Adiaphora in Worship by R.J. Gore Jr.

FROM TABLETALK | July 2010

I remember well the student’s written response during a summer course on the church and sacraments. One of the course goals was to help students understand biblical and theological guidelines for worship. The response was both encouraging and dismaying …Read More

Ministering by the Life-Giving Spirit by David Hall

FROM TABLETALK | March 2011

Following a 1970s Jesus Movement conversion, I served in youth ministry, where I subjected poor students to nearly every fad imaginable — all, I told myself, to have young people come to Christ. I then served as a pastor, an office …Read More

Farmers and the Rest of Us by Gene Edward Veith

FROM TABLETALK | June 2009

Might there be a time when readers of the Bible will not understand — without a host of reference books — what a sower is? For most of the world’s history, the majority of people made their living from the land …Read More

Hyper-Criticism by Robert Rothwell

FROM TABLETALK | February 2011

Our Accusing Apprentice, We are encouraged at how discouraged you seem by your inability to get your subject to renounce her allegiance to the name that terrifies even us. Our joy, however, is not in your displeasure, even if your …Read More

Missions by David Robertson

FROM TABLETALK | February 2011

Our Dear Diabolos, It is clear that you have not quite got the hang of this temptation thing. Take the matter of what the enemy calls “mission.“ We understand what this is — to bring the dreadful news of His Son …Read More

A Relegated Gospel by Burk Parsons

FROM TABLETALK | February 2011

Dear Wormtongue, Before we get to the primary reason for our letter, we want to begin by commending you for the most excellent job you’ve done in your well orchestrated effort to convince your patient to keep his faith …Read More

Marketing Jesus by John Muether

FROM TABLETALK | February 2011

Dear Naberus, Aren’t these wonderful times to be in the temptation business? The hyper-consumerism of modern times virtually does our work for us, as it converts our targets’ social lives into commodities that serve personal happiness, whether jobs or …Read More

Self-Centered Sermons by Sean Michael Lucas

FROM TABLETALK | February 2011

Our Son in the Unfaith, We see that you are making progress with your charge. We applaud you for that. The enemy has enough minions preaching His infernal Word faithfully; to see this one begin to totter and swerve from …Read More

A Holy Calling by Chris Donato

FROM TABLETALK | October 2008

A preacher once paraphrased a bygone theologian as a challenge to his congregation: “To convert one sinner from his way, is an event of greater importance than the deliverance of sub-Saharan Africa from the problem of AIDS.” He went on …Read More

Anti-Shepherds by George Grant

FROM TABLETALK | February 2011

Our Dear Asag, Remember: our abysmal sublimity does not so much want to tear down “godly” ways as to build up his own. From the apex of temptation in the garden to the present, his conspiratorial plot has always been …Read More

Does the Church Know Her Commission? by Denny Burk

FROM TABLETALK | February 2011

Have you ever wished you could have a do-over? Have you ever looked back on a situation in which you know that you really botched the job and you just wish you could have another crack at it? That is …Read More

Plowing in Hope by R.C. Sproul Jr.

FROM TABLETALK | June 2009

The kingdom of God is at war. The promise from the beginning was that the seed of the woman, our King, would come and crush the head of the seed of the serpent (Gen. 3:15). Jesus’ first step out …Read More

What Is the Goal of Becoming a Christian? by R.C. Sproul Jr.

It is my contention that we spend far too little time thinking through issues of teleology, the study of end or purpose or design. We prefer to leave these questions unexamined, and thus move through our lives less than deliberately …Read More

Not Return Void (Africa Journal #4) by R.C. Sproul Jr.

Logistics intimidate me. Had I been present at the sermon that preceded the feeding of the five thousand I wouldn’t have heard a word. My mind would have been rather occupied with that one burning question — How are we …Read More

Contextualize This (Africa Journal #3) by R.C. Sproul Jr.

I scanned my notes rather quickly, looking for problems. I would soon be preaching amidst a gathering throng of Kenyans. Was there an allusion somewhere in here to America culture? Were there idioms that would make no sense to these …Read More