Joe Barnett

[Y]et will I hope in him.        —Job 13:15 Norman turns every positive into a negative with, “Yeah, but . . .” “Isn’t this weather gorgeous?” “Yeah, but it won’t last.” “Hear you got a raise.” “Yeah, but inflation and taxes will eat it up.” Norman finds a worm in every apple. Habakkuk […]

[H]e chose us in him before the creation of the world.      —Ephesians 1:4 On April 21, 2018, Nabi Tajima died in Kikai, Japan, at the age of 117 years, 260 days. Nabi was the world’s oldest certified living person—the last living human to have been born in the nineteenth century. There’s a bristlecone

[G]row in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.              —2 Peter 3:18 Have you been back to your old hometown lately? Not the same as it was, is it? I was recently in two towns where I once lived. One is a vibrant, up-n-at-’em community.

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.             —Isaiah 40:29 Dashrath Manjhi’s wife died because he was unable to get her the medical care she needed in time. Manjhi—who became known as “Mountain Man”—spent twenty-two years after his wife’s death carving a road through

[J]ustified freely by his grace. —Romans 3:24 Gregory Counts was convicted of rape in 1992. On May 7, 2018, his conviction was vacated because the alleged victim confessed that the crime never happened and new DNA testing proved his innocence. Gregory Counts had spent over half his life—twenty-six years—in prison for a crime he didn’t

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.                 —John 15:13 Lloyd Ogilvie, Chaplain of the United States Senate from 1995-2003, recounted an incident concerning an eight-year-old girl in a Pennsylvania orphanage who had been terribly abused. She was understandably

Give me understanding according to your word.                                 —Psalm 119:169 This week we have been pinpointing a few people and the text that changed their life. Here is our final batch. William Penn: “This is the victory that overcometh the

Direct my footsteps according to your word.                        —Psalm 119:133 This week we are pinpointing a few people and the text that changed their life. Leo Tolstoy: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.     —Psalm 119:105 This week we are pinpointing a few people and the text that changed their life. Andrew Fuller: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). C.G.