Barnabas Piper's Blog, page 99
December 17, 2015
When Christmas Carols Lead us Astray
Mary did know. The angel told her. Read your bible.
The night was not silent. A baby was being born in a barn for goodness sake.
The little Lord Jesus did make crying. He was a healthy human baby after all.
If someone wishes you a merry Christmas but won’t leave until they get figgy pudding then A) they have terrible taste and B) they don’t care about your merry Christmas.
No matter how many times you sing “oh Christmas tree” it still can’t hear you.
Rockin around the Christmas tree will only make a mess and might be a safety hazard.
Just because it’s cold outside does not give a man the right to ply a woman with drinks and force her to stay longer.
If your kid thinks he witnessed you kissing Santa Claus it will cause him far less angst to know the truth about Santa than to think you’re philandering.
Droning endlessly about “simply having a wonderful Christmas time” does nothing to make it a wonderful Christmas time.
We all know what “Feliz Navidad” means. There’s no need to turn into drunk karaoke guy and wail about wishing me a merry Christmas.
I love you, honey, but I also want an iPad pro and an Edie Bauer gift card for Christmas.
Based on how most people in the South whine about 50 degree weather they would have no fun in a one horse open sleigh.
Yes, they know it’s Christmas. Christmas isn’t an American holiday.
Daddy, you shouldn’t get drunk any day, let alone Christmas.
I am dreaming of a white Christmas. I guess El Nino ruined that.
The little drummer boy’s mama should have told him that babies don’t like drum solos.
Are we sure King Wenceslas was good? He never did anything for me. And I feel like we’ve all been missing out on the feast of Stephen. Someone’s holding out.
December 16, 2015
Wowed by the Warriors
Every time you watch a game or match of any sport, there’s always the chance you’ll see something spectacular: a record-breaking performance, a play that makes all the highlight reels, a photo finish. Historically, certain athletes or teams have taken that slim chance and made it a near certainty: Michael Jordan, Pelé, Barry Sanders, Barry Bonds, Roger Federer, Usain Bolt, the 1996 Chicago Bulls, the “Showtime” Los Angeles Lakers of the 1980s, “The Greatest Show on Turf” St. Louis Rams between 1999 and 2001. When you tuned in to watch those players and teams you expected your mind to be blown.
. . .
It’s a gift, and nobody today is as generous with that gift as Stephen Curry. He’s the Santa Claus of incredible highlights.
Last season Curry led the Golden State Warriors to the NBA title and broke his own NBA record for 3-point baskets in a season along the way. He was electric.
But if last season was electric, this one is nuclear. Curry is on pace for nearly 430 3-pointers this season, 145 more than last year. But it’s more than the number; it’s the style. He dribbles the ball like it’s a yo-yo attached to his finger and hits wild shots any other player would get benched for even attempting with such consistency and ease.
. . .
On top of all this, the Warriors have set the NBA record for wins to begin a season at 23, eight more than the previous record. (They go for win No. 24 tonight in Boston against the Celtics.) [The Warriors won in Boston, but their streak was stopped at 24 wins when Milwaukee defeated them.] They play an unmatched style that is fast, fun, and team-oriented. Every Golden State game is a spectacle of the best sort.
. . .
Sports are often a passing fancy, a mindless relaxation opportunity. But sometimes, every so often, a player or a team—both, in this case—are so spectacular they deserve our full appreciation. Rather than letting the 24-hour news cycle run away with us, we should take the time to appreciate such greatness.
It’s a rare gift, as a fan, to see something with regularity we haven’t seen before. It’s even rarer when it’s done with class and character, as the Warriors do. We hope for it. We keep our eyes open. But do we take the time to pause and appreciate and absorb it? We love sports for just these experiences. Let’s not overlook or underappreciate the greatness right in front of us. It might be years before we see the likes of it again.
Read the full post HERE.
December 13, 2015
New Happy Rant: Advent vs. Lent, Guilty Pleasures, and a Secret Sports Addiction
You can count on us to get your week started off right. Here is episode 66 of the Happy Rant to offer you a little levity on your last week of work before Christmas. Hang in there! In this episode we rant about the following:
Ronnie may not be a “sports fan” but he does have one secret sports love
Why do evangelical Christians feel so comfortable with Advent and celebrate it so much but kind of weird out about Lent?
What’s the deal with guilty pleasures? Why should anyone feel guilty about enjoying music or movies just because someone in skinny jeans says so?
A little bonus chat about who would win the Heisman. Did Ted and Barnabas guess correctly?
Our newest Sponsor, Missional Wear, offers some pretty sweet Calvinist swag for that Spurgeon/Calvin/Edwards Fanboy tor girl in your life. Missional Wear creates awesome reformed theology t-shirts and apparel. They also make fun stuff like John Calvin coffee mugs, Martin Luther pint glasses, Charles Spurgeon stickers, The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards posters, and so much more!
So go get some Christmas gifts at MissionalWear.com. They are doing two special offers for our listeners. First, get 15% off your order when you use the promo code: HAPPYRANT. Also, when you place an order mark that you found them through us and orders placed before Christmas will get this FREE Happy Rant sticker that’s perfect for adorning your laptop, guitar case, car window or wherever! ————->
We also want to thank Resonate Recordings, the fine folks who make us sound listenable. If you are looking for great people to help your church put out recorded sermon audio or help you with a podcast they’re your people. They’ve also recently put out a couple albums for artists Whitney Bozarth and Adrian Mathenia and you can listen to those for free.
Feel free to hit us up on Twitter at @HappyRantPod or on Facebook with any topic suggestions or feedback. We love hearing from listeners!
To listen you can:
Subscribe in iTunes.
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 #66
December 9, 2015
The Insanity of Winning in College Football
One hundred and forty-five wins is a lot for a college football coach over 15 seasons, but apparently they don’t really count. That’s because those 145 wins do not include a national championship, rendering them meaningless. In his decade and a half as head coach at the University of Georgia, Mark Richt did a remarkable job. He led the Bulldogs to a bowl game every season. He is a man of high character. He churned out NFL talent. And now he has been let go because, and only because, he failed to win the title.
. . .
What in heaven’s name is wrong with college football? Administrators seem to have lost their minds. They have determined that the sole metric of success is national championships, and every other seemingly worthwhile accomplishment is not worthwhile or worth the financial investment. When only one metric determines success and only one team can achieve it each year, it rules out the vast majority of good coaches can do.
Mark Richt is well known as a man of God and a man who loves and respects his players. He holds them to a high standard and is not afraid to discipline those who step out of line. He won. He improved and stabilized the Georgia program after an uneven decade. He developed quality young men and successful professional football players while many of his peers struggled to do either. All this explains why the University of Miami, a once proud but now struggling program, was so quick to hire Richt. None of it explains the sense of his firing.
It was nonsensical. The standard to which Richt, Miles, and other coaches are held is asinine, unrealistic, even harmful for the programs. Championships are a goal, the apex goal, but they are not the only measure of success. When administrators fire coaches for failing to win a championship they overlook the importance of organizational health and stability and the significance of people development. And the team often declines after such a firing.
. . .
Read the full article HERE.
December 8, 2015
New Happy Rant: Holiday Extravaganza
Happy Holidays and a Merry Christmas, y’all. Yuletide and all that is upon us, so we are bringing you the Holiday extravaganza you’ve all been waiting for.
The best (and worst) Christmas movies
Holiday nostalgia
Strange and wonderful Christmas traditions (especially at the Piper house)
Also, did you know you can get Calvinist swag for that pipe smoking, stout drinking, Spurgeon fanboy in your life. Our newest Sponsor, Missional Wear, offers some pretty sweet stuff. And actually much of it is really funny and/or artful. Missional Wear creates awesome reformed theology t-shirts and apparel. They also make fun stuff like John Calvin coffee mugs, Martin Luther pint glasses, Charles Spurgeon stickers, The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards posters, and so much more!
So go get some Christmas gifts at MissionalWear.com. They are doing two special offers for our listeners. First, get 15% off your order when you use the promo code: HAPPYRANT. Also, when you place an order mark that you found them through us and orders placed before Christmas will get this FREE Happy Rant sticker that’s perfect for adorning your laptop, guitar case, car window or wherever! ————->
We also want to thank Resonate Recordings, the fine folks who make us sound listenable. If you are looking for great people to help your church put out recorded sermon audio or help you with a podcast they’re your people. They’ve also recently put out a couple albums for artists Whitney Bozarth and Adrian Mathenia and you can listen to those for free.
Feel free to hit us up on Twitter at @HappyRantPod or on Facebook with any topic suggestions or feedback. We love hearing from listeners!
To listen you can:
Subscribe in iTunes.
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 #65
Press Your Advantage in Prayer
Your favorite team is on a run, scoring points at a rapid pace and pulling away from the opponent. Time enough remains in the game for them to get back in it, but your team has the decided advantage. They’re playing better, looking sharper, and generally outclassing the opponent. Then the opposing coach calls a timeout. He’s trying to fire his team and cool yours down. Your coach, on the other hand, is saying one thing.
“Press your advantage; this game isn’t over yet!”
He wants your team to keep pushing, stay sharp, don’t ease up. Finish strong and play to the final buzzer.
But easing up is so easy to do when things are going well. It’s so easy to look at the scoreboard and feel the urgency dissipate. Building on momentum takes focus – a focus on the end game and a focus on the moment.
It is not so different in our prayer lives. So often when a situation is dire or troubling we pray with fervor and consistency. We plead and we ask. Then we see God begin to move. Some small signs of change happen. A hint of hope appears. And we stop praying. We don’t press the advantage.
We treat that little bit of good as if it is all the good, as if God has done his part and we can be done asking. We act like the momentum will carry our request through to the end. We lose focus on the end game and the moment. And often we miss out.
Those little signs of good are not God saying the prayer is answered any more than gaining momentum is winning the game. They are God’s way of saying, “Keep going, press your advantage!” Rather than easing up when we feel hope we should grab hold of it and beg for more.
Of course our end game is not the same as in sports. We don’t have a clear cut “win” when we pray. We have hopes. We ask for what we think is best and know that what happens is God’s best. But pressing our advantage in prayer is still about winning.
We win be seeing even more of what God can do. If we stop praying after He does a little thing we fail to see what more He may have in store. Even as He continues to work we miss it because we’ve lost our focus.
We win by what we learn and what becomes of us through praying. The commitment to pray something through to the end is one that impacts our souls in untold ways. It is an act of faith. It is an act of watching and waiting. It is an act of conscientiously and consistently putting something in God’s hands. It puts us in our proper place and positions us best to see what God will do with our requests and in our hearts.
Press your advantage. Don’t let up when you see change happening. Pray harder that the little bit of good, the glimpse of hope, would snowball into a miracle. If it does you win. If it doesn’t you still win.
December 2, 2015
The Athlete’s Privileged Platform
Over the years, prominent pro athletes have appeared in ads for everything from cigarettes (Babe Ruth and Willie Mays) to insoles (Julius Erving). In 1947, Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier and proved that athletes could be activists as well as endorsers. In the 1960s and ’70s such activism accelerated rapidly, matching the speed of cultural change across the country: Muhammad Ali spoke out against the Vietnam War, John Carlos and Tommie Smith posed with fists raised on the medal stand at the 1968 Olympics, and Billie Jean King advocated for equal treatment of female athletes.
In more recent years, with the power of the internet to spread messages quickly and fan flames, athletes have become political and social pundits too. They can use their significant social media reach to spread their opinions to their fans around the world with only a few keystrokes.
. . .
One year ago this week, news broke that a grand jury decided not to indict Ferguson, Mo., police officer Darren Wilson for shooting Mike Brown. The news left a chasm between those who were sickened and those who were satisfied. In the midst of protests in the streets and online, New Orleans Saints tight end Benjamin Watson posted a response on his Facebook page. He wrote with passionate pointedness and thoughtful balance. He refused to back away from his Christian convictions while not disrespecting those who disagreed with him. His post went viral (470,000-plus shares to date).
. . .
His perspective and insights drew respect. He wasn’t just some excitable athlete talking about an issue he was unqualified to address—he earned his listenership and readership.
Watson has now written an excellent new book, Under Our Skin: Getting Real about Race—and Getting Free from the Fears and Frustrations that Divide Us (Tyndale Momentum), which expands his thoughts from that Facebook post.
. . .
Watson continues to use his platform for a cause greater than himself. The tensions surrounding racial issues in America make this no easy task, but Watson seems to see the issues clearly, and he has the opportunity, the communication gifts, and the unique perspective and passion God has given him to succeed. And he isn’t abusing the privilege of his platform or wasting it.
Read the full post HERE.
Hear from Watson:
December 1, 2015
The Best Quotes from Patrick Lencioni’s The Advantage
The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni is my favorite book when it comes to organizational leadership.I think it is Lencioni’s best book over all, which is saying something considering the number of remarkable leadership books he’s written. There are other books to help the soul of the leader or the communication of the leader, but this one is the best I have seen on creating a healthy organization – church, business, or otherwise. Here are the best quotes from it. If you have not yet read The Advantage you absolutely ought to. It is incredibly helpful and insightful and will diagnose so many of the issue plaguing your organization right now.
“Organizational health is so simple and accessible that many leaders have a hard time seeing it as a real opportunity for meaningful advantage. After all, It doesn’t require great intelligence or sophistication, just uncommon levels of discipline, courage, persistence, and common sense.”
“Organizational health permeates so many aspects of a company that isolating any one variable and measuring its financial impact is almost impossible to do in a precise way.”
“At its core, oragnizational health is about integrity.”
“An organization has integrity – is healthy – when it is whole, consistent, and complete, that is, when its management, operations, strategy, and culture fit together and make sense.”
“Most leaders prefer to look fir answers where the light is better . . . And the light is certainly better in the measurable, objective, and data-driven world of organizational intelligence than in the messier, more unpredictable world of organizational health.”
“An organization that is healthy will inevitably get smarter over time.”
“Leaders who pride themselves on expertise and intelligence often struggle to acknowledge their flaws and learn from peers.”
“The healthier an organization is the more of its intelligence it is able to tap into and use.”
“The financial cost of having an unhealthy organization is undeniable: wasted resources and time, decreased productivity, increased employee turnover, and customer attrition.”
“Teamwork is not a virtue. It is a choice.”
“Inquiry is rarer and more important than advocacy.”
“No one on a cohesive team can say Well, I did my job. Our failure isn’t my fault.”
“When leaders preach teamwork but exclusively reward individual achievement, they are confusing their people and creating an obstacle to true team behavior.”
“When members of a team willingly acknowledge their weaknesses to one another, they give their peers tacit permission to call them on those weaknesses.”
“The fear of conflict is almost always a sign of problems.”
“When we avoid necessary pain, we not only fail to experience the gain, we also end up making the pain worse in the long run.”
“When leadership team members avoid discomfort among themselves, they only transfer it in far greater quantities to larger groups of people throughout the organization they’re supposed to be serving. In essence they leave it to others below them to resolve issues that really must be addressed at the top.”
“Nowhere does the tendency toward artificial harmony show itself more than in mission-driven non-profit organizations. People in those organizations tend to have the misguided idea that they cannot be frustrated or disagreeable with one another. What they’re doing is confusing being nice with being kind.”
“The more comfortable a leader is holding people accountable, the less likely she is to be asked to do so.”
“Firing someone is not necessarily a sign of accountability, but is often the last act of cowardice for a leader who doesn’t know how or isn’t willing to hold people accountable.”
“Conflict is about issues and ideas, while accountability is about performance and behavior.”
“There is no getting around the fact that the only measure of a great team – or a great organization – is whether it accomplishes what it sets out to accomplish.”
“Great teams ensure that all members, in spite of their individual responsibilities and areas of expertise, are doing whatever they can to help the team accomplish its goals.”
“Most mission statements have neither inspired people to change the world nor provided them with a accurate description of what an organization actually does for a living.”
“Alignment and clarity cannot be achieved in one fell swoop with a series of generic buzzwords and aspirational phrases crammed together.”
“An organizations core purpose – why it exists – has to be completely idealistic.”
“An organization that has properly identified its values and adheres to them will naturally attract the right employees and repel the wrong ones.”
“It is important that leaders prevent against accidental values taking root because they can prevent new ideas and people from flourishing in an organization.”
“An organization’s strategy is simply its plan for success . . . Every single decision, if it is made intentionally and consistently will be part of the overall strategy.”
“Most organizations have too many top priorities to achieve the level of focus they need to succeed.”
“On a cohesive team leaders are not there simply to represent the departments that they lead and manage but rather to solve problems that stand in the way of achieving success for the whole organization.”
“Too many leaders come to meeting with the unspoken assumption that they are there to lobby for and defend their constituents.”
“Great leaders see themselves as Chief Reminding Officers as much as anything else.”
“For all the talk about hiring for fit, there is still too much emphasis on technical skills and experience when it comes to interviewing and selection.”
“The single most important reason to reward people is to provide them with an incentive for doing what’s best for the organization.”
“The vast majority of employees, at all levels of an organization, see financial rewards as a satisfier not a driver.”
“Almost no employees leave an organization where they are getting he levels of gratitude and appreciation that they deserve.”
“Bad meetings are the birthplace of unhealthy organizations.”
“At every step in the process, the leader must be out front, not as a cheerleader or a figurehead, but as an active, tenacious driver.”
“People who lead healthy organizations sign up for a monumental task – and a very selfless one.
November 30, 2015
New Happy Rant: A and B List Reformed Guys, Game Tweeting, and More
We recorded on a holiday week because you, dear listeners, are our favorites. The episode is a bit shorter, but no less awesome than normal. In it we discuss the following:
Why are some reformed guys A-listers and others are B-listers for no obvious reason other than church size? Is this a good thing? Should the B-listers revolt?
Who tweets more vociferously on game days, Barnabas or Jared Wilson? And is this annoying or ok? Does Ronnie even know what we’re tweeting about?
Random and sundry other things that are awesome
We also want to thank this week’s sponsor – US!
That’s right we are sponsoring our own podcast. It is brought to you by the following.
Stop Your Complaining – by Ronnie Martin
Household Gods – by Ted Kluck
Help My Unbelief – by Barnabas Piper
We also want to thank Resonate Recordings, the fine folks who make us sound listenable. If you are looking for great people to help your church put out recorded sermon audio or help you with a podcast they’re your people. They’ve also recently put out a couple albums for artists Whitney Bozarth and Adrian Mathenia and you can listen to those for free.
Feel free to hit us up on Twitter at @HappyRantPod or on Facebook with any topic suggestions or feedback. We love hearing from listeners!
To listen you can:
Subscribe in iTunes.
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 #64
November 25, 2015
A “Friendly” In The Darkness
A “friendly” seems like an out of place name for an event just days after the horrific terror attacks in Paris. And yet that is what the French and English national soccer teams engaged in on Tuesday. “Friendly” is the term international soccer uses for an exhibition match, one that is not for the record but for the fans and players to enjoy.
The match inspired my friend Jonathan to ask whether a soccer game was necessary, whether it was trying to force things back to normal so quickly after a country was turned inside out. He posed a good question. Isn’t sports insignificant compared to such grief and outrage? Is it really necessary, or even wise, to host an exhibition? It seems somewhat pointless, possibly even tasteless.
But sports aren’t pointless in times like these. They don’t resolve any issues or bring any justice, but they can offer a sort of solace and an element of healing.
. . .
Think back to mid-September 2001. Remember those New York Yankees and Mets games in the days following the attacks of 9/11? Those weren’t just men playing ball; they were symbols of hope and opportunities for patriotism. Tuesday’s “friendly” was much the same.
. . .
In a small but strikingly visible way it was an act of public courage, a statement of defiance against the terror those attackers sought to bring about. When you consider that several of the attackers sought to detonate themselves as suicide bombers at France’s previous match against Germany on Friday, it makes Tuesday’s match stand in even starker reality against the darkness of fear.
Soccer is normal. Soccer is joyful. Soccer is what people do with their lives in France, and to do it is to declare that life will go on. It does not ignore pain or sorrow nor is it escapism. But for 90 minutes it is bright.
. . .
It is easy to downplay sports and see only the risks involved at such a time, but in moments of crisis they can often be just the thing. These games unify and lift and bolster and occupy. And they create a lasting and stark impression emblazoned on people’s minds, and that is no small thing even if the game itself was.
Read the full article HERE.
