Suffering

  • 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

  • From Grief to Glory by James Coffield

    FROM TABLETALK | April 2007

    My father was slowly relinquishing his fragile life. His once sharp mind was now confused with the bleakness of Alzheimer’s. The cumulative effect of the medication to sustain his heart was destroying his liver, and the drugs needed to …Read More

  • A Grief Observed by R.C. Sproul

    FROM TABLETALK | April 2007

    What’s wrong with this picture? I’m speaking of my assignment for this month’s issue of Tabletalk. Over the years, my articles have been generally written out of a concern to communicate content of a biblical or theological …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

  • 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

  • Forever Faithful by Jack Rowley

    FROM TABLETALK | June 2004

    What Christian among us has not questioned his faith in God when things are going badly in finding a job, finding that person whom God wants him to marry, dealing with family debt, or healing a broken relationship? We may …Read More

  • Partakers of Holiness by Douglas Kelly

    FROM TABLETALK | October 2004

    The pain involved in following the Lord Jesus Christ in a hostile world is never hidden from us in Scripture. The early Hebrew Christians to whom this epistle seems first to have been written were no strangers to “reproaches and …Read More

  • Unquenchable Joy by John Sartelle

    FROM TABLETALK | January 2005

    “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” (James 1:2). Was James a masochist? “When you face trials, do it with joy.” Who gets …Read More

  • No Pain, No Gain by Mark Dever

    FROM TABLETALK | January 2005

    Sometimes Scripture is just not obviously true. It is certainly true. Scripture is always true. Sometimes, however, Scripture is just not obviously true to us. At the beginning of James’ letter, we are told that we should “Consider it all …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

  • A Refuge for the Weary Soul by Robert Rayburn

    FROM TABLETALK | June 2006

    The sufferings of our Lord and Savior were the penalty He bore for our sins. But those same trials and sorrows served another purpose. Living a very difficult life prepared our perfect Savior to be a better help to us …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