"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 →
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 →
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 →
Why Would a Hurricane Hit Texas and Florida, and not, for example, Alabama?
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 NIV and six degrees of Rupert Murdoch
We see it in panicked blog posts and garish YouTube videos, and hear it in whispers from concerned friends! That Rupert Murdoch is trying to take your Bible away from you and make you use the NIV Bible instead! That he is a friend to the Vatican and a pornographer and the guy who put... Continue Reading →
Israel’s Holocaust Memorial, Yad Vashem
Last week I visited Yad Vashem, the memorial to the more than 6 million Jews who were killed in the Holocaust. I invite the reader to visit their website yadvashem.org, and to study indepth the enormity of the Holocaust, which I cannot begin to describe in this short space. Our wonderful guide, Dani, told about... Continue Reading →
Bible Prophecy, ch 1 – “Bible Prophecies” that are NOT found in the Bible
This is a long essay with numerous footnotes. The reader may prefer to download it in pdf form: Shogren_Bible Prophecy #1 Bible Prophecies that are NOT in the Bible I plan on at least two more articles in this series, in which I will describe End-Time expectations that may or may not be found in the... Continue Reading →
It’s easy to preach against sins your people don’t commit
One of those, "Wish I had said this, in this way, but there's no way I could have improved on this statement by Russell Moore - I think sometimes pastors and leaders simply take whatever they find objectionable in the culture and rail against it. They sometimes use the language of decline, where we’re in the worst... Continue Reading →
Thou Shalt Not Bully Those who use a Different Bible Translation!
There are now hundreds of versions of the Bible in English, and more come out every year. And there is great benefit from comparing version with version. Still, if I were king, I would impose a moratorium on new Bible versions for at least a decade. If I were king. But, let’s see what hand life... 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 →