Welcome to the online home of Tim Challies, blogger, author, and book reviewer.
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We pray. We pray because we believe prayer matters, we pray because God hears, we pray because God chooses to act on our prayers. We pray because we can and we pray because we must. These prayers are not hopes whispered into a void or wishes cast into a cold and empty universe. They are supplications that reach the ear, mind, heart, and hands of God. We pray, and we also teach our children to pray. We teach our children …
The Bible tells us what we all soon learn by hard experience: “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child” (Proverbs 22:15). Though children are young and naive and innocent in so many ways, they are also desperately foolish. Such folly is not displayed merely in silliness or immaturity or poor decision-making, but in something far deeper and far more insidious—an inward rebellion against God that manifests itself in a host of outward attitudes and actions. It displays …
Parenting is tough. One of our greatest challenges is to raise kids who are able to exist in this world while not being of this world. A reader recently asked for some thoughts on this, and here’s what I had to say. Transcript I wonder if you’ve ever thought about what it would be like to raise children in a perfect world. Think about God creating Adam and Eve to live in a perfect world, free from sin. They were …
Here’s a question I was asked most recently in South Africa, but which I’ve been asked all over the world: What can you say about that tricky relationship between kids and technology? This is something we grapple with just about every day! Transcript How have you raised your kids with regard to technology? Yes, it is a difficult challenge to raise kids in the internet age and especially right here at the cusp of it. So I’m assuming our children …
Spare the rod, spoil the child. It’s not exactly the wisdom of Solomon, but it’s not far off. Proverbs 13:24 echoes many of the other Proverbs when it says “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.” Some Proverbs are difficult to discern, but this one not so much. The point is obvious: we are to faithfully discipline our children for the sake of our children. But it’s not always so …
Last week Aileen and I had the joy of attending our son’s high school graduation. Nick graduated as an Ontario Scholar, certified as bilingual in French and English. Now he gets six weeks of vacation before he heads south to Boyce College in Louisville, Kentucky, to begin the next phase of his education. We are tremendously proud of him not just for getting through school but for being a young man of character and godliness. I’ve written in the past …
My dear, sweet girl, I’m so thankful you’re thinking about sin. I’m so thankful you’re thinking about what it means to be a sinner, what it means to realize that so often you do the bad stuff you swore you wouldn’t do. And not only that, but so often you don’t do the good stuff you had promised to do. I know sin is a hard thing to think about, but it’s such an important thing. Yesterday you were comparing …
You’ve probably heard it said that it takes a village to raise a child. Parenting is so difficult, so complex, so relentless, that it is more than any two people can successfully handle. Children thrive under the responsibility of loving parents but also under the watchful eye of a caring community. I have always believed in the wisdom of this proverb, but I’ve come to appreciate it even more as my kids grow older. And as I’ve come to appreciate …
We did it! Aileen and I successfully got one of our children through childhood and into adulthood. Today Nick, our oldest, celebrates his eighteenth birthday. He is now an adult, and a pretty good one, too. Pretty good? Nah, far better than that. He’s amazing. He is intelligent and witty and mature and well-read and interested and engaging and godly. We are immensely proud of him and confident that he will do well in life. We know there’s lots of …
Many years ago Aileen and I made a decision for our family, little knowing how that decision would end up reverberating around the world. We decided not to have our kids participate in sleepovers. Here’s why, many years later, my family still doesn’t do sleepovers. It’s available in YouTube and Facebook formats and, as always, there’s a transcript for the readers. Note that the videos also now feature captioning. Rush Transcript A few years ago Aileen and I made a …