Joe Barnett

Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up.      —Psalm 68:19 In The Legend of Bagger Vance, war hero Rannulph Junah is an honorary participant in an exhibition match with two golfing legends. He starts strong, but haunting combat memories cause him to fall apart. Bagger Vance, Junah’s mystic mentor and caddie, pulls […]

Let your light shine before others.               —Matthew 5:16 On this day—March 22—in 1963, C.S. Lewis died. His death drew scant attention because it was the same day that John F. Kennedy was assassinated—and that, of course, dominated the news. C.S. Lewis was the most famous and prolific apologist

I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.            —Psalm 5:3 More often than not, we see what we expect to see, hear what we expect to hear, feel what we expect to feel. If you expect to be mistreated, you probably will be—or think you are. If you

Teach us to number our days.                —Psalm 90:12 You can use your days selfishly or selflessly. You can use them growing bitter or getting better. The number of pages left on your calendar may signal that it’s too late to train for a triathlon, become a brain surgeon,

My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.                   —Isaiah 55:8 Seventy years ago, J.B. Phillips wrote a little book titled Your God is Too Small, in which he sketched common conceptions of God—one of those being a God who is distant and

Trust in the Lord with all your heart.                            —Proverbs 3:5 Jacob’s commitment to God in Genesis 28:20–22 is conditional: If God will be with me If God will watch over me If God will give me food to eat If God will

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.              —Psalm 118:24 The perky cashier said to the lady in front of me, “Have a nice day.” The customer snapped: “Young lady, that’s just not a part of my plan.” What is your

All things work together for good to those who love God.             —Romans 8:28 The Friday Jesus died seemed like a very bad day. You couldn’t have found a disciple who could see anything good in it or anything good coming from it. They were in despair: terrified, despondent, grief-stricken.

You know all of our sins, even those we do in secret.           —Psalm 90:8 Whenever and wherever you are reading this, there is a scandal in the news. It may involve a big shot in Washington, a celebrity in Hollywood, a well-known athlete, or a not-so-well-known person in your town.

Make the most of every opportunity. —Colossians 4:5 I thought his name should be Bonkers, but it’s Bungkas. According to Guinness World Records, Bungkas holds the record for living in a tree. Bungkas climbed a tree in Benkes, Indonesia, in 1970 and made himself a nest from tree branches and leaves. Lots of people tried