The grass at Glen Oaks Cemetery had already begun to fade from its bright summer green to its drab winter brown on the day we first visited. The November breeze blew cold upon us as we walked the rows of graves to choose the spot where we would bury our son. We eventually chose a plot near the end of a long row, beneath the shade of a young tree. A few days later we watched his coffin be lowered into the ground in that very spot. We heard the pastor, my dearest friend, say the dreaded words, “Dust to dust.” We stood together as a family, arms linked, tears flowing, hearts breaking.

And now we have come to the next November and I find myself standing in that very same spot reflecting on a year that has come and gone. I have heard some people refer to this as a “deathday,” a morbid parallel to “birthday.” I prefer to stick with the wordier and more formal “anniversary of his death.” And, indeed, today is the first anniversary of the day Nick went to heaven. A full year has passed since we received the news that he had collapsed, since we heard that he had been rushed to hospital, since the doctor called to say, “We did everything we could.” A full year has passed since Aileen and I looked each other in the eye and said, through sobs, “We can do this.” A full year has passed since a night so traumatic that most of it has disappeared from memory, or perhaps been buried in a place beyond remembering.
The last year has brought the deepest sorrows I’ve ever known. I have had to say farewell to my firstborn child, my only son, without having said a proper “goodbye.” I have witnessed the people I love most in all the world passing through their darkest valley. I have sat awake long into the night to soothe sorrows and dry tears. I have laid awake through the wee hours preaching truth to myself meant to counter waves of fear and anxiety. In the darkness of night I have awoken to the cries and sobs of hearts that have been so badly broken. I have learned to grieve, I have learned to weep, I have learned to lament.
But though the last year has been one of so many sorrows, it has also been one of so many blessings. As I look back on the most difficult of years, I also look back on the most blessed of years. As I ponder the year since my hardest day, I find my heart rising in praise to God. I find my eyes wet with tears, but my heart filled with gratitude.
I am grateful for the gift of a son. And though he was taken from me so soon, I wouldn’t trade those years for all the riches of all the worlds. Had I known I would have him for so short a time, I would still have considered it a blessing to know him, to love him, to raise him. I thank God for entrusting to me so fine a son, so godly a young man.
I am grateful for the gift of love. My family has been so well cared for this year—loved by family and friends, by neighbors and strangers, by those who know us best and those who barely know us at all. We have not for a moment been alone, not for a moment been deserted.
I am grateful for the gift of providence. God has often used “coincidences” to minister to us on our hardest days and in our most difficult moments. Chance encounters have proven to not be chance at all. God has sovereignly woven together a set of circumstances that have proven his love, his care, his presence.
I am grateful for the gift of heaven. Never has heaven been more real, more present, more precious, more close. This year has given me a whole new longing to be there—to be where Christ is, where Nick is—to be in that place where all fears are stilled, where all sorrows are soothed, where all tears are dried.
I am grateful for the gift of faith. God has given us faith to believe in his character and promises, to acknowledge his right to take as much as to give. Not one of us has turned on God. Not one of us has charged him with wrong. Not one of us has refused to bless his name. Our hearts have been shattered but, by his grace, our faith has held strong.
I am grateful for the gift of comfort. God has comforted us by his Spirit and his people, by word and by deed. Not once have we been without truths to rely on, gospel to cling to, shoulders to cry upon. God has made good on his every promise.
I am grateful for these gifts and so many others. I love God more than ever. He has proven worthy of my confidence, my affection, my deepest devotion. I honor him, I trust him, I bow the knee to him. 
A recent journey led me through the local countryside, and as I drove, I observed fields that until recently had been green and full. But now they were now stark and bare. The farmers had gathered their crops into their barns to supply them through the long winter to come. And in much that way, as I reflect on the year that was, I can see that the God of all grace had gathered great stores of goodness and mercy for us. And he then dispensed them at just the right time and in just the right ways. We have known his abundance. He has met our every need, he has spoken comfort to our every sorrow, he has ministered truth to our every fear. He has been most present when most needed. He has not left us. He has not forsaken us. He never would. He never will.
(I will take this opportunity to remind you of the Nick Challies Memorial Scholarship at Boyce College and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary—a scholarship in Nick’s honor meant to enable others to carry out the ministry that was so important to him—to minister the Word of God in Canada. The scholarship is now receiving funds from donors and distributing them to students. We would be honored if you would consider making a donation.)
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Good morning. May the Lord bless you and keep you.

Westminster Books has Christmas books on sale today.
There are a number of Kindle deals from yesterday and today that you may enjoy.
How to Prepare for the Metaverse
“Even as the pace of technological change has felt dizzying and exhausting for churches in recent years, we’ve only seen the tip of the digital iceberg. The real change, which will truly transform our mental, spiritual, and ecclesial landscapes, is coming soon: the metaverse.” This is a concept you should probably get to know.
5 Takeaways From the Facebook Papers
Chris Martin has some good analysis of the Facebook Papers, which I’m sure you’ve heard of by now.
30 Recommended Books for Reformed Thinkers
Explore church history, study biblical doctrine, or deepen your faith… here are 30 recommended reformed books from Zondervan Academic. (Sponsored Link)
Are we living in the last days? (Video)
Are we living in the last days? Robert Godfrey answers in a brief video.
Medical Marijuana and Christian Ethics
Alan Branch takes a quick look at issues related to the medical use of marijuana.
Why Suffering Pushes Us Toward or Pulls Us Away from God
“One of novelist John Green’s best-known essays, ‘Googling Strangers,’ recounts a time in his early 20s when he worked for six months as a student chaplain at a children’s hospital, in preparation for a life devoted to ministry. One night, he was alerted by the Emergency Department to the arrival of a 3-year-old child who had suffered severe burns.” Trevin Wax reflects on it.
Quiet Faithfulness in an Ecclesiastes World
“I admit – sometimes I look around and see people flourishing in their work, ministry, families, etc, and at times, makes me wrestle with why trouble and hardship seem to be around every corner for us. Our hard work hasn’t paid off in an earthly sense, our perseverance and fight for faith seems to only lead us into new storms, and at times, I feel passed up and left bleeding on the side of the road while those around me flourish in ministry and opportunities, with only normal, everyday, challenges to overcome.”
Flashback: Do You Have the Faith to be Faithful?
I want to consider what it means to have an exemplary faith, the kind of faith that, if imitated by others, will lead them to become more like Christ. Do you have that kind of faith?

Spouses can be wonderful helpers, but they are sorry saviors. Jesus alone can satisfy something as large as the human soul. —Garrett Kell

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

Logos users, be sure to check out this month’s free and nearly free books.
(Yesterday on the blog: We Are All Cultists On the Inside)
The Reformation of English
This is a really interesting look at how William Tyndale’s Bible translation helped creation English as we know it.
What is Heaven Like?
“Many people view heaven as some kind of consolation prize for our sorrows here on earth, or as a nebulous default status we attain by being ‘good’ enough. In any case, it doesn’t usually sound like a fun place to spend eternity. Heaven is a place, yes – but it is so much more. It is a place for us. A home. Our home. An end to wondering where we belong, trying to fit in a world seemingly designed against us.”
30 Recommended Books for Reformed Thinkers
Explore church history, study biblical doctrine, or deepen your faith… here are 30 recommended reformed books from Zondervan Academic. (Sponsored Link)
Why Did God Make Me Unattractive?
John Piper takes on a difficult question here. “When I hear a question like this, it makes me groan, partly because I can count on three fingers, maybe less, the people who have ever called me ugly or handsome. In other words, I groan because I know I’m being asked to speak to a sorrow that I’ve never tasted.”
Matt Smethurst on Having a Healthy Relationship with Social Media
Matt Smethurst discusses the way we relate to social media in this brief video.
How to Treat Fellow Christians
“The Bible says a lot about how to treat each other. Here, I organized a host of biblical commands that tell us how we should do so. Can you imagine what your church would be like if every member took these Scriptures to heart?”
The Hidden Gift of Spiritual Amnesia
“The truth is, we’re all victims of spiritual amnesia. How many times have you heard a sermon, read a devotional, sat in on Bible study, or received counsel from a friend in Christ, and thought to yourself, ‘I already knew this, but I had to be reminded of it yet again!’ You might have felt discouraged, surprised, or frustrated that you had forgotten. You might have thought, ‘Why am I always forgetting this about God?’”
Flashback: How To Lead and How To Follow
In the Golden Rule we get a glimpse of the world as it ought to be, a glimpse of the world as God made it to be—a world in which our foremost concern is love for others.

To use the sword of the Spirit effectually, we must be familiar with it, and have it often in our hands. —J.C. Ryle

This week the blog is sponsored by Baker Books and is adapted from Jamie Rasmussen’s new book When God Feels Far Away: Eight Ways to Navigate Divine Distance. 

If you’re anything like me and consider yourself a Christian, you and I would probably agree on a few ‘essentials.’. Things like believing God is real, that He is good, and that His grace is revealed to us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. We would also agree that because of what Jesus did on the cross, and our faith in His completed work, we can enjoy an ongoing relationship with God, and He is always with us.
The problem is, it doesn’t always feel like it. 
In fact, if I can be completely honest and vulnerable, there are times when it not only feels like God is not with me, it feels like He’s far away. Like “Elvis has left the building” far away. And after 40 years of being part of this Christ-following tribe and 35 years as a pastor, I know I’m not alone. I’ve never bothered to count, but if I had, I would have lost count of the number of people who I’ve heard cry out in some form, “Where is God in all this chaos?”
When life unravels, even for (or maybe especially for) the faithful, circumstances suddenly feel like a shaky Jenga tower ready to collapse on top of you if one condition is too carelessly shifted. You can know in your mind that God is with you, but when your experience doesn’t match your theology, you find yourself in the middle of a crisis of faith (I think the technical term is “a dumpster fire of life.”) So, what do you do when you don’t know what to do?
As a veteran of difficult seasons of divine distance, I’ve walked these seemingly lonely paths and guided many others through their own. I’m familiar with the too-common practice among Christians to “buckle up and double down” on our spiritual disciplines, expecting God to be drawn magnet-like to our good behavior (only to be exponentially more disappointed when it doesn’t work as intended). 
There is a better way. 
Using the historic narrative of Esther and the Jewish people in the time of their exile, this book illustrates how eight biblically grounded actions, expressed through a relational filter, can yield fruitful results that bring hope, encouragement, comfort, and even direction. When God Feels Far Away isn’t a self-help book. It is a guide that will help recalibrate your mind and perspective to be both practical and biblical, empowering you and I to see and experience the nearness of God in our circumstances even when He feels far away. 

There are different ways to distinguish a church from a cult. Churches hold to a broad consensus of orthodox beliefs while cults invariably elevate a small number of uniquely unorthodox beliefs. Churches tend to foster a context in which leaders are accountable to their congregations while cults tend to foster a context in which leaders demand mindless obedience. Churches expect loyalty to the word of God while cults expect loyalty to the words of a charismatic leader. And then there is this: Churches tend to reflect unity amid diversity while cults tend to display unity premised upon uniformity.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is meant to transform those who believe it to such a degree that communities structured around it are markedly different from those that are not. When the gospel is honored and valued, it fosters love and unity among people who would otherwise be cold and distant. And in that way gospel communities should reflect a kind of gospel diversity—a community in which a diverse group of people honor, enjoy, and serve one another.
As we look around a church we ought to see people with a wide range of differences experiencing the deepest kind of unity—different races and ethnicities, different ages and socioeconomics, different convictions on politics, different convictions on education, different convictions on vaccinations, and so on. The gospel that was sufficient to bind Jew to Gentile and Gentile to Jew is sufficient to bind any two—or any two hundred—Christians together. The gospel that fostered unity between vegetarians and meat-eaters is plenty strong enough to foster unity between maskers and non-maskers.
Yet a little honest self-examination will probably reveal that we all have a cultist lurking within ourselves. We may pay lip service to diversity, but when it comes down to it we find that our natural instinct is toward uniformity—a uniformity to our own emphases, our own convictions, our own preferences.
We acknowledge that Christians have freedom to disagree when it comes to the ways we educate our children, yet find we look with a disparaging eye at those who have strong convictions that are the exact opposite of our own. We say that we want our church to reflect the ethnic diversity of the surrounding community, but then find that the traditions and ideals of another culture grate against our own. We distinguish between essential and non-essential beliefs—we may even say something like “in essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity”—yet still find ourselves thinking how much better this church would be if we did not have to love people who believed this or acted like that. Like the strong toward the weak in Romans 14, we can despise people who live by different convictions, and like the weak toward the strong, we can so easily pass judgment on them.
The inner cultist tries to convince us that life would be better, relationships would be easier, the church would be safer, if only everyone was the same—the same as me. Yet such a community would display little of the gospel because it would require little divine grace. It takes no divine power to foster community amid uniformity. But it takes great divine power to bind together those who are in so many ways so very different—those who continue to live by conscience, who continue to value their culture, who continue to hold to their convictions.
So when you look out at your church and see a person whose convictions are opposite yours on a key issue, be grateful that you are part of the same church. When you see a person who places great value on what is so uninspiring to you and places little value on what is so close to your heart, be thankful that God has bound you together. When you look out and see diversity, don’t let your heart long for uniformity. For that would be a longing to be part of a cult rather than a church.

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

Westminster Books has deals on a collection of new and notable fall releases.
Today’s Kindle deals include a collection of books from Crossway.
(Yesterday on the blog: When Calvin and Wesley Shake Hands)
The Gospel is in the Detail
Rhys Laverty uses the occasion of Reformation Day to say “it’s vital to remember that an insistence on detail is, in many ways, at the root of Protestantism. And the boldness to point out such details is vital.”
Don’t Just Read Your Bible: 12 Ways to Go Deeper
“When we talk about spending time in God’s Word, we usually say ‘read your Bible!’ But that doesn’t mean you always just pick up the Bible and read a chapter – here are a few other creative ways to soak in Scripture.”
A Strange and Holy Calm
David Mathis: “In a day when outbursts of emotion are not only accepted, but respected, and encouraged, it can be more difficult to raise men who learn to righteously ‘hold their peace.’ It’s a curious phrase at key junctures in the history of God’s people. Some outburst of rage, or rash expression of anger or retaliation, is expected, yet a man of God, we’re told, ‘held his peace.’”
Is This the Right Way?
I enjoyed this article about going the right way.
Memories: A Tribute to My Mentor
It’s always a joy to read tributes to ordinary people who have been faithful.
Staying Power
“It’s one of those myths that just won’t die. For decades, we’ve heard the factoid that half of all marriages in America end in divorce. We’ve heard it so long, it must be true. Right?”
The Cautionary Tale of Francis Collins
“On June 8, 2019, Francis Collins finger-picked his guitar and sang Andy Grammer’s song ‘Don’t Give Up On Me’ at the memorial service for a young man who had died after a four-year battle with a rare kidney cancer. The man had enjoyed the song, and Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, cared dearly for him. He concluded his performance with an emotional benediction, promising that he would see the young man again and that he and his staff would not give up searching for a cure. This is the kind of man Francis Collins is. One month earlier, Collins’s NIH had approved a research grant requested by University of Pittsburgh scientists who desired to graft the scalps of aborted fetuses onto rats and mice.” This is also the kind of man he is…
Flashback: 6 Marks of a Faithful Ministry
The pastor is to serve humbly, to serve just like Jesus served. An arrogant ministry is the most destructive kind of ministry.

Broken health is naturally discouraging, but if God is in it, we need not be disheartened: he is able to make more of us with our shattered health than we could have made of ourselves with athletic robustness. —J.R. Miller

It’s Reformation Day today, and the occasion got me thinking about some words I had run across earlier this year when reading the works of De Witt Talmage and Theodore Cuyler. Both reflected on Calvin and Wesley, one standing in as the chief Reformed theologian and the other as an avowedly Arminian evangelist. Here is what they said, beginning with Talmage.

As individuals we are fragments. God makes the race in part, and then he gradually puts us together. What I lack, you make up; what you lack, I make up; our deficits and surpluses of character being the cog-wheels in the great social mechanism. One person has the patience, another has the courage, another has the placidity, another has the enthusiasm; that which is lacking in one is made up by another, or made up by all. Buffaloes in herds, grouse in broods, quail in flocks, the human race in circles. God has most beautifully arranged this. It is in this way that he balances society; this conservative and that radical keeping things even. Every ship must have its mast, cutwater, taffrail, ballast.
Thank God, then, for Princeton and Andover, for the opposites. I have no more right to blame a man for being different from me than a driving-wheel has a right to blame the iron shaft that holds it to the centre. John Wesley balances Calvin’s Institutes. A cold thinker gives to Scotland the strong bones of theology; Dr. Guthrie clothes them with a throbbing heart and warm flesh. The difficulty is that we are not satisfied with just the work that God has given us to do. The water-wheel wants to come inside the mill and grind the grist, and the hopper wants to go out and dabble in the water. Our usefulness and the welfare of society depend upon our staying in just the place that God has put us, or intended we should occupy.
To these words, I add a brief excerpt from Theodore Cuyler:
“Blessed are the dead—who die in the Lord.” To them the perils of the voyage are over. They have cast anchor in the haven. They are safe. Peter shall never deny again, and Paul will no more be obliged to battle with an unruly “body.” Calvin and Wesley can clasp hands over the glorious fact that neither one of them shall ever fall from grace. That is a joyful anthem which sings itself so sweetly over a believer’s dust, “Blessed is he—for he died in the Lord.”

May you know and acknowledge the Lord’s sweetest blessings as you serve and worship him this weekend.

My gratitude goes to my friends at Ligonier Ministries for sponsoring the blog this week. Be sure to stream their Luther documentary while it’s free.
There’s a nice little list of Kindle deals for today.
(Yesterday on the blog: New and Notable Christian Books fo October 2021)
Not How We Would Have It
Nick Batzig looks back to Ecclesiastes to draw some important lessons. “Many with strong convictions look back at church history and bemoan our current state of affairs in comparison with bygone ages. However, the sad reality is that there were just as many false teachers, compromising ministers, rebellious and difficult congregants, and hateful worldly opponents then as there are today.”
What If God Doesn’t Answer?
Guy Richard addresses the age-old issue of unanswered prayer.
Memory, the Reformation, & Revival
Michael Haykin: “If it is true that knowledge of the past is vital to meaningful living in the present and the future, and I believe it is, then Evangelicals in the West face a very uncertain future for we are living in a day when knowledge of our past as Evangelical Christians is abysmally low. Who were our forebears and what did they believe? What was their experience of God and how did that shape the churches they founded, churches which we have inherited?”
Romans, the “Righteousness of God,” and the 1984 NIV
Michael Kruger writes about some of his “favorite verses in the Bible, Romans 3:21-26.  Martin Luther called those verses, ‘The chief point, and the very central place of the Epistle, and of the whole Bible.’”
Ask God to Send Gospel Workers
“Have you noticed the massive staff shortage across industries during this extended season of COVID? I can’t drive a mile without seeing a ‘help wanted’ sign. I’ve waited a long time lately at restaurants for a table and then my meal. It wasn’t for a lack of tables. And it wasn’t for a lack of food. It was for a lack of workers. Workers are scarce. The same is true in the kingdom.”
Sufficient for the Day
Reagan Rose offers some helpful words on productivity. “Planning for tomorrow is important. Having lists of projects and tasks you hope to do is important. But when we spend a lot of time looking down the road we can lose focus on the bit of road that’s right in front of us. We can be tempted to become discontent or anxious.”
Flashback: The Cracks Begin at the Bottom
…disunity often begins with the membership and spreads toward the leadership rather than beginning with the leadership and spreading toward the membership. This is not always the case, of course, but often it is.

The Scriptures are the lifeline God throws us in order to ensure he and we stay connected while the rescue is in process. —J.I. Packer

This week’s Free Stuff Friday is sponsored by Ligonier Ministries, who also sponsored the blog this week.

Martin Luther is one of the most significant figures in church history. The movement that launched after his posting of the Ninety-Five Theses led to the recovery of the gospel revealed in Scripture. How did God use a German monk with an uneasy conscience to change the world? Ligonier Ministries is offering a free resource that can help you get to know Luther’s life and teaching, and its importance for today: R.C. Sproul’s video teaching series Luther and the Reformation. All Challies readers can download this resource for free, and ten Free Friday winners will receive the DVD and the new companion book.
Learn more about the teaching series here and the book here.
Enter Here
Again, there are ten packages 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. As soon as the winners have been chosen, all names and addresses will be immediately and permanently erased. Winners will be notified by email. The giveaway closes Saturday at noon. If you are viewing this through email, click to visit my site and enter there.