Darryl Dash's Blog

Big Idea: God judges everyone impartially, and no one measures up, so salvation comes only through faith in Jesus.

Ask most people how they can be right with God, and you’ll hear something like this: “I’m basically a good person. I try to live a moral life. I am kind to others. I’m not perfect, but on the whole, I think God will be pleased with me.” This is the typical response because we all instinctively know that goodness matters, and so we try to be good. We know that we’re not perfect, but w...

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Godly Leaders Go Low and Aim High

More than once, I’ve reflected on the fact that leadership isn’t nearly as glamorous as people think.

Negativity Bias and the Praying Imagination

Don’t let negativity bias prevent you from celebrating what God is doing.

Should I Stay or Should I Go? T.T. Shields, Benjamin Beddome, and Pastoral Transitions

There can be a strange vibe of secrecy surrounding a pastor’s move to a different church. I wonder if there is a better way?

P...

Pastoring is a privilege. You get to see God work in people's lives. You experience the joy of watching people grow. And you discover what's really going on beneath the surface.

But man, it can get heavy. Jonathan Levin hits the nail on the head in this article:

More than once, I’ve reflected on the fact that leadership isn’t nearly as glamorous as people think. You pour yourself out, pour yourself out, pour yourself out. You make yourself vulnerable to anxiety, blame, and worry. The pressures and...

Big Idea: In crisis, trust in God for the security, peace, and protection that you need.

I’ve been spending a lot of time in Isaiah lately. I really hope that one day we can go through this book together.

Here’s what the first part of Isaiah (chapters 1 to 39) is all about.

Situation: Isaiah was written in a time of severe crisis for Judah. For some time, Judah was in pretty good shape, but now that had all changed. They were in big trouble. The world had shifted. The Assyrian Empire was aggressive...

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Four Types of Christian Cultural Engagement

Four basic responses to this mixture of factors have begun to emerge amongst anglosphere Protestants.

Is Artificial Intelligence Demonic?

I wonder if what we're seeing with AI is in a sense worse.

Knowing Jesus: Stewards of Creation

Becoming a Christian hasn’t overridden my concern for the physical world; it’s breathed new life into it.

Grace Upon Grace: What Happened When John Piper Missed Our Conference

In Sweden, God ...

Have you ever felt the struggle of sharing your faith with others? Perhaps you've found yourself caught in circular arguments trying to prove God's existence, or you've been distracted by addressing individual moral choices rather than reaching the heart of the matter.

Romans 1-2 offers us profound insights that can transform our approach to evangelism.

Romans 1 and 2 gives us a profound understanding of humanity, both at the individual and cultural level. It also gives us some insights into how t...

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Tempted to Be Exceptional in Ministry

We are tempted to pursue their levels of productivity, to take up habits in order to produce results like theirs.

Don’t Go Alone: Why Ministry Leaders Need a Good Shepherd Too

Many go to school for years, dedicating countless hours to learning, and all out of a desire to enter ministry and care for others.

The Post-Literate Pastor

A digitally mediated, cloud-based scripturality will never have a serious chance of producing w...

I didn't get discouraged very often as a church planter, but I did at least a few times. On one particular occasion, I visited a pastor friend of mine. My goal was to talk him into taking over for me. I wanted a break from the relentless pressures of church planting. I wanted somebody else to take a turn. I was feeling the reality of what it’s like to plant a church. As Ed Stetzer observes, it’s a long, hard slog.

My friend heard me out. He listened carefully. He understood where I was coming fro...

Big Idea: When we refuse to worship God, God gives us over to our sin, and that sin distorts us as individuals and as a society. The only solution is the gospel.

A couple of weeks ago, I heard about a friend who sensed something was wrong with his health. Facing long wait times, his son arranged for him to see a doctor in Buffalo. Once there, his suspicions were confirmed: he was diagnosed with a progressive neurodegenerative disorder affecting his central nervous system. It’s an incurable condit...

Not All Reasons for Leaving a Church Are Created Equal

I suspect many leave for the very reasons God gave us the church in the first place

When People Leave: The Private Pain of the Small Church Pastor

Even if the church is large and growing, it can be hard when people leave. But when the church is small, each loss is much more painful.

Stay Put and Make Disciples: a Plea to Aging Saints

Godly influence compounds when you invest deeply in a place.

The Tragedy of Artificially Intelligent Pastors

Just be...