Category: JOHN D. BARRY

  • ODDITIES THAT MAKE SENSE

    Connect The TestamentsNumbers 5:1-31; John 13:1-20; Psalm 6:1-10 Some of the Old Testament laws seem so odd they’re difficult to understand. It’s easy for us to see why, in a day before medicine, God would send people with “a rash … a fluid discharge, and everyone … [who had touched] a corpse” outside the tribe…

  • IT MAY SEEM BLAND

    Connect The TestamentsNumbers 3:1-39; John 12:1-19; Psalm 3-4 Let’s just admit it: genealogies and lists, like the one in Num 3:1–39, are the most boring elements of the Bible. But they do something for us that other formats cannot—they give us a sense of history and lineage. With a genealogy, we can do more than…

  • A BOLD GOD, AND A BOLD PEOPLE

    Connect The TestamentsNumbers 1:1-46; John 11:1-27; Psalms 1:1-6 Imagine a God so bold that He would say, “Take a census of the entire community of the children of Israel according to their clans and their ancestors’ house … from twenty years old and above, everyone in Israel who is able to go to war. You…

  • NEON GODS

    Connect The TestamentsLeviticus 26-27; John 10:22-42; Song of Solomon 8:10-14 Idolatry seems archaic. Who worships idols anymore? We all know that in other countries, traditional idol worship of gold and wooden statues still goes on, but we often forget about our own idols. What does all our furniture point toward? Why do we care who…

  • THE DAY OF ATONEMENT

    Connect The TestamentsLeviticus 15-16; John 9:1-12; Song of Solomon 7:5-9 When it comes to the cost of sin, the average person probably thinks in terms of “What can I get away with?” rather than “What does this cost me and other people emotionally?” These calculations aren’t made in terms of life and death, but that…

  • FREEDOM

    Connect The TestamentsLeviticus 14; John 8:31-59; Song of Solomon 7:1-4 “Even though I know it’s wrong, I sometimes think, ‘If I hadn’t accepted Christ, I would have so much more freedom.’ And then I venture down that road and realize just how terrible it is. It takes me to a very dark place.” This deep,…

  • GRACE AMONG THE GRAPHIC

    Connect The TestamentsLeviticus 9-11; John 7:53-8:11; Song of Solomon 6:6-10 “Then he slaughtered the burnt offering, and Aaron’s sons brought the blood to him, and he sprinkled it on the altar all around; and they brought the burnt offering to him by its pieces, as well as the head, and he burned them on the…

  • ANCIENT WORDS, FUTURE HOPE

    Connect The TestamentsLeviticus 4:1-6:30; John 7:14-44; Song of Solomon 5:13-16 Atonement is appealing because we all have relationships we wish we could reconcile. The 12-step program involves forgiving and forging renewed relationships when possible. But the story with God is different. There’s an acute awareness that we can’t fix things with our Creator; we need…

  • DWELLING IN THE WILDERNESS

    Connect The TestamentsLeviticus 1-3; John 7:1-13; Song of Solomon 6:1-5 The book of Leviticus can feel distant, abstract, and even absurd. Its opening chapters discuss odd offerings made at the tent of meeting, where God met His people when they were wandering in the wilderness after the exodus. Yet, the book signals an appreciation for…

  • WIT, WORDPLAY AND EUPHEMISM

    Connect The TestamentsExodus 37-38; John 6:25-51; Song of Solomon 5:1-4 The Bible is a passionate book. It’s about a God who is impassioned for His people and who ultimately sends His Son to die for them so that they can be saved from themselves. And it also portrays the passion seen in romantic love. Song…