I guess this is the final Free Stuff Fridays of 2010. I’m glad to say that there will be many more of them in 2011 and beyond. But for now, let’s see what we’ve got to giveaway for today. This week’s edition of Free Stuff Fridays is sponsored by CBD Reformed. They are giving away…
One day away from the end of 2010, I went looking through the statistics software that runs behind-the-scenes at my web site to see which articles were the most popular. And just for your amusement I thought I’d share them with you. Two observations: first, it was a little surprising to me how many of…
The year is quickly drawing to a close. Blink. It’s gone. It seems that life goes by so quickly. I wonder if it will seem the same in heaven, or if time will pass slower as we draw the greatest value out of each and every day. New Year’s Resolutions – Mint.com offers up some…
I’m on vacation this week–not the kind of vacation where we all jump in the car and drive to warmer parts of the continent, but the kind of vacation that allows me to just stay around the house and do what I love to do–hang out with the family and read good books. I guess…
Where have all the grown-ups gone? It’s a question that has perplexed me. Why is it that young people these days seem unwilling, or perhaps unable, to grow up? What is so attractive about youth, about perpetual adolescence, that is so attractive? My wife and I have discussed these things at length, trying to understand…
Yesterday my wife painted the girls’ bedroom (green on 2 walls, pink on the other 2–there’s something we’ll have to change if we ever decide to sell the place), hung a closet organizer and completely rearranged their room. She’s omnicapable, that wife of mine. And the girls are the happy beneficiaries. 4 Great Doctrines –…
I always close a year with two lists–a list of my favorite books and list of my favorite albums from the year that was. I recently posted my list of books and today want to offer you my list of music. As always, allow me to give a couple of caveats: these are my favorite…
One of the things Aileen got me for Christmas was Baseball: The Tenth Inning, Ken Burns’ update to his classic documentary series on the game (it covers the last 2 decades). Though it’s necessarily selective in the issues it discusses (it focuses a ton of attention on Boston and New York, for example, but none…
You know that I like to go looking for prayers to post on Sunday (or even better, to pray on my own on Sundays). Here is one I came across a few days ago, one that shares the grief and bewilderment of a father’s heart as he ponders the imminent death of his son. It…
We were up at 7 this morning to get our Christmas started with stockings and gifts and a special breakfast and other family traditions. And a few hours later I’m sitting here at my computer, running back through Christmas posts from years past to see what I was doing on Christmas in 2009, 2008, 2007–I…
A couple of days ago I received an email from a young man who reads this site and he asked a rather simple question: How am I to react to sexual desire? As a teenager, unmarried and with marriage in the distant future rather than the near future, he wanted to know how God would…
And here we are, at the end of another classic. If you’ve been doing this since the beginning, you’ve now read Holiness by J.C. Ryle, Overcoming Sin and Temptation by John Owen, The Seven Sayings of the Savior on the Cross by A.W. Pink, The Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards, Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis,…
Because I am now working out of the church offices a couple of days a week, I am starting to haul my library over there (since that’s where I anticipate doing the bulk of my study). That’s no small task, as it happens. But little by little I’m moving it over, a few boxes and…
Back in November I encouraged you to Enjoy Messiah This Christmas and I know that quite a lot of you did–you took in a performance of Handel’s Messiah. I’d love to hear about your experience. Where did you go and what was it like? Give me a brief report! Let me tell you about the…
I’ve got a slightly abbreviated A La Carte today after having a busy day yesterday–the kind of day that just didn’t allow me a lot of time to do online reading. The Virgin Birth – Dr. Mohler takes on the question: “Must one believe in the Virgin Birth to be a Christian? This is not…
Last year I posted a series of interviews under the banner of Meet the Ministries. It was a means of introducing you to some of the great ministries that serve the church today. You got to meet Grace to You, Desiring God, Acts 29, Peacemaker Ministries, CCEF and Truth for Life. I am continuing that…
Tonight I’m off to a performance of Handel’s Messiah with Toronto Symphony Orchestra. I can hardly wait. A lot of people I know have already been and are saying great things about this year’s adaptation. Just twelve hours to go… Last Minute Gifts – My good friend Becky is offering up a lifesaver for guys…
2010 was a good year for books. For me it was a strange year–a year in which I read less widely than I am accustomed to, but perhaps read more overall. Work on my new book had me reading a whole lot in a single direction and so much of that reading never appeared as…
Yesterday evening our church was able to enjoy a baptism service and see 3 people make that public profession of faith. What an awesome thing God has done in giving us baptism, a visible rite that speaks so clearly about the inner change he has wrought. The Half-Life of Celebrity – “Is it possible to…
This is an interesting prayer I came across this week–a prayer obviously timed for the Christmas season. It was prayed in a service at All Souls Church, Langham Place (which is in London, England). We come together humbly to the Lord of Glory and the Prince of Peace.Lord Jesus Christ, Creator, Author, and Redeemer, we…