• Higher Criticism by Burk Parsons

    FROM TABLETALK | October 2008

    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 …Read More

  • Grand Delusions by Burk Parsons

    FROM TABLETALK | June 2005

    A couple of years ago I met the pastor of an “evangelical“ church in our area. As he told me about the church where he served, he became overwhelmingly excited when he explained that, as a matter of principle, his …Read More

  • Is It Just a Money Issue? by Burk Parsons

    FROM TABLETALK | August 2009

    Several years after my father’s death in 1992 I found an old shoebox among my father’s belongings. Among the various items in the shoebox, I came across a stack of letters that my father had written just prior …Read More

  • A Mind Captivated by God by Burk Parsons

    FROM TABLETALK | January 2008

    I have journeyed through the land of Narnia. Nearly ten years ago, I had the privilege to stay at Rathvinden House, located in the beautiful rolling-green countryside of County Carlow, Ireland. At that time, the Rathvinden estate was owned and …Read More

  • Many Gifts, One Body by Burk Parsons

    FROM TABLETALK | May 2005

    A few years ago I was given a month-long sabbatical to study in Wittenberg, Germany, the birthplace of the Protestant Reformation. While in Wittenberg, I stayed at the Evangelical Preacher’s Seminary, which shared the same courtyard as Martin Luther …Read More

  • The Service of Leading by Burk Parsons

    FROM TABLETALK | May 2005

    Good music is hard to find these days. In fact, I would argue, most of what we hear today isn’t music at all, it’s just synthesized noise with a beat. Good music, however, takes time to produce. It …Read More

  • Born Again by Burk Parsons

    FROM TABLETALK | April 2005

    When teaching on the doctrines of election and reprobation, the most common objection I hear is “That’s not fair!” Often, the one raising this objection to these doctrines will go on to argue that God would be unfair to …Read More

  • The World Upside Down by Burk Parsons

    FROM TABLETALK | November 2008

    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 …Read More

  • Complacent Repentance by Burk Parsons

    FROM TABLETALK | May 2009

    I love to hear stories about our faithful forefathers in ages past, and while it may be mere legend, I have heard that the great nineteenth-century British pastor Charles Spurgeon posted a sign on the door of his study. Each …Read More

  • The Unchanging Gospel by Burk Parsons

    FROM TABLETALK | February 2009

    I am a Christian, and I am a Protestant. I am a Christian because I trust Jesus Christ alone, believing that salvation is accomplished by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone. I am a devout Protestant because …Read More

  • In Word and Deed by Burk Parsons

    FROM TABLETALK | April 2005

    We have all heard the saying: “Practice what you preach.” Early in my ministerial training, I became convinced of the importance of the truth that Christians, particularly preachers, should practice what they preach. After several years of working to ensure …Read More

  • The Cross and the Crown by Burk Parsons

    FROM TABLETALK | March 2005

    Several years ago I heard about a large suburban church that rented a fifteen-thousand seat performance hall and invited a well-known college football coach to give his testimony about being a Christian coach. When I heard about this, what concerned …Read More

  • Necessary Qualifications by Burk Parsons

    FROM TABLETALK | February 2005

    When in the course of human language it becomes necessary to qualify the meanings of words, we must unite and defend the correct use of our language against the onslaught of misused phrases, misappropriated adjectives, and misunderstood words. In the …Read More

  • Liberty vs. Law? by Burk Parsons

    FROM TABLETALK | February 2005

    I have often heard people define liberty as the ability to do whatever you want to do whenever you want to do it. Although such a definition may sound good on the surface, it more accurately defines anarchy than it …Read More

  • Living Life CORAM DEO, Before The Face Of God by Burk Parsons

    FROM TABLETALK | May 2007

    As a publication of Ligonier Ministries, Tabletalk exists to equip Christians to articulate what they believe and why they believe it. It is our foremost desire to awaken as many people as possible to the holiness of God by proclaiming …Read More