Tim Challies https://www.challies.com Informing the Reforming Daily Since 2003 Fri, 24 Jul 2026 13:01:19 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://www.challies.com/media/2023/12/challies-site-icon-240x240.png Tim Challies https://www.challies.com 32 32 225894084 Aging Wisely in an Anti-Aging World https://www.challies.com/articles/aging-wisely-in-an-anti-aging-world/ Fri, 24 Jul 2026 04:02:00 +0000 https://www.challies.com/?p=131899 Dust to DustA review of Jen Wilkin's Dust to Dust, which counters our culture's anti-aging "false story" with a distinctly Christian, church-rooted vision of aging wisely. ]]> Dust to Dust

One of the things I enjoy about having been an avid reader over a long stretch of time is seeing how authors grow and change as the years go by. I have seen many authors begin writing when they had small children, then when they had bigger children, adult children, and eventually grandchildren. Some of them are now even contemplating the complications of old age and the inevitability of death. In fact, this is the theme of Jen Wilkin’s new book Dust to Dust.

Of course, Wilkin isn’t all that old—just in her mid-50s. But the ideal time to contemplate old age is not when it has already arrived, but when it is on the not-too-distant horizon. It is wise to face aging proactively rather than merely reactively, and to begin to prepare for it well in advance. Thus, “This is a book about this life and the unexpected path to living it to the full. We find that path through a right assessment of the aging process, one that is distinctly Christian in its perspective. I believe that how we think about aging, and, relatedly, the aged themselves, can alter the course of our lives either for the better or for the worse. More than that, I believe embracing and living from a Christian view of aging is one of the simplest ways believers can shine like stars in our current generation.”

Our current culture has an unhealthy relationship with aging, and she addresses it head-on. “The world around us is eager to supply us with false stories from which to live, stories that follow the path of worldly wisdom instead of godly wisdom. It … wants us to think about aging in a way that is false, in a way that does not align with the way the Bible speaks of it. I propose that the way we think about aging and the aged has been overtaken and subsumed by a false story, and a potent one at that. It’s a false story that yields negative consequences for all who embrace it, a false story rooted in how we understand what we were made for and how we relate to time itself.”

Those who are familiar with Wilkin’s writing and teaching ministry may know that she loves the common biblical literary device of the chiasm, and it seems appropriate, then, that the book she writes to counter this false story through biblical truth is chiastic in its structure. It goes like this:

That chiasm forms the structure of the book, which, as an author, I find both clever and satisfying. For this reason, the first chapter in the heart of the book covers both birth and death through the lens of gaining breath and losing it again. She writes about the first and final years of life by considering the gaining and losing of strength. She writes about adolescence and senior adulthood when she pairs gaining and losing of ability and possibility, then about early adulthood and late midlife when she couples caring downward and caring upward. She offers midlife as the place of perspective when there are equal views back to the beginning of life and forward to its end. It’s a creative structure that works remarkably well.

The book is full of wisdom, some of it drawn straight from Scripture and some of it from the author’s own experience. Among its many strengths is that Wilkin’s understanding of human aging is not merely grounded in the self or the family, but also in the local church. The responsibility to age well and the related responsibility to care for those who are aging is deeply invested in the church. Dust to Dust also counters competing narratives being spread through social media and being amplified through practices like euthanasia. It insists there can be dignity in aging and a crucial place in the world for the aged.

“My hope for this book,” she says, “is to meditate on the preciousness of all of life to develop the triple wisdom of self-awareness, submission to God, and service to others. I want to shine luminously in a crooked generation, and I want that for you too. I want us to be good at aging, and I want us to be good at caring for the aged with the dignity they deserve, to the glory of God. I want these things because I believe the Bible wants these things for us.” I believe she accomplishes those goals well, making this a book that will bless anyone who reads it.

]]> 131899 A La Carte (July 24) https://www.challies.com/a-la-carte/a-la-carte-july-24-2026/ Fri, 24 Jul 2026 04:01:00 +0000 https://www.challies.com/?p=131490 Terrible fathers / Why we pay to be scared / Shepherding kids through loss / The remarkably ordinary church / Getting more out of sermons / Test yourself, but trust in Jesus / The funnies / A La Quiz / and more.]]>

Good morning. The God of peace be with you today.

Remember that tomorrow’s Weekend A La Carte will feature reader recommendations for all kinds of books, products, and other material. There will also be a collection of links to think pieces and long-form content. Sunday’s Works & Wonders will attempt to encourage and delight you.

Sales & Deals

Today’s Kindle deals include several good titles from Christian Focus, and other options as well, of course.

Westminster Books has great pricing on Jen Wilkin’s new Dust to Dust, which I have reviewed today, as it happens.

The Biblical Pattern of Terrible Fathers. Writing for 9Marks, “Dave Kiehn traces the pattern of unfaithful fathers throughout the Old Testament, highlighting various features of these men, including passivity, indulgence, partiality, worldliness, distraction, insecurity, compromise, and shortsightedness. These negative examples serve not only as warnings but also to remind us of our insufficiency and need for God’s grace. Through faith in Christ, Christians have a heavenly Father who is perfect and good in all that he does.”

Six Ways to Shepherd Kids Through Loss. Sadly, most parents will have to help shepherd their children through loss at some point. Kirsten Black offers some ways to do so faithfully. “Shepherding our kids through pain and suffering is hard. For parents, it can feel like we carry a double portion of grief—our own and that of our grieving kids. Whatever may come, as parents we are called to lovingly ‘train up [our children]’ whom God has entrusted to our care through every high and low. What a privilege to walk with them, pointing them to Christ, despite the pain that often accompanies this calling.”

Test Yourself, but Trust in Jesus. Here’s a simple two-part imperative: test yourself, but trust in Jesus. “Anyone would agree that to lose a single battle in a war, after having won hundreds before, is no reason to assume utter defeat. Certainly the war goes on, and so we should not rest on our laurels. But how encouraging our past victories should be to us! We should learn from our defeat and try not to allow Satan to successfully use the same tactic against us again; we certainly should not throw up our hands in defeat either.”

7 Tips for Getting More Out of Sunday Sermons. With Sunday fast approaching, it would be good to consider these 7 ways to get more out of this week’s sermon. “What if we heard his preached Word like ‘[our] very life’? What if we opened our Bibles each Sunday expecting a taste like honey and a treasure like gold? What would it look like to get the most from our pastors’ sermons? Here are some small practices that can strengthen our grasp on the precious truths being handed to us in these moments.”

Why We Pay to Be Scared. Horror movies seem to be having their day now, and Daniel Darling attempts to explain their appeal. “We willingly submit to fear and pay to have it managed for our pleasure. In our late-modern culture, described by Paul Virilio as an ‘administration of fear’—a world where terrors and horrors are legion, where we feel ‘bewitched, bothered, and bewildered’—you’d expect us to seek distraction from all that.”

The Remarkably Ordinary Church. Darryl visited a remarkably ordinary church and celebrates the fact. “I used to think we needed extraordinary churches. I don’t anymore. I think we need churches that don’t get tired of doing the same things week after week: gathering to sing, opening the word, praying together, hearing God’s word, pointing to Christ, eating and drinking the bread and cup.”

The Funnies

My friend Chris Martin maintains a Substack called The Funnies, and every Saturday he shares a few fun and silly things he found on the Internet—something I see as a modern equivalent to the comics pages that used to be in every newspaper. I asked him to share a couple with you.

Small print: The inclusion of someone’s “funny” here is neither an endorsement of that person nor a recommendation that you follow them on social media. Just laugh or roll your eyes and then move on.

A La Quiz

Did you read the best of this week’s A La Carte? Test yourself:

Chris Hutchison wrote about finding gospel hope when confronted with a common silent struggle. What is that struggle? (find out)

Joel Ellis distinguished between a prayer life and what related term? (find out)

Jacob Crouch warned against being unduly influenced by the disgruntled and encouraged his readers to spend time with a different group, for whom he coined a word. What was it? (find out)

Flashback

In a Distant Land. Even as we make every effort we lament how poor our efforts are and even as we bear fruit we lament how little fruit we bear. Even as we rejoice in every one of God’s blessings and celebrate every evidence of his grace, still we long to be in that new land.

Everyone is looking for power in a program, in a methodology, in a technique, in anything and everything but that in which God has placed it—His Word. He alone has the power to change lives for eternity, and that power is focused on the Scriptures.

—R.C. Sproul
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]]> 131490 A La Carte (July 23) https://www.challies.com/a-la-carte/a-la-carte-july-23-2026/ Thu, 23 Jul 2026 04:01:00 +0000 https://www.challies.com/?p=131487 My infertility didn't end with a pregnancy / Cutting off your parents / Missions exists because worship does / The pro-life movement's widening division / Church branding isn't church planting / Jesus and the "r-word" / and more.]]>

Good morning. May the Lord be with you and bless you on this fine day.

Sales & Deals

Today’s Kindle deals include a bunch of good options like Medders’ Humble Calvinism, Piper’s Living in the Light, Darling’s The Dignity Revolution, and more.

Westminster Books has a deal on new releases by their faculty members. They’ve also got a restock sale on Christopher Ash’s epic commentary on the Psalms.

My Infertility Didn’t End With a Pregnancy. Glenna Marshall writes movingly about infertility. “There have been times when, as a writer and a Bible teacher, I’ve been asked to meet with this young woman or to email that young woman to give some advice and hope to them regarding their infertility. The truth is, no woman wants to hear from me on this. She doesn’t want my advice. I am her worst nightmare. I am the one the doctors warned her she was unlikely to be. I never conceived. Not once in more than two decades. My infertility didn’t end in a pregnancy. It never ended at all.”

What Your Social Media Feed Is Teaching You About Love (And Why It Is Not the Whole Truth). Janice Singh covers the concerning trend of cutting off people who drain you or you otherwise deem troublesome. “I noticed a pattern recently. My social media feed was filled with advice targeted at women my age, and the messaging was remarkably consistent: Protect your peace. Walk away from draining people. Choose yourself. Cut off what no longer serves you.” On that note, the Wall Street Journal’s Are Therapists to Blame for the Rise of Adults Cutting Off Their Parents? addresses similar matters. ( Gift Link).

Missions Exists Because Worship Does. You may be familiar with John Piper’s line that missions exists because worship doesn’t. Alex Kocman turns it around to show that missions also exists because worship does. “When God’s people faithfully and fearfully worship the triune God in spirit and in truth, walking in obedience out of gratitude for his all-sufficient grace, the natural overflow is joy carried to the nations.”

Church Branding Isn’t Church Planting. “When we started church planting, we were taught to differentiate ourselves from other churches. Every church has the Great Commandment and the Great Commission—why does your church need to exist? We were taught to craft a vision statement to highlight the uniqueness of the church we were planting.” Writing for New Churches, Mason Ballard challenges this and does so convincingly.

For Such a Time as This: Faithful Where You Are. Mindy Kroesche: “Many of us who have walked with Jesus for a while know, at least intellectually, that God’s calling doesn’t necessarily mean something big and splashy. It doesn’t require becoming a missionary, working for a ministry, or writing books—or even blog posts—that point people to Jesus. Those are callings from God, for sure. But for most of us, God’s calling on our lives looks much different. Whether you’re a student, an employee, a parent, retired, or walking through suffering, God’s calling isn’t first about your title or your platform. It’s about faithfully representing Christ wherever He has placed you.”

Jesus and the “R-Word”. Cody Watson writes about the “r-word” and considers whether Christians should use it. “On one side is the ever-growing list of words and phrases that are considered politically incorrect and are labeled as either ignorant or, in the extreme, hate speech.” Yet “many have decided that if one side wants to regulate language, they will intentionally say whatever is most offensive.” Then he says, “Scripture offers a better way. It neither gives us an ever-growing list of forbidden words nor grants us a license to use language carelessly. It goes deeper. It confronts the heart from which our words flow.”

Headlines

Here are some headlines from Christian news outlets.

A New President for Moody. Moody is a major Christian organization, so it would be good to pray for its new President, Rick Melson. The Christian Post reports that “Rick Melson has been elected the new president of Moody Bible Institute, months after his predecessor announced plans to step down. In a press release provided to The Christian Post on Tuesday, MBI announced that Melson, current president of Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri, has been elected by Moody’s board of trustees.”

The Pro-Life Movement’s Widening Division. Christianity Today reports on a growing division within the pro-life movement—a division over whether mothers should be held responsible for abortions or only doctors. “Now that the majority of abortions are self-induced through abortion pills, can we really consider women victims rather than perpetrators of their crimes? And since courts have blocked other attempts to keep abortion pills out of pro-life states, is a law that threatens women with homicide charges the only way to bring abortion rates down, as some abortion abolitionists argue?” ( Gift Link)

Flashback

I Am Under the Unerring Care of God. Whatever circumstances we may encounter in life, whatever difficulties may befall us, whatever suffering we may have to pass through, we can have the highest confidence that none of it has come apart from the knowledge and the will of God. 

Go to the Bible looking for God. Find Him, and application will follow. But go looking for application, and you may miss both.

—Trevin Wax
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]]> 131487 Rocking the Cradle and Tending the Grave https://www.challies.com/articles/rocking-the-cradle-and-tending-the-grave/ Wed, 22 Jul 2026 04:02:00 +0000 https://www.challies.com/?p=131836 Rocking the Cradle and Tending the GraveA few Sundays ago we had picture day—the day we take updated photographs for the church directory. Aileen and I were overdue to have our photo taken and, for the first time in 26 years, it was just the two of us. Over the years, our directory photos climbed from two people to three, then four, then five, before they began to recede to four, three, and now just two. I wish I had kept all of those photos because in so many ways they tell the story of our lives. Just the other day, Aileen asked, “Don’t you find that life seems to go faster as we get older?” I do. Somehow the speed at which time passes seems to accelerate with the years. When I look back, my childhood and teenage years seem to have stretched on forever, while my forties passed in a blink. There are days of summer when the sun rises early and sets late, and we get more than 15 hours of daylight. There are days of winter when the sun rises late and sets early, and we get less than 8 hours of daylight. Life now seems more like a winter day than a summer day, passing quickly and fading early. I have never grown accustomed to the sheer brevity of life. Though the filling of our home and its emptying were separated by decades, it seems like they took place within days of one another. Receiving our girls from the hands of their midwives and releasing them…]]> Rocking the Cradle and Tending the Grave

A few Sundays ago we had picture day—the day we take updated photographs for the church directory. Aileen and I were overdue to have our photo taken and, for the first time in 26 years, it was just the two of us. Over the years, our directory photos climbed from two people to three, then four, then five, before they began to recede to four, three, and now just two. I wish I had kept all of those photos because in so many ways they tell the story of our lives.

Just the other day, Aileen asked, “Don’t you find that life seems to go faster as we get older?” I do. Somehow the speed at which time passes seems to accelerate with the years. When I look back, my childhood and teenage years seem to have stretched on forever, while my forties passed in a blink. There are days of summer when the sun rises early and sets late, and we get more than 15 hours of daylight. There are days of winter when the sun rises late and sets early, and we get less than 8 hours of daylight. Life now seems more like a winter day than a summer day, passing quickly and fading early.

I have never grown accustomed to the sheer brevity of life. Though the filling of our home and its emptying were separated by decades, it seems like they took place within days of one another. Receiving our girls from the hands of their midwives and releasing them to the hands of their husbands seems to have happened seconds apart. It sometimes feels like Aileen began to rock Nick’s cradle with one hand and began to tend to his grave with the other, like these were simultaneous instead of sequential, divided by more than 20 years. Life truly is fleeting.

But the fleetingness of life does not need to negate the joys of life. Yes, there is something tragic about time elapsing toward an inevitable end. There is something difficult about living each day knowing that our days will end, that as each one passes, we are one day closer to the grave. But we are still responsible before the Lord to make the most of each one, and making the most of them requires enjoying them. We cannot live well when we live in despair, and we cannot live well when we refuse to rejoice in life’s many delights.

As those who have followed Christ, we have the privilege of looking beyond the end of our time on this earth. Peter ran to Christ’s tomb, stooped, looked in, and saw the linen cloths folded and set aside. In that moment he saw the resurrection and all that it entailed. We, too, need to look into Christ’s grave, and as we do so, it becomes like a window that opens our view to all that lies beyond it. In Christ’s empty grave we see the end of death and the beginning of life everlasting. In Christ’s empty grave we see life in which time elapses toward greater joys rather than diminishing ones, and toward greater pleasures rather than reduced ones. In Christ’s empty grave we see life that only ever begins and never ends.

So we truly can live with joy even amid the sorrow of life’s inevitable ebbing. We can live with hope and meaning even as our days pass away. We can live each day as if it matters, knowing that the end of life simply ushers in a new and better beginning. We can live with joy knowing that our days here and our days there are forever connected through the empty grave of Christ Jesus.

Inspired in part by the sermons of De Witt Talmage

]]> 131836 A La Carte (July 22) https://www.challies.com/a-la-carte/a-la-carte-july-22-2026/ Wed, 22 Jul 2026 04:01:00 +0000 https://www.challies.com/?p=131482 A pastor and a salesman get into an Uber / Something greater than outrage / Spend time with the gruntled / Lost relational opportunities and heaven? / If Jesus returns tonight / A letter from the leaders you are raising / One spirit, one faith, many opponents / and more.]]>

Good morning and thanks for reading today’s A La Carte. I am nearly a quarter-century into writing this website, and I still haven’t lost the thrill of it. I know I couldn’t do it without readers like you, so please know how grateful I am for your visit.

Sales & Deals

Today’s Kindle deals include Ed Welch’s must-read When People Are Big and God Is Small. My book Pilgrim Prayers is on the list today as well, and so is The Essential Bible Companion to the Psalms and several other picks.

Spend Time With The Gruntled. Jacob Crouch needed to coin a word to explain why we need to be so careful when spending time with those who are disgruntled. “To be disgruntled is to be angry or dissatisfied. To be gruntled on the other hand is to be happy and satisfied. The disgruntled are hard to please. Sometimes the disgruntled don’t want to be pleased no matter how hard you try. The gruntled on the other hand are easy to please. Often they are looking to be pleased, even over the smallest things. The disgruntled are hard to be around. The gruntled are a joy. Often the disgruntled take up a lot of your time, but I want to advocate for spending time with the gruntled.”

Something Greater Than Outrage. Derek Brown considers a recent viral video and points to something that is greater than outrage. “A few days ago, Wesley Kirk Ford, a former employee at Chili’s, took to Tiktok to explain why he had recently been fired from the restaurant. The incident that led to his disemployment was his refusal to call his female co-worker by her ‘chosen’ name, ‘Fish.’ The performance report states that the co-worker’s actual name was Madeline, and Ford was unwilling to yield to this woman’s multiple requests, constantly calling her by her ‘government name.’ He was fired soon after the incident.”

Stitch God’s Word with Abide Embroidery Co. Sarah Mesa, of Abide Embroidery, makes Christian hand-embroidery kits and digital guides, each built around a single verse or hymn: “Christ Will Hold Me Fast,” “Take Heart, I Have Overcome the World,” “His Steadfast Love,” and dozens more. Each kit includes everything you need to complete a finished hoop: the fabric, embroidery floss, hoop, needles, and video tutorials. The goal is to use the art of embroidery to help women meditate on God’s Word. Even if you’ve never stitched before, this might be the perfect analog craft to pick up! Still not sure? We offer a free digital pattern on our website. (Sponsored)

Will We Regain Lost Relational Opportunities in Heaven? Randy Alcorn explains why he believes heaven will allow us to regain lost relational opportunities. “We may not be able to regain opportunities that we passed up due to unfaithfulness, but I believe we’ll regain whatever we passed up in order to faithfully serve God. Jesus said, ‘Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you. . . . Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven’ (Luke 6:21-23).”

A Letter From the Leaders You Are Raising – Five Questions We’re Learning to Ask of You. Daniel Han: “Whether you serve as a pastor, elder, ministry director, discipler, teacher, or faithful lay leader, your influence matters. The way you see, train, correct, encourage, and entrust younger leaders will shape not only their ministry today, but also the way they lead others tomorrow. Paul envisioned this kind of generational formation when he told Timothy to entrust what he had received to faithful people who would teach others also. Many of us may feel these needs before we have the experience or language to articulate them. Here are five questions we are still learning to ask of those serving alongside us and helping to raise us up.”

A Pastor and a Salesman Get Into an Uber. I enjoyed this article at Christianity Today, which tells about people who use Uber for creative and evangelistic projects. “Christians have paired driving with ministry for years. Decades after Jerry Falwell expanded his Baptist church by deploying buses for neighborhood pickups, about 60 Christians in Uruguay formed an alliance of taxi drivers to operate ‘moving pulpits’ in the late 1990s. And Brooklyn streets featured several cab ministers in the 2010s—some who took confessions, and others who played Mozart and kept seats ‘immaculately clean’ to evoke the presence of God.” ( Gift Link)

If Jesus Returns Tonight. A listener asks John Piper how he should be living if Christ returns tonight. “It’s amazing to me — remarkable — how thoroughly the New Testament answers this question. I mean, just thinking about it was good for me. So, let me see if I can pack into this little episode ten transforming ways to live as we eagerly look forward to the coming of Jesus.”

My Books

Every now and again, I like to introduce you to one of my books. Today it is A Visual Theology Guide to the Bible. This was my second book of Visual Theology, and it makes the “deepest truths of the Bible accessible in a way that can be seen, understood, and experienced like never before, combining graphics and text to teach the nature and contents of the Bible in a fresh and exciting way.” I think Josh Byers outdid himself with the graphics for this one, which explains why it has proven one of my most popular books. You can learn more about it or buy it at Amazon.

Flashback

One Spirit, One Faith, Many Opponents. Paul’s call to the Christian “soldiers” in Philippi, and thus to you and me, is to stand firm in one spirit, to stand boldly for one faith, and to stand courageously against many opponents. As we do that, we will fight and win the great spiritual battle we’ve been called to.

God never hurries. There are no deadlines against which he must work. Only to know this is to quiet our spirits and relax our nerves.

—A.W. Tozer
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]]> 131482 A La Carte (July 21) https://www.challies.com/a-la-carte/a-la-carte-july-21-2026/ Tue, 21 Jul 2026 04:01:00 +0000 https://www.challies.com/?p=131479 5 signs your marriage is unhealthy / The preacher's life / A life of prayer / The miracle of Christian unity / Conforming to non-conformity / Football won't save the world / What I'm enjoying / and more.]]>

Good morning. I mentioned last week that Aileen and I are working on a renovation project. We finished the destruction phase in a few days (removing all that old parquet flooring we never much liked) and then got the new flooring laid. We’re now painting and will then move to replacing doors and baseboards. We cannot keep up that breakneck pace, so we expect it will be another few weeks before everything is complete.

Sales & Deals

Today’s Kindle deals include some outstanding picks like Randy Alcorn’s Heaven, Jared Wilson’s The Storied Life, and Jason DeRouchie’s What the Old Testament Authors Really Cared About. If you’d like a Christian perspective on the writings of thinkers like Kant, Barth, or Deleuze, you’ll find books on them as well.

The Preacher’s Life. This is a very strong piece from H.B. Charles, Jr. He looks to the phrase from 2 Timothy 2:15, “approved by God,” and explains how he has considered it devotionally. He asks: Is God well pleased with me? Is my work well done? Is the Word rightly handled? It’s a good read, and I commend it to preachers.

A Life of Prayer. Joel Ellis considers the difference between a prayer life and a life of prayer. “It may seem only semantic, rather than substantive—the two phrases are grammatically identical— but the change in phrasing is intended to draw attention to and emphasize a point. Many evangelical Christians think about their ‘prayer life’ in terms of devotional habits and practices: morning Bible reading, an inspiring and theologically superficial devotional, and a prayer list, but we want to encourage believers at RPC to develop the discipline of a ‘life of prayer.'”

Conforming to Non-Conformity. Casey McCall tells how, ironically, non-conformity can very quickly become conformity. He offers examples from outside and inside the Christian world. “Conformity is an important word for Christians. As redeemed worshipers, we are called to reject conformity to the world as we pursue transformation through the renewal of our minds in Christ (Rom 12:1-2). However, in striking parallel to the Nirvana shirt phenomenon, some efforts to resist conformity to the world are disguised versions of conformity.”

The Miracle of Christian Unity. Michael Jensen calls on Christians to remember and enact the miracle of Christian unity. “While debates between Christians have in my experience nothing like the vitriol that you see in some other forums between (say) passionate followers of Star Trek or some sporting code, it is the case that the day-after-day barrage of back-and-forth argument is very wearing. It can make you think that Christians don’t agree about anything at all. In which case: can the faith they proclaim be true, really?”

5 Signs Your Marriage Is Unhealthy (And What to Do About It). Curtis and Jenny Solomon offer five signs that your marriage may be unhealthy. “Often, people wait too long before seeking help for their faltering marriages, but several factors may indicate your marriage needs care. Below, we’ve outlined specific questions that can help you be more aware of potential trouble. If you notice any of these warning signs, don’t wait around expecting your difficulties to resolve without effort. Be proactive. If one spouse thinks there’s a problem in one or more of these areas, there is a problem. Reach out for help from your pastor, small-group leader, or another person in leadership in your local church.”

Football Won’t Save the World. No, indeed, football will not and cannot save the world, even while the World Cup was a lot of fun to watch. “What a tournament it has been: The four best nations all made the semi-finals. The best strikers to ever play the game all turned up with their golden boots: Messi, Mbappé, Bellingham and Haaland. The last 6 weeks has been a sporting feast worthy of Olympia. One hears of World Cups from yesteryear when there was Maradona or when Pelé controlled the pitch. Older generations salivate at the skill and competition yet I suspect we have just enjoyed the best ever World Cup.”

Enjoying

Here’s what I’m enjoying these days:

Milwaukee Tools. As far as I can tell, all the major tool brands are roughly comparable to one another, yet each one of us develops an irrational loyalty to a particular brand. We are then stuck with that brand because the batteries are not interchangeable with others. Years ago, I chose Milwaukee because it was on sale at the time and have stuck with it. I’m thankful to have built up a collection of tools over the years and have relied on them entirely through this renovation project. They haven’t let me down!

Pocket Puritans. Banner of Truth’s Pocket Puritan series is gaining new volumes and/or a redesign, and I’m enjoying the new ones with the clean, white covers. If you’re new to the Puritans and would like just a taste of their writings, they are a great option.

iPad. I was thinking recently about the days when electronic devices seemed to last only a year or two before they became so slow they were barely worth using. I had just realized that the iPad I bought several years ago is still functioning just fine. I’m thankful for this improvement. (The same is true of phones, of course, but I don’t really carry a phone with me anymore, so I’m very content to have one that is practically ancient.)

Flashback

Have You Tasted Heaven? I have tasted the fruit of a distant land and have within me a growing longing to taste it again, to taste it all the more, to leave this land and settle in that place of such delights, of such wonder.

There is a core difference between sharing the gospel with the lost and imposing a specific moral standard on the unconverted.

—Rosaria Butterfield
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]]> 131479 Stop Losing Your Sermon Notes in Old Notebooks https://www.challies.com/sponsored/stop-losing-your-sermon-notes-in-old-notebooks/ Mon, 20 Jul 2026 16:01:00 +0000 https://www.challies.com/?p=131667 What if you could see every note you’ve written on the Sermon on the Mount when you read Matthew 5? That's InBible. When writing a note, tap any Bible reference to see the passage in context. When reading Scripture, select a verse to see every note that cites it. Insights you recorded years ago resurface at exactly the right moment, no digging through old notebooks.]]>

This week the blog is sponsored by InBible, a new Bible and note-taking app. Try it for 3 months for free with promo code “Challies”.

What if you could see every note you’ve written on the Sermon on the Mount when you read Matthew 5?

I’m Richard, the maker of InBible, a Bible app built for note-taking. I write notes during sermons, Bible studies, and quiet times. But all my past reflections were inaccessible, left in a stack of old notebooks. I wanted notes as accessible as writing in the margin, with the depth of a whole stack of notebooks. So I built InBible.

InBible is a notes app: when you write, tap any Bible reference you mention to see the passage in context. And it is a Bible app: when you read Scripture, select a verse to see every note that cites that passage. 

Every reference, in context. In the notes tab, Bible references automatically become links. Tap to see all the passages you cite presented in context as a scrollable Bible view. Swipe to fluidly move back and forth between passages.

Your notes, where you’re reading. Select any passage and browse every note that references it: last month’s sermon notes and last year’s Bible study notes, side by side. Insights you recorded years ago resurface at exactly the right moment, no digging through old notebooks.

Markup made for study. Highlight an individual word, not just a whole verse. Do you annotate Scripture during an inductive study? Build a color code and mark up the text as you focus on every word in a passage. Do you mark themes? Draw margin lines. Then search for that marking and see every instance of that theme. 

Search in plain English. Search for a word or a theme without needing to use the exact words of the verse. Read the matching verses in their surrounding context and swipe between them to find what you are looking for. 

Made for reading. The text is laid out like a real Bible. Scroll between chapters without artificial page breaks. The app also goes beyond what is possible with a paper Bible. Want to check cross-references? Open the connected passage without losing your spot. Want to read the whole Bible this year? The app remembers your progress and shows what chapters you haven’t read yet. 

InBible is free to download for iPhone and iPad on the App Store. Subscribe to get unlimited notes and annotations. Use promo code “Challies” for 3 months free. Give InBible a try and let me know what you think at feedback@inbible.app.

]]> 131667 God’s Goodness Both Grants and Denies https://www.challies.com/articles/goodness-that-grants-and-denies/ Mon, 20 Jul 2026 04:02:00 +0000 https://www.challies.com/?p=131758 Goodness That Grants and DeniesWhether God grants our petitions or denies them, we can pray with confidence that his answer always flows from his goodness and is exactly what is best.]]> Goodness That Grants and Denies

My girls don’t ask me for a whole lot anymore. They are both married now and each has her own life, her own husband, her own means. They are no longer my dependents, no longer entirely reliant upon me when it comes to provision. 

But when I think back to the years they were under my roof, I can remember many times when they asked me for what they could not provide for themselves. Sometimes it was money, sometimes it was things, sometimes it was places to go or activities to enjoy. They made their petitions and it fell to me to say yes or no. 

In retrospect, I was often not a very effective dad when I responded to these requests. I often said no grouchily, simplistically, or arbitrarily. I often said yes more to make my life easy than to do what was best for them. While I think I was generally a pretty good father, these situations often saw me at my worst.

One of the poetic prayers I have integrated into my devotions is Joseph Dacre Carlyle’s “Lord, When We Bend Before Thy Throne.” It’s a prayer about prayer and in its words we entrust ourselves to God, knowing that he is wise, that he is able, and that he is good. The poem ends with this stanza:

Let faith each meek petition fill.
And waft it to the skies;
And teach our hearts ’tis goodness still
That grants it or denies.

I have often been deeply affected by these words. When I pray them, I am voicing my confidence that God will respond to my prayers with an expression of his goodness. That goodness will be revealed in one of two ways: by granting the petition or by denying it. Whether he gives exactly what I ask for, whether he gives me nothing at all, or whether he gives me something else entirely, I can be confident that he will give what is good and what is best.

Why? Because God is wise and can never behave foolishly. He is good and can never behave wickedly. He is all-knowing and can never behave ignorantly. He is all-powerful and can never have his will stopped or thwarted. And apart from all of that, God has great love for me as his child, a love so deep and profound that he expressed and proved it in the death of his own Son.

With all this being the case, I can and should have total confidence that God will only ever express goodness toward me in answer to my prayers. When, in the words of the poet, I “bend before his throne and my petitions pour,” I can do so with complete conviction that what follows will be good, even if it doesn’t seem that way in the moment. I can have complete conviction that what follows will be so good that it is exactly what I would choose if I could stand in the place of God to see all he sees, know all he knows, and desire all he desires. This is the kind of confidence I can have when I pray. 

And Christian, this is the kind of confidence you can have as well. When you pray today, even if you pray for what you desire more than anything else, and even if you pray for something whose right answer seems so straightforward to your mind, you can pray with confidence that God’s answer will be entirely aligned with his goodness. Whether he grants your petition or denies it, you can trust that his answer is not just good, but the absolute best, and that someday you will acknowledge this and praise him for it.

Here’s that poem/hymn in case you’d like to integrate it into your prayers as well.

1. Lord, when we bend before Thy throne
And our confessions pour,
Teach us to feel the sins we own
And hate what we deplore.

2. Our broken spirit pitying see,
True penitence impart;
Then let a kindling glance from Thee
Beam hope upon the heart.

3. When our responsive tongues essay
Their grateful hymns to raise,
Grant that our souls may join the lay
And mount to Thee in praise.

4. When we disclose our wants in prayer,
May we our wills resign
And not a thought our bosom share
That is not wholly Thine.

5. Let faith each meek petition fill
And waft it to the skies;
And teach our hearts ’tis goodness still
That grants it or denies.

]]> 131758 A La Carte (July 20) https://www.challies.com/a-la-carte/a-la-carte-july-20-2026/ Mon, 20 Jul 2026 04:01:00 +0000 https://www.challies.com/?p=131476 Pillaging of the digital commons / The Marxist who understood sex better than the UMC / Intrusive thoughts and gospel hope / Predestination should give you confidence / How to wait for cultural reckoning / Invite as many as you find / Kindle deals / and more.]]>

Good morning. Grace and peace to you.

Sales & Deals

Today’s Kindle deals include books like Marriage and the Mystery of the Gospel by Ray Ortlund, Married for God by Christopher Ash, and other excellent choices. Tim Keesee’s A Day’s Journey is on sale as well, possibly for the first time.

How to Wait for Cultural Reckoning. Joe Carter: “After decades of steady liberalization, society appears to be having second thoughts about some aspects of America’s (im)moral revolution.” He describes some of these, then says, “The shift is encouraging until you realize what caused it. Those of us who have spent years (or even decades) arguing against immorality would love to take credit for changing people’s minds. The reality, though, is they changed because the consequences arrived.”

Pillaging of the Digital Commons. Alan Noble describes the ways that the big tech companies have pillaged the digital commons. “We didn’t know what we were doing on Facebook in 2007 when we publicly posted pictures of our dogs, our children, and our vacations and shared opinions about movies and music and politics. But we were actually training an AI model. We didn’t know because nobody told us. I’m sure that technically there was some line in the user agreement (which we were pressured to rapidly scroll through) which gave Meta permission to use our content for whatever they wanted to for any reason ever, but that’s the pathetic exchange we’ve all been making for decades now on the Internet.”

The Marxist Who Understood Sex Better than the UMC. Carl Trueman: “Years before ‘swinging’ meant anything beyond big band music, thinkers such as Sigmund Freud and J. D. Unwin pointed out that sexual codes are at the heart of culture. Dismantle them, and you dismantle the essence of those human relationships that define a civilization. The sexual revolution did just that, turning a lifelong human bond connected to procreation into mere recreation. It thereby turned sexual partners into instruments of worth only insofar as they meet one’s sexual needs. Sex today is not about self-giving; it is about selfish taking. And the fruit of this ‘liberation’ has been the unprecedented objectification of women, pornography being only the most obvious example.” (First Things uses a metered paywall that provides a number of free articles per month. Hopefully you’ve got one left.)

Invite As Many As You Find. Jacob Crouch celebrates the gospel. “How free should we be with the gospel? How broad is the call of salvation? Who should be evangelized? There is a wedding feast coming, and there will be guests. And who will those guests be? It won’t be those who self-righteously decline the offer (Matt 22:3). It won’t be those who try to come in without being clothed in the righteousness of Jesus (Matt 22:11). So who then should we invite? Jesus clarifies this for us: ‘invite… as many as you find.’ As many as you find. What a sweet word.”

Chosen by Grace – Why Predestination Should Give You Confidence, Not Fear. Alistair Chalmers explains why predestination should generate confidence rather than fear. He makes a key point: The most natural response to hearing that God saves people should not be “why doesn’t he save all” but “why does he save any?”

Intrusive Thoughts & Gospel Hope. Chris Hutchison writes about the difficult subject of intrusive thoughts. “Intrusive thoughts are a silent struggle for a growing number of people I talk with. Not that I think that more and more people are struggling with intrusive thoughts; I’m just hearing it from more people who, after knowing me for a long enough period of time, are willing to open up about it.”

Your Recommendations

Once a week, I like to ask what you recommend. What books, products, videos, sites, or experiences do you recommend to others who read this blog/newsletter? Let me know, and I’ll share a collection on Saturday. (If you’re reading this via email, you’ll need to visit my site to fill out the form.)

Submit a form.

Flashback

Guard Your Health. When you neglect your body, you will often find your soul heavy and your mind dark. But when you care for it, you tend to find your soul cheerful and your mind enlightened. 

Conviction is worthless unless it is converted into conduct.

—Thomas Carlyle
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]]> 131476 Works & Wonders (July 19) https://www.challies.com/articles/works-wonders-july-19/ Sun, 19 Jul 2026 04:01:00 +0000 https://www.challies.com/?p=131558 Works & Wonders - July 19Works & Wonders has interesting and uplifting material on: Bluebirds, the rarest books on earth, a new song, berries berries everywhere, the amazing electric eel, and a devotional to start your Sunday.]]> Works & Wonders - July 19

In my weekly Works & Wonders column, I combine a brief devotional with other interesting and uplifting bits and pieces I gleaned throughout the week. I hope you enjoy this week’s collection! It includes:

  1. Not A God, but This God
  2. Bluebirds
  3. Yours Alone
  4. The Rarest Books on Earth
  5. Berries Berries Everywhere
  6. The Amazing Electric Eel

1.

Not A God, but This God

C.S. Lewis had a gift for saying profound things in simple words. Here’s an example: “We trust not because ‘a god’ exists, but because this God exists.” He makes a distinction here that is both plain and profound, that is simple, yet of the highest significance. There is all the difference in the world between “a god” and “this God,” between any god and the God of the Bible. Christians are not mere theists, people who demand the existence of some god or who would be satisfied with any god. Our eyes have not been opened and our hearts made receptive to the existence of the first higher power we have heard of or the one we regard as most persuasive. No, our longings have led us to this God, to the true God, the only God. If we had not found him, we would be searching still. If he had not satisfied us, we would be restless still. If we had not found joy in him, we would be discontented still. Our trust is not in the notion of a god or the existence of some kind of god. No, it is fixed on the God who has revealed himself to us persuasively and personally as the God who is, the God who lives, the God who loves. What a joy that this is the God we have the privilege of worshipping together today!

2.

Bluebirds

I enjoy the videos from Badgerland Birding, which most often share interesting facts about different bird species. The most recent one is about bluebirds—a species I have always loved because there was a huge nesting ground for them near our cottage, and we would sometimes go there to simply enjoy them. They are spectacular creatures and, as you’ll learn in this video, not actually blue.

3.

Yours Alone

Sovereign Grace Music released a new album this week. “Yours Alone” has lots of good songs and is well worth a listen. You can listen to the whole thing in whatever music app you prefer, or check it out on YouTube. Here is “Till the Whole World Hears.” “We will sing till the whole world hears, redemption has come, our God has drawn near / Perfect love on the cross revealed so we will sing till the whole world hears.”

4.

The Rarest Books on Earth

This video highlights the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair, “where over $100 million worth of rare books, manuscripts, illustrations, and historical documents are gathered in a single room. From centuries-old masterpieces to modern cultural phenomena, this is an exclusive look at the pieces of history every serious collector dreams of finding.” I think I may have to add the event to my bucket list!

5.

Berries Berries Everywhere

We have probably lost the wonder of having access to strawberries everywhere all year round. Even as a kid, I remember the excitement of strawberry season in late June, when we could finally have them again. Today, though, we can have them all year round, and that’s largely due to the efforts of Driscoll’s, which the New York Times highlights in this article. ( Gift Link)

In 1712, Louis XIV dispatched a spy to Spanish-controlled Chile to smuggle out native white-berried plants. Royal gardeners bred them with European red berries, coddled them in manure hotbeds and warmed them with underground fires, all so that the king could have strawberries in March instead of waiting until June.

Today, Costco shoppers in South Korea, pastry chefs in Dubai and parents of small children nearly everywhere can buy strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries any time of year — if they can afford them. (Strawberry prices fluctuate throughout the year, from about $3 per pound in San Francisco to $35 in Dubai.) And the biotech that drives modern agriculture ensures that each berry is better than anything the Sun King ever tasted.

I do think it bears mention, though, that fresh Ontario strawberries almost always taste better than even the best of what Driscoll’s ships us.

6.

The Amazing Electric Eel

God made many amazing creatures, and one of the most amazing must be the electric eel. This article from Creation.com describes how they can generate up to 650 volts, and also considers this question, which scientists have not yet been able to answer: How do they not electrocute themselves?

Electric fish are not alone in generating electricity. In fact all living organisms do this to some degree. The muscles in our own bodies, for example, are controlled by the brain using electric signals. Electrons produced by bacteria can be used to generate electricity in a fuel cell. Electric eels produce electricity in the same way as muscles, using energy from food to charge cells called electrocytes. Although each cell carries only a small charge, by stacking up thousands of these in series, like batteries in a torch, as much as 650 volts (V) can be generated. Arranging many stacks in parallel results in a current of around 1 ampere (A), providing a shock of around 650 watts (W; 1 W = 1 V × 1 A).

How do electric eels not electrocute themselves?

Scientists are not entirely sure of the answer to this question, but there are some interesting observations that may shed light on the matter. Firstly, the electric eel’s vital organs (such as the brain and heart) are located near the head, away from the electricity-producing organs, and are surrounded by fatty tissue which could act as an insulator. The skin also appears to have insulating properties, as eels with damaged skin have been observed to be more vulnerable to their own electric shocks.

Secondly, electric eels produce some of their most powerful shocks when mating—but without harming the mate. However, if these voltage bursts are emitted when not mating, they can kill the other eel. This suggests that they have a protection system that can be switched on.

]]> 131558 Weekend A La Carte (July 18) https://www.challies.com/a-la-carte/weekend-a-la-carte-july-18-2026/ Sat, 18 Jul 2026 04:01:00 +0000 https://www.challies.com/?p=130704 This weekend's collection of long-form and think-pieces covers declining fertility rates, the Boy Scouts, The Odyssey, AI and the elderly, and Gen Z, plus reader recommendations.]]>

Since today is Saturday, I have a collection of think-pieces and long-form content I think you’ll enjoy. Topics cover declining fertility rates, the Boy Scouts, The Odyssey, AI and the elderly, and Gen Z. Beneath that, you’ll find all kinds of reader recommendations. I hope there’s something that catches your eye!

Sales & Deals

Today’s Kindle deals include a selection of newer and older titles.

I enjoyed this essay from LuElla D’Amico, who considers her son’s involvement in Boy Scouts. She explains the importance of both boys and girls being involved in single-sex organizations.

My experience suggests one of the paradoxes of well-designed single-sex organizations. Rather than winnowing down our understanding of masculinity and femininity, they can actually broaden it. By removing some of the pressure to perform for one another during the most self-conscious years of adolescence, they give boys and girls alike the freedom to discover gifts, interests, and capacities they might otherwise have left unexplored.

That is why I wasn’t eager to solve our troop’s problem by replacing the very thing my family had come looking for in a boys-only troop. The question was whether one of this troop’s distinct gifts was precisely that it gave boys the opportunity to grow up in the company of good men who freely chose to invest in them. More broadly, it was whether preserving that kind of community remained important enough to justify the sacrifices required to fortify it.

Read: Can Scouting Still Raise Boys? (The Dispatch uses a metered paywall, so if you haven’t used up your quota of free articles, you should be okay.)

The Odyssey came to the big screen this week, and it seems to be getting good reviews. That said, what I have seen of it on social media is largely negative. I never know whether that is because the movie is objectively bad or whether influencers are creating negative reviews for the sake of the algorithm, and those are then getting algorithmically fed to me. Anyway, here’s an interesting article from Jake Adkins about the significance of Nolan’s adaptation and what it says about the current age.

The stories a culture chooses to tell — and how it chooses to tell them — are among the more reliable indexes of what a society actually believes about the world. Often the form of retelling says as much as the substance. To that end, this is not a review of Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey so much as a review of the moment in which it arrives — an attempt to ask why this story, why this filmmaker, and why now.

…

The gods in Homer’s Odyssey are present from the first lines — not as decoration or metaphor, but as actors in the drama, playing a direct role in whether a man will make it home. The human story is held, from the outset, inside a divine one. That is the story Christopher Nolan has chosen to tell now.

Read: Remythologizing the Myths: Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey and the Fractures in a Secular Age.

We have probably all read some of the recent articles lamenting the decline in the birthrate in almost all parts of the developed world. Where it is not in decline is among Orthodox Jews. This article explains how that community keeps its birthrate so abnormally (or, I suppose, traditionally) high. Much of it is not replicable outside that community, but I found it interesting nonetheless.

What would it take for the world to turn around the widespread decline in births? Ultra-orthodox Jews may have something to teach us. They live squarely in the urban centers of the US and Europe, including 200,000 in New York City, but unlike most city dwellers, they have very high birth rates. Today, a Yiddish-speaking woman in the United States can expect to have 6.6 children, compared with 1.6 for the country as a whole.

Everything in ultra-orthodox life is geared toward facilitating large families, from how children play to how couples have sex. In this piece, I’ll use the example of Chabad, the largest denomination of Hasidic Jews, although many practices mentioned here are shared by all the ultra-orthodox.

It’s not clear that many modern people, Westerners or not, would want to adopt the family-friendly elements of Chabad life. What’s more, little of the Chabad lifestyle can easily be practiced in isolation. But understanding how this community encourages fertility can help to explain why it is falling in many other parts of the world today

Read: Chabad Life.

Here’s an alternate take: That if we want to solve the birthrate problem, we first need to solve the friendship problem.

The headline finding is simple. The American birthrate has fallen below 1.6 children per woman. Replacement fertility requires about 2.1. The United States is now in its third extended period of below-replacement fertility, after the Great Depression years and a stretch from 1972 to 1989. The current period, though, has lasted longer and fallen lower than either of the previous two. If the trend continues, Stone and Brookes project that the American population will peak around 351 million in the 2050s and then decline.

Why? Here the authors have uncovered something genuinely novel: evidence that the fertility collapse is not only economic, but social. Americans are not having fewer children because they want fewer children. They are having fewer children, in part, because friendship has thinned and social support for family life has weakened.

As you read it, you’ll see why friends are so important.

Read: Want More Babies? We Need More Friends.

And here’s another interesting one. Like the others, it does not come from a Christian worldview, so you will disagree with parts of it. Still, it offers lots of fascinating insights, not least related to the lag between falling birthrates and the effects on society. (Essentially, the drop in birthrate doesn’t really show up in society until the elderly generation dies.) Consider this:

Finally, if fertility really stays at 1 or 1.1 for a long time, I don’t think we appreciate how big a change this is. Now I’m going to make a crazy forecast, and I want everyone to understand this is a crazy forecast. Let’s suppose Thailand keeps its current fertility rate of 0.8 for 200 years. Thailand right now has 63 million people. At the end of 200 years, it will be around two million people.

…

How do you wind down a society of 63 million people into two million? When population starts falling a lot, countries may do crazy subsidies for having kids, things can change. Maybe the people who are still having kids tend to have more kids and they grow as a share of the population. All those things can happen. I’m just highlighting that these things compound over time. You are going from a society that has 63 million people to a society that has two million. It means you need to close 98% of the hospitals of the country. It means you need to close 98% of the schools of the country.

There is also the matter of how to pay for Social Security benefits in the context of a declining population.

It means you’re stuck in this almost like a Chinese finger trap, where you need to increase taxable income on the one hand, but doing so in a low-fertility environment can only require either slashing Social Security or adding immigrants. But adding immigrants increases populism. Slashing Social Security creates another backlash. So you find yourself in an environment where there is no long-term popular solution to your political problems. That’s what I see as an outsider.

When I talk about these problems, someone always raises their hand and says, “Yeah, we will just bring in a few immigrants and that will fix the problem.” Let’s go back to the example of Japan. Japan right now is around 98% ethnically Japanese. If we wanted to keep the population of Japan constant in 200 years through immigration, in 200 years Japan will be 5% Japanese and 95% non-Japanese. This is not about bringing in a few immigrants. This is about changing your country. That country will not be Japan. You may say, “I’m perfectly fine. I’m not attached to the idea of Japan in the abstract.” But I can see a lot of Japanese say, “This is not about being a xenophobe. This is not about being anti-immigrant. This is about not having a country anymore.”

This is a massive phenomenon and one that is likely to change the world as we know it.

Read: The Global Fertility Crisis Is Worse Than You Probably Think.

An article in Architectural Digest discusses what may be the future of home care: AI-powered, always-on, always-listening devices that monitor seniors and report any concerns. It’s not hard to see how such devices can prove beneficial, but also how they can supplant care that would be better given by family.

It was January of 2026 in North Seattle, and my 86-year-old father was struggling to move around his house.

“I’m stumbling around here,” he told a guest in his home this past January.

“Oooh, ooh, careful,” the guest replied.

“Yeah, I almost fell down.”

Meanwhile, I’m 5,000 miles away in Austria, unaware of any trouble until months later, when I read a transcript of the entire incident via Sensi.ai: an always-on, AI-enabled microphone that’s been monitoring my father’s life for nearly a year. His coughs, toilet flushes, and even snippets of private conversations—Sensi records it all.

Read: My Father Wants to Age in Place. AI Will Be Watching. (I’m not sure why the author deems it necessary to talk about coming out, but anyway…)

Finally, a report from Lifeway explains that Gen Z is enthusiastic about church attendance and participation, but lags in having their faith substantially impact their lives.

The faith of Generation Z frequently draws them to church on Sunday but often fails to shape their lives during the week.

…

“Young churchgoers who identify as Christians in any of the Protestant traditions agree with many of the beliefs and go along with the practices of the faith but often with less surrender and less discernment of theological details,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research.

Younger churchgoers outpace their older counterparts in specific signposts, including sharing Christ and building relationships. Gen Z churchgoers also attend church more frequently than others in the congregation. However, Gen Z significantly trails other generations in the signposts of exercising faith and living unashamed. They also have the lowest levels of agreement with key theological beliefs.

“My biggest concern for Gen Z is not that they are disconnected from the church; our research shows that Gen Z is deeply involved. The greater concern is that they are not being deeply formed,” said Chuck Peters, director of NextGen ministries at Lifeway.

Read: Gen Z Churchgoers Attend More but Often Lag in Application.

Your Recommendations

Earlier in the week, I asked what you are enjoying and what you would recommend to others. There were far too many responses for me to share them all, but I did want to share a broad selection. Thanks to all who sent them along! Check in Monday to add your own recommendations for next week’s article.

Caleb recommends the Two Ways to Live gospel presentation by Tony Payne and Phillip Jensen. He says it is “concise, clear, and with helpful diagrams that are easy to remember and to adapt to someone!”

Drew recommends Anki, which he finds the best way to memorize and retain lots of information. He uses it for Greek and Hebrew vocabulary.

Emily recommends the Things Unseen podcast with Sinclair Ferguson. It’s
“short but incredibly rich,” she says.

Phil says The Sheep Detectives was a fun, clean movie to watch with his kids.

Another Tim is enjoying Nick Needham’s 2000 Years of Christ’s Power as much as I have. He is almost through volume three (of five) and says it has been an extraordinary journey.

Carol recommends Jan Karon’s “Mitford” series. “Mitford is a small fictional town in the mountains of North Carolina. The main character is a Gospel-hearted Episcopal priest who has a good and godly effect on the whole town.”

Sue is excited to be in England’s Lake District for week 1 of the Keswick Convention with the theme this year of ‘Strong in His Strength.’

I agree with Zach and his recommendation of anything written by David McCullough. “It’s not for nothing that he’s considered one of the great historians of his age. I highly recommend jumping into one of his works (which are often available at second-hand stores, garage sales, library sales, etc) and learning to love history more because of the voice of this great scholar!”

Judy enjoyed Scrolling Ourselves to Death: Reclaiming Life in a Digital Age by Brett McCracken and Ivan Mesa.

Sean has been taking music lessons from Psallo for several months. “It’s a website by the Worship Initiative, and you can take guitar and voice lessons from various artists,  including Shane & Shane and Bryan Fowler.”

Lynn loved A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus. “It is an incredible story. It is written for ages 9-12. I could hardly put the book down from start to finish. While it is for young readers, as an adult, it was a treasure to read, and I hope to share it with any grandchildren I may have.”

Jared says he and his family “have been walking through a prolonged season of some very difficult trials. I have been greatly helped by the book Overcoming Bitterness by Stephen Viars. I had no idea how much the Bible had to say about bitterness and how prevalent it was in my own heart until I began reading it. I’m glad that I did.”

Beth recommends Young Washington as an excellent movie about George Washington’s formative military experiences in the French and Indian War. “The film features excellent acting and highlights the virtues of integrity, loyalty, courage, and humility through thrilling action and — though we know Washington survives! — suspense.”

Flashback

Scepters, Crowns, Thrones. If there are scepters in God’s invisible kingdom, they are not grasped in clenched fists but joyfully surrendered to the true king. If there are crowns in God’s invisible kingdom, they are worn only so they can be removed to be thrown at his feet.

Knowledge is proud that she knows so much; wisdom is humble that she knows no more.

—William Cowper
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]]> 130704 Free Stuff Fridays (B&H Publishing) https://www.challies.com/giveaways/free-stuff-fridays-bh-publishing-3/ Fri, 17 Jul 2026 16:01:00 +0000 https://www.challies.com/?p=131557 Free Stuff Fridays: Free Book!]]>

This week, the blog and this giveaway are sponsored by B&H Publishing.

The Christian Standard Commentary is known for its unique blend of rigorous scholarship and practical application for the uplifting of the church. Today, we’re giving away one copy of the newest volume in this beloved series, Joshua, by David M. Howard, Jr.

In Joshua: The Christian Standard Commentary, you’ll encounter:

• Theology of the book of Joshua

• Joshua’s place in the broader narrative of Scripture

• The importance of the message of Joshua for today’s church

• Theological, exegetical, and historical dynamics of biblical interpretation

This volume—and the overall series—is ideal for professors, seminary students, teachers, theologians, and readers who are looking to study Joshua through an exegetical lens. Pastors, teachers, and small group leaders will find it beneficial for preparing to teach or preach.

At its core, this is a resource for deeper academic and theological study of the biblical book of Joshua with an intended result of uplifting the modern church in encouragement and exhortation.

Enter to win a free copy of Joshua: The Christian Standard Commentary through today’s giveaway.

Shop the full Christian Standard Commentary series at bhpublishinggroup.com.

]]> 131557 A Solid Defense of a Very Defensible Position https://www.challies.com/book-reviews/a-solid-defense-of-a-very-defensible-position/ Fri, 17 Jul 2026 04:02:00 +0000 https://www.challies.com/?p=131679 Some issues in the church seem to arise once, but then get permanently put to rest. Others, though, seem to arise time and time again, often in slightly different forms. Gender roles are squarely in the latter category.]]>

Some issues in the church seem to arise once, but then get permanently put to rest. Others, though, seem to arise time and time again, often in slightly different forms. Gender roles are squarely in the latter category. When I read my favorite authors from the 1800s, I find them having discussions that could almost be taken from today’s headlines. With that in mind, it seems unlikely that it will be resolved anytime soon. That’s not to say, though, that we should not continue to study the issue and sharpen our convictions.

New to the discussion is Denny Burk’s Mere Complementarianism: Male and Female in the Image of God. He begins, rightly, with a substantial definition of the term: 

Complementarianism is a biblical doctrine defining the reality of, and relationship between, man and woman. It presupposes that a man is an image-bearer whose body is organized for reproducing as a father, and that a woman is an image-bearer whose body is organized for reproducing as a mother. A man has a body designed for siring. A woman has a body designed for bearing. They are the same in terms of their image-bearing, but they are different in terms of their reproductive design. Their sameness and their difference have necessary consequences for how they fulfill the respective callings that God puts upon their lives—necessary consequences for how they should relate to one another in marriage, in the church, and in the wider world. God calls the husband to be the head of his wife—a calling that requires leadership, protection, and provision. He calls the wife to be a helper who submits to the authority of her husband and who comes alongside him to assist in their mutual calling of ruling and subduing creation. While men and women are both gifted for ministry, God calls qualified men to be leaders in the church. These different callings do not make male and female contrary to one another. Rather, God designed our differences to make us complementary to one another. Our job as disciples of Christ requires us to understand these realities, to celebrate and affirm them, and to order our lives according to what God has revealed. 

The counterpoint to this view is egalitarianism, and while egalitarians affirm that both men and women are created in God’s image and have equal dignity and worth, they deny that a husband is called to lead his wife and that the church is to be led solely by qualified men. 

Of course, there is more to the conversation than this, as we have recently seen some diverging views even within complementarianism, so that we now hear of “hard” and “soft” complementarians or “narrow” and “broad” ones. Again, this debate is not going away anytime soon.

Burk’s goal in the book is to present a “mere” complementarianism, which is to say, “to explain and commend … what has been common to all complementarians at all times.” He also develops what he understands as the essential entailments of mere complementarianism while distinguishing them from what is merely optional or interpretive. Why? “There is a need for this today because critics of the teaching often confuse the essence with the accidents and, as a consequence, cause a good deal of confusion among those who are new to this teaching. If we could distinguish the essence of the teaching from that which is only incidental to it, we would be in a much better place to examine the teaching in light of the criticism that is sometimes leveled against it.”

He goes about his task in five chapters. In the first, he makes the case for complementarianism from Natural Law, showing that we can discover it through simply observing what God has created. In the second, he looks to Scripture to make the argument from Genesis’ account of God’s creative work. In the third chapter, he turns to the New Testament and the various texts there related to men’s and women’s distinct and complementary roles within marriage, and in the fourth he does the same with the church. In the fifth and final chapter, he draws out some practical applications of the doctrine and answers questions like these: Who can preach on Sunday morning? Who can teach Sunday school? Can women be deacons? Who can teach at seminary? Does complementarianism foster abuse? He answers each of these contemporary questions thoroughly, but not exhaustively.

My assessment is that Burk does many things well in this book, but two stand out. First, he explains and defends the complementarian position from both Natural Law and Scripture. If you are new to the discussion or want to better understand the different positions, this will be a helpful resource. Second, he brings the discussion up to date by addressing some of the most recent challenges, such as whether a woman can speak from the pulpit on Mother’s Day or whether women can have the title of “pastor” even if they do not have authority over men. He remains firm in his positions, but charitable toward those who disagree with him, presenting their viewpoints with the accuracy they deserve. He insists rightly that this is a discussion between believers and not one that divides Christians from non-Christians.

Mere Complementarianism is a solid defense of a very defensible position. But more than that, it lays out a positive vision for complementarianism that will help Christians navigate issues in the home, the church, and far beyond. I highly recommend it.

]]> 131679 A La Carte (July 17) https://www.challies.com/a-la-carte/a-la-carte-july-17-2026/ Fri, 17 Jul 2026 04:01:00 +0000 https://www.challies.com/?p=130701 Setting a financial finish line / A manifesto on generative AI writing / What the Bible teaches about karma / Dang it, social media / D.L. Moody's commitment to God / Playing to not lose / Book reviews / Sales and deals / and more.]]>

Good morning. May the Lord be with you and bless you today. Remember that over the weekend I’ll be sharing some think pieces and long-form content (Saturday), followed by some fun, interesting, and uplifting content (Sunday). See you then!

Sales & Deals

Today’s Kindle deals include some helpful books like Priceless People and The Fulfillment of the Promises of God, which is an explanation of Covenant Theology.

If you would like to know what’s coming up in Christian publishing, you can take a look at Westminster Books’ current sale. You’ll find early discounts on books that will be coming our way in the next few months.

Might God Be Calling You to Set a Financial Finish Line, and Give the Rest Away? Randy Alcorn proposes the rather radical idea of setting a financial finish line for yourself and then giving the rest away. “I believe the Christian community should be filled with people who set caps on their lifestyles, giving away everything above that amount. Some call this ‘setting a finish line.’ That means if we make a predetermined amount of money or save a certain amount, that’s it. We won’t accumulate any more. We’ll give away everything else. That isn’t sacrificial giving, it’s giving according to our ability. Yet, by most of our standards, it’s so radical we may not know anyone who lives that way.”

Playing to Not Lose. “A fascinating development emerged during the course of the [World Cup] tournament. While the final four teams could have been easily predicted ahead of time, there have been a surprising number of upsets throughout the tournament. But why? Why have teams like Germany, the Netherlands, and Brazil fallen to upstarts? One explanation seems to be these historical giants played ‘afraid to lose’.” William J. Fagan draws a spiritual lesson from this.

Get Joshua: The Christian Standard Commentary today! Written by David M. Howard, Jr., Joshua is part of the Christian Standard Commentary (CSC) series. By balancing rigorous scholarship with practical application, this series helps readers understand each biblical book’s theology, its place in the broader narrative of Scripture, and its importance for the church today. (Sponsored)

We Refuse It: A Manifesto on Generative AI Writing. Douglas Groothuis’ manifesto on using generative AI in writing may go a bit further than mine would, but I think he covers some important ground. (Example: “We will disable or ignore AI suggestions on improving style.” I’m not sure we need to go that far, especially if that is essentially using a tool that is similar to an advanced spell checker; however, I would agree if it means using the rewriting tools that are now available in many writing apps.)

Dang it, Social Media. Brittany Allen laments the intrusion of social media into her life and, even more, the effect it has on her. “This has been a battle for me for a decade. Sometimes, in one single week, there are so many things I see while scrolling that I feel paralyzed by hurt. So paralyzed that I can’t see clearly to work through all the sin in my heart that caused it. Dang it, Social Media.”

What the Bible Teaches About Karma. Lots of people in the world around us believe in some form of karma, but surprisingly, many Christians believe in a version of it as well. “With the popularity of Eastern religions like Hinduism and Buddhism, it’s not surprising to hear people talking more frequently about karma. The word comes from Sanskrit and just means “deed,” but it expresses the principle of cause and effect whereby a person’s actions determine what will happen to them. Understanding how the Bible introduces the concept of karma helps us see its weaknesses and where its remedy lies.”

D.L. Moody’s Commitment to God: One Soul a Day. You’ll enjoy reading about D.L. Moody’s great commitment to God. “Mr. Moody promised that he would never let twenty-four hours pass over his head without speaking to at least one person about his soul. His was a very busy life, and sometimes he would forget his resolution until the last hour. Occasionally he would even get out of bed, dress, go out and talk to someone about his soul so that he might not let one day pass without having definitely told at least one of his fellow-mortals about his need and the Savior who could meet it.”

Reviews

I like to write book reviews, but enjoy reading them as well. Here are a few that you may enjoy as well.

At First Things, Edward Feser has an appropriately blunt review of James K.A. Smith’s book Make Your Home in This Luminous Dark. He says it is “a self-indulgent mess that offers the reader no helpful entry into mysticism but only a vague, anticlimactic sentimentality. I wish I could say something nicer.” Yet he can’t. (First Things uses a metered paywall, so you’ll need one of your monthly free articles to read it.)

Modern Reformation has a review of Freya India’s GIRLS®. Mary Van Weelden writes, “For anyone who is raising girls or who works with them through church ministries, her extremely thorough exposé of how technology, social media, influencers, AI, and online therapy culture posed unique dangers for girls is helpful, especially if you were raised before the rise of such trends and remain largely unaware of them now.”

At WORLD, A.S. Ibrahim reviews Michael Youssef’s An Unholy Alliance, which offers an explanation of the alliance between progressivism and Islam. “It’s a fearless, assertive, and brilliantly documented exposé of one of the most dangerous ideological partnerships of our time.”

Flashback

If Satan Took Up Marriage Counseling. If Satan took up marriage counseling, he would want struggles or issues a couple encounters to be left festering and unresolved. “It’s fine and good to let the sun set on your anger.” 

Servant-leadership in the home is essential not only for your wife and children but also for you yourself. Learning to serve in tedious, thankless ways emulates Christ.

—Justin Smith
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]]> 130701 A La Carte (July 16) https://www.challies.com/a-la-carte/a-la-carte-july-16-2026/ Thu, 16 Jul 2026 04:01:00 +0000 https://www.challies.com/?p=130698 Gen-Z revival / Devotional material that hinders spiritual growth? / Does the day end in night / When you cannot sing, let the church sing for you / Three prayers for prodigal children / The ordinary and enduring gifts of the Spirit / and more.]]>


The God of love and peace be with you on this fine day. Our fine day yesterday was blanketed with wildfire smoke, and I suppose it’s likely to stick around for a few days, as it often does. It’s always a bit eerie to have the sun diffused by the smoke, but it does lead to some fascinating sunrises and sunsets.

Sales & Deals

Today’s Kindle deals include some titles I have not seen on sale before, such as Ortlund’s Why God Makes Sense in a World That Doesn’t and several guides and devotions from The Good Book Company.

Does the Day End in Night, or the Night End in Day? Seth Lewis ponders beginnings and ends. “Every winter gives way to summer. Every summer eventually fades to winter. Every day ends in night, and every night ends in day. These cycles have been circling for longer than anyone can remember, and they will continue long after our own lives are forgotten—but they cannot continue forever. Someday, the cycles must finish. And will they finish with an everlasting day, or a never-ending night?”

Gen-Z Revival Isn’t Happening. Here’s How It Could. Zac Fuller writes from and about Gen-Z. “Whether it’s TikTok-viral Catholic Mass pizza parties or influencers announcing they’ve decided to follow Jesus, many young people in America are reaching for something greater than what they’ve found on their phones. I myself am a son of the internet who came to faith after years of hedonism and selfish ambition that I learned online. While my generation isn’t yet characterized by widespread revival, I think some key aspects of my story offer insight into how the Spirit may be working among my peers.”

Why TMAI? From Ukraine to Uganda and beyond, God is raising up faithful church leaders to be approved pastor-teachers, able to equip their churches to make biblically sound disciples.  This summer, you can join TMAI in praying for these men, their families, and their ministries. Together We Pray 2026 • July 19–26. Sign up here. (Sponsored)

Could Your Devotional Material Be Hindering Your Spiritual Growth? Alistair Chalmers wonders if some devotional material could actually hinder spiritual growth instead of fostering it. “There is a quiet irony in much of modern Christian publishing. We have more devotional material available to us than almost any generation in church history, and yet many Christians know their Bibles less well than previous generations did.”

The Ordinary and Enduring Gifts of the Spirit. William Barcley’s article in Tabletalk does a good job of explaining the ordinary and enduring gifts of the Spirit. “Most of God’s gifts in Scripture are ‘ordinary.’ Every believer has at least one God-given gift, though most have two or more. Moreover, all God-given gifts are to be used to serve the body of Christ, not to build ourselves up.”

When You Cannot Sing, Let the Church Sing for You. There are times when we are too sorrowful to sing, and in such times, it’s a blessing to let the church sing for us. “In that moment at church, the pain I felt mingled with the hope I wanted to have, and I was unable to sing. As I fought to hold back my tears, I let myself simply listen to the strong voices surrounding me. The ache in my heart lessened a bit as I let the truths of the song begin to permeate the thick fog in my mind.”

Pray Them Home – Three Prayers for Prodigal Children. Sarah Walton: “Parents, if you are raising a seemingly hard-hearted, rebellious son or daughter (whether outwardly or inwardly), I challenge you to take up your arms, fight the spiritual battle that rages over them with all of your God-given strength, and refuse to give up on their life. I encourage you to pray these three prayers over lost children.”

Ben Sasse

Ben Sasse continues to uphold Christ’s cause as his cancer progresses. That said, WORLD reports that his tumors have shrunk to an incredible degree. “The disease has metastasized to five systems in his body including his liver and lungs. However, a marker of cancer levels in his blood was down 99% in five months, he said.” However, that is not likely to change his terminal diagnosis.

That headline was drawn from a new interview with Sola Media in which “Ben Sasse and William Inboden join Michael Horton to discuss why Christians might not want to spend their time and energy trying to burn down the current political order online, but instead meet our moment of illiberal policies and politics with civic virtue, ‘little platoons,’ and local communities.”

Meanwhile, Christianity Today has a written interview with him. “Since his pancreatic cancer diagnosis last December, former Nebraska senator and college president Ben Sasse has been proclaiming his steadfast faith in Jesus: to The New York Times, on 60 Minutes, and now, to Christianity Today. He spoke with CT contributor Haley Byrd Wilt, who reported on the US Congress for nine years.”

Flashback

3 Helpful Instructions on Keeping a Journal. When you experience wants or needs or difficulties, or when temptations assault you, turn to the written record of God’s past graces. When you are in any kind of distress it will do your soul good to see how God has faithfully delivered you from similar situations in the past.

If we found on Mars what we find in the womb, there would be no doubt life was discovered.

—Garrett Kell
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]]> 130698 I’m Finding It Harder to Change https://www.challies.com/articles/im-finding-it-harder-to-change/ Wed, 15 Jul 2026 04:02:00 +0000 https://www.challies.com/?p=131621 Harder to ChangeAs 2026 began, I decided to change up my devotions. I have followed roughly the same pattern for the last 15 or 20 years and thought it would be nice to freshen things up a little bit. It went poorly.]]> Harder to Change

As 2026 began, I decided to change up my devotions. I have followed roughly the same pattern for the last 15 or 20 years and thought it would be nice to freshen things up a little bit. I am not interested in novelty, so it’s not like my new way of doing things was radically different. It was just a slightly new time, place, and method of reading the Bible and praying. I was excited for it.

But it didn’t work. It’s not that there was anything objectively wrong with it. It’s just that it didn’t feel right. I didn’t feel as connected to the Lord. I didn’t feel like I was pursuing our shared friendship. I didn’t enjoy it in the way I enjoy my normal morning pattern of an early-morning walk during which I read the Bible and pray. And so I reversed course and went right back to the method I’ve been using for all these years.

This reflects a pattern I’ve noticed in life: as I get older, it becomes harder to change. My habits are now embedded in my life to such a degree that it is hard to alter them, reframe them, or even give them up altogether. It is more difficult to add new habits, remove old ones, or alter existing ones. It’s not that it can’t be done, but just that it is harder than it used to be.

There is a lot of good in this. I find it hard now to break good habits. I think it would be more difficult for me to not have a time of personal devotions each day than to have one. I think it would be more difficult for me to not pray with Aileen before bed each night than to pray with her. I think it would be more difficult for me to not read at least one good book a week than to read one. These good habits are deeply embedded in my life, and it is hard to kick them, which is exactly the point of building them in the first place.

I also find it harder now to add bad habits since almost every bad habit needs to displace a good one, and those good habits are well-practiced by this time. If I decided I wanted to begin each day watching YouTube, it would be difficult for me because it would come at the expense of a good habit that already fills that spot.

So there is lots of good in the fact that my habits are hard to break, but there is some bad as well. The bad news is that it is almost as difficult to shake bad habits as good ones. Those bad habits are no longer ones I have clung to for merely 5 or 10 years, but for 30 or 40 or 50 years. They are as deeply a part of my life now as my good habits and every bit as tough to displace. It is also more difficult to add new good habits, simply because I am not as malleable as I used to be, not as easy to shape and mold. There is a kind of fixedness that comes with age, and it is both good and bad.

But it’s not hopeless, because God has power over good habits and bad ones alike. He has power over virtues as well as vices. With his help, we can still change our habits; we can still put off the old and put on the new. We can, but only if we ask for his help and take advantage of the means he has given us. With him on our side, it is never too late, and we are never too fixed to become radically less sinful and radically more holy than we ever would have dreamed or imagined.

]]> 131621 A La Carte (July 15) https://www.challies.com/a-la-carte/a-la-carte-july-15-2026/ Wed, 15 Jul 2026 04:01:00 +0000 https://www.challies.com/?p=130695 Hell's evangelistic appeal / Sleepless nights / Was the multiplication of the early church a miraculous movement? / When evangelism is dispiriting / The fiery darts / In praise of a sending church / Preparing for ministry / and more.]]>

I mentioned last week that after 20 years of wanting to rid our house of its 70s-era parquet floors, Aileen and I are finally getting rid of the last of it. We worked hard over the weekend, and things are proceeding apace. We should finish the floors tomorrow, then begin turning to the doors and baseboards. We are doing it all ourselves and so far managing fine (though, admittedly, we are more than a mite sore).

Sales & Deals

Today’s Kindle deals include some excellent choices like Saints, Sufferers, and Sinners and How to Teach Kids Theology.

Deleting “Sacrifice” From Our Vision of Service. Dave Harvey: “Let’s be honest. Most of us live by an unwritten 11th commandment: Control thy time. We manage our calendars with precision. We protect our rest and guard our weekends like sacred ground. But Christ exemplifies service when it is sacrificial–even disruptive to life. I think that’s the point. What makes good works sacrificial –and therefore true service–is that it violates our preferred schedule.”

Sleepless Nights and What God Has to Say About Them. “The house is quiet. The lights are off. The responsibilities of the day have ended. Yet the mind refuses to rest. We replay conversations we wish had gone differently. We anticipate outcomes we cannot control. We revisit wounds we thought had healed. We carry burdens into the darkness that seemed manageable in the daylight. Many of us know what it is to stare at the ceiling while the hours slowly pass, wondering why sleep will not come.” Danson Ottawa explains what the Bible says about sleepless nights.

Get Joshua: The Christian Standard Commentary today! Written by David M. Howard, Jr., Joshua is part of the Christian Standard Commentary (CSC) series. By balancing rigorous scholarship with practical application, this series helps readers understand each biblical book’s theology, its place in the broader narrative of Scripture, and its importance for the church today. (Sponsored)

Was the Multiplication of the Early Church a Miraculous Movement? This is a helpful look at a way Christians can misunderstand the early church and, therefore, misunderstand modern missions. “In keeping with this view, many missionaries today feel that to return to true, Early Church missions and church planting, we should also be aiming for exponential multiplication in terms that can only be described as miraculous. Faithful missions should look like the early church and the early church saw miraculous multiplication; ergo, we should also be seeing miraculous multiplication if we are truly ministering like the Early Church.” (Also on the topic of missions, In Praise of a Sending Church.)

Three Things to Remember When Evangelism Is Dispiriting. Evangelism can definitely be dispiriting at times, and that is why Stephen Kneale wrote this article. “Just this week I was speaking with someone about yet another person who had professed faith and seemed to be seeking to engage the gospel who then turned round and jacked it all in. Our church has also seen a fair share of Iranian brother and sisters join with us who, for a range of different reasons, end up drifting away. These things can be quite discouraging when we see them happen again and again. The question is, how do we respond to them? What should we think about it? Here are some key things to bear in mind.”

Don’t Overlook Hell’s Evangelistic Appeal. “In the past, I’ve been skeptical about people coming to Christ not because they’ve seen his beauty but because they’ve only seen their sin’s ugly fruit. Such people have identified what they’re running from, but I’ve doubted their faith in the One they’re running to. While I still think Christ’s positive pull is more powerful than sin’s repelling nature, our current cultural landscape has me reevaluating an unlikely evangelism tool: hellfire and brimstone.”

The Fiery Darts. Here is a very practical look at what Satan’s metaphorical fiery darts can look like in real life. “What do your fiery darts look like? Mine are doubts about God’s love for me, intrusive thoughts, and temptations to flash my pride, anger and selfishness. What trips you up, and how does our enemy exploit your weaknesses? More importantly, what counters his lies and is essential for our resistance?”

The Years of Preparation

I have known many people to wrestle with the years of preparation required to prepare a man for ministry. As I make my way through the sermons of De Witt Talmage, I realize people have always wrestled with this. Here is his counsel to those who think so much time dedicated to preparation may be unnecessary or wasteful.

If we do not want ourselves to be thrown in this wrestle with the sin and error of the world, we had better get ready by Christian discipline, by holy self-denial, by constant practice, by submitting to divine supervisal and direction. Do not begrudge the time and the money for that young man who is in preparation for the ministry, spending two years in grammar school and four years in college and three years in theological seminary. I know that nine years are a big slice to take off a man’s active life, but if you realized the height and strength of the archangels of evil in our time with which that young man is going to wrestle, you would not think nine years of preparation were too much.

Flashback

When Christians Just Don’t Read the Bible. Don’t assume that the congregation has spent as much time in the Word that week as their pastor (hopefully) has. This ought to shape the way you construct your services and the way you prepare your sermons.

A man who has his eye on his future state of glorification will spend his time in preparing himself for it.

—Martyn Lloyd-Jones
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]]> 130695 A La Carte (July 14) https://www.challies.com/a-la-carte/a-la-carte-july-14-2026/ Tue, 14 Jul 2026 04:01:00 +0000 https://www.challies.com/?p=130692 Should you marry her anyway? / Be sure your sin will find you out / How can we be ready to meet the Lord? / Aging is a series of relinquishments / Making the Christian life more complicated than it needs to be / Happy birthday to you! / Sales and deals / and more.]]>


The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you today, my friends.

Sales & Deals

Today’s Kindle deals include a few volumes in the Gospel in the Old Testament series from P&R. You’ll also find 40 Questions About Interpreting the Bible, besides some other options.

Westminster Books has the CSB Connecting Scripture New Testament on sale. It’s a neat resource. There’s also a selection of children’s books on sale right now, in case that’s of interest. And while it’s not part of the sale, you can still get very good pricing there on my book, God’s Great Big Global Church.

How Can We Be Ready to Meet the Lord? Randy Alcorn addresses a basic but still important question: How can we be ready to meet the Lord? “If we are His children, God is for us, not against us. He has assured us our names are written in the Book of Life, and we won’t face the Great White Throne Judgment. He wants to commend and reward us at the judgment seat of Christ. He doesn’t want the works of our lifetime to go up in smoke. He wants us to have eternal rewards—and He has given us every resource in Christ to live the godly life that will result in those eternal rewards.”

Aging Is a Series of Relinquishments. I really appreciate what Barbara Harper says here about aging. “I heard someone on the radio years ago say that one reason our bodies start falling apart as we age is to make us willing to let loose of them. We have such a strong survival instinct, and we often want to stay for our families. But gradually we admit that heaven looks much better than life here. God is gracious to make us aware of our mortality in increments. As we face each relinquishment, we’re geared a little more toward eternity.”

Happy Birthday to You! Celebrating a Wonder of God. Ayrian Yasar explains why birthdays are worth celebrating. “Why are birthdays special? As we get older, we can sometimes feel birthdays aren’t as special or as important to celebrate. They just aren’t as exciting as when we were kids. While the Bible doesn’t command a celebration of birthdays, there are good reasons to continue to celebrate the birth of a person—and a birthday is a perfect time to do it.”

Scattered. I would think a lot of people will be able to identify with Melissa Edgington’s thoughts on feeling scattered as life changes. “It’s a strange feeling when you shift from having a tight little family unit that moves through the world together to this scattered collection of human beings who wave to one another from a distance. In some ways it feels like I’m picking up pieces of a former life I once knew and trying to make them fit into a new puzzle. Those pieces don’t connect anymore, and my brain is trying to keep up with the change.”

Should You Marry Her Anyway? I think there is a lot more that could be said on this topic, but I understand that John Piper works within time constraints for Ask Pastor John! Still, I think this is the framework of a helpful answer to someone concerned about marrying a spouse with a significant sexual history. These two sentences are gold: “Don’t treat the transforming grace of God as less powerful than the corrupting power of sin. That would dishonor Christ, dishonor the Holy Spirit.”

Be Sure Your Sin Will Find You Out. Yes, you can be certain that eventually your sin will find you out. “I wonder how often we sin and cover our sins. It may be something small. Nobody knows. Nobody will ever find out. It may be something big. Hiding the evidence might take significant effort. Some people may hint at knowing our secret, but a few white lies are enough to satiate their curiosity. No one will ever know.”

Headlines

Here are some noteworthy headlines I spotted in Christian news outlets.

Released After 9 Months. I had previously mentioned the arrest of Chinese house church leader Pastor Jin “Ezra” Mingri. Christianity Today reports that he has been released and has been able to travel to the United States. “The reunion comes after months of prayers from Christians around the world as well as advocacy and petitions to the US government for Jin’s release—much of it spearheaded by his daughter, Grace Jin Drexel, and her husband, Bill, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.” (Gift Link)

Young Army Recruits. Christian Today, a U.K. outlet, says that military chaplains are seeing an unusual number of young people professing faith and being baptized. “He said, ‘We’ve got a generation coming through now who are finding themselves feeling quite hopeless. They are finding themselves thinking, ‘what is this all about? He added, ‘The quiet revival that’s being talked about, I think, is a reality and we’re seeing evidence of that.'”

Flashback

Making the Christian Life More Complicated Than It Needs To Be. The only thing that really matters in any context or any circumstance is obedience to God’s will as it is revealed in God’s Word. Thus it is always necessary, and never superfluous, to search the Bible to know the mind of God. 

The best evidence of the Bible’s being the word of God is to be found between its covers. It proves itself.

—Charles Hodge
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]]> 130692 Everything I Might Have Been https://www.challies.com/articles/everything-i-might-have-been/ Mon, 13 Jul 2026 04:02:00 +0000 https://www.challies.com/?p=131524 VirtuosoThe world can feel unfair when we ponder all we might have been. But God sovereignly places each of us exactly where we can best serve and honor him. ]]> Virtuoso

This world isn’t entirely fair, is it? At least, it’s not fair if fairness involves everybody being given an equal chance to succeed, an equal chance to make something of themselves, an equal chance to make good on their gifts and talents. 

Just across town is one of the finest and most expensive private schools in the world. Tuition at Appleby College is creeping ever closer to six figures a year, but the education its students receive is unparalleled. I sometimes wonder what I could have been or what I could have accomplished had I gone to a school like that instead of the public and Christian schools I went to. Under that kind of tutelage, could I have actually come to understand the math and sciences and gone on to become an engineer or scientist? Could there have been an English Lit teacher there who would have taken me under his wing and helped foster my love of poetry? What difference might that kind of education have made in my life? I don’t know, and I never will know, of course.

Just north of town is a highly regarded rugby club. What if my parents had enrolled me in a club like that? What if they had loved sports and wanted me to play? Could I have found a love for hockey that would motivate me to succeed and excel and become a great player? Could that have unveiled some latent athletic gifts? 

Maybe I could have learned to cook and become a chef. Maybe I could have learned woodworking and become an artisan. Maybe I could have learned an instrument and become a virtuoso. Maybe I could have been any of these if only my circumstances had been different, if only I had been given different opportunities, if only the world had been just a bit more fair.

But then I suppose it’s not that the world is unfair. It’s that our horizons are not as expansive as we might wish them to be. It’s that our opportunities are not as broad as we might wish them to be. It’s that we ourselves are limited. We cannot be everything. We cannot do everything. We cannot be everything we might have been in a different life and cannot do everything we might have done had we been different people.

It is good to know that God is sovereign over all of this. He puts each one of us within the circumstances in which we can best thrive, in which we can best serve him, in which we can best honor Him. Joseph’s place was in the prison, Aaron’s place was in the tabernacle, Esther’s place was in the palace, and my place is right where he’s placed me. In that way, it doesn’t matter what I might have been, as long as I am succeeding in what I actually am, as long as I am trusting that this is where He wants me, and as long as I am being who He wants me to be. He doesn’t call me to live another man’s life or maximize another man’s talents. He calls me to serve him just where and how I am. My station, my field, my area of responsibility is exactly the one he has called me to, and I simply need to trust that he knows best.

And then I am quite certain that part of the joy of heaven will be discovering what I could have been. I will have all of eternity to explore my gifts and develop new ones, to enjoy my talents and foster others. I will have all of eternity to explore, enjoy, develop, and foster. It is in heaven that I will finally know who I might have been, and in heaven that I will have time, opportunity, and endless ages to become it.

]]> 131524 A La Carte (July 13) https://www.challies.com/a-la-carte/a-la-carte-july-13-2026/ Mon, 13 Jul 2026 04:01:00 +0000 https://www.challies.com/?p=130688 Does the church need your worship song? / God's plan for your prayers / Guard your women's ministry against false teaching / When we despise ordinary help / Inspire others to be better Christians / Bowing our heads to the providence of God / Kindle deals / and more.]]>

Good morning. Grace and peace to you.

Sales & Deals

Today’s Kindle deals include some excellent theological texts from Crossway. You’ll also find a good edition of Preaching and Preachers and Jonathan Holmes’ Counsel for Couples.

God’s Plan for Your Prayers. John Piper answers a really good question from a listener of Ask Pastor John. Essentially, the listener wants to know how a high view of God’s sovereignty should shape our prayers. “I think there are two basic things that we can say in answer to this question about what the sovereignty of God does to our prayers. First, it provides a tone and conviction of submissiveness and reverence and worship. And second, it provides a deep confidence that nothing is too hard for the Lord, so nothing can stop him from answering our prayers when he sets himself to do it.”

How to Guard Your Women’s Ministry Against False Teaching. Sarah Ivill discusses some of the guardrails that can guard a women’s ministry, or any other ministry for that, from false teaching. “As women are increasingly influenced by social media, where anyone can claim to be a Bible teacher or women’s ministry leader without training or vetting, we can’t overemphasize the importance of teaching sound doctrine. It equips women to recognize unsound teaching when they encounter it.”

Inspire Others to Be Better Christians. I’m certain there have been people in your life who have inspired you to be a better Christian. But here’s the question: are there people in your life who are being inspired by you to be better Christians? “By the grace of God, I want to live a life that inspires others to be better. I am not saying that we should build a name for ourselves. Rather, I am saying that we offer our lives to God so that our lives would be used as instruments in His hands to inspire others to be better Christians.”

Get Joshua: The Christian Standard Commentary today! Written by David M. Howard, Jr., Joshua is part of the Christian Standard Commentary (CSC) series. By balancing rigorous scholarship with practical application, this series helps readers understand each biblical book’s theology, its place in the broader narrative of Scripture, and its importance for the church today. (Sponsored)

When We Despise Ordinary Help. Staci Eastin says that we can all have a tendency to despise ordinary help and long for extraordinary help instead. “We should not disdain the ordinary things that can make our lives better. Like Naaman, it may seem too small when compared to our problem. But God often sustains us through ordinary things: sleep, medicine, prayer, the encouragement from other believers, and other expressions of his grace. And even though we might have to receive the ‘helpful suggestion’ through gritted teeth, reflection might prove to us that it has its merit.”

Does the Church Need Your Worship Song? Andrew Osenga writes for those who have written a worship song and long to have it make its way into the wider church, but what he says applies equally to all kinds of creative endeavors. “I know that Spotify gets served anywhere from 200 to 500 new worship songs every Friday. I know that Christian radio gets served 50 to 100 new worship songs every month. I know that churches add, on average, five new songs a year to their repertoire. Good luck. The Bible tells us at least eight distinct times to sing a new song unto the Lord. He delights in hearing the songs of His children. The rest of the world? They are generally not that interested.”

“Yes, Lord”: Bowing Our Heads to the Providence of God. Bekka French: “Do you have trouble accepting the providence of God in your life? Perhaps you are suffering, overwhelmed by sorrow or pain. Perhaps you are caught in sin, every impulse of your heart resisting the Lord’s way. Whether in suffering or sin or a combo of both, the duty (and delight) of every Christian is to bow their head in submission to God. But how in the world do we get there?”

Your Recommendations

Once a week, I like to ask what you recommend. What books, products, videos, sites, or experiences do you recommend to others who read this blog/newsletter? Let me know, and I’ll share a collection on Saturday. (If you’re reading this via email, you’ll need to visit my site to fill out the form.)

Submit a form.

Flashback

The History of Nothing, No One, and Nowhere. A right view of history is one that acknowledges his existence and displays how he is glorifying himself through this world and through all the affairs of men. It’s not a history of nothing, no one, and nowhere, but a history of the works, the acts, and the glory of God.

Sin plagues us all, and it particularly plagues our pursuit of happiness precisely because sin makes us unhappy, yet we willingly sin anyway, convinced that each new sin will somehow have a different result.

—Jen Oshman
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