Spiritual Growth / Sanctification and Growth

  • Progress Redefined by Burk Parsons

    FROM TABLETALK | January 2006

    The world measures success in terms of that which is tangible — by what is bigger, faster, and by what draws the most attention. For many people, success is defined solely by numbers and circumstantial outcomes. True success, however, cannot be …Read More

  • The Works of Faith and Assurance by Martin Luther

    FROM TABLETALK | July 2005

    “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue” (2 Peter 2:5a). Saint Peter admonishes them to give evidence of their faith with good works. Since such a great blessing has been given to you …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

  • New Life in Christ by Steve Dornan

    FROM TABLETALK | May 2005

    “Therefore, since Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time …Read More

  • Following Christ by Mark Dever

    FROM TABLETALK | May 2005

    Have you ever been tempted to surrender control of your life to any of Christ’s enemies? May 30 is Memorial Day in the United States. This month we remember those who’ve fought to establish and defend the freedoms …Read More

  • Supernatural Beauty by John Sartelle

    FROM TABLETALK | May 2005

    “Do not let your adorning be external — the braiding of hair, the wearing of gold, or the putting on of clothing — but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and …Read More

  • Pruned to Perfection by Robert Rothwell

    FROM TABLETALK | October 2004

    A newborn baby is such a wonderful example of the beauty of God’s creation. When a newborn is in the room, anyone present is awestruck by how small, cute, and innocent the infant is. At the same time, however …Read More

  • The Wait of Glory by R.C. Sproul Jr.

    FROM TABLETALK | September 2004

    My family has been blessed mightily in the last six months or so. My dear wife Denise and I have suffered through two miscarriages. (And three more in the years before that.) Our daughter Shannon, who is mentally retarded, began …Read More

  • Resolved Tensions by Burk Parsons

    FROM TABLETALK | August 2004

    We live in a world of tensions. We are a holy people who have been set apart from the world and yet called to live in the world as a light to the world. We are strangers in a strange …Read More

  • True Love by John MacArthur

    FROM TABLETALK | May 2004

    “All you need is love.” So sang the Beatles. If they’d been singing about God’s love, the statement would have a grain of truth in it. But what usually goes by the name love in popular culture is …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

  • We Shall Be Changed by Michael Beates

    FROM TABLETALK | April 2001

    I am a forty-something adult. I have arrived at that place in life where I am losing weight in my legs while my midsection seems to gain every bit of that lost weight and more. I upgraded (or downgraded) to …Read More

  • Letting Us Off Easy? by Douglas Wilson

    FROM TABLETALK | April 1999

    Whatever happens with Y2K, Christians should use the occasion, in the midst of their sober practical preparations, to reflect on a series of spiritual what ifs. This should not be done as an aid to panic, or as an artificial …Read More

  • Won’t You Be My Neighbor? by R.C. Sproul Jr.

    FROM TABLETALK | April 1999

    YESTERDAY I WAS IN CALIFORNIA once, Georgia once, Tennessee three times, and Virginia three times. It was a long day but not an unusual one. The great historian Paul Johnson, in his book Birth of the Modern, devotes a rather …Read More

  • For Such a Time as This by Robert Barnes

    FROM TABLETALK | April 1999

    There are times when men and women are called to action (Est. 4:14–17). We live in an “instant” society, so accustomed to getting everything our way and in our time, we forget that you can wait too long …Read More