Joy Barnett

Our good personal friend, and friend of Englewood Ministries, passed away on December 14 (obitutary).

Joy Barnett touched so many lives as evidenced by the number of people who attended her funeral. As I sat there listening to some of her grandchildren (Drew Boatwright, Matthew Barnett, Luke Barnett, Kristie Sexton) and her son (Tommy Barnett) speak about her, I realized that words cannot express the person we knew as Joy Barnett.

The Spirit of God was so rich in her life that every charateristic, every attribute and every gift she possessed was magnified to a place few attain. And she used all of these to reach people for Christ. She exhibited a love and concern for others that was so strong, you felt it.

I will greatly miss our times at lunch and dinner talking about the ministry, sharing ideas and dreams. She encouraged this young pastor to get back in the game at times and inspired me to believe God for great things. Often, when I felt overwhelmed with ministry, I would look down at my calendar and see a meeting with Joy already scheduled. And her words of wisdom, nuggets of truth from seasoned experience, would penetrate my soul and cause life to flood in again. My family and I loved her very much and she will be greatly missed.

To order a copy of Joy's latest book, Make a Difference Mentoring, click here. Joy signed a personal copy for us a few months ago and Jennifer has loved reading this book.

I am preparing a very special message for Sunday, Dec. 30 in which I will share more about Joy Barnett and the qualities of her life that we can all learn from. I was so touched by her son, Pastor Tommy's remarks at her memorial, that I will pull from some of these points and add in my own to form a great message I'm already excited about! Don't miss this service as you will be encouraged and inspired for the new year.