Darryl Dash's Blog, page 66
July 4, 2020
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
Five Lessons I Learned From a Covid-19 Spike at Our Church
This has been extremely challenging as a pastor and leader, and I hope I can share my experience with others who might learn from our mistakes dealing with COVID-19. Here are five lessons I learned.
4 Reasons to Wear a Mask, Even if You Hate It
When I look at Scripture I don’t see a mandate about masks, of course, but I see an invitation—to do at least four things.
June 30, 2020
Do We Know Who We Are When COVID-19 Ministry Gets Hard?
Zack Eswine learned that his mentor had committed suicide. Eswine took a sabbatical from the seminary where he taught and spent six months as interim pastor with his departed friend’s family and congregation. He spent his time foraging “together for scraps of grace and truth amid the wreckage.”
Eswine knew that his friend could have chosen to step down from ministry and still have mattered to his friends and family. But stepping down would not have been seen as a sign of humanity, but as ...
June 27, 2020
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
Are Social Justice, Critical Theory, and Christianity Compatible?
We’re just now beginning to see the cascading complications that the cascading acceptance of Critical Theory will have on the life and health of the church
…If you’re an elder or a leader or a pastor, you are called to shepherd the flock. That means you need to explicitly repudiate these ideas.
Is the Sabbath Command Still Relevant?
How can I better love God and love my neighbor?
T...
June 23, 2020
Two Conferences God Used in Unexpected Ways
I’m not a huge fan of conferences. I’ve been to so many over thirty years of ministry that I’ve grown a bit weary.
I can think of two conferences, though, that God used in an unexpected way in my life.
2014 TGC Atlantic Canada Conference
The summer of 2014 wasn’t a great one for me. I was invited to speak at the TGC Atlantic Conference. The real draw for me, though, was getting to hear the main speakers: Ray Ortlund, Jr., and Scotty Smith, both men I admired.
I’ll never forget so...
June 20, 2020
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
15 Minutes a Day to Change Your Life
I want to encourage you to spend 15 minutes, give or take, on something that when done humbly in light of the Gospel will change your life for the good.
4 Reasons Pastors Ought to Be Gentle
In this short article, I’d like to ask pastors to consider cultivating gentleness in their leadership. Let me give you four reasons why, and then propose a road to get there.
One Simple Way to Encourage Your Pastor
...
June 16, 2020
The Trolls Are Coming. These Books Will Help You Respond.
“This won’t take long,” she said.
We sat in the foyer of the church building. She didn’t want to venture any farther. We sat in chairs facing each other while she unloaded on me for my failings as a pastor. “You don’t need to respond,” she said. “There’s nothing you can say. This is the last time you’ll ever see me.”
If you’ve pastored for long, you’ve probably faced a similar scenario. Things seem to be getting worse these days with the increasing polarization in our culture and the r...
June 13, 2020
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
The world is already burning. It needs fire extinguishers, not firebrands. Be a healer who tends to the wounds of the fighters from both sides.
Exit the Echo Chamber. It’s Time to Persuade.
There has to be a middle ground between being an online jerk on one side—only interested in “owning” an opposing voice—or a hyper-sensitive snowflake on the other, with no tolerance for their views being challenged.
Here are three ways...
June 9, 2020
The Opportunity We Face Right Now
What a year.
I remember the days when the impeachment in the States was the big news. Was that only last December? Since then we’ve had a pandemic and financial crisis. Add to that the unjust murder of George Floyd and other incidents of injustice and you have yourself a mess. And we’re not even halfway through the year.
How should we respond to all of this?
My Concern
As I read social media, I see the danger of Christians becoming just another noisy advocacy group divided by our...
June 6, 2020
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
One White Person’s Prayer in Response to George Floyd
I’m not qualified to speak to all of the changes that need to take place in our society if we are to deal with racism and take Jesus’ command seriously to love our neighbor. But I offer up the following as a sample prayer that I hope will guide our family’s response in the days to come.
It’s horrifying to realize that it took a viral broadcast of a man’s murder to wake ...
June 2, 2020
Habits Aren’t the Point. Habits Are Important.
I’m a fan of Kyle Strobel. I was interested to hear him speak on a topic that matters a lot to me: the role of habits in spiritual formation.
It’s a good talk, but I was alarmed to hear him say this:
Today we have a litany of problems when it comes to Christian spirituality, the lived life of the Christian. We are inundated with self-help … It’s really just Aristotle dressed up like a Christian. Develop habits, habituate yourself into good character. That isn’t Christian, that’s self-h...
