Author: Seth Barnes

My Dad Died a Year Ago – Here’s What I Learned

Written by Seth Barnes on April 22, 2020. Posted in My Life. 12 Comments on My Dad Died a Year Ago – Here’s What I Learned

A photo of my dad and me when I was a year old. This is a tough day in a tough season. My Dad died a year ago today. That last week, I sensed he was slipping and didn’t...

God Is Calling Us Back Into Homes

Written by Seth Barnes on April 21, 2020. Posted in 42nd Generation. 11 Comments on God Is Calling Us Back Into Homes

By now most of us are getting sick of the same four walls and the claustrophobia of quarantine life. But I want to suggest that maybe we’ll come out of this time with some...

7 Trends for Young people in a Post-Quarantine World

Written by Seth Barnes on April 20, 2020. Posted in 42nd Generation. 2 Comments on 7 Trends for Young people in a Post-Quarantine World

John was at the top of his class. He had the job offer from a top west coast tech firm. The pay was good and his life was set to take off. Then last month, the firm called to tell...

When the Corona Virus Takes a Loved One

Written by Seth Barnes on April 17, 2020. Posted in Comfort and Pain. 13 Comments on When the Corona Virus Takes a Loved One

As reported by Michelle Gunnin Bill is an RN and he was not feeling well. High fever. Cough. Over the course of the next two weeks, each update became more concerning. And...

What Is God Saying to Us?

Written by Seth Barnes on April 16, 2020. Posted in Prayer. 10 Comments on What Is God Saying to Us?

What is God saying to us? Lots of people are asking that question these days. And the good news is, more of us are listening. Those of us who are Christ-followers have a rich history...

What Does It Look Like to Take Your Mask Off?

Written by Seth Barnes on April 15, 2020. Posted in Courage. 7 Comments on What Does It Look Like to Take Your Mask Off?

We are a nation in hiding. We hide so as not to get sick. But one day we will get to take our masks off. How will we do that? Becky Still wrote me an email today – her story...

Becoming Someone’s Hero

Written by Seth Barnes on April 14, 2020. Posted in Courage. 3 Comments on Becoming Someone’s Hero

In this sheltering season, as we try to stay healthy, we’re all tempted to conserve our energies. To look inward and to make our world small. It’s a strategy that my...

The Courage To Take Off Our Masks One Day

Written by Seth Barnes on April 13, 2020. Posted in Comfort and Pain. 3 Comments on The Courage To Take Off Our Masks One Day

We are a nation hidden behind masks and fasting from relationships. Consider the notion that the masks we wear and the social distancing we do are metaphors for the way we as a society...

It’s Time to Respond to Pain with Courage

Written by Seth Barnes on April 11, 2020. Posted in Comfort and Pain. 4 Comments on It’s Time to Respond to Pain with Courage

Heidi from Swedish Hospital in Seattle filed the following report from the frontlines last night: “Our floor has been transformed from a regular ortho floor to complete chaos....

Here’s How to Take Inventory of The Fruit of Your Life

Written by Seth Barnes on April 10, 2020. Posted in Discipling. 9 Comments on Here’s How to Take Inventory of The Fruit of Your Life

Here we are stuck in our homes. What a great time to stop and take inventory. Those of us who call ourselves Christians ought especially to take inventory of our fruit. I’m...

The Medicine We Need

Written by Seth Barnes on April 8, 2020. Posted in Comfort and Pain. 18 Comments on The Medicine We Need

Yes, we are sick and looking for medicine. Our labs and doctors are racing to find vaccines. But what if the virus were itself medicine for a national illness? If you look at the...

Notes For Nurses

Written by Seth Barnes on April 7, 2020. Posted in Comfort and Pain. 15 Comments on Notes For Nurses

If you’re sitting at home and wonder how you can make a difference in the COVID-19 fight, here’s an idea. Our frontline caregivers in hospitals around the country show...

10 Call Gratitude Challenge

Written by Seth Barnes on April 6, 2020. Posted in Better Living. 7 Comments on 10 Call Gratitude Challenge

How are you? Really? Is the claustrophobia of your life beginning to squeeze? In the last blog, I suggested the idea of getting flowers to nurses who are on the frontlines. I should...

Here’s How to Encourage Frontline ICU Nurses

Written by Seth Barnes on April 3, 2020. Posted in A broken world. 19 Comments on Here’s How to Encourage Frontline ICU Nurses

That’s my daughter, Estie, in full battle garb this week in the photo above. Every day when she goes to work, she and other nurses are fighting this virus. It’s exhausting...

We Will Be Looking For Heroes

Written by Seth Barnes on April 2, 2020. Posted in 42nd Generation. 4 Comments on We Will Be Looking For Heroes

Allina Robie has a grandfather in Kansas who is dying. Because the hospital is filled with the COVID-19 virus, he will die alone. His wife of 61 years can’t be with him or...

This Crisis Was Predicted a Year Ago

Written by Seth Barnes on April 1, 2020. Posted in 42nd Generation. 6 Comments on This Crisis Was Predicted a Year Ago

Is this COVID-19 crisis the beginning of a blizzard or of a mini-ice age? Will it be like a 2008 bump in the road, or will it be a second Great Depression? My view is that it will...

The Upside of a Season of Solitude

Written by Seth Barnes on March 30, 2020. Posted in Simplicity Liberates You. 10 Comments on The Upside of a Season of Solitude

We were sick as a society and needed a season of solitude to get better – so here we are quarantining. But what if this remedy was not only for our bodies, but for our spirits...

Grieving All You’ve Lost And Are Losing

Written by Seth Barnes on March 27, 2020. Posted in Comfort and Pain. 10 Comments on Grieving All You’ve Lost And Are Losing

We are children of loss living in a season of grief. I personally know four frontline medical workers who are exposed to the virus every day. As a nurse practitioner in downtown...

A Season of Forgiveness

Written by Seth Barnes on March 25, 2020. Posted in Living Free. 27 Comments on A Season of Forgiveness

A year ago my father died. I was at his bedside for that last terrible week when, one by one, his bodily systems began to sign off and shut down. Before that, I was his caretaker,...

window looking out to lake and mountain scene

We Will Wake Up to A New World

Written by Seth Barnes on March 20, 2020. Posted in Comfort and Pain. 18 Comments on We Will Wake Up to A New World

This plague will end. There will be more death and struggle along the way. Yes, it will change us, but it will end. And when it does, we will be different. In homes around America,...

Courage & Prudence in Wartime

Written by Seth Barnes on March 17, 2020. Posted in A broken world. 18 Comments on Courage & Prudence in Wartime

We are now in a wartime footing in most of the country. Most of us have no idea how to live life there. The things that worked before no longer work. COVID-19 is changing everything. In...

Here’s Something Better Than College

Written by Seth Barnes on February 27, 2020. Posted in Innovation. 13 Comments on Here’s Something Better Than College

Higher education is in crisis with few alternatives in sight. Students want an experience after high school that prepares them for life. Instead they get the modern college. The...

30 Years of Ministry

Written by Seth Barnes on January 24, 2020. Posted in My Life. 6 Comments on 30 Years of Ministry

It’s been 30 years since we started Adventures in Missions. Our kids were still babies. Starting something from nothing was a pretty big risk. Why not take a safer route? Well,...

Free Burma Rangers – the film review

Written by Seth Barnes on January 17, 2020. Posted in Courage. 10 Comments on Free Burma Rangers – the film review

We live in a cynical time with few real heroes. How refreshing then to see this new documentary, Free Burma Rangers, about a modern hero. It’s an exciting film...