A Word From Joe Barnett
This site is about words.
First, about God’s authoritative, inspired Word.
Second, about my non-authoritative, non-inspired words—nevertheless, written in hope that they will encourage those who read them, and above all that they will point the reader to God’s Word.
Here are the regular features you will find here.
- Today’s Walk in the Word. A brief devotional that appears Monday through Friday. Each entry is based on a single verse of Scripture, followed by my comments related to it, and ending with a summary aphorism. To access the latest devotional click on "Today’s Walk in the Word" below. To access previous messages click on "Archives/A Walk in the Word" in the top menu.
- On My Mind. Messages on varied topics that appear on this site at least once a month. To access the latest entry click on "On My Mind" below. To access previous messages click on "Archives/On My Mind" in the top menu.
Each of these features can also be fed directly to your email box if you wish. Just click here to sign up.
And yes, you are permitted—in fact, encouraged—to pass along any of these messages to those you feel will benefit from them. Just click on the “Forward to a Friend” button. Your participation in this way makes this “our” ministry instead of “my” ministry.
If you find anything here that brings you, or those with whom you share these messages, into a closer relationship with the Lord, I praise God and thank him for permitting our paths to cross.
Thanks for dropping by. I hope you will do so often.
Today's Walk in the Word
What Can You Say?
By Joe Barnett |
They did not know what to say to him. —Mark 14:40 In Gethsemane, Jesus asked Peter, James, and John to stay awake and pray. Within minutes, they were sawing logs. When Jesus woke them, “they did not know what to say to him.” Before the …
Let Love Reign
By Joe Barnett |
Dear friends, let us love one another. —1 John 4:7 “Back in my legalistic days,” he began.” He spent the next several minutes branding his present position as “progressive”—labeling his past as legalistic, narrow, sectarian, and mean; then several more minutes taking …
The Giving Pledge
By Joe Barnett |
I give half of my possessions to the poor. —Luke 19:8 Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett established the Giving Pledge, a commitment to give more than half of their wealth away. Commendable largesse. They weren’t the first to that party. …
Don’t Cross the River Until You Reach It
By Joe Barnett |
Do not worry about tomorrow. —Matthew 6:34 In Abraham Lincoln’s lawyering days, he often had to negotiate dangerous rivers en route to court appointments. One evening, he overnighted at a tavern where he met a circuit-riding evangelist. When Lincoln anxiously asked him about the treacherous Fox River—which he would …
The Greatest Moment
By Joe Barnett |
[We] are justified freely by his grace. —Romans 3:24 Marion Anderson, arguably history’s most accomplished contralto, sang on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial before a crowd of more than 75,000; was the first African American to perform with the New York Metropolitan Opera; was …
Are You Still Growing?
By Joe Barnett |
Give me this mountain. —Joshua 14:12 John W. Gardner, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in President Lyndon Johnson’s administration, once said that by their mid-thirties most people have stopped acquiring new skills and new attitudes. That should give us grayheads pause. Are we still learning, still growing, still stepping up to new …
