StephenBarkley.com

I hope everyone had a good Christmas season.  I’m celebrating by taking a week of writing this blog… sorry! Everything will be up and running next week. Thanks for reading, Steve.

The name of God admits no rivals, approximations or substitutions. — Victor Shepherd (Seasons of Grace) It’s amazing that the same motivation can lead to two opposite results. A parent, fired with a motivation of love for her child can sing him to sleep one night, and violently yank him away from a hot stove the [...]

I have a confession to make. I don’t like preaching on [the Magnificat]. It makes me uncomfortable. And it makes me feel guilty. . . . It makes me uncomfortable because, if I’m honest with myself, there’s a pretty good chance that I’ll be counted among the proud and the powerful and the rich. — Colin [...]

While a satisfied justice is an unavoidable eternal event, a satisfied revenge is an eternal impossibility. — George MacDonald (Unspoken Sermons) Did Israel tremble when she first heard these words? These words of judgment are very familiar—even formulaic. In the past, these phrases were directed at Jerusalem when God judged her for her sin. Now, [...]

If we’re going to get the most out of the Jesus story, we’ll want first to soak our imaginations in the David story. — Eugene H. Peterson (Leap Over A Wall) David’s dead. The archetypal, illustrious, glorious, [insert superlative here] King David has been off the political scene for centuries. Even so, v. 23 opens with, [...]

The Christian is not just the man who is saved by Christ; he is the man whom God uses for the salvation of others by Christ. – Jacques Ellul (The Judgment of Jonah) Delegating responsibility is a powerful thing. Delegating is a way to accomplish something that you’re not too good at.  More importantly, delegating tasks [...]

A people without a king (is like) sheep without a shepherd. —Babylonian Proverb From early Sumerian times, nations were considered sheep, while kings (appointed by the gods) were considered to be  their shepherds. It is not surprising that Israel picks up on this theme. During the exodus (long before Israel had a king), Moses asked [...]

Only where there is doxology can there be justice, for such songs transfigure fear into energy. — Walter Brueggemann (Prophetic Imagination) Songs have always been important to the church. They have a way way of transcending human speech—even poetry—into something numinous and profound. Then again, maybe that’s just the musician in me talking. Ezekiel was a singer. Many [...]

The crying need today is for people of faith to live faithfully. — Richard Foster (The Challenge of the Disciplined Life) Jerusalem had fallen. Thousands were dead. Survivors were fleeing the ruins like ants from a kicked-over anthill. God is shifting the focus of his messages to hope in place of judgment. As this shift in [...]

You lay Your crushing hand Your mighty hand On me gently — Terry Scott Taylor (“Crushing Hand” from Nazarene Crying Towel) Ezekiel felt the crushing gentle hand of Yahweh. In fact, he had felt it for more than a decade now. What were you doing 10 years ago? Can you remember? Ezekiel remembered: I will make your [...]