Government is one of the facts of life in this world. All of human history has shown that we need to be governed. Not surprisingly, the Bible speaks to government. Here are five things the Bible teaches us. Every government is put in place by God. Jesus answered [Pilate], “You would have no authority over…
American Men Don’t Sing – “Alistair Begg recently spoke at Western Seminary. And just before he got into his sermon, he went on a fascinating little digression about the fact that American men don’t sing during worship. It’s not just that we can’t sing, but that we don’t.” Responding to “Fetal Flaw” – “Bob Horning…
Modesty is a legitimate virtue whether you are a Christian or not, but for modesty to be distinctly Christian, it must be rooted in the gospel of grace. Whenever I was asked about this topic and whenever I read about it, I found plenty of law but very little gospel. When it comes to modesty…
This week’s Free Stuff Friday comes to you courtesy of CBD Reformed. As they always do, they are giving away five prize packages, each of which will contain three great books. Five winners will each receive: In addition, CBD Reformed is offering a 4-day sale (September 28 – October 1) on the following three products:…
Unintended Consequences – From a veteran youth minister (via White Horse Inn): “We look at our youth group now and we feel good. But the youth group of today is the church of tomorrow, and study after study suggests that what we are building for the future is … empty churches.” Desiring God Livestream –…
Preach the gospel to yourself! Preach the gospel to yourself every day! I think we are all growing accustomed to being told that Christians need to center their lives upon the gospel and that one of the keys to doing this is to be continually reminded of what is true by preaching the gospel to…
The Psychology of Resentment – Dane Ortlund looks at the psychology of resentment: “Here is what happens: instead of doing something externally to harm them you do something internally to harm them. You harbor bitterness. This is the psychology of resentment. You exercise emotional punishment toward them internally when actual punishment can’t be exercised externally.…
Over the past few years I have had opportunity to attend a lot of Christian conferences, sometimes to sit and learn but more commonly in a kind of official capacity as a speaker or reporter. From either perspective I enjoy them most of the time. I will grant that without some vigilance we can overdo…
Real Life – I enjoyed this mom’s thoughts on real life. She says that “a less than perfect home can be more comfortable than a perfect one. … Our homes should reflect our lives and the people that live in them.” Presumptuous or Optimistic Parenting – David covers an important topic here: the difference between…
It was ten years ago today that I began this web site and I think the occasion must call for some kind of a celebration (click here for some reflections on the past ten years). The way I tend to celebrate around here is with a giveaway. So here goes! There are going to be…
It’s funny how life works, isn’t it? It is so often the little decisions–the decisions that at the time seem so inconsequential–that have such far-reaching impact. Exactly ten years ago today, rather on a whim, I paid a few dollars to register the domain www.challies.com. A few hours and a few clicks later I had…
Delighting in the Trinity – A few weeks back I reviewed Michael Reeves’ Delighting in the Trinity, easily one of my favorite books of the year (here’s the review). At that time it was not available in Kindle and ebook formats. The Kindle edition has just been added to Amazon, so for those who were…
A couple of weeks ago I invested an hour and a half in watching Lakeland: The Movie, a documentary about Todd Bentley and the Lakeland “Revival.” You may remember that in April of 2008, a preacher and revivalist named Todd Bentley was invited to Ignited Church in Lakeland, Florida. The plan was to have Bentley…
Ten Myths About Premarital Sex – Sean McDowell read Premarital Sex in America by Mark Regnerus and Jeremy Uecker and was pleasantly surprised at some of the insights. In this article he distills the book’s last chapters and the ten myths it debunks there. The Gen Y Nightmare – Frederic Filloux is a very, very…
This is the tenth installment in a series on theological terms. See previous posts on the terms theology, Trinity, creation, man, Fall, common grace, sin, righteousness, and faith. Pride is the chief of all sins, as well as the chief cause of all sin. We learn from the prophet Ezekiel that this was the most…
Destruction from the Almighty – Mike Leake looks at that amazing volcano video and reflects on it a little bit. “The Hebrew word for destruction is shadad whereas the Hebrew word for the Almighty is El Shaddai. When Shaddai become bent on shadad what will happen? How destructive can El Shaddai be?” Life’s Too Short…
This week’s Free Stuff Friday comes to you courtesy ChristianAudio. “The vision of ChristianAudio is to shape Christian hearts to think and do right. We believe in publishing and selling products which will promote spiritual growth by inspiring Christians to think about God, themselves, and the world.” Today they are giving away five prize packages,…
Rend Your Hearts – “In Joel’s day (and even still today) a sign of great mourning and grief was to tear your garments. It wasn’t that they’d bust out into Hulk Hogan’s ‘I’m a Real American Hero’ and rip up their camel-haired cloaks to shreds. It was usually a slit from bottom to top that…
Loving God is not as simple as we sometimes think. Christians are fond of reminding one another that in a biblical sense love is a verb, not just feeling but action. This is true, but there is far more to it than that. Jerry Bridges came to this realization and began to reflect on the…
Sensationalism and Scholarship – Dr. Mohler on Jesus’s wife: “This is sensationalism masquerading as scholarship. One British newspaper noted that the claims about a married Jesus seemed more worthy of fans of Dan Brown’s fictional work, The Da Vinci Code than ‘real-life Harvard professors.’ If the fragment is authenticated, the existence of this little document…