Gary Shogren's Blog
Since one night in 1985, I know what the world looks like through a zombie’s eyes. In Scotland, I would go out evangelizing on Thursdays and then take the hour-long hike home in the dark. But then one night I figured that I could cut out to the main highway, grab a bus, and save 20... Continue Reading →
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 →
[this is the 2012 version of the post, and some of these are outdated] Gullibility is not a fruit of the Spirit. Yes, Paul did say that a Christian “believes all things” (1 Cor 13:7), but what he meant was, “to whatever extent possible, believe the best about other people”. It’s important to establish this... Continue Reading →
This is an article on these Pauline letters for a new Spanish-language Bible dictionary. The reader should note that a dictionary article is supposed to be "descriptive," that is, the author is expected to describe the state of the discussion, not argue for or against a particular viewpoint.Zondervan will be publishing my exegetical-pastoral commentary on 1-2 Thessalonians... Continue Reading →
I guess I came in late for this controversy: from 2008 there’s a YouTube clip of a famous preacher and his wife, responding to the question: “What are your thoughts on stay-at-home dads if the woman really wants to work?”[1] “Too many guys take too little responsibility” was part of the answer, one with which... Continue Reading →
In the first part of this blog, we saw how the shepherds heard the angels’ message, saw the Christ child and went out to proclaim what they had seen. We too should pass on the entire gospel message, not just parts of it. But there is a second application for the Christian, one that pushes... Continue Reading →
Burned into our memory is the fact that the shepherds saw the angels, went to Bethlehem and worshiped the baby Jesus. All the Nativity displays end that way, with the shepherds fixed in place. But in fact, Christmas day was the very beginning of the shepherds’ story, since they rushed right out and began to... Continue Reading →
St. Nicholas was a historical person! He was a pastor in Turkey in the 4th century. According to legend, there was a poor man in his parish who had three daughters, and he had no money to get them husbands. There was a danger that the girls would be sold into prostitution. Nicholas quietly raised... Continue Reading →
A reader writes in: What really was Jesus’ name? Wasn’t it Yeshua? Is it an insult to him if we do not use his "real name" with the ancient pronunciation? Do we lose out on salvation if we call upon the wrong name? First, it is highly probably that his given name was Yeshua, a Hebrew and also... Continue Reading →
It was 9pm EDT and I was hooked up to Family Radio by internet, since I live outside the US. Harold Camping was going to speak and explain why the Rapture didn't come on May 21. Remember, Camping had been absolutely clear about what was going to happen: the Rapture of 200 million people and... Continue Reading →
Open Our Eyes, Lord! 