Gary Shogren's Blog
Have you been told that the "sin" literally means "missing the mark" in the original Greek? In fact, it does not. The verb "hamartano" (αμαρτανω) was sometimes used in pre-Classical and Classical Greek to refer to missing a target. Homer uses it in the Iliad to speak of a man who failed to hit his... Continue Reading →
Paul didn’t just pass out workbooks and tell his disciples to fill in the blanks for next Sunday. He didn't go on TV and tell millions of people how to live, then pack up and go home. No, he was a day-to-day living model of how a Christian should live: “you became imitators of us and... Continue Reading →
A friend from Costa Rica writes in: I seem to be everywhere running into people who are debating different aspects of spiritual warfare. I have a friend whom I respect very much; nevertheless he sees Satan even in different foods or in commercial products. It's as if there is a spirit everywhere. If anybody doubts,... Continue Reading →
Kyle Anderson from Logos software just published a fine article on how to use Bible dictionaries. He warns against simply reaching for a commentary when we are studying the Bible. I heartily applaud this basic sentiment. As Christians, we are supposed to be enjoying the Bible, not reading the tale of how some other person... Continue Reading →
By Gary Shogren, Seminario ESEPA, San José, Costa Rica Originally published in Evangelical Quarterly 61 (1989): 99-108; bibliography and some ancient references updated in 2008. “Are any among you ill? Let them summon the presbyters of the Church and let them pray over them after anointing them in the name of the Lord with olive... Continue Reading →
Link - How to calculate when Jesus will come - without even being a prophet! My wish is simple, and it would make me so very happy. I'm going to campaign for it until the proper authorities take notice and step in. (1) I want us to identify all preachers who have mistakenly announced that it... Continue Reading →
Jerry Falwell was fond of describing his Liberty University as “conservative as Harvard is liberal.” In other words, if Harvard University is on the far left, then the appropriate Christian response is to run in an equal and opposite direction. It is Newton’s Third Law of Motion as applied to a Christian political and social... Continue Reading →
By Gary Shogren, Seminario ESEPA, San José, Costa Rica I have at last spotted a creature that until now I’d only read about. It is the reappearance of a style of preaching which does an end-run around the rational mind and appeals to the non-rational. I’m probably the last one of my social set to... Continue Reading →
8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’... Continue Reading →
Note: In November 2012 I published a commentary of 1-2 Thessalonians for Zondervan (click HERE). The advice given below is applicable to all preaching and writing projects. I used to do business at a local office building. On the wall was an engraved map of the New World from the 1600s. It was a real... Continue Reading →
Open Our Eyes, Lord! 