Barnabas Piper's Blog, page 59
July 24, 2018
New Happy Rant: Ordination, Mr. Rogers, and Outrage upon Outrage
In this episode of The Happy Rant Ted, Ronnie, and Barnabas rant about, discuss, muse, and otherwise explore about the following:
The ordination process for Ronnie (which consists of dozens of pages of paper writing, an oral exam, and probably a sabbatical or three)
The Mr. Rogers phenomenon – why is everyone so attached to Fred Rogers?
When everybody is always mad about everything online, why do people get surprised when people are outraged at their social media posts?
Summer camp experiences from gross games to altar calls
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:
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Episode #205
July 20, 2018
3 Things I Like This Week – July 20
Each week I share three things I like – It could be a book, a movie, a podcast, an album, a photo, an article, a restaurant, a food item, a beverage, or anything else I simply enjoy and think you might too. You can find a whole pile of things, especially books, I like and recommend HERE.
1. SUV Cargo Liner for Dogs
[image error] I’m no scientist, but the unique properties of dog hair and automobile carpet lead to a binding that no ordinary shop vacuum can break. Add to that the occasional moisture and mud that canine friends bring with them, and one’s car becomes a hairy, stinking mess in a hurry. I love taking my dog hiking with me, but I was getting fed up with the mess it led to in my SUV. Problem solved. The liner is easy to remove, easy to clean, and keeps about 90% of the fur (and 100% of the mud/water) off the car. If you are a dog owner you should get one. (If you are a cat owner you’re just sitting there smugly because you have none of these problems. That’s true. But you’re stuck with a cat.)
2. Gabby’s Burgers
Gabby’s se[image error]rves the second best burger in Nashville (right behind this place). And like the #1 burger joint, Gabby’s is a hole in the wall in a part of town not over run by bachelorette parties. Correlation or causation? You decide. As for the burgers themselves they are straight forward, fresh-made, high quality, ungourmet, with no fancy fixins. There are no compotes, reductions, or flavored mayo anywhere on the menu – just beef, cheese, bacon, and staple condiments. Oh, and Gabby’s hand made fries and shakes are nothing to scoff at either.
3. Shaquille O’Neal Rookie Year Highlights
Do you remember when Shaq used to be young and athletic? When he could jump and dribble and run like a small forward, except he was 7’2″ and 300 pounds? INSANE. We remember the physically dominant mountain of a man that led the Lakers to a couple titles (yes, Kobe Stans, it was shaq who led them to those titles). But when he was young he was a whole different kind of athletic freak.
July 16, 2018
New Happy Rant: Pro-Abortion Tweets, Guest Preachers, and Summer Blockbusters
In this episode of The Happy Rant Ted, Ronnie, and Barnabas range from the horrific to the humorous in discussing the following:
Jennifer Wright’s horrific tweet supporting Roe v. Wade and illicit sex, and weird emojis
How do we feel about professional athletes guest preaching at churches?
Where did all the summer movie blockbusters go?
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 #204
July 13, 2018
3 Things I Like This Week – July 13
Each week I share three things I like – It could be a book, a movie, a podcast, an album, a photo, an article, a restaurant, a food item, a beverage, or anything else I simply enjoy and think you might too. You can find a whole pile of things, especially books, I like and recommend HERE.
1. Prime Pantry
[image error]It’s well-established on this blog that I have sold my soul to Amazon. A few months ago I discovered some depths of that soul (and some recesses of my kitchen) that I had not yet handed over. And so I signed up for Prime Pantry. And it is delightful. All I have to do is plan about 3 days in advance for my peanut butter and Oreo needs and then they just show up at my door. The amount of consternation Prime Pantry has saved me over people’s inability to operate a shopping cart or use self-checkout at the grocery store is immeasurable.
2. The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
[image error]I gave this book 5 stars on Amazon and Goodreads (as one should do if they love a book). I’d give this book 6 stars if they’d let me. Brilliant, moving, heart rending, and far too true today just as it was when it was written. It put a finger on an exposed American nerve and pressed – not to torture but to make us feel and take note. Baldwin was a gift, a magnificent, prophetic, broken gift.
3. Nolan Ryan Career Highlights
I wish I could have watched more of this guy. Legend. All time strikeout record holder (and walk records holder), 7 no hitters (including his final one at age 44), 300+ wins. And he seemingly never changed his facial expression.
July 12, 2018
He Reads Truth: Jesus Speaks in Parables
I have the privilege of contributing to He Reads Truth, a website of whose purpose is “To help men become who we were made to be, by doing what we were made to do, by the power and provision that God has given us to do it, for the glory of Jesus Christ.” They do this by providing scripture reading plans accompanied by reflections that can be accessed for free online or purchased as print books. For those of you looking to engage scripture in a fresh way – either because you are dried up or have been away from it, these studies/plans will refresh your soul and engage your mind.
What follows is one of the pieces I wrote for the Matthew plan. You can find the full plan HERE.
Matthew 13:1-52, 1 Corinthians 5:6-7
“Dad, stop making your points,” my exasperated middle school daughter sighed recently, after one more of my brilliant analogies. As parents naturally do, I was using an example to make a point about an attitude she needed to change. It was concrete, clear, and drew out the truth I was seeking to make obvious to her. Needless to say, it fell on deaf ears.
You might say she did not have ears to hear. (You might also note that I am not Jesus and don’t have His perfect communication skills.) She heard me, she understood my words, yet the meaning did not penetrate her heart.
Jesus navigated this very matter at a more profound level, an eternal life-and-death level. He spoke life-saving truths in parables, veiled stories packed with meaning. But only some people could pull back the veil to access the meaning with clarity—those with “ears to hear.” To some, Jesus said, the secrets of the kingdom had been revealed, and for them parables were clear and crystalline, solid and sharp. For everyone else, they were a fog of words swirling around the truth, keeping it from being clearly seen and understood.
When Jesus spoke of good soil, mustard seeds, wheat and weeds, and leaven, He was using familiar objects and actions to give imagery to spiritual realities. Like an optical illusion, His words were lost on many listeners. But for those who were willing to hear, Jesus would explain His parables.
Why didn’t He explain them for everyone? Why not just speak in plain language to begin with? Because Jesus was calling hearts, not arguing with minds. He spoke to the ears of the heart, and if those ears could hear Him, then the heart would follow Him. Those with ears to hear were the good soil in which the Word could spring up, grow, and bear fruit. Their fruit was like a mustard seed of faith that started small and would become a great plant.
So often we read Scripture and see the words of Jesus. We hear sermons and lessons. We read books and receive teaching. Our minds absorb it and parse it out. Our intellects are stimulated as we put together ideas and arguments. But are we good soil? Is the seed of the Word planted and bearing the fruit of faith? We hear, but do we listen? For that is how we truly know Jesus and enter into His kingdom.
July 9, 2018
New Happy Rant: Pastoring Hurting People, Summer Jobs, and Actors Who Make Us Skip Movies
In this episode of The Happy Rant Ted, Ronnie, and Barnabas range from ministry to vocation to entertainment in discussing the following:
How does one minister to people who are hurting over something we think is dumb (like LeBron leaving Cleveland)?
What are the best and worst summer jobs we’ve had?
Who are actors who will make you automatically skip a movie and actors who will make you automatically see a movie?
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 #203
July 6, 2018
Happy Rant Sports #13 – Drabek, Ballpark Nonsense, Apatow on Sports, and the NBA Draft
In this episode of The Happy Rant Sports Ted and Barnabas discuss all sorts of sports stuff including:
Baseball lifers, especially Doug Drabek and the Jackson Generals
Cranky old man responses to ballpark shenanigans
Judd Apatow’s 86 Mets 30 for 30 (and Apatow in general)
NBA Draft recap
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 #13
July 5, 2018
Summer Parenting Haikus
Family vacation
Is a wonderful concept
If you like conflict
The mower is roaring
Neat lines, like vacuumed carpet
It smells amazing
My dog has a tick.
Of course she does, it’s summer
Always check the ears
Soaking up some rays.
Sunscreen is for wimpy folks.
I can’t sleep. It burns.
Chasing lightning bugs
Is like magic for children
Summer memories
Go play outside kids.
Lovely, some peace and quiet.
They’re back, it’s too hot
Heading to the pool,
Two bags, two tubes, and some snacks.
I am a Sherpa
I’m bored and hungry,
Says one child, the other whines.
When does school begin?
Children sleeping in
Is the best parents can do
For a vacation.
Summer staple foods
Lemonade, Watermelon,
Loads of popsicles
July Fourth is grand
Sparklers and bottle rockets
Oos and Ahs with smiles
Tubing is so fun
Fast, flying through the air, splash
All my muscles hurt
Sweating in the yard
Smoke and flames, but no complaints
Grilled meat is the best
Cicadas whirring
Tee frogs and crickets singing
Music of summer
July 3, 2018
Musings on Writing
Tinkering with your work is not the same as improving your work. At some point you just need to publish.
Deadlines suck, but they suck the same way that a personal trainer or a diet sucks. They demand something of you and force you to complete your goals.
Self-imposed deadlines are imaginary.
Sometimes you need the accountability of a public announcement. Once people know what you’re working on they will ask. When they ask you need to have an answer.
Imitation may be the greatest form of flattery, but flattery makes for bad writing.
The golden rule of writing: write a piece that you would want to read.
Writers block just means that you need to work harder. Or sometimes it means you need to take a break. But if you take a break for too long that’s called quitting.
If you are burned out or uninspired dabble in writing a genre you haven’t tried before.
Write often from your life experience, but not much about your life experience. The former is relatable, the latter is often navel gazing.
Every chapter and article doesn’t need to start with a story. That’s boring, repetitive, and predictable. If your editor says otherwise they’re pushing for formula, not craft.
Being prolific it’s not the same as being good. Just because of the pile of garbage is big doesn’t change the fact that it is garbage.
Writing a lot will improve your writing, but conscientiously focusing on your craft will help it more.
You don’t need to write every day, but you need to do something every day to help your writing.
If you take to social media to bemoan the travails of writing then maybe writing isn’t for you.
Writing is work, not magic. And like any job there are aspects that are a drag. But if you love the work you love the work.
For 1 in 1000 people publishing a book changes their life. For the rest of us it is a cool accomplishment that we can be proud of that makes a contribution to people’s minds and souls.
One star Amazon ratings are the funniest. Don’t take them personally, take them comedically.
No matter how hard you work on a project, or how much it means to you, don’t be precious about it. Your work is not for everyone, and somebody is going to say something nasty about it. Oh well.
Some writers need to picture the person they are writing too. Others of us need to orbit the idea we are trying to communicate. One is not better than the other.
The advice “write like you speak” is bad advice. Most of us speak in fragments and with poor grammar or syntax and people listen with that in mind. But people read with comprehension of complex sentences, multiple clauses, and big words. Write like you want people to read.
Respect your readers. Nobody likes being written down to.
Write lean. It’s much easier when an editor says “add this” and not “cut this.”
If you are writing to get rich or famous I offer you best wishes and side eye.
July 2, 2018
New Happy Rant: Patriotic Church Services, Refusing Service, and Songs Ruining Scripture
In this episode of The Happy Rant Ted, Ronnie and Barnabas do what they always do and wander to and fro through the following topics:
Patriotic church services
Restaurants and businesses refusing service
A couple new restaurant ideas built around refusing service
Worship songs that ruin portions of the Bible
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 #202
