Gary Shogren's Blog
[Note – this is a very live topic in Latin America, and I wrote this for the church there. I also offer it for the English-speaking church]. Every time I write that salvation is for all who believe the gospel; that Gentile believers are not obligated to be circumcised or observe the 613 laws of... Continue Reading →
Note: this sermon outline is based on my volume in the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary of the New Testament; readers might want to acquire that commentary if they wish to see the exegetical work behind these talks. These posts are Sermon Notes, not polished messages. Introduction A few years ago I went to a reunion; there were people I hadn’t... Continue Reading →
There are two main approaches to the Lord’s Prayer (LP). The Lord’s Prayer was meant to be prayed verbatim. The Lord’s Prayer was not meant to be prayed verbatim, but rather serves as a model prayer. Most of the church for 2000 years has opted for the first, while also affirming that it is also a... Continue Reading →
A missionary comes to your church to speak, and you absentmindedly turn to Matt 28:18 or Acts 1:8. Sure enough, this time he will speak about the Great Commission from Acts: You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea... Continue Reading →
Have you met the guy who says: Yes, I’m a follower of Jesus, but I’m not a “churcher.” I have fellowship with my Christian friends, we pray together, we talk over coffee, we discuss the Bible, we have a commitment to hold each other accountable. These guys are my “church.” And they are more serious... Continue Reading →
A special story for the season! It is a scientific fact: the winters of one’s child years are much colder, darker, snowier and more perilous than the winters served to these same people as adults. Nor is this natural law any respecter of generation. Old-timer, post-war, boomer, post-boomer: each child in every era survives to... Continue Reading →
The Bible says that “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor 5:17). That’s why, when we come to Christ, we experience rapid changes in our conduct. People start telling us, “You’ve changed, you’re different.” Different, yes: but we haven’t become... 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 →
At times long-lost Greek manuscripts pass by my desk. They add a bit of class to the place, to counter-balance the Oreo wrappers, orphaned keys, and cats who like to see if they can type out their names. I put on my special mittons and saw that this particular manuscript is from Luke 15. It... Continue Reading →
Open Our Eyes, Lord! 