Darryl Dash's Blog, page 60
June 8, 2021
Help Others Build Onramps for Spiritual Habits
We should all be concerned.
It’s important for every believer to read Scripture regularly and well, to allow God’s Word to shape their hearts and minds so that they live according to Scripture’s story rather than lesser stories peddled by the Word. It’s important that every believer live in prayerful dependence on God and participate in the life of the church.
But the evidence shows it’s not happening as much as we’d like. “I don’t want to sound alarmist, critical, or preachy,” writes ...
June 5, 2021
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
There he now sits, a glutton for interruptions, spending hours on his phone — and countless hours on other distractions. He no longer possesses the power of fixed attention (so vital in the Enemy’s service).
It is not enough to possess a leadership position. We ought to embody the kind of leaders that God desires: “faithful, reliable, caring shepherds.”
June 1, 2021
Why Habits Are Important When Talking About Spiritual Disciplines
I have books on my shelf about spiritual disciplines: Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney, A Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster, The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard, and more. They’re good and worth reading.
But I also own books about habits, including A Habit Called Faith by Jen Pollock Michel, Habits of Grace by David Mathis, and Your Future Self Will Thank You by Drew Dyck. I’ve even written a couple: How to Grow and 8 Habits for Growth.
...May 29, 2021
Saturday Links
Podcast: I enjoyed talking to Rich Villodas about his book The Deeply Formed Life on the Gospel for Life podcast.
Curated links for your weekend reading:
Make This Your General Rule of Thumb When Binding the Conscience of Others
Could every believer, in every place, across all time, people’s and cultures, both now and forever, do this thing?
Manners for Social Media in Polarized Times
Describing others with demeaning epithets is arrogant and unbecoming. Let’s run as far from it as...
May 25, 2021
The Double Danger of Scorn
In the Canadian TV comedy series Corner Gas, residents of Dog River hate neighboring town Wullerton so much that they spit on the ground whenever the town is mentioned. The local newspaper refers to the town as “Wullerton (SPIT).”
Their spitting is a form of scorn, “the feeling or belief that someone or something is worthless or despicable.” Scorn reveals itself through mockery and contempt for others, and a sense of one’s own superiority to the other group.
It’s funny on Corner Gas,...
May 22, 2021
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
In a World of Narratives, Be Radically Committed to Reality
I’m convinced that the biggest emerging fissure in Western culture is not necessarily between political left and right as much as those fiercely committed to reality (even when it goes against the narrative) and those who elevate the narrative (whether left or right) above reality.
Progressive Christians: Where and How They Differ with Jesus
Spending time at a theologically liberal Chr...
May 18, 2021
High Conflict in the Canadian Church
Conflict is good. Actually, the right kind of conflict is good. As Amanda Ripley writes in her new book High Conflict, healthy conflict “can be serious and intense but leads somewhere useful.” It “does not collapse into dehumanization.”
High conflict, though, is bad. It “becomes self-perpetuating and all-consuming, in which almost everyone ends up worse off.” It’s “typically an us-versus-them conflict.”
Ripley’s book tells stories of high conflict: a town council in California, a gang ...
May 15, 2021
Saturday Links
Podcast: I enjoyed talking to Kevin Vanhoozer about the role of theology in discipleship on the Gospel for Life podcast.
Curated links for your weekend reading:
The Danger of Being Driven By “Distant Drama”
Let’s not be so consumed with “distant dramas” that we fail to “look local,” and then lose sight of the fields of service where we can actually make a difference.
How Not to Debate Ideas in the Public Square
Here are eight bad ideas when it comes to communicating our ideas in p...
May 11, 2021
My Vertical Neighborhood
Around the time we began the process of planting a church in a condo community, I met Lynda MacGibbon, who had also moved into a condo community. She’s previously lived in a small city in eastern Canada. In her new condo, she, along with a friend, decided to build community in her building through weekly dinners, a writing group, Christmas morning brunches, and even Bible studies.
I loved hearing her stories. I invited Lynda and her friend to speak to our launch team at our new church, an...
May 8, 2021
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
The word “winsome” is not in the Bible. Yet it’s worth pondering this old-fashioned concept as it relates to the witness of the modern-day church.
A winsome life is attractive and inviting, exactly the sort of life every Christian should aim to lead.
Aren’t All Religions the Same?
...Sure, there are minor theological variations, but aren’t all religions working toward the same goal, namely, to make the world a better place?
