Today marks the second day of The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment Blog Tour. The tour works like this: the owner of another blog will pose a question about discernment and my answer will be posted on his or her blog on an appointed day. I will follow the comments made on the blog, addressing them as they arise. It will be, I hope, a chance to facilitate a productive and God-glorifying conversation about the issue of discernment through a series of exchanges with others. It allows me to attempt to address questions other people may have about discernment and potentially to address questions that are of particular importance to readers of other blogs.

Today we move the tour to Tall Skinny Kiwi, the blog of Andrew Jones. Andrew asked me two questions. First, he asked Why all this controversy about having only trained, credentialed professions writing books like this from people that give verbal assent to the priesthood of all believers? He followed that question with this one: The wisdom of crowds in the blogosphere can no doubt help in the self-correction of error but what do you see are the dangers?.

Read my answers here.

Here is where the tour will take me over the next couple of weeks:

As I mentioned recently, this week and the next will see me participating in a “blog tour” in support of my new book, The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment. The owner of another blog will pose a question about discernment and my answer will be posted on his or her blog on an appointed day. I will follow the comments made on the blog, addressing them as they arise. It will be, I hope, a chance to facilitate a productive and God-glorifying conversation about the issue of discernment through a series of exchanges with others. It allows me to attempt to address questions other people may have about discernment and potentially to address questions that are of particular importance to readers of other blogs.

The first day of this blog tour takes me to Joe Carter’s Evangelical Outpost. Joe’s blog is one of the first ones I ever read and has been a daily stop for years. I’m thrilled, then, that he was willing and eager to participate. He asks What does discernment mean from a biblical perspective?

Read my answer here.

Here is how the tour will shape up over the next two weeks.

Next week, to coincide with the recent release of The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment, I’ll be embarking on a blog tour. “What’s a blog tour?” you ask. Well, the process is fairly simple. The owner of a blog poses a question about discernment, my answer to which will be posted on his or her blog on an appointed day. I will follow the comments made on the blog, addressing them as they arise. It will be, I hope, a chance to facilitate a productive and God-glorifying conversation about the issue of discernment through a series of exchanges with others. It allows me to attempt to address questions other people may have about discernment and potentially to address questions that are of particular importance to readers of other blogs.

I’ve already seen a few of the questions that have been submitted and am sweating a bit as I consider how I’ll answer them. There are some tough ones! So I will be spending my weekend crafting answers and I hope you’ll check in next week as we discuss discernment across the blogosphere.

The schedule looks like this:

A couple of days ago, a skid’s worth of books showed up at my sister’s place. Two days later I showed up and finally got to meet my book. After almost two years from the time I first to pen to paper, I finally saw the results. It wasn’t nearly the moment I thought it might be. But it was still fun and it’s good to have something to hold in my hands.

So here I am starting out signing all those pre-ordered books.

And then, quite a long time later my brother-in-law snapped a shot of me signing the last one.

And here are the results.

Tomorrow we’ll put together an assembly line and stuff all of those books into envelopes. Then we’ll stamp them, put them in the back of my van, and get them to the post office. Good times!

For those wishing to order through Amazon or another retailer, I suspect you’ll have to wait until very early in the new year before they have stock available.

This is a public service announcement to let you know that this is the last day you’ll be able to pre-order a signed copy of my book. As of tomorrow I need to get final numbers in to the publisher so they can get the books shipped to Chattanooga where I’ll be signing and sending them about two weeks from now.

If you are interested, you can order it right here…but only until the end of the day!

Last Monday I announced that anyone who pre-ordered my book over the next week would be eligible to win a $100 gift certificate to Westminster Books or, as a consolation prize, a copy of the Literary Study Bible. Thanks to all of you who took the opportunity to buy the book. I ran the numbers and randomly selected the winners. And here they are. The first place prize goes to Ryan Higginbottom and the Bible goes to Debora Todd. Congratulations to the two of you. As for everyone else, well, at least you got a book out of the deal!

For anyone who has not yet ordered the book, you can do so right here.

Buy my book and win $100. Just like that…

It has been a few weeks now since my book became available for pre-order. I offer my thanks to the hundreds of you who have been kind enough to order a copy (and special thanks to Aileen who volunteered to take on the task of organizing all of the orders—putting them into a spreadsheet and printing up address labels. She spoils me.). I’m looking forward to getting all of those books signed and sent and on the way! It won’t be long now…

There are just a few weeks left before the pre-order period is going to end. At that point I’m going to need to tell the publisher how many copies to send to me when I’m down in Chattanooga for a conference at the end of the year. So your opportunity to pre-order a signed copy is quickly coming to an end.

I know there are a few people who are holding back. They are planning to buy the book, but not quite yet. To give some incentive to these people, I’m offering a special deal for the next seven days. Every person who buys a copy of the book before the end of the day on November 26 will have the opportunity to win a $100 gift certificate for Westminster Books (Do note that, at the moment, Westminster ships only to U.S. addresses. Feel free to write them and register your discontent with this policy if you live outside the States. Demand your right to good books at low prices!).

For each copy of my book you buy you will be given one ballot and at the end one person will take home a $100 gift certificate which will be sent to you in time for you to use it for Christmas shopping. As a consolation gift (and a pretty good one at that), I’ll add in a copy of The Literary Study Bible for a second place winner. I’m happy to ship this Bible anywhere, so non-U.S. residents can still win something!

I don’t expect thousands of people to jump at this offer. Therefore, those who do take it are going to have pretty good odds of winning that gift certificate. So what are you waiting for?

You can learn about the book, read the endorsements, and buy it right here.

Make it a Gift

Some readers have asked if the book will be available on time for them to give as a Christmas gift. Unfortunately, it will not. However, if you would like to make a gift of it, I can offer you a card you can print and give to your loved one(s). The card will say something to the effect that you've got the book on order and that it will arrive (signed by the author!) very shortly after Christmas Day.

Tim Begs Shamelessly…

As of this very moment, The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment (written by yours truly and with a Foreword by John MacArthur) is available for pre-sale through this site. As a bonus I’ll be signing all copies purchased in advance. This is the only place you’ll be able to order a signed copy.

The book will become available near the end of December and will be shipped to you as soon as I get my hands on it. Because I will be in Chattanooga at the time the book releases, it will ship from there. The publisher’s suggested retail price is $16.99 and I’m offering it for a nice round $17 which includes shipping via media mail. I realize the book may eventually be a little bit less expensive at online retailers, but I simply can’t sell it as cheaply as they can or I’d be losing money on every sale! Plus, I’m including shipping. So there.

So here’s the deal. I’m not the kind to beg, but I’m assuming that quite a few of this site’s readers intend to buy the book. If you do, I’d sure appreciate it if you’d consider buying it in advance and buying it through my site. It allows me to offer the book for a price similar to what you’d eventually pay elsewhere, but keeps just a little bit more of the proceeds here at home. And that, as I see it, is a good thing.

You can learn about the book, read the endorsements, and buy it right here.

So here’s the part where you go nuts and buy one for yourself and a few for your friends. You know the drill!

Some readers have asked if the book will be available on time for them to give as a Christmas gift. Unfortunately, it will not. However, if you would like to make a gift of it, I can offer you a card you can print and give to your loved one(s). The card will say that you’ve got the book on-order and that it will arrive (signed by the author!) very shortly after Christmas Day.

Every book needs a cover and, as luck would have it, my book now has one. Choosing a cover was far more difficult than I would have imagined. Some readers may have noticed a white cover on the Crossway site. It was there for a short time before being replaced. Though I didn’t mind the white cover, I ultimately chose against it for two reasons. First, I thought it was too “zen,” looking a little bit too New Age for my liking; second, I thought it would blend too much into a white background. So instead I went with this cover, created by the great designers at Crossway.

There were several elements of this design that stood out to me. First, I like the colors. Though they are certainly bright, I know that the book is not going to get lost on the shelves. Second, I like the imagery. I wanted an image that somehow communicated discernment without being too obvious. To me, the little guy staring at the doors communicates discernment but without giving it all away (such as may have been the case with some other images). Third, I like its simplicity. The “action” all happens in a small portion of the design and that appeals to me.

The cover is not quite in its final form. Before it shows up in bookstores it will have “Foreword by John MacArthur” inserted somewhere. And there may be a couple of other minor changes to the graphics. But beyond this, it is pretty well as it will be.

While on the subject of the book, here is an endorsement that arrived just a short time ago courtesy of Dr. Ligon Duncan:

“One of my favorite John Murray sayings is "the difference between truth and error is not a chasm but a razor's edge." Spurgeon said something like it too: "Discernment is not a matter of simply telling the difference between what is right and wrong; rather, it is the difference between right and almost right." Both these giants are emphasizing the vital quality (and difficulty) of discernment. Unfortunately, in our time, even among Christians, discernment is long in demand and short in supply. This is but one reason I'm so delighted to commend to you Tim Challies' The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment. Tim reminds us that the Bible constantly commands us to cultivate discernment, but he doesn't stop there. He tells us how, biblically. “

I’m still not entirely certain when the book will be available, but I think it will be very early in January.

A couple of nights ago I received a new endorsement for The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment. As I mentioned the first time an endorsement came in, I will continue to share these because, in many ways, I feel that this book was a community effort as readers of the site prayed for me, encouraged me, proofread the book (in a few cases), and generally made it all possible. This third endorsement is courtesy of Dr. Mark Dever who you know as the pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington DC, the founder of 9Marks Ministries, the author of several notable books, and one of the four men who founded Together for the Gospel. Here is what he said about the book:

“If you were more discerning you'd probably buy this book. If you do read this book, you will be! Tim Challies has written on a topic that is both important and rarely addressed. This book on discernment is simple, clear, well-written and well-illustrated, accurate and even insightful. I read it all. I liked it all. I will recommend it often. Ten short, pithy chapters. Read 1 a day for 10 days, and I guess that you'll find yourself more discerning--or at least wanting to be.”

Mark Dever
Pastor, Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Washington, DC.

Thanks to Mark for the blurb and, perhaps even more importantly, for providing several great suggestions for which I am very grateful.