Gary Shogren's Blog
1 Kings 12, which I am editing today for the SUN Old Testament. New king Rehoboam faces a revolt in Israel, and we know that God has planned that the rebels be successful. He consults with the older men, his father's advisors, the "elders." They advise caution. They say, be patient; be flexible with the... Continue Reading →
Warm greetings from San José, Costa Rica! I am Karen Shogren, a professor in the certificate program of ESEPA Seminary here. Next week we are beginning an entirely new program called Certificate with an Emphasis in the Prevention and Intervention of Sexual Violence. This topic has been in the news recently, in many countries around... Continue Reading →
This material adapted from 1-2 Thessalonians, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, from pages 161-66. The book is available from Amazon and as a discount from Amazon, and also from Logos, in Korean and also in Spanish. 1 Thess 4:4 is the most complex verse in the Thessalonian correspondence because of the difficulty of... Continue Reading →
What do we do with this? 68% of church-going men and over 50% of pastors view porn on a regular basis. Of young Christian adults 18-24 years old, 76% actively search for porn. 87% of Christian women have watched porn (at some time). The percentage of all women (Christian or not) who watch porn is... Continue Reading →
“Let’s pray first!” I overheard the two sitting at the next table at my favorite coffee shop, before they sipped their coffees and nibbled at their bizcochos. I smiled, pleased to hear people stopping to pray in a public place. My smile was soon to fade. So they bowed their heads. And prayed. And as... Continue Reading →
Ideally, a young girl should grow up surrounded by love; the adults in her life should be dependable; they should respect boundaries; they should alleviate fear rather than stir it up. We instinctively feel that all of these shoulds ought to be a given. But the sad reality is that a large percentage of girls,... Continue Reading →
Related essay: "False Apostles are Smacked Down by Hurricane Irma!" Human beings are wired to look for cause and effect. The car won’t start; that means the battery must be dead! That bell keeps ringing; there must be someone at the front door! But we don’t always get it right. If, for example, you are... Continue Reading →
The devil has a Weapon of Mass Destruction, and it is called online pornography. Of help is the following article is by Jason DeRouchie of Bethlehem Bible College and Seminary. It is one of the best explorations of the topics of masturbation and sexual fantasy that I have read, and I repost it, knowing I... Continue Reading →
This is a topic which interests me very much, not just in theory, but because of my involvement of training both female and male soldiers for the kingdom of God. I hope to publish some thoughts of my own at some point, but for now I yield to the master, and his brief article from 1982.... Continue Reading →
Devotional given at Wycliffe Associates for the assembled Translation Team, on Oct 7, 2015. I am doing two tasks for Wycliffe at the moment – with my online group we are writing translation notes for 1 Corinthians and we have reached chapter 10. Here this week our group is working on Revelation and we are... Continue Reading →
Open Our Eyes, Lord! 