Once every month, beginning in February, I have been gathering desktop wallpapers and making them freely available to the readers of this site. Let me once again express my gratitude to the graphic designers who have been graciously providing them.

Along the way I’ve accumulated a few favorite designs. And here they are—at least, here are ones that are not connected to a particular month. Each of these wallpapers is free for you to download so you can dress up your computer, iPad, cell phone, etc.

He Is Wonderful

Created by Ariseli Modica from Lynnwood, WA.

• 320x480, 1024x768, 1024x1024, 1280x800, 1280x1024, 1366x768, 1440x900, 1680x1050, 1900x1200, 2560x1440

Full of His Glory

Created by Jessica Hardesty from Morgantown, WV.

• 320x480, 1024x768, 1024x1024, 1280x800, 1280x1024, 1366x768, 1440x900, 1680x1050, 1900x1200, 2560x1440

You know by now that every Wednesday we are previewing a series of 10 films that look at the Old Testament appearances of Christ as the Angel of the Lord. The films are produced by HeadHeartHand Media and are free for you to view for one week.

After the week is up you will need to purchase the series. Here's how you can do that. The DVD and Study Guide (sample here) are available now. You can also buy the digital download of the whole series here for $5. Or visit Ligonier's online store for the download or physical copies of the DVD and Study Guide.

Episode 8 looks at Christ’s appearance to Samson’s parents in Judges 13. It is titled “Called Wonderful.”

David Murray is Professor of Old Testament and Practical Theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was a pastor in Scotland for 12 years before coming to Grand Rapids in 2007 with his wife Shona and their four children. He blogs regularly at Head Heart Hand.

Earlier today I posted the results of a survey that asked where we buy our books and why we choose to buy them there. One interesting result of that survey is that our most important consideration when choosing a place to buy our books is price—we buy where the prices are cheapest. Or we think we do. In many cases we think Amazon offers the best prices even though other e-commerce retailers have undercut them.

Just to verify that other stores do, indeed, offer better prices, I put together a shopping list of 10 books and priced them at 4 different stores: Amazon, Westminster Books, Monergism and CBD. I did not tell any of the retailers that I was going to do this (so the prices are “pure”) and chose books that the people who read this site might really buy. And here are the results (with the lowest price for each book bolded):

Shipping is also an important consideration, of course, since the price can’t be fully tallied until we’ve accounted for getting those books to our mailbox. Here is how shipping would play out (assuming that the order was to a US address):

Last week I posted a survey on my site—a survey that asked you about your book buying habits. This was a follow-up to a similar survey I had taken a year prior. The results were, I think, nothing short of fascinating. I sought to find out where we are buying our books today and why we are buying them where we do.

By way of background, 1,865 people completed the survey; 67% of the respondents were male and 82% lived in the United States. 88% identify as Reformed in theology, which means that this survey offers a little bit of a glimpse into this whole “Young, Restless, Reformed” movement.

As promised, I’ll share the highlights of the survey.

The first question asked this: “How many PRINTED (not e-book) Christian books do you purchase each month, on average, from e-commerce stores?” I wanted to continually distinguish between printed books and ebooks, hence the all-capital PRINTED. The results of this question were a little bit lower than last year, which makes me think that the difference could largely be attributed to people migrating away from printed books and toward ebooks.

The next question asked about book reviews, asking if a person tends to read at least 1 review of a book before purchasing it. The results were quite emphatic—we like our reviews.

The natural follow-up asked where people find these reviews. This question was asked on a blog so it was no surprise that blogging took the lead. But even with that bias in mind, it is remarkable how blogs have become a go-to resource for reviews. And close behind blogs is Amazon, showing that customer reviews can be very valuable. Publishers take note: continue to get your books into the blogosphere.

I want to tell you about LeechBlock. It's a little tool I found about a couple of years ago and I can say without a trace of exaggeration that it changed my life. I wrote about it once before—back after I discovered it—but want to come back to it since it’s proven its value again and again since then.

There was a time that I was unable to keep myself from wasting vast amounts of time on the internet. Often it was subconscious; I would suddenly become aware that I had stopped working and started surfing. I had inadvertently left behind what I had been doing and was checking in at Facebook or Twitter or any one of these other time-sucking distractions. Thanks to LeechBlock, those days are over.

LeechBlock is an add-on for Firefox. It is the brainchild of James Anderson, an assistant professor at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte.

The premise is simple. It is meant to be an external form of self-control for those of us who do not have sufficient self-control in and of ourselves. Here is what James says about it: "LeechBlock is a simple productivity tool: an extension for the Firefox web browser designed to block those time-wasting sites that can suck the life out of your working day. (You know: the ones that rhyme with 'Blue Cube', 'Pie Face', 'Space Hook', 'Hash Pot', 'Sticky Media', and the like.) All you need to do is specify which sites to block and when to block them."

It is not meant to replace tools that offer parental controls and will not keep you from stumbling across nasty sites on the Net. That is not its purpose. What it will do, though, is allow you to compile a list of the sites that suck away the minutes and hours of your day and choose the times during which you will be blocked from those sites. So in my case I listed Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader, Drudge Report and others like them and set the program to block these from 9 to noon and 1 to 5. That gives me a window to check in while I eat my lunch but otherwise I have no access to these sites during the working day. And that has proven a huge blessing.

I learned two things. First, I learned that I spent far more time on these sites than I would have thought. Or, perhaps more properly, I learned that I visited them many more times every day than I would have imagined. The amount of times LeechBlock had to intervene and scold me was both shocking and humiliating. Second, I learned that these sites really were sucking my time away from me. As soon as I installed LeechBlock it was like I added a couple of hours to my day. Not only did my productivity increase but my spiritual condition also improved. I had known that I was wasting vast amounts of time but had not had the self-control to stop myself; I found it very depressing and carried it like a great burden. It was a great relief to me to find that self-control, even if it took a Firefox add-on to do so.

One of the great features of LeechBlock is it allows you to create a custom message that appears when you attempt to visit one of the sites you've blocked. In my case I made one that reminded me of the value of time. You can see it here (click on it to download it for your own purposes):

Now I know that not everyone needs a tool like this one. But I can testify that there are others who do and I am among them. I've recommended LeechBlock to friends and they've told me how much they've benefited from it as well. So I'm not alone! If you are in need of an external source of self-control, consider it. It may just change your life too. You can learn more about it and download it here.

Several weeks ago I introduced you to a series of short films that focus on Christ's appearances in the Old Testament as the Angel of the Lord. Every Wednesday for 10 weeks I will be posting a new episode right here at the blog. This will allow you to view the series in its entirety. Do note, though, that each episode will be available for only one week.

After the week is up you will need to purchase the series. Here's how you can do that. The DVD and Study Guide (sample here) are available now. You can also buy the digital download of the whole series here for $5. Or visit Ligonier's online store for the download or physical copies of the DVD and Study Guide.

This episode, episode 7, is titled "Pity and Power."

David Murray is Professor of Old Testament and Practical Theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was a pastor in Scotland for 12 years before coming to Grand Rapids in 2007 with his wife Shona and their four children. He blogs regularly at Head Heart Hand.

When I was a boy, something that seems like a long, long time ago now, I spent most of my time within a Dutch community of believers (though I am not Dutch myself). I played with them, went to church with them and went to school with them. Along the way I was introduced to some distinctly-Dutch books for kids that I came to love. In the years since then I have sometimes gone looking for those books, hoping to read them again and buy copies for my own children. It was a thrill recently to finally come across a company that has reprinted the books and that is now selling them online.

That company is Inheritance Publications. Now I’ll warn you in advance that their web site does not inspire a ton of confidence. But I’ve ordered from them a couple of times now and their service and shipping has been top-notch. You just need to work a little bit to find the products you want since there is no search function and there are no individual book pages.

The books I loved were written in Dutch and later translated to English. There are a few times that they show a bit of evidence of translation, but largely they are very well-written. Most of the books are set in the Second World War and written by men who lived through the War. They are all about adventure—about the kind of adventures boys dream of. And i think that was their appeal to me. I could always place myself in the shoes of the boys in the stories and often wished that I could live that kind of adventure. The books are also about faith, about having confidence in God and his promises through times of trial and difficulty. Sometimes it is laid on a bit thick, but more often than not it rings true. These authors lived through Holland’s greatest trial and their faith was sustained throughout. One of them (Piet Prins) even spent time in a German concentration camp.

Here are a few old favorites:

• Journey Through the Night by Anne Devries (note: Anne is a man’s name). This was undoubtedly my favorite and competed with Lord of the Rings as the book I read the most times. It follows a family through their ordeals in the Second World War.
• The Shadow Series by Piet Prins. My son recently sat down with this series and read the whole thing in just a couple of days. (click here and scroll down). These books focus on the adventures of young boys during the Second World War in Holland.
• The Scout series by Piet Prins (click here and scroll down). I am currently reading the first of these books to my children and they are really enjoying it. The books focus on a boy and his dog and their adventures. These books aren’t the most realistic ever, but then again, neither are Hardy Boys or most other books for boys. It hardly seems to matter. Note: with any order you place you’ll receive a free copy of the first in this series.

Again, the books can be difficult to find on the site so your best bet may be to use the Author Index and just scroll a lot. If you buy some of these books and find that your boys enjoy them, do let me know.

Several weeks ago I introduced you to a series of short films that focus on Christ's appearances in the Old Testament as the Angel of the Lord. Every Wednesday for 10 weeks I will be posting a new episode right here at the blog. This will allow you to view the series in its entirety. Do note, though, that each episode will be available for only one week.

After the week is up you will need to purchase the series. Here's how you can do that. The DVD and Study Guide (sample here) are available now. You can also buy the digital download of the whole series here for $5. Or visit Ligonier's online store for the download or physical copies of the DVD and Study Guide.

This episode, episode 6, is titled "Winning Through Weakness."

David Murray is Professor of Old Testament and Practical Theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was a pastor in Scotland for 12 years before coming to Grand Rapids in 2007 with his wife Shona and their four children. He blogs regularly at Head Heart Hand.

With a new month comes a whole new batch of desktop wallpapers, lovingy crafted by some of the readers of this blog. They are all free for you to download, enjoy and install on your computer, iPad, iPhone or other device. Enjoy!

A few notes: 320 x 480 is for your iPhone; 1024 x 1024 is for your iPad; your desktop or laptop may take any of the other sizes depending on your monitor size and a host of other considerations. If you’re not sure of the size, just find one that looks like it would be pretty much the same size as your screen. Generally you set one of these are your wallpaper by clicking on the link to the image, then right-clicking on the image (once it’s open) and selecting “Set as Background,” “Set as Desktop Background,” or something similar.

He Is Wonderful

Created by Ariseli Modica from Lynnwood, WA.

• with calendar: 1024x768, 1024x1024, 1280x800, 1280x1024, 1366x768, 1440x900, 1680x1050, 1900x1200, 2560x1440

• without calendar: 320x480, 1024x768, 1024x1024, 1280x800, 1280x1024, 1366x768, 1440x900, 1680x1050, 1900x1200, 2560x1440

Grounded in Love

Created by Brooke Shorey from Riverdale, NJ.

• with calendar: 320x480, 1024x768, 1024x1024, 1280x800, 1280x1024, 1366x768, 1440x900, 1680x1050, 1900x1200, 2560x1440

• without calendar: 320x480, 1024x768, 1024x1024, 1280x800, 1280x1024, 1366x768, 1440x900, 1680x1050, 1900x1200, 2560x1440

Full of His Glory

Created by Jessica Hardesty from Morgantown, WV.

• with calendar: 1024x768, 1024x1024, 1280x800, 1280x1024, 1366x768, 1440x900, 1680x1050, 1900x1200, 2560x1440

• without calendar: 320x480, 1024x768, 1024x1024, 1280x800, 1280x1024, 1366x768, 1440x900, 1680x1050, 1900x1200, 2560x1440

Several weeks ago I introduced you to a series of short films that focus on Christ's appearances in the Old Testament as the Angel of the Lord. Every Wednesday for 10 weeks I will be posting a new episode right here at the blog. This will allow you to view the series in its entirety. Do note, though, that each episode will be available for only one week.

After the week is up you will need to purchase the series. Here's how you can do that. The DVD and Study Guide (sample here) are available now. You can also buy the digital download of the whole series here for $5. Or visit Ligonier's online store for the download or physical copies of the DVD and Study Guide.

This episode is titled "Give Me Your Son."

David Murray is Professor of Old Testament and Practical Theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was a pastor in Scotland for 12 years before coming to Grand Rapids in 2007 with his wife Shona and their four children. He blogs regularly at Head Heart Hand.