A Year-End Roundup of Roundups
‘Tis the time of year to consider the year that was. For bloggers, this usually involves a roundup of the most popular articles and favorite books. To that end, here is a roundup of my various roundups!
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New and Notable Christians Books for December
Even late in the year, we continue to see some excellent new books come our way. And, one way or another, most of them make their way to boxes on my front doorstep. I sort through all those books and try to distill them down to some of the most notable. Here are the ones…
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My Only Plea at New Year’s
As we come to the end of one year and the dawning of the next, I often find myself pondering the year that was and the year that will be. I often find myself thanking the Lord for all his mercies and pleading them for another year. To that end, I have often appreciated this…
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10 General Market Books I Enjoyed in 2025
While the bulk of what I read every year is published by Christians and for Christians, I do also enjoy reading books for the general market. On that note, here are 10 of the general market books I read and especially enjoyed in 2025.
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The Collected Best Books of 2025
I probably don’t need to tell you how much I love books in general, and Christian books in particular. One of my favorite times to be a reader is in mid-December when people begin to share their picks for the top books of the year. I collect all of the lists written by sites or…
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A Pastoral Prayer
Our Father in Heaven, we are gathered here this morning like children gathered before the feet of their father. We want to begin this new day with you. We want to begin this new week with you. Before we do anything, before we go anywhere, before we engage in work, school, or even play, we…
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The Best Complete Commentary Set for any Christian
Those who are serious about collecting commentaries will almost invariably say that it is better to think in terms of individual volumes than complete series. And I agree: it is generally better to focus on acquiring the top three or four commentaries on each book of the Bible than to focus on collecting complete series.…
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You Are in the Circumstances in Which You Can Best Serve
There are times when we all find ourselves lamenting our circumstances. These may be times in which we grieve life’s losses or suffer life’s indignities, or these may be times in which we grapple with the frustrations that come with life in this world—when our skills are underutilized, or our contributions are underappreciated.
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A Moving Picture of the Gospel
As we gather on Sundays, we preach the Bible, read the Bible, pray the Bible, and sing the Bible. But that is not all, for we also “see” the Bible. Here’s how Mark Dever expresses it: “The ordinances are the dramatic presentations of the gospel. They are the moving pictures that represent the spiritual realities…
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My Top Ten Books from 2025 (+ a Bonus)
As another year draws to a close, I wanted to take some time to consider the books I read in 2025 and to assemble a list of my top picks. Apart from the first book, which I consider the best I read this year, the rest are in no particular order. In each case I’ve…
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A Trip to Southern Africa
I don’t often write trip reports after I travel, except, of course, in the form of books and documentary projects like Epic and From the Rising of the Sun. Yet, I thought I would make a rare exception after returning from my recent journey to Southern Africa (and, strangely, Northern California). While I am accustomed…
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The Rise of AI Book Slop
We often hear these days of “AI slop,” a term that’s used to refer to the massive amounts of poor-quality AI-created material that is churned out and unceremoniously dumped onto the internet. This was once primarily artistless artwork and authorless articles, but has now advanced to much bigger and more substantial forms of content.
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Pitch Perfect and Tone Deaf
God commands us to sing. Yet while some of God’s people are gifted singers, the plain fact is that others are not. In any congregation, it’s likely that some have near-perfect pitch while others are functionally tone-deaf. Those who struggle to sing may be self-conscious, tempted to stay quiet or to do no more than…
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Can Satan Put Thoughts Into Our Minds?
Each of us is familiar with the experience of being tempted to sin. Sometimes these temptations arise from outside of us and sometimes they arise from within. Each of our three sworn enemies—the world, the flesh, and the devil—has the ability to tempt us to do what God forbids or fail to do what God…
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Don’t Think Lower Thoughts of Yourself than God Does
I can be prone to self-loathing. Sometimes this takes the form of thinking about things I’ve done or recounting words I’ve said and detesting myself for them. Sometimes it takes the form of thinking about who I am and hating who God has made me to be, or thinking about the way God has gifted…
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Singing Is Not Filler Time
While it may be rare to find a church that dedicates a substantial portion of the service to prayers and Scripture reading, it would be rare to find a church that fails to dedicate a substantial portion of the service to singing. Christians love to sing, and we have always regarded it as an essential…
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Cyber Monday Deals for Christians
Black Friday is upon us and with it the opportunity to save a bit of money as we shop for the holidays or build out our libraries. I have listed hundreds of deals below and will be adding to it throughout the course of the weekend. Note that I will update this list throughout the…
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New and Notable Christian Books for November 2025
Though the year is coming to its end, it’s not over yet! That means publishers still have some books to release—books we would not wish to overlook before 2025 gives way to 2026. Here are some of the ones I consider especially noteworthy. In each case, I’ve included the editorial description to give you a…
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Would you Consider Supporting My Work?
I have been blogging at Challies.com on a daily basis for well over 22 years now. That long commitment has allowed me to write thousands of articles and hundreds of book reviews while also sending millions of visitors to other sites through the daily A La Carte feature. While I’ve also written a number of books, through…
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The Danger of Defensive Sanctification
There is a certain kind of sober-mindedness that seems to come over Christians as they age. It can flow from many sources, I’m sure, but I think it often arises from a kind of fear—a fear that they may not finish their race without some kind of a major stumble. After living the Christian life…