Welcome to the online home of Tim Challies, blogger, author, and book reviewer.
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May the God of love and peace be with you today. There is a short list of Kindle deals today. (Yesterday on the blog: Thank You, God, That I Am Not Like Other Men) If There’s One Thing We Can Offer, It’s Authenticity “As I’m writing this, I have just seen one of those promo videos from a larger church talking about all the great stuff people can plug into. It was full of youngish, cool people (I assume) talking about how great …
This week the blog is sponsored by Zondervan Reflective, and in the post, J. Warner Wallace is inviting you to consider the evidence. Can the truth about Jesus be uncovered—even without a body or a crime scene? Tammy Hayes’s disappearance was what we call a no-body homicide case—where a homicide is assumed to have occurred but a body is never found. These cases are incredibly difficult to investigate and prosecute. Few are ever filed with the district attorney because prosecutors …
Comparison comes as naturally to us as eating, breathing, laughing, weeping. From our youngest days we begin to compare ourselves to others and quickly find the old adage to be true: Comparison is the enemy of joy. Though we so readily compare ourselves with others, we discover that this fosters a deep unhappiness. What promises joy actually delivers misery. The reason is that comparison is intrinsically competitive, so that we don’t really want to be merely pretty, but prettier than …
Good morning, my friends. Grace and peace be with you today. (Yesterday on the blog: The Blessings Lent Us for a Day…) Three Questions for Evangelism “There are times when as churches and pastors we make things more complicated than they need to be. I sometimes fear that evangelism is made out to be something that you need to learn, that there’s a magic course or a seminar out there that will unlock the hidden evangelist in you.” But it’s …
I have often remarked that past generations of Christians relied on poetry far more than we do today. As I read authors from previous centuries, perhaps especially the nineteenth, I see how often they weave poetry into their prose. Sometimes the verses are quoted from the poets of the day and, just as often, freshly-written. I found this little example, clearly inspired by the book of Job, in a work titled “Brief Notice of a Short Life.” What’er we fondly …
May the Lord bless and keep you this weekend. My gratitude goes to RHB for sponsoring the blog this week with news of books that point children to Christ. Today’s Kindle deals include some newer and some older titles. (Yesterday on the blog: The Ones Who Sow and the Ones Who Reap) Sin Is Death? “While sin isn’t a substance in itself, that doesn’t make it any less lethal. Sin isn’t just a series or errors or poor judgments with …
"Where we always look for and request deliverance from suffering, the testimony of Scripture is mostly about what God wants to do for us in our suffering." (Jared C. Wilson)
I love to begin Sunday with a little natural beauty before heading to church to rejoice in gospel beauty.
"Leaders who want to show sensitivity should listen often and long, and talk short and seldom. Many so-called leaders are too busy to listen. True leaders know that time spent listening is well invested." (Oswald Sanders)
"How sweet is rest, after fatigue! How sweet will Heaven be, when our toilsome journey is ended." (George Whitefield)
"Sin can no more stand against the presence of the Holy Spirit than darkness can resist the gentle, all-pervasive beams of morning light." (F.B Meyer)
"God does as He wills, and we can do nothing except what He wills." (Jerry Bridges)
This week’s Free Stuff Friday is sponsored by RHB Publications. Everyone who enters the prize draw will have the opportunity to be one of three people picked to receive a copy of all the following new titles from RHB: The Puritan Path: From the Reformation to the Modern Era: A Pictorial Witness by Joel R. Beeke & Stephen McCaskell A pictorial history across two continents about the origins, growth, and influence of the Puritans. Includes additional essays on the Puritans …
Every Olympics provides us with a few special moments. While the great majority of the athletes and the great majority of their successes and failures quickly fade from our consciousness, a few special ones tend to stick around. One moment from the 2020 Olympics that will remain in our minds, even if only because of the mountain of memes it generated, is an Australian swimming coach celebrating his athlete’s success. Ariarne Titmus has just narrowly edged out her American rival …
Good morning. May the Lord bless and keep you today. Westminster Books has a couple of deals you should know about this week. The first is on the John Piper preaching bundle while the second is on a new children’s book. There’s a nice collection of reference works in today’s list of Kindle deals. Clinging to God and Grammar Carl Trueman: “In times past, progressive politicians described those they despised as clinging to ‘God and guns.’ I suspect that we are …
“Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, and let them say among the nations, ‘The LORD reigns!’” As is so often the case, I dug up a few Kindle deals that are worthy of a look. (Yesterday on the blog: God Has Found You Faithful) Be Worthy of Your Gray Andrée Seu Peterson: “Scripture says men are held in bondage all their lives by fear of death (Hebrews 2:15). And women by fear of gray. The secret is …
The Parable of the Talents is one of the best-known and best-loved of all the parables Jesus left us. It tells of a man who is going on a journey and, who, before he sets out, distributes his wealth among his servants for safekeeping. To one he gives five talents, to another two, and to another just one. (A talent, for sake of context, is about 20 years’ of wages for a laborer.) It tells how each of these servants …
May the Lord bless and keep you today. Today’s Kindle deals include quite a number of solid books. Do Pronouns Matter? “Do pronouns matter? Yes. It’s not merely a battle over ‘preferred’ pronouns; it’s a battle over reality. What is a pronoun? It’s a word we use to describe the objective nature of reality.” Brett Kunkle explains. Note Taking in Worship This article explores the joys and challenges of taking notes in church. The Secrets of the World’s Most Famous …
May the God of love and peace be with you today. There are a few Kindle deals to take a glance at today. (Yesterday on the blog: It Has To Be Dark Before We Can See) Death on a Wednesday: John Shelby Spong and Norm MacDonald Anne Kennedy draws an interesting comparison between two men who recently died. “Verily verily, the contrast between the thoughts and feelings of Norm MacDonald during his life and those of John Spong is in itself a …
This week the blog is sponsored by Reformation Heritage Books, with news of books that point children to Christ. Is this a familiar scene? You go to a bookstore to buy a Christian children’s book as a gift, and what you find are plenty of titles that provide good moral lessons – but are they spiritual lessons? Are they specifically Christian lessons? Do they point children to Christ and the character and nature of God? What follows is a transcript …
A skillful poet once imagined Adam’s first evening in the Garden of Eden. He described the scene as Adam began to notice that the sun was sinking toward the horizon, that the shadows were growing long, that the light was getting dim. The first day was becoming the first night and Adam didn’t know what to expect—he had only ever known daylight. The poet imagined that as evening turned to dusk and as dusk faded into twilight, Adam might have …
Good morning. May grace and peace be with you today. (Yesterday on the blog: Richer Blood Than Ours) What the Seasons Say Glenna Marshall: “Sometimes I’ve wondered why God created things the way He did. Why day and night? Why four seasons? Why the divisions in days and years?” I like her answer. God Is in the Details (Video) You may enjoy this latest video from the John 10:10 Project. For Better, for Worse… “Last week I came across a …
De Witt Talmage was considered a great preacher in his day, though it is rare to see him quoted or referenced in modern times. Still, I have benefited a lot by reading his sermons, and perhaps especially one he preached on Isaiah 52:3. He preached it at a time when many were objecting to the notion of atonement and to the necessity of an atonement of blood. Here is a brief, beautiful excerpt. It’s well worth reading it aloud. Money …
Whatever this weekend brings, may you know the Lord’s sweet blessings through it all. (Yesterday on the blog: The Death of Porn) Many Voices, One Song I appreciate this reflection on the Sing! Conference and, beyond that, singing in general. “I’m writing this post because I don’t want a profound dynamic of this conference to be passed by without mention. It’s a truth we need to hear. Specifically, I want to encourage you as you head to church this Sunday …
I wrote this short, fast-paced, practical guide to productivity to share what I have learned about getting things done in today’s digital world. It will help you learn to structure your life to do the most good to the glory of God. Read More
