Darryl Dash's Blog, page 68
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
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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...
May 30, 2020
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
Is Preaching Online to an Empty Room Really Preaching?
Virtual worship and its sermons are for a limited time. They come with an expiration date. And, along with other eager pastors, I’ll be glad when that day arrives.
The Measure of Missionary Success
Remember, the one who reports the most speedy results may not in fact be the most successful worker.
The faithful missionary has their eye on the best and most lasting harvest, which will come in ...
May 26, 2020
Permission to Ignore the Gurus
Let’s get this out of the way so I’m not misunderstood: if you’re in pastoral ministry, I hope you’re working hard. Really hard.
Paul worked hard (Acts 20:35). He was able to speak of his hard work to the Thessalonian church (2 Thessalonians 3:7-8). He could say, “For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God” (1 Thessalonians 2:9). Nobody could accuse Paul of b...
May 23, 2020
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
When the light wanes tonight over Toronto and people clang their thanks to essential workers: pastors, I’ll be thanking God for you.
I don’t want to be a prophet of doom, but as a minister in touch with many ministers, I see a coming pastoral crash. And I’m not sure we can stop it.
(I hope he’s wrong.)
I confess that I always harbored the hope that one day, if we remained faithf...
May 19, 2020
Second Mountain Pastoring
In his book Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life, David Brooks says that life seems to have a two-mountain shape.
[image error] The First MountainOn the first mountain, we get out of school, begin a career, perhaps start a family, and establish an identity. People climbing that first mountain spend a lot of time thinking about reputation management. They are always keeping score. How do I measure up? Where do I rank? The goals on that first mountain are the normal goals that our culture endorses...
