Darryl Dash's Blog, page 34
June 18, 2023
Lessons From the Worst King (1 Kings 18)
Big Idea: Pay attention to your pain and the impotence of your false gods, and worship God instead.
Have you ever seen a friend after a short period of time has passed? One of the questions that you will probably ask is, “What’s new?” I find that one of two things usually happens:
You say, “Nothing.” There are huge periods of time in our lives in which nothing really happens. You wake up. You go through another day. Rinse and repeat.Or, you say, “Everything!” Sometimes you don’t see someone for a ...
June 17, 2023
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
Apologetics in an Age of Despair
Exploring the nature of modern despair can open up fresh and exciting ways to make the hope of the gospel visible to those around us who so desperately need it.
Francis Schaeffer’s 4 Prescriptions for the Renewal of the Church
What will it take for the church to be renewed and the world to experience a profound move of God?
How Missionaries Persevere in Hard Places
We can’t manufacture conversions, and we shouldn’t try — because ...
June 13, 2023
When Things Look Like They Can’t Possibly Get Worse
I had a bad dream last week. When I told my son about it, he said, “Let me guess. Did you dream about a dam blowing up in Ukraine? Or about smoke from forest fires filling the sky?”
Who needs bad dreams with all the bad things that are actually happening?
My grandmother — one of the saintliest people I’ve ever known — used to say, “I can’t imagine things getting much worse. Jesus must be coming back soon.” I chuckle when I think of her words because things indeed seem to have gotten much worse. Id...
June 10, 2023
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
What to Know Before Serving as a Missionary in Canada
Canada is beautiful, but Canada is in desperate need of Jesus. We need people from inside and outside the country to take their role as missionaries seriously.
My Joy Depends on My Circumstances
While unbelievers hope for happiness from the world, believers hope for happiness in the world as they enjoy God’s good gifts with grateful hearts.
We’re Commanded to Love Our Neighbors, Not to Make Them Feel Loved
Ch...
June 6, 2023
The Inefficient Church
Seth Godin has an agenda. He wants you to do work that “can’t be automated, mechanized, or outsourced.” In other words, he wants to push you toward work that matters created by people who care.
“Tools can create efficiency,” he writes in his new book The Song of Significance, “but value can only come from … humanity, and the rare form of connection that comes from significance.”
It’s messy work, inefficient work, sometimes slow work, but also important and glorious work: work that slows down enoug...
June 4, 2023
Echo of Love (Song of Solomon)
Big Idea: Praise God for the gift of passion that’s an echo of an even greater love.
One of the most uncomfortable moments I’ve ever had is at a conference a few years ago in Florida. A married couple was leading music. The male music leader turned to the female music leader, his wife, and read a passage of Scripture.
She blushed. We all felt uncomfortable. What part of the Bible could make thousands of people cringe? The male music leader read from a particularly erotic section of the Old Testame...
June 3, 2023
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
The Christian life is supernatural, but it is not always sensational.
It is easy to read without getting much benefit. Our eyes can skim over lots of pages and barely take much in.
Cessationist or Continuationist: Have Some Gifts Ceased?
Study your Bible, pray, read, discuss, and when ready, humbly get off the bridge on either the continuationist or cessationist side.
Are Digital and Physical Bibles Friends or Enemies?
Ther...
May 30, 2023
We Need the Example of Robertson McQuilkin
We’re hungry for good examples. We need to follow the instruction of Hebrews 13:7 and find leaders who’ve finished well, and imitate them.
One such leader is Robertson McQuilkin, former president of Columbia International University.
McQuilkin was born in 1927, in Columbia, South Carolina. His parents were pioneers of Columbia International University, then known as Columbia Bible School. His father served as the first president.
McQuilkin met his wife Muriel Wengatz while studying at Columbia. The...
May 28, 2023
How to Live Well (Proverbs)
Big Idea: Fear God, get wisdom, apply wisdom, and remember Jesus, the ultimate wisdom.
What would you say to someone just starting out about how to live well?
I wonder if you would say something like this 45-second commencement speech:
Dear graduates,
Today marks a significant milestone in your life. You have worked hard to reach this point, and I am proud of each and every one of you. As you leave this chapter of your life behind, I want to remind you that the world is waiting for you.
You are the f...
May 27, 2023
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
The most effective mission is the one that flows out of Christian character. Anything less is a volatile compromise, and the bill will come due eventually.
The Freedom of Embracing My Weaknesses
As important as it has been to learn who God has made me to be has been learning, admitting, and embracing who he has not made me to be.
We need to be a part of a church. A real church. A church to which we are accountable. A...
