Joe Barnett

Honor Christ and let him be the Lord of your life. —1 Peter 3:15 [Continued: Day 2] What do you want me to do for you? Do you really believe that I can do this? Why did you doubt me? Don’t you remember? If even the smallest things are beyond your control, why are you […]

Jesus’ teachings were often clothed as questions. Of his many questions, I’ve chosen thirty for your reflection. I am posting them without citing the scripture references so you will confront them personally—let them meet you where you are right now. The questions are his; the answers are yours. For the next five days we will

Encourage one another and build each other up. —1 Thessalonians 5:11 If you go about today’s business with open eyes, you’ll spot a kid who is sad, a mom who is weary, or an acquaintance who is lonely: the overlooked, the ignored. When you reach out to them, you’re ministering to Jesus. He said when

The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.      —Matthew 27:51 The curtain covering the entrance to the Most Holy Place in the temple, as described by Alfred Edersheim in The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, was sixty feet high, thirty feet wide, and the thickness of

You sent me aid again and again when I was in need.     —Philippians 4:16 Does the name Margaret Nixon McEathron ring a bell? How about Marilyn Monroe, Deborah Kerr, Natalie Wood, Sophia Loren, Janet Leigh, Audrey Hepburn? It was Margaret Nixon McEathron’s voice that dubbed Marilyn Monroe’s high notes in “Diamonds Are a

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. —Romans 5:8 A church in Southampton, England, hands out a Welcome Card saying: “If you are a saint, sinner, loser, winner . . .” —and continues with other terms, such as liar, hypocrite, alcoholic, divorced, cheater, success, rejected, pierced, or just a misfit—“you are welcome here.”

We love him, because he first loved us.                       —1 John 4:19 Helping Hand Home for Children, in Austin, Texas, has been a harbor for abused children since 1893. A child moving from their institutional custody into foster care or adoption is often cold and

If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.     —John 8:32 Jorge scaled the fence, eluded border guards, slipped into the rail yard, dodged a 200-ton locomotive, and made a perilous dash for the one thing he craved above all else. Freedom! It’s impossible for those of us who have lived

Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord.     —2 Peter 3:18 A line from the apostle Peter’s first letter runs: “Get rid of all malicious behavior and deceit. . . . Be done with hypocrisy and jealousy and backstabbing” (1 Pt 2:1). He must have been writing to some bad dudes. Not

Whenever a piece of pottery turned out imperfect, he would . . . make it into something else.                —Jeremiah 18:4 Kintsugi is the ancient Japanese art of repairing broken pottery. Shattered pieces are glued back together with a secret lacquer mixed with powdered gold, creating a beautiful, one-of-a-kind,