant to have fun. He shows how having a clear view of the reality of the fall and the promise of redemption frees us to live a life that is grounded, hopeful, and genuinely happy. It’s available October 1, but you can pre-order now.

Get Your Coffee

[image error]WE ARE COFFEE MOGULS AGAIN. We’ve joined forces with Redbud Coffee, based out of Auburn IL, to bring you deliciously roasted and beautifully packaged coffee. Check out their variety of roasts and be sure to use the code HappyRant at checkout to get a 10% discount off your purchase.

Be sure to visit HappyRantPodcast.com where you can:

Order your Redbud coffee
Connect with Ted, Ronnie, or Barnabas to speak for your church, organization, or event
Support the podcast through our Patreon page . This helps us cover production and hosting costs so we can keep this thing rolling

To listen you can:

Subscribe in iTunes.
Listen on Google Play
Listen on Stitcher
Listen via just about any podcast app/streaming service out there
Leave us a rating in iTunes (it only takes 1 click and it really helps us).
Listen using the player below.

Episode #309

Books to Build your Faith

The books in this list are ones that, at various times, have shaped and directed my faith. Each of them depicts something of what it means to believe or to struggle with belief. They either tell of a void in belief or of a Big God worth believing in, and in both cases the reader is shown a clearer picture of what faith means. Some are stories. Some are arguments or explanations. Some are reflections through memoir or poetry. I encourage you to find the one or ones with which you connect and consume them with delight.

Big Questions

So many of our struggles with faith revolve around big questions, complex questions, in some cases unanswerable questions. We even have questions about our questions. These books will either help readers know how to answer  (or if we can answer) these big questions or they will help us ask better questions in the first place. They offer thoughtful, winsome, careful answers and firm, grounded, biblical paradigms of thought and understanding.

[image error]The End of Our Exploring by Matthew Lee Anderson

 

 

 

[image error]The Reason for God by Tim Keller

 

 

 

[image error]Walking with God through Pain and Suffering by Tim Keller

 

 

 

[image error]Confronting Christianity by Rebecca McLaughlin

 

 

 

[image error]Surprised by Paradox by Jen Pollock Michel

 

 

 

[image error]The Myth of Certainty by Daniel Taylor

 

 

 

[image error]The Skeptical Believer by Daniel Taylor

 

 

 

Connecting God to Life and the Mind

Call these books food for thought. They are rich nourishment for the life of a believer – hearty fare for the intellect and the maturing Christian life. You will find no simplistic instructions or how-to books here. These are for thinking, reflecting, and having our ideas and lives reformed.

[image error]Orthodoxy by G. K. Chesterton

 

 

 

[image error]Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis

 

 

 

[image error]God in the Dock by C. S. Lewis

 

 

 

[image error]Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller

 

 

 

[image error]The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard

 

 

 

[image error]Simply Christian by N. T. Wright

 

 

 

Living Faithfully and Living Well

True belief is only as meaningful as what we do with it, or rather what it does to us. Belief must be in action to be of any use, and these books are formative ones for transferring ideas to real life. They will shape worship, work, devotional life, relationships with God and people, and give hope in the hardest of times when doubts and fears at their worst.

[image error]Culture Making by Andy Crouch

 

 

 

[image error]A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis

 

 

 

[image error]The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning

 

 

 

[image error]A Praying Life by Paul Miller

 

 

 

[image error]A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson

 

 

 

[image error]Whiter than Snow by Paul Tripp

 

 

 

[image error]A Shelter in the Storm by Paul Tripp

 

 

 

[image error]Death by Living by N. D. Wilson

 

 

 

[image error]Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl by N. D. Wilson

 

 

 

Understanding God

What is faith without an object? Our faith is only as strong as that upon which it rests, so we must be anchored in a true, deep, biblical understanding of God. He cannot be theory or academic debate to us; he must be a real, living, ruling LORD. These books usher readers into that reality of God and offer opportunity for faith to grow in profound ways.

[image error]Counterfeit Gods by Tim Keller

 

 

 

[image error]Superheroes Can’t Save You by Todd Miles

 

 

 

[image error]18 Words by J.I. Packer

 

 

 

[image error]Knowing God by J. I. Packer

 

 

 

[image error]The Deep Things of God by Fred Sanders

 

 

 

Understanding the Bible

Just as it is impossible to trust God without knowing Him so it is impossible to know God without reading the Bible. But the Bible is a complex book of varying genres, multiple authors, and covering hundreds and hundreds of years? It is easy to get confused or overwhelmed by it. Each of these books shows how the whole of scripture is woven together as a single revelation by God of himself with narrative themes and threads throughout.

[image error]According to Plan by Graham Goldsworthy

 

 

 

[image error]The Big Picture Story Bible by David Helm

 

 

 

[image error]The Songs of Jesus by Tim & Kathy Keller

 

 

 

[image error]The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones

 

 

 

[image error]God’s Big Picture by Vaughan Roberts

 

 

 

Faithfulness in Leadership and the Church

The Church is the body of Christ, a community of people following Jesus together under the leadership of those uniquely called with the aim of showing Jesus to the world. But the Church is also a community of sinful, doubting, struggling people, and we fail all the time. Leaders fail. Churches fail. People get hurt. When these failures happen it can undermine and fracture fragile faith, both for leaders and church members. These books draw the Church, from top to bottom, to a focus and reliance on Jesus, His gospel, and pursuit of genuine Christian character. Readers will be encouraged, grounded, and have their faith bolstered.

[image error]Strong and Weak by Andy Crouch

 

 

 

[image error]The Gospel by Ray Ortlund

 

 

 

[image error]Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders

 

 

 

[image error]The Disappearing Church by Mark Sayers

 

 

 

Stories that Stir

Sometimes the thing that encourages us in our faith or strengthens our faith most to see faith in someone else. Sometimes it is to see the character and trust of another person showing us the way. And sometimes, oddly, it is the failure and struggle of someone else. These people don’t always have to be in our world; fiction can build faith in profound ways as long as it reflects true realities to our minds and souls. These stories—some biography, some memoir, and some novel—are depictions of faith, and sometimes failure, to encourage readers by example.

[image error]The Brothers K by David James Duncan

 

 

 

[image error]Shadow of the Almighty by Elizabeth Elliot

 

 

 

[image error]Peace Like a River by Leif Enger

 

 

 

[image error]Surprised by Joy by C. S. Lewis

 

 

 

[image error]A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean

 

 

 

[image error]Struck by Russ Ramsey

 

 

 

[image error]Peace Child by Don Richardson

 

 

 

[image error]East of Eden by John Steinbeck

 

 

 

[image error]The Man Called Cash by Steve Turner

 

 

 

[image error]A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanaucken

 

 

 

Poetry for the Soul

Poetry has a unique ability to illuminate truth in a manner our hearts and minds yearn for but often miss. It is imagery in word form rather than explanation. Poetry reveals reality rather than describing it and it makes the reader feel while we think. Faith needs a good framework on which to be built, but it needs passion too. It needs feeling and conviction and honesty and beauty. Good poetry offers each of these uniquely, and these books are rich with wonderful poems.

[image error]Good Poems edited by Garrison Keillor

 

 

 

[image error]The Soul in Paraphrase by Leland Ryken

 

 

 

[image error]Two Funerals, Then Easter by Rachel Welcher

New Happy Rant: Listener Q&A (Part 1)

In this episode of The Happy Rant Ted and Barnabas do what they always do and wander to and fro through various topics . . .with a twist. These are all listener questions and suggestions.

Ted’s Gilmore Girls adoration
Left Behind series
Books we regret reading
Starting Businesses
Top 5 Movies
Archnemeses
AND MORE

FORTHCOMING BOOK

[image error]In his forthcoming book, Hoping for Happiness, recovering cynic Barnabas Piper helps us to throw off both the unrealistic expectations that end in disappointment and the guilty sense that Christians are not meant to have fun. He shows how having a clear view of the reality of the fall and the promise of redemption frees us to live a life that is grounded, hopeful, and genuinely happy. It’s available October 1, but you can pre-order now.

Get Your Coffee

[image error]WE ARE COFFEE MOGULS AGAIN. We’ve joined forces with Redbud Coffee, based out of Auburn IL, to bring you deliciously roasted and beautifully packaged coffee. Check out their variety of roasts and be sure to use the code HappyRant at checkout to get a 10% discount off your purchase.

Be sure to visit HappyRantPodcast.com where you can:

Order your Redbud coffee
Connect with Ted, Ronnie, or Barnabas to speak for your church, organization, or event
Support the podcast through our Patreon page . This helps us cover production and hosting costs so we can keep this thing rolling

To listen you can:

Subscribe in iTunes.
Listen on Google Play
Listen on Stitcher
Listen via just about any podcast app/streaming service out there
Leave us a rating in iTunes (it only takes 1 click and it really helps us).
Listen using the player below.

Episode #308

New Happy Rant: House Churches, Interesting A-Listers, and COVID Makes Us Sad

In this episode of The Happy Rant Ted and Ronnie (sans honeymooning Barnabas) do what they always do and wander to and fro through various topics:

Metaxas burns woke twitter to the ground with white Jesus
J.D. Greear and house churches
Interesting A-listers and the next big reformed thing
Ronnie’s doctoral slog
COVID’s gift of negativity
Embracing COVID
Nature vs nurture in handling difficulties

NEW BOOKS

[image error]Ted Kluck has released a new book, The Outstanding Life of an Awkward Theater Kid: God, I’ll Do Anything―Just Don’t Let Me Fail. In his typical insightful, humorous, genuine manner Ted tells a story that will resonate with your nostalgia and your children’s present life. It is funny, heart warming, and truly encouraging. You will love it and your kids will too.

 

[image error]Barnabas Piper has Re-released his book The Pastor’s Kid: What It’s Like and How to Help. Written from a PK on behalf of PKs for pastors and for the church, it offers pointed critique and diagnosis but also hope in the grace of God. Being a PK brings unique struggles, and this books seeks to address them in a way that brings about change and hope and restoration.

Get Your Coffee

[image error]WE ARE COFFEE MOGULS AGAIN. We’ve joined forces with Redbud Coffee, based out of Auburn IL, to bring you deliciously roasted and beautifully packaged coffee. Check out their variety of roasts and be sure to use the code HappyRant at checkout to get a 10% discount off your purchase.

Be sure to visit HappyRantPodcast.com where you can:

Order your Redbud coffee
Connect with Ted, Ronnie, or Barnabas to speak for your church, organization, or event
Support the podcast through our Patreon page . This helps us cover production and hosting costs so we can keep this thing rolling

To listen you can:

Subscribe in iTunes.
Listen on Google Play
Listen on Stitcher
Listen via just about any podcast app/streaming service out there
Leave us a rating in iTunes (it only takes 1 click and it really helps us).
Listen using the player below.

Episode #306

New Happy Rant: Ted Kluck is on the Hot Seat

In this episode of The Happy Rant the boys do what they always do and wander to and from through, well, just one topic: Ted Kluck. Ronnie and Barnabas come with pressing questions they’ve always wanted to ask Ted regarding:

David Foster Wallace
Being an only child
Unexpected authoring success
Being wined and dined
Adoption

NEW BOOKS

[image error]Ted Kluck has released a new book, The Outstanding Life of an Awkward Theater Kid: God, I’ll Do Anything―Just Don’t Let Me Fail. In his typical insightful, humorous, genuine manner Ted tells a story that will resonate with your nostalgia and your children’s present life. It is funny, heart warming, and truly encouraging. You will love it and your kids will too.

 

[image error]Barnabas Piper has Re-released his book The Pastor’s Kid: What It’s Like and How to Help. Written from a PK on behalf of PKs for pastors and for the church, it offers pointed critique and diagnosis but also hope in the grace of God. Being a PK brings unique struggles, and this books seeks to address them in a way that brings about change and hope and restoration.

Get Your Coffee

[image error]WE ARE COFFEE MOGULS AGAIN. We’ve joined forces with Redbud Coffee, based out of Auburn IL, to bring you deliciously roasted and beautifully packaged coffee. Check out their variety of roasts and be sure to use the code HappyRant at checkout to get a 10% discount off your purchase.

Be sure to visit HappyRantPodcast.com where you can:

Order your Redbud coffee
Connect with Ted, Ronnie, or Barnabas to speak for your church, organization, or event
Support the podcast through our Patreon page . This helps us cover production and hosting costs so we can keep this thing rolling

To listen you can:

Subscribe in iTunes.
Listen on Google Play
Listen on Stitcher
Listen via just about any podcast app/streaming service out there
Leave us a rating in iTunes (it only takes 1 click and it really helps us).
Listen using the player below.

Episode #303