Welcome to the online home of Tim Challies, blogger, author, and book reviewer.
Trending Topics
#pornography
#prayer
#sin
I had a long and deep sleep last night and then headed to the dining hall for breakfast with a Reformed Virginian and an American Swede. After munching down some crispy bacon (seems to be how they eat it in Mississippi) and french toast, we gathered again for the conference’s final worship service, this one led by Ken Pierce and with Derek Thomas preaching “The Benediction” from 2 Corinthians 13:14. It was Martin Luther who reintroduced the benediction as a …
This afternoon we enjoyed a panel discussion in which Ligon Duncan spoke with several African American pastors. He asked about how they were saved, how they came to embrace the doctrines of grace, and how they feel the church can best address issues of race. He also spoke briefly on the phone with Mark Dever (asking Mark about his upcoming writing projects) and then with D.A. Carson (whom he also asked about his upcoming writing project). In the afternoon we …
The day began with David Robertson speaking to us about Robert Murray McCheyne. Robertson, who currently pastors St. Peter’s Free Church, the very church of McCheyne, wrote a biography (Awakening: The Life & Ministry of Robert Murray McCheyne) of McCheyne in 1994 and shared with us some of the lessons we can learn from the all-too-short life of this great Scottish preacher. We then turned to the second of this conference’s worship services. After Kevin Smith assisted in reading the …
This afternoon Carl Robbins invited different pastors, church planters and heads of ministries to provide brief updates on what has happened in their ministries over the past year. This was really an amazing time as we were able to see the diversity of Reformed ministries. We heard from missionaries raising support to head to other countries to begin churches or whole denominations. We heard from churches that are helping the recovery efforts in Gulfport, Mississippi, we heard from people who …
Ligon Duncan kicked things off with an explanation of this fellowship (they do not refer to it as a conference), the reason it exists and what they mean by continually referring to “the ordinary means of grace.” The Twin Lakes Fellowship is a ministerial fraternal committed to connecting gospel ministers and elders with one another. Duncan quoted Jonathan Edwards who said that when God prepares His church for a significant blessing, He brings together a brotherhood of ministers. These people …
I’m sitting in a lodge of sorts, way down south in Mississippi. Jackson, Mississippi, to be exact. I shamefully admit that I had to look up both Jackson and Mississippi on a map yesterday before I set out just to figure out where I was going to be spending my week. I am here for the Twin Lakes Conference, a small but impactful conference sponsored primarily by First Presbyterian Church of Jackson (a.k.a. Ligon Duncan’s church). Attendance is expected to …