Welcome to the online home of Tim Challies, blogger, author, and book reviewer.
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Sometimes a book obscures its subject behind a clever or even misleading title. Sometimes, though, it just goes out and says it. And that’s very much the case with Bob Fyall’s Why Are We Often So Boring?. Having dedicated his life to both preaching and training others to preach, he has collected his thoughts and reflections in this small but punchy book. His concern, of course, is that too much preaching is boring. Yet he is not lobbying for preaching …
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you today, my friends. Today’s the last day for Logos users to save on March Matchups. There are some great deals to be had! In Your Wake This one hits hard: “One of my husband’s earliest memories is the day you left your family. Left them to poverty and shame, to insecurity and a weight of bitterness while you transferred the care due them to a new family. You fed your sin silently. …
May the Lord be with you and bless you today. Westminster Books has a deal on a new systematic theology. Today’s Kindle deals include a couple of noteworthy titles. (Yesterday on the blog: The Gap Between Our Greatest Grief and Our Greatest Joy) What Are Atheism and Secularism? Ligonier has a helpful and quite extensive introduction to the twin philosophical worldviews of atheism and secularism. Gospel Mourning “Jesus said, ‘Blessed are those that mourn.’ It is in this gospel mourning God …
My heart has often been gripped by the one of the stories Luke tells from the life of Jesus. He tells of Jesus arriving in the town of Nain just as a funeral procession is making its way toward the tombs nearby. This was an especially tragic funeral, for the man who had died was “the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.” Tragedy had followed tragedy for this poor woman. She had already suffered the loss …
May the Lord be with you and bless you today. Presbyterian School Mourns 6 Dead in Nashville Shooting Like so many others, I’m shocked and grieved by the recent tragedy at Covenant School in Nashville (which CT reports on here). I am praying for all those whose loved ones have been taken and whose hearts have been broken. More Than Watchmen for the Morning Meredith Beatty: “The watchman trusted that the sun would come up every single morning, but don’t …
March Matchups at Logos has wrapped up for the year and lots of great deals are ready for the taking. You’ll find 50% off Preaching the Word Commentary Series, 57% off Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary, 60% off Zondervan Exegetical Commentary Collection, and so on. Get them all here. I did add just a couple of new Kindle deals to the list as well. (Yesterday on the blog: Behind-the-Scenes: Endorsements) Midlife, Christ Is Jared Wilson reflects on midlife. “Midlife brings new insecurities and …
"Do you want to make your Christianity attractive and beautiful to others? Then acquire the grace of patience now, before you experience illness. Then, if you become ill, your illness will be for the glory of God." (J.C. Ryle)
"Loneliness is one of humanity’s most tender emotions. It reminds us that we are not made for ourselves. We were made for our Creator. The barbs of loneliness are God’s way of saying, “Here I am!”" (Steve DeWitt)
"We forget too easily the words of the Lord Jesus; but He never forgets a promise He makes!" (J.R. Miller)
"Everyone, almost, can be thankful in prosperity, but a true saint can be thankful in adversity." (Thomas Watson)
"The deepest spiritual lessons are not learned by His letting us have our way in the end, but by His making us wait, bearing with us in love and patience until we are able to honestly pray what He taught His disciples to pray: Thy will be done." (Elisabeth Elliot)
"God never calls you to a task without giving you what you need to do it. He never sends you without going with you." (Paul David Tripp)
"If we do not believe in hell—if we think the only justice and retribution to be had is in this life—then we must take revenge into our own hands. Without hell, justice must be forcibly executed by us, or it will not be executed at all." (Dane Ortlund)
In the past few weeks I have seen a fair bit of discussion about book endorsements—about those little blurbs you so often find inside the first few pages or on the back cover of a newly-published book. There seems to be some consensus that the entire endorsement system is faulty, but little consensus about what to do about it. I thought I’d give a behind-the-scenes glance at the system based on my understanding and my experience and then offer a …
Good morning. Grace and peace to you. Today’s Kindle deals include a selection from Crossway. (Yesterday on the blog: A Corporate Confession of Sin) Does God Read Every Thought? John Piper was asked whether God knows our thoughts. “The short answer is yes, but what’s really important, as I have thought about this, are the implications of that answer, and they are many and really significant.” The Wisdom of Avoiding Strife “Conflict is hard. By ‘conflict,’ I’m referring not to everyday …
It is good to confess our sins. It is good to corporately confess our sins. This corporate confession based on Psalm 38 is one we use from time to time at Grace Fellowship Church. I hope you appreciate it as we do. Leader: O Lord, Please do not punish us for our sins. Hold back your discipline from us. We feel sick over our sins. We are drowning in our sins. The guilt of our sins clings to us like …
I’m thankful to Radius International for sponsoring the blog this week to tell you about their Upcoming Conference featuring John MacArthur, Costi Hinn, and many others. Today’s Kindle deals include some newer and older books. Also, basically everything Tolkien is on sale today. See here. (Yesterday on the blog: New and Notable Christian Books for March 2023) I Know That My Redeemer Lives (Official Lyric Video) The Gettys have released a new hymn for Easter. You’ll want to give it a listen, …
This week’s Free Stuff Friday is sponsored by Radius International. They are giving away a conference package that includes: 2 tickets, a Radius pullover, and 4 books. The winner will receive two free tickets to The Radius Conference being held June 28-29, 2023, at Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, CA. This event will be live in person or available as a live stream. John MacArthur, Costi Hinn, Ian Hamilton, Wayne Chen, Brooks Buser, Chad Vegas, and others from the Radius world will be …
As you know, I like to do my best to sort through the new Christian books that are released each month to see what stands out as being not only new, but also particularly notable. I received quite a number of new titles in March and narrowed the list down to the ones below. I have included the editorial description for each. I hope there’s something here that catches your eye! Resilient Faith: Learning to Rely on Jesus in the …
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you today. Westminster Books has a deal on a neat new book for kids. And some other books for kids. How to Detect Deception Shane Rosenthal looks at the conclusions of a recent study and bridges from there to a defense of the historical accuracy of the gospels. The Class of 2003: An Interview with Tim Challies, Justin Taylor, and Jared Wilson Ten years ago Joe Carter interviewed Jared Wilson, Justin Taylor, …
Logos’ March Matchups is down to its final pairing, so you should go and vote one more time. Yes, there are once again some new Kindle deals. (Yesterday on the blog: On Being the Main Character in Your Own Sermon) The Honorable, Shameful Service of True Leaders This article offers some wisdom for leaders. “The balance that Jesus models so well for us is one in which leaders are honored, but they respond to this honoring by embracing sacrificial and costly …
If you’ve ever preached as much as a single sermon, if you’ve ever delivered as much as a single conference address, if you’ve ever led as much as a single Bible study, then I expect you know the temptation. I expect you have longed to make much of Jesus, but have also felt the desire to have people make much of you. I expect you have prayed that God would glorify himself through your words, but have also wished that …
May the Lord be with you and bless you today. Westminster Books has a discount on a new book that looks excellent. There are a few new Kindle deals today. The World that Money Makes Go Round “The economically inactive, we are told, are a hazard to the economy—although no one can quite bring themselves to say they’re doing anything wrong. They’re perhaps just a bit thoughtless as to how their leisure impacts others around them, like an old man in a …
Logos has a sale on my recommended bundle of commentaries which will give your library a great boost. Also, be sure to keep voting in March Matchups. Today’s Kindle deals include some more good books. (Yesterday on the blog: If God Would Outsource His Sovereignty) There is Something Better than Never Suffering Jared Wilson: “It is the sustaining vision of eternal life in Christ that fixes even a lifetime of suffering to a fine point — a fine point that …
I want you to imagine that, at least for a time, the Lord would see fit to involve us in selecting the providences we would receive from his hand. I want you to imagine that through one of his deputies—an angel perhaps—he would approach us to ask how we would prefer to serve him. In other words, I want you to imagine that for just a while he would choose to offshore his sovereignty and outsource it to us. I …
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
