Darryl Dash's Blog, page 20
July 28, 2024
God’s Goodness in Suffering (Psalm 34)
Big Idea: Learn about God’s goodness in the midst of suffering. But don’t just learn about it; experience it yourself.
Advice can be valuable, but only if it comes from somebody reliable. But when you find someone who’s been through exactly what you’re going through, and they have something to say, their advice can be incredible.
If you are getting married, it is so helpful to talk to someone who has been married for a long time and is making it work.If you’re going through joblessness, it helps s...
July 27, 2024
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
Keep Watch Over Souls: A One-Verse Charge to Pastors
As doctors deal with the health of the body, pastors deal with the health of the soul.
Dear Pastor, in a Celebrity Culture, Your Call Is Contentment
We want our work to be great so that people will see God’s greatness, not to show off our talents or to be greater than others.
How Pastors Can Encourage Others to Consider Vocational Ministry
Why are fewer people today answering the call to vocational ministry, a...
July 23, 2024
Two Kinds of Sin, Two Kinds of Prayer
When we think of sin, we don't typically think about the different kinds of sins that exist.
Psalm 19 can help with that. It not only helps us understand two kinds of sin, but it helps us learn how to pray for each kind.
Who can discern his errors?
Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;
let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless,
and innocent of great transgression.
(Psalm 19:12-13)
The psalmist talks about two kinds of sins, with a ...
July 21, 2024
Trusting God in Crisis (Psalm 31)
Big Idea: In crisis, turn to God, remind yourself what’s true, and then you’ll be able to help others take courage in God.
Someone I know and respect went through one of the hardest crises of his life.
He had reached the peak of his professional career. He’d had a solid track record of accomplishments. But out of nowhere, a powerful group of people turned against him and forced him out of his job.
“It just about took me out,” he said.
And so, for a year, their agenda was simple: “to try not to die, ...
July 20, 2024
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
Is Temptation Sin? Not According to Martyn Lloyd-Jones
He considers it a Satanic deception to confuse temptation with sin, and this undermines the assurance of Christians that they are truly the children of God.
What Does the Bible Teach About Divorce and Remarriage?
What are the common evangelical views on divorce and remarriage, and how do we evaluate them biblically?
When is the last time you thought about your baptism?
July 16, 2024
How Marriage Shows the Beauty and Poetry of the Gospel
“It was the breakdown of marriage that broke everything,” writes Ray Ortlund.
God created gender. He created man and woman, and he instituted marriage. All of this was a gift meant for his glory and for our joy.
But things went horribly wrong in the garden. Yes, they sinned, but part of that sin was the breakdown in how marriage is supposed to function. Kent Hughes says, “Everything was upside-down. Eve followed the snake, Adam followed Eve, and no one followed God.”
Both sinned. Their sins are sim...
July 13, 2024
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
Heaven Remembered: Learning to Long for Home
You can learn to think well about heaven by enjoying all the good things in this life now, lifting them as high as your imagination can go, and saying, this, but better.
We live in a time when a reacquaintance with God’s blessedness could prove extremely useful for pastors and their flocks.
Do you want God? You will have God. Do you delight in God? You will enjoy Go...
July 9, 2024
Don’t Mess This Up
I’d flown to California. I was about to speak to a group of pastors and ministry leaders. As I made my way to the front to speak, the organizer whispered something into my ear: “Don’t mess up.”
I remember that as spectacularly unhelpful advice. If anything, it threw me off as I began to speak. I could have used some encouragement or a promise to pray for me as I speak. I wasn’t expecting what he said.
It’s not a great thing to say to someone as they get up to speak, but in many other ways, it’s no...
June 30, 2024
Gender in Everyday Life (Ephesians 5:25-33; 1 Timothy 2:11-15)
Big Idea: Embrace your gender in every area of your life.
I can’t say that many blog posts have changed my life, but one did. It’s a short one written way back in 2011. It’s just 124 words long, but it’s helped me a lot. Here it is:
Run to the tension. I've been teaching our leaders and our whole church to "run to the tension" as they lead and navigate relationships in our church and in our city. When conflict, tension, and difficulty show up, run to it. Face it. Deal with it. Lead through it now,...
June 29, 2024
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
Train Your Body in Light of Eternity
We often approach fitness and health from two extremes: apathy or obsession with our bodies. But the gospel of Christ frees us from either extreme and helps us focus our eyes on eternity instead of our waistlines.
No Problem Is Too Small for Prayer
Ask God for his help. Give him your burden. Surrender your problem. He wants you to ask.
Underneath this style of parenting are unbiblical foundationa...
