Author: Seth Barnes

Remembering the Haiti earthquake a year later

Written by Seth Barnes on January 13, 2011. Posted in Haiti. 1 Comment on Remembering the Haiti earthquake a year later

It was about this time last year that news was filtering through about the horrific earthquake in Haiti. We didn’t know the scope of it at the time, but early reports indicated...

Angel in the cornfield

Written by Seth Barnes on January 12, 2011. Posted in Amazing God Stories. 4 Comments on Angel in the cornfield

In the summer of 1997, in the backwoods holler of Berwind, WV, I met a guy named Danny. The first thing I noticed about him is that he looked to be about 400 pounds. The second thing...

The poor are our relatives

Written by Seth Barnes on January 11, 2011. Posted in Poverty. 7 Comments on The poor are our relatives

share your food with the hungry… provide the poor wanderer with shelter… when you see the naked, clothe him… do not to turn away from your own flesh and blood* A...

The kingdom of God is like a flash mob

Written by Seth Barnes on January 10, 2011. Posted in Kingdom Reality. 9 Comments on The kingdom of God is like a flash mob

We’re in Spain this morning. I saw this over on Sara Choe’s blog and loved the idea. if Jesus were around today, i wonder if He’d compare the Kingdom of heaven...

What it feels like to die of AIDS

Written by Seth Barnes on January 9, 2011. Posted in A broken world. 12 Comments on What it feels like to die of AIDS

What is it like to die of AIDS? What does it feel like? This article in PlusNews is a heart-rending example. Thembi (last name withheld) is a 33-year-old HIV-positive mother of...

The World Race celebrates 5th year anniversary

Written by Seth Barnes on January 8, 2011. Posted in World Race. 5 Comments on The World Race celebrates 5th year anniversary

Ashley Musick was on the first World Race and wrote this blog. 5 years ago a rag-tag group of crazy Christians met in Matamoros, Mexico to leave on this new thing called the World...

Praying for grace

Written by Seth Barnes on January 7, 2011. Posted in Poverty. 13 Comments on Praying for grace

Grace came to me unexpectedly today. We’d been accosted by beggars everywhere we went in Hyderabad. You want to help the needy ones, but giving to beggars can be complicated....

The upsidedown logic of grace

Written by Seth Barnes on January 6, 2011. Posted in Kingdom Reality. 11 Comments on The upsidedown logic of grace

I’ve been thinking about grace and why we find it so scandalous. Grace, when it shows up, is usually a big surprise. We expect an equivalent response – an eye for an...

Coaching the T-squad

Written by Seth Barnes on January 4, 2011. Posted in 42nd Generation. 4 Comments on Coaching the T-squad

World Race coaches are a different breed. We’re empty nesters who, having reared our own children, apparently loved it so much that we’ve come back for seconds. Truth...

We’re in India today

Written by Seth Barnes on January 3, 2011. Posted in Missions. 11 Comments on We’re in India today

We’ve arrived in India this morning (24 hours on 3 planes). It’s been ten years since my first visit. I remember the train into Bombay. We passed the most fetid slums...

A fresh start

Written by Seth Barnes on January 1, 2011. Posted in Dealing with junk in our lives. 9 Comments on A fresh start

Who hasn’t made mistakes and longed for a do-over? To be human is to make a mess of things. We’re born making messes and we never quite grow out of the habit. The great...

Finding good friends & coworkers

Written by Seth Barnes on December 31, 2010. Posted in Community and Covenant. 6 Comments on Finding good friends & coworkers

My coworkers and friends Deryck and Serena Livingston illustrate an important principle for me: We should work with people whom we enjoy and can rely on. We spend so much of our...

The magic of discovery

Written by Seth Barnes on December 30, 2010. Posted in Better Living. 8 Comments on The magic of discovery

A few years ago, as we were flying the long hours from Paris to Kenya, we noticed that the stewardesses efforts to make the trip more bearable. As we flew from the Alps to the Mediterranean...

God needs to be bigger in our eyes

Written by Seth Barnes on December 29, 2010. Posted in Spiritual Formation. 5 Comments on God needs to be bigger in our eyes

When Clint Bokelman’s son Caden was four, Clint was tucking him into bed. Caden looked up at Clint and said, “We can’t see Jesus, can we, Dad?” Clint said,...

Meeting descendents of Hudson Taylor’s converts

Written by Seth Barnes on December 28, 2010. Posted in Missions. 5 Comments on Meeting descendents of Hudson Taylor’s converts

Ten years ago one of teams went on a mission trip to a town in the mountains of China. One of our team members, Deborah White, reported: After we checked into the hotel we started...

Called to make incredible pizza

Written by Seth Barnes on December 27, 2010. Posted in Finding your call. 13 Comments on Called to make incredible pizza

As 2010 comes to an end, it’s a good time to ask the question, “What is God calling me to do with my life?” Often he is simply calling us to bloom where we’ve...

Jesus keeps showing up

Written by Seth Barnes on December 25, 2010. Posted in Kingdom Reality. 4 Comments on Jesus keeps showing up

On Christmas, Jesus changed his shape and took on human sinew. Every Dec. 25 since then, we’re reminded of the story of God performing this divine spectacle in the Palestinian...

Why my church rebelled against the American Dream

Written by Seth Barnes on December 24, 2010. Posted in Radical Living. 20 Comments on Why my church rebelled against the American Dream

Just finished the book Radical this week. I loved it – please get it for Christmas and apply it. The path Jesus set before us may be radical, but it is as relevant to us in...

Confronting a warlock in Caracas

Written by Seth Barnes on December 22, 2010. Posted in Amazing God Stories. 5 Comments on Confronting a warlock in Caracas

Arriving in Caracas, Venezuela in 1993, our team immediately saw its cauldron of contradictions. Skyscrapers and slums coexist uneasily. Its six million inhabitants seemed to be...

A life filled with special needs

Written by Seth Barnes on December 21, 2010. Posted in A broken world. 25 Comments on A life filled with special needs

I’d like to tell you about maybe the hardest thing in my life. But it’s nothing compared with how hard it is for her. She was born with a shortened chromosome that has...

Does Jesus still raise the dead?

Written by Seth Barnes on December 20, 2010. Posted in Amazing God Stories. 62 Comments on Does Jesus still raise the dead?

I used to think that when Jesus told his disciples to pray for the dead to be raised, what he said didn’t pertain to those of us living in the modern day. If someone dies,...

She doesn’t know it yet

Written by Seth Barnes on December 19, 2010. Posted in Orphans. 5 Comments on She doesn’t know it yet

Stacey Hume is in South Africa. This post is from her blog: Shedoesn’t know it yet, but her mother is dead and her father is not around. In fact, no one knows who her father...

The future of youth ministry

Written by Seth Barnes on December 18, 2010. Posted in Youth Ministry. 5 Comments on The future of youth ministry

Over on Whyismarko, Mark Oestreicher asked me the question, “What is the future of youth ministry?” Basically he wanted a few predictions for 20 years from now. Here’s...

We have moorings to cast off

Written by Seth Barnes on December 17, 2010. Posted in Radical Living. 11 Comments on We have moorings to cast off

I wrote this last night and then woke up this morning and realized I don’t really understand the issue like I should. I diagnose the problem, but need you to help me with the...