Darryl Dash's Blog, page 25
January 2, 2024
An Update on My Seven-Year Bible Reading Project
In case you’re interested, I thought I’d give you an update on my seven-year Bible reading project.
About the ProjectI started this plan in 2021. My plan was inspired by Nate Pickowicz and his book How to Eat Your Bible:
Instead of plowing through a few verses and then speeding off to work, slow it down. Instead of laboring through the whole Bible in a year, go a little deeper. Instead of reading your Bible simply to check it off the chore list, change your mental approach—change your philosophy. ...
December 30, 2023
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
5 Tips for Creating Healthy Bible-Reading Habits
Here are five simple steps to great Bible reading:
Reading Scripture Is a Walk in the Park: Bible Reading Plans for 2024
Here are some reading plans The Gospel Coalition’s staff have found helpful.
How Church Leaders Can Be a Nonanxious Presence
Just as anxiety can cascade through a system, so too can peace and stability.
Should Pastors Encourage Secular Therapy? A Guide for Christian Ministry
My goal in this articl...
December 23, 2023
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
32 Random Thoughts About the Local Church
Hence, today I’ve got a long list of brief, random (and unsolicited) observations and pieces of advice related to the local church. I hope there is something here that benefits you.
When such a person stands in the waters of baptism, we should also be willing to proclaim, “baptism now saves you,” even if we reluctantly have to follow it with a “but not like that.”
A pastor who ...
December 19, 2023
Top Blog Posts of 2023
Here, in order of traffic from highest to lowest, are a couple of lists of the top posts I’ve written over the past year.
Thank you for reading. I’m grateful.
Note: If you haven’t already done so, please sign up for my weekly newsletter, or subscribe to the feed for DashHouse (RSS) or my column at TGC Canada (RSS).
Top Posts at DashHouseDon't Fall Into Ditches When It Comes to Preaching
We can’t afford to make the mistake of devaluing preaching or devaluing ministries other than preaching.
December 17, 2023
Longing for New Creation (Isaiah 35)
Big Idea: New creation will feature a rejuvenated world, changed humanity, and access to God himself, so take courage!
When I was studying to be a pastor, I was invited to speak to a primary school class at a Christian school. The topic was heaven. I had to stand in front of a bunch of kids and tell them what heaven is like.
It was awful. I knew heaven would be good, but I had no idea how to describe it. The thing about kids is that you can’t fake it in front of kids. They know if you don’t know w...
December 16, 2023
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
My Top 10 Theology Stories of 2023
This is the view of God’s mysterious providence from my little corner of the world.
Why the HR Mindset Can’t Condemn Genocide
An overemphasis on HR-style processes can lead an organization to forget the purpose is to serve people.
Practicing Faith in a Post-Faith World: Five Ways to Respond
How do we live by faith in a culture losing its faith?
The Wholehearted Pastor: Why Men of God Pursue Purity
The high calling God has given u...
December 12, 2023
Best Books of 2023
I get excited when people release their lists of favorite books from the past year. Here are some I’ve taken in:
The Gospel CoalitionFor the ChurchChristianity TodayTrevin WaxTim ChalliesAaron ArmstrongKevin HalloranRussell MooreI’m sure they’ll be more.
Lists of books can be useful for finding good reads, but comparing our reading habits to others can be risky. I find this particularly true in my life this year. I wanted to read some demanding books this year, but never quite got to them, and tha...
December 10, 2023
The Gospel According to Isaiah (Isaiah 40:1-11)
Big Idea: There’s hope for us despite our sins because God will come, and you can count on it.
Something one of my teachers said has haunted me for years.
The teacher’s name was Haddon Robinson. He literally wrote the book on preaching. He was once named one of the twelve most effective preachers in the English-speaking world. He taught hundreds of students how to preach. On top of that, he was a man of integrity.
I once heard him say that out of all the sermons he’d heard preached, he had only hea...
December 9, 2023
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
9 Biblical Methods for Encouraging One Another
The best way to learn how to encourage is to watch others do it. The Bible models this for us in a variety of ways. Let’s look at the examples and learn how we can we use this powerful tool.
There is a certain type of right thinking that is wrong.
DeYoung, Rigney, and the Moscow Mood
Let me begin by stating up front that DeYoung and Rigney are two of my favorite authors and thinkers, and so it should ...
December 5, 2023
Introducing Early Church History
When I first attended seminary, I had little knowledge of church history, and little understanding of why it might matter.
My church history professor, Dr. Michael Haykin, changed that. Nobody can listen to Dr. Haykin talk about church history without feeling his excitement about this field of study. I began to learn more, but I still felt like I was only beginning to understand the subject.
More recently, we’ve seen an explosion of books that make the subject of church history more accessible. Bu...
