"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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04/25/04
Comments (4)

Blog of the Week - Rebecca Writes

It has been a while since I did a Blog of the Week but I thought I would carry on an old tradition today. I began BotW so I could highlight some of the other Christian bloggers whose writing I have come to appreciate. Discovering blogs has revolutionized the way I experience the world wide web - it has made the experience so much richer and deeper. I love reading what other believers have to say and prefer to hear from lay people than from the “professional Christians.”

I recently found Rebecca Writes and have enjoyed the site a lot. Proudly and solidly Reformed, Rebecca has recently written about The Effective Call, seeking the Lord and infant vs believer’s baptism. The site is updated just about every day and makes a good daily stop. Check it out and I am sure you will come to appreciate the site as much as I have.

Blog of the Week - Rebecca Writes

Comments (4) »

1. Doug
April 26, 2004
1:18 PM

Tim,

Regarding Blogs:

I’ve been keeping up on Challies for several months because I’ve been tempted to start my own Blog. However, I’m not so sure that’s a good idea. The reason is that there are comments and postings here that I don’t think I’d feel comfortable just leaving here.

For example; there are some pretty mean-spirited comments (in the Passion section) from someone who seems to have correct theology but who comes across as a Catholic-hating basher and a bad example of a Christian. In response to his postings are tons and tons of Catholic theology based defenses… so if someone were ever wondering if they should become a Catholic, they would find lots of “good” Catholic information here (although the more he talks and the bigger words he uses I’m reminded of Johnny Cochran and how more and more guilty OJ seemed every time Johnny spoke spoke). In any case, if someone just stumbled onto this site, they might think they’ve stumbled onto a Catholic-hate-site and they may be… stumbled.

I am not bashing Challies.com. Rather, I’m wondering what criteria you use to delete a posting - or do you just never delete a posting?

I also noticed that you sometimes personally respond to posts, and sometimes you don’t reply at all - even when the posting is directed specifically at you. What criteria do you use there?

Again, I’m thinking of entering into the Blog arena but I am having serious second thoughts - they certainly have their down side.

Thanks, Doug

2. Tim
April 26, 2004
1:29 PM

Very good questions, Doug.

There have been some mean-spirited comments, though on the whole I have been happy to see that the bulk of the comments have been done in a respectful manner. However, as you say, there are many that speak of a theology that differs from what I believe. And that is part of the problem with having an open forum for discussion. I have struggled with this issue but have decided that I do not feel it necessary to remove posts that contradict my theology. The commenting section is marked differently from the main content and I believe most people will realize that the opinions expressed therein are not necessarily mine. I do believe that open forums for discussion are important, even when theologies clash.

I have deleted a lot of posts. Many of the ones I have deleted were spam and some were obviously near-meaningless comments posted only so the person posting could have a link back to his site. I have removed a couple that were hostile in tone.

As for which I reply to, I generally try to reply to any comment directed my way. I have missed a few in the past, but definitely try to answer any comment or email directed to me. There have been times when the busy-ness of life has kept me from answering for a day or two and then I have likely forgotten about some of them, but on the whole I think I have answered most.

I am currently in the midst of redesigning the site and one thing I wanted to add was a more clear disclaimer about the comments…so I may just do that.

I would encourage you to try blogging if you feel it would be a worthwhile pursuit. To avoid the problems inherent with commenting you can do a couple of things: You can remove comments on posts more than a few days old or you can even do a blog without a commenting system. The third option might be to moderate comments so they are first sent to you and you are able to allow or disallow them from being posted.

3. Doug
April 26, 2004
6:32 PM

Thanks, Tim. Very helpful.

Doug

4. rebecca
April 27, 2004
1:10 AM

Thanks for this Tim. I appreciate it.

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