Spiritual Growth / Suffering

  • Pain: God’s Megaphone by Alistair Begg

    FROM TABLETALK | January 2008

    For sixty years, successive generations have been helped by what C.S. Lewis wrote on the subject of pain and suffering. The sustained benefit is due in large measure to the fact that he brought to the “problem” a solid …Read More

  • The Providence of God by Derek Thomas

    FROM TABLETALK | December 2007

    The entire life of Joseph is summarized in Genesis 50:20: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” The teenager we met at the beginning of the story is now over a …Read More

  • An Infallible Map by Kevin Struyk

    FROM TABLETALK | November 2007

    I enjoy looking at maps. Not only are they helpful tools to navigate unfamiliar territory, they also provide a unique “big-picture” view from an omniscient vantage point. Do you ever wish there was a map available to show where your …Read More

  • Present Suffering and Future Glory by Robert Rothwell

    FROM TABLETALK | November 2007

    My friends and I often have discussions in which we try to understand why people ever settled in the great state of Florida. Please do not get me wrong, I have a deep affection for the Sunshine State, largely …Read More

  • Perseverance in the Face of Persecution by C. FitzSimons Allison

    FROM TABLETALK | November 2007

    Gilbert Meilaender is a truly heroic figure. I would like to share my admiration for him with others as an encouragement to persevere in the face of persecution. Meilaender is an internationally known ethicist and one of a group of …Read More

  • The Decree of God by Derek Thomas

    FROM TABLETALK | October 2007

    Joseph has just revealed his true identity to his astonished brothers. It had been a tearful moment (Gen. 46:2, 14; cf. 42:24; 43:30). He is about to engage in a discourse on predestination and the divine decree …Read More

  • The Faithful Endurance of Suffering by Keith Mathison

    FROM TABLETALK | September 2007

    Pharaoh begins having disturbing dreams, and not one of his magicians or wise men is able to interpret them. The chief cupbearer suddenly remembers the accuracy of Joseph’s interpretation of his dream, and Joseph is brought before the pharaoh …Read More

  • Bound to Come Some Trouble by Chris Larson

    FROM TABLETALK | August 2007

    We Reformed types have it good. I mean, really good. Call it the doctrines of grace or historic Christian faith or even the C-word (Calvinism) and you have to admit that sinners such as us have received something amazing. The …Read More

  • Finding God in the Dark by Derek Thomas

    FROM TABLETALK | August 2007

    Four times in Genesis 39 we read that God was with Joseph (39:2–3, 21, 23). The statements form a set of pillars at either end of the story of Joseph’s initial experience of Egypt. On the one …Read More

  • The Veracity of God by Derek Thomas

    FROM TABLETALK | July 2007

    The story of Joseph is one of the finest examples in Scripture of what Paul meant when he wrote, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good” (Rom. 8:28). All things …Read More

  • A Mother in Israel by Derek Thomas

    FROM TABLETALK | June 2007

    Jacob, the wily one, after ten or fifteen years, finally returns to Bethel. God has been at work in his life, drawing the wayward patriarch to himself. It has been a difficult journey. It invariably is so when our …Read More

  • Hope by R.C. Sproul Jr.

    FROM TABLETALK | April 2007

    Strange as it might seem, I was actually looking forward to seeing her, and wondering how she would react to seeing me. Two years ago my dear wife Denise was stricken with cancer. She received excellent treatment, and faced …Read More

  • Good Grief? by Anthony Carter

    FROM TABLETALK | April 2007

    I suppose I grew up like most of my generation, reading and watching Charlie Brown and the rest of the cast of Charles Schultz’s PEANUTS. Schultz had an uncanny ability to relate a sea of emotion in a cup …Read More

  • Mourn with Those Who Mourn by Archie Parrish

    FROM TABLETALK | April 2007

    Yesterday, Helen told me that her husband, Gerry, is now a quadriplegic. In college, Helen was my wife’s roommate, and Gerry and I lived in the same dorm. Helen was maid of honor at our wedding. When we graduated …Read More

  • From Grief to Glory by James Coffield

    FROM TABLETALK | April 2007

    My father was slowly relinquishing his fragile life. His once sharp mind was now confused with the bleakness of Alzheimer’s. The cumulative effect of the medication to sustain his heart was destroying his liver, and the drugs needed to …Read More