Barnabas Piper's Blog, page 69

He Reads Truth: How to Give

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 Sermon on the Mount plan. You can find the full plan HERE.

Matthew 6:1-4, Proverbs 24:12, 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10, 1 John 2:28-29

In these days of social media ubiquity nothing is hidden. Our discretion and privacy have nearly vanished. People live in digital “glass houses,” and do so on purpose. Life is a performance to please our followers. This means that every good deed is advertised. When we donate to a GoFundMe page, it puts the dollar amount next to our name. When we give to someone in need, we humblebrag about being “so glad to be able to help.” We live to be praised.

But this is antithetical to how Jesus tells us to give. Don’t practice your righteousness for others to take note of, He says. Don’t use generosity as leverage to heap praise on yourself.

When we live to be praised, one of two things happens. We receive no praise and are hurt, or we receive the praise we sought and are left desiring even more. And this is our reward, Jesus says. For those who give publicly and practice good deeds for the eyes of mankind have received their reward: the vaporous, temporal praise of people.

Instead, Jesus points us to the heart of giving and generosity. He instructs us to not let our left hand know what our right hand is doing; to give in private. God will see and will reward us as He sees fit. The heart of giving is not praise from the recipient or from those who see the “good” deed; it is a heart of love. It is a heart marked by gratefulness for all that God has given us.

To give seeking praise is to not really give at all. It is to make a business transaction: I give and, in return, you praise me. Godly generosity, on the other hand, gives seeking nothing in return. It knows that God sees both our actions and the heart behind them. He takes note of those good deeds which are done in secret and is pleased by them. Not only is He pleased, He promises to reward them—whether in this life or in the next—and that reward will be so much richer than any adulation this world has to offer.

It is a difficult shift to go from doing good with the hope of receiving praise to, instead, doing good from a place of humility and love, confident that it pleases God. If we think more about the generosity God has shown us, we will find this easier. If we think more about the recipient of our generosity as an equal image bearer of God, it will help us. If we consider our ongoing need for generosity, both physically and spiritually, that will help too.

The heart of giving is not what we receive in return, but what we have already received from God. He sees. He knows. He is pleased and rewards. And no praise from our fellow man, be it online or in person, can compare to that eternal reward.

New Happy Rant: T4R Part 1: C-Listers List, Happy Rant 101, and Decadence

In this historic episode of The Happy Rant Podcast Ronnie, Ted, and Barnabas are reunited LIVE and in person at a hipster church in East Louisville. That’s right, it’s TOGETHER FOR THE RANT, and this is just the first of three episodes so stay tuned. They discuss:

Infamous C-Lister Jared C’s infamous list of infamous reformed people
Happy Rant 101 – a discussion of where our sign off came from, why Ronnie shortens words, and more
Listener trivia and general decadence

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 #191

Happy Rant Sports #7 – NBA Awards, NBA Playoffs, and Baseball’s Unwritten Rules

In this episode of Happy Rant Sports Ted and Barnabas dig into the following scintillating sports topics:

NBA Awards (mostly made up fun ones Ted came up with)
NBA playoff predictions and what we’d like to see happen
Discussing baseball’s asinine unwritten rules

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 #7

New Happy Rant: Courage, One-Upmanship, Movies that Used to be Good, and What We’re Reading

In this episode of The Happy Rant Ted and Barnabas close out Ronnie’s interminable sabbatical by hashing out the following topics:

What do “courage” and “bravery” mean any more?
How to respond to one-upmanship – that guy who always has the better story
Movies that we used to think are good be aren’t so sure any more (or are sure that they suck)
What we’re reading

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 #190

3 Things I Like This Week – April 5

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. Blue Yeti USB Microphone

[image error]Every week I sit down at my desk, open up my laptop, and record The Happy Rant with Ted Kluck and Ronnie Martin. This is the mic I use. For the money and ease of use it is a fantastic mic for podcasting or other sorts of audio recordings. It can be multi or mono directional depending on the needs (area recording, multiple voices, one person, etc.). There are definitely nicer microphones in the world, but as a value this is the best I’ve found. (TIP: If you want even more basic USB mic at an even more affordable price the Blue Snowball is solid starter option.)

2. Goodreads

[image error]Oh good, another social media (sort of) app for you to post screeds, memes, and selfies on. Nope, not this one. This one is for posting book reviews, discovering new books to read, setting goals for reading, and keeping track of what you’ve read. You can follow authors, participate in giveaways, and even get book deals sent to your inbox if you’re into that sort of thing. I find Goodreads mostly useful for my own reading goals and reviews, but I occasionally am able to discover a new book or author to read too. If you’re looking to be more intentional about reading this is a handy app.

S.O.B. by Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats

Sometimes the middle of a week is just a drag. This song is the anti-drag (with slightly NSFW language). If you feel like doing a little digging go find a video of one of their live performances of this song. It’s just pure, unadulterated fun.

New Happy Rant: Everything is an Adventure, Open Mics, and Bible Reading

In this episode of The Happy Rant Ted and Barnabas can see the light at the end of the tunnel – it is almost time for Together for the Rant and Ronnie’s long-anticipated return. In the mean time they take on the following:

Calling things an “adventure” – why is everything an adventure?
Open mic nights
Bible reading – what do we think of Bible reading plans and how do we use them?

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)
Order your tickets for our next LIVE event – Together for the Rant – to be held in April.

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 #189

3 Things I Like This Week – March 29

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. Mafia Podcast

[image error]If you enjoyed Crimetown you’re likely to enjoy the Mafia podcast as well. If you never listened to Crimetown, well, now you have two excellent options. Mafia has more of a documentary/history feel to it and less of a rollicking storytelling aspect, but it is so well done. Each episode tells the story of one of the most significant mobsters in U.S. history. They don’t get bogged down in mundane details and neither do they sensationalize. The stories themselves, told by a narrator and plenty of historian and first-hand input, are sensational enough. I have thoroughly enjoyed this podcast.

2. Coffitivity

[image error]While I might wish I could always write or work at a coffee shop, sadly time and money do not allow. Thankfully, Coffitivity allows the coffee shop – at least a little of it – to come to me. I hate writing or working in total silence; it makes me feel claustrophobic. What Coffitivity does is to pipe in the steady drone of a pleasant coffee shop sound – a hum of voices, the clinking of glasses, the door opening and shutting. And to top it off you can play music right over the top of it, giving what once was an oppressively quiet work environment the feel of a cafe with a live band. Except you control the volume.

3. Gary Sheffield’s Swing

He wasn’t my favorite player growing ip, but he was my favorite player to watch hit. The stance, the bat twitch, the superhuman bat speed. Nobody swung a bat like Gary Sheffield. I just wish they’d skipped the fielding “highlights” in this video; Gary preferred to skip all the fielding too. Happy Opening Day Everyone!

 

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. “Why do you and Mommy have to kiss around us?” shows, well, that mostly shows disgust. 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. If you struggle with doubts and questioning or are trying to help someone who does pick up a copy.

Why We Should Not Fear Doubt [Video]

In this short video I recorded with For The Church I do my best to explain why doubt is not a sin in itself but can actually be the springboard for faith.

[image error]For more on faith and how to respond well to doubts you can check out my book  Help My Unbelief: Why Doubt is Not the Enemy of Faith.

New Happy Rant: TGC on Tackle Football, Are We Really On The Same Team, and Rock Star Behavior

In this episode of The Happy Rant Ted and Barnabas suss out the following:

The Gospel Coalition waded into the debate about whether tackle football should be banned. Why do they do stuff like this?
After our roast of Steven Furtick a few weeks ago we got a piece of fan/hate mail saying we are mean and asking “aren’t we all on the same team?” Well, are we?
A story of rock stars behaving badly online and a discussion of why they bother.

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)
Order your tickets for our next LIVE event – Together for the Rant – to be held in April.

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 #188