Darryl Dash's Blog, page 76
June 22, 2019
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
The Indescribable Joy Of Loving The Church God Called You To Serve
Sometimes, being able to say “I love this church and I want to stay here” is enough to keep you going.
Starting Churches in a ‘Follow Your Heart’ Age
Church planting has always been central to Jesus’s mission. But it’s particularly helpful and corrective in today’s cultural climate.
‘I’m Not Enough’: A Missionary’s Battle with Insufficiency
It’s on days like this, when I’m physically, em...
June 18, 2019
Letter to a Wounded Pastor
Dear Pastor,
Thank you for your ministry.
It may not seem like it right now, but God has used you. I know this because God uses the kinds of things you’ve done — preaching the Word, praying for your people, caring for sheep, calling people to worship — to make an eternal difference. We often don’t get to see the results of our ministries, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any.
I know you’re not perfect. I’m sure you’ve made mistakes. But I want to remind you of a few things today. I hope it...
June 15, 2019
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
Remembering David Powlison moves me deeply. When everything was on the line for Jani and me, David and Nan were there for us.
Looking back, there are four things I wish I could have told myself before I became an elder.
Five Way to Dwell on the Word When You Can’t Read
What if you can’t read? What if, though you can read, you find reading exceptionally difficult? What if you come from a culture that...
June 11, 2019
Don’t Cancel Your Church Services
“Church is closed today,” I’ll sometimes hear. “Instead we’re going to serve the community. We’ll be back to our regular services next week.”
I hear variations of this. Some churches shut down their worship for community service. Others shut down to give their staff and volunteers a break.
I understand the impulse behind these moves. God is displeased with corporate worship that is detached from devotion and ethics (Amos 5:21-24). And God cares that we get rest.
But I plead with you: don’t ca...
June 8, 2019
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
Old Books, New Books, and Trends That Fade Away
What can be learned from these books that are called “life changing,” “must reads,” and “instant classics” that are then quickly forgotten and good for nothing but scrap?
David Powlison’s Commencement Address: Be Unafraid to Be Publicly Weak
My deepest hope for you is that in both your personal life and your ministry to others, you would be unafraid to be publicly weak as the doorway to the strength of God...
June 4, 2019
My First Days As a Pastor
I’ve had three first days as a pastor in three different churches.
Day OneOn my first day ever I was 24. I moved into my office, arranged my books, and sat down at my desk. I had longed for this day and couldn’t believe it had arrived. The church was small, but I had big plans. I’d already begun to redesign the logo, and I’d started plans to blitz the community to tell them a new pastor was in town.
Where to begin?
I couldn’t believe that a church trusted me enough to call me as pastor. I ha...
June 1, 2019
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
John Stott’s Simple Secret for Spiritual Productivity
Following the preacher’s practical suggestion gave Stott the spiritual and mental quiet he needed for ministry, and it can help you as well.
Want an Extraordinary Marriage? Be an Ordinary Christian.
Every extraordinary Christian marriage is built on the everyday actions and attitudes that ought to characterize the life of every believer, even though we’re imperfect sinners making gradual progress in...
May 28, 2019
The Time Has Come for True Comfort
Eight days ago my sister-in-law’s house was hit by lightning. A fire started in the attic and threatened to burn the entire house down.
The week before that a friend died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 61. As we prepared to attend her funeral last Saturday, we got word that another friend just died of cancer. There was no hint of any sickness when we visited her last summer.
These, my friends, are days that we need comfort only God can provide.
Thin SoupI’m depressed sometimes when...
May 25, 2019
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
Regular exercise is worth so much more than a flat stomach or a smaller waist size. It can be a pathway toward deeper love and joy in our heavenly Father.
We Need Leaders Alert to Dangers from More Than One Direction
We need leaders who lean their weight now to one side and then the other, emphasizing a particular theological truth during a particular season and then a different truth in another.
May 21, 2019
Zingerman’s Guide to Good Leading
Sometimes one good book leads to another — or, in this case, to a whole series of books.
Last year I read The Positive Organization by Robert Quinn. Quinn mentions a deli in Ann Arbor, Michigan called Zingerman’s. “Zingerman’s is considered the epitome of a positive organization,” he writes.
That got me curious. I looked up their website, saw that they have a training division, and ended up buying Zingerman’s Guide to Good Leading written by co-founder Ari Weinzweig. It’s led to some of the m...
