Gary Shogren's Blog
There is a whole genre of exposé literature that follows this formula: “I am an ex-[whatever] and I am going to reveal the shocking inside secrets.” Ex-Communist. Ex-Mormon. Ex-Satanist. Ex-Janitor at Area 51. Ex-Catholic priest (Charles Chiniquy, Fifty Years in the Church of Rome, 1885). Ex-Jesuit (Jack Chick's man, "Alberto," made a whole career with... Continue Reading →
Fire destroys. But when a building burns, the fire also reveals: old art, former paint jobs, things hidden for centuries. And the most striking thing the flames revealed was how we interpret events. It turns out that we are hardwired away from objectivity in our interpretations, that we will make snap judgments about who did... Continue Reading →
I invite you to read two news articles: ARTICLE #1 - Eco-Terrorists Attack Clean Energy The millennials have finally gotten off their couches, but unfortunately it was to get involved in illegal mischief. This Lancaster Against Pipelines group trespasses into energy projects in order to get themselves intentionally arrested. Their new Satan is the Atlantic... Continue Reading →
Related essay: "False Apostles are Smacked Down by Hurricane Irma!" I offer the following difficult theme with, I hope, all respect to those who suffer and with prayer God’s blessings on the residents of Texas as they pull their lives back from the flood and the Caribbean and Florida and especially Puerto Rico. And we... Continue Reading →
Let’s label this ministry as: “Hi homeless friend! Would you like some breakfast?” On Saturday, I go to the grocer and buy a kilo of local farmer’s cheese, a couple of loaves of bread, and big bottles of iced tea. Then I make up sandwiches for 25 or so people, gather paper cups, 2-3 New... Continue Reading →
The Gospel Coalition just published a very interesting article, one which seemed to resonate with at least one friend. The author writes: Do you make visitors feel conspicuous in the worship service? Stop it. Seriously. Please stop. Some visitors don’t care and will actually appreciate the attention. But many of them will not. This will be... Continue Reading →
I have written elsewhere: "set aside videos of cute kittens or adolescents cracking up their skateboards. Let's focus on those other things - political, social, religious, etc. - which get posted on social media and spread like wildfire!" I invite you to read the first two parts of this series before reading Part III: "I don't... Continue Reading →
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 →
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 →
