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Saturday, November 7

Conquering the World

November 14, 2008 @ 6:45 PM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Seek Ye First by R.C. Sproul Jr. Thomas Aquinas was a great gift to the church. He stands among the greatest minds the world has ever known. This doesn't mean, of course, that he did not have his flaws, one of which goes to the heart of his intellectual labors....

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Tags: Tabletalk Magazine

Spontaneous Compassion

November 14, 2008 @ 8:00 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Pro Ecclesia: For the Church by Joni Eareckson Tada Bureaucracies aren't programmed to be compassionate. It's not in the nature of the thing. Take my friend, David Bowie, in his big, bulky wheelchair. After he became a quadriplegic in a car accident and his wife left him, he moved into...

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Tags: Joni Eareckson Tada, Tabletalk Magazine

Bedtime Stories

November 13, 2008 @ 7:15 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Generation to Generation by Douglas F. Kelly As a father of five children, and now a grandfather, I have spent three and a half decades seeking to pass down the Christian faith to the next generation. Let me deal with only one area of this vast work -- one, I...

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Tags: Children, Tabletalk Magazine

Ecclesiastical Myopia

November 11, 2008 @ 7:45 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Right Now Counts Forever by R.C. Sproul Perhaps the most remarkable statement I ever heard a man utter from the pulpit was: "He has a penurious epistemology, which tends to be myopic." I was seated in the balcony of the church when that statement was made, and I could not...

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Tags: R.C. Sproul, Tabletalk Magazine

Holding the Rope

November 10, 2008 @ 7:50 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Pastor's Perspective by John Piper A shared vision for world missions is crucial in the life of the church. Why should world missions be fundamental in the ministry of the church? What do we mean by it? How do we go about it? What is your place in it? Consider...

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Tags: John Piper, Tabletalk Magazine

The Old Mission Field

November 7, 2008 @ 7:15 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Truth and Consequences by Gene Edward Veith Missionaries from Europe and America took Christianity to the ends of the earth and evangelized Africa and Asia. Now, as Christianity declines in the West, churches from the old mission field are the ones defending historic Christianity and are evangelizing Europe and America....

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Tags: Missions, Tabletalk Magazine

A Visible Word

November 5, 2008 @ 5:10 PM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Tolle Lege: Take Up and Read by Keith A. Mathison Robert Bruce (1551-1631) is not a household name, even among knowledgeable Reformed Christians. He was at one time, however, one of the most important leaders in the Church of Scotland. He was the successor of John Knox and James Lawson...

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Tags: Lord's Supper, Sacraments, Tabletalk Magazine

The World Upside Down

November 4, 2008 @ 8:00 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Coram Deo: Living Before the Face of God by Burk Parsons It's hard to believe that it was nearly a decade ago that we witnessed the turn of the third millennium. If you recall, on New Year's Day several network TV stations featured live coverage from around the world. It...

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Tags: Tabletalk Magazine

Columns from Tabletalk Magazine, November 2008

November 3, 2008 @ 9:20 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

The November edition of Tabletalk is out. This month's theme is "The Church of Jesus Christ and its Impact Around the World." The issue looks at the global church, rejoicing in the worldwide witness of the Christian faith. Editor Burk Parsons says this: "when we gather together for worship on...

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Tags: Tabletalk Magazine

The Power of Prayer (pt. 3)

October 28, 2008 @ 6:40 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by R.C. Sproul The Power of the Intercessor Prayer is the priestly function of carrying a petition to God. In Old Testament times two major classes of mediators functioned between God and his people: prophets and priests. Stated simply, the prophet was ordained by God to speak his divine Word...

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Tags: Prayer, R.C. Sproul

The Power of Prayer (pt. 2)

October 27, 2008 @ 8:40 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by R.C. Sproul The simple summaries Jesus gives are designed to encourage us to pray. We have not, he said, because we ask not. The pattern seems simple. We are to ask and we will receive. Elsewhere the New Testament expands the conditions, giving us a fuller view of what...

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Tags: Prayer, R.C. Sproul

The Power of Prayer (pt. 1)

October 24, 2008 @ 11:20 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by R.C. Sproul We are moved by the litany of faith that the author of Hebrews records in chapter 11 of that book. There we have the "Roll Call of Faith," which catalogues the heroic acts of biblical men and women of faith. Their acts are partially summarized in verses...

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Tags: Prayer, R.C. Sproul

The Prohibitions of Prayer (pt. 2)

October 21, 2008 @ 9:20 PM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by R.C. Sproul One of the marks of a true Christian is that he never quits fighting. He doesn't always win, though he will win the ultimate battle because of Christ. If a person ever does give up the fight, then he has truly embraced the evil, legitimizing it. In...

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Tags: Prayer, R.C. Sproul

The Prohibitions of Prayer (pt. 1)

October 20, 2008 @ 9:00 PM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by R.C. Sproul Very few prohibitions regarding prayer are found in the Scriptures. In Psalm 66:18, the Psalmist David penned these divinely inspired words: "If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened." The Hebrew verse could also be translated, "If I had iniquity in...

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Tags: Prayer, R.C. Sproul

R.C. Sproul on the call to the ministry, priorities of ministry and challenges of ministry

October 19, 2008 @ 6:15 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

The following interview between John Duncan, Executive Producer of Renewing Your Mind and Dr. R.C. Sproul, appears in a recent edition of Pulpit Helps magazine. John asks R.C. about the call to ministry, about his priorities as a pastor and about the challenges that come with a life of ministry....

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Tags: Pastoral Ministry, R.C. Sproul

The Practice of Prayer (pt. 4)

October 16, 2008 @ 9:10 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by R.C. Sproul Thanksgiving Thanksgiving must be an integral part of prayer. It should be inseparably related to our petitions of supplication; otherwise thanksgiving is illegitimate. The Scriptures tell us to come to God and make all of our requests known with thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is an acknowledgment of God and...

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Tags: Prayer, R.C. Sproul

The Practice of Prayer (pt. 3)

October 15, 2008 @ 7:30 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by R.C. Sproul Confession After expressing adoration, we must come with hearts of confession. Remember that we have no right to come before God at all, apart from the finished work of Christ. We can make no claim, in and of ourselves, to the ear of God. We have no...

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Tags: Prayer, R.C. Sproul

The Practice of Prayer (pt. 2)

October 14, 2008 @ 6:20 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by R.C. Sproul Adoration As in the pattern of the Lord's Prayer, the most appropriate way to begin prayer is with adoration. Sadly, we are most often moved to prayer by our desires for supplication. We go to God when we want something from him. We are in such a...

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Tags: Prayer, R.C. Sproul

The Practice of Prayer (pt. 1)

October 13, 2008 @ 6:15 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by R.C. Sproul The Lord's Prayer was given to the church in response to the disciples' request that Jesus teach them to pray. In the masterful example of the Lord's Prayer we have seen the priorities of prayer. We can also detect a pattern of prayer, a fluid movement that...

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Tags: Prayer, R.C. Sproul

Pastoral Wisdom

October 12, 2008 @ 6:30 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Generation to Generation by David Osborne The fourth Saturday of this month is legendary for college football fans. It is the annual clash between Alabama and Tennessee (two of the Deep South's most storied football programs). Alabama fans recognize Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant's iconic status. The "General," as Robert Neyland...

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Tags: Pastoral Ministry, Tabletalk Magazine

Canon Law

October 10, 2008 @ 6:15 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Seek Ye First by R.C. Sproul Jr. The question of canon, like the question of law, is one of authority. We who are Reformed spend a great deal of time and energy speaking about God's sovereign power. God's power is more than worthy of our attention and study. We ought...

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Tags: Scripture, Tabletalk Magazine

An Inestimable Treasure

October 9, 2008 @ 6:00 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Pastor's Perspective by Robert W. Oliver The apostles who associated with the Lord during His earthly ministry were still dependent upon the Holy Spirit to lead them into all truth. That truth has been transmitted to us in the pages of Scripture. Thus, Peter wrote: "And we have something more...

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Tags: Church History, Scripture, Tabletalk Magazine

Savoring the Institutes

October 8, 2008 @ 6:30 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Tolle Lege: Take Up and Read by Keith A. Mathison There are a very small number of books other than the Bible that have affected the course of history. One thinks immediately of books such as Nicholas Copernicus' Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies, Isaac Newton's Principia Mathematica, Charles Darwin's Origin...

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Tags: Book Reviews, John Calvin, Tabletalk Magazine

The Secular Canon

October 7, 2008 @ 6:10 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Truth and Consequences by Gene Edward Veith When Christians talk about the "canon," they are referring to the books that comprise the Bible. But non-theological scholars too are debating the "canon." Not the canon of the Bible, but the canon of the "great books" that comprise our civilization. The question...

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Tags: Scripture, Tabletalk Magazine

Tota Scriptura

October 6, 2008 @ 6:30 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Right Now Counts Forever by R.C. Sproul In centuries past, the church was faced with the important task of recognizing which books belong in the Bible. The Bible itself is not a single book but a collection of many individual books. What the church sought to establish was what we...

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Tags: Scripture, Tabletalk Magazine

The Service of Worship

October 5, 2008 @ 6:30 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Pro Ecclesia: For the Church by Randall Van Meggelen I recently shared with my pastors that I attended a course in which the instructor encouraged the class of music directors to view ourselves not merely as musicians, but rather as "church" musicians. One of my pastors responded by suggesting that...

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Tags: Scripture, Tabletalk Magazine

Higher Criticism

October 3, 2008 @ 6:30 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Coram Deo: Living Before the Face of God by Burk Parsons About ten years ago I had the opportunity to study under the late Dr. Harold O. J. Brown (1933-2007) at the Evangelical Preacher's Seminary in Wittenberg, Germany. Dr. Brown was known by his students for his oral examinations, wherein...

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Tags: Scripture, Tabletalk Magazine

The Pattern of Prayer (pt. 5)

October 2, 2008 @ 7:30 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by R.C. Sproul Do Not Lead Us into Temptation, But Deliver Us from Evil At first glance this section of the Lord's Prayer seems to be two separate petitions, but that is not the case. It follows the literary form of parallelism used in the Old Testament--two different ways of...

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Tags: Prayer, R.C. Sproul

Columns from Tabletalk Magazine, October 2008

October 1, 2008 @ 3:40 PM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

The October edition of Tabletalk is out. This month's theme is "The Canonicity of Scripture" and examines how the church came to possess God's Word, the Holy Bible. Contributors include R.C. Sproul, Charles E. Hill, Stephen J. Nichols, Robert W. Oliver, David Osborne, Randall Van Meggelen, and Robert I. Vasholz....

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Tags: Scripture, Tabletalk Magazine

The Pattern of Prayer (pt. 4)

October 1, 2008 @ 8:00 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by R.C. Sproul Forgive Us Our Debts As We Also Have Forgiven Our Debtors This is an extremely dangerous prayer to pray, but it contains a principle that the New Testament takes very seriously. The supreme warning from Jesus is that God will judge us according to how we have...

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Tags: Prayer, R.C. Sproul

The Pattern of Prayer (pt. 3)

September 30, 2008 @ 9:05 PM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by R.C. Sproul Thy Kingdom Come One central motif in the Scriptures is the kingdom of God. It was the main thrust of Jesus' teaching and preaching. Jesus came as the fulfillment of John the Baptist's message, which was clear, precise, and simple: "Repent, for the kingdom of God is...

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Tags: Prayer, R.C. Sproul

West Coast Conference Summary

September 29, 2008 @ 2:25 PM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Last weekend saw Ligonier Ministries travel to Scottsdale, Arizona for the 2008 West Coast Conference. R.C. Sproul, John MacArthur and Ligon Duncan spoke to a sold-out audience at Scottsdale Bible Church on "Tough Questions Christians Face." A few photos by Lukas VanDyke are posted here: Friday and Saturday. Alex...

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Tags: Conference, John MacArthur, Ligon Duncan, R.C. Sproul

The Pattern of Prayer (pt. 2)

September 29, 2008 @ 8:00 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by R.C. Sproul Who Art in Heaven Another debate raging at the time Jesus delivered these words was over the precise location of God's presence. In the discussion between Jesus and the woman at the well, Jesus was quick to point out that God is spirit, and as such could...

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Tags: Prayer, R.C. Sproul

The Pattern of Prayer (pt. 1)

September 25, 2008 @ 6:10 PM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by R.C. Sproul Jesus performed many miracles. During the course of his ministry, he walked on water, turned water into wine, healed the sick, raised the dead. As John said, "There are also many other things that Jesus did; were every one of them to be written, I suppose that...

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Tags: Prayer, R.C. Sproul

The Purpose of Prayer (pt. 2)

September 23, 2008 @ 1:30 PM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by R.C. Sproul But what about intercession and supplication? It's nice to talk about the religious, spiritual, and psychological benefits (and whatever else might derive from prayer), but what about the real question, Does prayer make any difference? Does it really change anything? Someone once asked me that question, only...

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Tags: Prayer, R.C. Sproul

The Purpose of Prayer (pt. 1)

September 22, 2008 @ 7:30 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by R.C. Sproul Nothing escapes God's notice; nothing oversteps the boundaries of his power. God is authoritative in all things. If I thought even for one moment that a single molecule were running loose in the universe outside the control and domain of Almighty God, I wouldn't sleep tonight. My...

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Tags: Prayer, R.C. Sproul

The Place of Prayer

September 21, 2008 @ 6:30 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by R.C. Sproul What is the goal of the Christian life? Godliness born of obedience to Christ. Obedience unlocks the riches of the Christian experience. Prayer is what prompts and nurtures obedience, putting the heart into the proper "frame of mind" to desire obedience. Of course, knowledge is also important...

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Tags: Prayer, R.C. Sproul

Does Prayer Change Things?

September 19, 2008 @ 6:10 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

In 1999 Ligonier Ministries published Does Prayer Change Things?, a short book by R.C. Sproul that incorporated a previous work, Effective Prayer. Though small in size, this book is densely packed with biblical wisdom on both the theology and the practice of prayer. Dr. Sproul writes, "To be without prayer...

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Tags: Prayer, R.C. Sproul

Theology for Everyman

September 16, 2008 @ 6:25 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

At Ligonier Ministries we praise the Lord for the life and ministry of John H. Gerstner (1914-1996). He was Dr. Sproul's primary mentor and served for many years at Ligonier as a resident theology advisor. He excelled in theology, church history, and apologetics, as well as being a renowned Jonathan...

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Tags: John Gerstner, Theology for Everyman

The Way: Straight and Narrow (pt. 2)

September 15, 2008 @ 6:30 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by John H. Gerstner Dante's Inferno tells of Virgil leading Dante to the entrance of Inferno. There is a sign that says, "Abandon all hope, all ye who enter here." There is a sign over the entrance to the Kingdom of God also, and it reads: "Abandon all pride, all...

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Tags: John Gerstner, Salvation, Theology for Everyman

The Way: Straight and Narrow (pt. 1)

September 14, 2008 @ 8:45 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by John H. Gerstner The lessons are now over. Now comes the homework. This is the "lab" part of our course. Here is where you learn by doing, having learned by reading. Jesus tells us that in spite of the glorious way of divine salvation, not many will find it....

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Tags: John Gerstner, Salvation, Theology for Everyman

The Future: Heaven or Hell? (pt. 3)

September 12, 2008 @ 6:30 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by John H. Gerstner There is more Scripture to the same effect, but I think this is sufficient to indicate the thought of the Bible. Let me say a final word on this subject as to why I believe people think that there is a possibility of moving or progressing...

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Tags: Heaven, Hell, John Gerstner, Theology for Everyman

The Future: Heaven or Hell? (pt. 2)

September 11, 2008 @ 7:10 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by John H. Gerstner It has been characteristic of the sects to deny future punishment. Unitarianism emerged in this country basically as a protest against vindictive justice. It is true that this was not always in the foreground of the controversy, but it is probable that it was always in...

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Tags: Heaven, Hell, John Gerstner, Theology for Everyman

The Future: Heaven or Hell? (pt. 1)

September 10, 2008 @ 8:00 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by John H. Gerstner Edwyn Bevan, in his book Christianity, says that some modern Roman Catholics, speaking off the record concerning their official doctrine of the endless punishment of the wicked, "teach that the punishment involves real pain, but that it is not forever; others that the punishment is really...

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Tags: Heaven, Hell, John Gerstner, Theology for Everyman

Respectable Sins

September 9, 2008 @ 6:55 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Tolle Lege: Take Up and Read by Keith A. Mathison Have you ever found yourself so caught up and concerned with the rampant sinfulness of our culture that you forget about the subtle sins in your own heart? If so, Jerry Bridges has written a book for you. Respectable Sins:...

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Tags: Book Reviews, Tabletalk Magazine

Integrity in Vocation

September 8, 2008 @ 6:30 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Generation to Generation by Greg Miseyko Mr. Reagan is "a firm and unbending politician for whom words and deeds are one and the same." This assessment found in East German secret police files provides future generations with a lasting example of integrity. These files must have reached the attention of...

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Tags: Tabletalk Magazine

Elders for the Church

September 7, 2008 @ 6:30 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Pro Ecclesia: For the Church by Phil Newton Over the past decade I've engaged a wide-range of Christians on the subject of elders. Some, in desperation, want to change dysfunctional church leadership structures. Others have grown tired of side-stepping the biblical teaching on elders. Some long to adopt elder leadership...

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Tags: Tabletalk Magazine

A Different Kind of Power

September 5, 2008 @ 6:45 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Pastor's Perspective by John R. Hutchinson I had just moved to the Washington D.C. area when the call came from a Christian organization on Capitol Hill, asking if I would be the evangelical along with a Jewish rabbi, Roman Catholic priest, and members of Congress in a press conference intended...

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Tags: Tabletalk Magazine

Sweet Land of Liberty

September 4, 2008 @ 8:15 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Truth and Consequences by Gene Edward Veith America is mad for liberty. Ours is a free country. We enjoy freedom of speech and of religion, the freedom of the press, and the freedom to bear arms. And rightly so. But though Americans love freedom, many of them have forgotten what...

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Tags: Martin Luther, Tabletalk Magazine

Statism

September 3, 2008 @ 8:15 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Right Now Counts Forever by R.C. Sproul "A decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered...." In Luke 2, the well-known passage introducing the nativity story, the title accorded to the Roman emperor is Caesar Augustus. Had this census been mandated earlier under the monarchy...

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Tags: Tabletalk Magazine

One Nation, Under God

September 2, 2008 @ 7:25 PM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Coram Deo by Burk Parsons As I have traveled abroad, I have had to endure all sorts of snide remarks about the United States. I have seen graffiti depicting the American flag with bombs in place of stripes and skulls in place of stars. I have seen disfigured pictures of...

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Tags: Tabletalk Magazine

Columns from Tabletalk Magazine, September 2008

September 2, 2008 @ 6:30 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

The September edition of Tabletalk is out. This month's theme is "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." Articles by R.C. Sproul, Michael Horton, T. David Gordon, and other authors focus on helping Christians to understand important, biblical doctrines and events while encouraging us toward holy living. Tabletalk Editor Burk...

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The Church: The Body of Christ (pt. 3)

August 28, 2008 @ 8:45 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by John H. Gerstner What, then, is the church of Christ? Although the previous definition is unsatisfactory, the addition of two words will make it quite satisfactory. Thus, the church consists of all who sincerely profess faith in Christ, who are normally subordinate to His officers, and who associate with...

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Tags: John Gerstner, The Church, Theology for Everyman

The Church: The Body of Christ (pt. 2)

August 27, 2008 @ 6:45 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by John H. Gerstner This notion that members of some particular denomination are necessarily members of Christ's church or body I cannot grant. I will not deny that a person who sincerely and truly makes a sound profession of faith in Christ is a member of His true church, but...

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Tags: John Gerstner, The Church, Theology for Everyman

The Church: The Body of Christ (pt. 1)

August 26, 2008 @ 6:00 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by John H. Gerstner There are fundamentally two views of the church. There are variations of these and mixtures of them, but fundamentally only two views. This division runs through the various denominations or "churches," as we shall see. The first conception of the church is stated as follows: It...

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Tags: John Gerstner, The Church, Theology for Everyman

Assurance: How We Know That We Know Christ (pt. 3)

August 22, 2008 @ 8:15 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by John H. Gerstner The third fruit of justification that the apostle mentions in our text is rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God. The preceding joy of fellowship with God was augmented by its promise. In a certain sense, that present joyful fellowship was partly from anticipation...

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Tags: assurance, John Gerstner

Assurance: How We Know That We Know Christ (pt. 2)

August 21, 2008 @ 6:00 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by John H. Gerstner The second proof of one's salvation that the apostle mentions is a gracious state: "We have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand." The grace here mentioned signifies a condition of fellowship with God. It introduces us to a second level of Christian experience....

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Tags: assurance, John Gerstner

Assurance: How We Know That We Know Christ (pt. 1)

August 20, 2008 @ 6:30 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by John H. Gerstner Up to this point our interest has been in coming to Christ. We have considered our lost condition by nature, our need of a Savior, Christ's remarkable qualifications for that role, and the way by which we are persuaded of it. But now we address ourselves...

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Tags: Assurance, John Gerstner

Richard Phillips at Castle Church

August 18, 2008 @ 10:50 PM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Castle Church is a group of Reformed Christians producing content with a view to benefiting believers around the world. Their panelists recently conversed with the Rev. Richard Phillips, senior minister at Second Presbyterian Church in Greenville, SC, and author of Jesus the Evangelist and What's So Great About the Doctrines...

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Tags: Interview, Richard Phillips

Hope in Life and Death

August 12, 2008 @ 9:45 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Tolle Lege: Take Up and Read by Keith A. Mathison One of the first Reformed authors I ever read was Sinclair Ferguson. I was a dispensationalist in transition at the time, and I ran across a little book titled The Christian Life: A Doctrinal Introduction by Dr. Ferguson. I started...

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Tags: Book Reviews, Christian Living, Tabletalk Magazine

Be Prepared

August 11, 2008 @ 7:30 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Pastor's Perspective by Philip G. Ryken Make no mistake: there is an aggressive new atheism in America. The new unbelievers are eager to win people to their cause. Not content simply to disbelieve in God for themselves, they want to persuade other people not to believe in Him either. Some...

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Tags: Atheism, Tabletalk Magazine

This We Believe

August 7, 2008 @ 8:15 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Pro Ecclesia: For the Church by Carl R. Trueman Many evangelical Christians are instinctively suspicious of the whole idea of creeds and confessions, those set forms of words that certain churches have used throughout the ages to give concise expression to the Christian faith. For such people, the very idea...

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Tags: Creeds and Confessions, Tabletalk Magazine

Making Atheism Enchanting

August 6, 2008 @ 6:45 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Truth and Consequences by Gene Edward Veith The old atheists maintained that belief in God is not true. The new atheists maintain that belief in God is not good. The atheists' problem, though, is that however much they attack belief in God, their own worldview lacks all appeal. They get...

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Tags: Atheism, Tabletalk Magazine

Faith and Reason

August 5, 2008 @ 6:45 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Right Now Counts Forever by R.C. Sproul In this postmodern culture we have witnessed a fascinating revival of ancient Gnosticism. The Gnostics of antiquity were called by that name because they asserted that they had a superior type of knowledge that surpassed the insights found even in the apostles...

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Tags: Atheism, R.C. Sproul, Tabletalk Magazine

New Dog, Old Tricks

August 4, 2008 @ 6:15 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Coram Deo: Living Before the Face of Godby Burk Parsons Since hearing about the supposedly "new" atheism I have been trying to figure out what's so new about it. Its proponents are not saying anything different than their atheist ancestors have said throughout history. In truth, they are simply using...

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Tags: Atheism, Tabletalk Magazine

Sanctification: Christianizing the Christian (pt. 3)

August 2, 2008 @ 1:30 PM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by John H. Gerstner But to come back to our point: We must put on holiness. It is not enough to know how it is done, it must be done. It is not enough to know that it must be done, we must do it. Though I have all knowledge...

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Tags: John Gerstner, Sanctification, Theology for Everyman

Columns from Tabletalk Magazine, August 2008

August 1, 2008 @ 12:50 PM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

The August edition of Tabletalk is out. This month's theme is The "New" Atheism. Articles by R.C. Sproul, Ravi Zacharias, John Blanchard, and other authors look at this new brand of atheism which represents just the latest attack on the Christian faith. Christians would do well to be prepared to...

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Tags: Atheism, Tabletalk Magazine

Sanctification: Christianizing the Christian (pt. 2)

August 1, 2008 @ 6:30 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by John H. Gerstner In What Sense the Christian Is Imperfect Now The saint's imperfection is no less apparent than his perfection. It jumps right out from the Scripture. In Colossians 3:12 we are told that Christians are elect and holy; immediately after that we are exhorted to put on...

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Tags: John Gerstner, Sanctification, Theology for Everyman

Sanctification: Christianizing the Christian (pt. 1)

July 31, 2008 @ 8:30 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by John H. Gerstner Christian perfection is an ideal for which we all must strive. Although there is a double standard of morality in Roman Catholic theology, Protestant Christianity knows no such distinction. The priesthood of all believers is a well-known Reformation principle. The perfection of all believers (as a...

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Tags: John Gerstner, Sanctification, Theology for Everyman

The Spirit of Revival (pt. 5)

July 29, 2008 @ 6:40 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by R.C. Sproul Applications After discussing these five positive signs, Edwards turns his attention to the application section of his treatise, following the normal structure of his sermons. In Section III he notes the practical inferences he draws from his study. The first inference is that the recent extraordinary influences...

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Tags: Jonathan Edwards, R.C. Sproul, Revival

The Spirit of Revival (pt. 4)

July 28, 2008 @ 6:00 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by R.C. Sproul Positive Marks Next Edwards turns to the positive marks or biblical signs of true revival. The first positive mark is seen in the elevated level of people's esteem for Jesus. Edwards follows the Reformation's emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit in the application of the...

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Tags: Jonathan Edwards, R.C. Sproul, Revival

The Spirit of Revival (pt. 3)

July 26, 2008 @ 9:40 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by R.C. Sproul Negative Marks Edwards begins by following the via negationis or "the way of negation." That is, before he proceeds to affirm positively what are the true marks of revival, he first spends time in Section I observing what are not (or at least not necessarily) signs of...

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Tags: Jonathan Edwards, R.C. Sproul, Revival

The Spirit of Revival (pt. 2)

July 25, 2008 @ 6:40 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by R.C. Sproul The Relevance of Edwards's Distinguishing Marks What do these trends signify? Are we in the midst of a major revival? Or are we seeing spurious marks of revival? Here is where the revisiting of Edwards's Distinguishing Marks can be most helpful. For us to discern the presence...

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Tags: Jonathan Edwards, R.C. Sproul, Revival

The Spirit of Revival (pt. 1)

July 24, 2008 @ 6:00 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

In the eighteenth century, revival swept America as a Great Awakening woke thousands of Americans from spiritual slumber. While many were genuinely converted, discerning Christian leaders such as Jonathan Edwards became convinced of the need to determine how one could distinguish true revival from false. Edwards performed such a study...

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Tags: Jonathan Edwards, R.C. Sproul, Revival

Justification by Faith (pt. 3)

July 23, 2008 @ 6:15 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by John H. Gerstner Augustus Hopkins Strong used the analogy of the coupling that joins a train of railroad cars to a locomotive. The coupling has no power in itself; it cannot move a single car one inch. All the power is in the locomotive; but the coupling is the...

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Tags: Faith, John Gerstner, Justification, Theology for Everyman

Justification by Faith (pt. 2)

July 22, 2008 @ 6:30 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by John H. Gerstner The epistle to the Romans has already shown us that man is guilty before God. Their sins have incurred the wrath of God: "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness" (Romans 1:18)....

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Tags: Faith, John Gerstner, Justification, Theology for Everyman

Justification by Faith (pt. 1)

July 21, 2008 @ 7:35 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by John H. Gerstner From Romans 1:18 to 3:20, the Apostle Paul seeks to demonstrate the universal sinfulness of men. He shows the wrath of God revealed against the heathen because they would not have God in their thinking. He shows that the nominally religious people of Israel, by their...

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Tags: Faith, John Gerstner, Justification, Theology for Everyman

The Atonement (pt. 3)

July 18, 2008 @ 6:30 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by John H. Gerstner Then the Savior departed from the apostles a second time and prayed again, "O My Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me except I drink it, Thy will be done." The agony of the first prayer was not even over, but a new...

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Tags: Atonement, Jesus Christ, John Gerstner, Theology for Everyman

The Atonement (pt. 2)

July 17, 2008 @ 6:30 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by John H. Gerstner The preview of impending doom was so terrifying that the mighty Jesus Himself asked, if it were possible, to escape it. Normally His obedience was instant and without question. Only the extreme severity of the ordeal can explain the plea: "O My Father, if it be...

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Tags: Atonement, Jesus Christ, John Gerstner, Theology for Everyman

The Atonement (pt. 1)

July 16, 2008 @ 9:30 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by John H. Gerstner Gethsemane was the place of Christ's exquisite torment. It is here we see the Man of Sorrows being acquainted with grief. Matthew tells us that after the last supper with His apostles, He began to be sorrowful. At the supper He had been full of joy....

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Tags: Atonement, Jesus Christ, John Gerstner, Theology for Everyman

We Don't Need Supermen

July 15, 2008 @ 6:15 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Pro Ecclesia: For the Church by Howard Q. Davis In chapter two of Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands, Paul David Tripp relates a story of a church member who called the pastor to get him to help a man. Tripp's comment to the member was, "Isn't God's love amazing? God...

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Tags: Church Government, Tabletalk Magazine

God Is Love

July 14, 2008 @ 6:00 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Generation to Generation by Susan Hunt A friend gave me a plaque that proclaims: "Grandmothers are antique little girls." I don't know what the originator had in mind, but my spin is that the longer we live, the more we return to the simplicity of girlhood. I am convinced that...

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Tags: Tabletalk Magazine

I Will Sing an Old Song

July 11, 2008 @ 8:30 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Seek Ye First by R.C. Sproul Jr. Trouble comes to the people of God. If it is not here now, it will be here soon. Those who promise that the Christian life is a breezy walk through the meadow not only have not taken up their cross and followed Him,...

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Tags: Tabletalk Magazine

The Will to Debate

July 10, 2008 @ 6:15 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Tolle Lege: Take Up and Read by Keith A. Mathison When Dutch Calvinists and Arminians squared off against one another in the early part of the seventeenth century, the Calvinists won the opening battle. The controversy, however, soon spread beyond the borders of the Netherlands. Now, four hundred years later,...

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Tags: Book Reviews, Tabletalk Magazine

Standing Firm

July 9, 2008 @ 6:30 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Pastor's Perspective by Bill Haynes Martin Luther, in his Table Talk #403, makes the statement that "an upright shepherd and minister must improve his flock by edification, and also resist and defend it; otherwise, if resisting be absent, the wolf devours the sheep." Resisting and defending require that a pastor-shepherd...

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Tags: Church History, Pastoral Ministry, Tabletalk Magazine

All Truth Is God's Truth

July 8, 2008 @ 6:30 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Right Now Counts Forever by R.C. Sproul During the nineteenth-century potato famine in Ireland, my great-grandfather, Charles Sproul, fled his native land to seek refuge in America. He left his thatched roof and mud floor cottage in a northern Ireland village and made his way barefoot to Dublin -- to...

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Tags: Church History, Tabletalk Magazine

What if the Muslims Won?

July 7, 2008 @ 6:30 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Truth and Consequences by Gene Edward Veith On October 10, A.D. 732 , some 80,000 Muslim cavalrymen attacked 30,000 Frankish infantrymen near Tours in present-day France. Those Muslims had already conquered Northern Africa and Spain, and they were poised to sweep over the rest of Europe. Normally, foot soldiers are...

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Tags: Tabletalk Magazine

God's Truth Abideth Still

July 1, 2008 @ 5:20 PM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Coram Deo: Living Before the Face of God by Burk Parsons One could perhaps make the argument that the history of the church consists of one division after another. Nevertheless, while history is replete with ecclesiastical divisions, there is a unity that transcends all the worldly clamor and devilish confusion...

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Tags: Church History, Tabletalk Magazine

Columns from Tabletalk Magazine, July 2008

July 1, 2008 @ 8:30 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

The July edition of Tabletalk is out. This month's theme is The Eighth Century, the period of history that fell midway between the founding of the church and the time of the Protestant Reformation. The daily devotions continue our study of the book of Matthew.We don't post all of the...

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Tags: Church History, Tabletalk Magazine

Jesus Christ: The God-Man (pt. 3)

June 28, 2008 @ 8:15 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by John H. Gerstner What has been the influence of Christ on succeeding centuries? Shortly before His death He said, "Believe Me for the very works' sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works...

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Tags: Jesus Christ, John Gerstner, Theology for Everyman

Jesus Christ: The God-Man (pt. 2)

June 27, 2008 @ 8:15 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

By John H. Gerstner The Deity of Christ But now we find ourselves in an extraordinary situation. If we admit, as the world does, that Christ is the perfect man, we must also admit that He is God then! "Why," you ask, "if we acknowledge Christ to be the perfect...

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Tags: Jesus Christ, John Gerstner, Theology for Everyman

Jesus Christ: The God-Man (pt. 1)

June 26, 2008 @ 6:30 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by John H. Gerstner When I studied at Harvard University in the 1940's, we had a very interesting professor, Dr. H. H. Cadbury, who used to attempt to introduce Christ to his classes. In attendance, he would have, in addition to the divinity school men, a number of the regular...

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Tags: Jesus Christ, John Gerstner, Theology for Everyman

Sin Makes No Racial Distinctions (pt. 3)

June 22, 2008 @ 8:35 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by John H. Gerstner Let us now apply this doctrine to ourselves. First, let me apply it to myself. This doctrine means that, though I am a minister of the gospel, I am by nature a child of wrath. Even Paul, the greatest of ministers and apostles, included himself. "We...

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Tags: John Gerstner, Sin, Theology for Everyman

Sin Makes No Racial Distinctions (pt. 2)

June 21, 2008 @ 8:30 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by John H. Gerstner Reinhold Niebuhr, America's distinguished neo-orthodox theologian, lectured to the students and faculty of Harvard Divinity School in 1940. He was discussing original sin and gave this domestic illustration. He son, who was then seven, had been in a neighborhood brawl. Niebuhr was inclined to finish what...

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Tags: John Gerstner, Sin, Theology for Everyman

Sin Makes No Racial Distinctions (pt. 1)

June 20, 2008 @ 10:25 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by John H. Gerstner Speaking of God's providence we noticed sin incidentally. We now bring it into focus. One cannot think of God's holy ways without thinking of our unholy ones. We cannot think of ourselves without thinking of our sin. Sin is the most important conviction any man can...

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Tags: John Gerstner, Sin, Theology for Everyman

Kiss the Son

June 16, 2008 @ 7:50 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Seek Ye Firstby R.C. Sproul Jr.There is no such thing as the "More Party." They do not run campaigns seeking to unseat sitting officials of the "Less Party." Both "more" and "less" need more context and less ambiguity. We need to know what we are getting more or less...

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Tags: Pluralism, Tabletalk Magazine

Actively Participating in the Global Expansion of the Church

June 14, 2008 @ 5:30 PM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

International Outreachby Timothy A. DickOver the years, Ligonier Ministries has been blessed with many opportunities to provide biblical teaching resources for the church in various countries and languages. Yet, at this moment in time, unlike any other, we are perhaps on the horizon of a new reformation. We believe...

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Tags: Missions, Tabletalk Magazine

Pluralistic Worship

June 11, 2008 @ 6:05 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Pastor's Perspectiveby Terry L. JohnsonDuring the Reformation era, debates raged over what things must be considered crucial to Christian faith and practice, and what could be considered adiaphora (Latin for "things indifferent"). All sides agreed that the doctrines of the Trinity, the atonement, and justification were central. But what...

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Tags: Pluralism, Tabletalk Magazine

Twilight of the Idols

June 10, 2008 @ 7:30 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Right Now Counts Foreverby R.C. SproulThe nineteenth-century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche is famous for his declaration that "God is dead." That brief dictum does not give the whole story. According to Nietzsche, the cause of the Deity's demise was compassion. He said, "God is dead; He died of pity." But before...

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Tags: Pluralism, Tabletalk Magazine

God's Providence: A Two-edged Sword (pt. 3)

June 8, 2008 @ 7:45 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by John H. Gerstner Positive Providence When considering the definition of negative providence, we used Ed Wynn's comic parody of the poet. Now, considering positive providence, we consider the poet himself: There is a destiny which shapes our ends, Rough hew them though we may. The "rough hew" needs explanation....

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Tags: John Gerstner, Providence, Theology for Everyman

Choose This Day

June 6, 2008 @ 8:40 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Generation to Generationby Niel NielsonRecently, an acquaintance of mine gathered these statistics on the choices available today: 200 cable channels; 255 ways to order a Big Mac; 19,000 possible combinations for coffee at Starbucks and 78,998 for ice cream and toppings at Cold Stone Creamery; and more than 500,000 mathematical...

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Tags: Tabletalk Magazine

A Good Kind of Pluralism

June 5, 2008 @ 4:35 PM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Truth and Consequencesby Gene Edward VeithToday's postmodernists use cultural pluralism as a pretext for relativism, as if the existence of many cultures implied the existence of many truths. Many Americans embrace multiculturalism as if they had no culture of their own. In religion, pluralism has given rise to a...

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Tags: Pluralism, Tabletalk Magazine

Praying for Church Leaders

June 4, 2008 @ 10:15 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Pro Ecclesia: For the Churchby Robert M. NorrisI am not used to being considered a heretic. Yet recently, when a colleague and I visited a friend who teaches theology at a famous British university, we found ourselves faced with this charge! In a conversation that had quickly turned to...

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Tags: Pluralism, Prayer, Tabletalk Magazine

In All Humility

June 3, 2008 @ 9:50 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Tolle Lege: Take Up and Readby Keith MathisonI face something of a dilemma here that I believe C. J. Mahaney might appreciate. He has written a wonderful book in which he seeks to share insight on the practice of true humility and the conquest of pride. However, as he...

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Tags: Humility, Tabletalk Magazine

God in the Dock: The Apologetics of C.S. Lewis

May 24, 2008 @ 7:15 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by Roger NicoleIn modern English the words apology and apologize indicate regret because some statement or action was offensive and wrong. This is not the case for "apologetics" in theology, for that discipline is intended to manifest "a point of view is right." It is intended for those who differ...

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Tags: Apologetics, C.S. Lewis, Tabletalk Magazine

Surprised by Joy: The Life of C.S. Lewis

May 22, 2008 @ 10:25 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by Sinclair B. FergusonNovember 22, 1963, the date of President Kennedy's assassination, was also the day C.S. Lewis died. Seven years earlier he had thus described death: "The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning." The metaphor inherent in these words is...

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Tags: C.S. Lewis, Tabletalk Magazine

Pain: God's Megaphone

May 21, 2008 @ 6:55 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

For sixty years, successive generations have been helped by what C.S. Lewis wrote on the subject of pain and suffering. The sustained benefit is due in large measure to the fact that he brought to the "problem" a solid dose of Christian realism. This medicine may be more important now...

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Tags: C.S. Lewis, Tabletalk Magazine

Dante on Virtue and Vice

May 19, 2008 @ 7:00 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Truth and Consequences by Gene Edward Veith Dante ranks right up there with Shakespeare and Homer as the greatest writers of our civilization. Though the Italian poet, who lived from 1265 to 1321, embodies the High Middle Ages, he is sometimes called a proto-reformer for his bold condemnation of the...

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Tags: Sin, Tabletalk Magazine

The One NT Figure Mentioned in Hebrews

May 17, 2008 @ 4:00 PM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Thabiti Anyabwile asks "Do You Know the One NT Figure Mentioned in the Book of Hebrews?" That was how Sinclair Ferguson started chapter 45 of his wonderful meditation on the Christian life, In Christ Alone. Do you know? I didn't either. But Sinclair gave 5 clues, by the third I...

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Tags: Hebrews

To the Young Pastor

May 14, 2008 @ 9:00 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Generation to Generation by Ron Gleason Being a pastor has been the most humbling, challenging, fulfilling, and wonderful calling of my life. It was in the pastoral ministry that I learned -- and still am learning -- that true success is not measured by the size of your salary or...

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Tags: Pastoral Ministry, Tabletalk Magazine

At Least I'm Honest

May 12, 2008 @ 6:00 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Seek Ye First by R.C. Sproul Jr. Every culture and subculture has its own taboos. Not all of them are the same, however. Given that we are all human, how can we explain the divergence of cultural standards? Why is it that one culture will find adultery to be a...

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Tags: Sin, Tabletalk Magazine

The Great Exchange

May 10, 2008 @ 8:04 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Tolle Lege: Take Up and Read by Keith A. Mathison It should come as little surprise to learn that the doctrine of the substitutionary atonement of Christ has come under renewed criticism in recent decades. The Reformers dealt with such criticisms and attacks from the Socinians. Our more recent forefathers...

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Tags: Atonement, Book Reviews, Tabletalk Magazine

Pride & Humility

May 9, 2008 @ 9:54 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Pastor's Perspective by Robert S. Rayburn Pride is the idolatry of the self. It is the nature of pride as competition with God -- the displacing of God by the self at the center -- that has led many Christian thinkers through the ages to regard pride (superbia) as the...

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Tags: Humility, Pastoral Ministry, Sin, Tabletalk Magazine

God's Providence: A Two-edged Sword (pt. 2)

May 7, 2008 @ 9:00 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by John H. Gerstner Negative Providence What do we mean by negative providence? Suppose we begin with the late comedian Ed Wynn's definition based on a slight alteration of some famous lines: There is a destiny that shapes our ends rough; Hew them how we may. This is negative enough,...

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Tags: John Gerstner, Providence

God's Providence: A Two-edged Sword (pt. 1)

May 6, 2008 @ 9:00 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by John H. Gerstner According to the Westminster Shorter Catechism, "God's works of providence are His most holy, wise, powerful preserving and governing all His creatures and all their actions." This comprehensive statement says that God's providence encompasses all, and not merely some, of the acts of His creatures. Such...

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Tags: John Gerstner, Providence

The High Call of Service

May 5, 2008 @ 5:58 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Pro Ecclesia: For the Church by George Grant The heroine of My Fair Lady, Eliza Doolittle, captured the sentiment of most of us when she complained, "Words, words, words -- I am so sick of words. I get words all day through, first from him, now from you. Is that...

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Tags: Tabletalk Magazine, The Church

War and Peace

May 3, 2008 @ 10:00 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Coram Deo: Living Before the Face of God by Burk Parsons We all certainly agree that all virtues are heavenly and that all sins are deadly. Nevertheless, certain virtues are more heavenly than others, and certain sins lead to death more quickly than other sins. While some sins are private...

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Tags: Christian Living, Tabletalk Magazine

Columns from Tabletalk Magazine, May 2008

May 2, 2008 @ 12:50 PM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

The May edition of Tabletalk is now distributed to subscribers. This month's theme is "The Seven Deadly Sins and the Seven Heavenly Virtues" and the issue includes articles written by R.C. Sproul, Thabiti Anyabwile, Robert W. Carver, Chris Donato, Ron Gleason, George Grant, Ken Jones, Jonathan Leeman, Robert S. Rayburn,...

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Everyone Must Be a Theologian (pt. 3)

April 30, 2008 @ 10:00 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by John H. GerstnerNo One Can Be Saved Without Being a Theologian. If the above is enough to indicate that persons may have divine knowledge without being saved, then let us go on to indicate the still more pertinent truth, that no one can be saved without the knowledge...

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Tags: John Gerstner, Theology, Theology for Everyman

Everyone Must Be a Theologian (pt. 2)

April 29, 2008 @ 9:00 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

by John H. GerstnerEveryone May Be a Theologian Without Being Saved!"But," the layman exclaims, "do you mean to tell me that if I do not have the knowledge of God I shall perish, and that if I do have the knowledge of God I will live forever? Do you mean...

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Tags: John Gerstner, Theology, Theology for Everyman

R.C. Sproul on the Curse Motif

April 16, 2008 @ 11:54 PM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Here are some notes I took on Dr. Sproul's session this afternoon at the Together for the Gospel Conference.Dr. Sproul discussed what it means that Jesus was cursed by God. Though he has studied the subject for over fifty years, he still feels like he is barely scratching the surface...

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Tags: Atonement

The Next Generation

April 7, 2008 @ 7:02 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Generation to Generationby Joshua Harris When I turned twenty-one, my dad gave me this simple advice: “Find men that you want to be like and then sit at their feet.” As I launched into manhood, he was reminding me that the lessons I needed most wouldn’t be found in a...

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Tags: Joshua Harris, mentoring

What is Your Only Comfort?

April 4, 2008 @ 10:09 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Pastor's Perspective by Kim Riddlebarger Of all the Reformation-era catechisms, perhaps none is as well-loved as the Heidelberg Catechism. In the opening question and answer, the personal and distinctive tone of the catechism becomes evident. “What is your only comfort in life and in death?” This is not a theoretical...

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Tags: assurance

Did Jesus Ever Laugh?

April 1, 2008 @ 9:02 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Today is April 1--a day known also as April Fool's Day. It's as good an occasion as any to ask R.C. Sproul a question about humor. Did Jesus ever laugh? What do the Scriptures tell us about his character and sense of humor? I’ve heard some people answer this question...

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Tags: Humor, Jesus Christ, R.C. Sproul

Top Ten R.C. Sproul Quotes

March 29, 2008 @ 7:30 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

At his blog "Christians in Context" Damian Romano has posted his top ten R.C. Sproul quotes. And he has rounded up some good ones. Here is a sampling:10. Every sin is an act of cosmic treason, a futile attempt to dethrone God in His sovereign authority.9. Most Christian's salute the...

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If a Man Die, Shall He Live Again?

March 24, 2008 @ 6:00 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

As we look back on the weekend in which we have remembered Jesus death and rejoiced in his resurrection, this portion of R.C. Sproul's book Following Christ seemed particularly poignant.For three days God was silent. Then he screamed. With cataclysmic power God rolled the stone away and unleashed a paroxysm...

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Tags: Jesus Christ

The Shedding of Blood

March 21, 2008 @ 9:06 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

What is the significance of the shedding of blood in the atonement?by R.C. Sproul The idea that there's some intrinsic or inherent power in the blood of Jesus is a popular concept in the Christian world. It even crops up from time to time in various hymns and praise songs....

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Tags: Atonement, Jesus Christ, Salvation

Ligonier National Conference - More Video

March 15, 2008 @ 9:45 PM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

The conference has come to an end, but we are just getting started with adding the videos to the web site. If you were not able to watch the webcasts of the sessions, you can watch them online for the rest of this week. Here are the links: Preconference Messages...

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Tags: Conference

Ligonier National Conference - Audio & Video

March 14, 2008 @ 9:52 PM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

As we approach the end of the second day of this conference, I would like to remind you that you can participate in the weekend's proceedings from wherever you are, even if you happen to be on the other side of the world. We are continually updating the conference photo...

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Tags: Conference

Ligonier National Conference - R.C. Sproul (I)

March 14, 2008 @ 6:30 PM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

This afternoon we finally got to hear from R.C. Sproul. He chose to speak from a few verses in Galatians 1 and 2 and said that he has probably preached this message 100 times in the past. He provided a brief defense of the importance of the doctrine of justification...

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Ligonier National Conference - Joni Eareckson Tada (II)

March 14, 2008 @ 2:02 PM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

Yesterday, in a preconference message, Joni Eareckson Tada shared "Good News in a Fallen World." She spoke again this morning and as she so often does, she prefaced her speech with a video and a song and concluded it with another song (in which she was joined by the...

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Ligoner National Conference - John MacArthur - We Have Been Raised But We Stink

March 14, 2008 @ 11:01 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

The second day of the conference began with John MacArthur's second and final sermon. His topic was "Simultaneously Righteous and a Sinner" (or, to use the Latin theological term, simul iustus et peccator). He turned first to the well-known story of the raising of Lazarus and on that basis titled...

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Ligonier National Conference Photo Galleries

March 13, 2008 @ 8:36 PM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

This year we are pleased to have Lukas VanDyke, photographer extrordinaire, serving at the conference. He has been wandering all over the campus with his cameras and we have just posted the first of many galleries of his work.You can view them here....

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Ligonier Ministries 2008 National Conference

March 13, 2008 @ 6:33 PM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

The Ligonier Ministries 2008 National Conference is now underway. Please consult this post if you would like to enjoy the plenary sessions via free, live webcast. Also, be sure to check back over the course of the conference for daily photo galleries. And stay tuned here for live-blog updates from...

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Christians and Government

March 7, 2008 @ 9:28 AM  |  Posted By: Tim Challies

What is a Christian's responsibility to government?by R.C. SproulThe New Testament gives us some broad principles on how we are supposed to respond to government. For example, Romans 13 elaborates on the origin and institution of government as something that God ordains. The great theologian Augustine said that government is a...

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Tags: politics