Category: JOHN D. BARRY

  • SAVE US!

    Connect The TestamentsGenesis 27; Matthew 20:17-21:22; Ecclesiastes 6:5-12 “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” (Matt 21:9). Idiomatically, this means: “Save [me], I pray, the Son of David. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of Yahweh!…

  • I UNDERSTAND HOW THEY FELT

    Connect The TestamentsGenesis 26; Matthew 19:1-20:16; Ecclesiastes 6:1-4 “Allow the children, and do not forbid them to come to me, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 19:14). This is the type of Jesus I want to know. It’s easy for me to think of Jesus as a man I see in film…

  • UNEXPECTED RIVALRIES

    Connect The TestamentsGenesis 25; Matthew 18; Ecclesiastes 5:12-20 When in survival mode, you have to compete against anything that could hinder your survival. Strong competitors, like professional athletes, often can’t explain their almost inhuman acts under pressure; adrenaline takes over. The same thing that the ancients used to escape from wild animals is what makes…

  • AVOIDING THE UNAVOIDABLE

    Connect The TestamentsGenesis 24; Matthew 16-17; Ecclesiastes 5:8-11 It’s common to put people in our lives on hold, even if we love them, until something forces us to pay attention. Forgetting those who are closest to us is a frightening thought. Peter, Jesus’ disciple, likely realized that people were making a similar mistake in their…

  • FEAR GOD

    Connect the TestamentsGenesis 21:22-23:20; Matthew 15; Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 In Ecclesiastes 5, the author stops to consider God’s place in the heavens and our place on earth. He acknowledges that there is a great gulf of understanding between who God is and who we think He is. This realization should affect our entire posture before Him.…

  • THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS LIKE

    Connect The Testaments Genesis 19:30-21:21; Matthew 13:44-14:36; Ecclesiastes 4:8-16 Few in the world have sold everything to pursue an idea. Yet Jesus claims those who discover the kingdom of heaven are willing to do so. “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, that a man found and concealed, and in his…