When Christianity Becomes Uncomfortable
March 4, 2014On Sunday, our small group began a study on discipleship, aided by the very good material from Multiply written by Francis Chan and David Platt. The first part of this study challenges us to count the cost of discipleship. I was struck afresh by Jesus’ words in Luke: Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be…
Continue ReadingWhat Does Calling Look Like?
February 28, 2014How do we best prepare young people for their future vocation and calling? This is a question Christian parents, pastors, and influencers continually face. My friend, Alex Chediak has come out with a brilliant new book Preparing Your Kids for College. Alex is an educator who has thought through these issues in great depth. His book is a practical new resource for parents. I had the chance to ask him a few questions for this week’s Leadership Journal. Here is one of my questions: Seems the church does a good job telling teens about following Christ, but not so well in…
Continue ReadingChristians on Computers Talking Cakes
February 27, 2014You probably don’t want to read one more article on the religious liberty, cake-baking, gay marriage controversy. But let me diverge from the important legal and spiritual implications of this discussion and talk about the actual discussion itself. How should the discussion among Christians be driven around the public water cooler of social media? Here are a few thoughts I have in the wake of this pitched battle: We should always assume the very best about those with whom we disagree and we should argue against their best arguments, not caricatured straw men. We should remember that there are actual…
Continue ReadingWhat Pastors Owe Their People
February 18, 2014If you are a pastor, you cannot escape the unmistakeable call of spiritual leaders, in the New Testament to “feed the flock of God”: Jesus commissioned Peter to do “feed my sheep”, no less than three times, in that famous scene on the shores of Galilee (John 21:15-19) Jesus commissioned the disciples, in the Great Commission passage to “teach them all things I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:16) Paul commissioned the Ephesian elders to “tend to the whole flock” pointing this example of his unwillingness to shrink from “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:17-28) Peter urges church leaders to…
Continue ReadingSeeking Allah, Finding Jesus
February 14, 2014Nabeel Qureshi grew up in a Muslim home, but came to faith in Christ after a search for meaning and truth. He tells his conversion story in a new book, Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity. I had the chance to interview Nabeel today for my weekly Leadership Journal blog. This is one of the questions I asked him: What finally drove you to a point of decision between Islam and Christianity? What was holding you back—and what finally drove you forward? The first thing that had to happen was that someone had to show me the truth about Christianity.…
Continue ReadingA word to husbands on Valentine’s Day
February 13, 2014Valentine’s Day is one of those holidays that sneaks up on you. Well, at least it sneaks up on me. The winter is rich with holidays for the Darling Family: Angela and I were married the week before Thanksgiving, two of our four children have December birthdays, and my birthday is in late January. It gets busy and . . . expensive. And I’m guessing I’m like most men. We do the Valentine’s thing sort of reluctantly. It’s a bit of an eye-rolling holiday. We feel we’re getting hosed by Hallmark. Think about it: Mother’s Day, Sweetest Day, Valentine’s Day,…
Continue ReadingThe Last Week of Jesus
February 7, 2014Even for those who know the Bible well, it can be difficult to piece together the final week of Jesus as it is chronicled across the four gospels. This is why I’m excited to see a brand-new book by one of my favorite people: Justin Taylor. Justin is a popular blogger at Between Two Worlds, a senior vice-president and publisher for books at Crossway, and an author and scholar in his own right. He has teamed with Andreas Kostenberger on a book that is sure to be a terrific reference for Bible students: The Final Days of Jesus. Today I interviewed him for…
Continue ReadingWhy Should We Talk About Our Racial History?
February 6, 2014In 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 Jesus command us to take the gospel to “all nations” and in John’s vision of the future Kingdom, we see a beautiful picture of all nations, tribes, and tongues gathering around the throne of God (Revelation 5:9; 7:9). In this video, Dr. Russell Moore of…
Continue ReadingBeware of Backdoor Legalism
February 1, 2014Last 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 posted a simple explanation about it on her Facebook page. Of course, this action provoked conversation online, on Twitter and in blogs. Perhaps the most prominent reaction is Laura Turner, who clearly disagreed, writing in her blog for Religion News: “But reading about her decision…
Continue ReadingBeware of People-Pleasing
January 31, 2014My 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 and living in community with people with whom you disagree, people different than you. And at the same time, you wear a title and carry responsibility before God. So you must lead and lead well. Charles is a thoughtful writer. His book, 7 Ministry Killers was…
Continue ReadingEquipping Students with the Tools of Leadership
January 27, 2014Last 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 chance to interview the president and founder of SLU, Jay Strack, for my weekly Leadership Journal blog. Here’s a portion of that interview: It seems we speak a lot to young people about following Christ, but don’t often flesh out what that looks like specific…
Continue ReadingThomas Kidd on Christians and History
January 21, 2014Last 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 asked him. There is a temptation for evangelicals to either sanitize American history, or ignore it. But you call for a third way of knowing, understanding, and learning from our history. Yes. George Whitefield (the preeminent evangelist of the First Great Awakening and subject of…
Continue ReadingCelebrating Sanctity of Human Life Sunday In Your Church
January 16, 2014Sunday 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 the culture wars, we’re part of a generation ready to move past the pitched left-right debates. The critiques of Christian political activism have held some merit: A hyper-focus on elections, voter guides, and strategy has often buried the gospel story. Sometimes following Christ has strangely…
Continue ReadingDon’t let your kids say this phrase
January 6, 2014There 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 a sin so bankrupt it goes back to the very beginning, back to the Fall of Man. It’s essentially what Eve was told by the serpent. “You’re getting a raw deal. You’re entitled to more. God is holding out on you.” If you read Paul’s…
Continue ReadingPreaching as a Craft to Be Cultivated.
January 3, 2014I 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 editor of PreachingToday.com, an excellent resource for pastors and church leaders. Our conversation was wide-ranging, really. I queried him on plagiarism, fact-checking pastors, etc. But my favorite part was reading Matt’s thoughts on the act of preaching itself. Here’s a question I asked him: If…
Continue ReadingFearless Predictions for 2014:
January 3, 2014A 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 liberty wins in the courts. This is not just a left-right issue, but also a constitutional issue. I think the Supreme Court will strike down the HHS mandate in a win for religious organizations and businesses. 2) Peyton Manning will win his second Super Bowl,…
Continue ReadingWhat Are Your Goals for 2014? Here are mine
December 31, 2013Yesterday 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. By making them public, it gives me some accountability and perhaps it will help inspire others to set some good, God-centered goals. New Year’s is a great time to reevaluate, to set aside the past, look to the future, and pray with Moses, “Lord, teach…
Continue ReadingTop 10 Posts of 2013
December 30, 2013This 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 the intersection of faith and ministry and culture. Here were the top ten blogs, ranked by order of pageviews: 1) 5 Things Every Daughter Needs to Hear From Her Dad This idea came to me on a Sunday evening after a long day of ministry.…
Continue Reading2013 – The Year That Was
December 26, 2013I 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 monumental year in many ways. There were several highlights. At the beginning of the year I was engaged in the second semester of my first year at seminary. After 13 years or so of being out of school, I had decided to pursue further theological…
Continue ReadingThe Last Evangelical Hipster
December 19, 2013Yes, here is one more blog post opining on the Duck Dynasty kerfuffle. Like the man I work for, Dr. Russell Moore, I’m not fan of reality TV. And as a child of suburban Chicago, I don’t really fit the Duck Dynasty demographic, though it’s widespread appeal clearly shows that the show resonates with more than bearded backwoods hunters. I’ve never watched one single episode. And I’ve been pretty proud of myself for that. However, this moment in American culture demonstrates a shift. We are entering an increasingly post-Christian age where true followers of Jesus will no longer be affirmed…
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