Joe Barnett

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart.                               —Colossians 3:23 On September 7, 1860, the steamboat Lady Elgin, with 398 passengers on board, collided with another vessel in Lake Michigan. Edward Spencer, a university student, swimming relentlessly, brought […]

Reject every kind of evil.  —1 Thessalonians 5:22 The Bible asks questions. And frequently gives answers to those questions. Here’s one for you. In Psalm 34:12, the writer asks, “Do any of you want to live a life that is long and prosperous?” We raise our hand and say, “I do, I do!” Then he

Do not be wise in your own eyes.                   —Proverbs 3:7 Opinionated. Dogmatic. Inflexible. Does anyone come to mind? He may be smart as a whip, but as Welsh minister and author Matthew Henry opined, “the only thing such a person’s knowledge does for him is puff

I press on toward the goal to win the prize.                            —Philippians 3:14 Peter was slammed with a hurricane of emotions the night he denied Jesus: distress, dejection, disappointment. He was tormented and terrified. Before the night was over, he stumbled out of

Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.                                     —Hebrews 13:5 My mother was ninety-nine years old when she left Earth. I had been alive almost 30,000 days at the time. It would be a safe

On him we have set our hope.     —2 Corinthians 1:10 Things didn’t go well for Paul and his pals in Ephesus. “We felt we were doomed to die and saw how powerless we were to help ourselves; but that was good, for then we put everything into the hands of God . .

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.                  —1 Timothy 1:15 The body count was rising. Paul was rounding up Christians, jailing them, and voting for their execution (Acts 26:10). Can this cold-blooded villain be saved? In his own words: “Even

A sluggard does not plow in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing.                           —Proverbs 20:4 The sluggard—variously translated as slacker or slothful—has laid down his tools, decided not to work. Or just decided not to decide. He has given

[God] is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.           —Ephesians 3:20 Warning! The word in the above text that may give you the most trouble is “more.” God’s “more” may be a welcomed add-on to your request. Or maybe not. His “more” may be something different

Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.           —Jeremiah 17:7 In Proverbs 3:5, Solomon advised: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.” We are slow to trust the promises of politicians and the guarantees of institutional