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 →
What? Me, a priest?!
Note: this is the abridged verion of a talk I gave at Seminario ESEPA, on the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation. To download the entire article with footnotes, go HERE or download the pdf here: Shogren_The Priesthood of All Believers in the Reformation En español: Shogren_El sacerdocio de todos los creyentes We are celebrating the 500th anniversary of... Continue Reading →
The Priesthood of All Believers in the Reformation
To download the entire article with footnotes, click here: Shogren_The Priesthood of All Believers in the Reformation En español: Shogren_El sacerdocio de todos los creyentes Introduction 1. The Catholic Doctrine 2. The Reformation and Beyond: Luther, Calvin, the Anabaptists, the Wesleyans 3. Modern Abuses of the Doctrine: Anti-Intellectualism, the "Super-Anointed" Leader, Hyper-Individualism Conclusion Introduction Some years back three... Continue Reading →
No commentary necessary
Here is a snapshot of one and the same website, once in early September, once in early October. BEFORE AND AFTER STILL LATER - it still looks the same! "Currently offline!" These are not Photoshopped, by the way, except to blur out the website address. Which was a very gracious act on my part. By... Continue Reading →
Benny Hinn’s nephew rejects his “gospel” of properity
This is one of the most interesting articles I have read in a while, so I will post a link to it HERE. I am particularly tickled that he got, well, got "saved" I think is the appropriate term, by simply reading his Bible. The so-called Prosperity Gospel, Word of Faith, Rhema Doctrine, Decreeing, whatever,... Continue Reading →
Want to set a date for the rapture and maybe take home a prize? Step right up, son, three shots for a quarter!
Autumn [2017] swings around, and with it this year's harvest of Rapture Predictions. This year it’s September 23 (tomorrow!). And yes, I have looked over the “proofs”; given the late date, they are not worth the time it would take to overturn them. Each Rapture Prediction typically begins with a bang and ends with... Continue Reading →
The Golden Rule and Political Discussion
This has been the most difficult election season, at least since 1948, perhaps since 1860. For that reason, may I request that, when someone didn't vote the way you or I did, that we not automatically respond: "Oh, that means you don't care at all about ____." "Oh, you're ignoring the sins of your candidate,... Continue Reading →
Love, sure, but during an election year?
A fresh preface to my essay, “The Forgotten Sign of the End Times: icy relations among God’s people.” I include here not only things I observe in others, but principally the things I'd like to root out of my own heart. The Lord's return may - or may not - be near, but no-one who reads church history... Continue Reading →
Grumpy Legalists
What can turn happy, friendly Christians into a snarling mob? What transmutes a Good Friday Gang into a Black Friday Mob? Legalism. Paul dealt with legalism in Galatians, and he observed that the more legalistic you are, the more cannibalistic you become: If you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not... Continue Reading →
Did your pastor/teacher/expert/YouTube guru set a wrong date for the Second Coming? Don’t let them off the hook
It appears to be the busy season of people telling us when Jesus will return. I have seen five dates for the period of September-December 2015 and others for 2016 or 2017. Four of those dates have already passed us by. Whether these date-setters claim to be prophets or not, they all transgress the Lord’s warning... Continue Reading →