Posts by Daniel Darling
Why Should We Talk About Our Racial History?
In Southern Baptist Churches this Sunday we celebrate Racial Reconciliation Sunday. At the ERLC, we’ve developed quite a few resources for churches to use in their presentations. I’m grateful our denomination celebrates this, given our racial history and given how central this issue is to the gospel. In the Great Commission (Mathew 28:16), we see…
Read MoreBeware of Backdoor Legalism
Last week, during an apparent display of debauchery at the Grammy’s (I don’t usually watch award shows. It’s just not my thing. Other folks feel that way about NFL football, which I love). This caused award-winning singer, Natalie Grant to walk out. She was, from all accounts, not self-righteous or judgmental about it, but just…
Read MoreBeware of People-Pleasing
My good friend, Charles Stone, has written about one of the hidden temptations of leadership: the tendency to people-please. I know that I fought this as a pastor and continue to fight it as a leader today. On the one hand, your job is to love and serve God’s people. This means putting aside preference…
Read MoreEquipping Students with the Tools of Leadership
Last year Angela and I were enjoying some downtime in Orlando Florida. The hotel we were staying at was also hosting a student leadership conference hosted by Student Leadership University. We had the chance to speak to the organizers there and came away impressed by their vision for student discipleship. Last week I had the…
Read MoreThomas Kidd on Christians and History
Last week for Leadership Journal, I interviewed one of my favorite historians, Thomas Kidd. Kidd is professor of history at Baylor University, and the author of books including Patrick Henry: First Among Patriots. He is currently writing a biography of George Whitefield for Yale University Press. It was a fascinating discussion. Below is one of the questions I…
Read MoreCelebrating Sanctity of Human Life Sunday In Your Church
Sunday is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. If you are a pastor or church leader, I encourage you to celebrate this in your church. Here are a few resources you might consider: 1) Here’s an oped I cowrote with my colleague Andrew Walker for Christianity Today. A snippet: As evangelicals who came of age during…
Read MoreDon’t let your kids say this phrase
There is a phrase in our vocabulary that nobody has to teach us to say. It’s a phrase kids learn very quickly in childhood. And it’s a phrase you should ban in your household: “That’s not fair.” It sounds innocent enough. Everybody wants life to be fair, right? But this is an insidious phrase, revealing…
Read MorePreaching as a Craft to Be Cultivated.
I love preaching. I love the act of preaching and I love listening to preaching. There is something wild and mysterious and beautiful about God’s Word flowing through a flawed man empowered by the Holy Spirit as a primary delivery method for spiritual change. This week I had the chance to interview Matt Woodley, managing…
Read MoreFearless Predictions for 2014:
A fair warning: I’m likely the worst prognosticator in the world. Just ask President Pawlenty. And yet here I am making predictions for 2014, well, just because this is what writers do. So without further fanfare, my picks for 2014: 1) After a year (2013) of religious liberty setbacks, this will be the year religious…
Read MoreWhat Are Your Goals for 2014? Here are mine
Yesterday I poo-poohed New Year’s posts on Twitter: 3 kinds of New Year’s blogs: a) Have a better year (5 steps) b) angsty I’m-not-perfect-and-God-still-loves-me c) resolutions don’t matter — Daniel Darling (@dandarling) December 30, 2013 And yet here I am, today, sharing a New Year’s post. I thought I would share my goals for 2014.…
Read MoreTop 10 Posts of 2013
This was a great year in blogging with a 75% increase in traffic. I thank each and every read who passed through and hope my words, in some small way, helped you grow closer to Jesus. I blogged about a lot of different things this year, mostly whatever ideas came to my mind, mostly at…
Read More2013 – The Year That Was
I happen to think New Year’s Day is an underrated holiday. I like the reflection upon a year that was and the anticipation of a year that is to come. It gives us, I think, an opportunity to pray with Moses: “Lord, teach us to number our days” (Psalm 90:12). 2013 was for me a…
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