Author: Seth Barnes

Becoming a Disciple Takes Three Years

Written by Seth Barnes on July 30, 2014. Posted in Discipling. 11 Comments on Becoming a Disciple Takes Three Years

If you want to get good at something, experience tells us that it takes time. Malcom Gladwell suggests that on average it takes 10,000 hours practice, or about three years, to become...

How We’ve Failed You

Written by Seth Barnes on July 22, 2014. Posted in Intergenerational connection. 35 Comments on How We’ve Failed You

Every generation fails its sons and daughters in one way or another. We Baby Boomers were raised by absentee dads. We said to ourselves that we’d never make that...

4 Levels of Spiritual Maturity

Written by Seth Barnes on July 15, 2014. Posted in Spiritual Formation. 16 Comments on 4 Levels of Spiritual Maturity

You can pick your own path or model for getting to spiritual maturity. Some ideas: “Get a seminary education.” “Work in an orphanage.” “Be more disciplined!” “Walk...

10 Debriefing Resources

Written by Seth Barnes on July 9, 2014. Posted in Debriefing. 2 Comments on 10 Debriefing Resources

Jesus did it; so should we. Every mission trip needs a debrief. You go some place on mission. You serve and then come home. If the mission trip did its job, you grew. Jesus asked...

Disciples Making Disciples – 2 Timothy 2:2

Written by Seth Barnes on July 3, 2014. Posted in Discipling. 1 Comment on Disciples Making Disciples – 2 Timothy 2:2

In 2002, I took Miguel Santiago on a one-month trip to Peru. I taught him to disciple and plant churches. I applied 2 Timothy 2:2, “The things you have heard me say in the...

Help Take This Video Viral

Written by Seth Barnes on June 25, 2014. Posted in World Race. 2 Comments on Help Take This Video Viral

The World Race has changed the lives of so many 20-somethings. It connects people to what God is doing around the earth. It connects them to identity and calling. It teaches...

Dogs Teaching Humans How to Live

Written by Seth Barnes on June 24, 2014. Posted in My Life. 5 Comments on Dogs Teaching Humans How to Live

Yesterday my dog died. Eight years ago, I wrote this post about him, which I’m re-posting below. You can learn a lot about...

10 Surprising Keys to Discipleship

Written by Seth Barnes on June 17, 2014. Posted in Discipling. 16 Comments on 10 Surprising Keys to Discipleship

It has taken me 25 years to figure out what Jesus taught his disciples in three years. And now I’m going to try to distill 25 years of living into one blog. So much of what...

Best Practices in Orphan Care

Written by Seth Barnes on June 10, 2014. Posted in Orphans. 20 Comments on Best Practices in Orphan Care

Our Adventures team cares for over 6,000 orphans daily. For a while now, I’ve wanted to help them do a better job. What if we equipped caregivers to upgrade the quality of...

Evicting the Orphan Inside You

Written by Seth Barnes on June 3, 2014. Posted in Identity issues. 10 Comments on Evicting the Orphan Inside You

At some point in almost every person’s life, needs don’t get met. Maybe we were abused – our need for protection forgotten. Maybe we were hungry – our need...

An Orphan Spirit

Written by Seth Barnes on May 27, 2014. Posted in Orphans. 14 Comments on An Orphan Spirit

Growing up in a loving family was one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever received. As a child, I never doubted that I was safe or that my basic needs would be met. I was free...

My Great Great Granddad Seth’s Epic Life

Written by Seth Barnes on May 20, 2014. Posted in My Life. 6 Comments on My Great Great Granddad Seth’s Epic Life

I bear the name of my great great grandfather, Seth. As a child, life collapsed around him when his father (also named Seth) died at just 26 years-old. His devastation was compounded...

Inviting an Orphan Into Your Heart

Written by Seth Barnes on May 13, 2014. Posted in Orphans. 5 Comments on Inviting an Orphan Into Your Heart

Maggie Jaruzel knew that God was calling her to be O’Neil’s mom. She filed the paperwork, but when it didn’t go through, she was undeterred. Whatever the...

Getting to Your Destiny

Written by Seth Barnes on May 6, 2014. Posted in Reaching Your Destiny. 4 Comments on Getting to Your Destiny

I’m writing from the Dominican Republic. I’m reminded of the first time I thought about this country. It was 1979 and Hurricane David had just killed 2000 people in the...

Are You in Trouble?

Written by Seth Barnes on April 29, 2014. Posted in Comfort and Pain. 23 Comments on Are You in Trouble?

When we get in trouble as kids, we expect to get punished. And we tend to carry that expectation into our relationship with God. But let me suggest that some of us need a new theology...

Those Jesus Doesn’t Save

Written by Seth Barnes on April 22, 2014. Posted in A broken world. 10 Comments on Those Jesus Doesn’t Save

We know Jesus as Savior, but what do we really understand about saving? For example, consider the Titanic. When the Titanic sank, the people in the water needed saving. Those...

Fighting a Terrorist on My Sister’s Flight

Written by Seth Barnes on April 15, 2014. Posted in Radical Living. 1 Comment on Fighting a Terrorist on My Sister’s Flight

Tonight I fly to Dublin, Ireland. Fourteen years ago, my sister Christy was on a 747 British Airways flight to Kenya. Suddenly, the plane went into a power dive. Passengers were...

Decide to Make a Difference

Written by Seth Barnes on April 8, 2014. Posted in Faith & risk. 14 Comments on Decide to Make a Difference

I was fortunate that early in life, I was exposed to other people’s needs that were much greater than my own. Traveling in the developing world, I saw that I could make a difference...

How to Use Scripture to Disciple

Written by Seth Barnes on April 2, 2014. Posted in How to Disciple. 7 Comments on How to Use Scripture to Disciple

The last thing Jesus said was, “Go and make disciples.” Do you ever find yourself wondering, “How exactly do I do that?” After all, most Christians have never...

Where is God When I’m in Pain?

Written by Seth Barnes on March 25, 2014. Posted in A broken world. 46 Comments on Where is God When I’m in Pain?

As a leader, sometimes I’m called upon to inflict pain. I have to make decisions that hurt people in order to achieve some larger purpose. The danger in doing so is that I...

The Gift of Self-Awareness

Written by Seth Barnes on March 18, 2014. Posted in Dealing with junk in our lives. 11 Comments on The Gift of Self-Awareness

Several years ago, my friend Steve had a job as a business executive. His slide into a life of drugs was breathtakingly quick. He used drugs and when he ran out of money, he began...

Are You Caught in a Small Story?

Written by Seth Barnes on March 8, 2014. Posted in Reaching Your Destiny. 10 Comments on Are You Caught in a Small Story?

“Your lives aren’t small but you’re living them in a small way…The smallness that you feel comes from within. Live openly and expansively.” 2...

President Bush Talks About the World Race

Written by Seth Barnes on February 27, 2014. Posted in World Race. 12 Comments on President Bush Talks About the World Race

Last week, former President Bush took a couple of minutes to share the heroic example of World Racer Dave Smith in a speech he gave in Dallas. Dave served in the marine corps as...

When Your Dreams Go Viral

Written by Seth Barnes on February 26, 2014. Posted in Dreaming. 5 Comments on When Your Dreams Go Viral

Ruth Wilson trusted God with her dream of being a writer and one day her dream went viral. I wonder if Ruth ever believed it was possible. My guess is that she was as surprised as...