Joe Barnett

He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen.         —Isaiah 50:4 “Call me anytime,” Carl said. “I have my cell phone on 24/7/365.” Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year strikes me as somewhat excessive for human availability. But not for divine connection, where […]

Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much.                          —Luke 16:10 Trustworthy discipleship is a life of faithful attention to each day’s frequent and familiar tasks, however small and insignificant they may seem. It’s easy to be indifferent toward

In him all things hold together.              —Colossians 1:17 In The Gathering Storm, Winston Churchill wrote about the months prior to the Nazi blitzkrieg that leveled much of London: “The future was heavy with foreboding.” Ours is a different day, but we know the foreboding. Many of us pay more

Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought. —Romans 12:3 I’m writing this as political campaigns are at full bore (pun intended). Getting to the top doesn’t live up to its promises: contentment, fulfillment, and satisfaction aren’t achieved by being the big cheese. Nevertheless, exaggerated need to seem important is often addictive and

Stand up and lift up your heads. —Luke 21:28 Without heaven, history is in the hands of humanity. Unless there is a heavenly home beyond this earthly habitation, life on this planet is the final word. The feeling that the world is in a sorry state creates a heavenly longing. The gospel implants hope for

Let us not neglect our church meetings.                        —Hebrews 10:25 “There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be . . . boastful, proud, abusive . . . ungrateful, unholy . . . unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the

I will not forget you.    —Isaiah 49:15 The prophet Isaiah asked, “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?” A Pennsylvania mom did. She dropped her two children off at school, drove away, and disappeared for eleven years. She made no effort to

Act justly . . . love mercy . . . walk humbly.                              —Micah 6:8 Lots of Lists: Top sports teams list. Academy Award winners list. New York Times best-seller list. Fortune 500 list. If you’re like me, you have list fatigue.

It is finished. —John 19:30 When I was asked, “What word describes your most exhilarating feeling?” several words came to mind. I finally chose “accomplishment.” I love the feeling of crossing out an item on my to-do list. And it’s especially satisfying if it’s the last item on the list at the end of the

Put off falsehood and speak truthfully. —Ephesians 4:25 Last night I leafed through The Day America Told the Truth by James Patterson and Peter Kim. The book was based on a national survey regarding private morals. Here’s a sampling of one area of responses: Ninety-one percent said they repeatedly lie, both at work and at