Welcome to the online home of Tim Challies, blogger, author, and book reviewer.
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Is there any sin we commit more but admit less than the sin of idolatry? As people who have knowingly and willingly deserted the one true God, we turn our hearts this way and that to find the satisfaction we are meant to find in him alone. We try first one thing and then the other yet never find our thirst assuaged. It is not until we rest in him that we find true rest. It is not until we …
A key component of every parent’s task is helping our children form good habits. A key component of every Christian parent’s task is helping our children form the good habit of personal devotions. We are convinced that our children are sinners in need of God’s saving grace, we are convinced that God’s Word is powerful, we are convinced that God is pleased to use his Word to convict our children of their sin and draw them to his Son. This …
We are well-served with books on marriage. Whether we are approaching our wedding day or closing in on our 50th anniversary, we’ve got lots of wise counsel to turn to: The Meaning of Marriage by Tim and Kathy Keller, Married for God by Christopher Ash, When Sinners Say, “I Do,” by Dave Harvey, and on and on. But while we are well-served with books on marriage, we are not nearly so well-served with books on divorce and remarriage. And while …
I feel like I should have been familiar with the name Costas Macris, but confess it was unknown to me until a biography unexpectedly showed up in the mail. Written by Dan Vorm, If I Had Two Lives is a stirring tale of an amazing life. I don’t know how it got to me, but I’m glad it did. Born in Greece, Macris was raised in a Christian home, heard the gospel, believed it, and was saved. This made him …
This isn’t normally my kind of book, not the type I am typically drawn to. But I thought I might at least read a little bit just to see what it is all about. I read the first few pages, then the first few sections, then the whole thing. It just kind of happened. And I enjoyed it far more than I would have thought. In 2014, Connie Dever (wife of Mark Dever) was diagnosed with cancer. And, as so …
Christians have an interesting relationship with culture. Culture is a word we love to use, but one we rarely pause to define. We speak of culture’s dangerous encroachment on the church, of our need to avoid it, engage it, or redeem it. But what is this culture thing anyway? It happens to be the subject of an excellent new book by John Stonestreet and Brett Kunkle. A Practical Guide to Culture is meant to help those who are helping the …
Some great books hit your life like a sledgehammer. They wreck your preconceptions and disrupt what you were sure you knew. We need these books from time to time. Other books come like a cool drink of water on a hot afternoon. They reaffirm what you thought you knew, and shore up your pre-existing convictions. We need these ones, too. David Powlison’s new How Does Sanctification Work? was decidedly in the second group for me. It is a book about …
You know the rule with Iain Murray’s books, right? If he writes it, you read it! You can simply never go wrong. The rule proves itself true once again with his newest work, Seven Leaders. The thirteenth chapter of Hebrews exhorts us, “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.” This book is designed to help us meet, understand, and remember seven leaders, seven …
You and your money are designed for something much bigger than wealth accumulation. We are wired to use our money for something far more significant than ourselves. God has designed us (and any resources we have) to make a difference in this world. Money is designed to bring joy, but not in the way we tend to think. The joy we get from money is the joy we get from using it in the ways God intends.
There are some stories that are too remarkable to not be told. This one begins in 1928 with sorrow, with tragedy: My dear madam, I have an unfortunate girl in my congregation that expects to give birth to a child about the end of this month. I have investigated her case and am convinced that she was the victim of a dastardly crime of assault. She comes from a good family and has been staying with relatives in Sioux City. …