Gary Shogren's Blog
Greetings! I invite you to officially follow my blog. I receive thousands of hits every month, but few people automatically follow it. If you register, you will get a notice every time I post. We won't use your email address for any other purpose!Go and click PLEASE SHARE, on the top of this page, then... Continue Reading →
We hear Christians shout it - our post it, or mutter it: 'We're at WAR, man! Everyone to the barricade! Utterly destroy [this year's enemy]! Use sarcasm, invective, innuendo, false rumors, expletives, fake news, whatever it takes to wipe them out!' "In the name of God, I must annihilate thee! But don't worry, they tell... Continue Reading →
FALSE PROPHETS: Just finished reading Jeremiah, and part of it's story is that false prophets greatly outnumbered true ones. God says, “I have not sent these prophets, yet they run around claiming to speak for me. I have given them no message, yet they go on prophesying." (Jer 23:21)I'm convinced of the same today. This... Continue Reading →
BACKGROUND: Every year, we run a Facebook Community page for people who want to do Bible study in the ancient languages. In the past we have done the whole New Testament in Greek, the Pentateuch in Hebrew, the entire Septuagint, the Apostolic Fathers in Greek, and an Aramaic self-study. In 2021 we will feature the... Continue Reading →
In another place I have written about two churches I have visited that gave a broad weekly invitation for all members to participate in leading worship. I have also written on the related theme of the Priesthood of all Believers. As we hear so often, “The church is not the building, but the congregation.” That... Continue Reading →
Someone in Costa Rica asked me to preach about “John in Patmos.” And I realized that, it’s an excellent subject for bored, shut-in, and isolated people during COVID! First, a little background. John wrote that he was on the island of Patmos “because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus” (Rev. 1:9b).... Continue Reading →
Scenario #1. At the Jersey shore in July, people ran in and saved a drowning man. They were at a beach wedding and saw the situation; they hauled him out and one man performed CPR and revived him. I saw it on the Philly news, and asked myself: Would I have taken that risk in... Continue Reading →
People are differently constituted. Some are more prone to fear than are others, just as some are prone to one temptation over other. God has formed us all to be different and we have also arrived at this moment after a life of personal decisions. This is why COVID might have a harsher impact on... Continue Reading →
I have a limited number of people whom I would call my heroes. In fact, one time in an interview I was asked to name a hero of mine: "Uh...Abraham Lincoln" was all I could come up with. In fact, it was President's Day, and the picture of Lincoln hanging on the wall of the... Continue Reading →
When we celebrate Communion, we usually read from 1 Corinthians 11. That’s a right practice, but another layer of studying the Bible is to ask, Why did Paul bring this up, here, in this letter? It wasn’t to teach them the ritual, because they had been celebrating communion for years. So, why now? Paul tells... Continue Reading →
