Welcome to the online home of Tim Challies, blogger, author, and book reviewer.
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It has come as kind of a shock to me, now that I am a pastor and preaching on a regular basis, that the vast majority of the sermons I preach will be rather ordinary. I will study hard and pray hard and work hard, I’ll get started early in the week and give it a couple of days to germinate and give it another look-through early on Sunday morning, and at the end of it all I will have …
I’ve always found the word unction to be a bit of a strange one. I see it as a part of the Christian lexicon since, in my experience, we are pretty much the only ones who use it. We typically use it in prayer, asking that God would give unction to a man who is about to preach. I’ve never known it in another context. In Power Through Prayer, E.M. Bounds talks about this word, giving its context and explaining …
Wednesday July 18, 2007 Du Jour: Carolyn McCulley is waiting for a match in what sounds like a great opportunity to serve others. Creation: The Times has an interesting article about an “Islamic Creationist and a Book Sent Round the World.” Weird: Plans are underway in Nazareth to build the world’s largest cross. The Nazareth Cross will be 60 meters high and decorated by some 7.2 million mosaic tiles made of Nazareth stone. Books: Stephen Altrogge is offering a series …
Tuesday July 3, 2007 Jobs: If you are a programming geek, Desiring God may just have a job for you. Interview: Trevin Wax has a fresh interview with Caedmon’s Call. Du Jour: Russell Moore has posted a good commentary dealing with creationism, the gap theory, and reconciling Scripture and the scientific data. Music: Bob Kauflin is giving away what is probably my favorite song from last year’s “Valley of Vision” CD. It seems to have become a conference favorite as …
Two months ago, Suzanne Sataline published an article in the Wall Street Journal. The article was cleverly titled “Veneration Gap: A Popular Strategy For Church Growth Splits Congregants” and dealt with churches that had been split apart through the attempts of their leaders to convert them to the Purpose Driven paradigm. Last month I wrote an article that was, in part, inspired by that one. I wrote about the church’s dirty laundry and expressed concern that Christians should be very …
As I read Marsden’s biography of Jonthan Edwards last week, I was stopped short several times by Edwards’ wisdom. Constantly surrounded by conflict, and often facing people who sought to undermine his ministry, Edwards had every opportunity to reflect on the task of a minister. During his ministry, one conflict involved whether sermons should primarily enlighten the mind or whether they should primarily stir the affections. Charles Chauncy, his opponent in this debate, believed that “an enlightened mind, and not …
It is a mild, grey morning at the cottage. My daughter is still asleep, so I have been unable to dial-up and do my twice-daily email check (that’s about all I do when I’m on vacation). So I’ve been passing the time by looking through directories of old articles. Among these I found the four articles that kick-started this site back in 2002. “Calvinism vs Arminianism” is dated October 10, 2002. “Mother Teresa” is dated October 28. Those articles were …
There are many different types of preaching. Generally they can be divided into five categories, though you must realize that sometimes a single preacher can utilize multiple styles even in a single message. The five main types are: Anecdotal – Preaching based primarily on the recounting of stories which convey a moral lesson. Biographical – Preaching that provides a biography of a person and draws moral lessons from the person’s life. Topical – Preaching where the minister decides on a …