Darryl Dash's Blog, page 12
February 22, 2025
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
We may indeed have spiritual issues to address. But our first solution may simply be this: open your eyes and ears and wonder at the world God made.
Pastor, You Can Endure: 5 Reminders for When Ministry Is Hard
To endure, we need the right expectations about the work we’ve been called to. Don’t sugarcoat the hard. Don’t deny the punches. Face it honestly.
My Posture Toward Readers I’ve Disappointed
The question isn’t whether you’ll let people...
February 18, 2025
Beyond Being with Jesus
John Mark Comer's book, Practicing the Way, is getting a lot of attention right now, and I appreciate much of the discussion around it. I agree with a friend that merging insights from the spiritual formation movement (like those of John Mark Comer and Dallas Willard) with Reformed principles could be highly beneficial.
While I appreciate a lot of what Comer writes, I'm cautious about his premise: “Be with Jesus. Become like him. Do as he did.” This sounds sacrilegious, but I believe that being w...
February 15, 2025
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
C.S. Lewis On The Danger Of Getting Too Much News
We’ve reached the stage now where we can hear of every new battle, every devastating famine, every natural disaster and celebrity scandal on the other side of the globe more quickly and easily than we can hear what is happening with our own neighbours in our own community.
Counselor, Consider Becoming Comfortable with Silence
Counselors like to talk, but sometimes, we are at our best when we remain quiet.
February 11, 2025
Drastic Measures Against Sexual Temptation
When it comes to sexual temptation, Jesus doesn't hold back.
You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is ...
February 9, 2025
Judgment! (Revelation 8:1-9:21)
Big Idea: If you don’t know Christ, repent because judgment is coming. If you do know Christ, rejoice because judgment is coming.
What is the hardest part of Revelation?
You would think that the hardest part of Revelation is understanding it. There are so many things that are hard to understand and interpret in Revelation. You have different interpretative grids:
Preterists, who interpret Revelation in relation to first-century eventsHistoricists, who see Revelation as a chronological description o...February 8, 2025
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
No, I Don’t Want AI to Write for Me
Technology can help us become better writers. But we shouldn’t be leaning on it for the heavy lifting.
The Church’s Opportunity When ‘Gentle Parenting’ Crashes
The church will have a major opportunity in the years ahead, as young people come of age having been raised under the philosophy of gentle parenting.
Gen Z, Fight ‘Brain Rot’ by Reading Books
Readers are those who can turn the page of history.
February 4, 2025
Preserving Wonder
I see the same problem throughout my life.
It happened in my marriage. When I got married 34 years ago, I couldn't believe how blessed I was. I watched my bride walk down the aisle and thought I'd pulled off the greatest heist. A few years later, I still loved her but often focused on her shortcomings. It took me a while to realize that I needed to work at preserving my wonder that God had blessed me with such a great wife. God called me not to be her critic but to love her as Christ loved the ch...
February 2, 2025
Who Can Stand? (Revelation 7:1-8:5)
Big Idea: God will preserve his own people, and they will enjoy his protection and presence forever.
Canadian preacher Darrell Johnson calls this chapter the most comforting of all the visions contained in the Bible. But you have to understand what he means when he says “comforting.”
I am using the phrase, “most comforting,” both in the modern sense of the word, “creating a state of well-being,” and in the original sense of the word, “fortifying for courageous action.” The English word comfort com...
February 1, 2025
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
Weary Pastor, Look to the Shepherd
Even shepherds are like sheep and need the Shepherd’s care.
My Framework vs. Single Bible Text
When it is my entire framework versus a single text of Scripture, the text must always win.
Cremation, as far as this writer is concerned, is no sin. It is rather a risk, not for the person who has died, but for the rest of us.
Your Phone Habits Aren’t Just About You
You’re not an island. Your phone habits are never ju...
January 28, 2025
The Best Parts of Being a Pastor
I think I know the worst parts of being a pastor. One of them is the hurt that’s involved. Every pastor I know, at some point, experienced the relational pain that Paul describes in 2 Timothy. The other worst part is the sense of one’s own unworthiness. Godly pastors know how far they have to go in their own sanctification, and have a deep awareness of their need for grace and strength to carry out the tasks of ministry.
I know the worst parts, but the best parts are too many to mention.
It could ...
