Christian Living / Spiritual Growth

  • The Imitation of Christ by Scott Seaton

    FROM TABLETALK | May 2005

    “My ministry is to teach refugee families to read.” “I lead children’s Sunday school.” “I’m on the missions committee.” “I serve at the clothes closet once a week.” “I really don’t know what my ministry is.” These …Read More

  • What Is a Holy Life? by John Sartelle

    FROM TABLETALK | April 2005

    “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do” (1 Peter 1:15 ). “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against …Read More

  • In Word and Deed by Kevin Struyk

    FROM TABLETALK | March 2005

    Recently there was a community-wide garage sale at my apartment complex. I love garage sales. It gives me a chance to meet all kinds of people and find great deals on “junk.” But after this past week’s shopping experience …Read More

  • The Pain and Beauty of Confession by Gleason Archer Jr.

    FROM TABLETALK | March 2005

    Children are big sinners, they are just small in size. Recently I was watching my wife’s grandchildren play together (I have a personal aversion to being old enough to have grandchildren). Her grandson was playing with his younger sister …Read More

  • Pure Religion by Mark Dever

    FROM TABLETALK | March 2005

    The resurrection day of Jesus — the first Easter — was no merely private experience of Jesus. In space and time, the body of Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified, dead, and buried, was raised to life again. Amazing! And what else …Read More

  • Consistent Living by Robert Rothwell

    FROM TABLETALK | March 2005

    Ask anyone to tell you what constitutes a good work, and it will not be too long before you receive a litany of responses. Helping to repair a widow’s leaky roof, giving shelter to the homeless, helping the local …Read More

  • The Healing Word by John Sartelle

    FROM TABLETALK | February 2005

    The tongue is a restless evil, full of deadly poison (James 3:8). Remember the first time you heard yourself on a tape recorder? Most of us were inclined to say as we heard ourselves: “I don’t sound like …Read More

  • A Life of Faith by Mark Dever

    FROM TABLETALK | February 2005

    I remember trading Valentine’s Day cards in grade school. Every kid brought cards for the other kids in the class. We had made cut out card receivers and hung them on the wall in our school classroom. Sometimes, they …Read More

  • Ancient Wisdom by Chris Donato

    FROM TABLETALK | January 2005

    A certain sage-like professor once quipped: “Would you, after having obtained a one-hundred dollar bill, proceed to throw away the fifty crumpled up in your pocket?” The rhetorical question was aimed at the wisdom literature of the Old Testament. To …Read More

  • Doctrine Applied by Robert Rothwell

    FROM TABLETALK | January 2005

    On a dark Friday afternoon two thousand years ago, an itinerant preacher and miracle worker hung on a Roman cross just outside the ancient city of Jerusalem. A small crowd gathered to observe the agonizing death of this man who …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

  • 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

  • Living by the Royal Law by Douglas Kelly

    FROM TABLETALK | December 2004

    This final chapter of Hebrews is in many ways a fuller exposition of what James 2:8 calls “the royal law.” The idea of both James 2 and Hebrews 13 is that since God has made His people “a royal …Read More

  • Uncommon Belief by John Hutchinson

    FROM TABLETALK | November 2004

    “Earth’s crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God; but only he who sees takes off his shoes; the rest sit around it and pluck blackberries.” — Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh, Book VII Through our study of …Read More