Ministry Resources

Dave Beroth

Dave Beroth is the lead pastor of Des Moines First Assembly in Des Moines, Iowa. Dave’s 30 years of ministry experience have grown his passion for developing a safe environment, where believers ensnared in religion and unbelievers trapped in darkness can become authentic followers of Christ. As a credentialed life coach, Dave helps highly motivated pastors and church leaders to successfully navigate challenges in the heat of ministry and leadership so they find joy and fulfillment in their calling. Schedule your complimentary coaching session with Dave.

Articles by: Dave Beroth

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Where Are Your Friends Taking You?

Who are your friends? Whoever you keep close in your life tells a lot about you. Thomas Carlyle…

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Future Hope

Are you backward, going forward? The gospel writers give us a behind the scene look at what transpired…

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Grace

I can admit that I am a difficult person to buy a Christmas gift for. Mostly, if I…

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The Weight of the World

In front of the International Building in Rockefeller Center, New York City, stands a Bronze statue of Atlas…

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Getting Good at Gratitude

Thanksgiving will be here soon and I’m looking forward to it. Thanksgiving is my favorite day of the…

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You Smile, I Smile…

There is just something about my grandson, Lukis, that is contagious. When he is happy, you can’t help…

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Wrong Target

It was a mistake that cost Matthew Emmons an Olympic gold medal in 2004. On the track for…

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Why Making Your Bed Matters

Every morning, as a kid, I made my bed. Why? My mom told me to, and I was…

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Where Are You?

It was the first time we split up on a hunt. Levi went to the east along the…

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When Things Go Wrong

When things go wrong, do you go with them? A group of us are reading Bob Goff’s humorous…

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When Life Doesn’t Cooperate

Anyone who’s lived near train tracks knows the hassle and inconvenience a passing train can cause. You’re already…

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What’s In Your Hand?

While swimming in the ocean off the Massachusetts coast, a man and his daughter were caught in a…

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What’s Holding You Back?

Shortly after returning home from World War II, a fellow named Earl decided to buy a television. He…

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What is Supporting You?

Sandra Miller was at work when her daughter called from their home with alarming news. The concrete foundation…

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Weak Spot

Have you ever been leaving the grocery store with a hefty sack-full of groceries, praying it stays together…

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Turn Aside

ICYMI stands for “In Case You Missed It.” It is most often used on Twitter to re-promote an…

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Traction

What does your future look like? What keeps a person stuck in the past? For some people it…

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Too Soon to Quit

Two years ago I sat on the edge of a hospital bed and talked with a man facing…

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Today Is Not an Accident

I’m not the kind of person who bounces out of bed each morning with a song on his…

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The “Un”happy Meal

Lukis, my first grandson, has a beautiful baby sister named Karli. To celebrate her first birthday, we decided…

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The Power of “As If”

There is a school of behavior therapy that encourages a client to act as if something is true,…

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The Ordinary Extraordinary Life

When you read or hear the word “ordinary”, how do you respond? Does it inspire you to finally…

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The Empty Head

Billy told his mother he had a stomachache. His mother explained, “It’s almost dinner time and you haven’t…

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Selfishness or Self-Responsibility

When traveling by plane, I typically tune out the flight attendant with her safety talk. This time, it…

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Run Well and Finish Strong

For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is…

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Perfectly Provided

A large Chicago company is one of the world’s largest magazine fulfillment firms. That means they handle subscription…

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Not What I Signed Up For

Lee Adianez Rodríguez-Espada, a 12-year-old student from New York, was worried she was going to be late when…

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Noise Cancellation

A couple of years ago, my son Levi and I embarked on a 10-day trip to China. At…

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Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall…

While in college, I lived in an older home with a bunch of guys. The mirror in the…

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Margin

I know of a lead pastor who was given a summer sabbatical. He took the first two months…

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Maintaining Your Innocence

I remember a particular season in my life when I outperformed my superior, and people in the organization…

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Invisible Jim

Back in 2001 a toy was made in the United States and marketed in Great Britain. The name…

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If You Can’t Follow, You Shouldn’t Lead

Dr. Russell Jeung, the author of At Home in Exile and leading sociologist of Asian Americans, race, and…

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I Am Perfectly Fine

One day an old man was casually walking along a country lane with his dog and his mule.…

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Habits

The townspeople were in total despair. A fire, which started in a diner, was threatening to burn down…

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Got Growth?

This might be a tough statement for some of us to hear: Challenging times give us the greatest…

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Going Back to Go Forward

In a series of Peanuts comic strips, Linus shares with Charlie Brown how he deals with his problems.…

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Free Lunch

“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have…

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Flowers or Seeds?

Would you rather have a bouquet of flowers or a packet of seeds? This question offered by Laurie…

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Failing Forward

During the first week of orientation the outgoing CEO counseled the new CEO, “Sometimes you’ll make wrong choices.…

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Decisive Moments

In 1983, Coca-Cola was losing the market-share battle with Pepsi. They made a decision to launch New Coke.…

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Derailed

There’s a special word for those tightrope walkers who display amazing feats of balance on a high wire…

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Deal With How You Feel

What makes some people flourish more in work and life than others? Intellect? Work ethic? Those are important,…

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A Tale to Tell

I don’t like getting lost in an unfamiliar place – driving around questioning whether you turn this way…

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Are You Becoming Ordinary?

In Florence, Italy, every day people from all over the world pay money and wait in line to…

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A Compelling Call

In some small towns back in the day, the volunteer fire department’s telephone was answered by the policeman…

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Accepted

‘Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was…

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A Bias for Obedience

After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son,…

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Five Second Rule

Most people have heard of the “five second rule”—that if food spends just a few seconds on the…

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More Than Functional Feet

Read Romans 10:1-21 ‘For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then,…

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Your Days are Numbered

In Psalm 90, Moses contrasts the frailty of man and the brevity of life, with the power and…

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Who Put That There?

Have you ever seen something new in your house and thought to yourself, “Who put that there?” That’s…

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Who Do I Want to Be Today?

I once heard a friend describe his golf game this way, “I know I can golf better than…

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What Will You Harvest?

I was surprised to discover the Red Delicious apple began life as a chance seedling on an Iowa…

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The Happiest Time of Your Day

A study of Twitter users found an interesting pattern: humans tend to be happy at breakfast time, not…

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Recovery from the Rough

One of my grandsons and I watched the final round of golf’s second major of the season —…

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Protect Your Day

I don’t know how you were brought up, but I was told never to pick up hitchhikers. That…

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One Day Contract

Do you sometimes find it challenging to focus on what really matters in a day? I think we…

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Do the Math

Mark Twain, while boarding a train, asked a baggage handler if his briefcase would be strong enough to…

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Clutter, Confusion and Chaos

This past week, my wife reminded me my desk is a workspace, not a storage place. I reason…

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Are We There Yet?

I don’t want to admit it but I may have yelled at my computer for being slow several…

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Where is Here?

As Lee, Teresa, their baby son, Jesse, and their dog, cowered in their Oregon bedroom, Lee dialed 911.…

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Unseen Growth

The Chinese bamboo tree is one of the most remarkable plants on earth. Once the gardener plants the…

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The Crowd Pleaser

Read Mark 15:1-15. “Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and…

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The House I Build

You are more gifted than you might realize. People are often gifted, and in some cases, they begin…

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Sincerely Yours

How many of you have signed a letter with “Sincerely”? In the Greek original of the New Testament…

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Sincere Love

I was raised to avoid the word “hate.” I could use the words “dislike” or “detest.” So my…

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Showing Up

Joaquin Garcia played the ultimate game of work hooky. He had skipped work for the past six years…

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Price Tags

Do you really get what you pay for? In his book, Influence, Robert Cialdini tells a fascinating story…

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It Starts With Me

In 2007, the I-35 bridge that crosses the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota, collapsed suddenly during rush hour,…

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Incompatible With Goodness

Two boys were walking along a street when they encountered a large dog blocking the sidewalk. “Don’t be…

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Good to Great

What do you want to change about your life? Maybe you think, “I’ve got a good life, I’ve…

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Does The Outside Match The Inside?

On October 25, 1999, the sports world endured a tragedy. Payne Stewart, well-known professional golfer, was killed in…

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Define “Can’t”

I was listening to a call-in radio show this past week. The caller was explaining he couldn’t do…

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Curiosity

My grandchildren regularly ask questions. They are eager to know, learn, and explore. When children pursue something, we…

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Can You Say “No”?

Researchers at Stanford found that “no” is one of the first 10 words most kids learn. “No” is…

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O Brother Where Art Thou?

One night during the middle ages, two warriors in full armor were riding along separate paths, each thinking…

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Let’s Do This!

There are times I prefer to work alone because it is efficient. When working with others, it takes…

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Friendship

In 1971, Pepper Rodgers was the head football coach at UCLA, and was in the middle of a…

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Benefits of Gratitude

It was raining, and a young mom was on her way to run errands with two toddlers in-tow.…

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A Friend of Mankind

In the sun-drenched high desert town of Taos, New Mexico, there’s an old cemetery. To enter, you pass…

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Seven Questions to Ask On A Tough Day

Ever have one of those tough days where you just wanted to get through to the end? You…

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I Can See Clearly Now

A seven-year old son came running into the house and interrupted his mother’s book club by shouting, “There’s…

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Eternity In Your Heart

Someone asked me the other day, “With all of the bad things going on in the world today,…

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Betrayed But Not Bitter

There are real heartaches in this life from which we are not immune. One of the questions that…

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The Power Of The Tongue

Slightly before beginning 5th grade, my family moved from the west side to the east side of Washington…

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Say More By Saying Less

In a rustic but quaint Montana restaurant, I saw a sign under a mounted large-mouth bass. It read:…

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How Not To Waste Grace

There’s a person I’ve always been impatient with. He’s a person I’ve had a hard time forgiving in…

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Do You See A Better Life In Your Future?

You should always see a better life in your future. If not, something needs to change. Writer Ralph…

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Confidence in Times of Weakness

On July 15, 1986, Roger Clemens came to bat in his first Major League Baseball All-Star game. Roger…

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I Want to Know What Love Is

It turns out there were a lot of number one songs in the 80’s about “love.” It began…

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When Your Smartphone Fails You

Smartphone virtual assistants—like Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana, and Google Now—are great for finding the nearest gas station or…

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What Are You Reading?

Robert Frost wrote, “Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your…

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The Formula of Five

The Three Amigos has to be one of my favorite movies of all time. (Okay, so I’m no…

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Father Knows Best

“Father Knows Best” ran on network television from 1954 to 1963 and is a classic example of American…

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Advice From A Friend

What can Stephen Curry’s mouthpiece teach us about input from a friend? As I watched The NBA Finals…

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Not as Easy as I Thought

This past week, I read about a minor league baseball team manager who was disgusted with his center…

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Who do you Follow?

Read: I Corinthians 3 & 4 1 Corinthians 3:21-23 (NLT) 21 So don’t boast about following a particular…

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Who is the Greatest?

Who do you think of when you think about a great person? How do you define true greatness?…

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You’re Still on the Team

“Not after what I’ve done!” I‘ve heard this many times from people who felt hostage to their past.…

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Words Sweet as Honey

Arthur Gordon, writer and magazine editor, was cleaning out the family home when he came across something he…

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A Broken Heart Can Hurt Too!

When we experience relational hurts, we often use phrases like “She broke my heart,” or “He hurt my…

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Not Chosen

Have you ever felt passed over, unappreciated, unacknowledged, or undervalued? I would venture to say that almost everyone…

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I’m Not Stupid

This past week I read about a learning specialist assigned to examine why some of the children at…

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I Believe in You

Unbroken is the inspirational real life story of Louis Zamperini. The book and movie is a timeless story…

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He Made Me Feel like I Belonged

The man was on his way to the county fair. He had a chicken in one hand, a…

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God is Thinking About You

Yesterday my grandson, Lukis, celebrated his 9th birthday. In celebration of his birthday I’ve included an excerpt from…

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What would it take for you to trust?

Remember when you were a child and you wanted to do something but your parents said “no” or…

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A Royal Foul

England’s Prince William and his wife, Kate, recently attended a Cleveland Cavaliers game during their trip to the…

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