"The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment is a truly important work-one that should be required reading not only for church leaders, but for all sober-minded laypeople as well."

John MacArthur (From the Foreword)

"If you were more discerning you’d probably buy this book. If you do read this book, you will be! This book on discernment is simple, clear, well-written and well-illustrated...

Mark Dever

Welcome to the online home of Tim Challies, blogger, author and web designer. My first book, "The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment," is now available everywhere.

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Interviews Archive

Thinking Christianly About Economic Stimulus Payments (05/01/08 - 24 Comments)
The Economic Stimulus Payment is on its way. In the coming weeks Americans will be receiving a check, courtesy of the government. Eligible people will receive up to $600 ($1,200 for married couples), and parents will receive an additional $300 for each eligible child younger than 17. This is going to be quite the windfall for many families. John Piper recently wrote a short blog post he entitled Economic Stimulus Payment & Christ in which...

Interview - Justin Reimer (04/27/08 - 2 Comments)
In the past months you may well have heard me mention The Elisha Foundation. This is a foundation I first discovered through my pastor (who is a regular speaker at the Foundation’s annual retreats) and subsequently learned about more when I designed a new website for it. I quickly came to respect what they do and wanted to share with you an interview I conducted with Justin Reimer who founded and still heads up the...

An Interview with Lukas VanDyke (04/03/08 - 10 Comments)
This marks the third interview I’ve completed with artists involved in various disciplines. I first interviewed Max McLean about performance art and then Makoto Fujimura on his abstract art. Today I turn to photography and interview Lukas VanDyke, a photographer I have met at several conferences. Lukas is an exceptional photographer and I enjoyed his responses to these questions. I hope you do too! Tell me a little bit about yourself—who you are and...

An Interview with Ben Zobrist (03/02/08 - 7 Comments)
I met Ben Zobrist while in was in Nashville speaking at the Nashville Conference on the Church and Theology. The conference was hosted by Community Bible Church, the church he and his wife, Julianna, call home (Julianna is a professional singer and musician. You can visit her MySpace). Ben was pointed out to me as the shortstop for the Tampa Bay Rays (apparently they are no longer the Tampa Bay Devil Rays). I know the...

An Interview with Os Guinness (02/29/08 - 7 Comments)
Os Guinness is the author of nearly twenty books, the most recent of which is The Case for Civility: And Why Our Future Depends on it. Guinness was kind enough to answer several questions I posed to him after the publication of this latest title. This has already been posted on Discerning Reader, but I wanted to post it here to be sure you were able to read it. Also, I'd like to hear your...

An Interview with Makoto Fujimura (02/03/08 - 20 Comments)
A little while ago I conducted a brief interview with Makoto Fujimura (makotofujimura.com). Fujimura is a New York-based artist who deals with a kind of art with which I have little familiarity. I first heard of him through an article written by Phil Ryken in which he describes visiting an exhibition featuring Fujimura’s work. I was intrigued by the examples of his art I saw through the internet and asked if he’d be willing...

An Interview with Devin Brown (Part 2) (01/30/08 - 25 Comments)
Yesterday I posted the first portion of an interview with Devin Brown, author of Inside Prince Caspian and Inside Narnia. Today we continue with the second and final piece, and look at mistakes people make when reading the Narnia books and the film adaptations of Lewis’s works. TC: What are some of the most common mistakes people make when reading and interpreting the Narnia books? In my opinion, the two biggest mistakes people make about...

An Interview with Devin Brown (01/29/08 - 3 Comments)
Last week I posted a review of Inside Prince Caspian, a new book by Devin Brown and a follow-up to his earlier work Inside Narnia. These books provide literary analysis of the Narnia books and have greatly enhanced my understanding of and enjoyment of C.S. Lewis’s imaginary world. I thought it would be interesting to follow the reviews with an interview and Brown was kind enough to spare some time. I asked him not only...

An Interview with Max McLean (01/21/08 - 12 Comments)
A short time ago I had the opportunity to interview Max McLean. You may know McLean as the narrator of the Bible in the ESV, NIV or KJV or as the narrator of the audio version of The Valley of Vision. He has also released recordings of several Christian classics and has been involved in many stage productions. Most recently he has starred in a production of C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters in New York...

Interviewing the ProBlogger (10/10/07 - 10 Comments)
An Interview with Darren Rowse. Darren Rowse is the original ProBlogger, presiding over ProBlogger, a site that draws tens of thousands of visitors every day. After stumbling across blogs in 2002, Darren began a site of his own that explored "issues of Pop Culture, Spirituality and Blogging." The pastor of a small, emerging type of church, Darren has become a full-time blogger and the coordinator of a large blog network. Because I've attempted to make...

The Reformed Expository Commentary Series (08/23/07 - 7 Comments)
An interview with the editors of the Reformed Expository Commentary series. There have been a few times in the past few months that I've mentioned the Reformed Expository Commentary Series. This is a growing series of commentaries written from a distinctly Reformed perspective and targeted at both pastors and laypersons. Having used these commentaries for both research and personal devotions, I am very enthusiastic about them and am anxious to spread the word. To that...

Interview - Mark and Stephen Altrogge (08/01/07 - 20 Comments)
Would you like to win a great new CD? If so, get reading! Today I'm featuring an interview with singers and songwriters Mark and Stephen Altrogge. And at the end of it all I'll be giving away three copies of their new CD. Mark Altrogge is Senior Pastor of Sovereign Grace Church of Indiana, PA, a position he has held for over twenty five years. Mark has written numerous worship songs that have been published...

Adrian Warnock Interviews...Me! (02/04/06 - 3 Comments)
Adrian Warnock, whom I assume most of you have heard of, recently did an interview of sorts with me. We spent an hour or so on MSN Messenger discussing blogging and the blogosphere. It was an interesting chat, though someone restricted by the medium - instant messaging has much of the spontaneity of a face-to-face discussion, but requires a lot of typing which tends to slow things down. Here are a few excerpts from the...

Continuationism and Cessationism (Part 2): An Interview with Dr. Wayne Grudem (12/14/05 - 0 Comments)
Let me turn to a couple of questions that I know are of concern to cessationists, that they routinely bring up as concerns about continuationist theology. The first of these is: if we grant the existence of non-authoritative prophecy, does not such a position weaken the argument for the sufficiency and authority of Scripture? In other words, does the existence of non-authoritative prophecy weaken our claims for the inerrancy and sufficiency of Scripture? I would...

Continuationism and Cessationism: An Interview with Dr. Wayne Grudem (12/13/05 - 0 Comments)
This is the second of two interviews I have conducted with leading theologians discussing the issues of cessationism and continuationism. You can read the first interview with Dr. Sam Waldron here. It will help you define terms and understand a cessationist perspective. Today's interview examines this issue from the continuationist perspective. Dr. Wayne Grudem is Research Professor of Bible and Theology at Phoenix Seminary. He holds a B.A. from Harvard University, M.Div. from Westminster Theological...

Tongues! Signs! Wonders! An Interview with Dr. Sam Waldron (Part 2) (12/09/05 - 0 Comments)
This is the second part of an interview with Dr. Sam Waldron. It would, I'm sure, be helpful for you to read part one first. One issue you do not address in the book, very much anyways, is the issue of guidance. How is the issue of guidance, how God speaks to us, how God guides us through life, how does that differ between a strict cessationist versus someone who believes in the continuing gifts?...

Tongues! Signs! Wonders! An Interview with Dr. Sam Waldron (12/08/05 - 0 Comments)
There are few subjects more debated and more hotly debated in the church today than whether or not the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit continue to this day. We have recently seen a great deal of discussion about this issue in the blogosphere. It is an issue which leaves many believers confused, unsure as to what they believe and what they should believe. Cessationists, who believe that the miraculous gifts have ceased, often point...

Derek Webb - The Challies Dot Com Interview (II) (11/17/05 - 0 Comments)
This is the second and final installment of an interview with Derek Webb. You can read the first installment here: Derek Webb - The Challies Dot Com Interview. Let me go to a reader question here. We'll lighten it up for a minute. In your opinion, what is the most underappreciated of your songs and why? [Laughs] That's a great question! Here's my moment to be completely self-indulgent and totally arrogant! Right! So the one...

Derek Webb - The Challies Dot Com Interview (11/16/05 - 0 Comments)
Yesterday afternoon Derek Webb took time out of what was his first day off in a week to speak with me. We talked for almost an hour and discussed his new album, doctrine, social justice and a variety of other topics. We even discussed (or at least touched on) Reformed theology, the Emerging Church and Jim Wallis. Because of the length of the interview I will post it in two parts, the first today with...

Summer Interview Series: Danny Oertli (08/03/05 - 0 Comments)
dannyoertli.gifDanny Oertli is a singer, songwriter, musician and author, who encourages audiences around the world with his testimony to God's faithfulness. His latest album, Everything Inbetween, produced by Jason Burkum, was released last month. His book, Mommy Paints The Sky, was published last year by NavPress. After reading his book and listening to his album, I was eager to talk to him about his experiences. He was gracious to grant an interview which you can read below.

Summer Interview Series: Richard Abanes (Reflections) (08/01/05 - 0 Comments)
Little did I know when I posted my interview with Richard Abanes that it would soon cause such a ruckus. I feel that I know the blogosphere quite well, but still found myself blindsided by the reaction. I had quite a few people, including some whom I much respect, question my motives and ask why I would provide a platform for a person whose views differ so greatly from my own. My plan was simple - provide Abanes a platform and learn about his motivations, his heart. Give him an opportunity to respond to people (like myself) who found his book unconvincing and hear the things that were not or could not be published. If Abanes understood the truth in this matter, it would come out. If not, that would be equally obvious.

Summer Interview Series: Richard Abanes (Part 2) (07/30/05 - 0 Comments)
This is the first interview in the Challies Dot Com Summer Interview Series. The series will feature interviews with authors, musicians and other Christian personalities. The first interview in this series is with Richard Abanes. Richard is known around these parts as author of the newly-released book Rick Warren and the Purpose That Drives Him and as a regular defender of Warren and his teachings within the comments section within this site. This is the second part of the interview in which we deal with issues specific to The Purpose Driven Life.

Summer Interview Series: Richard Abanes (Part 1) (07/29/05 - 0 Comments)
This is the first interview in the Challies Dot Com Summer Interview Series. The series will feature interviews with authors, musicians and other Christian personalities.

The first interview in this series is with Richard Abanes. Richard is known around these parts as author of the newly-released book Rick Warren and the Purpose That Drives Him and as a regular defender of Warren and his teachings within the comments section within this site. This is the first part of the interview in which we get to know Richard. Part two deals more specifically with Rick Warren and will be posted tomorrow.