Gary Shogren's Blog
Last year we were in Costa Rica for Seminario ESEPA's anniversary; I gave a talk on "Christian Leaders and LifelongLearning." I suggested that "reading" was one of the best tools for building up brain power. And that reading broadly, including books we disagree with, will help rescue us from our social media echo chambers. Just... Continue Reading →
Adapted from my new book on the Holy Spirit, available in Spanish, still seeking a publisher for the English version. The full chapter is found on this blog. The forest is haunted by Christian Lone Wolves. I’m a blogger, and so I have a lot of interaction with other people who write blogs. And I’ve... Continue Reading →
I just visited our seminary in Costa Rica and gave an address on "Christian Leaders and LifelongLearning." I suggested that "reading" was one of the best tools for building up brain power. And that reading broadly, including books we disagree with, will help rescue us from our social media echo chambers. Just on the level... 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 →
Sermon given to Sovereign Grace Fellowship, Boscawen, NH, on June 7, 2020 Our text is 1 Cor 13:8-13 NLT; Paul emphasizes what we have now and what we will have them - Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! Now our knowledge is partial and... Continue Reading →
I was fresh out of university when the editors of the Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary asked me to write the article on election. My starting point is exegesis of texts, not systematic theology. You can read the original article in volume 2:441–444; the following is slightly paraphrased. The nature of this article is a panoramic... Continue Reading →
"My pastor doesn’t tell us how to vote! What he does is give out a score card that describes what the issues are [remember that phrase!] and then shows what each candidate stands for. But then he tells us to make up our own minds!" Anyway, that's the word on the street. Let’s look at two... Continue Reading →
I love to write, and since I just yesterday finished drafting out a new book - and having a great time doing so! - a comment by C. S. Lewis reminded me that I should not claim to be doing some great act of self-surrender whenever I crank up the laptop. To paraphrase Plutarch from... Continue Reading →
If I remember 8th-grade math correctly, and if I am hearing some of my fellow evangelicals clearly, either they or I have transgressed a basic principle of math. I’m pretty sure they are the ones who goofed about a basic issue, our worldview. What I mean is that, as a people, we are a priori... Continue Reading →
I teach, and try to live, the fact that every Christian should live with a daily and hourly focus on the return of Christ and our appearance before his judgment seat. This is a given, and it is impossible to understand the faith in any other way. Nevertheless, false predictions pop up with alarming frequency;... Continue Reading →
Open Our Eyes, Lord! 