Welcome to the online home of Tim Challies, blogger, author, and book reviewer.
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Are you still looking for that elusive perfect Christmas gift? Or maybe you’re just looking for something to read over the holidays. Here are some of the new and notable books that arrived on my doorstep recently. There might just be something here for you or for someone you love. Here’s the complete list: Reformed Preaching by Joel Beeke The Whole Counsel Of God by Richard Gamble Always in God’s Hands by Owen Strachan In the Year of Our Lord …
Hi, everyone. This is Aileen writing today. On behalf of Tim I wanted to let you know that the ongoing issue with the nerves in his arms has flared up badly over the past week. He is also having some issues with his back—we are not sure if the two are directly related although we suspect they are not. What it all means is that Tim can’t type and he also can’t sit at a desk (or anywhere else for …
Back in October I mentioned that I had largely lost the ability to type. I had experienced some kind of nerve damage that made typing sometimes uncomfortable and at other times excruciating. A little bit of time has passed, so I thought it was probably time for an update. The short of it is this: things are not any better, and at times maybe even a little worse. While my everyday life is unaffected, I continued to deal with a …
Good morning, and merry Christmas. I trust you are enjoying a sweet and meaningful holiday today. My family has two Christmas traditions: The at-home-in-Canada and the away-in-Chattanooga traditions. This year we are in Chattanooga where my family lives. Some friends of friends were kind enough to allow us access to their home while they are away, so we have a beautiful place to stay. We have already opened gifts and a bit later on will get together with my family–parents, …
It took a trip to Bavaria, but I finally saw color for the first time yesterday. Reds and greens at least. And it was pretty amazing. For many years I have known that I have significant red/green color-blindness (and am classified as strong deutan). This is a hereditary condition “caused by an anomaly in the M-cone photopigment gene sequence.” Basically, if you were to look through my eyes, you would see a world dominated by brown. What you see as …
It’s always a little easier to help others live the Christian life than to live it myself. It is easy enough to tell others how to face temptation when that particular sin has no hold on me. It is easy for me, a married guy, to give instruction on how to live the single life. And, as I recently discovered, it is easy to tell others how to make decisions when I’m not the one who is facing the life-altering …
My family celebrates two very different kinds of Christmas. Some years we head down to the South, to Chattanooga, Tennessee, to spend Christmas with my parents, my siblings, and their families. Other years we stay right here at home and keep things smaller and quieter. It is one of those stay-at-home years–we are at home and following our usual, treasured Christmas morning rituals: The kids woke up early, but managed to contain themselves until 7. The girls, that is. My …
It is a stay-at-home kind of Christmas this year. I always find it fun to run back through the blog posts from December 25ths of the past to see where my family was and what we were doing that day. Some years we head down to Chattanooga to join my parents and siblings, while other years we stay here in Toronto and meet up with my in-laws. This year we are right here at home. The kids were pounding down …
It was exactly two years ago that I was ordained to the ministry. Yesterday I went back and looked at the ordination vow I made. Even better, I went back and looked at the notes my son jotted down during the sermon that day. The text was Titus 2:15: “Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.” Here is what he wrote: Dad = Titus Dad Needs To: Speak the gospel to God’s people Make …
I fell asleep last night thinking about Mike. Mike was a friend and colleague, something of a mentor in the first real job I had after graduating from college. I met Mike on the first day at that new job and it didn’t take long for us to click. We were never great friends—we didn’t call one another on the weekends or get our families together (though we sometimes talked about it)—but for several years, as long as the job …