Darryl Dash's Blog, page 31

Saturday Links

Curated links for your weekend reading:

The Invention That Changed Everything

If I were to ask you to name the most important invention of the last thousand years, what would come to mind?

Number Your Days: Or Why Books Remind me of Death

Books speak before I even crack the cover, saying something like, “You’re running out of time, choose wisely.”

When You Don’t Want to Read Your Bible

If we limit our engagement to a “quiet time” format, we not only fall into false guilt and discouragement but also mi...

What I’ve Learned in the First Ten Years of a Church

Almost ten years ago, we held our first service as a new church. God willing, our anniversary service will take place on September 24, my last day as pastor of that church.

Over the years, we’ve seen God move. I have so many stories of his faithfulness and provision this past decade. We still continue to see God move. That’s one of the things that makes it hard to move.

Here are five things I’d do differently, and five things I’d do again.

Five Things I’d Do DifferentlyAssemble a stronger launch te...

Our Greatest Hope (Ezekiel 11:17-20)

Big Idea: Our problem is severe. The solution is that we need a new heart from God.

Sometimes the worst parts of life are very closely tied to the best parts.

Today I want to do something simple: I want to look at one of the worst moments in the entire Bible with one of the best promises in the whole Bible. The two belong together. The two give us a really good window into the Christian faith.

So let’s look at one of the worst moments, and then let’s look at one of the greatest promises.

One of the ...

Saturday Links

Curated links for your weekend reading:

Pastors and Social Media

If I were on a church’s pastoral search committee, one question I would have for each candidate is:
What social media accounts do you use, how often do you publish on them, and who in your life has total access to your page and your private messages and could confront you, if necessary, about anything on there?

Are You a Cheap Pastor on Social Media?

Pastoral counsel that leads to meaningful change should usually be earned through a rel...

Don't Begin With the Needs of Your People

I used to begin with the needs of people and then go to Scripture. I figured that the place to begin as a preacher is with the needs of the people in front of me.

I still see the value in this approach. The wise preacher considers the needs of the congregation. We need to know our people and their struggles, and build a preaching diet that’s appropriate to the needs of our people.

But there’s also a danger in this approach. Taken too far, the needs of people — not Scripture — will dictate what we ...

God’s Word to the Weary, Discouraged, and Ambitious (Jeremiah 45)

Big Idea: Life is hard, but God cares. Things might get worse, but it’s not about us. It’s about God.

Alan Noble has written a book recently called On Getting Out of Bed: The Burden and Gift of Living. Noble argues that normal life involves a great deal of suffering. “Tremendous suffering is the normal experience of being in this world. Beauty and love and joy are normal, too, but so is suffering.”

He says what many of us have felt: sometimes, getting out of bed in the morning can be incredibly ha...

Saturday Links

Curated links for your weekend reading:

Seeking Revival Is the Pastoral Task

In at least four key ways, pastoral ministry is a renewal-seeking enterprise.

Spurgeon on Building a Culture of Evangelism

Spurgeon gives three basic principles for building a culture of evangelism: Patience, Pastoring, and Prayer.

The Two-Bar Strategy: How to Have Ambitious Goals Without Overwhelming Your Days

How do we set ambitious goals without being disappointingly unrealistic in our daily plans?

Give Humble Counsel

Here a...

Don't Start the Race to the Bottom

I’ve heard Seth Godin use the phrase “race to the bottom.” Once you start to compete on being the cheapest, someone else can undercut you. You’ll find that you’ve entered a race based on cutting corners and getting the lowest possible buy-in from customers.

He warns:

…the problem with the race to the bottom is that you might win.
You might make a few more bucks for now, but not for long and not with pride. Someone will always find a way to be cheaper or more brutal than you.

The same applies to mini...

Saturday Links

Curated links for your weekend reading:

The Godliness of a Good Night’s Sleep

For those prone to productive self-reliance, the bed is a desk in God’s school of humility.

Our Missions Approach Is Too Western

If Western missionaries are to be faithful stewards of this treasure, we must avoid the individualism, egalitarianism, and consumerism that mark our culture.

Pray the Directory

One of the practical things you can do to ensure that you pray for all of the people in your church is to pray through you...

How to Autograph a Book

How should you respond when you’re asked to autograph a book?

I guess you sign it, at least if you are the one who wrote the book. But as you do, you battle the temptation to pride. One way to do this is to remind yourself of a biblical truth that helps you keep perspective. A Christian author from the past signed a book this way.

Merrill Tenney was his name. He was a professor of New Testament and Greek, and author of several books. He was the general editor of the Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dicti...