Welcome to the online home of Tim Challies, blogger, author, and book reviewer.
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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 …
You might be tired of hearing it, but that doesn’t make it any less true—these have been difficult days for pastors. And I think you need to hear as well that there are more difficult days ahead. That being the case, for the sake of your pastor and the sake of your church, he needs you to be praying for him right now and in the weeks and months to come. Pastors, like everyone else, had their lives and routines …
Our Father, we are so thankful that you are a God who loves. In fact, you are not just a God who loves, but a God who is love. For you, love is not merely something you do, but it is who you are. To be God is to be love, to be the very source the very fountain of love. For all eternity, you have existed in a relationship of love with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit loving one …
From time to time, probably every month or so, I like to share an example of a pastoral prayer that was prayed at Grace Fellowship Church. The pastoral prayer is a time for one of the pastors or elders to pray on behalf of the congregation and to intercede on their behalf. This particular prayer was prayed by me, for our online Easter service, during the COVID-19 lockdown of 2020. *** Our Father in Heaven, In your Word you’ve told …
Can you think of a celebrity pastor whose fame is based on something other than his preaching (or on his books which are, in all likelihood, based on his preaching)? Can you think of one who is known more for his prayers than his sermons, for his words before God than his words before man? Can you think of one who is known more for his hospital visits than his pulpit proclamation? Can you think of one who is lauded …
Central Africa Baptist College & Seminary in Kitwe, Zambia, is deeply involved in training up a new generation of African pastors and church leaders. My recent travels through Africa took me to the school and allowed me to see how it is impacting Zambia and many other countries in central Africa. I came away extremely encouraged! You can learn more about Central Africa Baptist College & Seminary at cabuniversity.com.
It is inevitable that pastors and other church leaders will face criticism. Some critics will be well-intentioned while others will be bent on destruction; some will be attempting to do the right thing (even if in a ham-fisted way) while others will be attempting to wreak havoc. Yet the prideful and troubling temptation can be to treat them all the same. In his book The Heart of the Preacher, Rick Reed lists four common critics and offers appropriate and constructive …
A few days ago I asked “Do We Care for the Sheep or Do We Use the Sheep?,” and expressed concern that pastors may be prone to neglect caring for the people in their churches in favor of using the people in their churches to fulfill personal ambition. The pastor’s calling is to care for God’s own church, to labor on behalf of God to care for what God loves most. But how? How does the pastor heed this call? …
Some of my favorite and most challenging descriptions of pastoral ministry come from the twentieth chapter of Acts and Paul’s farewell address to the Ephesian elders. Here Paul the planter and pastor is bidding a final farewell to the elders at a church he loves. And in verse 28 he comes to what I believe is his description of the heart of pastoral ministry. “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has …
It’s one of my favorite tales from a war that was packed full of stranger-than-fiction moments. During the Second World War, the Allied forces created a dummy army. Eager to deceive the Germans into thinking they were stronger than they actually were, the Allies hired a team of artists and designers to create a fake army—one that would look just real enough to deceive spies snooping around nearby or surveillance flights flying far overhead. So they built planes that were …