Welcome to the online home of Tim Challies, blogger, author, and book reviewer.
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The sky was still dark as I left the house this morning. When I went overseas just three weeks ago the sun had already risen by this time and I was walking in dawn’s early light. But summer has given way to fall and the nights have quickly grown longer. I press “play” in my Bible app and set out. I round a bend and in the corner of my eye see an unusually bright star in the southern sky. …
I once had a friend who was only ever confident he understood something when he had taken it down to its component parts. If he bought a new tool or device, he would take it from its box and begin to pull it apart, eager to know how it worked before ever actually using it. If his wife brought flowers into the home, you might find him dismantling one on the kitchen table, separating stamen from petals and leaves from …
Not too long ago I read that the mysterious artist Banksy had created several new murals in Ukraine. Going to locations that had experienced the fury of war, he found broken and damaged buildings and used them as his canvas. In one a gymnast practices a handstand upon shattered walls and in another a woman who is wearing a bathrobe and who has curlers in her hair and a gas mask on her face holds a fire extinguisher next to …
As another week drew to a close, I found myself pondering beauty and wanting to reflect on some of the beautiful things I had encountered in the previous 7 days. Here are the ones that came to mind. 1. “Still” by Steven Curtis Chapman. I have been impacted by Steven Curtis Chapman’s music at different points in life, and most recently by his new song “Still.” You led me high up the mountain to show me the viewAnd said “Wherever …
As another week drew to a close, I found myself pondering beauty and wanting to reflect on some of the beautiful things I had encountered in the previous 7 days. Here are the ones that came to mind. 1. Fall Colors. Autumn in Ontario is almost breathtakingly beautiful during those few weeks when the leaves still remain on the trees and are turning from green to vibrant reds and yellows. Yesterday I made a long drive from the city to …
I stepped out my front door this morning and stepped into a veritable work of art. I stepped out for my morning walk and stepped into God’s own gallery. The sun was just beginning to peer over the eastern horizon, its earliest light warm and brilliant gold. The clouds that stretched across the sky faded from east to west, from thick to thin, from heavy to light. Each cloud caught the golden rays and reflected them in a fiery swirl …
When I was young my family owned a cottage. To a child it was a place of wonder, a place of marvels. While I spent ten months of the year in the confines of the big city, summers at the cottage offered freedom to explore and to discover, to be a wanderer and adventurer, to roam at will through fields and forests. One of my favorite things was to strike out on my own into the woods. Our cottage faced …
One of the most important books I have ever read is a book about joy and wonder. Steve DeWitt’s Eyes Wide Open impacted me in many ways, but perhaps foremost by opening my eyes to the beauty behind the beauty. Here is a short quote in which he describes our problem with beauty. Creation is beautiful precisely because its Creator is beautiful. God defines beauty by His very essence. He is the source and standard of all beauty. But the …
Yesterday, listening to the radio, I heard the song “Be My Escape” by RelientK. While I have heard the song many times in the past, there was one particular line that caught my attention this time around. The song is quite biblical as these things go and is something of a cry for redemption. I’ll provide a brief excerpt: I’m giving up on doing this alone now Cause I’ve failed and I’m ready to be shown how He’s told me …