Darryl Dash's Blog, page 72

Transience and Church Planting

Ask me what the biggest challenge is in my church planting experience and I’ll probably give you an answer something like this:

Resistant Community + High Transience = Difficulty in Becoming Self-Sustaining

I knew I was moving into a resistant community. I underestimated the transience. 70% of the people in our community will be gone within two years. It’s very difficult to build a church with such a high level of transience.

We’re not alone. Urban centers tend to be more transient. A...

Saturday Links

Curated links for your weekend reading:

Go Home

We are not called to fame and fortune – and no one else is either. We are called to serve and worship Christ where we are right now and not wait until we get bigger, smarter, richer, or more influential.

8 Ways Expository Preaching Changed Our Church

People needed to hear from God. Our young church plant needed to hear from God. So, that’s what we did. And, expository preaching changed our church.

Church Planting in Canada

In Episode 443 of the...

What Is a Girl Worth?

I can think of two reasons you should read Rachel Denhollander’s book What Is a Girl Worth?

[image error]

Denhollander is an attorney, advocate, and educator. She became known as the first woman to file a police report and speak publicly against USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar, one of the most prolific sexual abusers in recorded history. She was named as one of TIME Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World”. Her story has appeared in Christianity Today.

Her book details her story and her...

Saturday Links

Curated links for your weekend reading:

Sow and Sleep, Pastor. Let God Define Success.

There are no “proven strategies,” no books, no Enneagram numbers, that if you just plug into a city will produce success.

In Church Planting, Overcome the Obstacle of Me

If I’m unwilling to embrace my own need for Christ, I become the hindrance to his work in my local church.

How Not to Find a Mentor

Here are five bits of advice I offer in terms of what not to do.

Where Does Evangelism Fit on Sunday Morning?

There is an active debate about the role evangelism...

Change Maker

This blog is about helping people grow in life and ministry.

Change Maker: Turn Your Passion for Health and Fitness into a Powerful Purpose and a Wildly Successful Career is not.

I should explain why I’m reviewing this book.

My Wife’s Job at PN

Char came home one day and told me she’d taken on a client: an online nutrition coaching company. I was horrified. I checked out the website and wasn’t reassured. It sounded as reputable as a snake oil sales outfit.

That company was Precision Nutrition. I soon discovered that they kne...

Saturday Links

Curated links for your weekend reading:

Pastor, Don’t Imply That Church Is Optional

The challenges are real. Let’s not make them even harder with statements that seem to pit true Christianity against the church.

Why You Should Go to Church [28 Biblical Reasons]

Being a part of a church isn’t just important, it’s essential.

Here are 28 reasons rooted in scripture on why we should faithfully go to church.

Small-Town Pastor, Preach Bespoke Sermons

Don’t squander the enormous opportunity God has given you. Serve a few people well for a long time. Give the...

essential.Here

The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry

My spiritual director laughed when I told him I’d preordered this book.

He knows me well. He wouldn’t have been surprised by how overloaded I felt just last Thursday, or how often my schedule feels out of control. It’s probably the greatest threat to my spiritual health and my effectiveness as a pastor. He wouldn’t have been surprised that a friend booked lunch with me recently to express concern about my busyness.

A busy pastor is a lazy pastor, said Eugene Peterson. Yes, I know. But I’ve got to run. I’ve...

Saturday Links

Curated links for your weekend reading:

Here Come the Skinny Cows

Conventional wisdom suggests that a church whose budget is not 100 percent supported by tithes and offerings is not sustainable. We believe, however, that a coming revolution in church economics will necessarily redefine the notion of church stability altogether, as an increasing number of congregations find they are not stable or sustainable by this definition.

Does Your Church Offer Weak Community?

The problems you may face with waning or stagnating membersh...

The Pastor’s Justification

At the end of a long day, I read these words from Jared Wilson’s book The Pastor’s Justification: Applying the Work of Christ in Your Life and Ministry:

Jesus Christ alone is the hope, treasure, joy, and purpose of pastoral ministry. Not church growth, not church planting, not church success, not church business, not church programs, not church activities, not church popularity. Let everything be a means to this end: the treasuring of Christ and the enjoying of his glory.

There’s nothing I don’t already kno...

Saturday Links

Curated links for your weekend reading:

3 Reasons Church Leaders Should Observe the Sabbath

Here are three practical reasons we — particularly as church leaders — should keep the Sabbath.

For Jesus’s Sake, Be Kind

What if we were like King David, taking the initiative: Who might I intentionally show kindness to today? Even more: Is there someone unexpected who I could bless?

Eye Opening Facts From Barna On Church Planting Finances

While church planting is by nature high risk, we really need to help this movement take dramatic steps forwar...