Mind Mapping

So I have really been drawn to the MIND MAP way of putting a message together. This is a great way of mapping out the message that you share. I picked up on this a few months ago and I am loving it. On my Mac I have this great program called MyThoughts for Mac that allows me to be creative and map out thoughts. They say that visually mind mapping is the best way to retain thoughts and organize ideas. At first I thought that's cool but not sure I would use it. Boy was I wrong I use it for personal things to map out my life, tasks, brainstorming, organizational flow charts & MORE!!! They say that linear text doesn't stimulate the brain as much as visual pictures, colors, shapes, and flowing. Which makes sense because when I say elephant you don't think of E L E P H A N T no, you think of a big animal with a trunk eating peanuts, right? We are visual learners and thinkers so mind mapping just makes sense to truly tap into creativity. Anyway, had to share that with the blog world. I highly recommend you to look into mind mapping weather with a computer program or just on old school paper. Check it out and research it a bit, I think you will find an amazing way to take your thoughts to a "whule nutha levo". Here is my message for tonight @ REMIX.

Christmas, Choices, & Campins

Guess what? We have been decorating for Christmas, that's right ladies & gentlemen we are in the Christmas Spirit. Couldn't wait till after Halloween had to start now. Christmas never lasts long enough when you wait too long any way. So we decided to get a head start on the festivities. When I was young I left my decorations up in my room ALL year long (Christmas lights and all). I will post some pictures up when we get more done.

I've been thinking lately about the power of choice. The idea that everything we do in life is a choice. We are not merely victims of the past or just products of our environments & upbringing (although those do play major roles in how we choose the choices we make). But we have the ability and responsibility to make choices. Responsibility in that we our response-ABLE people. God created us with seeds of greatness within, but we have to respond to those seeds and make the right choices to water them. We are ALL able to step up and live the dreams that God has placed in our heart. We may go through some hard times but you can't climb a smooth mountain, there has to be some rocky ridges that are sharp and dangerous. Those sharp hard times become stepping stones for us to learn from and keep moving higher in our destiny. One of the most famous and highly honored basketball coaches of all time is John Wooden (who I might add lived in Martinsville, Indiana as a teenager and took the high school basketball team to 3 state championship finals in a row) said,

"There is a choice you have to make in everything you do. So keep in mind that in the end that choice you make, makes you."

What a great statement, so true. The choices we make ultimately make us. So in the words of the Knight in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, "Choose, but choose wisely." Choose to be the person that God has created you to be regardless of who says you can't or that you can never change. We ALL are able to respond and carry the responsibility of choosing God's path for our life.

A few weeks ago we had our camp-in with the students so check out the highlight video.

Girls

I had to post some pictures of our beautiful girls!!! They are growing up super fast. I love being a father and raising these amazing girls. I believe God has great things for their life and I am excited to see it come about. Zion has talked so much about God lately and is always asking great questions to learn more. I love the curiosity and hunger of children, they seem to want to know so much. Somewhere along the lines as we grow up I think we lose the exploration and adventure of learning and growing. I NEVER want to stop learning and asking questions to better my understanding of God & life. Growth does not come automatic in life it is an intentional act of engaging your life. I like the example of the Children of Israel. They didn't have 40 years of experience in the desert they had 1 year that they repeated 39 more times. WHY? Because they didn't learn, they didn't get it, they just keep doing what they always had done and wondered why. They say the definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results. But if you always do what you've always done you'll always get what you've always gotten. You have to break out of the rut and explore greater understanding of life, family, ministry, purpose, hobbies, etc... All that to say, I will always strive to have the adventure of a little child that is learning new things everyday!!!

www.pastorjohnbarrett.com

Check out our new family website. I always enjoy being creative and finding new ways to do more. I have been putting t his together here and there late night messing around just having fun.

www.pastorjohnbarrett.com

Friday Early Morning Thoughts...

Well, I've been off the last few days. Erin has been going through some pain which we are still trying to determine the extent of. Today we had our 3rd doctors visit and got some answers but still have some test to run next week. We have been playing back and forth between hospitals & doctor's office. Everything seems to be alright though we'll know more on Tuesday with the tests. They thought it was a kidney stone but turns out it's some other big medical words that I won't even try to explain. So we're praying for the best and believe everything to be good as we find out more.

I heard a song tonight called "Down" by Jason Walker. It is a great song if you view it from a whole nutha perspective. The words are:

Verse 1

I don’t know where I’m at
I’m standing at the back and I’m tired of waiting
Waiting here in line, hoping that i’ll find
What i’ve been chasing

Chorus

I shot for the sky,
I’m stuck on the ground
So why do i try
I know I’m gonna fall down
I thought I could fly
So why did I drown
I never know why, It’s coming down, down, down

Oh im going down, down, down ( On 2nd time around )

Verse 2

Im not ready to let go
cause then i’ll never know, what could be missing
but im missing way to much
So when do i give up, what ive been wishing for

Bridge

I can’t find another way around
And I dont want to hear that sound
Of losing what I never found

Sound a little depressing huh? Well, to me the song speaks of a life without Christ. Everything falls through. Every dream we could have means little compared to the reality of Eternity. We search for something in life yet come up empty unless we find the true meaning of it all. And that is to connect with our Creator God who loved us so much He gave His one and only son to die for the junk that disconnected us from Him. This song makes me so grateful that I have SOOOOO much hope in that if I try to fly on my own I just git the ground but when Christ is my life the Bible says we will soar on wings like eagles. Life can bring us down but through Christ we are lifted high above the pain of this world. One day Christ will come again and we will forever be. My prayer is that for those who don't know this amazing Savior will come to not be stuck on the ground but will shoot high for the reason they were created, to live for CHRIST!!! This song is a reminder to me of the life that I once had yet now am completely changed for Christ. So Jason God will forever change the pattern of down, down, down to a life that goes up, up, up if you give Him your hopes & fears!!!

YO

We had our Camp-In Friday night here @ HHC! Since it was raining and very cold we changed our Camp-Out to a Camp-In. We had a blast hanging out all night playing games, video games, & more! We had a great turnout with about 55+ students. We got maybe 3 hours of sleep or so then sent them home Saturday morning. It's always good to have these fun night to build relationships with the students and just open the door of trust and showing that we care about them. It's amazing how spiritual a normal night of just eating and hanging out can be. It may not be directly spiritual but it is for sure a in-direct connection with the students. The more we build relationships the more we are able to speak into their life. In today's culture teenagers are used to a breakdown of trust, leaders, and people that say they care yet don't show it on a practical level. So that's what these nights are ALL about building relationships without any thing in return just showing the students we are here for them. When you have those kind of times you are able to have heart to heart challenging times that take them deeper & further in their relationship with Christ!!! The more you build trust the more we can speak into their lives on a weekly basis.

Worship went great Sunday morning at church. We were able to break out of the box a little and truly let worship ring from our hearts. Our team is AMAZING here @ HHC. I am so excited about the journey ahead of us with worship. The team is united about the purpose of why we do what we do and that is so much deeper than just music. It is about connecting with God's presence and leading others into His presence. That is a BIG responsibility to not only journey into God's presence but lead others there as well. It challenges you to go beyond the melodies, beyond the chords, beyond the music and to go to that focused place of expressing your love and passion for GOD!!! Sometimes that is hard to do when you are thinking about the arrangement, chords, melody, timing, words, is everyone doing their part, sound, harmonies, rhythm, & more! But you have to be able to juggle all that and go beyond into a deeper expression of worship that involves the heart pouring out to God without going through the motions. I LOVE to worship our Creator God and lead others into a genuine experience of His presence. I don't take that lightly. I consider it a joy & challenge to become better at worshiping God and leading others into that place as well. After all we are ALL WORSHIP-LEADERS on the team from sound to singing. We first worship God personally then lead others into that place as well.

Just my thoughts for the day!!!

Capture The Flag

Sunday night we had our Capture the Flag event with about 6 others youth groups represented. Cory & Michelle Joy put the whole thing together and did an amazing job. We estimated about 125 students then leaders so probably had a great turn out of 150+ for the night. We had a cookout, worship, devotion, and a big game of Capture the Flag. It's always great to get together outside of our normal service and connect with other teenagers and a different environment. Students need to see other students that are involved in youth groups and connected to God. Teenagers move in packs and when they see other teenagers following God they begin to open up even more to the things of God. Sort of a positive peer pressure that gets them truly hooked on the Creator of the universe.

This week we start a new series called, "You Asked For It". We had the students fill out a questionnaire last week and based on that we are going to deal with some issues that the majority of the students asked about. This series will truly be dealing with what the teenagers are facing from their perspective. We are also tailoring the games and more with what they asked for. I am excited about hitting some of these topics that were heavy hitters and kind of the common denominator throughout the questionnaire. Topics like Depression & Anger along with some other ones. Students are dealing with depression like never before. Some of these reasons are: broken families, abuse (physical, verbal, emotional), parents that are too busy for their child's time & energy, & the fact that for some stupid reason it's a fad to be down & out as though the world's against me attitude. So we are going to break these lies & bring some truth to light about joy, peace, God's ultimate LOVE for us that makes you wanna get up and dance baby, yeah!!! Understanding your purpose & why we are here crush many misconceptions about life. We want these students to know that God created them for something amazing. We are NOT an accident that might have good luck or bad luck. We are created in the image of a mighty God who calls us to great things on this earth. The relationship we can have with Christ will truly energize our WHOLE being, physical & spiritual. Now I am preaching, I'd better get to bed!!! Good night!!!

Friday Night

Haven't been feeling well the last few days but I am definitely feeling better. We had our Caramel Apple Fest 09 Wednesday night and it went AWESOME! We had our biggest attendance night @ REMIX which was great (I guess caramel really draws kids in). We had a blast ending our series. We are starting a new series next month called, "You Asked For It". Wednesday we had the students fill out a questionnaire about things they deal with, topics they want to learn about, food items they want in the cafe, & more! This next month is ALL about letting the students pick EVERYTHING we do @ REMIX from the games to the message. It was really interesting seeing the overlaps of what students filled out. There were for sure some things that seemed like the common denominator with issues they deal with and things they want to know about.

Sunday night is our annual Capture the Flag event with 6+ other youth groups from the area. We are having a cookout, games, prizes, music & more! We were supposed to have it a few weeks ago as a pre-rally for SEE YOU AT THE POLE, but it got rained out. Sunday night is the rescheduled night for this event.

We also had a wedding rehearsal tonight. Tomorrow I am doing Dustin Huffman & Jessica Smith's wedding. Zion is the flower girl and she did amazing throwing the pedals tonight. I love doing weddings. Erin and I were reminiscing about our wedding not too long ago (2003). It is such an exciting and awesome time getting married. Truly I am more excited now about this beautiful thing called marriage than I was even then. Our marriage seems to get better and better over time like a good stew or something I guess. I LOVE my family!!!