Joe Barnett

I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.                 —Jeremiah 31:34 The old mystic told him that she and Jesus talked one-on-one every night, and that he told her about the shenanigans of people who thought their sins were secret. He was skeptical, but […]

Stop judging by mere appearances.                       —John 7:24 Sometimes I spout words that hurt. And sometimes I judge people in thought, even if not in word: loser; irrelevant; stupid. As if my opinion is worth beans. It isn’t. As if my assessment makes me superior.

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence.                —Hebrews 4:16 The writer of Hebrews holds Jesus up and asks us to have a good look: “Fix your thoughts on Jesus” (Heb 3:1); “Keep your eyes on Jesus” (Heb 12:2, TLB). Jesus is not out to get

Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?                                —Isaiah 6:8 You’re being pulled in a dozen directions by people and projects wanting—sometimes demanding—your time and attention. Life is zipping by more rapidly than you ever imagined. You alone

Faith is being sure of what we hope for.                      —Hebrews 11:1 Hedonists take the short view of life: eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die. Christians take the long view: weighing present decisions on future scales. Present pleasure may bring pain in the

God is not ashamed to be called their God.                          —Hebrews 11:16 God said, “Those who honor me I will honor” (1 Sm. 2:30). The patriarchs were far from faultless, but they took God at his word and were “still living by faith when

Jesus . . . for the joy set before him endured the cross.     —Hebrews 12:2 Your cross is the heaviest piece of furniture in the house, and sometimes you get tired of carrying it; exhausted from struggling with a problem that seems to have no solution and no end. The writer of Hebrews

[Be] strengthened in the faith . . . and overflowing with thankfulness.                 —Colossians 2:7 My physician says the “Greatest Generation” had almost no feeling of entitlement, but a huge sense of responsibility; and that today’s generation has a huge sense of entitlement, but almost no feeling of

Generations come and generations go. —Ecclesiastes 1:4 Today’s obituaries will be largely forgotten before the week is over. But not by those who deeply loved one of the dear departed. A glance at a shelf across the room reveals adored faces, lovingly framed. There’s your dad. You remember his smile, his smell, his gait, his

Remember me when you come into your kingdom.                                 —Luke 23:42 Eat the bread. Drink the wine. “In remembrance of me.” In our worship, when we hit the pause-the-noise button and sit a few moments in silent remembrance of him,