Author: Seth Barnes

Refugee Crisis Meets World Race in Serbia

Written by Seth Barnes on September 11, 2015. Posted in Refugees & Crisis. 9 Comments on Refugee Crisis Meets World Race in Serbia

Kayla Zilch and her World Race squad just launched from Atlanta two days ago. They flew right into the middle of the refugee crisis. She filed this report: At some point around...

Who Tends Your Heart?

Written by Seth Barnes on September 9, 2015. Posted in Culture and Faith. 11 Comments on Who Tends Your Heart?

We all need pastoring. Who tends your heart? Many of us neglect our hearts. We never had someone care for it, so we learned to protect it ourselves, stiff-arming those...

Anastasia’s Dream

Written by Seth Barnes on September 1, 2015. Posted in Living Free. 8 Comments on Anastasia’s Dream

I first heard about Anastasia Sloan a year and a half ago. Since that time, I’ve wanted to tell her story. We had to fight to tell it. People told us it would be too risky,...

Living Like Deaf Dogs

Written by Seth Barnes on August 26, 2015. Posted in Listening prayer. 8 Comments on Living Like Deaf Dogs

Our little dog Asha has a bad habit. Our driveway is 200 yards long and when she hears someone driving down it toward our house, she runs full speed down the driveway at them. She...

‘I Wasted My Life’

Written by Seth Barnes on August 13, 2015. Posted in Better Living. 10 Comments on ‘I Wasted My Life’

What a terrible thing to live with regret. Some of you reading this have prioritized your comfort and the opinions of others over your destiny. You sense you have a calling, but...

Can Women Be Apostles?

Written by Seth Barnes on August 7, 2015. Posted in Leadership. 12 Comments on Can Women Be Apostles?

What is an apostle and can a woman be one? This is the kind of question that a lot of people shy away from – it’s complicated. The Bible talks about five...

The 3 Stages of Dustin Dills

Written by Seth Barnes on July 30, 2015. Posted in Identity issues. 20 Comments on The 3 Stages of Dustin Dills

Where are you on life’s path? Do you know who you are and what your purpose is? Are you free? Dustin Mick (“Dusty”) Dills is a good example of someone who wasn’t...

Our Spiritual Conversations

Written by Seth Barnes on July 21, 2015. Posted in Spiritual Formation. 15 Comments on Our Spiritual Conversations

Think about all the conversations you have today. Are they detail-focused? How many are spiritual? Flying home from a fundraising trip to Midway, TX, I was surrounded by spiritual...

Does God Still Heal?

Written by Seth Barnes on July 17, 2015. Posted in Amazing God Stories. 6 Comments on Does God Still Heal?

Yes, God still heals. In India, he just healed a blind woman’s eyes. World Racer Sara Macintosh tells the story: After worship the people there came up for prayer. I looked...

Order vs. Control

Written by Seth Barnes on July 9, 2015. Posted in Leadership. 2 Comments on Order vs. Control

So, we chose not to ban smartphones on the World Race. Why is that? They have such potential to interrupt what God is doing during the course of a year abroad. Why not ban them? It...

Smart Phones, Nomophobia, & Relevant

Written by Seth Barnes on June 29, 2015. Posted in Living Free. 7 Comments on Smart Phones, Nomophobia, & Relevant

Relevant Magazine just weighed in on the issue of smart phones. The psychological term they discuss is nomophobia. Here’s the start of the article by Adam Jeske: My...

Smart Phones & Mission Trips

Written by Seth Barnes on June 27, 2015. Posted in Simplicity Liberates You. 19 Comments on Smart Phones & Mission Trips

Most Christian mission trips have Jesus’ example as a point of reference. Jesus took very little with him. When he sent out his disciples on a mission trip (Matt. 10), he...

Smart phone addicts make poor ministers

Written by Seth Barnes on June 24, 2015. Posted in Simplicity Liberates You. 2 Comments on Smart phone addicts make poor ministers

During the past week, I’ve been blogging about smart phones and missions. A number of those participating in the World Race have said, “We’re adults – we...

Take This Smart Phone Addiction Quiz

Written by Seth Barnes on June 23, 2015. Posted in Simplicity Liberates You. 13 Comments on Take This Smart Phone Addiction Quiz

Are you addicted to your smartphone? Take the quick 12 question quiz below to find out! Dr. James Roberts, writing in Yahoo, makes the following observations: Sixty-eight...

Smart Phones and Self-Governance

Written by Seth Barnes on June 22, 2015. Posted in Simplicity Liberates You. 20 Comments on Smart Phones and Self-Governance

“The fruit of the Spirit is…self-control” (Gal.5:22) “A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls.” (Prov. 25:28) I’ve...

Principles for Smart Phones and Missions

Written by Seth Barnes on June 20, 2015. Posted in Simplicity Liberates You. 9 Comments on Principles for Smart Phones and Missions

A flat out ban of smart phones may be necessary for those who can’t self-govern and who will hurt more than help, but it is not optimal. What’s optimal is that missionaries...

A Passionate Plea For Smart Phone Limits

Written by Seth Barnes on June 19, 2015. Posted in Living Free. 12 Comments on A Passionate Plea For Smart Phone Limits

Brian Cooke was working in a hostel in Malawi when he encountered a group of racers. Their love changed his life and caused him to follow Jesus. Now he sees many racers more interested...

Smart Phone Issue is Bigger Than We Realized

Written by Seth Barnes on June 17, 2015. Posted in Abandon. 40 Comments on Smart Phone Issue is Bigger Than We Realized

We knew it was an issue – we just didn’t realize how BIG an issue it was. When I blogged Should We Ban Smart Phones on the World Race? last week, over 200 comments came...

Should We Ban Smart Phones on the World Race?

Written by Seth Barnes on June 10, 2015. Posted in Simplicity Liberates You. 220 Comments on Should We Ban Smart Phones on the World Race?

Brian Cooke, our team leader on the World Race, told me the smart phone situation was terrible. “We were in Africa. When we’d have a spare moment, the team would all...

Scrambling for Life

Written by Seth Barnes on June 9, 2015. Posted in Faith & risk. 4 Comments on Scrambling for Life

Life is hard and can feel overwhelming. Sometimes in life you’re the snowboarder in this video (watch it – it’s worth the 30 secs), skirting problems. And sometimes...

How Do Pastors Show They Care?

Written by Seth Barnes on June 3, 2015. Posted in Community and Covenant. 13 Comments on How Do Pastors Show They Care?

Life can be hard on your heart. Most of us grow up protecting our hearts, not wanting to allow people too close. Have you ever gone through a season of recovering from a broken relationship...

Jesus Makes Us Dangerous

Written by Seth Barnes on May 27, 2015. Posted in Courage. 8 Comments on Jesus Makes Us Dangerous

Jesus sent his disciples on a kingdom journey and said, “Do impossible stuff like healing the sick and raising the dead and don’t take anything with you.” In other...

Do I Help or Stay Safe?

Written by Seth Barnes on May 16, 2015. Posted in A broken world. 20 Comments on Do I Help or Stay Safe?

Our team of World Racers were scheduled to fly from India to Nepal and missed the earthquake by a day. World Race staff and parents were relieved – they were safe! But...

Helping Nepal

Written by Seth Barnes on May 13, 2015. Posted in A broken world. No Comments on Helping Nepal

Yesterday another powerful earthquake hit Nepal. This one registered a 7.3 on the Richter Scale. World Race leader Dusty Dills said this about it: “It was like being in a war...