Welcome to the online home of Tim Challies, blogger, author, and book reviewer.
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I’m very thankful for the recent rise of the Christian documentary. Over the past few years we’ve been treated to quite a number of excellent productions that focus on key Christian characters, on important topics, and even on the whole sweep of Christian history. We are blessed to have access to this bounty of riches. New to the field is Revival: The Work of God. Directed by Dan Pugh, written and presented by Jeremy Walker, and backed by Reformation Heritage …
Many years ago my grandmother succumbed to cancer and went to be with Jesus. Among the things she left behind, buried among other personal effects, was a long, handwritten letter from Joni Eareckson Tada. My grandmother had experienced excruciating pain in her life, losing both a daughter and her husband to suicide. As a new Christian she had written to Joni to share her grief, believing that perhaps in Joni there would be someone who might understand and who might …
Halloween and Evangelical Identity – Russell Moore takes a light-hearted look at Evangelicals and Halloween. “I tried my hand at explaining the spectrum, with tongue in cheek, using Halloween as a Rorschach test. I posted it over at the First Things group blog. Here goes.” Luther and the Reformation Free – Ligonier Ministries is giving away R.C. Sproul’s video teaching series Luther and the Reformation. It’s free in the downloadable format today only, so get it while the getting’s good! …
Take Care How You Listen – Desiring God has released a free ebook from John Piper “on listening well. It is comprised of five unedited sermon manuscripts from the preaching ministry of Pastor John. We pray this resource will serve your personal reflection as you heed Jesus’ command to ‘take care how you listen’ (Luke 8:18).” Able to Teach – Nathan Finn looks at one of the biblical qualifications for an elder–that he be able to teach. He offers some …
Why Christians Should Read Camus – This promises to be an interesting new series from Leland Ryken. “Every week he’ll lend us his decades of learning to help us understand why these works have come to be regarded as timeless treasures. Have you ever thought, I’ve heard that book is great, but I’m intimidated to read it myself without any help? Then we’ve designed this series precisely with you in mind. You get the benefits of a reading community who …
Waking Up Fragile – John Piper: “There are mornings when I wake up feeling fragile. Vulnerable. It’s often vague. No single threat. No one weakness. Just an amorphous sense that something is going to go wrong and I will be responsible. It’s usually after a lot of criticism. Lots of expectations that have deadlines and that seem too big and too many.” New Species in 2011 – Here is a roundup of some new species discovered in 2011. They range …
It has been fascinating to witness the rise of Halloween in recent years. What was at one time a day for kids to spend a couple of hours going door-to-door to collect candy and coins has morphed into a true holiday where kids and adults alike celebrate. Recent trips to costume stores show that the shelf space given to adult costumes now outweighs the space given to children’s costumes. I actually wonder if the trajectory of the holiday is such …
Love Wins Companion – Rob Bell is releasing a companion to Love Wins. Here’s some classic publisher hyperbole: “In The Love Wins Companion, Rob Bell offers commentary on the positive and negative attention his groundbreaking book is receiving, delivering a crucial supplement to one of the most important books since the Bible.” The Three Musketeers – I’m not sure why, but I enjoy reading reviews of movies I don’t ever intend to see. The Three Musketeers falls into that category. …
I receive far more books than I could ever read and review. Even when I toss the ones that are very obviously not worth anyone’s time, a lot remain that I would like to read but simply cannot; this is especially true now that I am preaching and teaching a fair bit, meaning that more of my reading must be directed in specific directions. What I have been trying to do lately is select the ones that look good and …
Over the past few weeks I’ve posted a couple of short biographies I wrote this summer. I want to post just one more–this one about the olympic runner and missionary Eric Liddell. What may be most interesting about Eric Liddell is that he is remembered for something he didn’t do far more than than something he did. And he did some great things! He was one of the best rugby players in the world, one of the fastest men in …