Daniel Darling's Blog, page 14
October 1, 2020
The Way Home: David Zahl on why everyone is religious, especially online
We live at a time when many are fretting about the decline of religious adherence. But David Zahl, founder of Mockingbird and prolific author, says people have not lost religion, they are just practicing in ways we don’t recognize, such as the way we do activism or parenting or politics. He joins me on The Way Home to discuss his book Seculosity and why finding ultimate satisfaction in Christ is the antidote for our age.
Show Notes
Guest Biography: David Zahl is the founder and director of Mockingbird Ministries, editor-in-chief of the popular Mockingbird website, and cohost of The Mockingcast. He and his family live in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he also serves on the staff of Christ Episcopal Church.
September 24, 2020
The Way Home: Dane Ortlund on what Jesus is really like
Christians know Jesus loves them and died for them, but what is the heart, the character of Jesus and why does this matter? Dane Ortlund, author and pastor, joins the podcast to discuss his bestselling book, Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sufferers and Sinners.
Show Notes
Guest Biography: Dane Ortlund (PhD, Wheaton College) is chief publishing officer and Bible publisher at Crossway in Wheaton, Illinois, where he lives with his wife, Stacey, and their five kids. He is the author of several books, most recently Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers.
Blog: Strawberry-Rhubarb Theology
Twitter:@daneortlund
September 18, 2020
How Podcasts Shape Our Preaching
Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend may seem like odd preparation for preaching. But I’ve found the podcast to be a helpful elixir as I get out of the world of sermons, commentaries, books, and conferences to think about engaging with people on Sunday. In his conversations with other comedians, Conan gets into the pathos behind entertainers’ acts and the hard work it takes to produce a simple laugh. I was struck, for instance, by Ray Romano’s admission that his father’s refusal to give him approval is what drove Ray to try so hard to get laughs, and by Howard Stern’s description of how, as a boy, he took to cracking jokes about his neighbors to help relieve his mother’s severe depression.
As with these candid conversations, the work of a pastor often involves helping people get underneath their behaviors to a deeper understanding. And preaching, at its best, can lift back the layers to help us see ourselves as we really are.
Podcasts are part of an explosion in the popularity of on-demand audio content. According to research compiled by Podcast Insights, over 1 million podcast shows and over 30 million podcast episodes are currently available for listeners. Half of American households are podcast fans, and, when surveyed earlier this year, 37 percent of the US population said they listened to podcasts in the past month. The rise of podcasts is due, in part, to the ubiquity of smartphones and the ease of accessing on-demand audio. But it also seems to be a reaction to a visual world of blips and fast cuts, of surfing and scanning, of headlines without context. It’s an underground revolution that prizes nuance, deep diving on issues, and long-form conversations that defy our incessant need for tribalism and scorekeeping.
Read more here.
Photo credit: Mike McKenzie
September 17, 2020
The Way Home: Rhyne Putman on the arguments Christians should and shouldn’t be having online
Show Notes
Guest Biography: Rhyne R. Putman (PhD, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary) is an associate professor of theology and culture at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, where he has served since 2010. He is the pastor of preaching and vision at First Baptist Church in Kenner, Louisiana, and has published multiple volumes and articles, such as The Method of Christian Theology and In Defense of Doctrine. Rhyne and his wife, Micah, currently reside in New Orleans together with their two children.
New Book: When Doctrine Divides the People of God: An Evangelical Approach to Theological Diversity
Twitter: @rhyneputman
September 10, 2020
What I’ve Learned About Work from Working At Home
For most of my career, I’ve gone to the office. There is something to the ritual of getting dressed up, leaving the house, and reporting to work. My father didn’t do white-collar work, so I never saw him grab a briefcase, but I did hear him stir in the early morning hours before hearing the garage open and his work van pull out of the driveway. I’m glad my kids were accustomed to seeing me leave to go and do what we are created to do: work, create, and innovate.
But this pandemic has forced us into new rhythms, hasn’t it? In the last few years I’ve spent more time working from home as my employers have given me that flexibility, but one day a week working at the kitchen table turned into five days a week in a newly-created office space as COVID-19 initiated a massive exodus from corporate spaces.
I’ve had mixed feelings about working from home all these months. On the one hand, I miss the camaraderie of an office, the casual drop-in conversations that often spark new ideas, and the seemingly idle banter that shapes the culture of an office environment and builds friendships.
And yet, I’ve enjoyed working from home in many ways. Though I’m focused on my work, my wife and kids are always nearby. We’ve gotten closer as a family in these many months together, enjoying meals and walks and conversations, some intentional, some impromptu. I also don’t hate dressing less casual, with sweatpants as the new workwear.
Most of all, God has helped me see work in new ways. I’d like to share five of them here.
Read more at ERLC.
photo credit: Ivan Radic
Disinformation and Conspiracy Theories
Conspiracy theories have always existed in American life and have especially risen during election seasons. But in these times, during a global pandemic, racial tension and an unusual presidential contest, it seems belief in outlandish and disproven narratives is reaching new heights.
Easy communication via digital platforms, access to seemingly unlimited content online and deep distrust of key institutions in public life have created a toxic brew that many of our fellow citizens are willing to imbibe in times of fear and uncertainty.
So how can we combat misinformation? Many are pressuring the social media platforms to be aggressive about moderating content, a job that is both increasingly thankless and seemingly impossible. Others are rightly urging faith communities to work to push back on false information with the truth. But while these efforts are vital, there is work all of us can do to combat lies with truth and facts.
First, we should work to persuade those in our sphere of influence when they are tempted to go down a rabbit hole of misinformation. We do this, not by elitist condescension, but by humbly pushing back and providing facts, by loving our conspiracy theorist friends and not engaging in endless arguments that alienate rather than inform.
Second, we should work, in the areas in which we have power, to provide clear and transparent leadership. Belief in conspiracy theories rise when trust in key institutions is low.
In the past several decades every institution in American life, from the government to the media to the church, has failed us in some way. When people can’t trust those who lead them, they are prey to outlandish ideas that explain away the discomfort of their disappointment. Let’s work to be trustworthy in the areas under our control and create atmospheres of trust and goodwill.
Third, we should do our part to resist the urge to spread disinformation. If you’ve read this far, it’s unlikely that you believe the moon landing happened on a stage lot in Phoenix or that Bill Gates cooked up COVID-19 to enrich himself, but you may have played a part in spreading disinformation if you have recently posted sensational stories without context.
Read more at USA Today
The Way Home: Chris Crawford on the pro-life witness, politics, and how churches can help people vote
Show Notes
Guest Biography: Chris Crawford is a Senior Program Associate for Constructive Politics at Democracy Fund, an independent foundation working to ensure that our political system is able to withstand new challenges and deliver on its promise to the American people. In that role, he manages the Faith in Democracy portfolio, a collection of faith-based initiatives that empower religious leaders and their communities to promote pluralism and strengthen our democracy. This work is part of the Governance Team’s constructive politics strategy to explore what unites us while helping governing institutions become more diverse, inclusive, and better serve all Americans.
Chris joined Democracy Fund in 2015 after serving as a government affairs associate at Susan B. Anthony List. During the 2014 midterm elections, Chris was Assistant National Field Director for the organization’s Super PAC, leading a Get Out The Vote operation that made over 1 million live voter contacts across four states. Chris has worked on multiple campaigns at the local and federal level in his home state of New Hampshire.
Chris holds a degree in political science from The George Washington University and is currently pursuing an Executive Masters in Nonprofit Administration from The University of Notre Dame.
Website: DemocracyFund.org
Twitter: @CrawfordStuff
August 27, 2020
The Way Home: Tim Carney on division and healing in an Alienated America
What is the source of division and divisiveness in our country? What important bonds should we be creating at the local and national level to help bring healing and hope? Tim Carney is a journalist, author, and Christian whose book Alienated America looks at the policies and social disruption that has plagued many American communities. He joins me on The Way Home podcast as part of a special series highlighting themes from my new book, A Way With Words: How to Use Our Online Conversations for Good.
Show Notes
Guest Biography: Timothy P. Carney is a columnist at the Washington Examiner and a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. He is the author of The Big Ripoff: How Big Business and Big Government Steal Your Money and Obamanomics: How Barack Obama is Bankrupting You and Enriching His Wall Street Friends, Corporate Lobbyists, and Union Bosses. He lives in the Washington, D.C., area.
New Book: Alienated America: Why Some Places Thrive While Others Collapse
Twitter: @TPCarney
August 25, 2020
Grace for Leaders in a Time of Covid
I’ve had conversations with pastors across the United States over the last few months. And while my friends do ministry in vastly different contexts, there is one thing they share in common: pastoring (and pastoral care) in 2020 is the most exhausting, frustrating, difficult season of their lives. The cross-pressures right now on leaders is immense. Some don’t understand why their churches can’t resume the full range of ministries they conducted before the pandemic. Others don’t think there should be ministry at all until there is a vaccine. And then the racial tension in the country has provided a whole different set of discussions with opinions pulling and tugging at a pastor’s leadership. Having to develop new sets of plans every few weeks has worn out so many pastors.
Grace and the common good
What we need in this moment is something Christians are often too late to dispense: grace toward fellow believers. For those of us who sit in the pews, we should give the benefit of the doubt to those in leadership. This doesn’t mean we always agree with hard decisions or always come down in the same spot on cultural discussions. Grace isn’t the same as a lack of accountability for leadership. But it seems that we are too quick to dismiss our fellow believers over disagreements on important but secondary issues. And pastors, trying to display the best wisdom possible, are often caught in the crossfire in their pursuit of the common good for their people.
These times in which we are living are unusual and strange. We are grappling with choices we never thought we’d have to make. Social pressures bombard us every day as we scroll social media and hear what our friends and family are saying. Financial pressures hit us as the economic fallout of the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on communities and families.
Read more:
image credit: milo bostock
August 20, 2020
The Way Home: Max Lucado on pastoring in a pandemic
Max Lucado is one of the most widely read authors in the world. His books have sold over 100 million copies worldwide in 54 languages. But most of all, Max is a pastor, whose reassuring words have brought encouragement and hope during troubled times. His daily encouragement via video has helped thousands endure a global pandemic, racial tension and economic distress. He also shares about his writing process.
Max comes back on the podcast to talk about pastoring in a pandemic and how leaders can make difficult decisions in a way that both shepherds and leads. His latest book, You Are Never Alone releases on September 15 and helps those who feel lonely and disconnected find intimacy in a relationship with Christ.
Show Notes
Guest Biography: Since entering the ministry in 1978, Max Lucado has served churches in Miami, Florida; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and San Antonio, Texas. He currently serves as Teaching Minister of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio. He is America’s bestselling inspirational author with more than 140 million books in print.
New Book: You Are Never Alone
Website: MaxLucado.com
Facebook: MaxLucado
Instagram: @maxlucado
Twitter: @maxlucado
