Christian Living / Spiritual Growth

  • Jesus’ Mission to the Lost: Luke 15 by Thomas Schreiner

    FROM TABLETALK | December 2012

    When reading Luke 15, it is easy to forget the context , especial ly when reading the parable of the prodigal son. The chapter opens with the Pharisees and scribes criticizing Jesus for eating with tax collectors and sinners (vv. 1 …Read More

  • The Kingdom is Now by R.C. Sproul Jr.

    FROM TABLETALK | October 2012

    I am deeply grateful to my Old Testament professor. Though I was young and foolish while in seminary, I have, by God’s grace, been growing less young and less foolish over time. I used to argue with him about …Read More

  • The Story of Two Older Brothers by John Sartelle

    FROM TABLETALK | December 2012

    Self-righteousness cannot exist without producing an attitude of moral superiority, a lack of mercy, and a joyless servitude. The elder brother of the prodigal in Jesus’ parable is a living picture of these characteristics that always suckle at the breast …Read More

  • Treasures on Earth by John Piper

    FROM TABLETALK | August 2009

    The inner essence of worship is treasuring Jesus as infinitely valuable above everything. The outer forms of worship are the acts that show how much we treasure God. Therefore, all of life is meant to be worship because God said …Read More

  • The Gospel and the Gender Wars by Russell Moore

    FROM TABLETALK | October 2012

    Lewis Grizzard, the famous Atlanta newspaper columnist, wrote frequently of his ill-fated marriages, divorces, and remarriages. Eventually, he said he was going to give up on marriage altogether, that there wouldn’t be another Mrs. Grizzard. “I’m just going …Read More

  • Soli Deo Gloria by John Piper

    FROM TABLETALK | November 2012

    We use the phrase glory of God so often that it tends to lose its biblical force. But this glory, like the sun, is no less blazing— and no less beneficial—because people ignore it. Yet, God hates to be …Read More

  • Worship as a Body by Bob Kauflin

    FROM TABLETALK | November 2012

    The psalmist declares, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’” (Ps. 122:1; emphasis mine). Worldly distractions, bad theology, or indwelling sin can cause us to lose sight of why …Read More

  • Pray the Scriptures by Scotty Smith

    FROM TABLETALK | May 2012

    I am a recovering self-centered pragmatic pray-er — a believer who spent many of my first years in Christ thinking of God more as a sugar daddy than the sovereign Father. Prayer, for me, had more in common with programming a …Read More

  • His Heart Trusts in Her by Steven Lawson

    FROM TABLETALK | March 2013

    Few influences affect a man’s heart for God more than his wife, for better or for worse. She will either encourage his spiritual devotion to the Lord or she will hinder it. She will either enlarge his passion for …Read More

  • Dividing Walls That Unite by Burk Parsons

    FROM TABLETALK | July 2012

    “Be not ashamed of your faith; remember it is the ancient gospel of the martyrs, confessors, reformers and saints. Above all, it is the truth of God, against which the gates of Hell cannot prevail. Let your lives adorn your …Read More

  • Blood in the Streets by R.C. Sproul Jr.

    FROM TABLETALK | April 2013

    How prone we are to miss the drama. The tyranny of the urgent, the plainness of our patterns, and our propensity to look inward rather than outward all push us to regard our callings, our surroundings, and our souls as …Read More

  • Advice for the Pop Culturally Perplexed by Ted Turnau

    FROM TABLETALK | April 2013

    We live in a world that is saturated with non-Christian popular culture, and many Christians don’t know how to respond. Some just enjoy it without giving it another thought. Some try to withdraw into a “holy huddle,” avoiding it …Read More

  • Respecting Our Elders by Nathan Finn

    FROM TABLETALK | March 2013

    Around the time John was writing the book of Revelation in the mid-90s AD, a bishop in Rome was penning a letter to a troubled church. The epistle of 1 Clement is possibly the oldest non-canonical Christian writing that has …Read More

  • Keep the Presence of God by John Piper

    FROM TABLETALK | November 2011

    On vacation, I kept a copy of Jonathan Edwards’ sermons on my bedside table as a way of going to sleep with a God-centered mind. One of those sermons was called “Keeping the Presence of God.” It was preached on …Read More

  • Human Trafficking in God’s World by Justin Holcomb

    FROM TABLETALK | May 2011

    Genesis 3 records the terrible day when humanity fell into sin and shalom was violated. This was a moment of cosmic treason, when Adam and Eve violated their relationship with God by rebelling against His command and fell into the …Read More