Darryl Dash's Blog, page 65
October 17, 2020
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
What Does It Mean to ‘Fill Up What’s Lacking in Christ’s Afflictions’?
What could possibly be lacking in Christ’s afflictions? And in any case, how on earth could Paul fill them up?
Why This May Be the Most Offensive Verse in the Bible
I’m convinced that there’s one Bible verse that, when rightly understood, proves most offensive to people whose sensibilities have been shaped by Western notions of inclusivity and freedom.
October 13, 2020
In Praise of the Average Pastor
Few search committees look for one. Few young men aspire to become one. But it’s what most churches need. I’m grateful for the average pastor.
You know the one. He never won a preaching award in seminary. He will never sound like Matt Chandler or John Piper. He knows he could be better at almost every part of pastoring. He often feels inadequate when he compares himself to those who are more gifted, and those who have bigger ministries. Books weary him sometimes, not because he resists le...
October 10, 2020
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
The Cure for Celebrity Christian Culture: Faithfulness over Fame
It’s a huge mistake to believe what people think about you. That’s why we have to set aside people’s opinions of us. We have to know who we are—and who we aren’t—in God’s eyes.
4 Keys to a Heart-Level Discipleship
Here are four ways to take your personal discipleship deeper, beyond the mind to the level of the heart.
Three Places God’s Feet Touched the Ground
Here are three ...
October 6, 2020
Hoping for Happiness
When I was a kid, my role models were serious. They smiled occasionally, but when they talked about God they stopped smiling. God is serious. To become holy, I guessed, meant that one stopped caring about happiness.
I was confused. The Bible talked a lot about joy and gladness, and so did the songs we sang. But I didn’t see a lot of that as I looked around me.
I made sense of things by focusing on the verses that talked about denying ourselves, although I still wondered about all the o...
October 3, 2020
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
Stop Eulogizing The Local Church
Stop eulogizing the church. Jesus has already overcome death, hell, and the grave, and he has no intention of allowing death to come calling for his bride.
Don’t give up pastor. You have permission to be the pastor you always wanted to be.
There are some things a pastor can do that can contribute to more happiness in the ministry. Here are a few.
September 29, 2020
The Next Big Thing
A guest post by Ashley Hibbard
30 years ago, Church Leadership was going to fix our problems and get us moving in the right direction so all the people would come to Jesus.
20 years ago, seeker churches were going to make church fun and cool and all the people would come to Jesus.
10 years ago, the anti-church “just get together and hang out” folks were going to round up all the people who thought church was boring and bring them to Jesus
And today we’ve got disciple-making movem...
September 26, 2020
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
Becoming an Old Soul Christian
The world’s newness is vastly overrated. Be an old soul Christian.
If you walk intimately with God, you will experience His love, and it will flow toward those you are leading. It will change you and them.
How can we do something today without being overwhelmed by everything? Here are some suggestions.
Only Jesus can be Jesus....
September 22, 2020
Encouragement: The Unexpected Power of Building Each Other Up
Some books deserve to be forgotten, or to be read for a short time. Others — fewer than you’d think — deserve to be read for decades. One book that deserves continued attention is Encouragement: The Unexpected Power of Building Each Other Up by Larry Crabb and Dan Allender. It was first written in 1984, and I read it as a seminary student around 1990. I can’t think of a more timely book for today.
Understanding Encouragement
The first part of the book helps us understand what encourage...
September 19, 2020
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
Evangelicals Becoming Catholics
Most, not all, evangelicals shy away from overly ritualistic or liturgical worship, yet in so doing we turn our services into performances and our time of singing into the latest play list of what’s new. We have lost a sense of history and heritage and have replaced the depth and breadth of historic Christianity with the surface effects of pop culture.
These are just four things that might, on the fa...
September 15, 2020
Churches: Consider Running Your Own Conference
For the past four years, a small group of local churches in London, Ontario has run their own conference, inviting speakers like Andreas Köstenberger, Jared C. Wilson, and Andrew Naselli to speak.
Just before the pandemic started, I interviewed Jude St. John, the pastor of West London Alliance Church, and the director for the conference, Nicki Cole, about their vision for running their own conference, and what other churches could learn from their experience.
What motivated you to start Co...
