Gary Shogren's Blog
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 →
A presentation given at an ESEPA conference in April 2021. The original Spanish version is found on my other blog under the title “La Lectura Oral de las Escrituras en la Iglesia Primitiva y en la Actualidad.” And you may download it as a pdf file: oral-reading-of-scripture-in-the-early-church-and-todayDownload Summary: In the early church, extensive oral scripture... Continue Reading →
Every year I join the Goodreads Reading Challenge (take a look at the wonderful site, http://www.goodreads.com, where you can log your reading). This year, as in the past few years, I have set the goal of reading 104 books, an average of two per week. In addition, my commentary on 1 Corinthians (Spanish version) just... 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 →
I will share my conclusion up front: of course we do! And if we are able to settle that, the main issue now becomes one of logistics, not of theology. First some background. Churches are offering online worship services: Bible studies; small groups. A Mennonite church in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, is offering drive-through prayer: the... 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 →
Never before in human history have so many people had such easy access to the Bible - or people of any faith to their sacred books, for that matter - than we have to the Scriptures. Reading through the entire Bible in a year is a terrific goal for any year. And my very favorite... Continue Reading →
This commentary was prepared for Kairos Publications in Buenos Aires. It was composed specifically for the Latin American church. In some cases I have retained the words "Latin America," at other times I have substituted "the Americas." The bibliography reflects what is available to the Spanish-speaking church. We will publish it a section at a... Continue Reading →
This commentary was prepared for Kairos Publications in Buenos Aires. It was composed specifically for the Latin American church. In some cases I have retained the words "Latin America," at other times I have substituted "the Americas." The bibliography reflects what is available to the Spanish-speaking church. We will publish it a section at a... Continue Reading →
This commentary was prepared for Kairos Publications in Buenos Aires. It was composed specifically for the Latin American church. In some cases I have retained the words "Latin America," at other times I have substituted "the Americas." The bibliography reflects what is available to the Spanish-speaking church. We will publish it a section at a... Continue Reading →
Open Our Eyes, Lord! 