1Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, 2when they see your respectful and pure conduct. 3Do not let . . . Continue reading →
Christian Life
EchoZoe Interview On The Trinity
Each new year Andy Olson does an episode of EchoZoe on an essential Christian doctrine and the doctrine of the Trinity certainly fits. The Athanasian Creed begins with these words: “Whosoever will be saved: before all things it is necessary that he . . . Continue reading →
Top HB Posts Of 2015
Thank you for reading the HB this year. You were one of over 200,000 people who read the Heidelblog in 2015. There were over 600,000 downloads. Like last year, most readers get here via Twitter, Facebook, The Aquila Report, Feedly, and Monergism.com. . . . Continue reading →
Three Things I Learned In 2015
For me it has been an odd year. I spent a good bit of it on the road between San Diego, where I live and work, and Nebraska, where family lives. That has produced a greater sense of dislocation than usual. Professionally, . . . Continue reading →
Office Hours: The Holy Spirit In The First Five Books Of Scripture
The Holy Spirit has sometimes been called the forgotten person of the Trinity. Yet he appears at the very beginning of the Biblical story. Genesis 1:2 says, “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the . . . Continue reading →
Strangers And Aliens (12d): Servants Imitating The Suffering Savior (1 Peter 2:18–25)
His suffering was an example to us but it was more than that. It was substitutionary. Jesus suffered in the place of those whom he came to save. He paid the debt owed by all his people, a debt they owed but could never pay. Further, because, by grace alone, through faith alone, by the Holy Spirit, we are united to Christ in his death, we have been separated from from sin. Continue reading →
Office Hours: John Fesko On The Holy Spirit In The Reformed Confessions
This is season 7 of Office Hours and our theme is “The Holy Spirit: Lord and Giver of Life.” When we think of the Reformed and Presbyterian confessions we might think first of the doctrines of grace and salvation but they reflect . . . Continue reading →
The Necessity And Limits Of The Imitation Of Christ
There is no question among orthodox Christians, i.e., those who believe and obey God’s Word, who believe the catholic creeds, who have a substantial connection to the ancient church, whether Christians ought to seek to imitate Christ. The questions are how do we imitate . . . Continue reading →
Strangers And Aliens (12b): Servants Imitating The Suffering Savior (1 Peter 2:18–25)
18Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. 19For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 20For what credit is it . . . Continue reading →
The Abrahamic Covenant Unifies Redemptive History
During our senior year of high school (1978–79) three of us went to lunch. Our public high school had an open campus, meaning that we were permitted to come and go so long as we attended classes. We piled into a friend’s . . . Continue reading →
Audio: Sojourners And Exiles (1 Peter 2:11-12)
Here’s the audio of the sermon from last Lord’s Day evening (11-29-15) at the Escondido URC from 1 Peter 2:11-12, Sojourners And Exiles:
Strangers And Aliens (12a): Servants Imitating The Suffering Savior (1 Peter 2:18–25)
There is a thread running through the book of Isaiah, which some have called the Gospel of Isaiah. It is that of the servant. The prophet himself is described as the servant (עבד) of Yahweh (Isa 20:3). David is also Yahweh’s servant . . . Continue reading →
Resources On Prayer
D. C. McAllister’s excellent essay in The Federalist and a question from regular HB reader Clinton suggests that a resource post on prayer might be helpful: Audio Audio: The Role of Prayer in Sanctification Audio: The Pilgrim’s Prayer (1) Audio: The Pilgrim’s Prayer . . . Continue reading →
Office Hours: Preaching The Whole Counsel Of God
If you are a regular listener to Office Hours then you are probably a regular listener to sermons. If not, perhaps we should talk about that. You might be a preacher of sermons. Either way, at least 52 times a year, for . . . Continue reading →
Of Christian Plumbers, Unions, Meat Offered To Idols, And Tent-Making
Darryl Hart raises an interesting question about the adjectival use of “Christian” as applied to pursuits shared by Christians and non-Christians. This has been one of the most persistent and widespread questions facing believing Christians for the last century: how do Christians relate to . . . Continue reading →
Thanksgiving 1947 With Jack Benny
In the early 1930s, more than 60 years before Seinfeld, there was Jack Benny. His was the first show about nothing. He had wacky neighbors who showed up randomly. He had a a group of eccentric friends. He played a comedian but . . . Continue reading →
Theological Error Seeps In
Years ago, in the second house in which Mrs Heidelblog and I lived, water seeped into the basement every time it rained and it rained frequently. As the ground became soaked water would push in and up through the basement. We had . . . Continue reading →
Strangers And Aliens (10): Sojourners And Exiles Before The Gentiles (1 Peter 2:11–12)
It is not often that the news coincides with a sermon or biblical commentary so as to provide abundant illustration but it is so in this case. A Christian minority are among those who are fleeing the chaos and violence in Syria. . . . Continue reading →
Office Hours: What Does It Mean To Say To God Alone Be The Glory?
When one enters the Reformed world one find that we still use Latin phrases from time to time. Particularly we will hear or read people using a few Reformation slogans frequently. We call them the Solas: Sola gratia (by grace alone), sola . . . Continue reading →
Studying the Heidelberg Catechism In Latin
We understandably think of the Heidelberg Catechism (1563) as a German-language catechism. Its first translation, however, was into Latin as the Catechesis Palatinae. This was important because, when the catechism was published relatively few people in the world spoke or read German. . . . Continue reading →
















