Daniel Darling's Blog, page 8

A New Season and a Time to Build

Today it was  what is next for me and my family. I’ve accepted a position as Director of the Land Center for Cultural Engagement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. I’ll also be serving as assistant professor of faith and culture at Texas Baptist College. I’ll continue to write for World Magazine as a columnist and contribute to USA Today.

It’s a bittersweet moment. The bitter is the fact that we are leaving our home in Tennessee and moving to Fort Worth. We have absolutely loved Nashville, as it has been our home for eight years. We love our community and our church at Green Hill, where I’ve served as an associate pastor. So the decision to leave here involved a lot of conversations, a lot of prayers, and some tears.

And yet we are so excited about what God is doing at Southwestern. I’m impressed with what Dr. Adam Greenway and the team are building at this historic institution I’m thrilled about the opportunity to lead and build out the Land Center for Cultural Engagement and help train the next generation of Christian leaders to preach the gospel, to shape the culture, and to shape public policy. We are also excited to move back to my wife’s hometown. My girl from Texas is going back home.

There are a lot of important conversations among Southern Baptists and the broader evangelical movement about our place in the world, about what it looks like to live faithfully in a culture that is increasingly confused and complex. We aim to be at the center of those conversations, helping drive the discussion in all sorts of ways and to help equip the local church.

In some ways, the disagreements we are having are not new, from the first century to the 21st, Christians have wrestled with what it looks like to represent Jesus in a fallen world. And yet today it seems we are increasingly divided, torn apart by tribalism, by the ways in which we communicate in this digital age, by cultural factors that are dividing almost every institution in American life.

What’s more, there is also an increasing hostility to Christianity in the West. Some of this is due to secularization. Some of it is due to scandal and abuse of power by Christian leaders. How do we respond to this moment? I think 1 Peter 3:15 gives us a word: we should “have an answer for every man for the hope that lies within you” and yet do this with “gentleness and kindness.” Both courage and civility shape our Christian witness.

In many ways, I’ve been engaged in these conversations myself over the years, from my time as pastor of a local church in the Midwest to my years working with the amazing team at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission to my writing and speaking. I’ve always had a deep love for the local church and a love for politics and policy. This opportunity to lead the Land Center allows me to be in both of these spaces at the same time.

Lastly, I’m excited about the opportunity to help build something. I believe so strongly in the importance of institutions. We need Christians committed to renewing key institutions of American life and building new ones.

So I’m thankful to Dr. Greenway for this appointment and the opportunity to serve Southern Baptists. Please pray for our family during this season of transition.

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The Way Home: J.D. Greear prayer and leadership

Today, J.D. Greear joins me again on The Way Home podcast. J.D. is the former president of the Southern Baptist Convention and the senior pastor of The Summit Church in North Carolina. J.D. Greear wrote a new book called “Just Ask: The Joy of Confident, Bold, Patient, Relentless, Shameless, Dependent, Grateful, Powerful, Expectant Prayer.” On this episode, we talk about his new book, leadership, and his prayer life.

This episode of The Way Home is sponsored by Canopy. How do you protect your kids online without compromising speed and accessibility? Canopy is a great resource to help families find this balance. Go to canopy.us/wayhome for 30 days free and 20% off forever.

Show Notes

J.D. Greear Biography: J.D. Greear is the pastor of The Summit Church, in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina and the 62nd president of the Southern Baptist Convention. He is also the author of several books and speaks at events and conferences around the world. Under Pastor J.D.’s leadership, the Summit has grown from a plateaued church of 300 to one of over 12,000. Pastor J.D. has led the Summit in a bold vision to plant one thousand new churches by the year 2050.

Book: Just Ask: The Joy of Confident, Bold, Patient, Relentless, Shameless, Dependent, Grateful, Powerful, Expectant Prayer
Website: www.jdgreear.com
Twitter: @jdgreear
Instagram: @pastorjdgreear
Facebook: pastorgreear

This episode is sponsored by Canopy.

The Way Home: Patrick Schreiner on Studying the New Testament

Today, Patrick Schreiner joins me again on The Way Home podcast. Patrick is part of a family of theologians. His father, Tom Schreiner, is a renowned New Testament theologian. Patrick is a New Testament scholar in his own right. He currently serves as the director of the residency Ph.D. program and associate professor of New Testament and biblical theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Patrick is a prolific writer, and I love his work. His latest work is “The Visual Word: Illustrated Outlines of The New Testament Books.” Today, we talk about his journey to being a scholar, about why he loves studying the New Testament, and the NBA.

This episode of The Way Home is sponsored by Canopy. How do you protect your kids online without compromising speed and accessibility? Canopy is a great resource to help families find this balance. Go to canopy.us/wayhome for 30 days free and 20% off forever.

Show Notes

Patrick Schreiner Biography: Patrick Schreiner (Ph.D., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is Associate Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the author of “The Kingdom of God and the Glory of the Cross” and “Matthew, Disciple and Scribe.” He loves watching students see the depths and beauty of the Scriptures. This translates into a greater love for God and others as he trains ministers of the gospel who will go out to the nation and the world with the healing message of Jesus. He is married to Hannah and they have four children. They love good local food, the outdoors, sports, and he enjoys serving local churches through teaching and preaching.

Book: The Visual Word: Illustrated Outlines of The New Testament Books
Twitter:  @pj_schreiner
Instagram: @schreinerpatrick
Facebook:  Patrick Schreiner

This episode is sponsored by Canopy.

The Way Home: Tim Challies on the internet and visual theology

Today, Tim Challies joins me again on The Way Home podcast. Tim is a prolific writer. He was one of the first people to begin blogging, and he has been regularly blogging excellent content over the past couple of decades. Tim is a pastor and theologian, and he writes really good content on theology and church life. Today we talk about Tim’s latest book “Knowing and Enjoying God.”

This episode of The Way Home is sponsored by Canopy. How do you protect your kids online without compromising speed and accessibility? Canopy is a great resource to help families find this balance. Go to canopy.us/wayhome for 30 days free and 20% off forever.

Show Notes

Tim Challies Biography: Tim is a Christian, husband to Aileen, and father to two girls in their teens and one son who is waiting for him in heaven. I worship and serve as an elder at Grace Fellowship Church in Toronto, Ontario. I am a book reviewer, co-founder of Cruciform Press, and have written a number of books including:

Website: www.challies.com
Book: Knowing and Enjoying God (Words from the Wise)
Twitter: @challies
Facebook: Tim Challies

This episode is sponsored by Canopy.

Passing The Plate In a Digital Age

I saw an offering plate before I was even old enough to attend church. My father was a lay elder and church treasurer. This usually meant I got to stay and play with my friends long after the services were finished, because Dad was counting the offering. The offering plate is as indelible in my mind as any image from over four decades of attending church—that smooth wooden bowl with a felt liner that got passed down the row every time we gathered for worship. I also remember watching my father help pass the plate on Sundays and hearing my mother write a check, trying to write fast enough to beat the plate to the row while also muffling the tearing sound as she tore her tithe from the checkbook.

These rhythms of giving—the passing of the plate, the invitations to generosity, the scriptural texts that urge us toward holding our treasures loosely (Matt. 6:19–20)—gradually worked their way into my own life as habits. They started as dropping a few quarters into the Sunday school offering as a child and developed throughout college and into family life as a married man with children. The opportunity to serve as an usher allowed me to exercise my gifts in the church early on, hinting toward my future calling as a minister of God’s people.

It’s hard to imagine Sundays without the Sunday offering. And yet this is not just an act of imagination, but a reality. The physical act of giving is a tradition that’s quickly falling out of fashion, especially in more contemporary church settings. There are good reasons for this, of course. We live in an increasingly cashless society, where fewer people have physical money in their wallet. Many churches have begun skipping the plate-passing in favor of drop boxes or baskets toward the back of the sanctuary.

Read the whole thing here:

Photo by Milada Vigerova on Unsplash

The Way Home: Rebekah Lyons on rest and rhythms

Today, Rebekah Lyons joins me again on The Way Home podcast. Over the last several year, Lyons has developed a ministry talking about rest, renewal, and how to find good rhythms in work and life. How do we take time to care for ourselves in a way that acknowledges that we’re human and need good healthy rhythms of Sabbath rest alongside work? Lyons’s writings on this have been a great gift to the church. In this episode, we talk about her new book “A Surrendered Yes.”

This episode of The Way Home is sponsored by Canopy. How do you protect your kids online without compromising speed and accessibility? Canopy is a great resource to help families find this balance. Go to canopy.us/wayhome for 30 days free and 20% off forever.

Show Notes

Rebekah Lyons Biography: Rebekah Lyons is a national speaker, host of the Rhythms for Life podcast, and bestselling author of Rhythms of Renewal, You Are Free, and Freefall to Fly. An old soul with a contemporary, honest voice, Rebekah reveals her own battles to overcome anxiety and depression—and invites others to discover and boldly pursue their God-given purpose. Alongside her husband, Gabe, Rebekah finds joy in raising four children, two of whom have Down syndrome. She wears her heart on her sleeve, a benefit to friends and readers alike. Her work has been featured on the TODAY show, Good Morning America, CNN, FOX News, Publishers Weekly Starred Reviews,and more.

Website: rebekahlyons.com
Book: A Surrendered Yes
Twitter: @rebekahlyons
Facebook: Rebekah Lyons
Instagram: @rebekahlyons

This episode is sponsored by Canopy.

The Way Home: Kara Powell on parenting and discipling teenagers

Today, my good friend Kara Powell, Executive Director the of the Fuller Youth Institute, joins me on The Way Home podcast. Fuller Youth Institute is a great resource, and Kara has been such a great voice in helping us think through spiritual formation in our kids. Her brand new book, “3 Big Questions That Change Every Teenager,” looks at some of the questions that teens ask. Kara is a mom, and she talks about some of her experiences as a parent raising children. She also talks about the research around evangelical teens, what drives behavior, and how to raise kids who love the Lord and are ready to make a difference in the world.

This episode of The Way Home is sponsored by Canopy. How do you protect your kids online without compromising speed and accessibility? Canopy is a great resource to help families find this balance. Go to canopy.us/wayhome for 30 days free and 20% off forever.

Show Notes

Kara Powell Biography: Kara Powell, PhD, is the Chief of Leadership Formation and Executive Director of the Fuller Youth Institute at Fuller Theological Seminary. Named by Christianity Today as one of “50 Women to Watch,” Kara serves as a Youth and Family Strategist for Orange and speaks regularly at parenting and leadership conferences. Kara has authored or coauthored numerous books, including Faith in an Anxious World, Growing With, Growing Young, The Sticky Faith Guide for Your Family and the entire Sticky Faith series, and Can I Ask That? Kara and her husband, Dave, are regularly inspired by the learning and laughter that comes from their three teenage and young adult children.

Website: karapowell.com
Book: 3 Big Questions That Change Every Teenager
Twitter: @KPowellFYI
Facebook: Kara Powell
Instagram: @KPowellFYI

This episode is sponsored by Canopy.

The Way Home: Dana Perino on politics and media

Today, Fox News host Dana Perino joins me on The Way Home podcast. Perino has been in the journalism space for the last decade or so, and before that she worked in the White House as the Press Secretary to George W. Bush. She has a lot of insight and perspective on the nature of politics today. In this episode, Perino gives insights into the Bush Family and what it was like working with them. She also gives advice for anyone who wants to work in media and politics.

This episode of The Way Home is sponsored by Canopy. How do you protect your kids online without compromising speed and accessibility? Canopy is a great resource to help families find this balance. Go to canopy.us/wayhome for 30 days free and 20% off forever.

Show Notes

Dana Perino Biography: Former White House Press Secretary Dana Perino is anchor of “The Daily Briefing with Dana Perino,” and a co-host of “The Five” on Fox News Channel.  She also appears as part of the political and election coverage teams on the Fox News Channel, and has a weekly political podcast, “I’ll Tell You What,” with Chris Stirewalt.  Prior to this, Dana served for seven years in the administration of President George W. Bush and became the first Republican woman to be named as the White House Press Secretary.  Dana joined the Bush Administration following the September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001 as a spokesperson at the U.S. Department of Justice.

Twitter: @DanaPerino
Facebook: Dana Perino
Instagram: @danaperino
Website: danaperino.com
Book: And the Good News Is

This episode is sponsored by Canopy.

The Way Home: Shai Linne on ethnic unity

Today I am joined by my friend Shai Linne, popular Christian rap artist and pastor of Risen Church in Philadelphia. He loves the Lord and Scripture and is a great Christian voice speaking to a variety of topics. He has a new book out called “The New Reformation,” and he is working to bring people together around racial and ethnic reconciliation. I believe that the Bible calls us to work for reconciliation and unity, and Shai Linne is one of the leaders in the Church who is trying to do that.

This episode of The Way Home is sponsored by Canopy. How do you protect your kids online without compromising speed and accessibility? Canopy is a great resource to help families find this balance. Go to canopy.us/wayhome for 30 days free and 20% off forever.

Show Notes

Shai Linne Biography: Shai Linne is a recording artist who has released numerous acclaimed Christian hip-hop albums, including Jesus Kids. He is the author of God Made Me and You: Celebrating God’s Design for Ethnic Diversity and coauthor of It Was Good: Making Music to the Glory of God. After completing a pastoral internship at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., Linne cofounded Risen Christ Fellowship, an inner-city church in his hometown of Philadelphia. Linne, his wife, and three children live in Philadelphia.

Book: The New Reformation: Finding Hope in the Fight for Ethnic Unity
Twitter: @shailinne
Facebook: Shai Linne
Website: shailinnemusic.com

This episode is sponsored by Canopy.

The Way Home: Todd Nettleton on Afghanistan and Christian persecution

Today, Todd Nettleton, the voice of Voice of the Martyrs Radio, joins me on The Way Home podcast to talk about the church in Afghanistan and the persecuted church around the world. Todd appeared with me on a special webinar I did at NRB last week. The content was so good that I wanted to be sure to share it with you today. Voice of the Martyrs is an incredible ministry, and I’m grateful for their work and for the resources that they provide for the church.

Read the prayer I wrote for Afghanistan here.

This episode of The Way Home is sponsored by Canopy. How do you protect your kids online without compromising speed and accessibility? Canopy is a great resource to help families find this balance. Go to canopy.us/wayhome for 30 days free and 20% off forever.

Show Notes

Todd Nettleton Biography: Todd Nettleton is Chief of Media Relations and Message Integration for The Voice of the Martyrs and hosts The Voice of the Martyrs Radio. Todd serves as a voice for persecuted Christians through writing, speaking and working with the media to tell people in the United States about the faithfulness of Christ’s followers in 70+ nations where they face persecution. Todd’s newest book, When Faith Is Forbidden: 40 Days on the Frontlines with Persecuted Christians, was published by Moody Publishers in 2021. In the book, Todd invites readers to travel with him and hear 40 powerful stories from persecuted Christians.

Book: When Faith Is Forbidden: 40 Days on the Frontlines with Persecuted Christians
Twitter:  @todd_nett
Facebook:  @PToddNettleton
Website: persecution.com

Click here to support Voice of the Martyrs and receive a free copy of Todd’s book “When Faith is Forbidden”: https://www.persecution.com/forbidden/

This episode is sponsored by Canopy.