The Future of Discerning Reader (05/03/07 - 38 Comments)
About one year ago I became the owner of the domain discerningreader.com. The purpose of Discerning Reader has been to serve Christians by providing discerning reviews of books that are intended for Christians or that are of particular interest to Christians. The former category primarily includes titles published by Christian publishing houses; the latter includes books that may impact the church even though they are not targeted at Christians (titles such as The Da Vinci...
Personal Updates (05/03/07 - 6 Comments)
I have found it exceptionally difficult to write this week. Actually, I've found it difficult to work as well. I'm not sure what's going on, really. So today I'm going to cop out and just share a few personal tidbits and try to come up with something more creative and more exciting for tomorrow. Part of the reason I've been distracted this week is that I've been asked to lead a seminar at The Basics...
The Most Wonderful Day of the Year (04/02/07 - 39 Comments)
The first Monday in April has long been one of my favorite days of the year. It is the day that the Boys of Summer take to the field and begin the long, difficult journey through the baseball season. Since I was just a child I have loved baseball. I grew up listening to the sounds of the game and spending every moment I could on the field. My earliest baseball memories go back to...
Selfish Requests (02/03/07 - 5 Comments)
I am drawing ever-closer to the deadline to hand my book to the publisher. The current word count is somewhere around 43,000 and the page count around 140 (though obviously the page count can change a whole lot based on the spacing, font selection and so on). As work continues and as the book draws closer to completion, I am becoming increasingly excited and, even better, increasingly convinced that this book may actually have something...
Prayer Answered and Requested (01/08/07 - 4 Comments)
Prayer Answered: R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, was moved out of intensive care and into a private room at Baptist Hospital East this afternoon and continues to improve following complications from abdominal surgery that was performed Dec. 28. Russell D. Moore, dean of the School of Theology and senior vice president for academic administration at Southern, said Mohler is in good spirits following a difficult weekend. "I am extremely...
Review Questions and Study Guides (01/07/07 - 47 Comments)
As I continue to press on with writing The Discipline of Discernment and as I see the book starting to come together I am slowly beginning to consider some of the finer details. For example, I have decided to add a "Key Thought" to the end of each chapter. I always appreciate when authors are deliberate about ensuring that the reader has understood the purpose of each chapter (Bryan Chapell's Praying Backwards is an excellent...
"Of Making Many Books..." (01/02/07 - 9 Comments)
As you may know, I am in the midst of writing my first book. I am now four months into what I hope will be a six-month writing period. This will be followed many many months of editing, proofing and whatever else happens between the time a manuscript is submitted and a book arrives in the mail. If you have read this site for any length of time, you'll know that I am a lover...
Merry Christmas (12/25/06 - 9 Comments)
It is Christmas. Our day began a little bit earlier than I would have liked, but also a little bit later than I had expected. With our children growing older, we are finally able to celebrate Christmas the way I remember it as a child - a day of rising early and trembling with anticipation, hoping, just hoping, that the toy you wanted most is there, waiting under the tree. Christmas is a great time...
Quelle Surprise! (12/02/06 - 12 Comments)
Aileen gave herself the best birthday present ever. On her thirtieth birthday she gave birth to our daughter, Michaela Joy. It was a great day, even if we didn't get around to having Aileen's birthday dinner that day. Now that it is my thirtieth birthday I have proven unable to deliver such a great gift for myself. Thankfully, I've got family on my side. This morning at around 10 AM my biggest little sister (Maryanne,...
Meeting Adrian (11/13/06 - 13 Comments)
Last night Adrian Warnock flew into Toronto on a short layover while travelling to a top secret meeting in an undisclosed American city. He will be spending a couple of days with Andrew Fountain, who pastors a church somewhere in Toronto. But last night Paul and I drove out to a restaurant near the airport to meet the guy. We had a nice meal together and enjoyed getting to know both Adrian and Andrew. For...
Thank You (05/06/06 - 3 Comments)
I've heard it said that when a person loses a loved one who is particularly close to him--a wife or a child perhaps--he struggles with the fact that, while his life has been thrown into disarray, the world around him just keeps on moving. His world has been rocked and he may feel like his life is over, yet everyone else he knows continues to go to work and school and baseball practice. There is...
Michaela Joy Challies (05/04/06 - 87 Comments)
I'm in love. Last night, on her thirtieth birthday, my wife gave herself (and me!) quite a gift: our daughter, Michaela (in case you don't know, the name is pronounced "mih-KAY-lah") Joy Challies. I'm crazy about her already. Actually, I'm crazy about both of them. Michaela was an unexpected gift, actually. In her two previous pregnancies, Aileen has given birth ten days and seven days past her due date, so we were not anticipating Michaela's...
Baby's On The Way (05/03/06 - 15 Comments)
Aileen had a midwife appointment this afternoon and after much humming and hawing, the midwife decided to send Aileen to the hospital for a consult with the O.B. The O.B., after much similar humming and hawing, thought it would be best to induce Aileen tonight and get that baby out. There are no serious medical concerns, but they just thought this was the best course of action since, at 38.5 weeks, the baby is considered...
A Clean Bill of Health (04/25/06 - 6 Comments)
Thanks to all of you who have been praying for Aileen. She went to the midwife today and received a clean bill of health. Her blood pressure, which had been trending up through the past three or four visits, suddenly fell precipitously back down to where it was a couple of months ago. It is now at a near-perfect level, actually. So I guess the combination of lots of prayer and lots of rest did...
Settling In (03/26/06 - 6 Comments)
Well here it is, my first post from the new house. The move yesterday went very smoothly - it took three trips in a 14' U-Haul with about eleven people helping (most of whom, strangely enough, were pastors). We were amazed with the amount of "stuff" we own, but I suppose there is nothing like seeing all of one's possessions in boxes to understand just how blessed one is! Our friends were most gracious with...
Travelling Mercies (12/28/05 - 0 Comments)
For the past week I have been basking in the warmth of the Atlanta sun. While I will grant that the Atlanta sun is only moderately warmer in December than the Toronto sun, it creates an atmosphere which is, at the very least, on the better side of the freezing mark. Just yesterday we enjoyed a tremendously nice day in which we hiked to the top of Kennesaw Mountain. This is the site of a...
A Horrifying Admission (12/27/05 - 0 Comments)
Today I will make a horrifying admission, one that might just cast a shadow of doubt over my life, ministry and masculinity. Ready for it? I enjoy Jane Austen movies. I don't just enjoy them, actually, but really, really enjoy them. I hate chick flicks as much as the next guy, but thoroughly enjoy Austen movies. And no, I do not consider those to be contradictory statements. Last night my sister and brother-in-law suggested that...
How Do French People...? (12/12/05 - 0 Comments)
By the midpoint of this article all those people who homeschool their children will probably be giving themselves a big pat on the back. The strange thing is that I might not blame them. The following conversation took place over dinner a couple of nights ago. My five year old son had a few questions for my wife and myself. Son: "Daddy, next year am I going to go to French school or English school?"...
Sleep (11/23/05 - 0 Comments)
There were some things I had hoped to say today before all of my American readers disappear for a long weekend filled with thanks, gluttony and excess. Unfortunately, because of the unexpected call last night which took me out of the house for much of the night, I am awfully tired today and don't trust myself to say anything profound. So rather than embarrass myself by posting some incoherent rant, I thought I'd simply post...
It's Late (and/or Early)! (11/23/05 - 0 Comments)
We finally got the call. For the past couple of weeks we've been on "baby watch." Our friends are expecting a baby and had asked us to watch their children while they go to the hospital for the birth. Today, sometime shortly before 2 AM, on what just so happens to be the due date, we got the long-awaited call. Because it was the middle of the night they asked if I would be able...
