Grace and peace to you today.

Today’s Kindle deals include a number of excellent devotionals from Crossway.
(Yesterday on the blog: Would You Consider Becoming a Patron?)
On Spiritual Dreams
I have read a number of different perspectives on Christians and “spiritual dreams.” This one, which I read over the weekend (and which is from a source I admire), was quite interesting to me.
An Open Letter to the Brothers I Went to Seminary With
I appreciated this open letter from a woman who attended seminary and who reflects on the men who attended with her.
If Christmas is just cultural, celebrate (or don’t) however you want
This is a good reminder that Christians don’t have to celebrate Christmas.
Brightest and Best (Video)
This great rendition of “Brightest and Best” features the Gettys and Ricky Skaggs.
Dealing with Difficult Decembers
“We spend so much time enjoying the nativity and celebrating the miracle of our Saviour’s birth, that we often forget to get excited and expectant once again for our Lord to come back.”
Chipping Away Our Confidence in Christ
Doug Eaton: “In the Christian life, there are times of rest and times of struggle, and what we do when the sun is shining will often determine how well we will fare when the rains fall and the winds blow. It is usually the pleasant times when self-confidence becomes exaggerated that many professing Christians tend to chip away at the rock upon which they stand.”
Flashback: Lost Is Her Treasure But Where Is Her Trust?
Let her not cling to him, Striving to fling from him, Death’s chilly hand, With its firm, frozen hold. Death has not made the choice, ’Tis but the Shepherd’s voice, Calling the little lamb, Back to its fold.

It’s pastoral malpractice to prescribe the law to penitent sinners as the source of a God-pleasing life. The law can direct and guide, but it cannot motivate or empower. The only legitimate motivation for the life of faith is not the law, but the gospel. —Harold Senkbeil

I have been blogging at Challies.com on a daily basis for over 19 years now. That long commitment has allowed me to write thousands of articles and hundreds of book reviews while also sending millions of visitors to other sites through the daily A La Carte feature. Of course I’ve also written a number of books, though through it all the blog has remained the “main thing.” Much of the blog’s content is now also translated into Spanish, French, and a number of other languages.

One of my great desires through this time has been to freely give away as much as possible. I intend for it to always remain entirely free for all who visit. While for obvious reasons this can’t happen when it comes to books, I’ve made it my goal to ensure that everything else has been freely and widely distributed. This has been possible largely because of advertisers. Yet as time goes on and the online advertising market shifts, I find there is also a key role for the generosity of individuals.
This is where patrons come in. A service called Patreon provides a convenient means of linking content producers (like me) with supporters (like you).
To that end, I would like to ask those who regularly read this site to consider supporting me by becoming a patron. By supporting me with even a modest monthly gift, you will be able to be part of this ongoing work. You will also receive Patron-only monthly updates on what I have been doing in the month that has passed and what I plan to do in the month ahead. Funds donated will be used to support my family and to help create great content or to otherwise improve, support, and enhance Challies.com. In one way or another they will all be used to allow me to continue to do what I have been doing for these past 19 years.
(I’m also sometimes asked about one-time gifts. If that is of interest to you, they can be forwarded by check to the mailing address here or to PayPal.)
Please understand that I intend for Challies.com to always remain entirely free. In fact, patrons help ensure that it always remains that way.
Thank you for considering becoming a patron of Challies.com. Your support means so much to me. And this is the end of my once-yearly mention of this subject!

My gratitude goes to Banner of Truth for sponsoring the blog this week to tell you about a new collection of writings by J.C. Ryle.

(Yesterday on the blog: Fight For Your Pastor)
Time to Rethink your Church Website?
“Our website is our most easily accessed 24/7 communication face to the world. Are we being wise in our use of it?” I think this is well worth asking. This article asks whether putting all of our sermons online is still wise.
My Broken Engagement
“Has God forgotten me? No, my heart said. But it wasn’t a statement of faith. It was a cry of sorrow: I wish that he had. Because if he had forgotten me, it would mean that he didn’t know about my broken engagement, that he wasn’t an indifferent observer watching me in my living room, sprawled out on my rug like a dead spider, sobbing until I had to run to the bathroom and vomit.”
The Value of Repeated Bible Reading
“There is no perfect Bible reading plan. Many Christians try to read through the whole Bible every year, a laudable goal, but sometimes only reading a passage once a year keeps us from really grappling with its message.” Scott encourages different ways of repeatedly reading the Bible.
The 5 Shaky Pillars of Insider Movement Strategies
“Compassion for the lost creates urgency for missions. Yet, urgency alone, untempered by a primary concern for God’s glory and God’s means, can quickly run afoul of biblical methodology and doctrinal truth. Those urgently seeking to increase their fruitfulness can be tempted to sacrifice biblical precision on the altar of expediency and pragmatism. One example of this in contemporary missions is what is known as Insider Movement (IM) strategies.”
3 Misconceptions That Many Muslims Have about Christianity
I have often found this to be true: “Muslims love to talk about religion, and I write this to encourage you to talk with your Muslim neighbors about meaningful spiritual matters that concern salvation and eternity. Unlike Westerners who often avoid conversations about religion and politics with people they just met, Muslims have no problem discussing religious matters. They cherish such conversations.”
Is Tithing for Today? (Video)
Derek Thomas suggests that the principle of tithing is not restricted to the Old Testament. It’s worth hearing him out.
Flashback: Lay Aside Your Cheap Running Shoes
Two authors, two books, two faiths, two topics, but one common theme: To run well you must rid yourself of all excess weight. It is true when running a race, it is true when pursuing Christ.

Perseverance reveals the fruit of true, saving faith. It is both an exercise of genuine faith and evidence of it. Perseverance doesn’t save us, but it reveals that we have been saved. —Glenna Marshall

This week’s Free Stuff Friday is sponsored by Banner of Truth. If you enter, one of you will be chosen to receive a copy of all the following new titles from the Banner (an over $350 value):

Christmas Thoughts, J. C. Ryle
Christmas, and New Year, are excellent moments to pause and reflect—J. C. Ryle urges us, through 5 popular Christmas tracts, to make time to consider our spiritual state and our future, when all our Christmases are past.
Sermons on Job (3 volumes), John Calvin
It was said of Calvin that he became a theologian to be a better pastor. Nowhere is that clearer than in the 159 sermons he preached on Job – here translated into modern, colorful, and vigorous English.
Words from the Cross, Ian Hamilton
Jesus’ seven expiring words of grace and hope are explored in their wider biblical context and significance to the believer. Short chapters help us reflect on the love of God devote all we are to our Savior.
How do You Read the Bible, J.C.Ryle
To have a Bible is good, but happy is the one who not only has a Bible but who reads it, obeys it, and makes it the rule of one’s faith and practice! Ryle explains why we ought to value the Bible highly, to study it regularly, and know its contents.
The Upper Room, J. C. Ryle
Toward the end of his life, Ryle was concerned that his remaining important work should be preserved in print. All these short works exhibit his robust evangelical doctrine, down-to earth application, and reliable advice, grounded in Biblical principles.
The Gospel According to Christ’s Enemies, David Randall
Jesus had critics and enemies who sought to discredit him and trap him but their attacks gave rise to opportunities. David Randall investigates attacks both in Scripture and from contemporary society that express truths their antagonists did not intend.
Theodore Beza, Henry Martyn Baird
Bezas’ friendships with Calvin and French king, Henry IV, ensured his significance in both church and state. In this new edition of Baird’s biography we discover a model of faithfulness under duress facing theological error and opposition.
The Works of William Bridge (5 volumes)
Bridge was a co-pastor of a church with Jeremiah Burroughs before being appointed a member of the Westminster Assembly. Later ejected from his church in Norfolk during the purge of non-conformists in 1662, he is particularly known in his writing for his pastoral love.
TO ENTER
Giveaway Rules: You may enter one time. When you enter, you opt-in to receive marketing emails from Banner of Truth. The winner will be notified by email. The giveaway closes on Saturday 24th December 2022 at midnight.

Sometimes a preposition makes all the difference. We do not need to look far to find examples of Christians who fight with their pastor. If you speak to just about any one of them I expect he will be able to tell you of people who have fought him tooth and nail over some peeve, some cause, some perceived slight. But much rarer are those who fight for their pastor, those who honor him and his position by battling for his success, for his joy, for his encouragement.

A couple of weeks ago I shared a review of Michael Kruger’s Bully Pulpit, a book that addresses the problem of heavy-handed leadership or spiritual abuse. And while that issue has received a lot of attention of late, it is important to acknowledge that the great majority of pastors are leading in love and serving their churches well. Hence, I wanted to draw your attention to Peter Orr’s new book Fight for Your Pastor—a book that encourages you to do exactly what the title indicates.
While it has always been difficult to be a pastor, it seems that there are some unique challenges today. “Think of the difference between climate and weather,” says Orr. “The ‘climate’ for pastoral ministry is constant. The world, the flesh, and the devil are long-term climate factors that remain between Christ’s first and second coming. But it feels as if—in the West, at least—there’s been a change in the ‘weather.’ There is now a general weather front of apostasy, secularism, unbelief, and so on that is making the life of a pastor—particularly a conservative, complementarian, and evangelical one—more difficult. Whether on matters of sexual ethics, gender, or the uniqueness of Christ, a faithful pastor who proclaims and stands for the word of God faces rising hostility from the world.”
That kind of pressure comes from outside the church but there is also pressure from within—pressure related to a rising awareness of spiritual abuse, pressure related to having to lead through a time of pandemic, pressure related to being commonly and often unfavorably compared to pastors whose ministries are so easy to see through the internet. Hence, “this short book is written as a call to more actively love and support our pastors. If you are reading this book, I am sure you love your pastor, but I want to nudge you to love him more intentionally. I invite you to pause and think about how you can support him more. In short, I am calling you to fight for your pastor.”
Orr structures the book around seven imperatives:

Fight! for your pastor by praying for him, acknowledging that “the person who is under more satanic attack than anyone else you know is your pastor. The person whose faith Satan wants to derail the most is your pastor. The person whose marriage Satan would most like to wreck, whose kids he most wants to cause to rebel, whom he most wants to discourage is your pastor. You need to fight in prayer for your pastor.”
Encourage! your pastor by deliberately acknowledging the blessing he is and intentionally building him up. “Sometimes we think that people have to earn our respect and admiration. They have to prove themselves. God’s economy differs: the pastor he has placed over us is, from the beginning, worthy of a respect and esteem that needs to translate into how we speak about and to him. We need to intentionally encourage him.”
Listen! to your pastor as he teaches you from God’s Word.
Give! to the church to ensure that your pastor has his financial needs met and is able to dedicate himself to his ministry.
Forgive! your pastor for his sins and failures, for he will at times let you down. “As evangelicals, we take sins seriously, know that repentance is critical, and understand that Jesus had to die for our sins. But there is a place for overlooking and not confronting every sin. Every good marriage operates on that principle, as does any healthy friendship, including our relationship with our pastor.”
Submit! to your pastor. “Submission may be the most countercultural thing that we can do. But the Bible commands it, our church’s health requires it, and our identity in Christ must reflect it.”
Check! if accusations against your pastor are actually true rather than believing all that people may say about him.

These are good and necessary exhortations and, if we all obey them, our pastors will be better equipped to lead us in ways that are beneficial to our lives and faith. “In the end, this book sounds a call to abandon a passive, consumerist model of church. It calls us to abandon the notion that the pastor performs the ministry, which we evaluate according to how it benefits us. It is a call to reject the error that he is our once-a-week religious entertainment provider. It is a call to abandon the idea that he is our spiritual guru, who will drop everything any time we need him. It is a call for us all to be devoted to the work of the Lord. It is a call for us to love and support our pastor. It is a call to fight for him!” It is a call I hope many Christians will hear, accept, and obey.

Buy from Amazon

I was grateful for the opportunity to speak with Warren Cole Smith and on Revive Our Hearts’ Grounded show. And I am thankful for this review of Seasons of Sorrow from Clarissa Moll published at TGC.

Logos has a Christmas Sale underway with some good deals. They also have 40% off Zondervan collections and commentaries.
How to Get Through a Spiritual Slump
Glenna Marshall wants you to know that “going through the motions doesn’t have to be a legalistic process. Going through the motions can be an act of faith and obedience—delighting in God’s Word when your heart just isn’t in it. When you persevere in prayer and reading the Bible, you are teaching your heart to delight in Him. This is how you learn perseverance: by pressing forward when you don’t want to. You won’t learn it any other way.”
Evangelicalism’s Hezekiah Problem
“Why are God’s leaders so quick to count and boast about what God has given them? That is an interesting question. More interesting, however, is the following question: Why does God hate this so much?”
What is revival? Should we expect it today?
In Revival: The Work of God, you will see what it looks like when the Lord pours out His Spirit to save sinners. Join Jeremy Walker, Geoff Thomas, Ian Hamilton, Joel Beeke, Sinclair Ferguson, Steven Lawson, and many more as they remind us of that God continues to build His Church. (Sponsored Link)
The Glory of Church Graveyards
I have often wished our church had a graveyard. This article explains why. “Every couple of months, I go for a walk around our church graveyard. I have called it a cemetery for the longest time, but it’s actually a graveyard. Graveyards are connected to a church. Cemeteries are not.”
The Deconversion of Saruman: Five Lessons to Learn
Michael Kruger looks beyond Joshua Harris, Rob Bell, and others to find another fascinating example of apostasy.
A Very Important Reason to Keep Preaching Hell to Mature Believers!
“It can be tempting for pastors and elders, who serve gathered congregations of saints, to be misled into thinking that we no longer need to reflect on the excruciating sorrows of the damned. Such weakening resolution can be diminished even further by comments from the pews (or indeed other pulpits) that the people need more grace – more of the sugar, none of the vinegar.”

We enjoy our heavenly Father’s constant attention to our prayers, for he’s never sleepy or forgetful, never grumpy or uninterested, never powerless to help or unsure of what to do. —Richard Coekin

The beginning of a new month is a good time to remind ourselves that right now, at this very moment, God is reigning from his throne.

This month Westminster Books has great deals on all kinds of ESV Bibles.
There are a few Kindle deals to look at today.
(Yesterday on the blog: No, It Wasn’t the Vaccine)
Disney’s ‘Strange World’ Embodies Strange New World
Brett McCracken: “Two 2022 releases: Disney’s Strange World and Carl Trueman’s Strange New World. Any youth unfortunate enough to have seen the former should be required to read the latter. Disney’s film represents the cultural sickness Trueman’s book analyzes.”
What Does It Mean to Enter into Temptation?
“Jesus doesn’t say, ‘Watch and pray, so you won’t be tempted.’ There is no way you can get into a place in the Christian life where you are no longer tempted. He says, ‘Watch and pray, so that you will not fall into temptation.’ Literally it says, ‘so that you will not enter into temptation.’”
The Life and Ministry of Rev. William Pettigrew
I appreciate Boboy Nameirakpam Singh introducing us to “the first Christian missionary in Manipur, one of the northeastern states of India.”
Gospel Diversity & not hiding our light under a bushel
“Many of us insist that our churches are open to everyone. We want our churches to express the manifold wisdom of God and the glory of Christ through the gospel. I am quite sure everyone who says these things genuinely means them. But many of us are in contexts that make it harder to see.”
Preacher, What’s on Your Kids Menu?
John Joseph encourages preachers to ensure there’s something “on the menu” for kids during the sermon.
Sunday evening exhaustion
“Do you ever get to the end of a Sunday feeling shattered? If you’ve come to church in the morning, gone to someone’s house for lunch (or done the actual hosting), made it to the afternoon service, then talked to people after the service, by the time you get home, you can be exhausted, and frazzled. Rather than being replenished by Sundays, it’s easy to feel drained.”
Flashback: Services Shaped Like an Hourglass
We begin our service distracted, narrow our focus to Jesus Christ, then broaden our gaze to living in this world for God’s glory. We do it again the next week, and again the week after that.

Prayer is a very hard thing to do because it seems like we aren’t doing anything. But it’s also hard because it’s a humble act. We must humble ourselves before God’s mighty hand regularly and cast our cares on Him. —Tony Merida

A couple of weeks ago I was on live radio doing an interview about Seasons of Sorrow. The interview went well, I think, and I was able to speak about Nick, about the book, and about my hope that it will bless and serve others as they pass through their own seasons of grief and loss. As soon as I hung up, I sat down at my computer and saw that I had received an email to this effect: “I am listening to you on the radio. Lately many people are suddenly dying including young athletes on the field. Many doctors are coming out and realizing it is due to the Covid vaccine. Did Nick get the Covid vaccine or have to take it for school?” That was just one of many—many emails and Facebook comments and YouTube responses that have asked, suggested, or assumed the same.

I have no interest in debating vaccines or discussing what the medical consequences of taking one may be. That is a whole different subject and one poorly suited for this medium. But what I do have interest in is helping people understand how to serve families who are enduring the loss of a loved one. I want to speak on their behalf and say that very often pressing to know the cause of death or speculating about it is going to offend or hurt those who are grieving. Very seldom will it benefit them in any way.
Let’s establish two matters, one pertaining to your task and one to your rights.
Your task. Your task when you encounter an individual or family enduring a time of sorrow is to serve and bless them. This means it falls to you to do your utmost to be as helpful to them as possible and it falls to you to avoid doing or saying anything that might add to their pain. You are to help rather than hinder them in their grief.
Your right. You have no right to know how another person died. You may have some natural curiosity. You may have some natural fear. But you have no entitlement to that information. If it is not your loved one, then it is not your business. You can carry out your task of serving and blessing the family without knowing the details. And if you are not present in their lives, you can still pray faithfully and earnestly without knowing a single fact about it.
Of course there may be times the family chooses to make the cause of death public and there may be times when it is a matter of public record. But there are many other occasions when the family chooses not to reveal that information, and it’s usually safe to assume they have their reasons for doing so. This could be because the death involved suicide or a drug overdose and they feel a level of shame or regret; it could be that the death was especially traumatic and they are protecting one another by not recounting its details; it could simply be that they are private people and have chosen to keep that information personal rather than making it public. Or maybe they fear that the death would be “cheapened” if it was tied to a cause, agenda, or political issue.
Do you really want to ask a brother to tell about the day he saw his sister’s life ebb away before his eyes? Do you really consider it fair that you would ask a mother to recount how she found her son’s body after he took his life? Is it okay that your curiosity is now satisfied after pestering a heartbroken dad to divulge the most painful moments of his life? Of course not. Of course it isn’t.
When you feel that sense of curiosity, it is worth asking yourself: Why do you want to know how that person died? Is it to better serve the family? Is it to be more sympathetic or more helpful? If not that, then what is the purpose in asking? How will that knowledge better equip you to serve them? If it’s mere curiosity, you should save the family the sorrow of asking them to recount their most painful moment. You should especially save the family the pain of pressing deeper when it is clear they are not interested in divulging details. Let the family take the lead and ask no more than they are comfortable sharing.
As for us, the answer people are looking for is this: no. No, Nick’s death had nothing to do with a COVID-19 vaccine and this is easily proven by the date of his death: November 3, 2020. The first vaccine to receive Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA, Pfizer-BioNTech, was not approved until mid-December, with the other vaccines following in 2021. Hence, Nick was not vaccinated and could not have been. The answer has always been as simple as a Google search.
As I expressed a year ago, an autopsy determined that his cause of death was “presumed cardiac dysrhythmia of uncertain etiology.” In other words, for causes that remain unknown, Nick’s heart very suddenly and unexpectedly slipped into an unsustainable rhythm which in turn led to full cardiac arrest. This is a presumed diagnosis, which is the best that can be done in such cases. Subsequent genetic testing that was extremely thorough turned up no other significant leads. Hence, this is as much of a diagnosis as we are ever likely to have. We have learned over the past two years that this cause of death is neither unprecedented nor as rare as we might think. Even before there was a COVID-19 vaccine there were people whose hearts suddenly stopped—even people who were young and who otherwise appeared to be perfectly healthy. Such is life and death in a broken and fallen world.
And so I urge you, when God’s providence directs that you can be present in the aftermath of a great loss, that you refrain from pressing, refrain from insisting that you should know information that is otherwise not available to you. Your task is to love, to serve, to care, and to bless, and you can do all of this even when the cause of death remains unknown or uncertain.

May the Lord be with you and bless you today.

Today’s Kindle deals include at least a couple of interesting books.
The Rise of Right-Wing Wokeism
Kevin DeYoung has written a long and thorough review of Stephen Wolfe’s new book on Christian Nationalism. “This is a long review, so let me state my conclusion up front: I understand and sympathize with the desire for something like Christian Nationalism, but if this book represents the best of that ism, then Christian Nationalism isn’t the answer the church or our nation needs. For all the fine retrieval work Wolfe does in parts of the book, the overall project must be rejected.”
The Holy Spirit is a Political Liability
Meanwhile, Samuel James is looking at a peripheral controversy and explaining why Christians need to continue to emphasize godly character. “This moment is exemplified not just by rancid bigotry but also a posture of unceasing combativeness and pugilism. It’s exemplified by an instinctive aversion to tenderheartedness, forgiveness, and gentleness. It’s exemplified by a way of talking about and doing politics that focuses almost myopically on winning: defeating the Left, pushing them out of the cultural center, and exiling any Christians who aren’t willing to do whatever it takes to achieve this.”
Dog-Fights and Discernment
Having shared the first two links, this one seems apropos as well. “At the end of 2021, I deleted all of my social media. Not just deactivated but full on nuked it as I described to a friend. I felt like Joseph running from Potiphar’s wife, so desperate to remove myself from the situation that I figuratively dropped my cloak and ran.”
What is revival? Should we expect it today?
In Revival: The Work of God, pastor Jeremy Walker takes us on an awe-inspiring tour of sites where God has done remarkable works. Watch Reformation Heritage Books’ newest feature-length documentary to learn how God uses ordinary means to ignite His Church. (Sponsored Link)
Fundamentalism in Black and White
This article explains why revised accounts of historical figures need to be examined carefully. After all, people are complicated.
God Works Witchcraft for our Good
This is a fascinating look at a worldview very different from my own. “For the most part, Westerners tend to live materialistic lives, focusing almost exclusively on the physical realm. However, in our time in Cameroon, we have come to realize that the Kwakum worldview is dominated by the spiritual. One area in which this spiritualized worldview is particularly evident is in their suffering.”
Flashback: On the Death of John Allen Chau
We ought to pray earnestly that God uses Chau’s death to shock unbelievers into repentance and to shock believers like you and me into greater and deeper obedience. He’s been known to do that.

Faithful pastoral care of the soul starts when one heart discloses itself to another heart―then the healing ministrations of God’s word and sacraments may be most effectively applied. —Harold Senkbeil

Blessings to you today.

Personally Against but Legally For
Writing for WORLD, Denny Burk explains why it doesn’t make sense to be personally against but legally for a changing definition of marriage.
Finding Hope When Things Aren’t As They Should Be
“They year is winding down, we’re getting busy making plans and preparations for different events. As we enter the first week of advent, what are you hoping for this season?”
What is revival? Should we expect it today?
Watch Revival: The Work of God to be encouraged that God can perform mighty works in our day. (Sponsored Link)
Self-promotion and the Kingdom of God
“Self-promotion has always been an unsettling idea for me (self promotion being exactly as it sounds: the promotion of myself or activities). Any attempt at it has always left me feeling like I just drank rotten milk; like something just isn’t right.” I feel much the same.
What are spiritual gifts and how do we use them?
This article borrows Piper’s very useful definition of spiritual gifts.
3 benefits of writing your prayers
Aaron Armstrong briefly explains some of the benefits of writing out your prayers.
Don’t Flatter the Wolves!
Sometimes we just need to out and call a wolf a wolf. “Paul warned us that wolves would arise within the church to attack the flock (Acts 20:29-30). It’s not good enough to flatter the wolves about their graciousness and seeking to be faithful to Christ. This is not protecting the flock but cosying up to the wolves and I can’t quite believe I’m reading conservative evangelicals doing it.”
Flashback: I Knew It!
In that moment we will know—we will know beyond all speculation, beyond all doubting, beyond all need for faith, that every effort was worth it, that no moment of suffering was in vain, that no sorrow will go uncomforted, that no ache will go unsoothed, that no tear will be left undried.

If you can parent without the guidance of the Holy Spirit and his Word, then it’s not really “Christian” parenting, is it? —Chap Bettis