Welcome to the online home of Tim Challies, blogger, author, and book reviewer.
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Greg Koukl often passes along a cheeky little tip related to reading and understanding the Bible. “If there was one bit of wisdom, one rule of thumb, one single skill I could impart, one useful tip I could leave that would serve you well the rest of your life, what would it be? What is the single most important practical skill I’ve ever learned as a Christian? Here it is: Never read a Bible verse.” Hang on! Is he one …
Can you think of a celebrity pastor whose fame is based on something other than his preaching (or on his books which are, in all likelihood, based on his preaching)? Can you think of one who is known more for his prayers than his sermons, for his words before God than his words before man? Can you think of one who is known more for his hospital visits than his pulpit proclamation? Can you think of one who is lauded …
I am sure parenting has always been a complicated business. I’m sure each generation of parents has had to deal with issues specific to their unique time and context. I rather suspect, though, that parents who raise children at the cusp of a technological transformation face a special kind of challenge. It falls to them to blaze a trail through unknown territory. And that is exactly what parents are doing today as we raise our children in this digital world. …
You can’t read the first five books of the Old Testament and fail to conclude that God takes worship seriously. But then, you can’t observe the lay of the evangelical land today and fail to conclude that many churches do not take worship seriously. While granting there is a great and necessary difference between Old Testament worship and its New Testament counterpart, we should still wonder: How did we get from the tabernacle to the stormtrooper dance? How did we …
Conferences tend to come in seasons, with the great majority grouped in the spring and fall. While there are some exceptions, it is quite rare to see a Christian conference very early in the year, very late in the year, or around the same time as vacations and holidays. Glance at a calendar and you’ll see that we are just now entering into prime season. Over the next few months there will be hundreds of conferences large and small. And, …
As I tell people about the round-the-world journey that led to the forthcoming book and DVD Epic: An Around-the-World Journey through Christian History (please pre-order it now!), the most common question I get is this: What was your favorite place? Obviously I got to see and experience a lot as I traveled 24 countries across 6 continents. I saw so much of the world, so many of its beauties, and so many of its treasures. In all that I saw, …
It’s a recurring theme in current events. Every few weeks, as I scour the headlines, I see yet another story about someone who is sure he has cracked the code. He has hacked the human body in such a way that he will live an unusually long life. He has come up with just the right diet, just the exercise regime, just the right concoction, just the right invention. He will reverse, or at least hold off, the effects of …
The best of the bunch in today’s Kindle deals is William VanDoodewaard’s excellent The Quest for the Historical Adam. (Yesterday on the blog: Are You Looking for Something Good To Read?) The Most Frightening Three Words Kimberly Wagner writes about the most frightening words for those who are suffering from chronic pain. “I’ve learned that it is best to patiently and gently approach those who are traumatized by their pain and be willing to wait. Let the sufferer know you are praying for …
You may have noticed that books tend to arrive in bunches. Once publishers identify that readers are interested in a particular theme, several will often commission authors to write on the subject. Over the past couple of years we’ve seen quite a number of books on friendship. Most of them address friendship in a digital world and say, rightly, that it has fallen on hard times as so many people focus less on real-world relationships and more on online relationships. …
I have, in many ways, lived a very easy life. Sure, I’ve had my share of difficulties—I’ve lived, after all, in this broken world and not some perfect paradise. And while I know there isn’t a lot of value in comparing my little suffering to other people’s greater suffering, still I understand I have had it easy relative to so many people I’ve known and loved. Yet, this world being what it is, I knew it was only a matter …