Darryl Dash's Blog, page 24

Don’t Lose Your Wonder (Hebrews 8)

Big Idea: Wonder again at Jesus, because the more we wonder at Jesus and his salvation, the less we’ll be tempted to wander from him.

John Piper has said that books don’t change your life; paragraphs do. I agree, but I’ll go farther and say that even sentences can change your life. One such sentence is this one by Trevin Wax: “The church faces her biggest challenge not when new errors start to win but when old truths no longer wow.”

There is so much wisdom in that one sentence. Our greatest challe...

Saturday Links

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8 Encouraging Trends in Global Christianity for 2024

The 2024 Status of Global Christianity report provides at least eight positive trends that paint a picture of a healthy, growing global church.

Dear Pastor … Your Leadership Is Needed in the Pulpit

Here are just a few of the reasons we’re thankful to God for your leadership of his people through consistent and diligent Bible exposition.

Alistair Begg, Weddings, Wise Application and Adding Mandates to Scriptur...

But Her Too

One of the hardest books I read last year is But He Said He Is a Christian: Journal Entries of a Young Christian Woman in an Abusive Relationship, written by Rebecca K. Tan. It’s a heartbreaking look at what it’s like for a Christian young woman to experience abuse by a professing believer. Because many of us have not experienced sexual abuse, we benefit from learning from the experience and reflections of someone who has.

Tan is back with a second book, just released this week: But Her Too: Rede...

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Reflections on the Evangelical Fracturing, Ten Years In

The story of Acts 29's trajectory will feel familiar to many of us outside of the network as well. Indeed it may serve as a small-scale model for much of the evangelical fracturing that began around 2015 and has continued through to the present. So it is worth considering why all this took place.

We're All Muzzled Oxen Now

My concern, really, is not with pastoral wages at all, but with evangelical awarene...

Two Things I'd Change If I Wrote How to Grow Today

In 2018, my book How to Grow came out. I’m still happy with it, but there are two big changes I’d make if I wrote this book today.

First, I’d write about the role of suffering in growth.

I talk a lot about habits in the book, which is good. Habits — or spiritual disciplines, if you prefer — play a big role in our growth. In fact, I’ve become even more convinced of their importance in our sanctification.

But I wish I’d written more about the role that suffering plays in our growth. Looking back, the...

Hold Fast (Hebrews 6:13-20)

Big Idea: Cling to Jesus under pressure because you can count on his promises, and he will give you the stability you need.

The year was A.D. 155, and the persecution against Christians swept across the Roman Empire. Finally, it came to Smyrna, an Ancient Greek city located in modern-day Turkey.

The proconsul of Smyrna ordered that the elderly Bishop of Symrna, a man named Polycarp, be found, arrested, and brought to the public arena for execution.

So they found him. They brought him before thousan...

Saturday Links

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Gospel Hope for North America’s Largest Unreached People Group

“The gospel is the power of God,” Ethier said, “and we are amazed daily at what God is doing.”

Five Fears of Old Age

Dear older saint, I need to join you in the fight against the fears of aging, and to do so by faith in future grace.

Dear Retired Pastor: Off with the Slippers, On with the Boots

Here are four lessons I’ve learned as a retired pastor.

Pastor, It's Time to Reevaluate Your Schedule

With a ...

The Unwavering Pastor

I really like Jonathan Dodson’s book The Unwavering Pastor.

I like it because Dodson is honest. When I first read one of Dodson's books, it felt like he understood my experience as a pastor better than I did. Dodson knows a pastor’s heart, a pastor’s anguish, and a pastor’s temptations. He shares his joys and struggles, and it makes me feel less alone. It may do the same for you.

I like this book because it’s biblical. Dodson doesn’t just write from his experience; he brings the wisdom of Scriptur...

Don’t Stop Believing (Hebrews 5:11-6:12)

Big Idea: Spiritual sluggishness destroys faith, so keep growing to the end.

It doesn’t take much work to come up with examples of people who have fallen away from following Jesus. In fact, it’s become a bit of a thing.

Go on social media and use the hashtag #deconstructing, and you will come up with hundreds of posts. You can find books on how to deconstruct. Someone even tried to offer a course on how to deconstruct. And it’s a sensitive issue too. I read a post by a Facebook friend that lashes ...

Saturday Links

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To the New and Nervous Scripture Reader

I heard you set a goal for the new year to read Scripture more faithfully. That’s great! But I was also told that now you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed. You want to be in the Word, but you’re just not quite sure how that’s going to work. I get it; and if I could, I’d like to offer you a couple of pieces of advice.

My Bible Reading Feels Flat — What Can I Do?

What if I read my Bible, but I don’t feel anything in my affecti...