Suffering

  • Amazing Love by John Piper

    FROM TABLETALK | July 2011

    The love of Christ for us in His dying was as conscious as His suffering was intentional. “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us” (1 John 3:16). If He was intentional in laying …Read More

  • Christian Exiles by John Piper

    FROM TABLETALK | May 2011

    In a profound sense, this world is not our home. When we are away from our bodies we will be “at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8). We are not to be “conformed to this age” (Rom. 12 …Read More

  • Death Is No Stranger by R.C. Sproul

    The value of life grows in magnitude when we stare death in the eye. Death is obscene, a grotesque contradiction to life. The contrast between the vibrancy of a child at play and the limp, rag-doll look of a corpse …Read More

  • Uncontrollable Anxiety by Burk Parsons

    FROM TABLETALK | January 2010

    In the middle of writing my column this month I deleted what I wrote and have started over because I just received word from one of my closest friends that his wife, pregnant with their long-awaited second child, might be …Read More

  • Our Blessed Struggle by Guy Richard

    FROM TABLETALK | December 2009

      I find it interesting that, of all the names God could have chosen for His people, He chose “Israel.” And while different opinions exist as to what the name Israel actually means, it seems that the context in which the …Read More

  • The Letter to the Church in Smyrna by Paul Gardner

    FROM TABLETALK | May 2009

    How wonderful it would be if our church received an encouraging letter from Jesus, especially if it contained no criticism. Jesus has no censure for the church in Smyrna but reveals His deep compassion for a people who are faithful …Read More

  • I Will Sing an Old Song by R.C. Sproul Jr.

    FROM TABLETALK | July 2008

    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 …Read More

  • Glory Versus the Cross by Gene Edward Veith

    FROM TABLETALK | March 2008

    Mother Teresa was a living saint, according to the popular mind, compassionately caring for the sick and dying and projecting a love that brought cynical secularists to their knees. After her death, the Vatican put her on a fast track …Read More

  • A Light in Dark Places by Derek Thomas

    FROM TABLETALK | March 2008

    “The Holy Spirit has exhorted the faithful to continue clapping their hands for joy until the advent of the promised Redeemer,” wrote John Calvin in a comment on Psalm 47:1–2. Paul would heartily concur! Writing from a prison …Read More

  • The Dark Night of the Soul by R.C. Sproul

    FROM TABLETALK | February 2008

    The dark night of the soul. This phenomenon describes a malady that the greatest of Christians have suffered from time to time. It was the malady that provoked David to soak his pillow with tears. It was the malady that …Read More

  • Pain: God’s Megaphone by Alistair Begg

    FROM TABLETALK | January 2008

    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 …Read More

  • Present Suffering and Future Glory by Robert Rothwell

    FROM TABLETALK | November 2007

    My friends and I often have discussions in which we try to understand why people ever settled in the great state of Florida. Please do not get me wrong, I have a deep affection for the Sunshine State, largely …Read More

  • The Faithful Endurance of Suffering by Keith Mathison

    FROM TABLETALK | September 2007

    Pharaoh begins having disturbing dreams, and not one of his magicians or wise men is able to interpret them. The chief cupbearer suddenly remembers the accuracy of Joseph’s interpretation of his dream, and Joseph is brought before the pharaoh …Read More

  • Bound to Come Some Trouble by Chris Larson

    FROM TABLETALK | August 2007

    We Reformed types have it good. I mean, really good. Call it the doctrines of grace or historic Christian faith or even the C-word (Calvinism) and you have to admit that sinners such as us have received something amazing. The …Read More

  • Good Grief? by Anthony Carter

    FROM TABLETALK | April 2007

    I suppose I grew up like most of my generation, reading and watching Charlie Brown and the rest of the cast of Charles Schultz’s PEANUTS. Schultz had an uncanny ability to relate a sea of emotion in a cup …Read More