Joe Barnett

The unfolding of your words gives light.                      —Psalm 119:130 It’s been said that if you live with a lame man, before long you will walk with a limp. Clubs, clans, and cliques prove that people become like those they hang out with. The same is […]

[S]uch a man is warped and sinful.                   —Titus 3:11 Don’t be influenced by destroyers of unity. They are contagious; a hazard to your spiritual health. “I urge you,” wrote Paul, “to watch out for those who cause divisions . . . Keep away from them” (Rom

[W]atch out for those who cause divisions . . . Keep away from them.    —Romans 16:17 Sooner or later nearly every church is contaminated by contention. Like cancer, it infiltrates furtively at first. But eventually, it metastasizes and permeates the body, resulting in severely depleted strength. Or death. The apostle Paul exhorted Christians to

[G]od did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.                         —2 Timothy 1:7 Greek philosopher Epictetus said, “It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” Author Ryan Holiday

[T]he Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.         —Luke 19:10 As the Son of Man, he hungered. As the Son of God, he is the bread of life. As the Son of Man, he thirsted. As the Son of God, he offers the thirsty the water

What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him.                   —Matthew 8:27 “A mature hurricane is by far the most powerful event on earth,” writes Sebastian Junger, in The Perfect Storm. “The combined nuclear arsenals of the United States and the former

Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.     —Matthew 22:21 Do you know anyone who likes to pay taxes? Neither do I. The Pharisees tried to trap Jesus on taxes: “Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” If Jesus said “No,” he was in trouble with

Come to the wedding banquet.        —Matthew 22:4 Jesus spun a story about a king who invited some well-heeled friends to a wedding banquet for his son, only to be insulted by their refusal to come. First impulse is to brand these invitees as a wicked, wretched, worthless brood. But not so fast.

Bring them here to me.    —Matthew 14:18 Jesus’ disciples asked him to dismiss the crowd so the people could go buy themselves some dinner. He said, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” “But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they protested. “Bring them

Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?                    —Matthew 18:1 Jesus’ disciples jockeyed for prominent positions (Mk 9:33; 10:37, 41). “Who is the greatest in the kingdom?” they asked. Jesus answered, “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Mt.