Darryl Dash's Blog, page 47
September 10, 2022
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
Hers was a life of service, not self-actualization.
Lord, Help Me See the Ways to Die Today
A few months ago, I began asking the Lord every morning to give me chances that day to die to myself, and for the Spirit to help me recognize those opportunities. He has never failed to answer this prayer. Not once.
Treasuring the Trail of Translation
If you’ve been taught the language, read the Greek New Testament before you teach the English one....
September 6, 2022
The Finite and Infinite Game of Pastoral Ministry
Simon Sinek’s book The Infinite Game explains the difference between finite and infinite games:
Finite games — “Finite games are played by known players. They have fixed rules. And there is an agreed-upon objective that, when reached, ends the game.” Examples are football and team sports. Finite games have established rules, and a beginning, middle, and end. The goal is to get to the end and win, and the winner is easy to identifyInfinite games — “Infinite games, in contrast, are played by known ...September 4, 2022
Rest (Exodus 20:8-11)
Big Idea: Embrace God's gift of Sabbath.
We have a problem.
In his book The Way We're Working Isn't Working, Tony Schwartz describes what it is:
The way we’re working isn’t working ... More information than ever is available to us, and the speed of every transaction has increased exponentially, prompting a sense of permanent urgency and endless distraction. We have more customers and clients to please, more e-mails to answer, more phone calls to return, more tasks to juggle, more meetings to attend...
September 3, 2022
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
Be Comforted in Your Smallness
Resting in our smallness, we are delivered from fear, lest our shoulders should bear the weight of the world.
From the Lonely Pastors: Please Invite Us to Your Party
Many pastors are lonely, and their congregations are unaware. Pastors and their people must work to overcome barriers to relationship.
7 Simple Steps to Preserve Your Local Church’s History
How you preserve and organize your documents now is critical for future leaders...
August 30, 2022
When You Hear of a Scandal
In the late 1980s, I came across Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald. To this day, it’s one of the most impactful books I’ve read. I still remember entire sections of the book, including one of the best chapter titles I’ve encountered (“The Sadness of a Book Never Read”) and his description of what he calls the sinkhole syndrome: when our private worlds can no longer support the weight of events and stresses from the outside.
I began reading everything I could of MacDonald’s writings,...
August 27, 2022
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
Why It Matters That Jesus Was and Still Is Human
The Son has not retreated back into the disembodied divine state in which he existed before he took on flesh.
What is impossible for God, who cannot change, is possible in Christ because of the glory of the incarnation.
The Spiritual Gift of a Closed Door
While you wait for some door to open, be as faithful as you can be with whatever work, however seemingly small, God has entrusted to...
August 23, 2022
Find Joy in the Chaos of Twitter
Twitter is confusing. I get so much value out of some of the people I follow, but a lot of it seems like a giant waste of time. I sometimes wonder if it’s worth continuing to use it.
A couple of months ago, I came across Kevon Cheung’s helpful book Find Joy in Chaos: How to Build Your Twitter Presence so Connections and Opportunities Come Find You. I enjoy Cheung’s relational approach to using Twitter.
I asked him some questions about the book. Here’s a summary. If you want to listen to my entire ...
August 20, 2022
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
What are some ways Simeon endured these challenges — such that he not only remained in ministry, but did so for 54 years and left a legacy that still bears fruit today? And what lessons might his example have for pastors today?
Preaching Is Hard. Act Like It.
Even for the best among us, preaching is hard. Preachers get in trouble when we act like it isn’t.
When Pastors Need To Be Extra Cautious
Pastors have to be aware that their liv...
August 14, 2022
Deliver Us From Evil (Matthew 6:13)
Big Idea: Life is dangerous, so pray that God protects you from sin and keeps you close to him.
There are six petitions in the Lord’s Prayer. The one that I find the most confusing is the last one:
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
(Matthew 6:13)
We’ve been looking at the Lord’s Prayer these past few weeks. The first three petitions have to do with God: God’s honor, God’s kingdom, and God’s will. Jesus wants us to see the bigger picture: that we’re part of something much bigg...
August 13, 2022
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
Think Carefully About Your Liturgy
We should all think carefully about what we do, the order in which we do it, and what we might be communicating as we do it.
My plea to pulpit committees is to pursue one man at a time.
There Is a Secular Case for Life
This is not an inherently religious argument. It is a moral argument, and moral arguments are not the exclusive prerogative of people of faith.
