Barnabas Piper's Blog, page 43
February 17, 2020
New Small Group Study on Faith and Doubt
[image error]Earlier this month my new 6-session small group study titled Help My Unbelief: Why Doubt is Not the Enemy of Faith released from LifeWay. It is built out from my book by the same title and is aimed at classes and small groups. I developed it (with much help from great editors, designers, and videographers) with the hope that it would help those struggling with crippling doubt and would shake others from apathy by raising questions they need to face. My hope is that it will encourage people whose faith is fragile and exhausted and that it will bolster those whose faith is solid. If you are looking for a study to go through with a small group, discipleship group, or class this could work for you.
[image error]It includes the following.
Leader Kit with videos (12-15 minutes of teaching apiece) and session previews as well as a copy of the paperback edition of Help My Unbelief
Six small-group sessions with discussion questions and guides for the leader
Personal study opportunities for ongoing spiritual growth to be used throughout the weeks between small group gtherings
Digital options, including eBooks and group-use video bundles or individual teaching videos for rent or purchase
February 14, 2020
New Happy Rant: The Thrill is Gone: Dealing with Disappointment
In this episode of The Happy Rant Ted and Ronnie suss out how to handle disappointment in life, work, and creativity
Not doing the jobs we expected
Moving on from hopes and dreams of creative endeavors
Finding new creative outlets
Trying to do what we love and still make a living
Teaching & preaching as creativity
The loss of thrill in work
Fighting bitterness
Being grateful
Sponsors
[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.
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 33% off your subscription. It comes out to about $20 for the entire year!
LIVE AT MIDTOWN
Our next Live recording event is coming up! On the day after Easter and the day before T4G we’ll hold it at a brand new, exceptionally cool location. Get your tickets now!
APRIL 13, 2020
7:00 PM – 10:00 PM EDT
Sojourn Church Midtown
1207 South Shelby Street
Louisville, KY 40203
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 #284
February 11, 2020
5 Reasons Pastors’ Kids Struggle With Doubt
Doubt is common to all Christians. We struggle for a million reasons ranging from difficult intellectual questions to times of extreme suffering to feeling like God is absent.
And sometimes the people you think are the least likely to struggle with doubts actually struggle the most.
My father was a pastor of the same church, Bethlehem Baptist in Minneapolis, from three years before I was born until he retired on my 30th birthday.
The church grew steadily from just a few hundred to a few thousand during his ministry, so I experienced a range of pastor’s kid (PK) environments.
After moving away from home I began to connect with PKs from all over the country and I discovered that our experiences, regardless of denomination or church size or region, were strikingly similar—including a remarkably common and profoundly deep struggle with doubt.
Here are five reasons why PKs struggle deeply with doubt.
1. People’s Expectations vs. Jesus’ Expectations
“You shouldn’t do that; you’re the pastor’s kid” is a common refrain for many PKs. Even if it is not expressed explicitly, the sentiment is very clear: PKs are held to a different standard than our peers.
The eyes of the church, strangers and acquaintances alike, are on them constantly. This perpetual sense of pressure to live up to arbitrary and excessive expectations is brutal emotionally, relationally, and spiritually.
Worst of all, it can drive a wedge between a PK and Jesus as it becomes more and more difficult to differentiate between legalistic demands and what Jesus actually calls His followers to.
2. Borrowed Belief
One of the most difficult things for a PK to figure out is the difference between what he’s been told to believe and what he actually believes.
The inundation of sermons, Bible memory, Bible trivia, theological argument, family devotions, and dinner time conversations about all things church- and Bible-related leaves a PK with an over-stocked pantry and no idea how to cook or even what food he enjoys.
A PK can often describe faith without having it, argue theology without believing it, and quote Scripture without thinking about it.
This isn’t necessarily hypocrisy as much as it is confusion. It’s what happens when someone is handed belief instead of discovering it.
For a PK the discovery often happens much later, after much doubting and confusion.
3. No Room for Questions
When a person is new to Christianity we expect and love their questions about faith and the Bible. It’s a sign they’re growing and pursuing a deeper understanding of God.
But in many church environments the same expectation and love is not afforded to long-time Christians, especially not if they share a last name with the pastor.
One of those false expectations I mentioned above is that PKs should have answers, not questions.
When a PK struggles with his faith and the deeper mysteries of God where does he take his questions? At many churches the answer is “nowhere”—PKs are seen as a threat or a failure. So doubt grows in the dark with no place to take it.
4. No Room for Failure
All of us fail. We sin. We disappoint people. We face the same temptations over and over again with varying results. And it’s hard for anybody to confess and ask for help.
How much more so when you’re held to a higher standard? When everyone is watching. When people would like you to keep your questions to yourself even if you don’t know what you believe.
This is often the atmosphere when PKs live, so what do they do when they screw up? Where do they go when they’re struggling with temptation or have absolutely blown it?
Few things feed the fire of doubts like guilt and shame, and when grace is absent those things flourish.
5. An Undefined Identity
When your faith is handed to you fully formed before you are fully formed, when people expect you to be a wholly sanctified Christian before you can spell “sanctified,” when you know you must hide your questions and your sins in a closet, well, it’s awfully hard to figure out who you truly are.
So many PKs define themselves by what they’re expected to be. Others define themselves by what they refuse to be. And many others waffle between identities, trying to figure out what to be.
A PK can describe what it means to have an identity in Christ infinitely easier than he can find his own.
After all Jesus is daddy’s boss, the topic of a sermon, or the subject matter of a debate much more than He is a savior, redeemer, and friend.
Without an identity in Christ doubts don’t just abound, they overwhelm. They are the sea on which a PK is tossed to and fro because he has no anchor in Jesus.
I don’t mean to paint a bleak picture of all PKs. A huge number of us are blessed to come from homes that valued God’s Word and served God’s Church faithfully.
A disproportionate number of us, myself included, come through our struggles and end up serving the Lord faithfully.
But we don’t do it without scars.
The life of a pastor’s family has unique challenges, even in the healthiest church. And, while PKs may not struggle with doubts more often than other believers, they do struggle alone more often and with deeper intensity. They need your prayers, your patience, and your grace.
[image error]This post was originally published by Facts & Trends and is used with permission.
For more about the unique struggles of pastors’ kids and how you can serve them check out my forthcoming book The Pastor’s Kid: What It’s Like and How to Help (June 1, 2020, The Good Book Company).
January 31, 2020
New Happy Rant: Remembering Kobe and Public Grief
In this episode Ted and Barnabas take a more somber tone to remember the life of Kobe Bryant and reflect on how people grieve publicly.
Our initial response to hearing the news of Kobe’s death
The Mamba mentality and the apex of secularism
Kobe’s complicated legacy and the strength of his family
Processing grief and persona building
How public displays of grief have changed how we respond to it
Sponsors
[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.
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 33% off your subscription. It comes out to about $20 for the entire year!
LIVE AT MIDTOWN
Our next Live recording event is coming up! On the day after Easter and the day before T4G we’ll hold it at a brand new, exceptionally cool location. Get your tickets now!
APRIL 13, 2020
7:00 PM – 10:00 PM EDT
Sojourn Church Midtown
1207 South Shelby Street
Louisville, KY 40203
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 #283
January 29, 2020
New Happy Rant Sports: Super Bowl Talk and Baseball Cheaters
In this episode of The Happy Rant Sports podcast Ted and Barnabas talk NFL and MLB as we head toward the Super Bowl.
Patrick Mahomes is bonkers
CFL excitement
The future of Ryan Tannehill and the Titans
Breaking down the Super Bowl matchup
Andy Reid’s legacy
Cheating Astros and Red Sox
How should a Christian player respond to cheating?
Sponsors
[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.
LIVE AT MIDTOWN
Our next Live recording event is coming up! On the day after Easter and the day before T4G we’ll hold it at a brand new, exceptionally cool location. Get your tickets now!
APRIL 13, 2020
7:00 PM – 10:00 PM EDT
Sojourn Church Midtown
1207 South Shelby Street
Louisville, KY 40203
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 #35
January 28, 2020
New Happy Rant: The Bravery Episode
In this episode of The Happy Rant Ted, Ronnie, and Barnabas suss out some very important aspects of bravery:
What is bravery in today’s culture?
What is bravery, actually?
What is an actual brave act today?
Can bravery be done for public consumption?
How does the internet affect bravery?
Are we allowed to call ourselves brave?
Sponsors
[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.
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 33% off your subscription. It comes out to about $20 for the entire year!
LIVE AT MIDTOWN
Our next Live recording event is coming up! On the day after Easter and the day before T4G we’ll hold it at a brand new, exceptionally cool location. Get your tickets now!
APRIL 13, 2020
7:00 PM – 10:00 PM EDT
Sojourn Church Midtown
1207 South Shelby Street
Louisville, KY 40203
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 #282
January 21, 2020
New Happy Rant: Writing and Significant Others, Reformed Guys and War Movies, and Shaking Trump’s Hand
In this episode of The Happy Rant Ted, Ronnie, and Barnabas suss out a variety of topics and set the record straight on a few things:
Do we require our significant others to read everything we write? Is it even worth being with someone who doesn’t?
Why reformed guys love war movies (and ruining the fun of war movies)
The faux depth of Christopher Nolan
Would we shake Trump’s hand if put in the same room?
Sponsors
[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.
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 33% off your subscription. It comes out to about $20 for the entire year!
Be sure to visit HappyRantPodcast.com where you can:
Order your Happy Rant swag from Missional Wear (Use code RANT to get discounts on swag and/or shipping)
Connect with Ted, Ronnie, or Barnabas to speak for your church, organization, or event
Please consider supporting the podcast financially as well. We have set up a Patreon page, and your donations help us cover production costs, do live events, and grow the podcast by trying some new things. Oh, and of course there are perks for those who commit to helps us such as free books and coffee!
To listen you can:
Subscribe in iTunes.
Listen on Google Play
Listen on Stitcher.
Leave us a rating in iTunes (it only takes 1 click and it really helps us).
Listen using the player below.
Episode #281
January 16, 2020
New Happy Rant Sports: Titans, Vikings QBs, and NFL Coaches
In this episode of the Happy Rant Sports Podcast Ted and Barnabas suss out all sorts of NFL topics:
Enjoying fandom through the eyes and experiences of kids
Pats fan disappointment
Titans success (and a very wrong prediction)
Vikings QBs through the ages
Is Aaron Rogers at the end of the line?
Some NFL coaching changes
Sponsor
We also want to thank our sponsor – 503 Sports. If you love defunct football leagues, minor league baseball, and historical uniforms then 503 Sports is where you want to order your gear. Check them out.
Be sure to visit HappyRantPodcast.com where you can:
Order fresh roasted coffee from Lagares Roasters
Order your Happy Rant swag from Missional Wear (Use code RANT to get discounts on swag and/or shipping)
Please consider supporting the podcast financially as well. We have set up a Patreon page, and your donations help us cover production costs, do live events, and grow the podcast by trying some new things. Oh, and of course there are perks for those who commit to helps us such as free books and coffee!
To listen you can:
Subscribe in iTunes.
Listen on Google Play
Listen on Stitcher.
Leave us a rating in iTunes (it only takes 1 click and it really helps us).
Listen using the player below.
Episode #34
The Good Sort of Questioning God
When we think of belief in God often times we picture passivity because that is what is portrayed many times in the church as “right” belief. God says it, I believe it, that settles it, right? Not entirely.
Much of belief is asking: asking for help as the father in Mark 9 did, asking for understanding, asking why, asking when. I have two young daughters, and they show their belief in me by asking things of me. “Can I have a snack?” indicates they believe I can provide them with Goldfish crackers or Oreos. “Why are the stars big balls of fire but only look like dots to us?” shows their belief that I can explain scientific facts. Questions are an indication of trust. Or they can be.
The Bible tells us to have faith like a child. Children are perpetual questioners, but they’re also perpetual believers. They ask, then eagerly await an answer. They mull over the answer, then fire another question if it doesn’t make sense to them. Questions are the conversational currency of a child. Every question is asked to learn, out of a desire to understand, from a stance of trust. Children ask not to challenge but in order to believe. That’s a big part of what “faith like a child” means.
Questions indicate belief only if you actually want an answer. Someone who asks without wanting to learn is not truly asking, but is challenging. Challenging is not believing, but undermining. A researcher asks questions to learn the facts, find the patterns, and create a hypothesis or theory. She wants to find the truth. In a cross-examination a prosecutor asks questions in order to reveal a lie. He is challenging, not really asking. The main difference is whether the questioner has an answer in mind already or desires to hear what answer will be offered. Researchers might have theories, but their questions are to test those theories by finding out the real answers. Prosecutors have answers they want to hear. An unexpected answer is not acceptable. They know what they want and need to hear, and their questions are designed to lead to those responses.
God is infinite. While the finite human mind can understand aspects of His character, even those cannot be understood in full. His bigness is too big, His goodness too good, His wrath too terrible, His grace too profound, His knowledge too deep. Because of this, God is inherently mysterious to us. We simply cannot fathom the fullness, or even a portion of the fullness, of who He is or what He does. We cannot fit Him into our proofs and evidentiary structures. By revealing what He did in Scripture, God created a massive mystery. He gave us an enigma, a puzzle, a riddle with so many dimensions and plotlines and layers and themes that even just those sixty-six books have generated libraries of volumes of thought, argument, and questions.
Belief is not a black-and-white endeavor built on simple truths. It is the exploration of a great mystery girded by great truths. I have often heard it said “The Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it” as if that is all there is to belief and being a Christian. For those of us who grew up in a traditional Sunday school context or a more fundamentalist, legalistic background, we recognize that general attitude about faith and God. “What does the Bible say? Well, just do that thing!” But the Bible isn’t clear all the time. It isn’t a simplistic, comprehensive rule book (thank God!), and it doesn’t address every problem explicitly. Instead, it depicts the character and work of God. The Bible tells a narrative of creation, fall, promise, redemption, and glory. In that narrative are lessons and declarations of great truth, but there are also allusions and suggestions of truth. God’s character is described, discernible at points, but also inscrutable. Because of His infinity, His character baffles us even while it comforts and directs us. That is the mystery and the truth hand in hand. The Bible gives everything we need but not every answer; all the necessary truth but plenty of room to wonder.
So in order to truly believe we must ask and ask and ask. We must ask as a researcher asks. Sure, we can have our theories, but we must also be willing to adjust or abandon them if the answers revealed to us prove those theories wrong. We must ask as a little child asks, full of curiosity. When an answer doesn’t make sense, keep asking. And believe that there is an answer.
[image error]This is an excerpt from my book, Help My Unbelief: Why Doubt is Not the Enemy of Faith.
January 15, 2020
New Happy Rant: Wedding Planning, Babylon Bee Controversy, and Shiplap for Days
In this episode of The Happy Rant Ted, Ronnie, and Barnabas suss out the following very important matters:
Wedding planning and choosing an officiant
Communication politics for sharing big news with the right people
Do weddings have to be in churches or will a barn and/or warehouse do?
The Babylon Bee does another not funny, controversial thing
Shiplap, shiplap everywhere
Sponsors
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 33% off your subscription. It comes out to about $20 for the entire year!
Be sure to visit HappyRantPodcast.com where you can:
Order your Happy Rant swag from Missional Wear (Use code RANT to get discounts on swag and/or shipping)
Connect with Ted, Ronnie, or Barnabas to speak for your church, organization, or event
Please consider supporting the podcast financially as well. We have set up a Patreon page, and your donations help us cover production costs, do live events, and grow the podcast by trying some new things. Oh, and of course there are perks for those who commit to helps us such as free books and coffee!
To listen you can:
Subscribe in iTunes.
Listen on Google Play
Listen on Stitcher.
Leave us a rating in iTunes (it only takes 1 click and it really helps us).
Listen using the player below.
Episode #280
