Words have power
Words have power. God spoke the world into being. We speak and things happen. Wars start. Life happens.
Say the words, “I love you,” and your life may change. Say “I’ll...
Author: Seth Barnes
The terrifying call of God
In 2004 I ran across Kari Miller. A teacher in Minnesota, she had sponsored a Ugandan child through World Vision. And that one act was the first in a long series of steps of obedience...
Differences between short and long-term teams
I love discipleship. And that’s why I love short-term mission (STM) teams. Nothing helps mold a young disciple like an STM experience. Jesus used them to shape his disciples...
My 5 mistakes sending missionaries
For 24 years I’ve been sending people on short-term missions (STMs) that challenge them to live the kind of life God dreams for them. STMs are great discipleship tools.
This...
What book should I write?
Now that I’m done writing the book Kingdom Journeys, it’s time for another writing project.
The good news is that I’ve started seven other books. The bad news is...
An atheist, an agnostic, a seeker & me
Yesterday on the Delta flight from Fort Lauderdale to Atlanta as we waited to taxi, the flight attendant wanted to know if the three of us in exit row seats knew how to open the...
Living an exhilarating life
It’s a week of endings and beginnings. It started by ending the World Race for 100 racers. And we ended the week today with 130 racers being launched to the field in Fort Lauderdale.
What...
Hope that amazes the hopeless
Stephanie May saw God bring hope the most hopeless place in the world in India. Ironically, it’s called the Home of Hope.
It’s a a shelter where homeless
women go to...
Opportunities to change the world
One hundred racers just returned from spending a year around the world. We’re together here in Gainesville for a week. We’ve invited twenty other organizations in to...
What do you do with your brokenness?
One of the great struggles we all face is to come to the place where we can recognize our brokenness and be OK with it. I was 31 when that happened for me. Man, was it hard to go...
What I’ll say to our racers
Tomorrow night Karen and I are going to throw a party that we’ve been planning for almost a year. We’ve been coaches to 40 World Racers who just completed their round-the-world...
The Purpose-Driven Death
I had coffee with Steve Moore, Director of Missions Exchange, yesterday morning. We talked for about half an hour and then his phone rang. He apologized and took the call.
When he...
Where are you anchored?
A lot of pundits are saying that 2012 is a pivotal year. Around the world there is plenty to get you worrying. I find myself tempted to worry every day.
Pick your reason: The European...
Watching God heal
As we enter 2012, isn’t it time we recharged our faith?
We know we serve a powerful God, but maybe we haven’t seen his power lately.
Maybe you’re like Karen...
Interpreting a nightmare
Shannon Morgan (a WR alumnus) had a dream last year that she felt like God gave her. She wrote me about it. It spoke to me of the millions of people around the world who are in pain....
How to make 2012 the best year ever
With 2012 just around the corner, what changes can you make to your life that will boost the fruit you realize?
A few years ago I wrote a post about applying the 80/20 rule to your...
Don’t trust your boss with your identity
Who can you ever really trust with your identity? Who sees who you really are?
My answer: Not many people and most especially, not most bosses.
The end of the year is a good time...
Dying with regrets
We were talking about a neighbor who died this past year.
Two days before dying, she confessed to a friend, “I’m afraid of death. I never really lived. I had these dreams...
We need pain to grow
The space between Christmas and New Years is a good time to take stock. It’s a good time to think about how you want to grow next year. Most of us want to grow, but sometimes...
Barnes Christmas 2011
We had a house-full here in Gainesville. Our neighbors from Florida, the Shiraz family. Karen’s parents. And then for dinner, Trevor, Ryan & the Bokelmans. There’s...
Loving broken people
Christmas, for all of its glory, can be hard on you sometimes. People who love each other but who have lived apart from one another for a year get together for Christmas.
During...
Christmas & your dysfunctional family
Growing up, Christmas was sometimes a mixed blessing. No one wanted conflict, so we all would be on our best behavior. But along the way, if nothing else tripped us up and messed...
Jesus’ Bad Monday
Why is it that Mondays are often the hardest day of the week? Maybe it’s because you go from a place of rest to a place of activity, frustration and conflict. Most Mondays,...
Grace for atheists
Grace for atheists – Radical LivingI believe Christopher Hitchens, the reknowned atheist, and Kim Jong-Il, the North Korean despot, are somewhere in the afterlife at this moment....