You’ll usually find the ninth chapter of John placed under a heading such as “Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind.” You know the story, I’m sure. It is the one where his disciples, as they passed a man who had been blind since birth, ask him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that…
And another month draws to a close. I may have said something like this at the beginning of November (or October or September). But somehow it feels like the pace of life is accelerating, like time is just going by at a ridiculous rate. If you have figured out a way of slowing down time,…
Black Friday has come and gone but Cyber Monday still offers an opportunity to save some money on online purchases. Here are some of the deals I’ve found: Deals removed because pricing is no longer in effect. If you know of other stores that will be having sales on items that should be of particular…
The book is always better than the movie, right? It seems that way to me, even with movies as good as the Lord of the Rings series. The movies were amazing, but the books were still better. It seems inevitable that Unbroken will appear on the silver screen before long (and, if the rumors are…
I hope and trust that you enjoyed your weekend. I’m glad to report that it was a good one for the Challies family. It was quiet and mostly-unremarkable–just the way we like it. Cyber Monday – I have put together a roundup of Cyber Monday deals (and it’s being continually updated). Check the link for…
Today the majority of those who read this site will be heading to church to hear a pastor preach the Word of God. A while back I jotted down several quotes about the Bible and thought I’d share them today. Hopefully many of you can read them before hearing the Word preached today. Each of…
Here’s another of Scotty Smith’s prayers that I particularly enjoyed. As I’ve said before, what I like about these prayers is how real they are; they’re not full of fancy words and Christianese. They’re not too polished or perfect–they’re just heartfelt prayers. If you didn’t read it a couple of days ago, be sure to…
I’m not just providing a roundup of great items to buy at a discount today; I’m also giving away some great stuff. This week’s Free Stuff Fridays sponsor is CBDReformed, a regular sponsor of these giveaways They are offering five prizes, each of which will contain the following three items: In addition, CBD and CBD…
Today is a great day to find bargains, not just in stores but also online. I’ve got a post that contains a long list of great deals that will be of interest to Christians–lots of Christian books, music, DVDs and so on for really good prices. I’ve also got information about the amazing Kindle deal…
This will be an abbreviated Thanksgiving edition of Reading Classics Together (since, honestly, most people aren’t doing a lot of surfing today…so maybe if I keep it short, you’ll be able to read quickly and get back to the family!). This week I will simply share some of my favorite quotes from chapter 7 of…
Well, happy Thanksgiving to all of my American friends. This is one of those days where I feel like I’m the only one out here on the Internet. I trust you all have better ways to be spending your time today. I’m thankful for you and glad that you get to take a day to…
With 25 episodes of Connected Kingdom in the can, David and I are ending Season 1 and taking a time-out until the New Year. We’ve greatly enjoyed the challenge of learning to communicate via the podcast format, and deeply appreciate all your interaction and feedback. Thanks also to all our guests. We look forward to…
I do not generally consider myself a worrier. I am more the easy-going type—the kind who is generally carefree and and does not succumb to fear. Or so I like to think. But even then I have to admit that I can be fearful—I can give in to the temptation to worry. Even if I…
I’ve got a slightly abbreviated version of A La Carte today (after a long day away from home yesterday). Enjoy! The Human Brain – CNET declares the brain truly awesome. “A typical, healthy one houses some 200 billion nerve cells, which are connected to one another via hundreds of trillions of synapses. Each synapse functions…
Have you ever stopped to ponder what it might have been like for the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness, knowing that each day they would completely exhaust their food supply? Have you thought what it would be like knowing that they would go to bed with no food, but that the next day…
It’s a sad day today, the day of Aileen’s grandmother’s funeral. For our children this is their first real close-to-home experience with death and loss. And it marks the end of a generation–Aileen’s grandmother was the last of our grandparents. So do pray for us if you think of it. On to today’s links… Amazon…
There is a vast amount of Christian music targeted at children. The problem is that there is a lot of junk as well–stuff like this. My kids are not particularly drawn to music so we have probably overlooked a lot of the great resources out there. Nevertheless, there are a few that we’ve come across…
Seven hundred billion minutes. That’s how much time Facebook’s 500 million active users spend on the site every month. 700,000,000,000 minutes. Let that one sink in for a moment. Every month we spend the equivalent of 1.3 million years on Facebook; the equivalent of nearly 18,000 lifetimes. More than half of us login every single…
This is the most normal of weeks in Canada, yet it’s one of the most special weeks in the United States. I think Canadians are always a little bit surprised at the fuss Americans make about Thanksgiving. For us it’s quite a minor holiday; for Americans it’s one of the biggest days on the calendar.…
As you know, I often post a prayer on Sunday morning–a prayer drawn from any number of sources. This week I’m turning again to Scotty Smith, pastor of Christ Community Church in Franklin, TN. This week he wrote one and posted it to his blog. He titled it “A Prayer About God’s Delight and Our…