Spiritual Growth / Suffering

  • Together in Suffering by R.C. Sproul Jr.

    FROM TABLETALK | February 2013

    It is perhaps the deepest challenge and, in turn, the greatest lesson for a man when those whom he loves suffer. Everyone is tempted to wonder about God’s will and the why of suffering. Everyone tastes the bitterness of …Read More

  • Suffering and the Glory of God by R.C. Sproul

    FROM TABLETALK | February 2013

    I once visited with a woman who was dying from uterine cancer. She was greatly distressed, but not only from her physical ailment. She explained to me that she had had an abortion when she was a young woman, and …Read More

  • When Towers Fall by R.C. Sproul

    FROM TABLETALK | August 2012

    When a catastrophe happens in our world, it is virtually certain that a question will come up: “Where was God?” People always seem to question how a good God could allow a terrible thing to happen.

    The same question came …Read More

  • Hope in This Broken-Down World by Paul David Tripp

    FROM TABLETALK | December 2011

    Years before I met her, Joan had come to Christ and met and married Henry, a successful, wealthy Christian businessman. They built a mansion in an affluent suburb, had a circle of great Christian friends, and were involved together in …Read More

  • A Community for Broken Homes by James Coffield

    FROM TABLETALK | December 2011

    It’s 10:30 a.m. on Sunday morning and a monumental battle is being waged. Margi wants to go to church, but is it really worth the trouble? Her disabled son is more difficult to deal with in the …Read More

  • Broken Homes in the Bible by Richard Pratt Jr.

    FROM TABLETALK | December 2011

    Unless you live in complete isolation, you have seen a broken home. Maybe it’s the family of a friend or a relative; maybe it’s your own home. Families fall apart in ways that are short-lived and lifelong, hidden …Read More

  • Caregiving: A Cause for Christ by Ken Tada

    FROM TABLETALK | October 2011

    Lots of people agree: I have a beautiful wife. With her ready smile and engaging personality, most people hardly notice her wheelchair. And when they learn that she writes books, travels extensively, and leads a dynamic ministry to people with …Read More

  • Count It All Joy by Scott Devor

    FROM TABLETALK | October 2011

    Just a few days after the death of his wife, Idelette, John Calvin wrote these words expressing the depths of his suffering: “The death of my wife has been exceedingly painful to me … . I have been bereaved of the best …Read More

  • A Future So Bright by R.C. Sproul Jr.

    FROM TABLETALK | October 2011

    Because we believe it is our due, we are confident that even the darkest clouds have silver linings. When someone dies in old age, we rejoice that he had a long and full life. When someone is taken suddenly, we …Read More

  • How Now Shall We Die? by John Blanchard

    FROM TABLETALK | October 2011

    Woody Allen, the well-known movie director, screenwriter, and actor, once said, “I’m not afraid to die. I just don’t want to be there when it happens.” The quirky quotation is famous but fatally flawed. God has the date …Read More

  • This Isn’t Going to Be As Easy As It Looks by Keith Mathison

    FROM TABLETALK | October 2011

    I have an old newspaper comic strip in my desk that I cut out years ago (Mr. Boffo, for those who are interested in such things). I saved it because I think it’s funny. In the top left corner …Read More

  • A Purpose in the Pain: An Interview with Joni Eareckson Tada by Joni Eareckson Tada

    FROM TABLETALK | October 2011

    Tabletalk: For our readers who are unfamiliar with your story, would you share how you became quadriplegic? Joni Eareckson Tada: For years, I was one of those who insisted, “Handicaps happen to other people, not me.” But all that changed …Read More

  • What If or If God? by J.R. Vassar

    FROM TABLETALK | September 2011

    I love the Lord of the Rings. I remember sitting in a hotel room in Seattle, Washington, in December of 2003, reading the last book of the trilogy, The Return of the King. I had just spent the previous few …Read More

  • A Pastor’s Reflection by Charles Drew

    FROM TABLETALK | September 2011

    What do you do when the world falls apart? When the planes struck, I was in my office overlooking Columbia University on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, eight miles north of Ground Zero. I listened helplessly to news reports …Read More

  • Ten Years Later by Burk Parsons

    FROM TABLETALK | September 2011

    The world has changed. We are not the same people we were on September 10, 2001. The events of September 11, 2001, and the events that followed in ensuing years have not only changed America but nations and peoples throughout …Read More