Author: Seth Barnes

Getting an abundance mentality

Written by Seth Barnes on May 14, 2009. Posted in Spiritual Formation. 3 Comments on Getting an abundance mentality

The other day, one of my leaders had the opportunity to bless one of his people by granting her a privilege. It would have been a wonderful thing. I would have done everything in...

One day in a Romanian village

Written by Seth Barnes on May 13, 2009. Posted in Culture and Faith. 11 Comments on One day in a Romanian village

Karen and I are flying to the Ukraine today for our final World Race debrief of the year with our squad of 32 (the first time an entire group has stuck together for the duration)....

Purses that change lives

Written by Seth Barnes on May 12, 2009. Posted in Poverty. 3 Comments on Purses that change lives

Missions is tough. Often it requires living in proximity to people who are so poor, their desperation drives them to steal. The consequence: our missionaries have their stuff stolen...

Twittering my Ukraine trip

Written by Seth Barnes on May 12, 2009. Posted in Missions. 3 Comments on Twittering my Ukraine trip

I’m en route to Ukraine, and, at the suggestion of a friend, I decided to twitter the whole trip. Twitter is an online social media tool, and aside from being a really short...

Are you a fan or a follower of Jesus?

Written by Seth Barnes on May 11, 2009. Posted in Radical Living. 12 Comments on Are you a fan or a follower of Jesus?

Saw this blog by Gerrard Fess, a Canadian minister. The question: Are you more of a fan or a follower of Jesus? There seems to be this debate of whether there should be fans or...

Happy Mother’s Day from Emily

Written by Seth Barnes on May 10, 2009. Posted in Parenting. 9 Comments on Happy Mother’s Day from Emily

My daughter Emily has a dream – to be an actress in films and to project her faith while doing so. She knows that it’s an impossible dream. One in a million ever really...

Photo Contest: Some awesome entries already

Written by Seth Barnes on May 9, 2009. Posted in Missions photos. 3 Comments on Photo Contest: Some awesome entries already

With 274 submissions to our photo contest in the first two weeks, we’re off to a good start! There are three judges. They are all-stars. One of them is Grant Miller, who was...

3 Questions only a father can answer

Written by Seth Barnes on May 7, 2009. Posted in Fathering & Men's issues. 11 Comments on 3 Questions only a father can answer

If you want to get to the core of a person, probe his or her relationship with their father. You may look like a success on the outside, but if your father didn’t love you,...

How do you hire great people?

Written by Seth Barnes on May 6, 2009. Posted in Leadership. 5 Comments on How do you hire great people?

In general, in ministry, we do as bad or worse in hiring people as those in business do. If we followed Jesus’ model of walking with people before selecting them and then...

An out-of-control mom

Written by Seth Barnes on May 5, 2009. Posted in Parenting. 3 Comments on An out-of-control mom

A lot of parents need to get a life. Some are WAY too involved in their children’s lives. It leads to crazy dysfunctional behavior when they become adults. Here’s a story...

Demonic attacks like computer viruses

Written by Seth Barnes on May 5, 2009. Posted in Fighting your enemy. 17 Comments on Demonic attacks like computer viruses

People sometimes ask me about if I ever expected AIM to grow as it has and how did it happen? On a practical level, one of the keys has been the brilliant web programmers we have...

Self-management is key in this economy

Written by Seth Barnes on May 4, 2009. Posted in Leadership. 2 Comments on Self-management is key in this economy

Economists forecast that by next year, the unemployment rate in America will be well over 10% while the rate of under-employment (people working part-time or not looking for work...

Losing a friend to AIDS

Written by Seth Barnes on May 3, 2009. Posted in A broken world. 5 Comments on Losing a friend to AIDS

Pastor Gift works in the most AIDS-devastated place in the world – in Nsoko, the worst part of Swaziland. This past week was a hard one for him. He shares why in the following...

Provoke me to dare more boldly

Written by Seth Barnes on May 2, 2009. Posted in Radical Living. 5 Comments on Provoke me to dare more boldly

Uche Izuora is a Nigerian missionary to the Sudan. That’s a tough place to minister, but Uche is tougher. He and I have been corresponding for several years and he inspires...

Would you qualify to be an AIM staff member?

Written by Seth Barnes on May 1, 2009. Posted in Kingdom Reality. 7 Comments on Would you qualify to be an AIM staff member?

This is the 20th year since I started Adventures In Missions. It’s been quite a trip. I’m not the same guy I was when, I carved out a little office in our garage. What...

Coping with risk as a Christian

Written by Seth Barnes on April 30, 2009. Posted in Living Free. 5 Comments on Coping with risk as a Christian

If you follow Jesus, your attitude toward risk is different than those around you. Jesus said “let the dead bury the dead.” Braveheart paraphrased it, “All men...

A profile in courage: Peggy Buller

Written by Seth Barnes on April 29, 2009. Posted in Amazing God Stories. 11 Comments on A profile in courage: Peggy Buller

How would you respond to losing your daughter? I can’t imagine a more horrific thing. When the call went to Dwight and Peggy Buller that their daughter Sarah had been in a...

Missions photo contest: Enter and win!

Written by Seth Barnes on April 28, 2009. Posted in Missions photos. 29 Comments on Missions photo contest: Enter and win!

See the Missions Photo Contest entries here. I saw this photograph by Natalie Montgomery and was so taken by it. It captures a soul, a moment, a place and a ministry....

Narcissism and me, me, me

Written by Seth Barnes on April 27, 2009. Posted in 42nd Generation. 8 Comments on Narcissism and me, me, me

“It’s all about you” is a great worship song, but the reality is that we’ve raised a generation to believe “It’s all about ME.” In a thousand...

Susan Boyle & Paul Potts prove anything’s possible

Written by Seth Barnes on April 25, 2009. Posted in Reaching Your Destiny. 4 Comments on Susan Boyle & Paul Potts prove anything’s possible

Susan Boyle wasn’t the first person on Britian’s Got Talent to show us a Horatio Alger story that made the judges cry. Paul Potts did it a couple of years ago and now...

Africa – the new face of Christianity

Written by Seth Barnes on April 24, 2009. Posted in The Holy Spirit is on the move. 8 Comments on Africa – the new face of Christianity

As we Americans follow the Europeans and enter a post-Christian era, the nations we once evangelized are stepping into the breach. Andrew Rice describes an amazing trend in his article...

A culture that encourages HIV/AIDS

Written by Seth Barnes on April 23, 2009. Posted in Eswatini / Swaziland. 6 Comments on A culture that encourages HIV/AIDS

Did you see this report that appeared in Irin News? It helps explain why Swaziland has the highest HIV infection rate in the world. A culture that encourages HIV/AIDS MBABANE, 15...

Facebook is killing us softly

Written by Seth Barnes on April 22, 2009. Posted in 42nd Generation. 31 Comments on Facebook is killing us softly

I’m an efficiency nut and love all things digital. I’m writing this blog for goodness sakes. When Bill Gates advocated the paperless office, I said, “Amen!”...

Don’t squander affliction

Written by Seth Barnes on April 21, 2009. Posted in Dealing with junk in our lives. 8 Comments on Don’t squander affliction

Linford Detweiler, the male half of the duo Over the Rhine, said that one of his life’s ambitions is: “Don’t squander affliction.” I like that. It presupposes...