Pets Help Us to Grieve
Our pets give us the chance to practice losing. As our kids grew, hamster burials gave way to dog funerals in our home. The funerals didn’t get any easier, but the practice was good....
Author: sethbarnes
How do I raise kids who thrive?
Jeff Goins wrote an essay this week on the compulsive busyness of parents. Often, as parents, we find ourselves overwhelmed – living lives that are jam-packed. Between our...
A Story of Escaping from the Maui Fire
When Bully and Ashley Kotter closed on their Hawaiian plantation-style home in early August, they never dreamed that seven days later, it would burn down in the worst fire in modern...
The Life of Dave Wroughton – My College Buddy
My best friend from college, David Wroughton, died yesterday. I loved Dave and wanted to share his story as I knew it.
I arrived at Wheaton College in the fall of 1976 looking for...
Families Having the Best Year of Their Lives
When Bill and Katie Swan left on the World Race in 2010, it changed their lives. They had been married three years, had a heart for missions, and wanted to get experience on the...
Learning to be a Vulnerable Leader
I’ve spent a lot of my life mentoring young leaders. Gen Z is different. While they desire mentoring, they want their leaders to be vulnerable.
Why? My theory is that they’ve...
RIP George Verwer – A Missionary Statesman
George Verwer, founder of Operation Mobilization (OM) and one of the greatest advocates for missions of our day died last month. OM currently has 6,800 people working in 134 countries[1]...
Update on the AIM Mexico Base
Over 30 years ago, God laid it on my heart to establish a training center and mission base in Mexico. Every night I’d pray with our kids and they’d say, “Lord,...
To Grow in Faith, We Need Freedom to Fail
Photo: AJ Yorio
Growing up in a digital world makes our commitments continually reversible. Don’t like something posted online about yourself? Just erase it or edit it. Regret the...
Giving Up Your Need For Certainty
This morning I find myself in Brooklyn, NY. I’m going to spend the day with the founders of StoryTime Chess, a business that teaches kids how to navigate uncertainty. It teaches...
Is It Possible to Apply Jesus’s Model of Spiritual Growth?
You’d think it would have gotten easier to make a disciple. For one thing, in Jesus’s time, life was more difficult. Getting food, clothing and shelter took all your...
Churches Raising Up World Changers
Cal and Courtney Herrmann are the kind of sharp young couple who could get six figure jobs in a company near home in Nebraska. Instead, they will be going to the Dominican Republic...
Don’t Get Stuck Using an Old Wineskin
Photo by Geda Žyvatkauskaitė
The Bible is full of illustrations and lessons that involve wine. It’s the blood of Jesus; it’s medicine for your stomach; it’s a key part of celebrations;...
When Do We Need to Repent? The Asbury Revival Shows Us
Photo by Ben White on Unsplash
How rare is public repentance these days? Politicians who used to reach across the aisles instead shout each other down. Online we see cancel culture...
Why We Need Leaders Who Can Be Vulnerable
This generation of young people is hungering for authenticity and vulnerability. They’ve been lied to and have so many reasons not to trust. They want to follow leaders who...
Books I’ve Written, Including Some You’ve Never Seen
This is a new format for the blog. The first format change in 17 years! What do you think? I’ve been thinking about “why do I write?” and “what have I written?”
I...
Learning How to Build a Capital Budget
Imagine you’re leading a department in a business.
But you know that your tech stack is outmoded. You need to upgrade. How do you know what investment will give you the...