Informing the Reforming

Blog can be found on:

www.challies.com

Proper introductions begin with names, so let me tell you how to pronounce mine. It’s pronounced CHALL-eez and rhymes with “valleys” and “rallies.” It’s quite simple, really, but is almost always the first question I’m asked.

I am a Christian, a husband to Aileen and a father to three children aged 10 to 16. I worship and serve as an elder at Grace Fellowship Church in Toronto, Ontario. I am a book reviewer, co-founder of Cruciform Press, and have written five books:

The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment (Crossway, 2007)
Sexual Detox: A Guide For Guys Who Are Sick of Porn (Cruciform Press, 2010)
The Next Story: Life and Faith After the Digital Explosion (Zondervan, 2011)
Do More Better: A Practical Guide to Productivity (Cruciform Press, 2015)
Visual Theology: Seeing and Understanding the Truth About God (Zondervan, 2016)

I began this web site in 2002 and have been writing here daily since 2003. It is my place to think out loud and in public while also sharing some of the interesting things I’ve discovered in my online travels.

Weekend A La Carte (January 21)

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It’s another quiet day on the Kindle front, but there are still a few Kindle deals to be had.

A Call to Faithfulness from Os Guinness
This is a great quote from Os Guinness. It’s one to ponder.

The $100 Mall
“Back in 2005, the Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills opened 1.1 million square feet of retail space, welcoming Western Pennsylvania shoppers to what was then the largest mall in that part of the state.” It just sold for $100.

Manipulative Repentance
“The recognition that there are healthy and ..

Final Call (January 20)

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Welcome to Final Call, a brief, hand-picked selection of news, articles, videos, and curiosities from the Internet and beyond.

5 Crazy Hours
Today was a crazy but well-choreographed day for the residence staff of the White House. You may enjoy reading this article on how they took just five hours to move out one family and move in another.

Mini Q&A
Q: Please comment with your thoughts on the recent developments concerning Evernote and their privacy policy. Your article had convinced me of the ..

Reading Out of Love for Others

20/01/2017 0 Comment

Reading is a solitary pursuit. You grab your book, you kick back on the couch, and the hours roll by. But even though reading is a solitary pursuit, it is not necessarily a selfish one. Reading can actually be an important way to love others. Here are five ways to love others in your reading.

Read to Grow
You can love others by reading books meant to address flaws in your character or conduct. The husband who reads Dave Harvey’s When Sinners Say “I Do” is reading to better love his wife. The wo..

With Greater Age Comes Greater Joy

18/01/2017 0 Comment

We were made to exist within time, to age as we progress through the years allotted to us. As we age, we experience tremendous sorrows—the sorrows of weakness, weariness, reaping, mortality, and fear. But we do not experience only sorrows. We experience joys as well. Some of these extend to believer and unbeliever alike, but God reserves the choicest of his joys for those who live for his glory.

(Have you read parts one and two of this series about aging? You can find them here: Aging Gracefull..

Final Call (January 17)

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Welcome to Final Call, a brief, hand-picked selection of news, articles, videos, and curiosities from the Internet and beyond.

Marks of a Moral Revolution
We all know that sexual mores have been changing over the past years and decades. But is it right to consider this a full-out moral revolution? In Reinventing Liberal Christianity, Theo Hobson describes the three marks of a revolution. Read them and decide for yourself if this is, indeed, a moral revolution.

What was universally condemned is..

With Greater Age Comes Greater Sorrow

17/01/2017 0 Comment

Our only experience of aging is within this sinful world. We don’t know what aging would have looked like if this world had remained unsullied by sin. We do know, however, that aging would have still occurred. Before God created people, God created time. So God created people to exist within time and pass through it. Thus, babies would have grown to be children and children would have matured into adulthood. Perhaps the benefits that come with aging would have continued ad infinitum without any ..

A La Carte (January 17)

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Today’s Kindle deals include only 4 titles, but each of them is well worth a good look.

10 Things You Should Know About Sanctification
Sam Storms: “We all hear a great deal about Christian sanctification, but what precisely is it, and how does it work? Today we look at ten things about this crucial biblical truth.”

When You Feel Dead On The Inside
“So what do you do when you feel dead on the inside? What do you say to your loved ones when they feel this way? I’ve found that people who reflect ..

Context Changes Everything

16/01/2017 0 Comment

This sponsored post was prepared by Zondervan.

You’ve heard many Bible stories hundreds of times, but how many behind-the-scenes details are you missing? Sometimes a little context is all you need to discover the rich meaning behind the stories of Scripture.

The Bible was originally written to an ancient people removed from us by thousands of years and thousands of miles. The Scriptures include subtle culturally based nuances, undertones, and references to ancient events, literature and custom..

Aging Gracefully

16/01/2017 0 Comment

Every day, we are all building the house we will live in when old age comes. Some of us are building a beautiful palace. Some are building a dark prison. What are you building?

Perhaps you are building a house that will prove beautiful and comfortable through the long winter of your old age. You are decorating it tastefully, filling it with ornaments designed to bring pleasure and comfort in the days to come—deeds of gratitude and grace, acts of generosity and selfless love. On every wall, you ..

A La Carte (January 16)

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Today’s Kindle deals include several titles from Crossway on the subject of family. There’s also a good little Watts biography in there.

Are You a Confirmation Bias Christian?
Confirmation bias is a powerful force and one that can play a surprisingly prominent role in your life.

Not So Golden Globes
Writing for WORLD, Cal Thomas reflects on “the astounding arrogance, superiority, and hypocrisy of Hollywood’s elite.”

Retirement Stewardship
I’ve recently begun reading (and enjoying) Chris Cagle..