Joe Barnett

The tongue has the power of life and death.                          —Proverbs 18:21 “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” Everybody knows that’s not true. Vicious words hurt. Bad! The number one cause of teen suicide is verbal bullying. […]

Joseph . . . whom the apostles called Barnabas.                                               —Acts 4:36 A nickname usually emphasizes a conspicuous feature—“Hey, Red.” “How’s it goin’, Slim?” “Hi, Lefty.” His name was Joseph, but you don’t

Our Father in heaven.     —Matthew 6:9 The last half of the Lord’s Prayer in the New Living Translation reads: “Give us our food for today, and forgive us our sins . . . And don’t let us yield to temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (Mt 6:11–13). Three brief petitions: Give

Give us today our daily bread.              —Matthew 6:11 Leroy lived his entire adult life aiming at fulfillment “someday.” Someday his ship would come in. He fell for every scheme that came down the pike: This was the one! He was going to be rich—someday. He never lived a day

There is no one righteous, not even one.                        —Romans 3:10 Failure is inclusive. No one is immune. Sometimes, it’s glaringly obvious: a dropped pass in the endzone, an onstage pratfall, an out-in-the-open sin. And sometimes, it’s hidden: you’re the only one who knows. But

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.         —Isaiah 43:18 Instant replay: Whether the game-changer was, “How in the world did he do that?” or, “What a bonehead blunder!” it will be replayed again and again. Unless I miss my guess, you’re unmercifully replaying some of your wrongdoings on

Simon son of John, do you love me?                               —John 21:17 Many a sermon has hammered Peter for his failures. He sank like a rock when fear trumped faith in his water-walking fiasco. He denied friendship with Jesus three times during

In all of this, Job did not| sin by blaming God.            —Job 1:22 You won’t find a better man than Job: “[He] was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil” (Jb 1:1). Yet, he lost everything. His ranch was raided, his servants were killed, all ten of his

I tell you a mystery. —1 Corinthians 15:51 Surprises! You’ve had your share of them. Some of them filled you with apprehension, others with joy. Some caused you to sob, others made you laugh. Try to imagine the reactions to the following surprises. When Adam and Eve stood by Abel’s fresh grave. When Enoch’s footprints

Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.                  —Mark 16:15 We interrupt this program to bring you a reminder that the part of the world in which you live is not the whole world but only a small piece of the big