Gary Shogren's Blog
They have just published a pair if my essays in Strangers to Fire: When Tradition Trumps Scripture. It's now available on Amazon. You might recognize the title as a response to John MacArthur's book, Strange Fire: The Danger of Offending the Holy Spirit with Counterfeit Worship. The contributors of these 35 essays are not the sort... Continue Reading →
So basically, we can offer you two plans. Plan A. The spiritual produce wagon arrives every day, full to overflowing for those who wish to ask the Father. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, and that’s not the complete list; it’s only a summary. They are miracle gifts, planted, watered, grown, harvested,... Continue Reading →
Shogren_1 Cor 13 Perfect in Patristic Exegesis This article is a technical study of how the Church Fathers interpreted Paul´s prediction that tongues, prophecy, and knowledge would pass away when "the perfect" comes. My conclusion is that nearly all orthodox fathers believed it referred to the age to come, whereas Marcion, Mani, the Gnostics and... Continue Reading →
This morning I attended a service in Costa Rica. It’s not our church, but one I sometimes visit. The congregation is English-speaking, Afro-Caribbean. They have a strong island accent. I was one of a few white people in the congregation.As usual, they greeted me warmly.Our home church is Latin American and Spanish-speaking. We go to... Continue Reading →
Should you pray for the lost? I mean, as if it’s crushing you like a huge weight? Let’s step back 2000 years. You and Paul are walking past the synagogue of Corinth, a building where he is unwelcome and could be beaten for trying to attend the Sabbath service. He sees dozens of men inside,... Continue Reading →
“Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.” (Prov. 31:10 KJV) Is it ever safe – or sane? – for a man to meddle in a passage beloved by Christian women? Am I grabbing hold of a live wire? For I hear a lot of sisters referring to Proverbs 31:10-31... Continue Reading →
NASA proved the Lost Day of Joshua, using a supercomputer! This story surfaces once in a while, and the internet only serves to give it more “credibility” by making it come at the reader from a hundred directions: So, what happened is, NASA scientists fed all the data of history into a big computer program, and... Continue Reading →
One thief on the cross cursed Jesus to the end, the other stopped and turned to him in faith: "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom" (Luke 23:42). Let's not paint a portrait of the repentant thief as the nice, sensitive member of the criminal gang, who felt badly about Jesus and reasoned that he... Continue Reading →
NOTE: Many thousands have read this little article, thanks so much! May I invite you to share it with your mission board; your friends; sign up for my blog, at right; to read an article about missionary letters; a recent article on Acts 1:8; and our missionary website where we describe our works as theological educators in... Continue Reading →
Looked at from one angle, my life may be divided into two halves. The first half was labeled: No thanks. The second half: Yes, let's! Actual Examples of “No Thanks”: Gary, you want to go sailing in the bay with us? No thanks. How about playing some hoops? Don’t feel like it. You want to go... Continue Reading →
Open Our Eyes, Lord! 