Author: Seth Barnes

How to debrief your mission team (part 2 – biblical perspective)

Written by Seth Barnes on June 14, 2006. Posted in Debriefing. 4 Comments on How to debrief your mission team (part 2 – biblical perspective)

Why debrief? Because Jesus did it with his disciples. We see Jesus’ model of a short-term mission trip in Luke 9 and 10 as he sends out first the 12 disciples and later, he...

How to debrief your mission team (part 1 – overview)

Written by Seth Barnes on June 13, 2006. Posted in Debriefing. 5 Comments on How to debrief your mission team (part 1 – overview)

After reading the blog a few days ago on leading mission projects, Tony Sheng asked me to write something about debriefing them. Debriefing is a critical step in not only any good...

Difficult people are God’s grindstones in our lives

Written by Seth Barnes on June 12, 2006. Posted in Spiritual Formation. 28 Comments on Difficult people are God’s grindstones in our lives

Here’s one of the best lessons I ever learned: God uses difficult people to help you grow. I was sitting...

Going thru a season of failure

Written by Seth Barnes on June 12, 2006. Posted in Vulnerability and me. 2 Comments on Going thru a season of failure

Anybody looking at my family might assume that life is hunky dory. But we’ve been going through a season of failure lately. Yesterday I got turned down on a book deal. In the...

Two roles of a mission project leader

Written by Seth Barnes on June 11, 2006. Posted in Short-term missions. No Comments on Two roles of a mission project leader

On any given short-term mission project, two roles must be fulfilled. Because a lot of leaders have never been trained in either of these roles, they rarely are performed well. Here...

The top two tasks of a leader

Written by Seth Barnes on June 10, 2006. Posted in Leadership. 1 Comment on The top two tasks of a leader

In this summer season of mission projects, a lot of people are being thrust into high pressure leadership situations in strange environments with people they don’t know. What an...

Finding a place to have deep conversations

Written by Seth Barnes on June 9, 2006. Posted in How to Disciple. 6 Comments on Finding a place to have deep conversations

Discipling may not be dependent on having a great place to meet, but it sure does help to have somewhere to hang out and have an undistracted, deep conversation. Coffee shops like...

A mom’s lesson in listening prayer

Written by Seth Barnes on June 8, 2006. Posted in Listening prayer. 1 Comment on A mom’s lesson in listening prayer

Ten years ago I met Chris Montgomery and her husband in Costa Rica. It’s been years since we talked, but she got a hold of The Art of Listening Prayer and wrote the following: I...

Kingdom: God with shoes on

Written by Seth Barnes on June 8, 2006. Posted in Kingdom Reality. 2 Comments on Kingdom: God with shoes on

5th in a 5-part series on the pillars of life Back in the garden, God gave Adam the keys to the Kingdom, dominion over all creation. Because Adam lost them, God’s been trying...

Freedom: God’s creativity unleashed

Written by Seth Barnes on June 7, 2006. Posted in Living Free. 3 Comments on Freedom: God’s creativity unleashed

4th in a 5-part series on the pillars of life A little tyrant lives within us all that wants to find structure and comfort where the only certainty is mystery. We by nature seek...

Koinonia: God with skin on

Written by Seth Barnes on June 7, 2006. Posted in Community and Covenant. 2 Comments on Koinonia: God with skin on

3rd in a 5-part series on the pillars of life Just as we were fashioned to find our true identity in God, so we were created as social creatures to interact with...

Discipleship – Growing in God

Written by Seth Barnes on June 6, 2006. Posted in Discipling. No Comments on Discipleship – Growing in God

2nd in a 5-part series on the pillars of life Disciple-making means showing people, over time, how to live life to the fullest. In doing so, we bring them into intimacy with the...

Four Pillars of Life

Written by Seth Barnes on June 5, 2006. Posted in Church. 1 Comment on Four Pillars of Life

“Theology is the study of God and his ways. For all we know, dung beetles may study man and his ways and call it humanology. If so, we would probably be more touched and amused...

We are God’s Vocabulary

Written by Seth Barnes on June 4, 2006. Posted in Prayer. 2 Comments on We are God’s Vocabulary

Q: Does God ever lack the vocabulary to speak to a person? A. Yes, insofar as we are his vocabulary and we refuse to be available to him. How does God speak? He spoke through Jesus...

Why making disciples is so awesome

Written by Seth Barnes on June 2, 2006. Posted in Discipling. 1 Comment on Why making disciples is so awesome

A few days ago I wrote a blog listing 12 reasons why making disciples is difficult. I did this in part to explain why it is rare and in part to show what excellence in disciple-making...

Unbelievable case of mistaken identity

Written by Seth Barnes on June 1, 2006. Posted in My Life. 3 Comments on Unbelievable case of mistaken identity

About a month ago, five of my daughter’s friends were killed in a terrible accident. She might have been in the accident herself if she hadn’t taken the semester off. ...

Emily shows us what’s possible if we’ll invest

Written by Seth Barnes on May 31, 2006. Posted in Parenting. 2 Comments on Emily shows us what’s possible if we’ll invest

My friend Cameron used to call the business of raising a child “the 18 year project.” If that’s the case, then we’ve completed the project with our fourth...

Discipling people can take a lifetime!

Written by Seth Barnes on May 30, 2006. Posted in Discipling. No Comments on Discipling people can take a lifetime!

Steve Wallace writes: This is a lifetime investment. Kris, the young man we’ve spoken of so often — the high school dropout who came to us and needed community service...

Bill and Chad revisited – from Bill’s perspective

Written by Seth Barnes on May 29, 2006. Posted in Abandon. 1 Comment on Bill and Chad revisited – from Bill’s perspective

After reading my blog on Bill & Chad, Ken Stack wrote the following – a good perspective: Honestly, there is a divine tension here. As a church, we have made it far too...

Why discipling is so hard

Written by Seth Barnes on May 29, 2006. Posted in Discipling. 7 Comments on Why discipling is so hard

It takes time. To do it right, you need to be influencing a disciple’s life 24/7 like Jesus did. 16 waking hours a day x 3 years = 15,000 hours. It takes years. Disciples change...

To get ready to be a missionary, study Acts

Written by Seth Barnes on May 28, 2006. Posted in Missions. 3 Comments on To get ready to be a missionary, study Acts

A conversation with a friend the other day sent me today to my marked up copy The Acts of the Holy Spirit by Peter Wagner. Let me commend it to you – it really makes the book of...

One woman’s story of giving away everything

Written by Seth Barnes on May 27, 2006. Posted in Abandon. 5 Comments on One woman’s story of giving away everything

Americans have 5% of the world’s population and generate 25% of its income. The average income is $43,000. That compares with the poorest 50 nations where average income...

Why does “abandon” need to be a part of your discipling curriculum?

Written by Seth Barnes on May 26, 2006. Posted in Spiritual Formation. 1 Comment on Why does “abandon” need to be a part of your discipling curriculum?

We are not physical beings having temporary spiritual experiences. We are spiritual beings having a temporary physical experience. But we mistake what we see and hear for reality....

How are high school seniors defining success?

Written by Seth Barnes on May 25, 2006. Posted in Mobilization. 2 Comments on How are high school seniors defining success?

At a Christian high school graduation ceremony last week in Louisiana, The valedictorian (a gifted young man headed to an Ivy League college) spoke eloquently for about ten minutes...