A great reading list
Need a good book to read?
There are some great ones on this list. It covers everything from innovation to disciple making to church planting.
Author: Seth Barnes
How to minister to others
Part One in series on “How to minister…”
Sometimes I get stuck in my American cultural fortress of my home isolated from the world’s need and I begin to lose...
Survival is not at issue
It used to be that survival was an issue. In prior generations, you got a job because if you didn’t, starvation was an option. Now, food takes up just 6% of the average person’s...
Learning to depend on God in fighting evil (part 2)
Yesterday I shared the story about how I started to learn to trust God in radical ways. Fast forward 17 years and I’m still learning how to depend on Jesus. My spiritual legs...
Learning to depend on God in fighting evil (part 1)
This is a blog that ends with me confronting poltergeists and begins with an observation about Jesus.
Jesus was always assessing the faith levels of people around him, particularly...
The institutional church
For those who have become cynical about the church, it’s important to distinguish between the body of Christ as described in the Bible and the business that many churches now operate...
Adventures with hot lava
One of the things I love about the World Race is the opportunity to experience life vicariously as the racers send back videos in real time. Yesterday they hiked up an active volcano...
Why does laughter exist?
A Darwinian world, where people and animals are designed by cause and effect (not God) leaves no room for the idea of “delight,” satisfaction maybe, but not delight....
Turning your kids into radicals at a young age
Sarae Martin emailed me the following story that just happened to her.
As I pulled into McDonalds, I saw a pile of suitcases, obviously those of a homeless person. My thought was,...
My search for significance
This is a continuation of yesterday’s blog
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Have you ever noticed how when you look at a picture of a group that you were in, you always first try and find yourself in the...
At peace with my limitations
Growing up, I was insecure. No quantity of compliments could counterbalance the personal deficiencies I felt. I was small for my age, had acne, didn’t make the best grades...
Cultivating passion in kids
The sacred yes (see my earlier blogs), though essential for adults, should begin to be built into a young person’s spirit early in life. By defining the first part of life as an...
What calls or kills radicals
An excerpt from an article about the book, The Danger Habitvby Mike Barrett.
In May of 2006, a fascinating story played itself out on the top of the world. One morning, a...
Questions that will help you in the abandon process
1. What makes me feel good about myself?
2. Do I get stuck in a rut periodically?
3. Do I regularly depend on God to do things for me that I can’t do on my own?
4. Do I have...
Why the process of abandoning is so important (part 3)
What if all the things that other people have been saying about you all your life have little to do with who you really are? What if the cultural aspects of your faith that you’ve...
Why the process of abandoning is so important (part 2)
Scott Molgard on the World Race is going through a process of rediscovering who he really is. It’s fun to read his blogs – he can be painfully honest about his struggles....
Why the process of abandoning is so important (part 1)
We have a false self and a true self. The false self is a function of:
our accomplishments
what others say about us
our externally-derived significance
an identity built around...
An African pastor wrestles with AIDS
When we filmed our Swazi AIDS awareness outreach in 2004, we partnered with the Chronicle Project to film it. The result was the award-winning documentary, Dear Francis. My friends...
Fathers saying the sacred “Yes”
In an earlier blog, I described one of the key roles of a father, that of giving his children the
sacred no. This gets them through the first phase of life by establishing boundaries,...
Doing good, but not great
“For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.” Romans 7:18
A regular conversation I have with my middle-aged friends who have done well in business...
How to pray scripture
I’ve found that American Jesus-followers are shockingly under-prepared to engage in the spiritual battle described in Ephesians 6. We don’t understand this authority...
A prayer I prayed for a few disciples
Last year I engaged in a couple of two month cyber-discipling experiments. It worked pretty well in a limited way. Here is a prayer I prayed for them at one point and then emailed...
Groundhog day at the Barnes house
Blog reader Mark Lucas commented to me how much he enjoyed the rooster story I wrote about last week. It made me think, “Barnes, you’re too serious, you need to share...
Rohr on becoming a spiritual warrior
Richard Rohr is so profound – probably the wisest man I’ve met. Men really need to read “Adam’s Return” to understand what it means to be initiated as a man of God. Here’s...