Spiritual Growth

  • The Deep Things of Christ by Nicholas Batzig

    FROM TABLETALK | June 2011

    “Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity” (Heb. 6:1). I recently spoke with a good friend and fellow minister (who is laboring in a spiritually barren part of the country) about how …Read More

  • In Defense of Words by Burk Parsons

    FROM TABLETALK | November 2011

    What is a pastor? I was asked this question not too long ago by a teenage girl who apparently didn’t know the meaning of the word pastor and was curious to learn. I must admit that I was somewhat …Read More

  • Problematic Analogies and Prayerful Adoration by Carl Trueman

    FROM TABLETALK | November 2011

    Ask any children’s Sunday school teacher what the most difficult thing to teach is and he will almost certainly tell you: “The doctrine of the Trinity, that God is one but exists in three persons.” Ask them how they …Read More

  • The Gospel and Solitude by Donald S. Whitney

    FROM TABLETALK | September 2011

    When my grandparents married in 1919 and began farming, solitude was a way of life. my grandfather spent most of his days alone in the fields, and my grandmother spent her time alone (until the children came along) in the …Read More

  • Public Disciplines by Donald Whitney

    FROM TABLETALK | December 2011

    As important as the personal spiritual disciplines are to godliness, the interpersonal ones are just as important. In other words, the Bible teaches gospel believers to engage in some spiritual habits that are private and some that are corporate; some …Read More

  • A Catechism on the Heart by Sinclair Ferguson

    FROM TABLETALK | January 2012

    Sometimes people ask authors, “Which of your books is your favorite?” The first time the question is asked, the response is likely to be “I am not sure; I have never really thought about it.” But forced to think about …Read More

  • Soft Hearts, Solid Spines by Joe Holland

    FROM TABLETALK | February 2012

    The Internet allows unprecedented opportunity for communication between Christians from different theological traditions. The results have not been pretty. Comment threads are the Devil’s playground and blogs his amusement park. And even if we exclude online media, theological bickering …Read More

  • Pray the Scriptures by Scotty Smith

    FROM TABLETALK | May 2012

    I am a recovering self-centered pragmatic pray-er — a believer who spent many of my first years in Christ thinking of God more as a sugar daddy than the sovereign Father. Prayer, for me, had more in common with programming a …Read More

  • They Devoted Themselves to Prayer by Ed Clowney

    FROM TABLETALK | April 2003

    From the Mount of Olives, where Jesus ascended to heaven, the disciples went to a prayer meeting. They met in a familiar upstairs room in Jerusalem. All 11 apostles and the women who had been with Jesus were there. They …Read More

  • Every Conflict Is a Test by Alexander Strauch

    FROM TABLETALK | August 2012

    The New Testament does not hide the fact that nearly every church in the Apostolic age experienced conflict. As the New Testament writers addressed these matters, they provided invaluable instruction on how believers are to think, act, and treat one …Read More

  • Nurturing the Soul by Frank Farrell

    FROM TABLETALK | June 1992

    We taste Thee, O Thou living Bread, And long to feast upon Thee still; We drink of Thee, the Fountainhead, And thirst our souls from Thee to fill. It is my conviction that a very large part of mankind’s …Read More

  • The Preciousness of Souls

    FROM TABLETALK | June 1992

    Christ, that only went to the price of souls, hath told us that one soul is of more worth than all the world. Christ left His Father’s bosom, and all the glory of heaven, for the good of souls …Read More

  • The Oversight of Ourselves

    FROM TABLETALK | June 1992

    Let us consider what it is to take heed to ourselves. See that the work of saving grace be thoroughly wrought in your own souls. Take heed to yourselves, lest you be void of that saving grace of God which …Read More

  • Feeding Your Soul by Jon Bloom

    FROM TABLETALK | October 2012

    When your soul is in turmoil, it’s hard to see clearly. Fear, anger, sorrow, and despair can distort your perception of reality. It’s hard to keep things in perspective. They can actually magnify your troubles. Often, when you …Read More

  • How to Stay Christian in Seminary by David Mathis

    FROM TABLETALK | October 2012

    “The point is this.” I love it when Paul says that in 2 Corinthians 9:6. He makes sure he has our attention and tells it straight. Behind the reasoned prose and the rhetorical flourishes, here’s what he’s …Read More