Canada’s Thanksgiving weekend has just come and gone and we ourselves have just come and gone—we are on our way home from a brief trip to Louisville, Kentucky, where we spent some time as a family. We very much enjoyed our few days with Abby, with Ryn (Nick’s fiancée), and with Nate, (Abby’s fiancé).

Yes, my Abby is engaged! Nate asked her to marry him at just about the time they reached their one-year dating anniversary. He had spent some time with us this summer and asked me if he could ask her—permission I was glad to grant. Their preparations are already well underway and they hope to be married in May, then to settle down together in Louisville as they finish out their education. We are well pleased. Here’s the happy couple:

There were a couple of other key moments that took place while we were in Louisville. Shortly after Nick’s death we founded the Nick Challies Memorial Scholarship which is made is available for Canadian students enrolled at Southern Seminary and/or Boyce College who can make a good faith pledge to serve the Lord in Canada upon graduation. In other words, it’s available to students who hope to take up the kind of ministry that was so important to Nick. On Tuesday we were able to meet two of the initial recipients, each of whom happens to hail from our part of the country. This was deeply moving and brought us sweet joy.

Also, some time ago Dr. Mohler indicated that he was eager to find a way to remember Nick on the college grounds. While we were there, he led a brief ceremony to dedicate a beautiful bench in Nick’s memory. My mother, brother, and sisters were able to be present, as were many of Nick’s friends from school (many of whom wore Toronto Blue Jays hats in his honor).

I spend a fair bit of time at Southern Seminary and Boyce College and I’m so thankful to now have a particular place I can go to remember my precious boy.

The anniversary of Nick’s death is now less than three weeks away. It is hard to believe that it has been almost a year since that night, almost a year since our hearts were so badly broken. The time has gone so quickly and so slowly (as I’ve expressed here)—it has been a dash, a blip, a vapor, yet just as truly a slog, a marathon, a long and wearying journey. We don’t know what to expect as the anniversary approaches, except this: God will be good, kind, and present. We love Him more than ever and are grateful for all of his blessings.

May the Lord bless and keep you today.

There are lots of good titles related to counseling for sale at Westminster Books.
Today’s Kindle deals include a few good titles.
Dear Pastor . . . Your Shepherd Doesn’t Care How Big Your Church Is
“I never forgot those days in the foyer of the church plant, begging God to send just one or two more our way. I had learned a valuable lesson in the hard days of lack that helped me tremendously in the joyful days of gain—namely, that Christ isn’t really interested in how big my church is.”
Did the Heretics Outnumber the Orthodox in Early Christianity?
Michael Kruger: “One of the most common arguments about early Christianity—made popular by Walter Bauer’s 1934 book Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity—is that the earliest centuries had such enormous doctrinal diversity that the “heretics” were as prevalent, if not even more numerous, than the ‘orthodox.’ It was not until the 4th century, it is argued, that the orthodox began to turn the tide.”
God Tells Us How to Know Him 
God created people for relationship with him (Gen. 1:26–31). This relationship depends on our knowing him. God has a mind, a will, and emotions. He communicates, revealing himself. This revelation comes in two basic forms: general revelation and special revelation. Without them, we cannot know God. God’s revelation is trustworthy, for God is trustworthy. (Sponsored Link)
Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntington
This is a good, short bio of one of my favorite historical figures.
You’re Never “Just” A Church Member
“‘I’m just a church member.’ Over the years, I’ve heard people say this when introducing themselves. There are many reasons why someone might say this (they may want to clarify that they aren’t in full-time ministry). But I cringe inside when I hear it. And if I’m able, I offer a gentle correction because there’s no such thing as “just” a church member.”
Why Is it Important for Christians To Affirm “Sola Scriptura”?
Stephen Nichols answers an important question.
The Horocruxes of Sexual Sin
“Sexual temptation suggests that fidelity won’t satisfy. If one sexual partner is good, more partners will be better. Why not experience pleasure with multiple partners? Think of what you are missing out on. Consider what that one partner doesn’t give you. Or, if you’re not married, how do you know you ever will be married? What does it hurt to fast forward that pleasure to now?”
Flashback: 7 Things Your Church Needs From You
Find the place you can serve your church, and serve there without fail, without excuse, without requiring praise and accolades. Do it for the good of others and the glory of God.

Our infirmities become the black velvet on which the diamond of God’s love glitters all the more brightly. —Charles Spurgeon

May the Lord bless and keep you today.

There are lots of good titles related to counseling for sale at Westminster Books.
Today’s Kindle deals include a few good titles.
Dear Pastor . . . Your Shepherd Doesn’t Care How Big Your Church Is
“I never forgot those days in the foyer of the church plant, begging God to send just one or two more our way. I had learned a valuable lesson in the hard days of lack that helped me tremendously in the joyful days of gain—namely, that Christ isn’t really interested in how big my church is.”
Did the Heretics Outnumber the Orthodox in Early Christianity?
Michael Kruger: “One of the most common arguments about early Christianity—made popular by Walter Bauer’s 1934 book Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity—is that the earliest centuries had such enormous doctrinal diversity that the “heretics” were as prevalent, if not even more numerous, than the ‘orthodox.’ It was not until the 4th century, it is argued, that the orthodox began to turn the tide.”
God Tells Us How to Know Him 
God created people for relationship with him (Gen. 1:26–31). This relationship depends on our knowing him. God has a mind, a will, and emotions. He communicates, revealing himself. This revelation comes in two basic forms: general revelation and special revelation. Without them, we cannot know God. God’s revelation is trustworthy, for God is trustworthy. (Sponsored Link)
Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntington
This is a good, short bio of one of my favorite historical figures.
You’re Never “Just” A Church Member
“‘I’m just a church member.’ Over the years, I’ve heard people say this when introducing themselves. There are many reasons why someone might say this (they may want to clarify that they aren’t in full-time ministry). But I cringe inside when I hear it. And if I’m able, I offer a gentle correction because there’s no such thing as “just” a church member.”
Why Is it Important for Christians To Affirm “Sola Scriptura”?
Stephen Nichols answers an important question.
The Horocruxes of Sexual Sin
“Sexual temptation suggests that fidelity won’t satisfy. If one sexual partner is good, more partners will be better. Why not experience pleasure with multiple partners? Think of what you are missing out on. Consider what that one partner doesn’t give you. Or, if you’re not married, how do you know you ever will be married? What does it hurt to fast forward that pleasure to now?”
Flashback: 7 Things Your Church Needs From You
Find the place you can serve your church, and serve there without fail, without excuse, without requiring praise and accolades. Do it for the good of others and the glory of God.

Our infirmities become the black velvet on which the diamond of God’s love glitters all the more brightly. —Charles Spurgeon

May the God of love and peace be with you today.

(Yesterday on the blog: Longing for What’s Second Best)
Think Little
This article explains why we, as Christians, might to do better to think little than to think big.
The God of Your Troubled Heart
“Jesus knows your heart. He knows your doubts and fears. Tell him. He already knows. And, in your moments of greatest fear and doubt, you can trust that his mercy comes running to you.”
You Won’t Improve on This Definition of “Worldliness”
No, you probably won’t.
The Quartersawn Sermon
“A good sermon must be strong. Gospel preaching must be powerful. Pulpiteers may be tempted to manufacture this power by screaming and pounding the pulpit or crying on cue or displaying their learning with cloudy philosophical musings and psychobabble. But Paul instructed the young pastor Timothy to seek another source for force in his preaching, saying ‘preach the word’ (2 Timothy 4:23).”
Beware the Idols of an Overseas Life
An overseas life can breed its own temptations and idolatries. “Our lives are interesting. Fulfilling. Living as an expat means we get the benefits of two worlds: the richness, beauty, and adventure of our host country, but with all the safety nets from our home country. We get to travel to exotic places. We become exotic people. We get to stand out–not only in our host country, but back at home too. We are respected, set apart, even put on a pedestal.”
Avoid the “Us vs. Them” Trap
“Everywhere you turn today, people are split into to two groups: us vs. them. Good guys vs. bad guys. Conservatives vs. Liberals. Vaxxers vs. Anti-vaxxers. Tolerant vs. Intolerant. CNN vs. Fox News. You’re either with us or against us; there is no third option.” Cindy warns us not to fall into this kind of us vs them trap.
Putting Our Contentment to the Test
You may benefit from reading this reflection on contentment.
Flashback: Danger Signs of an Unhealthy Dating Relationship
There is nothing more important to a dating relationship than communication, so take time to talk about everything. Talk, listen, and pursue harmony.

It will always be found that when prayers are few, grace, strength, peace, and hope are small. —J.C. Ryle

We often overestimate our wisdom. We often overestimate our capacity to rightly assess any given situation. We often overestimate our ability to know what would be best for ourselves and those we love. We are nothing if not self-focused, nothing if not self-reliant, nothing if not self-assured.

Of course we know that, in theory, we are limited little creatures whose knowledge is small and whose understanding is minimal. But this rarely stops us from acting as if we know far more than we actually do, as if we are far wiser than we actually are. This rarely stops us from praying as if the best thing God could ever do is to grant us our desires, to cede to our will, to do things in the way we demand. “Nevertheless, not as you will, but as I will” is so often our functional petition before the Lord.
But those who live by faith must have faith not only in God’s salvation but also in his providence. They must have faith that God knows best not only when it comes to the state of their souls but also the events of their lives, to entrust to him not just their distant happy future in heaven, but also their difficult present here on earth. They must have faith in God’s desire to hear their prayers, in his ability to answer their prayers, but also in his far greater capacity to know what is best for them and what best serves his great plan and purpose.
It is for this reason that we must pray earnestly and fervently, pouring out our petitions before the Lord, yet all the while encapsulating every prayer in the words, “nevertheless, not my will but yours be done.” While we can and should pray for those things we long for, we should always pray that what we long for would be according to God’s will. This is no more than an acknowledgement of the greatness of God’s knowledge and the limitations of our own. It is to admit that it is always better for God to carry out his will than for us to get ours. It is to profess that God’s ways are always better than our ways, even when they contradict our most fervent desires, and that his ways are higher than our ways, even when they lead through the deepest of valleys.
By faith we believe that God will some day right every wrong and bring contentment far greater than every pain. By faith we believe that we will worship God for every one of his actions and praise him for every part of his providence. By faith we believe we will see that when our will and his were in contradiction, we were actually longing for what was merely second best.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I am down in Louisville visiting Abby for a couple of days. If you spend time on the SBTS campus and see me, please say hi!
There is a long list of Kindle deals to work through today.
That Are Not of This Fold
“We, like Jesus’ initial Jewish followers, tend to believe that there are certain types of people who believe, and certain types of people who really don’t. Those similar to us almost always fall into the category of ‘likely open to belief.’ And groups we are naturally opposed to often end up in the category of ‘unlikely to believe.’” Such a view permeates every time and every culture.
Prayer as Reverent Conversation
Jared Wilson: “I characterize prayer as ‘spilling your guts’ — to say that we can pray as if we are simply having a conversation with our heavenly Dad, is not to say that we ought to be irreverent or disrespectful. God does not require that we grovel in self-loathing or jump through religious hoops to talk to him, but this does not mean we speak to him as if he is not the perfectly holy Lord of All.”
The Body is More Than a Tool
Carl Trueman looks at the modern understanding of the body and explains why it is so very harmful. “That notion—that the body is merely an appendage—is clear in the strangely external way the brief talks about the body. ”
How Studying the Bible Restores the Soul 
Life is more than existence. It is more than survival. God’s word makes us aware of where we are and who we are. God’s word stretches our minds, helps us see how things really are, and shapes our actions. God’s word teaches us what words to say to God. Those who read often and well find that it gives life. (Sponsored Link)
Thrown Under the Bus
I enjoyed Andrée Seu Peterson’s thoughts on being thrown under the bus.
Not Easily Offended
“A friend of mine has often reminded me that most friendships among professing believers cannot bear more than a single offense. People in the church are so easily offended that they are ready to write off another believer over the most insignificantly offensive word or actions. This betrays the fact that we have not learned to bear long with one another and to forgive one another.”
What Is The Greatest Difference Between Reformed Theology And Non-reformed Theology? (Video)
Robet Godfrey explains here.
The Weight and Wound of the Word
“The Bible is miraculously cohesive, but it is not uniform. Different portions were given for different purposes; distinct authors at distinct moments to distinct audiences.” Ryan explains in this article.
Flashback: Sexual Morality in a Christless World
The former morality, based on the Christian scriptures, is being shoved aside by a new one that not only departs from the Bible, but outright rejects it.

If we claim to be Christians, we may not choose whom we will love. —J.R. Miller

Every now and again I like to share an example of one of our worship services from Grace Fellowship Church. I do this simply to provide an example of how one church structures our time of worship, hoping it will prove a helpful resource to others.

This service’s cast of characters included Paul as the preacher, service leader, and lead worshipper. Tristan served as the elder who led the pastoral prayer and Scripture reading and John, an intern, handled some opening and closing elements. We sang only acapella, which constrained us to hymns. The various elements of the service are in bold with the name of the person who led the element in parentheses. Items in quotes represent roughly what the person said to the congregation. Items not in quotes are explanatory. The entire service lasted approximately 75 minutes.
Welcome (John)
John, one of our interns, welcomed people to the service and provided some basic instructions for during and after the service. He then prayed briefly.
Call To Worship (Paul)
Paul provided a call to worship from Deuteronomy 7:9: “Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.” He then said, “What an interesting command: Know your God is God, and that He is faithful. This is a call to worship the faithful God by knowing Him.” He invited us to respond to that call to worship with a word of affirmation from Psalm 135:5: “For we know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods.”
Singing (Paul)

“Great Is Thy Faithfulness” (acapella)

Confession of Sin (Paul)
Paul led a confession of sin that went something like this: “The writer to the Hebrews said, ‘Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” We sing, Great is THY faithfulness, but we have to admit, Great is MY unfaithfulness. Take a moment in private prayer to confess your unfaithfulness to God.”
Assurance of Pardon (Paul)
After a short time of silent prayer, he read 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Then he said, “Brothers and Sisters, since you have repented of your sins and put all your trust in Faithful Jesus, be assured that God looks upon you as righteous in His sight.”
Singing (Paul)

“Before the Throne of God Above” (acapella)

Scripture Reading (Tristan)
“Please take your Bible and turn to Ephesians 5. We will be reading verses 15 to 33.” The reading began with “This is what Holy Scripture says…” Upon completion I said “This is the word of the Lord” to which the congregation replied “Thanks be to God.”
Pastoral Prayer (Tristan)
Tristan prayed for a number of concerns related to our church family.
Singing (Paul)

“There is a Fountain” (acapella)

Sermon (Paul)
Paul preached a sermon in his series on Ephesians, “Let’s Just Act Like Christians.”
Singing (Paul)

“My Jesus I Love Thee” (acapella)

Commission (John)
John tied the message of the sermon into a “commission” that challenged the church to live out its truths throughout the week. This included mentioning some of the events coming up in the life of the church.
Benediction (John)
“Receive this blessing of the Lord from His Word: ‘The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.’ Amen.”

May you know the Lord’s richest blessings as you live for his glory this weekend.

There’s a good group of Kindle deals today.
(Yesterday on the blog: The Gospel and the Pain of Fatherlessness)
Live Not by Outrage
“There’s a funny thing about lies, however. They tend to show up even in the places you don’t look for them. And no medium has done more service for untruths than the internet. Conservatives are ready for combat when the topic turns to the scourge of pornography or the problem of Big Tech censorship. But there’s another digital moral dilemma for conservative Christians: Is the internet shaping us into something other than truth-tellers?”
More Than This Life Only
“Normally, I don’t think about heaven too much. Or resurrection. Not when life is sailing on with ease like a well-oiled machine. But the hard days, that’s different. Heaven presses closer to my thoughts. The resurrection feels more important.” Indeed…
Prayer Tips: For What Should We Pray?
Here is some simple but helpful counsel. “Two of some of the biggest questions that many Christians ask relate to prayer. On one hand, Christians want to know how they should pray. On the other hand, they want to know what they should be praying for.”
Letting Go of My Mother and Friend
This is a sweet tribute to a godly mom. “I couldn’t imagine life without her. As a child, I would sometimes hope we’d die together in an accident of some sort. Little did I know then that a day would come when I’d sit by her hospital bed and plead with the Lord to take her Home. But it did.”
Four Lies That Lead to Lazy
“Come, follow closely, and gaze for a moment upon a rare creature in his native habitat.” You won’t like him, but may still recognize him…
Has Everyone Gone Crazy?
“‘Has everyone gone absolutely crazy?’ my friend asked. I understood where he was coming from. In the past couple of years, we’ve seen prominent pastors discredited, polarization within the church, and an increased focus on politics. I’ve watched with alarm at many developments. It’s hard not to get a little disillusioned.”
Flashback: What I Love To Ponder at 10:01 AM on Sunday Morning
For one day—one day out of the week—the whole earth will have joined to give God the honor due his name.

To be a follower of the Crucified means, sooner or later, a personal encounter with the cross. And the cross always entails loss. —Elisabeth Elliott