Barnabas Piper's Blog, page 8
September 3, 2025
Kindle Deals for September 3
The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life In God by Dallas Willard – $1.99
Friendship with the Friend of Sinners: The Remarkable Possibility of Closeness with Christ by Jared C. Wilson – $4.99
Zeal without Burnout: Seven keys to a lifelong ministry of sustainable sacrifice by Christopher Ash – $5.99
Decision Making and the Will of God: A Biblical Alternative to the Traditional View by Garry Friesen – $4.99
God’s Solutions to Life’s Problems: Radical Change by the Power of God by Wayne Mack & Joshua Mack – $4.99
Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices: In Modern, Updated English by Thomas Brooks – $2.99
The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis – $1.99
The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis – $1.99
How to Get Unstuck: Breaking Free from Barriers to Your Productivity by Matt Perman – $1.99
The Evening and the Morning: A Novel by Ken Follett – $2.99
Virgil Wander: A Novel by Leif Enger – $1.99
So Brave, Young, and Handsome by Leif Enger – $2.99
The High Divide: A Novel by Lin Enger – $2.99
The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig – $1.99
Sweet Thunder by Ivan Doig – $5.99
Boone’s Lick: A Novel by Larry McMurtry – $1.99
Rhino Ranch: A Novel by Larry McMurtry – $1.99
Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck – $1.99
Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck – $1.99
The Wayward Bus by John Steinbeck – $4.99
The Long Valley by John Steinbeck – $4.99
The Pastures of Heaven by John Steinbeck – $5.99
Belong: Loving Your Church by Reflecting Christ to One Another – $8.99
Hoping for Happiness: Turning Life’s most elusive Feeling into Lasting Reality – $8.99
The Pastor’s Kid: What it’s Like and How to Help – $8.99
Help My Unbelief: Why doubt is not the enemy of faith – $8.99
The Curious Christian: How Discovering Wonder Enriches Every Part of Life – $4.99
These links are Amazon affiliate links.
September 2, 2025
Kindle Deals for September
Photo by Blessing Ri on UnsplashEach month Amazon runs deals on a TON of ebooks from a variety of genres. You can see the full selection here. The titles below are ones I particularly thought worth highlighting. (Full disclosure: I haven’t read them all, but they are all ones I would like to read if I haven’t.)
FictionThe Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle Book 1) by Patrick Rothfuss – $4.99
The Wise Man’s Fear (The Kingkiller Chronicle, Book 2) by Patrick Rothfuss – $4.99
100 Years of the Best American Short Stories edited by Lorrie Moore – $3.99
The Castle of Kings by Oliver Potsch – $2.99
Golden Hill: A Novel of Old New York by Francis Spuffiord – $1.99
The Shell Collector: Stories by Anthony Doerr – $1.99
The Power of the Dog: A Novel by Thomas Savage – $2.99
Crazy Heart: A Novel by Thomas Cobb – $2.99
Collected Fiction: The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, Wonder Boys, and Werewolves in Their Youth by Michael Chabon – $3.99
Savage Country: A Novel by Robert Olmstead – $3.99
ChristianityThe Fruitful Life by Jerry Bridges – $3.99
The Emotionally Healthy Leader: How Transforming Your Inner Life Will Deeply Transform Your Church, Team, and the World by Peter Scazzero – $3.99
Emotionally Healthy Discipleship: Moving from Shallow Christianity to Deep Transformation by Peter Scazzero – $3.99
Street Smarts: Using Questions to Answer Christianity’s Toughest Challenges by Gregory Koukl – $1.99
Simply Christian: Step-by-Step Basics of Christian Faith and Practice by N.T. Wright – $1.99
Prophet, Priest, and King: Christology in Global Perspective edited by Michael Horton, Elizabeth Mburu, & Justin Holcomb – $4.99
The Hospitality of Need: How Depending on One Another Helps Us Heal and Grow Together by Kevan Chandler & Tommy Shelton – $4.99
Original Sin: A Cultural History by Alan Jacobs – $1.99
Bio/MemoirHow to Stay Married: The Most Insane Love Story Ever Told by Harrison Scott Key – $1.99
Mother Teresa: An Authorized Biography by Kathryn Spink – $3.99
Henry David Thoreau: A Life by Laura Dassow Walls – $2.99
Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn by Christopher Cox – $3.99
Stalin: New Biography of a Dictator by O.V. Khlevniuk – $2.99
Johnny Cash: The Life by Robert Hilburn – $2.99
Cary Grant: A Brilliant Disguise by Scott Wyman – $3.99
Destined to Witness: Growing Up Black In Nazi Germany by Hans Massaquoi – $4.99
Washington: The Indispensable Man by James Thomas Flexner – $2.99
President Carter: The White House Years by Stuart Eizenstat – $4.99
The Last Lion Box Set: Winston Spencer Churchill, 1874 – 1965 by William Manchester – $3.99
I Shouldn’t Even Be Doing This!: And Other Things That Strike Me as Funny by Bob Newhart – $2.99
The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe by J.Randy Taraborrelli – $2.99
One Ranger: A Memoir by H. Joaquin Jackson – $2.99
Carroll Shelby: The Authorized Biography by Rinsey Mills – $4.99
Five Chimneys: A Woman Survivor’s True Story of Auschwitz by Olga Lengyel – $2.99
Conversations with Myself by Nelson Mandela – $3.99
Dispatches from Pluto: Lost and Found in the Mississippi Delta by Richard Grant – $1.99
Service: A Navy SEAL at War by Marcus Luttrell – $2.99
The Bourbon King: The Life and Crimes of George Remus, Prohibition’s Evil Genius by George Remus – $3.99
Wyatt Earp: A Vigilante Life by Andrew Isenberg – $2.99
The Quiet Man: The Indispensable Presidency of George H.W. Bush by John Sununu – $2.99
HistoryThe Man from the Train: The Solving of a Century-Old Serial Killer Mystery by Bill James – $1.99
The Printer and the Preacher: Ben Franklin, George Whitefield, and the Surprising Friendship That Invented America by Randy Peterson – $2.99
A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House by Arthur Schlesinger Jr. – $3.99
The Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner’s Fierce Rebellion by Stephen B. Oates – $2.99
Barrow’s Boys: A Stirring Story of Daring, Fortitude, and Outright Lunacy by Fergus Fleming – $3.99
Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference by David J. Garrow – $2.99
The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd by Richard Zacks – $3.99
General Non-FictionTales from Both Sides of the Brain: A Life in Neuroscience by Michael Gazzaniga – $1.99
If I Could Tell You Just One Thing . . .: Encounters with Remarkable People and Their Most Valuable Advice by Richard Reed – $1.99
Live From New York: The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as Told by Its Stars, Writers, and Guests by James Andrew Miller & Tom Shales – $3.99
Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America by Abraham Josephine Riesman – $1.99
Consider the Lobster: And Other Essays by David Foster Wallace – $2.99
SportsCoach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court by Kareem Abdul Jabbar – $2.99
Brooks: The Biography of Brooks Robinson by Doug Wilson – $3.99
Pelé: My Story by Pele – $2.99
September 1, 2025
Three Promises
Today, let’s consider some promises of God that our hearts need but that we sometimes struggle to believe.
Psalm 56 says, “This I know, that God is for me.” We have a hard time believing that, especially when life is difficult. But God made his heart for us obvious through the work of Jesus, our savior and rescuer. He couldn’t be more for us than he has shown himself to be.
Psalm 107 tells us, “He satisfies the longing soul.” All of us long for something, yearn for something. We all have deep desires in our souls. Maybe we are searching frantically for what will satisfy us, or maybe we’ve given up searching. In God’s great love, he satisfies our souls. How? Through the amazing work of Jesus on our behalf. In Christ, we have all our souls need for peace, joy, and fulfillment.
And Psalm 16 tells us, “You hold my future.” So we can go forward into today and into the rest of our lives in peace, in rest, in confidence, and in praise because we are secure in Christ. He has won the victory and holds our future in his loving, powerful hands.
I originally wrote this post for my church, Immanuel Nashville , in our Daily Pulse email. If you want encouragement from God’s word delivered Monday thru Friday to your inbox, I encourage you to subscribe.
August 29, 2025
3 Things I Like This Week – August 29
Photo by Tony Hand on UnsplashEach week (give or take one or two here and there) 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) Family Tacos
The debates over the “best” burger/taco/pizza/etc. joint in any city are tiresome. In true modern American spirit they oblige us to “hate” one thing for the sake of defending another. That’s dumb. I say ENJOY ALL THE TACOS (and burgers, and pizza). It is in that spirit that I recommend to you Family Tacos, a Nashville restaurant that is indeed family owned and authentically Mexican. Do they offer the best tacos in Nashville? Who cares. I just know that I have never eaten there and left unhappy. It doesn’t hurt any that I can see one of their locations from my office window and could hit their front door with a well thrown burrito. If you are in Nashville and looking to enjoy delicious Mexican food in an unassuming location surrounded by construction workers and office workers instead of bachelorette parties, this is the spot for you. And try the tortas, they are delicious.
2) EZ Cater
[image error]Sometimes the things I recommend in this post are all about fun and delight (see: tacos). Sometimes they are about making life easier. EZ Cater falls in the latter category. I order catering several times a year for various groups and events for church, and this site make it the absolute easiest. It is sort of like door dash for catering, but with less exorbitant fees. You can find all the available restaurants with all their catering packages, filter by what kind of food you want (sandwiches, bbq, Italian, etc.), and very easily schedule delivery with specific instructions. Like most sites, they have a review system so you can see which restaurants are more or less reliable or quality. It is simply an ease and efficiency life saver for anyone needing to order food for groups whether that’s a party or a business meeting.
3) Jesus Storybook Bible
This is one of those books that I feel like everyone everywhere already knows about. But let me briefly extol it nonetheless. I have never read another Bible story book that so beautifully, artfully, and delightfully lifts our eyes to Jesus. Sally Lloyd-Jones has given us a treasure, a true gift for both kids and adults. In fact, this is a book I recommend to adults who want to understand how the Bible fits together and how it makes sense as a whole. But it is not a book of lessons. It is truly a books of stories, or rather story. It shows how the characters and events of scripture are all laid out by God to point us to Jesus. And it is fun; she writes it in such a way that it is a delight to read out loud with verve and joy and energy. Our church gives it as a gift to new parents. I have read through it multiple times with my own kids. It is wonderful and brilliant and I couldn’t recommend it more highly.
November 25, 2024
Kindle Deals for November 25
Some Kindle deals worth your mind and money today:
Spurgeon: A Life by Alex DiPrima – $5.00
Miracles by C.S. Lewis – $1.99
God in the Dock by C.S. Lewis – $1.99
The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis – $2.99
Hearing the Message of Ecclesiastes: Questioning Faith in a Baffling World by Christopher J.H. Wright – $2.99
Hearing the Message of Daniel: Sustaining Faith in Today’s World by Christopher J.H. Wright – $2.99
Church History 101: The Highlights of Twenty Centuries by Sinclair Ferguson, Joel Beebe, & Michael Haykin – $3.00
Rethink Your Self: The Power of Looking Up Before Looking In by Trevin Wax – $4.99
Christ in Conflict: Lessons from Jesus and His Controversies by John Stott – $2.99
New Testament for Everyone Complete Eighteen-Volume Set: 20th Anniversary Edition with Study Guide by N.T. Wright – $5.99
Only One Life: Missions Stories from Around the World edited by Paul M. Harvey – $2.99
Belong: Loving Your Church by Reflecting Christ to One Another – $8.99
Hoping for Happiness: Turning Life’s most elusive Feeling into Lasting Reality – $8.99
The Pastor’s Kid: What it’s Like and How to Help – $8.99
Help My Unbelief: Why doubt is not the enemy of faith – $8.99
The Curious Christian: How Discovering Wonder Enriches Every Part of Life – $4.99
These links are Amazon affiliate links.
The Strength of Our Salvation
I say to the Lord , You are my God;
give ear to the voice of my pleas for mercy, O Lord !
O Lord , my Lord, the strength of my salvation,
Psalm 140:6-7b
What is it that keeps you saved, that keeps you Christian? Maybe you submitted your life to Christ when you were just a little child, like I did. Maybe you were saved dramatically from a life of rebellion. Or maybe you aren’t even sure when conversion happened, you just know you love and follow Jesus. It doesn’t really matter when or how you were saved; the fact remains that it is miraculous that we stay saved!
Here is the best and most reassuring thing: we stay Christian because God is the strength of our salvation. It is not our strength or our goodness that keeps us close to Jesus–we run out of both. It is God’s immeasurable strength that holds us close. He will not lose hold on us. So when we wake up in the morning we can know he has us. And when we lie down to sleep at night we can rest in his grasp.
I originally wrote this post for my church, Immanuel Nashville , in our Daily Pulse email. If you want encouragement from God’s word delivered Monday thru Friday to your inbox, I encourage you to subscribe.
November 18, 2024
Our Welcoming King
He went up to the entrance of the king’s gate, for no one was allowed to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth. – Esther 4:2
Esther 4:2 describes a scene when Mordecai, cousin of Esther, has heard the devastating news that a scheme is in place to wipe out the Israelite people. He goes into mourning and seeks an audience at the palace for help, but he is not allowed into the presence of royalty dressed in sackcloth (think burlap feed sack). He is a man in dire straits and desperate need, but to see the king he must attain a certain status.
This is strikingly antithetical to our King, the one who sits at the right hand of the Father and rules over all. What is unwelcome in his presence is not mourning or poverty but rather pride and self-sufficiency. Our King invites the poor, the weak, the weary, the downtrodden, and the humiliated to come into his presence and be lifted up. We do not need to achieve a status or pull ourselves together to gain an audience with King Jesus. He has already sought us out in our state of poverty and weakness and has given himself to us.
I originally wrote this post for my church, Immanuel Nashville , in our Daily Pulse email. If you want encouragement from God’s word delivered Monday thru Friday to your inbox, I encourage you to subscribe.
November 15, 2024
Kindle Deals for November 15
Some Kindle deals worth your mind and money today:
Reactivity: How the Gospel Transforms Our Actions and Reactions by Paul Tripp – $4.27
How to Reach the West Again: Six Essential Elements of a Missionary Encounter by Tim Keller – $2.99
Preparing for Marriage: Help for Christian Couples by John Piper – $6.99
When the Darkness Will Not Lift: Doing What We Can While We Wait for God–and Joy by John Piper – $6.55
Basic Christianity by John Stott – $5.98
Understanding the Bible by John Stott – $6.99
I Wonder as I Wander: An Autobiography by Langston Hughes – $3.99
Conversations with Myself by Nelson Mandela – $2.99
Dare Not Linger: The Presidential Years by Nelson Mandela – $2.99
Isaac’s Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History by Erik Larson – $2.99
Jack London: A Life by Alex Kershaw – $2.99
Outlaw: Waylon, Willie, Kris, and the Renegades of Nashville by Michael Streissguth – $3.99
Anders Lassen VC, MC, of the SAS by Mike Langley – $2.99
I Am a SEAL Team Six Warrior: Memoirs of an American Soldier by Howard Wasdin & Stephen Templin – $2.99
Eichmann in My Hands: A First-Person Account by the Israeli Agent Who Captured Hitler’s Chief Executioner by Peter Malkin & Harry Stein – $2.99
Belong: Loving Your Church by Reflecting Christ to One Another – $8.99
Hoping for Happiness: Turning Life’s most elusive Feeling into Lasting Reality – $8.99
The Pastor’s Kid: What it’s Like and How to Help – $8.99
Help My Unbelief: Why doubt is not the enemy of faith – $8.99
The Curious Christian: How Discovering Wonder Enriches Every Part of Life – $4.99
These links are Amazon affiliate links.
3 Things I Like This Week – November 15
Each week (give or take one or two here and there) 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. Rocking Camp Chair
There comes a point in middle aged life where a corner of one’s garage is overtaken by folding camp chairs in dry rotting carrier bags. They are all functional and they are all uncomfortable. They have all the negative properties of a hammock, while lacking its benefits, hung on a rickety aluminum frame designed for people slightly taller or shorter or wider or skinnier than you, but not designed for you. After dragging these chairs to innumerable bonfires and kids’ soccer games and outdoor music concerts I’d had enough. My wife and I decided to invest in these rocking camp chairs. It was like going from the nose bleeds to the sideline–same game but a wildly different experience. They fit, they rock, they don’t tip, they are just as portable. Make no mistake, we still have a pile of old, uncomfortable chairs. But those are now reserved for teenagers.
2. Hot Toddy
[image error]Tis the season for stuffy noses, raw throats, raspy voices, and general nasal crud. Which is a bummer. But it also means it is the season for the most delicious cold medicine: the hot toddy. Lemon, honey, and bourbon (or rye, if you prefer) combine with hot water to make a remedy that is practically perfect in every way. It soothes the throat, clears the sinuses, and massages the mind. It even offers a delightful aroma to the room. The recipe is just your baseline for this magnificent concoction; feel free to modify and doctor to your taste buds’ delight. I’m not going to say I enjoy getting a cold, but I can’t deny that I enjoy the side-benefits of one either.
3. The Lost Tools of Learning by Dorothy Sayers
This little book (30ish pages) was originally given as a speech to a symposium of educators. (If that doesn’t grip your imagination, I don’t know what will.) Parts of it are somewhat technical as Sayers expounds a model for education to teach children how to learn. But that premise–teaching kids how to learn–is brilliant and Sayers expounds upon it brilliantly. She is one of the wittiest and most incisive writers I have ever read. She puts her finger directly on cultural shortcomings that stem from unthinking people. As is often the case for such prescient authors, she writes about matters in her day that are equally as relevant and necessary today. This is a wonderful, sharp little book that anyone would benefit from reading.
November 14, 2024
Kindle Deals for November 14
Some Kindle deals worth your mind and money today:
Write It On Their Hearts: Practical Help for Discipling Your Kids by Chris & Melissa Swain – $3.99
The Unquenchable Flame: Discovering the Heart of the Reformation by Michael Reeves – $4.99
Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar by Tom Holland – $4.99
Persian Fire by Tom Holland – $4.99
On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder – $4.99
Americana: Dispatches from the New Frontier by Hampton Sides – $4.99
The Bastard Brigade: The True Story of the Renegade Scientists and Spies Who Sabotaged the Nazi Atomic Bomb by Sam Kean – $1.99
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson – $5.99
Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath by Michael & Elizabeth Norman – $2.99
Belong: Loving Your Church by Reflecting Christ to One Another – $8.99
Hoping for Happiness: Turning Life’s most elusive Feeling into Lasting Reality – $8.99
The Pastor’s Kid: What it’s Like and How to Help – $8.99
Help My Unbelief: Why doubt is not the enemy of faith – $8.99
The Curious Christian: How Discovering Wonder Enriches Every Part of Life – $4.99
These links are Amazon affiliate links.
