The cost of surrender
Jesus said, “Anyone who wants to save their life must lose it.” (Matt. 16:25) That’s the language of surrender wrapped in paradox.
Surrender is never fun –...
Author: Seth Barnes
Signs that you haven’t surrendered yet
You can tell the Christians who haven’t made Jesus Lord yet from a distance. You’ll see a number of telltale signs:
Chaos in their personal life
They play the victim...
The necessary journey to brokenness
So many of us are stuck in ruts in life, places where we’re trapped by past experience, by expectations, by relationships. Parts of our brain and spirit actually atrophy in...
What responsibility do we have?
Pakistan is a country that many Americans consider unsafe. We know what happened to Daniel Pearl there. We are wary.
So what do you do when you hear reports of up to 16 million homeless...
Government controlling your choice of friends
Do you have a best friend? As preposterous as it sounds, the government may have something to say about that sort of discriminatory behavior. Professor Mary Graber’s article...
Do idealists exercise faith more easily?
I am an idea guy, but I often have to struggle to find faith. I tend to look at reality. I want to know the odds and hedge my bets if I can. All of which makes my faith walk a more...
7 forms of spiritual empowerment
Because we humans are needy, perpetually requiring help to navigate life and the responsibilities that it hands us, the empowerment we seek can take on many forms.
I don’t...
Being forced to depend on God
I’ve been making the case on this blog that brokenness is a good thing insofar as you’re forced to face the reality that you are in fact broken. But beyond that, it’s...
If you’re broken, get to brokenness
We’re all broken, some of us are just more committed to not admitting the fact. We hide in the language of victimization and responsibility-ducking. We look for others to blame...
Testing is what makes you great
There are stages to belief.
We perceive a thing in our spirit and hope it to be true.
Then we look into the matter some more; we talk about it and pray about it.
Then God speaks...
Floods in Pakistan leave a million homeless
It’s interesting what shows up on CNN in a given news cycle. How many of you were aware of the scope of the floods that hit Pakistan this past week? I found a link somewhere...
Businesses that help orphans
You can do well by doing good. A number of businesses like State Farm Insurance in Ohio give a portion of their profits to help orphans in Swaziland. Here are some others. If you’re...
Ramseys shows us his pain
Here’s a blog from my son in Haiti. As we dig through the rubble, we uncover stuff that wants to stay buried.
A man named Ramseys recently took a group of us to his home...
Why we need to abandon everything
It’s so hard to see, much less get rid of, all the things that have taken up space in our hearts – space that God himself wants to fill. We may sense, but often can’t...
We need to be emptied to be filled
At times in my life, I’ve felt like such a loser. I’ve felt like I was losing the things I held dear. Losing my job, losing my income, losing my sense of self-respect....
An abused generation
World Racers are in the top 10% of their generation in many ways. Out of every 10 applications or inquiries we get, one goes on the race. They are hungry, committed, and very sharp.
Yet...
When God blows your mind
When God speaks to you, does he ever tell you things that blow your mind? In the Bible he’s always talking to his people and telling them stuff that is outside of their paradigm...
Out from the rubble: one pastor’s story
Pastor Jean Claude Belchet was under the rubble for two hours – he couldn’t breathe and thought he was going to die. He made it out, but his wife and two children didn’t....
Churches partnering to rebuild Haiti
Want to see God move? God is moving in Haiti and the churches that go there from the States are experiencing it first hand. Here’s a video that shows how a church in San Diego...
So what’s the big idea?
What’s your life vision? We need one to get through life with some sense of purpose. Living just to eat, just to survive, is not living. Animals do that. God made us in his...
Stop judging by mere appearances
I like the story where the king of Israel asks Elisha about the army attacking them. Elisha responds, “Don’t be afraid; those who are with us are more than those who...
Discipling requires physical fitness
Every afternoon at 4:30 pm at the AIM office, about a dozen of our staff gather for hard workout according to the video Insanity. And I say “go for it.” I’m more...
Top 10 blogs on sethbarnes.com
The concept of the “long-tail” is interesting in the context of blogs. Some blog posts have a long shelf-life. The longer they’re around, the more momentum they...
Scared to death at gunpoint in Tanzania
Our team in Tanzania was robbed at gunpoint this past week. A group of about 15 broke in to where they were staying. Thankfully the team is OK. We have moved them to a protected...