Easter is a day of acceptance, a day of completion, for on Easter God validated Christ’s atoning sacrifice by raising him from the dead. Yet despite the sufficiency of Christ’s work, we can so easily slip back into an old mindset in which we become convinced there is still something left for us to do. F.B. Meyer addresses this temptation in a wonderful bit of prose:

We must accept the finished work of Christ. He has ceased from the work of our redemption, because there was no more to do. Our sins and the sins of the world were put away. The power of the adversary was annulled. The gate of heaven was opened to all that believe. All was finished, and was very good.
Let us, then, cease from our works. Let us no longer feel as if we have to do aught, by our tears or prayers or works, to make ourselves acceptable to God. Why should we try to add one stitch to a finished garment, or append one stroke to the signed and sealed warrant of pardon placed within our hands? We need have no anxiety as to the completeness or sufficiency of a divinely finished thing.
Let us quiet our fears by considering that what satisfies Christ, our Savior and Head, may well satisfy us. Let us dare to stand without a qualm in God’s presence, by virtue of the glorious and completed sacrifice of Calvary. Let us silence every tremor of unrest by recalling the dying cry on the cross, and the witness of the empty grave.

There are some more Kindle deals to browse through today, for those who are interested in such things.

(Yesterday on the blog: Approaching the Tomb with Joy)
Go to Funerals
It’s good advice, this. “Let me encourage you to something: consider attending every funeral that occurs in your church’s life. And if you are a pastor, disciple your members to attend funerals.”
The Art of Heavenly-Mindedness
“‏Earthly-mindedness is to the mind what gravity is to the body—it is an invisible, powerful, and constant force that weighs so heavily upon the individual that without a greater force acting against it, he is powerless to break free from its controlling influence. Even the stoutest Christians know this to be the case.”
Sexual Behavior Isn’t the Most Important Issue
“The most common question I’m asked during a Q&A session on sexuality goes something like this: My friend is transgender (or bisexual, gay, etc.), and I want to know what I can tell her to make her reconsider. I’m sympathetic to this question, and I understand why they are asking.” Yet…
Should Pro-Lifers Embrace Embryo Adoption?
Should those who are pro-life consider adopting embryos? John Piper takes on a tricky question here.
Woe to the Pretenders of Godliness
“Some teachers of the truth should be listened to but not imitated.” That’s an interesting thought and Doug Eaton teases it out in this article.
‘See! The Lord has given you the…’
“The title of this post is the beginning of a verse from the Bible. How do you think it continues? What word would you guess comes next? We’ll see in a minute if you’re right or not!” You don’t need to be a strict sabbatarian to benefit from reading this one (though I suppose it may help).
Flashback: It’s Time To Break Free From the Algorithm-Driven Life
To allow them to judge what we’ll find interesting and informative is to cede to them the authority to withhold from us what they determine is inappropriate or offensive. It’s time to face how much we stand to lose by living the algorithm-driven life.

There is no place where you may flee from God angry but to God reconciled. There is no place at all whither you may flee. Will you flee from Him? Flee unto Him. —Herman Bavinck

This week’s Free Stuff Friday is sponsored by Radius International.  They are giving away a conference package that includes: 2 tickets, a Radius pullover, and 2 books.

The winner will receive two free tickets to the Radius Missiology Conference being held June 29-30, 2022, at Christ Covenant Church, Matthews, NC. This event will be live in person or available as a live stream. Kevin DeYoung, Alistair Begg, Ian Hamilton, Wayne Chen, Brooks Buser, Chad Vegas, and others from the Radius world will be live and in-person to teach on the Great Commission in today’s world with free books from 9Marks, Banner of Truth, and others.
The winner will receive a Radius International branded pullover. Size and gender option to be selected by the winner from available stock. And a Radius branded Yeti Travel Mug.
The winners will also receive two books that Radius International highly recommends:
No Shortcut to Success
A Manifesto for Modern Missions
By Matt Rhodes
Avoid “Get-Rich-Quick” Missions Strategies and Invest in Effective, Long-Term Ministry
Trendy new missions strategies are a dime a dozen, promising missionaries monumental results in record time. These strategies report explosive movements of people turning to Christ, but their claims are often dubious and they do little to ensure the health of believers or churches that remain. How can churches and missionaries address the urgent need to reach unreached people without falling for quick fixes?
In No Shortcut to Success, author and missionary Matt Rhodes implores Christians to stop chasing silver-bullet strategies and short-term missions, and instead embrace theologically robust and historically demonstrated methods of evangelism and discipleship—the same ones used by historic figures such as William Carey and Adoniram Judson. These great missionaries didn’t rush evangelism; they spent time studying Scripture, mastering foreign languages, and building long-term relationships. Rhodes explains that modern missionaries’ emphasis on minimal training and quick conversions can result in slipshod evangelism that harms the communities they intend to help. He also warns against underestimating the value of individual skill and effort—under the guise of “getting out of the Lord’s way”—and empowers Christians with practical, biblical steps to proactively engage unreached groups.
Missions By The Book
How Theology and Missions Walk Together
by Chad Vegas and Alex Kocman
Across the church, there is a rift between theology and missions. Bad theology produces bad missions, and bad missions fuels bad theology.
We wrongly think that we must choose between making a global impact and thinking deeply about the things of God. But the relationship between theology and missions is symbiotic—one cannot exist without the other. They walk hand-in-hand.
Enter Here
Again, there is one package to win. And all you need to do to enter the draw is to drop your name and email address in the form below.
Giveaway Rules: You may enter one time. Winners will be notified by email. The giveaway closes on Sunday, April 17th, 2022 at midnight.

Join Alistair Begg, Kevin DeYoung & Others @ RMC22 
*EARLYBIRD DISCOUNT ENDS APRIL 3OTH* June 29-30, 2022 @ Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, NC.  RMC is for pastors, aspiring missionaries, and anyone interested in biblical missiology.

After a heartbreaking Friday and a sorrowful Saturday, a small group of women awoke early on Sunday. The first rays of the morning sun were just beginning to light the sky when they set out toward the tomb—the tomb where they had left Jesus’ body just two days prior. Each of the gospels tells the story for a slightly different purpose and from a slightly different perspective, but as we align the accounts we see that Mary Magdalene was there, probably as the leader of the little group. So was Mary the mother of James and two other women named Joanna and Salome. These were some of Jesus’ most committed followers—women who had cared for him and traveled with him from place to place. For the duration of his ministry they had loved him and served him. And now this morning they set out to love him and to serve him one last time.

As Luke transitions begins describing Sunday’s events, he says this: “On the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb.” He also describes what they were carrying in their hands, and there is something strangely fascinating in this little detail—something worth considering.
Jesus had spent three-and-a-half years teaching the people who he was and what he had come to accomplish. One thing he had taught them was that, though he would die on Friday, he would rise on Sunday. He had told them that he would be delivered over to the people who hated him and that they would put him to death, but also that three days later he would rise. These women had heard all of this. They knew it. But somehow it didn’t sink it. Somehow they didn’t believe it.
How do we know? Because of what was in their hands. As they went to the tomb, they carried jars filled with spices and ointments—the kind used to anoint and prepare a body for its final burial. They were going to the tomb fully expecting to find a dead, decaying body.
Of course from our vantage point in history we know that they would not find a dead, decaying body. In fact, they did not find a body at all! They found a rolled-away stone, angel guardians, and an empty tomb. They found their minds shocked, overwhelmed, and bewildered—shocked, overwhelmed, and bewildered even though Jesus had told them exactly what they should expect. Jesus had said, “On the third day I will rise.” The women said, “On the third day let’s go and complete his burial.” Jesus had said “On Sunday I will be alive.” The women said, “On Sunday let’s care for his corpse.” They didn’t believe it. They didn’t believe his promise.
And just as these women failed to take God at his word, so can we. In our deepest sorrows we can neglect his promises, in our darkest valleys we can ignore his assurances. He promises he will never leave us nor forsake us, yet somehow we can be shocked when he does not desert us but instead stays close beside us. He promises he will work all things for good, yet somehow we can be surprised when we see him bringing blessings through our sorrows. He promises he does not break a bruised reed or snuff a smoldering wick, yet somehow we can still be baffled when he carefully tends to our wounds and lovingly dries our tears. Somehow we are surprised when God does precisely what he has promised he will do.
In that vein it is worth asking: What should these women have brought with them on Sunday morning? Not spices! Not ointments! Not the stuff of mourning and death and burial! They should have brought food and streamers and instruments and all the stuff of celebration! They should have approached that tomb with faith, with confidence, with expectation. They should have approached it with belief that it would be empty, with faith that Jesus was going to do exactly what Jesus had said he would do.
And what was true in their lives is true in ours. What was true in their sorrow is true in ours. What was true in their bewilderment is true in ours. We live best when we live with the assurance that God will do nothing more, and nothing less, than what he has said he will do—just as he did on Easter.

I trust you are enjoying God’s grace as you prepare to remember Christ’s death and celebrate his resurrection this weekend.

Today’s Kindle deals include at least a couple of interesting titles.
Meat from the Sky and the Resurrection’s Plausibility
“In 1876, a Kentucky grandmother was making lye soap on her front porch. Suddenly, an odd series of thuds in the field beside her house interrupted the silence of her labors. She sent her grandson out to see what was happening. He claimed it was snowing, but the weather was too warm and clear for snow. So Mrs. Crouch stepped off the porch to see for herself. What the grandmother saw when she walked across the field still sounds unbelievable.” In a strange way, this leads to an argument for the plausibility of the resurrection.
One of the Most Overlooked Arguments for the Resurrection
Michael Kruger approaches the same topic from a different angle. “It is an often overlooked fact that provides the necessary context for the discussion. That fact is simply this: the earliest Christians came to believe, against all odds and against all expectations, that Jesus of Nazareth had been raised from the dead.”
Register Now For RMC22-Earlybird Discount Ends Apirl 30TH
June 29-30, 2022, with Kevin DeYoung, Alistair Begg & others. The Radius Missiology Conference is an ideal opportunity for pastors, missionary candidates, and church leaders to become better informed on the state of modern missions and learn how Radius can assist local churches in equipping their members to take the gospel where it has never been. (Sponsored Link)
Rowan Williams and Our Sentimental Age
“Today, as in the days of Plato, rhetoric is what moves the crowd. But as Plato knew, truth, not rhetoric, is the task of philosophy and philosophers. That is why the latter are so important. Sadly, many in today’s philosopher class—the intellectuals—seem to have forgotten Plato. They now find rhetoric more attractive than truth.” Carl Trueman considers a very recent example.
Who will speak up for the transgender kid?
Denny Burk: “Gender affirming care requires parents and medical professionals to follow the instincts of children who are confused about their gender. Rather than helping children to resolve their psychological distress in a way that affirms their bodies, gender affirming care requires destroying a child’s body. This ‘care’ can include blocking a child’s puberty, the infusion of opposite sex hormones, and sometimes destroying healthy reproductive organs through surgery.”
“One Another” Ministry for the Homebound
This is a helpful look at “one another” commands that can help us minister to the homebound.
The Prosperity Gospel Loves God’s Gifts, But Ignores God Himself
This is one of the markers of the prosperity gospel—it loves what God gives, but could do without God himself.
Flashback: Proudly Humble
Sometimes pride looks an awful lot like humility. There are times that our pride convinces us to put on a great show of what looks to all the world like humility so that we will be seen and acknowledged by others.

We have a Christian duty to encourage one another. Many a time a word of praise or thanks or appreciation or cheer has kept a man on his feet. Blessed is the man who speaks such a word. —William Barclay

Grace and peace to you today, my friends.

(Yesterday on the blog: 40 Random Pieces of Advice for the Christian Life)
Was Jesus Punctual?
I found this a very helpful cross-cultural look at punctuality. “The English phrase ‘don’t waste your time’ has an equivalent in Spanish: ‘no pierdas el tiempo’, which strictly translated means ‘don’t lose [the] time’. There is, nonetheless, a subtle difference between the English and the Spanish. Whereas a Westerner feels they can control time (by deciding whether to waste it or not), a Latin American feels they cannot control time (it gets lost).”
This is the Day
I think you’ll enjoy this new song from CityAlight. It’s another good one!
Ligonier Theological Study Guides
Ligonier Ministries has recently begun posting a series of theological study guides. Nick Batzig has rounded them up for us.
Seedlings Need The Weather
“When we asked a gardener friend, he told us that the absence of difficulty was not the solution to their problem. It was the problem. The trouble for our seedlings—the trouble that made them weak—was that they had no trouble. Without at least some exposure to the elements, they would never grow strong.” There’s a lesson to learn here.
Rethinking Pastoral Ministry Post-Covid
This article considers ministry post-COVID and how technology can or cannot take a new prominence.
A Lifetime of Preaching: A Conversation with Alistair Begg
This is a great little conversation with Alistair Begg as he recounts his decades of preaching the Word.
Flashback: Help! My Kids Are Looking at Porn!
Where the temptation will be to bludgeon your children with reasons they should not look at porn, your time will be spent far more effectively if you are able to slow down, ask lots of questions, and engage them in conversation.

In the darkest night of the soul, Christians have something to hold onto…Christ crucified. —D.A. Carson

Not every idea is worthy of an entire article. Hence, this one contain a long list of brief, random (and unsolicited) pieces of advice for living the Christian life, all of which I’ve gleaned from others over the course of the past 45 years. I hope there is something here that benefits you.

When offering counsel to others, always carefully distinguish between what the Bible says and what is simply your best attempt to apply wisdom to a particular situation. Get used to saying, “This is me, not the Bible.” There is a reason I have made this the first in a long list of pieces of advice.

Learn to appreciate the ways in which other people are different from you, not just the ways in which they are similar. Contrary to the way you tend to the think, the world would actually not be a better place if everyone was just a little bit more like you.

Learn to apologize. Learn to apologize first. Learn to apologize often. Learn that to apologize is a mark of strength of character, not weakness.

Remember that your children are sinners who are beset by the fierce enemies of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Be gentle with them and have pity for them. Don’t be yet another enemy to them.

Don’t let yourself slip into believing that growing older will magically confer you some gift of godliness. Who you are now—or who you are becoming now—is a pretty good predictor of who you will someday be. If you want to be godly then, you have to learn to be godly now. This is true of young men and women as they ponder marriage and parenting; this is true of middle-aged men and women as they ponder retirement and old age.

Understand that you don’t need to have an opinion about everyone and everything. In fact, it is a mark of maturity to deliberately not have opinions about things that don’t concern you and things you know nothing about.

Find a couple whose grown children you’d be proud to call your own. Ask that couple if you can spend some time with them to either ask them questions about parenting or to simply observe life in their home. This may prove more valuable than any book on parenting. (Make sure their children are old enough that the parents have proven they can do more than raise obedient toddlers or submissive tweens.)

Change churches as seldom as possible and only when necessary. Never change churches without seeking the counsel of the church you are considering leaving and the church you are considering joining. When you do leave, it is almost always best to leave in a quiet and dignified way that preserves the church’s unity.

You get no free pass from the sin of slander when it pertains to an enemy, a heretic, or a politician. Each of these people is made in the image of God and each of them deserves to be spoken of in a way that befits their humanity. Only ever speak of them what is demonstrably and provably true.

Try raising your hands in worship at least once. It’s okay to get used to the idea in private first. Perhaps you’ll find that a little bit of physical expression engages your heart in unexpected ways.

Don’t put your hope in a particular method or system of parenting. Put your hope in the gospel, then consistently teach it to your children and consistently model it for your children during the 18 or 20 years they are in your home. It is the gospel that is the power of God, not any method. But we are easily confused.

In any given situation, it’s always good to ask “What does the Bible tell me to do?” or “what does the Bible say about this?” A great follow-up question is “why am I not already doing it?”

When the church service ends, make it your goal to meet someone you don’t know or connect with someone you don’t know well before you spend time with friends. Make a beeline for anyone who is alone or who looks awkward.

Embrace the tension between knowing that you are called to steward the wealth God provides for you and the fact that life is insanely expensive. Budget your money, control your expenses, give generously to the church, set some aside for the future, and use some to occasionally treat yourself to something nice. But also get used to saying, “it’s only money” as you swipe your card when yet another big and unexpected expense has come along.

Spend lots of time considering how God relates to his children, then imitate that in your parenting. When asked who most influenced your parenting, “God” is a pretty good answer.

Read The Pilgrim’s Progress at least once. If you find you are struggling to read it, try listening to it instead. There is a reason that it is the best-selling fictional work of all-time. (I recommend the recording narrated by Nadia May.)

Think often about that well-worn definition of character: character is who you are when no one else is looking. Consider whether who you are when you are all alone is consistent with who you are when other Christians are present.

It is good and necessary to shelter your children from the world. It is also good and necessary to expose your children to the world while they are still under your care and you can help them interpret what they are seeing and experiencing. Do that with wisdom. Your task as a parent is to prepare your children to live and thrive in this world, not some other one.

Acknowledge that in most friendships one person will be the main pursuer and the main initiator. Don’t feel sorry for yourself if you are that person.

Listen carefully to believers who come from cultures other than your own. You may learn valuable critiques of your own culture with all its presuppositions and you may learn valuable insights from another.

Foster relationships between your children and other trustworthy adults. Confidently direct your children to those adults when they have questions or disagreements with you. Don’t be upset if your friends give them counsel that contradicts your own. It’s possible that you’re the one who’s wrong.

Be loyal—loyal to your family, loyal to your friends, loyal to your pastors, loyal to your church. Loyalty is a beautiful virtue; disloyalty is an ugly vice.

If you find that your children are rebellious, take the time to honestly assess if you are modeling rebellion or submission to the sources of authority in your own life—whether in government, workplace, church, or home. There’s no reason to expect submission in your children if all they see is rebellion in you.

Sing loud in church, especially if you are a man. Don’t be content with mumbling as if it’s somehow embarrassing to have a male voice.

Never disrespect your spouse, or speak disrespectfully to or about your spouse, in the presence of others. (Or outside of the presence of others, for that.) If you need counsel or advice about your spouse or marriage, speak to a friend in a way that respects your spouse’s dignity.

Imagine your children as some day being close friends. Relate to them today in such a way as to make that vision come true. This will look different when they are toddlers, teens, and young adults.

Open your home to other people often. Help foster a culture of hospitality within your local church by being the one who invites people over on a regular basis. The living room is one of the best contexts in the world for friendship, discipleship, and evangelism.

Be appropriately romantic and affectionate with your spouse in the presence of your children. It’s okay—good even—if they know the spark is still alive. It’s okay—good even—if they occasionally say “oh gross.” You can do that without ever crossing a line.

Embrace singleness rather than resenting it. Pursue joy and contentment knowing that the God who withholds no good thing from his children also dispenses to them no ultimately bad thing. This is his good and perfect plan for you and he means for you to embrace it, whether it is a temporary state or a permanent one, whether it is involuntary or chosen.

Find common interests with your spouse. Learn to enjoy what your spouse enjoys, even if it’s a sport you wouldn’t otherwise care for or an art form you aren’t naturally drawn to. (Do the same with your friends and children.)

It is good to read widely but also good to read deeply. Find at least one author whose writing particularly helps you and commit to reading as many of his or her books as possible.

Expect to be sinned against even by people who love you. Don’t over-react when it happens. You’ve probably sinned against them many times as well. Remember that is the glory of a man to overlook an offense and that love covers a multitude of sins.

Nobody wants to be part of a church that doesn’t pray, but also, (almost) nobody wants to attend the prayer meeting. Believe in the power of a praying church enough to attend and champion that meeting. Make prayer instrumental rather than supplemental to your church.

Don’t feel the need to finish a bad book, or a mediocre one, for that. There is no shame in tossing it aside and trying something else.

Pursue friendships with people who are different from you. The deepest compatibility is often not easily visible.

Make it your habit to find something positive in the sermon and tell the pastor how it benefitted you. He probably gets less encouragement than you think.

It’s almost never the wrong time to say, “Let’s pray.”

Believe in the big picture of family devotions even when it’s hard to believe in the day-by-day results. Trust that a time of reading the Bible and praying together, repeated on a near-daily basis, will leave a deep and positive impact in the family as a whole and in each of its members.

Don’t let the sun set on your anger. Bitterness grows in the dark and harms you more than it harms anyone else, so the proper time to stop it is before it starts.

Distinguish between what is mandated by God and what is simply a matter of wisdom or prudence. Much of what Christians advocate with such strong words falls under the latter category more than the former. The Bible says nothing about date nights, the Billy Graham Rule, sleep training, and so on. Don’t hold strongly to what the Bible holds loosely (or vice versa). And that includes pretty much everything I’ve included in this article…

The Lord bless you and keep you today.

There are a couple of Kindle deals today.
Potentially of greater interest are this week’s deals at Westminster Books, which include a new book by James Hamilton.
More Programs Train Complementarian Women to Teach Bible
This is an interesting and positive development. “Preparing a message of biblical exposition isn’t a task confined to one gender, even for complementarians. So more programs are training women to teach with their own versions of the preaching classes that have long been reserved for men.”
3 Ways Social Media Affects Pastors
“What are you doing with social media? And what is social media doing to you? As I have written about social media and its often-ignored effects on Christians and the greater culture, I have heard from many pastors and church leaders not only about how social media impacts their congregations, but also about how it impacts them and their ability to lead.”
More than Doing: Categories for Applying God’s Word
We all know we are supposed to do something when we read the Bible, but it’s not always obvious what that is. “How do we do Bible texts like those found in the book of Judges? How do we do narratives, historical accounts, chronologies, prophetic literature, or Old Testament laws written for the people of Israel? How do we apply God’s Word when there’s nothing in the passage for us to do?”
An Open Letter to Death
I appreciated Cindy Matson’s open letter to Death which begins this way: “I’m writing to you today with a simple message: Stop boasting. I realize that you have some reason for pride. You have had your way with nearly every human to ever live. (Do Enoch and Elijah keep you up at night?)”
Ukrainian Seminary Professor’s Plea—Please Don’t Tire of Praying
You will benefit from reading this article about a Ukrainian seminary professor. And you will serve the church in Ukraine well by heeding his call to prayer.
Resting in What Jesus Has Done
This is geared specifically to youth workers, but can apply to any of us. “Resting in what Jesus has done is both a posture and an identity. Our posture is our hands held in surrender to Christ and our identity is in Christ alone. Here are three important reminders that have helped me embrace this posture and discover my identity as a youth leader.”
Flashback: Rule #6: Redeem Your Time (8 Rules for Growing in Godliness)
Godliness requires training, and training takes time. So in an age in which we always carry convenient distractions in our pockets, our growth in godliness will require us to reject the trivial and redeem every minute.

Those are the strongest Christians that are the mightiest in prayer. —Nathaniel Vincent

The God of love and peace be with you on this fine day.

Today’s Kindle deals include some excellent titles from Crossway.
(Yesterday on the blog: When The Great Resignation Comes to Church)
The Christian Veneer of a Sacred Journey
“I’d suggest that one of the greatest risks to the Church in the modern west at moment is that we allow secular perspectives to be baptised and given the appearance of being Christian. The danger is profound because the veneer disguises what’s happening. The shifts in thinking are significant, but they look small because they’re disguised behind Christian language.”
Doug Logan on Experiencing and Responding to Racism
I’ve been enjoying this ongoing interview with Doug Logan, President of Grimké Seminary. (Part 1 is available here.)
Join Alistair Begg, Kevin DeYoung & Others @ RMC22 
*EARLYBIRD DISCOUNT ENDS APRIL 3OTH* June 29-30, 2022 @ Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, NC. RMC is for pastors, aspiring missionaries, and anyone interested in biblical missiology.
Why New India Needs the Ancient Gospel
I’m thrilled to see TGC support a new site for India. It includes articles like this one that explains how the “dream of a new India is emerging out of the old. This is now quite obvious to the citizens of this ancient nation and to much of the world outside. But new India is like a kaleidoscope of many new trends and developments—a young population that is building a vibrant nation, a powerful economic resurgence, and its new stature as an emerging global power. All these are coming together in different ways to shape a glorious dream.”
4 Keys to Preaching from a Manuscript
Jared Wilson offers a number of tips for preaching from a manuscript—a practice I tend to advocate as well.
What role does intercessory prayer play in the salvation of the nations?
What role do our prayers serve in the plan of God to redeem people from every tongue, tribe, and nation through Jesus Christ? From a Ligonier event, Derek Thomas, Stephen Nichols, and Michael Reeves discuss the place of prayer in global missions.
What about Marriage and Family in Heaven?
Randy Alcorn covers a few matters related to marriage and family in heaven.
Flashback: How to Encourage that Preacher
The faithful preacher is content to be forgotten so Jesus can be remembered. “I forgot all about you” may be one of the most encouraging things a preacher can hear.

All heaven is interested in the Cross of Christ, all hell terribly afraid of it, while men are the only beings who more or less ignore its meaning. —Oswald Chambers