Joe Barnett

[Jesus] bore our sins in his body on the cross.        —1 Peter 2:24 Cliff Barrows two young children persisted in doing something they had been forbidden to do. They were warned if they did it again, they would be punished. They did it again. Barrows knew that he had to punish them […]

Your word is truth.     —John 17:17 Humorist Garrison Keillor was probably correct when he epitomized the contemporary manipulation of truth: “Sometimes you just have to look truth square in the face and deny it!” Most of us have done it when we’ve stepped on the scales, canceled an annual physical, or made an

Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven.             —Romans 4:7 Today’s scripture citation is an excerpt. The apostle Paul was extracting a portion of David’s. testimony: “Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them”

It is by grace you have been saved. —Ephesians 2:8 T.C. was driving a long stretch of Texas country road late at night. He had the road all to himself—until red strobe lights told him he didn’t. “I clocked you at 87,” said the officer. T.C. argued. “The law is the law,” said the officer.

You do not know on what day your Lord will come.     —Matthew 24:42 “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. . . . So you must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when

Blessed are the merciful.           —Matthew 5:7 The king was calling an enormous debt. The debtor begged for mercy. Knowing that he would never be able to pay, the king canceled the debt. Encountering a man who owed him a pittance, the forgiven debtor grabbed him in a chokehold and demanded

See what great love the Father has lavished on us                                         —1 John 3:1 When your child is ostracized, hurt, or defeated, what do you do? Say grow up, stop being a wimp, get a grip?

I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.                                 —Psalm 32:5 L.A. just couldn’t do it. To save his life (soul?), he couldn’t admit a mistake, couldn’t confess that he was less than perfect. “If we claim to be without

These were all commended for their faith. —Hebrews 11:39 After eulogizing the faith of Noah, Abraham, and Moses, in the this-is-what-faith-looks-like chapter 11 of Hebrews, the writer turns to the names, but not the details, of some other worthies. “I do not have time,” he writes, “to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel

To one he gave five talents . . . to another two . . . to another one . . . each according to his ability.                                  —Matthew 25:15 Do you look at others, whose successes you see and whose