This may be one of those articles that is far more interesting to me than to anyone else, so you may need to bear with me. But at the end of the year it is always interesting to me to see which articles gained the most attention in the year that was. There are always…
Lots of 2011 “best of” or “top ten” lists are coming out these days; it’s kind of a year-end tradition in the Internet age. I’ve already posted my top books of the year, but I thought it would be helpful or at least interesting to list some of these other lists—a top ten of top…
This week’s Free Stuff Fridays is sponsored by CBD Reformed, a regular sponsor of these giveaways. Today they are offering 5 prizes, each of which will contain the following 3 books: In addition, CBD Reformed is offering a 4-day sale (December 30 – January 2) on the following three products: Giveaway Rules: You may only…
How Do You Begin Your Day? – Rick Holland reflects on how he begins his day. “So what is the first thing you do when you wake up? Here’s my problem. I find it easy to grab my iPhone and check my email, glace at social media notifications, see if there are any texts awaiting…
I have been reading (and listening to) Tim Keller’s new book The Meaning of Marriage, easily my favorite book of 2011. One of the subjects Keller covers is the lost sense of duty in love. We have come to think that if there is any duty in love it must not be genuine. Biblically, of…
2011 was a great year for books. While I did not read as many books in 2011 as I have in previous years, I still read quite a few. Today I want to share some of my top picks from the year that was. Let me offer the usual caveats that these are almost certainly…
Bible Reading Plans – If you aren’t planning on joining in The 3650 Challenge with me, here are some other Bible reading plans that may help you read the Bible in 2012. Nuclear Exclusion Zone – A Big Picture photo gallery of Japan’s nuclear exclusion zone. It’s always fascinating to see areas like this where…
At this year’s Expositor’s Conference there was a Q&A session in which a concerned pastor asked Al Mohler about the influence of Mark Driscoll. Mohler’s answer was winsome and helpful. He helpfully balanced being encouraged that Driscoll is preaching the gospel while at the same time expressing concern at some of his emphases. As he…
The Year Gone By – I think I’m going to do this before the year is through. “Christmas night after all the day’s festivities were over, I took a few minutes to write down a list of things I could remember from this past year. Most were obvious blessings. Some were trials that God turned…
Last week I asked if some of you would like to take The 3650 Challenge with me (reading 3650 chapters of the Bible in 2012). I expected that 50 or 100 of you might like to join me. I was more than a little surprised to see well over 800 join up, with more joining…
Waking Up Fragile – John Piper: “There are mornings when I wake up feeling fragile. Vulnerable. It’s often vague. No single threat. No one weakness. Just an amorphous sense that something is going to go wrong and I will be responsible. It’s usually after a lot of criticism. Lots of expectations that have deadlines and…
As I’ve been reading blogs and news articles lately, I’ve seen quite a few articles on the subject of breastfeeding. That’s kind of a strange observation, I know, but I’ve seen it as a recent theme in the media. I guess society is still negotiating whether or not it is appropriate to nurse a baby…
Thomas Jefferson’s Bible – Smithsonian magazine: “Thanks to an extensive restoration and conservation process, the public can now see how Jefferson cut and pasted his own version of the Scripture.” TGC Ontario – There is a local Gospel Coalition event coming to Ontario. You’ll find some details at the Facebook page. Matt Hammitt – Matt…
I went looking for what Charles Spurgeon believed about Christmas and was kind of amused at the energy he brought to the discussion (e.g. “the greatest absurdities under heaven…”). Suffice it to say he did not mark Christmas day. And yet he celebrated the incarnation and all it means to the believer. Here’s the opening…
The Puritans used to speak of “constancy,” a word that has largely fallen out of use since then. It speaks of faithfulness and endurance and dependability–character traits of the Christian. The Puritans admired those who were constant, those who endured through all the trials of this life. They cared less for extraordinary acts and more…
Back in 2005 I wrote about the seeming arbitrariness (but not the unimportance) of celebrating the birth of Christ on December 25. But even if that date wasn’t the actual calendar day of Jesus’ birth, it’s still interesting to understand why we have come to commemorate it then. A few years ago Elisha Coffman posted…
This week’s Free Stuff Fridays is sponsored by Shepherd Press. Before we get to the prizes, you should know that until the end of December all of Shepherd Press’ books are on sale in ebook formats. You can get details right here. It’s a great time to fill out your catalog a little bit! Today…
House sitters are in place. The dog has been taken to a kennel. The van is all gassed up. And we are on our way to Chattanooga, Tennessee to spend Christmas with my family. We made half the drive last night, getting as far as Dayton, Ohio. We’ve got 412 miles to go. Here is…
I was at a wedding recently and was introduced to this hymn (which also works well as a poem) written by John Berridge. Berridge was a preacher, a revivalist and a hymnwriter who wrote several hundred songs. Indelible Grace has a helpful biography of the man. I quite enjoyed his hymn “Since Jesus Freely Did…
Acts 12 contains one of my favorite stories of the early church. It is a great little bit of writing–a short story in three acts. I was reflecting on that story recently and just had to tell you about it. The chapter begins with a description of Herod’s persecution against the church. In order to…