The Happy Rant Podcast
A conversation where we cheerfully (if sardonically) rant aboutall the things that don’t matter all that much and some things that do.



Episode #390 – The New Radio, Why We Write, and Lifting Up Younger Generations
In this episode of The Happy Rant Ted, Ronnie, and Barnabas wander to and fro through a variety of topics:
1. Podcasts as the new radio
2. If there are so many writers and books, why do we keep doing it?
3. Writing idealism vs. pragmatism/capitalism
4. Writing for legacy vs. writing to “make it”
5. How do we treat younger generations well instead of dumping all over them?
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Happy Rant Sports #62 – Helping a Fan Find a New Football Team (and some NFL Draft Talk)
In this episode of Happy Rant Sports Ted and Barnabas wander to and fro through a variety of topics:
1. Helping an NFL fan find a new team to root for
2. Discussing the good, the bad NFL draft picks
3. Ted’s favorite offensive linemen in the draft
4. Teams in QB purgatory
5. Teams that fan should definitely NOT root for
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Visual Theology, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 20% discount!
Episode #389 – The Last Laugh: Regrettable Choices, Ministry Mistakes, and Holy Kisses
In this episode of The Happy Rant, Ted, Ronnie, and Barnabas wander to and fro through a variety of topics as posed by our listeners LIVE from New Albany, Indiana leading up to the final T4G conference:
1. Fan encounters and celebrity moments
2. Regrettable cultural choices and fashion decisions
3. Pastoral and teaching mistakes
4. Greeting others with a holy kiss
5. Transformative books, music, and movies for us
6. Slapping pastors (again)
7. The “C” in Jared C. Wilson – wrong answers only
8. Book endorsements
9. Ideal piece of sports memorabilia
10. Who in the Bible do we identify with the most?
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Episode #388 – The Last Laugh: Writing Advice, Marriage Advice, and The D.Min Life
In this episode of The Happy Rant Ted, Ronnie, and Barnabas wander to and fro through a variety of topics LIVE from New Albany, Indiana leading up to the final T4G conference:
1. Church decor and interesting instruments
2. Writing advice and writing cohorts
3. The value of writing inspiration
4. Advice for D.Min students and Ronnie’s classroom vibe
5. Marriage advice and marriage questions
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Visual Theology, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 20% discount!
Episode #387 – The Last Laugh: T4G Retrospective and the Future of Reformedom
In this episode of The Happy Rant Ted, Ronnie, and Barnabas wander to and fro through a variety of topics LIVE from New Albany, Indiana leading up to the final T4G conference:
1. A T4G retrospective of our favorite moments
2. The future of reformed conferences
3. Angry Calvinists
4. Tell me you’re reformed without telling me you’re reformed
5. Violent Grace
6. Fighting famous pastors
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Visual Theology, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 20% discount!
Episode #386 – Disappearing Youth Pastors, Pastoral Communication, and the Gaming Life
In this episode of The Happy Rant Ted, Ronnie, and Barnabas wander to and fro through a variety of topics:
1. Where have all the youth pastors gone?
2. Are church planters the new youth pastors?
3. Are pastors particularly bad at digital and personal communication?
4. Gaming as a career and as socially acceptable
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Visual Theology, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 20% discount!
Happy Rant Sports #61 – Best Broadcasters, Baseball Aesthetics, and More
In this episode of Happy Rant Sports Ted and Barnabas Wander to and fro through a variety of topics:
1. Who are our favorite broadcasters (old school vs. current, national vs. local)
2. Baseball aesthetics (Which players look the coolest? Cool pitching deliveries)
3. Timberwolves vs. Grizzlies playoff talk
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Visual Theology, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 20% discount!
Episode #385 – The Hillsong Implosion, Lavish Lifestyles, and Pastoral Bullying
In this episode of The Happy Rant, Ted, Ronnie, and Barnabas wander to and fro through a variety of topics:
1. How is selling out going?
2. The Hillsong controversy (implosion) and pastoral lavish lifestyles
3. What level of lavishness is acceptable for pastors?
4. Will successful pastors inevitably be accused of bullying?
5. How do we avoid this sort of pastoral and church failure?
6. The etiquette for introverts hosting extraverts
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Visual Theology, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 20% discount!
Happy Rant Sports #60 – The Madden Effect, The Watson Trade, March Madness Boredom
In this episode of Happy Rant Sports Ted and Barnabas wander to and fro through a variety of topics:
1. The Madden and analytics effects on NFL GMs
2. What are the Browns offensive prospects?
3. Making peace with Kirk Cousins
4. Where are all the coaches with personalities?
5. Big wide receiver moves
6. March Madness boredom
Visit https://thehappyrant.com/the-live-show/ to get your tickets to our upcoming live show.
Check out our sponsors:
Visual Theology, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 20% discount!
Episode #384 – The Slap, The Oscars, and a Reformed Royal Rumble
In this episode of the Happy Rant Ted Kluck, Ronnie Martin, and Barnabas Piper wander to and fro through a variety of topics:
1. Gauging our Oscars interest
2. Is Will Smith an actual movie star?
3. The Slap: our takes on the takes
4. Who would we choose to slap if given the chance?
5. A T4G royal rumble
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Check out our sponsor:
Visual Theology, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 20% discount!
Episode #383 – Please Allow Us to Introduce Ourselves
In this episode of the Happy Rant Ted Kluck, Ronnie Martin, and Barnabas Piper wander to and fro through a variety of topics:
1. Who we are, a brief introduction for new listeners
2. What we love about podcasting together
3. How we would describe our show: The Seinfeld of podcasts, a Piper family dinner party, and a description to aspirational college students
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Episode #382 – Goodbye, Independence
In this episode of The Happy Rant Ted, Ronnie, and Barnabas wander to and fro through a variety of topics:
- Moving from sweet freedom to being corporate sell outs
- Our upcoming train wreck of a live show
- A podcast prenup
- Crispin Glover vs. Jared C. Wilson
- Early memories of the show
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Happy Rant Sports Episode #59 – Quarterback Movement
In this episode of the Happy Rant Sports Podcast Ted and Barnabas wander to and fro through a variety of sports topics, particularly QB movement.
**We recorded this before the Deshaun Watson trade**
- Russell Wilson trade
- Carson Wentz trade
- SO MANY middling QBs
- What will the Colts do?
- Other trades that should’ve happened
Visit https://thehappyrant.com/the-live-show/ to get your tickets to our upcoming live show.
Check out our sponsors:
Visual Theology, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 20% discount!
Episode #381 – Tiny Houses, The Suburbs, and Small Town Church Planting
In this episode of The Happy Rant Ted and Barnabas (sans Ronnie) wander to and fro through a variety of topics:
- Big changes coming
- Photos of shoes in airports
- Tiny houses. Why?
- Suburban living vs. urban living
- The sexiness of small town church planting
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Visual Theology, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 20% discount!
Episode #380 – Metaverse Church, Generational Names, and Outgrowing Funny
In this episode of The Happy Rant Ted, Ronnie, and Barnabas wander to and fro through a variety of topics:
- Metaverse church campuses and whether the metaverse will ruin church
- Book publishing in the metaverse (we want in!)
- Guys named Dale
- Generational names
- When funny people outgrow being funny
Check out our sponsors:
Dwell Bible App to get a 30% discount of a lifetime subscription or a 10% discount off an annual subscription.
Visual Theology, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 20% discount!
Episode #379 – The Art of Pastoring Post-Covid
In this episode of The Happy Rant Ronnie and Barnabas (sans Ted) wander to and fro through a variety of topics. Well, really just one topic:
- Channeling Jared C. Wilson
- What is different about pastoring in a world recovering from COVID?
- What challenges are pastors facing?
- How is the life of the church different?
Check out our sponsors:
Dwell Bible App to get a 30% discount of a lifetime subscription or a 10% discount off an annual subscription.
Visual Theology, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 20% discount!
Redbud City Coffee Roasters, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 10% discount.
Episode #378 – #AmWriting, Writing Personas, and Pastoral Personality Types
In this episode of The Happy Rant Ted, Ronnie, and Barnabas wander to and fro through a variety of topics:
- Honest book promo interviews
- Gestating books
- The vibe, persona, and desire of #AmWriting
- Perfectionism vs. Competitiveness
- Pastoral competitiveness and personality types
Check out our sponsors:
Dwell Bible App to get a 33% discount of a lifetime subscription or a 10% discount off an annual subscription.
Visual Theology, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 20% discount!
Redbud City Coffee Roasters, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 10% discount.
Episode #377 – Saving Evangelicalism, Hero Worship, and Young People’s Passion
In this episode of the Happy Rant Ted and Barnabas (sans Ronnie) wander to and fro through a variety of topics:
- The David Brooks NYT piece about folks trying to redeem evangelicalism
- How we hero worship and look for “saviors”
- What is the New York Times of young folks?
- What are young people passionate about?
- Being “into” stuff in the 90s vs. today
Check out our sponsors:
Dwell Bible App to get a 33% discount of a lifetime subscription or a 10% discount off an annual subscription.
Visual Theology, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 20% discount!
Redbud City Coffee Roasters, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 10% discount.
Episode #376 – Aldi Enthusiasts, Anti-Sports Personas, and Social Media Misery
In this episode of The Happy Rant Ted and Barnabas (sans Ronnie Tarmac) wander to and fro through a variety of topics:
- Why we love Aldi, from friendly employees to real human interactions over carts
- Ronnie’s Super Bowl vibe
- The anti-sports persona and who its seeking to impress
- How focusing on misery makes us more miserable, especially on social media
Check out our sponsors:
Dwell Bible App to get a 33% discount of a lifetime subscription or a 10% discount off an annual subscription.
Visual Theology, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 20% discount!
Redbud City Coffee Roasters, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 10% discount.
Happy Rant Sports Episode #58 – Anointing Athletes, QB Worship, and Team Building
In this episode of The Happy Rant Sports Podcast Ted and Barnabas wander to and fro through a variety of sports topics:
- Why we love to annoint the next great athletes
- QB worship
- Team structure and good team building in the NFL
- GM hires and NFL coaching searches
- Giving old coaches more chances
Check out our sponsors:
Dwell Bible App to get a 33% discount of a lifetime subscription or a 10% discount off an annual subscription.
Visual Theology, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 20% discount!
Redbud City Coffee Roasters, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 10% discount.
Episode #375 – Old Theological Debates, Twitter Warriors, Theobros, and Pinko Commies
In this episode of The Happy Rant Ted, Ronnie, and Barnabas wander to and fro through a variety of topics:
- Reliving the 80s through theological debate, specifically complementarianism
- What did Twitter warriors do before Twitter?
- Defining “theobros”
- Reviving “pinko commy”
- Is twitter temptation?
Check out our sponsors:
Dwell Bible App to get a 33% discount of a lifetime subscription or a 10% discount off an annual subscription.
Visual Theology, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 20% discount!
Redbud City Coffee Roasters, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 10% discount.
Episode #374 – Aging Out, Teaching Teens, and Getting Back to Normal
In this episode of the Happy Rant Ted and Barnabas wander to and fro through a variety of topics:
- What is the age ceiling on “visioneering”?
- Publishing trends in pastoring books
- Leading and teaching teens – are we too old and irelevant?
- What does it even mean to “get back to normal” after the last two years?
Check out our sponsors:
Dwell Bible App to get a 33% discount of a lifetime subscription or a 10% discount off an annual subscription.
Visual Theology, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 20% discount!
Redbud City Coffee Roasters, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 10% discount.
Episode #373 – Weather Muscles, Sonesta Select, and Pastors at Restaurants
In this episode of The Happy Rant Ted, Ronnie, and Barnabas wander to and fro through a varity of topics:
- Hearth time
- Know it all kids and the cultural anthropology of modern teens
- Losing northern muscles
- Having earthquake muscles
- Goodbye Hyatt Place, hello Sonesta Select
- Vision casting at Taco Bell
- Pastors and Restaurants
Check out our sponsors:
Dwell Bible App to get a 33% discount of a lifetime subscription or a 10% discount off an annual subscription.
Visual Theology, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 20% discount!
Redbud City Coffee Roasters, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 10% discount.
Episode #372 – Keeping up with the Gainses and Matt Damon’s Fashion
In this episode of The Happy Rant Ted, Ronnie, and Barnabas wander to and fro through a variety of topics:
- Chip and Joanna Gaines are the original influencers
- Paul Tripp as hipster influencer
- Writing 4,000 words a day
- Matt Damon as youth group mime performer
- Only Murders in the Building – thoughts and reflections
Check out our sponsors:
Dwell Bible App to get a 33% discount of a lifetime subscription or a 10% discount off an annual subscription.
Visual Theology, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 20% discount!
Redbud City Coffee Roasters, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 10% discount.
Happy Rant Sports Episode #57 – The Minshew Experiment, Boring Super Stars, and COVID NBA
In this episode of the Happy Rant Sports podcast Ted and Barnabas wander to and fro through a variety of sports topics:
- Relishing old NFL uniforms
- Relishing old school NFL safeties
- The Minshew Experiment: Would a team be better or worse if they swapped their current QB for Gardner Minshew?
- Man in the Arena and why current super star athletes aren’t interesting
- Covid turning the NBA upside down
- Hypocrisy of player safety in football
Check out our sponsor:
Redbud City Coffee Roasters, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 10% discount.
Episode #371 – Christmas Movies, Carols, and 2022 Predictions
In this episode of The Happy Rant Ted, Ronnie, and Barnabas wander to and fro through a variety of topics:
- Diehard, the Christmas movie: our takes
- Christmas carol discussions and disagreements
- Finding consensus on good Christmas movies
- Things we expect to look back on at the end of 2022
Check out our sponsors:
Dwell Bible App to get a 33% discount of a lifetime subscription or a 10% discount off an annual subscription.
Visual Theology, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 20% discount!
Redbud City Coffee Roasters, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 10% discount.
Episode #370 – Hallmark Thinkpieces and Cruise Ship Vibes
In this episode of the Happy Rant podcast Ted, Ronnie, and Barnabas wander to and fro through a variety of topics:
- The perks of ruddiness
- Ronnie’s think piece on Hallmark Christmas Movies
- Ted’s tenure and Taylor Swift takes
- Cruise ship experiences and vibes
- River Cruises
Check out our sponsors:
Dwell Bible App to get a 33% discount of a lifetime subscription or a 10% discount off an annual subscription.
Visual Theology, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 20% discount!
Redbud City Coffee Roasters, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 10% discount.
Episode #369 – Taylor Swift, Sound Guys, and Everyone is Anglican
In this episode of The Happy Rant Ronnie and Barnabas Wander to and fro through a variety of topics:
- Ronnie’s new music
- Middle aged men fanboying over Taylor Swift
- Taylor Swift, the Beth Moore of pop music
- The sound guy persona
- Why is everyone becoming Anglican?
- Quick hitter questions: soup vs. stew, drive thru vs. go inside, holiday foods
Episode #368 – New Website, Khaki Pants, and Downton Abbey
In this episode of The Happy Rant Ted, Ronnie, and Barnabas wander to and fro through a variety of topics:
- Our brand new website and merchandise
- A silk shirt weekend with Josh McDowell
- Blazers and Khakis, the academic uniform
- The ethos of khaki pants
- Piper’s introduction to Downton Abbey
Check out our sponsors:
Visual Theology, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 20% discount!
Redbud City Coffee Roasters, and use the code “happyrant” at checkout for a 10% discount.
Episode #367 – Drisky Business, Cracker Barrel Christians, and Reformed Mingle
In this episode of The Happy Rant Ted, Ronnie, and Barnabas wander to and fro through a variety of topics:
- DRISKY BUSINESS: evaluating Mark Driscoll’s Yoda tweeting technique
- The practicalities of punching something evil in the face
- Cracker Barrel Christians vs. Whole Foods Christians
- Reformed Mingle (not a joke): a new reformed dating site