Christian Living / Spiritual Growth

  • The Problem of Pain by R.C. Sproul

    FROM TABLETALK | June 2006

    The problem of evil has been defined as the Achilles’ heel of the Christian faith. For centuries people have wrestled with the conundrum, how a good and loving God could allow evil and pain to be so prevalent in His …Read More

  • A Call to Maturity by Robert Carver

    FROM TABLETALK | March 2013

    To what shall I compare this generation?” So spoke a man in His early thirties about the generation in which He lived. It was occasioned by an expression of doubt by another individual about the same age—one of the …Read More

  • With Passion by R.C. Sproul Jr.

    FROM TABLETALK | December 2010

    One of the troubles with trouble is that it can encourage us toward selfishness. When things are going well for us, it is rather easy to feel magnanimous. When challenges come our way, however, suddenly we feel entitled to be …Read More

  • Pilgrims in a Post-Christian Culture by Voddie Baucham

    FROM TABLETALK | August 2012

    In John Bunyan’s classic The Pilgrim’s Progress, the Wicket Gate is a symbol for entrance into the Christian life. There, the main character, Christian, encounters the gatekeeper, Good-Will. Their encounter, like the rest of the book, is filled …Read More

  • Why “Let Go and Let God” Is a Bad Idea by Andrew Naselli

    FROM TABLETALK | August 2011

    What is “let-go-and-let-God” theology? It’s called Keswick theology, and it’s one of the most significant strands of second-blessing theology. It assumes that Christians experience two “blessings.” The first is getting “saved,” and the second is getting serious. The …Read More

  • Doubt-Killing Promises by Justin Taylor

    FROM TABLETALK | January 2013

    Even though Charles Spurgeon lived about two hundred years after John Bunyan, I think Spurgeon regarded Bunyan as a friend. He said the book he valued most, next to the Bible, was The Pilgrim’s Progress. “I believe I have …Read More

  • How to Stay Christian in Seminary by David Mathis

    FROM TABLETALK | October 2012

    “The point is this.” I love it when Paul says that in 2 Corinthians 9:6. He makes sure he has our attention and tells it straight. Behind the reasoned prose and the rhetorical flourishes, here’s what he’s …Read More

  • Feeding Your Soul by Jon Bloom

    FROM TABLETALK | October 2012

    When your soul is in turmoil, it’s hard to see clearly. Fear, anger, sorrow, and despair can distort your perception of reality. It’s hard to keep things in perspective. They can actually magnify your troubles. Often, when you …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

  • Every Conflict Is a Test by Alexander Strauch

    FROM TABLETALK | August 2012

    The New Testament does not hide the fact that nearly every church in the Apostolic age experienced conflict. As the New Testament writers addressed these matters, they provided invaluable instruction on how believers are to think, act, and treat one …Read More

  • Where and How Do We Draw the Line? by Kevin DeYoung

    FROM TABLETALK | July 2012

    “In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity.” Sounds nice, but which are which? Everyone wants to be unified in what really matters, to agree to disagree on what isn’t as important, and to exercise love in …Read More

  • Listening Before Answering by John Piper

    FROM TABLETALK | March 2011

    “If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame” (Prov. 18:13). It is arrogant to answer before you hear. Humility does not presume that it knows precisely what a person is asking until the …Read More

  • Keep On by Eric Alexander

    FROM TABLETALK | September 2012

    While I was still a theological student, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones came from London to Glasgow to preach at the great St. Andrews Hall. This auditorium held more than two thousand people. It was packed, and the preaching was wonderful. After …Read More

  • 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