Author: Seth Barnes

Discipleship should take at least 3 years

Written by Seth Barnes on September 19, 2008. Posted in How to Disciple. 12 Comments on Discipleship should take at least 3 years

Partly it’s our puritanical drive for efficiency. Partly it’s our microwaved McMuffin approach to life. We want to cut corners on discipleship when we need to take...

Young people, money, sex and power (pt. 2)

Written by Seth Barnes on September 18, 2008. Posted in Parenting. 4 Comments on Young people, money, sex and power (pt. 2)

This is a continuation of my earlier blog. Sex I have four daughters of marriageable age. Having been an adolescent boy with sex on the brain I know what guys are capable of. And...

Young people, money, sex and power (pt. 1)

Written by Seth Barnes on September 17, 2008. Posted in Parenting. 1 Comment on Young people, money, sex and power (pt. 1)

A big part of becoming an adult is learning how to deal with life’s three great temptations – money, sex, and power. As teenagers, we can’t begin to deal with...

Discipleship disqualifications

Written by Seth Barnes on September 16, 2008. Posted in Discipling. 11 Comments on Discipleship disqualifications

How are you doing today, the day after the market lost 500 points and Greenspan said in effect, “this is the worst financial crisis in 100 years, even worse than the Great...

My struggle to become a father

Written by Seth Barnes on September 16, 2008. Posted in Fathering & Men's issues. 17 Comments on My struggle to become a father

Loving my own five kids came naturally to me. They had my DNA, were in my home and wanted my attention. We had affinity, proximity, and need. It was natural to play with them and...

Is the simple life possible in America?

Written by Seth Barnes on September 15, 2008. Posted in Simplicity Liberates You. 12 Comments on Is the simple life possible in America?

A blog reader named Forest just posted a comment to this blog. I’d like to know if anyone has an answer for him. He said, “I have read your article, and although there...

The meltdown of Western civilization as we know it

Written by Seth Barnes on September 15, 2008. Posted in Kingdom Reality. 8 Comments on The meltdown of Western civilization as we know it

It’s past midnight and I just got off the phone with a friend who has been very successful in business. He began the conversation by saying, “I’m watching the...

A Sunday prayer for those fighting for life

Written by Seth Barnes on September 14, 2008. Posted in Prayer. 28 Comments on A Sunday prayer for those fighting for life

Last Sunday I put out a prayer request for Lambert and Cody, both of whom are waging a desperate battle for life. In the face of discouraging odds, they are choosing to look to...

Christianese – helpful labels or epithets?

Written by Seth Barnes on September 13, 2008. Posted in Kingdom Reality. 4 Comments on Christianese – helpful labels or epithets?

Words have to convey the meaning we intend or they cease to work for us. So every now and then, we need to re-examine our words. For example, how is the word “Christian”...

The sex trade will break your heart

Written by Seth Barnes on September 12, 2008. Posted in Sex Trade and Sex Trafficking. 4 Comments on The sex trade will break your heart

The World Race team we coach just arrived in Thailand en route to Viet Nam and then Cambodia. One of the things they’ll be doing is ministering to young girls caught up in...

Your church needs these basics

Written by Seth Barnes on September 11, 2008. Posted in Church. 6 Comments on Your church needs these basics

So you’re meeting regularly with a group of believers who call themselves “church.” But you can’t shake the sense that the atmosphere has gone stale, that...

Institutional church vs. community

Written by Seth Barnes on September 10, 2008. Posted in Church. 17 Comments on Institutional church vs. community

In our community group, Amie Bokelman had surgery that left her incapacitated, yet with her little ones still running around. Fortunately, my wife Karen loves Amie and, sensing...

We are not called to a balanced life

Written by Seth Barnes on September 9, 2008. Posted in Living Free. 18 Comments on We are not called to a balanced life

We’re too safe in America – too tepid. You can believe anything; just don’t believe it too strongly. According to Barna, we prioritize our children’s academics...

Destitute nation’s king holds birthday extravaganza

Written by Seth Barnes on September 8, 2008. Posted in Eswatini / Swaziland. 18 Comments on Destitute nation’s king holds birthday extravaganza

One of the interesting things about Swaziland is how little the opinion of outsiders seems to mean to those in power. I saw this news story yesterday about King Mswati’s...

When you’re wrestling for your life

Written by Seth Barnes on September 7, 2008. Posted in Prayer. 27 Comments on When you’re wrestling for your life

Here in Georgia the doctors have told our staff member Lambert Royal that his cancer is terminal. They’ve said the same thing to Cody Spahr out in Redwood City, CA. These men...

What abandon looks & feels like

Written by Seth Barnes on September 6, 2008. Posted in Abandon. 5 Comments on What abandon looks & feels like

Here in America, with a standard of living that is better than 99% of the planet, we struggle to move from self-sufficiency to dependence on God. Most of us don’t even begin...

Following up on your short-term trip

Written by Seth Barnes on September 5, 2008. Posted in Short-term missions. 2 Comments on Following up on your short-term trip

Stephanie Fisk ministered in the garbage dumps of Nicaragua last year. It was one of the highlights of her year. The stories she told of her experience impacted many (read them...

10 commandments of blogging

Written by Seth Barnes on September 4, 2008. Posted in Mobilization. 14 Comments on 10 commandments of blogging

Over the last three years we’ve built the World Race into a phenomenon – a fast growing ministry that is waking up a generation and challenging them to radical living....

The Bowman family’s call to Africa

Written by Seth Barnes on September 3, 2008. Posted in Eswatini / Swaziland. 9 Comments on The Bowman family’s call to Africa

When God calls you to a place as remote and needy as Swaziland, you are going to want to hear him clearly. Such was the case for Kevin and Christi Bowman. Kevin is a programmer...

Learning to be authentic in an artificial world

Written by Seth Barnes on September 2, 2008. Posted in Simplicity Liberates You. 28 Comments on Learning to be authentic in an artificial world

I hate things that are artificial. I don’t like malls, scripted “reality TV,” Twinkies, or Paris Hilton. And anyone who postures or poses just makes me head for...

Fear of storms in life

Written by Seth Barnes on September 1, 2008. Posted in A broken world. 3 Comments on Fear of storms in life

Katrina was such a catastrophic event, leaving a whole city homeless, that three years later, New Orleans is properly respectful and apprehensive of Gustav. Many are no...

How do I prepare for death?

Written by Seth Barnes on August 31, 2008. Posted in Abandon. 3 Comments on How do I prepare for death?

A lot of death out there lately – have you noticed? How ironic that the guy who wrote 100 Things To Do Before You Die just died of a fall in his home. A number of our Racers...

Stop dating and see the big picture

Written by Seth Barnes on August 30, 2008. Posted in Parenting. 11 Comments on Stop dating and see the big picture

Gary Black has six kids of his own and has ministered to young people for about twenty years. He has seen how messed up kids can become when they get caught up in the dating system...

God wants his family back

Written by Seth Barnes on August 29, 2008. Posted in Kingdom Reality. 4 Comments on God wants his family back

God has always been a family man. He loves us with a desperate love and when we were kidnapped and taken away to a far country to be held hostage, he set in motion a plan to get...