Darryl Dash's Blog, page 19

Love Your Neighborhood

There’s something refreshing about loving locally.

The first time I emerged from the Runnymede Subway Station in Toronto, I knew I’d discovered something different. I’d spent my entire life in suburbs, which had its own advantages. Bloor West Village, just off Runnymede Road, felt like something new. It was a village within a city, with residences, shops, businesses, and schools within walking distance of each other. There was nothing uniform or homogeneous about the area. It was messy, colorful,...

How to Handle Overwhelming Trials (Psalm 46)

Big Idea: When facing overwhelming trials, find your security in God, focus on your eternal home, and look to Jesus, not your problems.

In your life, you will face two kinds of crises.

One category is the kind of crisis you can manage on your own. It won’t necessarily be easy, but you’ll figure it out. Mortgage rates go up; you can trim your expenses and cover the increase. You get laid off; you can pivot and get a new job. Your marriage hits a rough spot; you get some help and work to improve it....

Saturday Links

Curated links for your weekend reading:

Live Among the Flock

Here are three reasons why I would encourage every pastor to teach his congregation the value of proximity.

The Healing Power of Confessing Sins to One Another

In order to be fully known, we have to trust others with our stubborn sins and wandering love. And in so doing, our faith is built up stronger.

When Spiritual Disciplines Took Over My Life

How can pastors and church leaders recognize and minister to a member wrestling with scrupulosit...

It Takes Years to Grow

Take a look at your body right now.

Unless you’re really young, you probably see signs of decay. Our bodies start the process of aging and decline at a cellular level well before we notice any significant changes.

Generally, this process begins in our late 20s to early 30s. During this time, the body's ability to repair and regenerate cells starts to decrease gradually. The rate of decline differs based on genetics, lifestyle, and overall health, but it impacts everyone.

Eventually, your skin will ...

When You’re Spiritually Depressed (Psalms 42-43)

Big Idea: When God seems far away, preach to yourself and turn to him for help.

If you know me, you know that I get pretty excited about talking about the habits we need to practice growing spiritually. It’s easy for me to get up and speak about the habits you need to build in your life if you are going to grow.

I was teaching these habits a year ago at a church when the pastor raised his hand. He asked a question: What do you do when you practice all these habits, and you still get stuck?

I wanted...

Saturday Links

Curated links for your weekend reading:

Why Many New Pastors Don’t Survive Their First Five Years—and How We Can Fix This

Newer pastors burnout generally not because regular preaching and teaching are more difficult than they expected, but because these activities too often happen under the stress of sharp conflict.

Every Good Parent Will Have Regrets

What would I tell my younger self about parenting?

The Joyful Cost of Evangelism

As I wrote this article, I considered what was most helpful for me when...

Have You Thought Much About the Urim and Thummim?

I don’t know if you’ve thought much about the Urim and Thummim.

The first mention of them can be found in the book of Exodus 28. In verse 15, God tells Moses to make “make a breastpiece of judgment.” The CSB calls it “an embroidered breastpiece for making decisions.” In verse 30, we read:

And in the breastpiece of judgment you shall put the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be on Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before the LORD. Thus Aaron shall bear the judgment of the people of Israel on his he...

Trusting God When Evil People Prosper and You Don’t (Psalm 37)

Big Idea: Don’t fret, but trust God when evil people get ahead and you don’t.

Do you ever look at someone else and think, “Where did I go wrong?”

I was sitting at a restaurant in Port Credit meeting with a friend. It was a beautiful day. As we ate, we watched yachts go by.

Now, God has been good to me. He has given me many material and other blessings. But as the yachts went by, I felt tempted to envy them. Somewhere along the line, their lives took a different path than the two of us sitting there...

Saturday Links

Curated links for your weekend reading:

10 Errors to Avoid When Talking about Sanctification and the Gospel

In the course of faithful preaching and teaching all the positive truths found in a robust, thoughtful doctrine of sanctification should be publicly declared.

Reconciling Free Will and Divine Sovereignty: A Three-Dimensional View from a Two-Dimensional World

To claim that it is either free will and human responsibility OR meticulous divine determination is to choose which passages of the Bible...

Small is Underrated

We’re impressed with bigness, but I believe that small is vastly underrated.

Small Churches

Take a small church. A small church is probably going to be a difficult church, not because there’s anything wrong with a small church in itself. The tough thing about attending or pastoring a small church is that some people will see that smallness as a failure. They will see a good small church as a failed big church rather than what it really is: a church that’s beautiful and holy at its current size.

Pit...