Category: JOHN D. BARRY

  • BLESSED STICKY NOTES

    Connect The Testaments1 Chronicles 21:4-25:31; 2 Timothy 3:10-17; Psalm 89:1-22 A great friend of mine keeps sticky notes with prayer requests on a bathroom mirror. They serve as a reminder of the needs of others. This friend never seems to have an “off day” or feel sad about their particular situation. Maybe these notes play…

  • MATH: MAY NOT BE A MYSTICAL LANGUAGE AFTER ALL

    Connect The Testaments1 Chronicles 21:1-22:19; 2 Timothy 2:14-26; Psalm 86:1-87:7 In a world of metrics, it’s easy to become obsessed with statistics and start to quantify every aspect of our lives. Stats can even become a type of scorekeeping between churches or pastors: “We have more members than you do.” We may never say those…

  • LONGING & BEING

    Connect The Testaments1 Chronicles 16:1-17:27; 2 Timothy 1:3-18; Psalm 84:1-2 The general sense of what worship “is” is widely known, but the specifics of what it means are a little vague. Aside from obedience (i.e., avoiding sin and following what God asks of us), there are specific ways to show God admiration. In 1 Chronicles,…

  • ON A MISSION

    Connect The Testaments1 Chronicles 14:1-15:29; 2 Timothy 1:1-2; Psalm 83 We’re on a mission from God.” Whenever the Blues Brothers delivered this line, they were met with a less-than-enthusiastic reception. While they had a different “mission” in mind, their famous line summarizes Paul’s ministry, and their reception is strangely related to a pressing problem in…

  • THE FIGHT AGAINST IT

    Connect The Testaments1 Chronicles 12:1-13:14; 1 Timothy 6:11-21; Psalm 81:1-82:8 Fear is poisonous. When it drives our decisions, it will slowly destroy us—causing us to make moves that are against God’s will and detrimental to ourselves and others. The antidote to fear is complete reliance on Yahweh, our God, and His work through the Spirit.…

  • THE POWER OF WORDS

    Connect The Testaments1 Chronicles 9:1-10:14; 1 Timothy 5:18-6:2; Psalm 79:1-13 Gossip kills churches. And gossip is always painful, especially when disguised as concern. A request to “pray for so-and-so because of this thing they did” is not asking for prayer; it’s gossiping. If you know some personal detail about someone’s mishap, don’t share it with…

  • FROM CONCEPT TO CAUTION TO CAUSE

    Connect The Testaments1 Chronicles 8:1-40; 1 Timothy 5:10-17; Psalm 78:53-72 Some things in the Bible are downright surprising, including several passages in Paul’s letters. Sometimes his words are so personal or they’re addressed to such a specific person our group, that it’s hard to understand why that particular passage is there. But God uses people…

  • CONNECTING HISTORICAL DOTS

    Connect The Testaments1 Chronicles 4:24-5:26; 1 Timothy 4:1-5; Psalm 78:1-12 Biblical lists can be annoying, but they’re also a testament to God’s faithfulness. It’s a true gift when someone in a faith community records the history of the group and their work—particularly when God has answered prayers. By looking through a recorded history, like a…

  • A SENSE OF HISTORY

    Connect The Testaments1 Chronicles 1:1-54; 1 Timothy 2:1-15; Psalm 74:1-23 When I was in sixth grade, my teacher assigned our class a family genealogy and history project. At first it was frustrating. It seemed like unnecessary work. But eventually I became obsessive over it as I discovered our family stories. Many of us share this…

  • THE BIBLE IN THE DEVELOPED WORLD

    Connect The TestamentsRuth 1:1-23; 1 Timothy 1:1-11; Psalm 73:1-10 In our developed world, we don’t consider famines very often. If there were a famine in our lands, we could navigate through it because of our importing infrastructure. This isn’t the case for the developing world: famines mean walking miles to find food and water, and…