Note: These are sermon outlines, not full messages. As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. 2 For you know what instructions... Continue Reading →
FREE BOOK FOR CHRISTMAS!
As a Christmas gift this year, I have bundled together some of my blog posts that have to deal with "How to Life the Christian Life: throw out the old rules and play by the New Covenant." Over a hundred of you have downloaded it already - enjoy! Simply click here: How to live the Christian Life_Shogren I... Continue Reading →
New Year’s Resolutions or New Covenant Miracles? [Studies in the New Covenant]
For many years, I made no New Year’s resolutions. My reasoning: Why make a big deal just because the planet has revolved around the sun to an arbitrary point in space? Why try to be a better persons on this one day when I should be doing it all the time? Are resolutions relevant to... Continue Reading →
Terminal Uniqueness: a spiritual disease [Studies in 1 Corinthians]
We’re about 30 minutes into a movie that I’m about to snap off, because it’s the umpteenth version of clichéd plot #74, that one about The Cop who Plays by his own Rules. He doesn’t “go by the book,” so he gets suspended and has to turn in his badge. His apartment is a mess; his relationships... Continue Reading →
Is wine forbidden in the Bible?
There is a long train of people who are keen to prove that wine in the New Testament era did not contain alcohol, that it was only grape juice. Therefore, Jesus must not have turned water into wine at Cana, nor serve wine at the Last Supper. Nevertheless: how is it possible that wine (oinos/οἶνος)... Continue Reading →
My book on Addiction and God
In 1995 I published "Running in Circles: how to find freedom from addictive behavior" with Baker Book House. It is written with the addict in mind, using straightforward language for the person who isn't necessarily a Christian. Now you can buy a copy from Amazon.com as a Kindle book.
The 80’s are over, how come you’re still codependent?
A friend writes in to ask about codependency. He works with addicts and wants to make sure that he approaches the theme from a viewpoint of biblical counseling. Since I worked in the same sort of ministry years ago, and wrote a little about the subject of the Christian and addiction, I've had some time... Continue Reading →
Rediscovering God in the Age of Therapy, Part II
II. COUNSELORS AND THE LANGUAGE OF HEALING We will now turn our attention to the second question: how do our contemporary counselors use healing nomenclature? The answer is not a simple one, but a survey of two influential “disease” models may help us to find the roots of the therapeutic culture. We begin with the... Continue Reading →
Open Our Eyes, Lord! 