Author: Seth Barnes

Helping your child get her dream

Written by Seth Barnes on September 26, 2007. Posted in Dreaming. 2 Comments on Helping your child get her dream

My daughter Emily has an amazing gift as an actress. A lot of parents feel that way about their children, but she has consistently wowed audiences when she’s performed, so...

Sons helping fathers die happy

Written by Seth Barnes on September 25, 2007. Posted in Dreaming. 3 Comments on Sons helping fathers die happy

Seven years ago on a back stretch of Alabama road I asked a question of Andrew Shearman that exploded in his soul and called him out of obscurity. “Have you done it yet?” “Done...

Can you die happy?

Written by Seth Barnes on September 24, 2007. Posted in Reaching Your Destiny. 1 Comment on Can you die happy?

Henri Nouwen observed, “Dying is about giving yourself away, trusting yourself to God.” Embracing the reality of our eventual death gives context to our loss and suffering...

The apostle Paul’s open letter to the church, Pt. 2

Written by Seth Barnes on September 23, 2007. Posted in Culture and Faith. No Comments on The apostle Paul’s open letter to the church, Pt. 2

Continued from The apostle Paul’s open letter to the church (Part 1): Therefore, they have not truly become “one with Christ and the Father” as Christ prayed in...

The apostle Paul’s open letter to the church

Written by Seth Barnes on September 22, 2007. Posted in Culture and Faith. 1 Comment on The apostle Paul’s open letter to the church

From my friend Bill Wilkie: “Alan Cross, a Pastor in Alabama with a blog www.downshoredrift.com, asked people to write a letter to the American church from Paul, the Apostle....

Results of 3-in-need campaign

Written by Seth Barnes on September 21, 2007. Posted in Dealing with junk in our lives. No Comments on Results of 3-in-need campaign

On Monday I told you about 3 World Racers who were out in the field and in financial need. Just wanted to update you on the final results of that campaign: 28 more gifts came in...

Why do we have jury duty?

Written by Seth Barnes on September 21, 2007. Posted in Culture and Faith. 8 Comments on Why do we have jury duty?

Yesterday, they almost sat me on a jury to hear a DUI case. Periodically, as an upstanding American citizen, I get a notice in the mail telling me that it is my privilege in our...

How has God wrecked you?

Written by Seth Barnes on September 20, 2007. Posted in Culture and Faith. No Comments on How has God wrecked you?

Another issue of Wrecked – an online magazine for missional Christians and spiritual misfits – just came out. Check out these stories of a generation that is waking up....

How to stop worrying

Written by Seth Barnes on September 20, 2007. Posted in Better Living. 1 Comment on How to stop worrying

The Spanish word for worry is “preocupado” – preoccupied. We moderns derive our identity from our occupations. We occupy our time – we fill it. We prize busyness. Henri...

My daughter’s night in a strip club

Written by Seth Barnes on September 19, 2007. Posted in Sex Trade and Sex Trafficking. 3 Comments on My daughter’s night in a strip club

From my daughter Talia when she was in Thailand. Also see Sex for Sale and Sex for Sale, Pt. 2. Thailand is amazing, I have LOVED it. I spent a week in Bangkok working on writing,...

What parents should give their children

Written by Seth Barnes on September 18, 2007. Posted in Parenting. 3 Comments on What parents should give their children

It used to be that our very survival was in question. A hundred years ago when the average life expectancy was around 40 years, parents had a lot of children as a means of insuring...

3 racers with a financial need

Written by Seth Barnes on September 17, 2007. Posted in World Race. No Comments on 3 racers with a financial need

We’re trying to help three World Racers stay in the field. The 3-in-Need Campaign ends today, but you still have some time to help us make up the difference. They’re...

Saying goodbye to my only son

Written by Seth Barnes on September 17, 2007. Posted in Fathering & Men's issues. 3 Comments on Saying goodbye to my only son

Yesterday, a jet crashed in Phuket, Thailand, one of the places where we currently have World Race teams. Many people were killed. My daughter Talia is in Cambodia and my son Seth...

Top 3 Movies of the Summer of ‘07

Written by Seth Barnes on September 15, 2007. Posted in Parenting. 1 Comment on Top 3 Movies of the Summer of ‘07

Despite the trashiness of most films, we had a few good onesthis summer. Here are three: Stardust: Maybe it’s the result of having raised four girls, but I’m a lush for...

Spiritual direction: advice from a soul friend

Written by Seth Barnes on September 14, 2007. Posted in Spiritual Coaching. 5 Comments on Spiritual direction: advice from a soul friend

Concepts from Eugene Peterson’s Under the Unpredictable Plant. The Celtic term anmchara means “soul friend.” Spiritual direction is the act of paying attention...

How God guides us: The bicycle principle (Pt. 2)

Written by Seth Barnes on September 13, 2007. Posted in Listening prayer. 1 Comment on How God guides us: The bicycle principle (Pt. 2)

Continued from yesterday’s blog . In Isaiah 58, God charges us with the task of demonstrating care to the needy and oppressed and promises that if we’ll do so, not only...

How God guides us: The bicycle principle

Written by Seth Barnes on September 12, 2007. Posted in Listening prayer. 4 Comments on How God guides us: The bicycle principle

A blog reader recently wrote this comment “What happens when God is NOT leading for a Season and you choose a path… NOT knowing if He would choose that for you?”...

The spiritual reality gap

Written by Seth Barnes on September 11, 2007. Posted in Kingdom Reality. 7 Comments on The spiritual reality gap

The Spiritual Reality Gap What I Believe——————————————————What I’ve Experienced The...

Missionaries forgetting where they came from

Written by Seth Barnes on September 10, 2007. Posted in Short-term missions. 6 Comments on Missionaries forgetting where they came from

Over and over again I watch the very missionaries I’ve mobilized through a short-term experience tell me, “It’s too much work. I don’t want to host any more...

Good Mourning: Learning to dance again, pt. 2

Written by Seth Barnes on September 9, 2007. Posted in Identity issues. 1 Comment on Good Mourning: Learning to dance again, pt. 2

Continued from Good Mourning: Learning to dance again Because we are social beings, we can’t help but find a part of our identity in others. I am uncle, father, husband, friend...

Good Mourning: Learning to dance again

Written by Seth Barnes on September 8, 2007. Posted in Living Free. No Comments on Good Mourning: Learning to dance again

In Southern Africa where AIDS stalks the living and normal family life is rare, children cope by compartmentalizing. They don’t talk about those events that have forced pain...

Serendipity or divine appointments?

Written by Seth Barnes on September 7, 2007. Posted in Spiritual Formation. 3 Comments on Serendipity or divine appointments?

If we live our lives as spiritual beings having a temporary human experience, we become available for all manner of divine assignments. We step out of the world of random living...

Overcoming fear

Written by Seth Barnes on September 6, 2007. Posted in Radical Living. 1 Comment on Overcoming fear

The final verse of Mark’s gospel as rendered in its earliest manuscripts was perplexing and incomplete: Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb....

Discovering the Christian imagination

Written by Seth Barnes on September 5, 2007. Posted in Dreaming. 1 Comment on Discovering the Christian imagination

The American imagination today is distressingly sluggish. Right now, one of the essential Christian ministries in our ruined world is the recovery and exercise of the imagination. We...