Joe Barnett

This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?                               —John 6:60 A rich young man. A passel of early disciples. Judas Iscariot. What did they have in common? They came to Jesus, but they didn’t stay. Discipleship isn’t for sissies. […]

Ask and it will be given to you.               Matthew 7:7 Matthew 6: 9–13 records history’s best-known prayer: The Lord’s Prayer. The first half exalts God: “[H]allowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done.” His name; his kingdom; his will. The second half requests blessings: “Give

I will . . . not deal with you according to your folly.          —Job 42:8 Job’s three friends heard about his troubles and came to console him. When they saw the intensity of his suffering, they wept and sat with him for a week without saying a word. Their concern was

[N]ot as I will, but as you will.             —Matthew 26:39 Minister/author Dr. David Langford says the world needs more people like German cleric Benjamin Schmolcke. Langford tells about Schmolcke’s church and home burning to the ground one evening while he and his wife had gone to pray with a

Stop judging by mere appearances.                    —John 7:24 My father was the unofficial greeter at his church: arrived early, assumed his post, gave a handshake, a happy face, and a howdy to everyone who came through the door. As the years passed so did his hearing; old

He who has ears to hear, let him hear.                          —Luke 14:35 Scripture puts a priority on hearing. The “Shema”— the centerpiece of Jewish prayers—began: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord” (Dt 6:4). “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!”

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.        —Psalm 147:3 I’ve been running for forty years, with very few run-related injuries. But recently I had a humdinger. At my age, I’m afraid if I stop I might not get my motor running again, so instead of seeking help, I kept running.

Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.      —Matthew 5:15 Jesus did not say become the salt of the earth; he said you are the salt of the earth. He did not say become the light of the world; he said you are the light of the world. We

You are the light of the world.             —Matthew 5:14 When Jesus came into the world, John introduced him as “The light [that] shines in the darkness” (Jn 1:5). Jesus commissioned his disciples to reflect his light: “You are the light of the world,” he said. Christians not only carry

You are the salt of the earth.             —Matthew 5:13 Jesus described his followers as “the salt of the earth.” Food is bland without salt. Our lives—as salt—should paint Christianity as delightful, not distasteful; desirable, not disagreeable. In Jesus’ day, salt was used primarily as a preservative; rubbed into meat