Barnabas Piper's Blog, page 76

New Happy Rant: CCM Tales from the Road with Ronnie Martin

In this episode of The Happy Rant Barnabas sits down with Ronnie, he of Joy Electric fame, to talk about life as a CCM artist. They cover tons of ground, including the following.

How Ronnie started
The business of CCM
Dropping Names including Audio Adrenaline, Petra, and Stryper
Crazy Fans (including a spitting incident)
Playing Festivals
Playing Youth Groups
Being divas

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Episode #146

New Happy Rant: Keller’s Sermon Notes, Adult Best Friends, and Summertime Pressure

In this episode of the Happy Rant Ted, Ronnie, and Barnabas discuss the following:

Tim Keller’s INSANE sermon notes
Should adults have “best” friends?
What does “best friend” even mean?
That weird pressure to have the perfect summer

Our sponsor this week is Missional Wear, the provider of all of The Happy Rant’s awesome swag – coffee tumblers, pint glasses, t-shirts, coffee mugs, moleskin notebooks, and more. With Father’s Day coming up now is the perfect chance to get sweet gifts for the dads in your life. Just visit Missionalwear.com/happyrant, pick the perfect gifts, and use the code RANT to get $10 off any purchase of $50 or more. They will even throw in a free Happy Rant sticker for you.

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Episode #145

Best Quotes from The Curious Christian

In March of this year my latest book, The Curious Christian: How Discovering Wonder Enriches Every Part of Life released. This is a collection of what I believe are the most important quotes from it – the ones that give the clearest sense of the tone, purpose, style, and message. To learn more about the book and to take a quick (like less than 2 minutes) quiz to see what kind of a curious person you are visit CuriousChristianBook.com.

Introduction

Binary thinking takes the grays of the world and insists they are either black or white.

Our uncuriosity settles for flannel graph depictions of God instead of relentlessly and eagerly seeking to know Him.

Curiosity is more than a mere trait. It is a discipline, a skill, a habit – one that will expand your life in magnificent, if subtle, ways.

Chapter 1

The wonder and merriment and raw enthusiasm kids bring to otherwise mundane experiences reveal the spirit Jesus praises. This is child-likeness, not childishness.

Maturity means growing out of those aspects of childhood that are selfish, unaware of others and the world, an excuse for sin.

Healthy maturity is that which knows when and how to be childlike.

Imagination guides and shapes our use of information.

With curiosity unpredictability becomes opportunity.

Chapter 2

Truth is anything that is from God and reflects God in some way.

Common grace doesn’t save, but it does summon.

In the Garden of Eden curiosity went off the rails.

Adam and Eve broke creation because they stepped outside their vocation. Instead of seeking to reflect God, they sought to be Him.

Godly curiosity keeps us from becoming simplistic legalists who just label everything as either good or bad.

Chapter 3

We are real life hobbits, seeking peaceful lives centered on daily needs, basic comforts, a little gossip and some good parties.

Curiosity is a discipline, a habit, a skill set. We know this because we lose it.

Education is about perspective much more than it as about mastering subjects.

Life is not lived by choosing from options A through D and passing a standardized test.

Curiosity combined with courage presses in and digs deeper in relationship.

Curiosity enlarges God in our minds, or rather helps us see his largeness and his largesse, His closeness and His love, His plan and His promise.

When we lack curiosity our world shrinks to the size of our waking hours.

Curiosity builds empathy instead of apathy and antipathy.

Curiosity isn’t a quick fix. It is more like a diet or a lifestyle.

Loving curiosity seeks the good of others.

If curiosity is not increasing our joy and capacity for enjoyment then something is amiss.

Chapter 4

No knowledge matters if we cannot answer this simple question about it. So what?

Knowledge is as good as what we can do with it and what it does to us.

If you’re a follower of Jesus there’s no place for a sense of superiority.

Curiosity is a hunger to know more truth so that we can show people more truth so that our world will see more of God.

Chapter 5

Without curiosity we become prejudiced and on a trajectory toward bigotry.

Curiosity knows it doesn’t know even if it doesn’t know what it doesn’t know, and it sets out to learn.

I do not think there is a single medium in the world that so effectively shares information, opens new worlds, and ignites the imagination as books.

Fiction can be truer than facts. A good novel reveals the real in a way an essay or a biography usually fails to do.

So much of nature seems to exist for this reason – because God simply took pleasure in making it and watching it be.

Curious people create more, find better solutions to problems, overcome challenges, meet needs that arise, make connections, and prepare better for the future.

Our curiosity is for a purpose – to honor the Lord our God with all our hearts and souls and minds and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Chapter 6

You do not need to find the entry to curiosity. There are millions, so you just need to find the one closest to you.

Noticing is hard work.

Noticing is a muscle and the more we do it the stronger it gets.

Who are you? Who are you becoming? Active curiosity will help you find the answer.

Chapter 7

Curiosity is a primary tool for fulfilling the mission of Christ. Without it we are distant from and clueless about those who need Jesus most.

Being open minded does not mean letting the cage of the brain open so all the birds of thought can escape.

Open-mindedness, at its best, is humility and grace blended with curiosity – but not without conviction.

Scripture gives me security in my curiosity.

What we see from Jesus, throughout all of His life, is the balance of conviction and curiosity.

Chapter 8

Skepticism is doubt with attitude.

There are times when skepticism is beneficial because the world is full of things toward which we should not be trusting.

Curiosity can be skeptical, but a skeptic will have a nearly impossible time maintaining curiosity.

Believing and hoping all things does not mean being gullible. It does not mean ignoring sin or injustice or wrong doing of any kind.

We are to have faith in God and love humanity, not have faith in humanity.

If asking questions is forbidden most people stop thinking altogether.

The very nature of God should spur endless questions since he is so much greater than our understanding.

Curiosity can’t exist without questions and neither can faith.

As Christians we have put our faith in an endless supply of wonderment and bafflement.

Chapter 9

We have an almost immeasurable capacity to take right beliefs and turn them into no actions.

Empathy is impossible without curiosity.

Curiosity turns us outward, away from selfishness.

There are no experts any more, despite what people’s social media profiles say.

Curiosity seeks to learn all it can and then partner with those who know what we don’t.

God is not a mono-cultural God.

We shape God in our mind by our story and try our best to fit Him to our world. But He made the world and is fit to nowhere.

Curiosity is humble because it sees its own limitations and the bigness of God.

Chapter 10

Even a meaningful eight decades mean little when compared to eternity.

What you are doing, if done for God’s glory and in pursuit of His truth, will carry into heaven!

In the next life we will live in the presence of God unhindered and unveiled. This is why heaven won’t get boring.

Hell is real, and it is full of the least curious. It is full of those who determined their own truth instead of seeking God’s.

We, in a very real way, bring heaven to bear here through godly curiosity.

Chapter 11

Curiosity doesn’t have a recipe. It’s not like baking cookies.

We must assume that God did not make a boring world.

Do not assume anyone or anything has nothing to offer you. If God made it then it has value.

Proud people are embarrassed to ask questions and to look vulnerable. Pride kills curiosity quicker than anything.

Questions are the currency of curiosity. But unlike other currency there is no withdrawal limit and they multiply themselves. Spend liberally.

Curiosity cannot come to a stop or it will die. It either progresses or diminishes.

Curiosity is about God and for God.

New Happy Rant: Commencement Walkouts, Dissatisfaction, and F Everything

In this episode of the Happy Rant Ted, Ronnie and Barnabas actually explore some rather unhappy topics.

The rising trend of college students walking out of their own commencement.
When America is as healthy and wealthy as it has ever been why are there SO many books and messages being offered about fighting dissatisfaction? What are people so dissatisfied with?
What’s with the rising trend of people responding “F*** _____” to anything or anyone they don’t like – cancer, politicians, terrorists, etc.?

Our sponsor this week is Missional Wear, the provider of all of The Happy Rant’s awesome swag – coffee tumblers, pint glasses, t-shirts, coffee mugs, moleskin notebooks, and more. With Father’s Day coming up now is the perfect chance to get sweet gifts for the dads in your life. Just visit Missionalwear.com/happyrant, pick the perfect gifts, and use the code RANT to get $10 off any purchase of $50 or more. They will even throw in a free Happy Rant sticker for you.

To listen you can:

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Episode #144

New Happy Rant: Hater Reviews, Commencement Speeches, and Book/Movie Recs

In this episode of The Happy Rant Ted, Ronnie, and Barnabas discuss the following:

Negative reviews left on iTunes – apparently we are arrogant, dismissive, left-leaning, nominal Christians. And we discuss things that don’t matter.
Barnabas Recaps the Boyce College commencement
If one gets invited to speak at a Commencement does that mean he has arrived?
We share books, music, movies, and TV shows we’ve been enjoying recently

Big thanks to your sponsor, the Christian Standard Bible. Visit CSBible.com to learn more. You can also get the Kindle edition for FREE.

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Episode #143

NEW HAPPY RANT: Talking Circumcision with Kids, Vacation Stories, & What Are People Even Doing?

In this episode of The Happy Rant Ted, Barnabas, and Ronnie take on some tricky topics and some nostalgic ones too.

How does one talk circumcision with kids when reading the Bible?
Ronnie tells of his epic childhood vacations to the Astro motel.
Barnabas taks about family vacations to denominational meetings and to visit amily
Another round of What Are People Even Doing?

Big thanks to the Christian Standard Bible for sponsoring the podcast. if you are a pastor (and ONLY a pastor) you can get a free review copy of this bible to check out and consider using for your church at https://csbible.com/review/. To learn more about the translation and the editions available visit CSBible.com.

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Episode #142

Dedicated to My Mom

I dedicated my most recent book, The Curious Christian, to my mom. Of all the influences on my own curiosity she was the greatest during my formative years. She taught, exemplified, and modeled it.

On this Mother’s Day weekend I share that dedication with you in honor of her.

For my mother.

I remember lying on top of the luggage in the back of our Chevy Caprice “Woody” Station Wagon on the endless drive from Minnesota to Georgia and listening to you read adventure stories loud enough for me to hear all the way in the back and reading so well I forgot how bored I was.

I remember sitting in the kitchen while you made dinner and listening to Fresh Air on NPR over the sounds of my growling stomach. I never knew what was happening, but I knew it was important.

I remember the soothing tones of Garrison Keilor’s voice and the quirky, dry humor of Lake Wobegon as you listened to the Prairie Home Companion.

I remember you helping me with science and history projects and being much more enthralled with the topics (especially history) than I was.

I remember shelf upon shelf of mysteries by Agatha Christie, P.D. James, and others. And what says curiosity like a love of mystery?

I remember you giving me a chance to do the things I loved and invest in my interests even when it meant freezing your toes off at snowy November football games or weekly trips to the Franklin Library during the summer.

I remember how you read all the plaques at museums and Civil War battle fields. It was so bored. Now I bore my own children.

I remember you making a home for over thirty years in the same, diverse, sometimes rough, never boring, Phillips Neighborhood of Minneapolis and showing me how to love its numerous people and cultures .

I remember your love of learning and travel and your insatiable desire to understand and discover. You asked so many questions!

I remember you teaching – teaching me, teaching my siblings, teaching at church, teaching about God’s Word, about history, about literature, about culture.

Now I hope that you can pull this book from your expertly packed carry-on as you sit on a 747 destined for Taiwan, Sweden, New Zealand, or Zambia. I hope you can see how your curiosity, your investment, your example has shaped me and fed these pages. I wrote the words, but so many of the ideas are yours.

Thank you.

NEW HAPPY RANT: Reformed Mean Girls, What does calling mean, and Tebow the Author

In this episode of The Happy Rant podcast Ted, Barnabas, and Ronnie respond to some listener feedback and answer a couple pressing questions.

Are we simply “mean girls, except reformed guys” as one disgruntled former listener said?
Why do people feel compelled to announce their departure from a free source of entertainment?
What does “calling mean” and why do people use it so frequently?
Tim Tebow won an award . . . for being an author. So of course we ranted about it.

Big thanks to the Christian Standard Bible for sponsoring the podcast. if you are a pastor (and ONLY a pastor) you can get a free review copy of this bible to check out and consider using for your church at https://csbible.com/review/. To learn more about the translation and the editions available visit CSBible.com.

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Episode #141

New Happy Rant: Leaving a Church, Unfollowing People, and a Really Bad Photo

In this episode of The Happy Rant Podcast Ted, Ronnie, and Barnabas do what they do – rant about a couple things that only sort of matter and a few things that do too.

What is it that drives us to unfollow people online?
When can people leave church?
Why do pastors get called to larger, better churches but congregants can’t?
A really poor choice in photographs by some seminary professors

This week the podcast is sponsored by the Christian Standard Bible. The CSB captures the Bible’s original meaning without compromising clarity. An optimal blend of accuracy and readability, this translation helps readers make a deeper connection with God’s Word. The CSB is for everyone—for readers young and old, new and seasoned. It’s a Bible pastors can preach from and a Bible you can share with your neighbor hearing God’s Word for the very first time.It maintains the familiarity of passages you love while bringing the language of the text to life in a fresh way. Visit CSBible.com to learn more.

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Episode #140

New Happy Rant: Talking NFL Draft and NBA Playoffs

In this special bonus episode of The Happy Rant Ted and Barnabas break down the NFL draft and give their impressions of the NBA playoffs thus far.

Top draft prospects at each position
Mock draft of the top 10
NBA playoff thoughts
NBA MVP thoughts

This episode also highlights a film Ted wrote and co-produced, Silverdome. They are raising funds for post-production costs. You can donate HERE if you are a good person and so inclined!

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Episode #139