My gratitude goes to Coram Deo Pastor’s Conference for sponsoring the blog this week. It is coming up soon and will feature the preaching of Kevin DeYoung, John Piper, Carl Trueman, H.B. Charles Jr., and others. You can’t go wrong with a lineup like that!
Today’s Kindle deals include some newer books and some older ones.
(Yesterday on the blog: God’s Goodness in a Cruel World)

Glenna Marshall reflects on youthful promises of obedience. “I liked the idea of promising obedience, of telling the Lord that nothing in this world would be dearer to me than obeying Him. In young, untried faith, I nearly invited him to test me, telling him in a long, journaled prayer that wherever he led, I would most certainly go. I banked on my obedience. I would be stalwart, no matter what came.” But she didn’t know what would come.

“A high-profile new resident arrived in Dumfries and Galloway recently – a ewe once known as ‘Britain’s Loneliest Sheep’. Fiona, as she has been named, was rescued after being stranded for more than two years at the foot of cliffs in the Scottish Highlands. Fiona’s plight hit the headlines after a kayaker photographed her still trapped at the foot of a steep cliff at the Cromarty Firth, two years after a previous sighting.”

This newsletter from CCEF has some great resources for helping teens with porn. Don’t miss this video featuring Todd Stryd.

Andy Naselli explains clearly and helpfully how the Arminian and Calvinist views of election differ from one another. (You can either read or watch what he says.)

“Digital distractions all begin with intentional choice. Once you start checking your phone a few times an hour, intentionally, for the sake of some good thing, you begin to check it unintentionally, regardless of its value.” Yet not all distractions are sinful.

Writing for Club 31 Women, Kelly Tarr says “We can be our own worst enemies. We are often the saboteur of our own lives and it ends up affecting the ones we love, too.”

Rather than following biblical guidance and speaking directly to a person who has offended us, we speak to anyone or everyone else. This invariably erodes relationships in the church and foments disunity.

The sovereignty of God is the one impregnable rock to which the suffering human heart must cling.
—Jerry Bridges

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 you know God’s sweetest blessings this weekend.

I want to extend my gratitude to TMAI for sponsoring the blog this week. I encourage you to get your free devotional today!
There is a very substantial list of Kindle deals today.
(Yesterday on the blog: Devotionals I Recommend for a New Year)
The Fellowship of the Ring is the Most Important Movie of My Lifetime
Samuel James explains what The Fellowship of the Ring meant to him and to an entire generation.
The Night Song (feat. Colin Buchanan)
I love this new song from CityAlight. “In the darkness God will keep me / He will stay and never sleep / In the darkness God is brighter / Though the night is long and deep.”
Consider the Birds
This is a hobby I wanted to get into and maybe someday still will. “Being a birdwatcher is actually a lot like being a Christian. You get the same reactions from people: ‘Oh okay, well, whatever makes you happy …’ and they think you just hang out with old people all the time.”
Omnirationality and Divine Providence
This is just about a must-read.
How ‘Progressive’ Can a Christian Get?
Someone asked John Piper just how progressive a person can get before we can no longer consider him a Christian. It’s a great question and Piper answers it well.
Driscoll, Schaeffer, and Packer on the Size of Your Church and the Idolatry of Your Heart
Sometimes you just have to say, “wow.”
Flashback: Do Not Be Surprised if the World Hates You
My friend, the more you love and honor God, the more you expose the evil of those who do not. The more you expose the evil of those who dishonor God, the more they’ll hate you.

The day of judgment will show that one of the greatest links in drawing some souls to God, has been the intercessory prayer of friends. —J.C. Ryle