Are we really thankful for everything?

What a year this has been. There have been ups and downs. Exciting moments and disappointments. But this Thanksgiving, as every Thanksgiving in the past, I have far more to be thankful for than I have to be disappointed about. Truthfully, as Christians, we should find things to be thankful for even...

A Response to John MacArthur's Strange Fire Conference

After a few weeks off to refocus and redesign the site, I've decided to make a brief comeback before the relaunch to address some recent news concerning John MacArthur's Strange Fire Conference. I am Pentecostal through and through. I was dedicated at 17 days of age in a Pentecostal church. I spent...

Kingdom Building in the Slums

Fresh out of seminary armed with a vision and a heart for souls you hit the ground running in the community to which you are called. Hopefully, you build a pretty solid foundation over several years and before you know it, your church plant is growing. Chances are, that's your dream. No fault in...

Revival: Is it in you?

Revival is a word that always conjures up many different emotions in my spirit and my mind. On the physical level, my mind automatically shifts to thoughts of consecutive nightly worship services and anointed preaching. That thinking then leads to thoughts of long services, lack of rest, and the...

Proud to be an American?

The most patriotic week on the calendar is upon us–the time when we celebrate the birth of this great nation called America. We'll celebrate with a cookout and fireworks, maybe sing a couple rounds of "God Bless America" and feel all nostalgic about our freedom. As a southern American, patriotism...

Laying Aside the Weight

Well, it's been a month since I posted last.  And this time I have a really good excuse. My last post was on Memorial Day night. Coincidentally, the day after Memorial Day was the beginning of a new me. For most of my life I've been a little too friendly with food. Junk food, fast food, food...

As bad news grows, glory awaits

It has become a nightly ritual. I sit down at the computer and catch up on the day's news. The local, national, and world news is all right there at my fingertips.I scan through the headlines."Man charged with killing Alaska couple, assaulting toddler""Marine killed after Texas shooting spree""Moore tornado death toll stands at 24"Bad news is everywhere. It grows on a daily basis.Trouble and heartache...

Celebrating a Church Milestone

I have been in church quite literally all of my life. Dedicated at 17 days old, nearly every childhood memory I have involves church and/or church family.For much of the first 10 years of my life, my dad, James Barker, was an evangelist. We always had a home church where dad was a part of the leadership, but he also preached revivals and had his own television ministry.After many years of ministry...

A Full Plate of Ministry... and Life

When I began this blog, I had intentions of posting at least twice a week. I did exactly that for three weeks and then a little thing called ministry and life happened.I'm not going to spend this post making excuses for my lack of posting, but between revival, numerous special ministry services, and my 11th anniversary something had to take a back seat.  That something was this blog.Not that...

Worship Experience: Reflections from April 21

I'm a little late getting to this post, but Sunday was an especially draining day physically and we just started revival at the church. Life happens. Ministry happens. And blog posts get pushed back. It's not the end of the world.Here's this week's Worship Experience!Sunday Morning ReflectionsI need to learn more hymns. Well, it's not that I need to "learn" them per se, I just need to practice, update,...

Worship Experience: Reflections from April 14

Sunday Morning ReflectionsAh, Hymns of the Spirit. When the old regular red back won't do, there's always Hymns of the Spirit. I have fond memories of singing from the songbook, which coincidentally is also red. I have seen the book in green as well, but I digress.My memories of Hymns of the Spirit come from our time at the Boynton Church of God over two decades ago. I was young, quite young in fact,...

Are you listening to Kingdom Voices?

There are so many voices in today's culture. Anyone with a laptop or even a smart phone can lift up their voice with little to no repercussion or accountability. People are saying many things and there are many delivery methods for those voices to be heard.What are you listening to?Are you listening to opinions about politics, sports, and/or religion? Are you listening to the many voices...

Social Media Discretion Advised for Kingdom People

Lately, I've been a bit disturbed at the speed and ferocity with which Internet rumors are posted and re-posted via Facebook and Twitter by supposed church folks.Before you know it, some off-the-wall falsehood about a preacher has spread to thousands of people with the mere click of the "Share" or "Re-Tweet" button.I'm to the point where I must ask, what purpose does it serve to spread this story?...

Worship Experience: Reflections from Sunday, April 7

Worship Experience will be a weekly post at joelabarker.com. As a worship leader, I want to share with others what God is doing in my church with the worship team.My hope is that "Worship Experience" will become a hub of sorts for worship leaders everywhere to share their Sunday experiences, set lists, service recaps, etc.Now, for this week's Worship Experience.Worship Experience: April 7Sunday Morning...

Introducing Joelabarker.com | Worship, Church, Community, Kingdom

Welcome to joelabarker.com! I'm so excited to get this blog launched. As I said in the first post "Ready. Set. Go!", this site is nearly one year in the making.Over the last year, I have basically had to relearn blogging. After five years writing about sports for various websites and publications, I figured I should take my time in venturing out into a new area of the blogosphere.Yes, sports was and...

Ready. Set. Go!

If you call yourself a writer, it only stands to reason that you actually write from time to time.For five years I called myself an aspiring sportswriter. During the last of those five years, writing about sports—football in particular—was how I made money. Not much money, mind you, but money nonetheless.Then something strange happened. I completely lost my desire to write about sports. Totally stopped,...