Tag: Tim Challies

Links for the Weekend (2026-10-09)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

4 Truths to Preach to Your Sorrows

Tim Challies meditates on Romans 8:28 and offers some bedrock truths for us to remember when we are experiencing sorrow. Here’s one of them.

God loves me. It’s the simplest of truths but also the most important and the most formative. Why? Because if you really believe that God loves you, you will respond differently to your trial than if you think God hates you, or if you think God is apathetic toward you, or if you just aren’t certain how God relates to you. Preaching to yourself “God loves me” establishes your relationship with God in your own mind and heart. You may be tempted to reason from this hard thing to the belief that a bad circumstance must point to a bad relationship. But when difficulties come your way, it does not mean that God’s character has changed. It does not mean that his disposition toward you has changed. It does not mean that his relationship to you has changed.

How to Be Happy at Work

Dan Doriani writes about different approaches to work and he offers recommendations that will help Christians to be satisfied with work.

A few years ago, researchers compared the job satisfaction of people who aimed for enjoyment at work with those who aimed for meaning, or work that reflected their values. Perhaps counterintuitively, the survey found that people who pursue their values, rather than happy feelings, have “higher passion and job satisfaction, and lower turnover intentions.”

If we compare feeling good and doing good, doing good brings more satisfaction over time. Similarly, if we compare the pursuit of pleasure to the pursuit of purpose, purpose is more satisfying over time.

Revelation Is Not a Puzzle: 4 Keys to Interpretation

Daniel Hyde offers some help for us as we read and try to understand the book of Revelation.

The book does ask to be understood. Yet not in the way so many think. The seals, trumpets, and bowls are not a collection of coded predictions that we can confidently match, one by one, to individual events in a modern timeline. If each symbol pointed to one datable event, how would we identify which event among thousands? Thus, we’d get endless interpretations and no certainty, and the book would stay closed.

That’s why I say Revelation was not given like a mass of puzzle pieces to be solved. God did not give Revelation to be interpreted by us but to interpret the world for us. That one sentence changes what you’re doing when you open it. You’re not the detective. You’re the one being shown something.

So how do you read Revelation? Here are four keys: Read it as a book about Christ, to reveal, written in Old Testament signs, and to be heard and obeyed.

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (2026-09-11)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

It’s Not Too Late to Make This a Great Year of Bible Reading

Tim Challies encourages us not to give up on the year if our devotional life hasn’t gone like we wanted. He offers suggestions on how to make the most of the rest of the year with regard to prayer and Bible reading.

By the end of August, many people have come to admit that the dreams they had for Bible reading that year have not been realized. Maybe that’s your reality. Maybe you set out strong in January and kept up the habit through the first half of the year, but then summer came along, routines were disrupted, and things haven’t been the same ever since. Or maybe you planned to read through a daily devotional but didn’t enjoy it as much as you thought you would. Maybe you found your reading plan was just a bit too heavy for the realities of your life. Maybe you got sick and couldn’t read for a time, or had a baby and have had to build entirely new routines. There could be any number of factors. 

I simply want to encourage you not to surrender the rest of this year. In fact, I want you to believe that you can still make this an extraordinary year of reading your Bible. However, for that to be the case, you will need to take a bit of time to consider how to read, what to read, and how to either form a new habit or re-form an old one.

How to Treat Sexual Thoughts

Alan Noble provides advice for dealing with impure, sexual thoughts.

For some of us, impure sexual thoughts come up often, for others, hardly at all. That’s just how God designed us. But society clearly wants us thinking about sex all the time, and more importantly, society wants us to engage and dwell on those thoughts. It appeals to our sexual passions. Because that’s how we are led to buy more products and services. As a result, for some Christians, their interiority can be crowded with impure thoughts daily. And they may hate themselves for it. They may experience shame. Regret. Self-loathing. Distrust of self. And also a feeling of helplessness. The thoughts just keep coming. How do you stop them so you can pay attention to what’s in front of you, to who is in front of you? How do you love your brothers and sisters in Christ by thinking of them in holy, respectful, familial ways?

How to Pray When You Feel Like You Pray the Same Thing Every Day

If you’re wondering for some practical tips on including Scripture in your prayer life, this article is a good resource.

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (2026-08-21)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

Weakness Isn’t Our Enemy

Sarah Walton reminds us that we were created as dependent creatures; needing help from others isn’t a sign that we’re doing something wrong!

We dislike needing help. We resent our physical limitations. We’re frustrated by our emotions, disappointed by our failures, and unsettled by circumstances we can’t control. We despise the weaknesses that expose how little power we actually possess.

But perhaps we’re fighting the wrong battle. Weakness isn’t our enemy. Weakness is one of God’s greatest invitations.

If you seek your calling, look about you.

Reagan Rose helps us think about our present callings (in contrast to our possible future callings). Often, what God is calling us to right now is evident around us!

It’s easy to get so preoccupied with looking to the future that we neglect faithfulness in our present responsibilities. It’s easy to miss the glory of the mundane. But all of our responsibilities are important as we do them as worship unto the Lord and love to our neighbor. 

Are you seeking to be holy as He is holy, reflecting the image of Christ in whatever roles or responsibilities you have right now? Whether you are working a job, studying for school, serving in church, or doing the dishes, your calling is to be maximally faithful to the task He’s given you. 

How To Show Hospitality When You Live in a Small Home

From his experience, Tim Challies offers some advice on how to show hospitality in a small space.

First, don’t be ashamed of your house. We are all prone to judge one another by visible symbols of wealth like cars, clothes, and houses, and we knew that people would draw conclusions about us based on the size of our home. But we understood this to be the Lord’s provision for us and never wanted to be ashamed of what he provided. So we chose to be as thankful for our small house as anyone could be of their big one, and every bit as unashamed of it.

On the WPCA Blog This Week

This week on the blog we published an article I wrote called Ecclesiastes As Invitation. If you haven’t already seen it, check it out!

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (2026-08-14)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

When God’s Plans Seem Inconsistent With His Promises

Kirsten Black writes about how the story of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac reveals the nature of faith. God will keep his promises even when we can’t see how that may happen.

Enduring faith trusts the character of God, even when his actions defy logic. Lasting faith believes who God says he is, even when experiences suggest otherwise. Sincere faith accepts that we cannot see the full picture. We can be certain, however, that we have a faithful God who knows and understands every aspect of what he is doing. He sees the beginning, the end, and everything in-between.

Cruising Downstream, Laboring Upstream

Tim Challies uses an analogy about canoeing on a river to help us understand growing in holiness.

You may know from experience that it is easy to take a boat downstream and much harder to take it back up. You certainly know from experience that it is easy to follow sin downstream and much harder to change your course to pursue holiness. As long as you go with the flow of your own desires, the ways of the devil, and the movement of the world around you, life is easy. You can stow your paddle and simply coast. But when you choose to turn toward the Lord, when you decide you will labor toward the Heaven he has secured for us rather than coast to Hell, you quickly learn that you are in for a struggle.

How to Fight Laziness

John Piper explains a proverb about laziness and points to our hope of transformation.

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (2026-07-17)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

God Believes In Rest. Do You?

Tim Challies wants to persuade you to rest.

But God also gives us rest for practical, physical purposes. He gives us rest because we are weak. He gives us rest because we are finite. He gives us rest because we need it and simply cannot thrive without it. We can do more good, bring more blessing, and better serve his cause if we rest. He gives us rest because he loves us, because he cares for us, and because he wants what is best for us. The fact is, God is a big fan of rest!

Did God Command Genocide in Deuteronomy 7?

Read this one with your Bible open! Andrew Wilson takes up the criticism that God commanded the Israelites to commit genocide as they entered the promised land.

Many people today find Deuteronomy 7 to be the hardest and most troubling chapter in the entire Bible. We may struggle theologically, with how to square these commands with the all-good and all-loving God we meet elsewhere in Scripture (not least in Deuteronomy itself!). We may struggle historically, with whether and to what extent Israel followed through on these commands in the books of Joshua and Judges.

Of hearts and wine and smartphones

Our poem of the week: Of hearts and wine and smartphones, by Thomas McKendry. This is the sort of poem that has you nodding your head to the evocative images throughout and then, at the end, you find your breath taken away.

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (2026-05-01)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

Aim High. Repent Often.

Christians are often called “hypocrites.” Trevin Wax wrote an article “to distinguish between the kind of hypocrisy Jesus excoriates and the stumbling attempts of sincere believers to live according to his commands.” This one is worth reading a few times.

Jesus reserved his sharpest words not for those who fell short but for those who wouldn’t admit their shortcomings. The Pharisees weren’t condemned for having standards too high. They were condemned for performing righteousness while concealing corruption—for polishing the outside of the cup while the inside was full of greed and self-indulgence.

The solution to hypocrisy, then, isn’t to lower your aim. It’s to be honest when you miss.

AI Is Coming For Your Systematic Theology

Tim Challies writes about a troubling trend of AI-produced books on systematic theology on Amazon. He introduces us to the sort of books he’s talking about, tells us why the prevalence of these books is dangerous, and advises us how to spot them. He also warns that this trend is likely to get much worse.

If you were to visit Amazon today and search for “systematic theology,” it would not take you long to find a host of similar works. Many of them have scads of enthusiastic reviews and feature realistic-sounding author bios that say things like, he “is a Christian author and teacher of systematic theology with a passion for making biblical doctrine clear, accessible, and meaningful for today’s readers.” Yet in reality, he does not exist at all, and the books under his name have been generated through nothing more than clever prompting of a Large Language Model.

How to Worship When God Feels Distant

Emily Jensen offers some biblical advice on how we can worship when it feels God is far from us.

Sometimes we’re tempted to hold off on praising God until we judge ourselves ‘faithful’ or have an emotional sense of God’s nearness. But the truth is that we were never faithful enough to begin with—we’ve always had to approach God humbly, by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8–9). God hasn’t gone anywhere, and you don’t have to do a checklist of ‘right’ things before coming to him in worship.

On the WPCA Blog This Week

This week on the blog we published an article I wrote called Why We Reread the Bible. If you haven’t already seen it, check it out!

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (2026-04-24)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

I never felt like reading the Bible. Here’s what changed.

Reagan Rose grew up in a church that emphasized the importance of reading the Bible. But he never enjoyed doing it. Read his article about how he grew to look forward to reading the Bible.

I guess if I were to try and sum all of this up in a single word, that word would be faith. The thing that drove me to consistently reading the Bible daily was faith. It was faith that the Bible could be read and understood that got me to open it up. And it was faith that reading the Scriptures wasn’t a heavy burden but an immense privilege. And that faith was blessed with fruit, as the Word did its work in my life. 

Heaven Will Forget None of Its Heroes

Tim Challies compares the way countries treat their military heroes to the way God’s people will be honored in heaven.

There will be many surprises on the day the Lord calls us all to give an account. I am convinced that one of the greatest surprises will be this: that those who have received the least acclaim on earth may receive the most acclaim in heaven. In fact, God’s Word tells us that many of those who are first will be last and many of those who are last will be first. The least names on earth may be the greatest in heaven, while the greatest names on earth may be the least in heaven. 

4 Reasons Why Fasting Is Worth It

Cassie Achermann writes about four blessings that come along with fasting.

By stripping away the comforts our culture tells us are essential, we see that they’re only cheap imitations of God’s comfort. Fasting isn’t reserved for those with great self-control; it’s also for those who see their need for self-control. It’s not reserved for those who walk closely with God; it’s also for those who lament their distance from him. If you’re tired of relying on yourself, if you’ve experienced the emptiness of worldly comforts, if you desire a deeper relationship with God—fasting is for you.

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (2026-02-06)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

Love Is the Interpreter

A keen observation from Tim Challies here: knowing the author of the Bible is a sure way to grow in our love for the Bible.

Yet each of us can attest that we did not always love God’s Word. It was not always sweet to our taste and not always our delight. In fact, there may have been times in which we hated it, in which we found it bitter, and in which we mocked and belittled it rather than find delight in it. There were times when the Bible was like those musicians—we skipped it, we tossed it, we moved on to something we liked better.

When Life is Hard, Keep Reading Your Bible

Glenna Marshall reminds us how much we need the Scriptures when life is hard.

The daily act of opening my Bible and digging in wasn’t a distraction from my troubles. It was guidance and hope in them. The Lord gave me peace—not in changed circumstances but in the grounding of my soul in the Word of my God. He never changes. He is always true. He is the source of joy and hope. The ordinary rhythms of study directed my soul when life got really hard really fast.

Jesus Loves the Self-Righteous Sinner

If you’ve accepted that God loves loud rebels but have more trouble believing that God loves the self-righteous, this post is for you.

Most of us are comfortable with a Jesus who loves the prodigal, but less comfortable with one who loves the self-righteous. Yet if we let Scripture shape our understanding of Christ’s love, we see that Jesus is not only kind to the hurting but also to the proud. Consider Luke 15. In one of Jesus’ most famous stories, a father runs to embrace his rebellious son after he returns broken and ruined by sin. But that’s not where the story ends. The older brother—the hard-working, well-behaved son—refuses to join in the celebration of his lost brother now found, resentful and convinced of his own moral superiority.

On the WPCA Blog This Week

This week on the blog we published an article I wrote called The Parable of the Dog and the New Master. If you haven’t already seen it, check it out!

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (2025-12-05)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

Somebody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen

Advent may have special meaning for those with chronic conditions, for Advent reminds us that Jesus entered our world as “the ultimate expression of sympathy and care.”

Christians can go boldly to the throne of grace because Jesus stepped willingly into our crucible of grief. He knows what we need because, in his humanity, he once needed it himself. The old spiritual originally lamented, “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen; Nobody knows my sorrows.” But happily, along the way, someone noticed the flawed theology and changed the last two words: “Nobody knows, but Jesus.”

Don’t Think Lower Thoughts of Yourself than God Does

Those who are prone to mean and hateful thoughts about themselves will especially appreciate this article. Tim Challies’ list of what God thinks about us is worth framing.

And invariably, God’s judgment of me is far more favorable than my judgment of myself. He sees me as someone he loves, someone he cares for, someone he is proud of, someone he does not condemn. He thinks only the highest thoughts of me. He does not loathe, condemn, or despise me, but loves me with all the love he has for his very own Son, for, by the gospel, I am in his Son. And who am I to disagree with his assessment?

Stay Put and Make Disciples

This is a plea to aging saints to, when possible, invest in the places they’ve been for so many years.

For decades, God has been preparing you for these golden years. They are golden. You’ve never had so much life experience. And if you’ve been faithful and walked by the Spirit, you’ve never had more wisdom. You’ve lived long enough to appreciate the energy of youth, and you’ve seen the pivotal place of godly patience in tempering that enthusiasm. Oh, how our young adults need your perspective, guidance, and counsel.

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (2025-11-21)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

Why Euthanasia Feels Intuitive

Tim Challies writes about what it’s been like to live life in Canada while the Medical Assistance in Dying program is gaining traction.

May we instead be people who value life enough to be joyfully inconvenienced by others and who value humility enough to become willingly dependent upon others. May we be people who give up any thoughts of autonomy in matters of life and death and instead entrust ourselves to a faithful God who alone has such authority. May we stand strong against the cultural tide and prove ourselves to be people who truly value life.

On Being a Playful Father

I enjoyed this article by Alan Noble about playfulness and fatherhood. The world needs more fathers who play with their children!

There is something lovely about a father who can bring himself to be silly and playful. And there is something tragic about a father who is so caught up in himself and the cares and addictions of the world that he cannot be silly and playful. Godly fathers should strive for playfulness. The world needs more joy. It is a very dark place.

To the Young Woman in the Restroom at the Wedding

Our poem of the week: To the Young Woman in the Restroom at the Wedding, by Midge Goldberg. This is one of those poems that brings a crushing reality to bear in its final line.

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here.