The State Supreme Court thus conceded without extended discussion that petitioner’s right to lecture and his right to associate with others were constitutionally protected freedoms which had been abridged through this investigation. These conclusions could not be seriously debated. Merely to summon . . . Continue reading →
2011 Study: 84% Of Mosques In America Advocate Study Of Texts Advocating Violence Against Non-Muslims
A random survey of 100 representative mosques in the U.S. was conducted to measure the correlation between Sharia adherence and dogma calling for violence against non-believers. Of the 100 mosques surveyed, 51% had texts on site rated as severely advocating violence; 30% . . . Continue reading →
Sen Sasse: This Is About Who We Are
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:
The Theodicy Of The State: A Primitive Religious Reaction
The theodicy of federal government seeks to defend the goodness of government in the face of tragedy. So just as some religious groups might blame a weather event on insufficient fealty to the relevant god, some progressives blame — before we actually . . . Continue reading →
Continual Evil, The Ark, And God’s Restraining Mercies
Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And Yahweh regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to . . . Continue reading →
Sibbes On The Sealing Of The Spirit
‘Who hath anointed us, and sealed us.’ Anointing and sealing go together. The same God anoints us doth also seal us. Both are to secure us of our happy condition. Now Christ is the first sealed: John 6:27, ‘Him hath the father . . . Continue reading →
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 →
Political Correctness At Work
Now, however, publicly supporting the entire LGBTQ movement’s agenda is mandatory. If employees refuse to participate in a company Gay Pride event, their behavior may be interpreted as discriminatory insubordination. If a female employee complains about a male using the women’s restroom, . . . 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 →
Spiritual Weapons For A Spiritual Battle
The radicalization of the vulnerable is a sobering reality. Guilt, shame, and the longing for lost innocence can make people do the most terrible things—as long as salvation awaits on the other side. Whether it’s drinking Kool-Aid or strapping on a suicide . . . 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 →
Owen On Thanksgiving And Our Communion With The Holy Spirit
Let us, then, lay weight on every effect of the Holy Ghost in any of the particulars before mentioned, on this account, that they are acts of his love and power towards us. This faith will do, that takes notice of his . . . 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 →
A Rational Alternative To “Safe Spaces” On Campus
The promise of a liberal arts education is to provide challenging, unpredictable, and even uncomfortable intellectual and interpersonal encounters in order to produce the capacity for critical thinking, open-mindedness, and critical self-examination in graduates who are less dogmatic and prejudiced than when . . . Continue reading →
Review of J. I. Packer, Puritan Portraits
J. I. Packer is a significant figure in a variety of circles. He is one of the last voices representing that generation of British evangelicalism that had roots in the Reformation, that was articulate, warm, and evangelical in the best sense of . . . Continue reading →
Strangers And Aliens (11): Silencing Critics Through Submission (1 Peter 2:13–17)
When, c. 64–66 AD, the Apostle Peter wrote to the churches in Asia Minor (the areas named cover most of modern Turkey) Christians were a small, minority religion in the Greco-Roman world. Nero was Caesar and his reign was shortly coming to . . . Continue reading →