Joe Barnett

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree.      —1 Peter 2:24 As the two outgunned soldiers ran for cover an exploding grenade caught one in mid-stride, mangling his right leg. His cohort jumped on top of him, shielding him from gunfire with his own body. It cost him his life. […]

You are a chosen people.         —1 Peter 2:9 Rejection hurts. The boy that was always last to be chosen for the team never forgets it. Neither does the girl who navigated high school years without once being asked for a date. Peanuts comic strips made Charles Schulz rich and famous, but he

Just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do.       —1 Peter 1:15 The root meaning of the word “holy” (hágios) is “different.” William Barclay notes that the Temple was hágios because it was different from other buildings; the Sabbath was hágios because it was different from

What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.                              —James 4:14 At the time of this writing, average life expectancy in the United States is 78.4 years. Visualizing those years on a 12-hour

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?                                                —James 4:1 Slick marketers keep our desires an inch and a half beyond our reach,

Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.                                —James 2:10 There’s a good chance that you know a church-going man who makes his home hell by his tyrannical and

Do not merely listen to the word … Do what it says.                                          —James 1:22 Voice-activation has arrived. Speak an address and your GPS will map your destination and talk you to it. Speak a name

Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak.                                     —James 1:19 My wife says I never pay attention to what she says—or something like that. That’s what the bumper sticker said. You show that you value people

The testing of your faith develops perseverance.                                       —James 1:3 Have you noticed that those who complain the most are often those who have the least to complain about? People of position, power, and possessions can be

Consider it pure joy … whenever you face trials.                                        —James 1:2 On its face today’s text sounds loony. It’s a stretch to find anything joyful about trials. James doesn’t say that you should go looking for