Darryl Dash's Blog, page 56
September 11, 2021
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
I Won’t Kiss Evangelicalism Goodbye
When I log off Twitter and look at what King Jesus is up to in local congregations in this country and around the world, I’m encouraged.
Pastor, every Sunday, over and over again, without fail, stubborn and convicted, you take to that pulpit and pin all your hopes on the gospel in your preached text.
Oversight is sight plus responsibility.
September 7, 2021
Knowing and Enjoying God
I’m a fan of habits. Because we live a good part of our lives by habit, it’s important that we build habits that help us pursue God. I agree with David Mathis:
Your perseverance, under God, is in your habits. Heaven and hell hangs on habits. Show me a man’s habits, and you’ll give me a glimpse into his very soul. The habits you develop and sustain today will affect whether you persevere till the end or make shipwreck of the faith.
Simply put, your habits are one of the most important thing...
September 4, 2021
Saturday Links
Podcast: I’m excited about season two of the Gospel for Life podcast. I’ve released a short trailer.
Curated links for your weekend reading:
15 Reasons Your Soul Needs Gathered Worship, Not Just a Livestream
Below, I’ve written 15 reflections on all that is lost when we choose to worship from the couch instead of the pew.
Bring Your Bible to Class — or Church
I’ll be recommending that my students consider taking up a habit they’re likely unfamiliar with: bringing an actual, physic...
August 31, 2021
Go Narrow, Go Deep
Suggestion: Since the Bible is probably too big a book for us to master it all in one lifetime, in addition to many annual read-throughs, choose one OT book and one NT and spend the rest of your life drilling down really deep there. Mine: Isaiah, Romans. Both are addictive.
— Ray Ortlund (@rayortlund) August 24, 2018
Pick a book from the Hebrew Scriptures, and pick a book from the New Testament. If you want to go even narrower, pick a passage: the Servant Songs of Isaiah, the Sermon on t...
August 28, 2021
Saturday Links
Podcast: Season 1 of the Gospel for Life podcast is over, but I’ve put together a summary of the twelve principles covered, along with links to dig down deeper.
Curated links for your weekend reading:
What Do I Do With “Wasted Years?”
What do you do when you can’t make sense of a season in your life? Your sacrifices are met with empty harvests and brass heavens?
Wisdom Is a “Who” More Than a “What”
If we want to know what perfect wisdom looks like, there is one place to look—the S...
August 24, 2021
Artificial Intelligence and Pastoral Ministry
AI generated content is becoming more common.
This technology is in its infancy, but is growing quickly. The algorithms that create this content are becoming more advanced. In a recent article from The Atlantic, Jerry Kaplan, author of Humans Need Not Apply states, “The basic notion of AI is that human intelligence should be utilized for the really hard jobs and the simple jobs should be turned over to machines.”
AI is still a long way from maturity, but it’s already being used to writ...
August 21, 2021
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
There’s No Such Thing as Virtual Church
Christian life and church life cannot finally be downloaded. They must be watched, heard, stepped into, and followed.
Honestly, there’s an action we’d invite you to take that’s more vital to your spiritual health than almost anything you could click on (including here). What’s the action I’m talking about?
Be committed to a church.
3 Ways to Live Out Low-stakes Hospitality
Whi...
August 17, 2021
Take Care About Talking About Things That Don’t Matter Here
In 1950, at the age of 94, playwright George Bernard Shaw broke his leg while pruning apple trees in his garden. The news shocked veterinarian James Alfred Wight, who wrote a series of books based on his life under the pen name James Herriot.
Wight happened to treat a calf at the time with a broken leg. He visited the farm, isolated the calf, and with the help of three farmers, toppled the calf on to its side. The farmers held the calf immobilized on the ground. With the vet, that meant f...
August 14, 2021
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
To stay with something takes long-term vision, the grace to stay put in order to get somewhere.
A Church Only Explained by the Gospel
The gospel must be true. Or else this family wouldn’t exist.
His heart was truly glad that his long-prayed-for desires had finally come to pass, even if God used another preacher.
Perfect Courtesy Toward All in the Worst of Times
Christians should be t...
August 10, 2021
The Art of Preaching Old Testament Narrative
I suspect that most preachers like preaching the epistles most. Most sermons I’ve heard, and (I expect) most sermons I’ve preached, are based on one of the New Testament epistles.
Generally speaking, preachers seem to struggle more to preach Old Testament narrative. How do you take a longer narrative and preach it? How do you even discern the message of the narrative, and how do you communicate the narrative and its point to your audience?
Steve Mathewson’s book The Art of Preaching Ol...
