Darryl Dash's Blog, page 69
March 21, 2020
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
The Dis-Embodiment of Community
The rise of technology, social media, and individualism has also brought about another reality: the concept of participating in community by online means.
Its a wonderful gift for a time such as this. And I hate it.
How to Preach to an Empty Room
Here are some thoughts that Im keeping in mind as I preach for video. I hope theyll be of help to other preachers.
How to Get Through This Stronger Than Ever
When we get through...
March 17, 2020
Pastoring Through a Pandemic
Im concerned for pastors in this COVID-19 crisis. Pastors arent the only ones Im concerned about. Im praying for all kinds of people right now. The list is endless. But I am concerned about pastors.
David McLemore captured my concern in a Twitter thread:
Today after our online service, our lead pastor shared with our community group about how hes feeling the effects of decision fatigue (basically his brain is weary from having to decide so many things so quickly.) In a time like this
David...
March 14, 2020
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
Love in the Time of Coronavirus
How will we move the horizons of possibility, not just for those we directly lead, but for our whole culture, in the time of coronavirus?
God Made Sex, and His Rules Are Good
God cares who we sleep with because he cares deeply about the people who are doing the sleeping. He cares because sex was his idea, not ours.
Five Ways to Lead Your Kids to Ditch the Church
Regardless of what the specific figures happen to be, there...
March 10, 2020
Shaping Church Culture
My definition of church culture is simple. It’s whatever has been celebrated or tolerated so long within a church that it shapes the behavior and values of everyone within the church, usually without their awareness.
Few things scare me more as a pastor.
If you’re the pastor of an established church, you’re inheriting an existing culture. Your job is to celebrate what’s good about the existing church culture and to begin to confront the areas of that church’s culture that are unbiblical. Be...
March 7, 2020
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
Leading as If You’re Already Gone
I remember someone telling me when I was a young leader. “You won’t really know the impact you’ve made on a group of people or a ministry you lead until at least 5 years after you’re gone.”
Brothers, Preach Your Heart Out — No Matter How Few People Are in the Room
To the glory of God, study and pray and preach with all your strength—no matter how many people are in the room.
The Folly of ‘Looking for Community’
One...
March 3, 2020
The Unseen Realm: A Review
A guest post by Ashley Hibbard
Michael Heiser’s documentary The Unseen Realm, based on his 2015 book of the same name, is a fascinating examination of the Old Testament’s approach to the spiritual world. He masterfully explains how the Ancient Near East understood God or the gods to operate, and how that is reflected in the pages of the Old Testament. Heiser finds himself in murkier waters, however, when he proceeds to apply these findings theologically.
There is much to appreciate in Heiser’...
February 29, 2020
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
Building a Culture of Evangelism Takes Time, So Be Patient and Get to Work
Every church ought to cultivate a robust “culture of evangelism.” Programs are events. A culture is a way of life. Programs come and go. A culture endures.
Here are two descriptions of the ideal candidate for the office of Pastor. The first is taken from a large and well-known church in the West; the second is taken from Gregory the Great’s Book of...
February 25, 2020
The Abiding Value of Pastoral Friends
In my first church, a deacon began a meeting by yelling at me. He stood inches from my face before storming out. Nobody in the meeting knew what to do.
I called a friend of mine — a pastor — for lunch the next day. He cleared his schedule and took me to a nice lunch. He was older than me, and he’d been there. He offered me little advice but lots of understanding, and I remember that lunch to this day.
That’s the last time I had a deacon yell at me. But I’ve experienced all kinds of pastoral...
February 22, 2020
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
Here are 11 questions I’ve been asking myself as I think about improving as a preacher.
When Calamity Strikes, Pastors & Missionaries Are ”Essential Personnel”
Be encouraged, brother pastors, you are essential personnel.
5 Reasons Pastors Ought to Pray for Slow Growth
We live in a world that idolizes speed, size, and flash. This isn’t the Christ I worship, and I’m not sure it’s the church I want to worship in.
February 18, 2020
The Hole-in-the-Wall Church
“Guess where I’m eating?”
I attached a photo of my dinner, ramen from a restaurant near us, and sent it to my wife. I’d wanted to eat there for a while, and I thought she’d be jealous.
She soon replied with a picture of her own dinner, on her way to her destination just outside Phoenix. She’d discovered an authentic Mexican restaurant, a hole-in-the-wall, and the food was delicious.
She’d won the contest.
Small, Unnoticed, ExcellentI love playing that game: finding a restaurant or coffee...
