Darryl Dash's Blog, page 36
April 30, 2023
Never Underestimate Sin or Grace (2 Samuel 11-12)
Big Idea: Never underestimate the power of sin, our ability to rationalize sin, or the consequences of sin. But never underestimate God’s grace.
If you boil down David’s life — his 70-year life — down to just a few events, you’d probably pick these:
First: David killed the giant Goliath with five smooth stones. It seems like almost everyone has heard this story. Malcolm Gladwell even wrote a book about it. We frequently talk about David and Goliath when it comes to the little guy beating the big g...
April 29, 2023
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
Read the Bible in Bigger Chunks Too
Most approaches encourage reading and studying in a very short period of time. But do we miss something if we exclusively read in bite-size chunks?
How can believers think clearly about the issues of faith and AI? Below I suggest two things that we will need to navigate the unknown path before us.
5 Steps to Break Free from To-Do List Overwhelm
More important than getting things done is ensuring you ar...
April 25, 2023
Think Little
In 1970, the author Wendell Berry wrote an essay called “Think Little.”
Addressing the green movement, Berry argues that we tend to focus too much on making plans and making laws. “For most of the history of this country our motto, implied or spoken, has been Think Big,” Berry writes. But there’s a better way, and it begins on a much smaller scale.
But the citizen who is willing to Think Little, and, accepting the discipline of that, to go ahead on his own, is already solving the problem. A man wh...
April 23, 2023
Who Builds Whose House? (2 Samuel 7)
Big Idea: God takes the initiative in providing what we need. We simply respond.
It’s amazing how much of the Bible comes in the form of a story.
I used to think that these stories were pretty inefficient. God could have saved us a lot of trouble by giving us the main points that he wanted us to know.
But that was before I realized the genius of God’s plan. We don’t need bullet points. We need stories. In fact, literary scholars and neuroscientists are discovering the impact that stories have on th...
April 22, 2023
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
4 Benefits of Developing Position Papers in a Ministry Context and 2 Inabilities of Position Papers in a Ministry Context
Going through the process of developing position papers increased our clarity, confidence, compassion, and consistency.
Pornography Poisons Everything
Pornography, especially in the digital age, is an unmitigated disaster for every level of society.
Truthful Witness and the Transgender Debate
How can we expect the next generation to be biblic...
April 18, 2023
Four Kinds of Books I Love
There are so many books out there. We’ll never have time to read even the great books. We’ve got to prioritize.
Here are four kinds of books I love.
Deep BooksThe first kind of books I love to read are the deep ones. These are the ones that are work to read: joyful work but work nonetheless. These books are best read slowly, with a pencil, and with lots of time. Some are the kinds of books that should also be re-read.
In his excellent book The Art of Pastoring, David Hansen writes:
I stopped reading...
April 15, 2023
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
Finishing well means finishing with the fewest regrets.
Guidance for a Middle-Aged Pastor
A pastor I know recently prayed to the Lord for guidance. He was eager to be useful, he was aware that time was short, and his desire was to be faithful and fruitful in the King’s service.
How to Build a Theological Library on a Budget
Here are some tips for building a library when you lack both cash and shelf space.
Over...
April 11, 2023
Uncle John
Everyone needs a model in ministry. One of mine is my mother’s younger brother Uncle John.
John Crocker served as a pastor for over 40 years. He first served as senior pastor of three churches in Indiana, California, and Illinois for 33 years. He then became the interim senior pastor of six churches in Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, and Nebraska for 7 years. He’s also written a very helpful book on the Lord’s Prayer. He’s now retired.
I’ve been watching him for a long time, and his example ...
April 9, 2023
Hope When We Face the Worst (Psalm 27)
Big Idea: Desperate is normal. We can turn to God in our desperation, and we can find hope — resurrection hope — even as we face the worst.
In 2010, for one of the first times in my life, I felt anxiety. I felt afraid. I don’t remember feeling that way before, and I don’t think I’ve felt that way very often since, but I felt it then, and it bothered me. I knew I needed to take some corrective action.
And I did. I began to regularly visit with a counselor and spiritual director. I took three months...
April 8, 2023
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
American Bible Society is in its thirteenth year of conducting State of the Bible, asking American people their opinions and practices relating to the Bible.
Like the early church and the church throughout the non-western world, congregations in the West must learn to create their own porches or forecourts where people can enter a relational process and be prepared to hear and understand and perhaps embrace the...
