Spiritual Growth / Sanctification and Growth

  • The Religious Affections by Owen Strachan

    FROM TABLETALK | August 2012

    Many years ago, in a wild and woolly period known as the First Great Awakening, colonial pastor Jonathan Edwards took on the tricky task of sorting out what place the “religious affections,” as he called them, have in the Christian …Read More

  • Resisting the Devil by Burk Parsons

    FROM TABLETALK | February 2011

    The nineteenth century French poet Charles Baudelaire wrote that “the devil’s best trick is to persuade you that he doesn’t exist.” In the providence of God, the Devil has been quite successful in persuading his followers that he …Read More

  • Is the Church Full of Hypocrites? by R.C. Sproul

    FROM TABLETALK | October 2009

    About thirty years ago, my close friend and colleague, Archie Parrish, who at that time led the Evangelism Explosion (EE) program in Fort Lauderdale, came to me with a request. He indicated that on the thousands of evangelistic visits the …Read More

  • Delighting in Our Duty by Burk Parsons

    FROM TABLETALK | May 2013

    When we think of the law of God, the first thing that should come to mind is love—God’s love for us as fallen sinners, directing us to love Him, enjoy Him, and glorify Him. God’s law is …Read More

  • The Church and Psalm 81 by W. Robert Godfrey

    FROM TABLETALK | May 2013

    What does the church most need today? In answering this important but rather general question, Psalm 81 is uniquely important and helpful. This psalm obviously contains beautiful promises and clear directions to help the people of God. But careful study …Read More

  • On Your Heart by Curt Heffelfinger

    FROM TABLETALK | May 2013

    An ad campaign for a credit card pounds away at consumers with the relentless tagline, “What’s in your wallet?” A far more important question arises for those embracing the Shema with its Great Commandment of Deuteronomy 6:5. The …Read More

  • Bind These Words by Miles Van Pelt

    FROM TABLETALK | May 2013

    The final words of the Shema contain Moses’ command to the Israelites to bind the words of God as signs on the hands and between the eyes (Deut. 6:8). He also commands them to write these words on the …Read More

  • The Letter to the Church in Laodicea by Mark Bates

    FROM TABLETALK | May 2009

    The pipes in our home sprung a series of leaks. Since most of my neighbors had replaced their plumbing, I knew it was time for me to do the same. However, hiring a plumber to do this would cost thousands …Read More

  • Speed with God by Sinclair Ferguson

    FROM TABLETALK | January 2009

    When Sereno E. Dwight included the seventy resolutions in his biography of his great-grandfather Jonathan Edwards, he added the arresting comment: “These were all written before he was twenty years of age.” Doubtless the resolutions display the marks of relative …Read More

  • Christ & Sexual Sin by John Freeman

    FROM TABLETALK | May 2010

    Homosexuality has embraced our culture and our culture has embraced homosexuality. It’s part of the fallen nature of things, and fallen man has always been an expert at creating ingenuous ways to celebrate his brokenness. Homosexuality is one of …Read More

  • Dante on Virtue and Vice by Cornelis Venema

    FROM TABLETALK | May 2008

    Dante ranks right up there with Shakespeare and Homer as the greatest writers of our civilization. Though the Italian poet, who lived from 1265 to 1321, embodies the High Middle Ages, he is sometimes called a proto-reformer for his bold …Read More