Welcome to the online home of Tim Challies, blogger, author, and book reviewer.
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If you could go back in time and insert yourself into any point in history, even if only to be a proverbial fly on the wall, what would you choose? What moment would you wish to observe, or what event would you wish to witness? Would you want to watch God create the world? Would you want to see Elijah perform miracles, David compose psalms, shepherds hear tidings of great joy? As for me, I would have to think long …
I expect every Christian would agree that there are times when prayer is a struggle. Though we experience blessed seasons when prayer is the easiest and most natural thing in the world, we also experience seasons when prayer is difficult and when it feels awkward or even ineffective. And for this reason we all sometimes need a little refresher, a little reminder, a little spark. Kevin Halloron’s When Prayer Is a Struggle is meant to console Christians who are struggling …
I have been reviewing books for a long time now—long enough that some books I reviewed shortly after their release are now being re-released in anniversary editions. Such is the case with Donald Whitney’s Ten Questions To Diagnose Your Spiritual Health. First published in 2001, it has now been released in an updated edition for its twentieth anniversary. Whitney writes downstream of the Puritans who were commonly known as “physicians of the soul,” and says that “in our day, as …
Would it be strange to say that my favorite part of Robert Wolgemuth’s Gun Lap is the dedication? I think you’ll understand if you allow me to explain. Several months ago Robert sent me a note to say he was writing a book about a man’s “gun lap,” the final lap of a man’s race through life. It is a book meant to guide those already running their final lap and to equip those who are approaching it. Having just …
If someone were to ask me, “Should I read Marvin Olasky’s Lament for a Father?,” the answer would be simple: Yes. But if someone were to ask me, “What is Lament for a Father?,” I’m not sure I could as easily answer the question. It is not quite a biography and not quite an autobiography. It is not quite a memoir and not quite a topical book on family or parenting. Perhaps, then, it’s best described as a kind of …
There is no doubt that the times are changing, no doubt that Western society is undergoing a great transformation in which those who hold to the Christian faith, or those who even respect it, are becoming a bare minority. Countries like the UK, Australia, and Canada are already quite far along in this process and, while the US has been insulated for a little bit longer, it is now clearly heading in the same direction. Secularism and modern forms of …
Over the years, Jared Wilson has written quite a collection of books that deal with the nature of the church and with ministry within the church. The latest, Gospel-Driven Ministry is, according to the subtitle, “An Introduction to the Calling and Work of a Pastor.” “This book,” he says, “is about the ways in which those given the stewardship of this mystery [the gospel of Jesus Christ]—pastors of local churches—must meditate on it, proclaim it, and adorn it with their …
It can be discouraging to see Christian leaders sometimes falter and sometimes fall. We feel residual shame when yet another well-known pastor is caught in scandal, when yet another Christian celebrity succumbs to a web of his own weaving. Yet we need to be careful that we do not make the extent of the problem greater than it is, for behind every one of these well-known, unfaithful leaders is a legion of ones who, though unknown, are faithful to God’s …
There are many passages in the Bible we could go to to learn of the calling, the preparation, and the character of the elder. But it has often struck me that one of the most obvious also seems to be one of the most overlooked—Paul’s farewell address to the Ephesian elders in the twentieth chapter of Acts. Paul could not spare the time to visit the city and the church there, so summoned the elders to him. Knowing that his …
A book about a Christian perspective on manhood and womanhood faces an immediate challenge: Do we really need another one? There are, after all, any number of titles that deal with the subject and do so with skill. Could there really be a place for one more? Kevin DeYoung believes there is and, for that reason, has written Men and Women in the Church: A Short, Biblical, Practical Introduction. He explains that it is meant to stand apart from others …