I was just reading 1 Samuel, and got to this passage: Saul and his servant were searching for two donkeys from his father’s herd and could not seem to locate them. Saul thinks they had better head home: But [the servant] said to [Saul], “Behold, there is a man of God in this city, and... Continue Reading →
My new book. For anyone who does any ministry and who might run into any disappointment!
Am I mistaken, or does the cover look like the Titanic? Gary: Interesting story: the book had its start back in 2012. I was asked to give a conference to missionaries working in Spain. I wanted to address: How do we process disappointment in our ministries? It happened to be the 100th anniversary of the Titanic sinking, and suddenly I... Continue Reading →
Join us as we read the Historical Books in Hebrew in 2026
Greetings from Gary Shogren! Who are we? Every year we open a Facebook "club", whose members can learn a new ancient language (we have done Biblical Aramaic, Latin) or read Scripture in the original languages (the whole Septuagint; the Torah; the Hebrew Poets and Latter Prophets; the New Testament, twice; also the Apostolic Fathers). For... Continue Reading →
Myths that We Christians Accept – my new book, many years in the making!
Ebook from KindlePaperback from Amazon Spanish ebook from KindleSpanish paperback from Amazon or from CLIE The 21st century, that digital arena where information and misinformation battle for our attention! To be sure, the internet can render up solid facts, for instance: “Who won Super Bowl XLVII in 2013?” But the very same medium also lures... Continue Reading →
Did Jeremiah condemn Christmas trees? NO!
This is taken from my book Myths that we Christians Believe, available from Amazon. I first heard about the Pagan Christmas Tree during my years in Costa Rica, and only later saw it in the English language. The meme is one example, showing the Christmas tree that they annually place in front of the White... Continue Reading →
God was never lonely, and never could have been
From a meeting of one of my classes on spiritual identity:It is only through confessing the Triune God that we can form our identity, because only then can we capture how God is eternally, essentially, a God of love. LOVE IS A VERB, and to affirm that God is love means, he loved for an... Continue Reading →
The canon of the Bible is closed, but Revelation 22 says nothing about it
I affirm that, of course, the canon is closed. But beyond that, there are those who use Revelation to prove that the gift of prophecy must have gone extinct, because of the dark double curse found in Rev 22:18-19: For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If... Continue Reading →
When “I do not know” is the best answer a Bible teacher can give
There is a subset of Bible teachers who are certain they have all the answers. “The Bible is God’s Truth!" they say. “I preach the Bible!” they say. “Therefore, I have all the answers!” they say. They do not say “I do not know what the Bible says” or "The Bible doesn't speak to this... Continue Reading →
My favorite books of 2023
Last year we were in Costa Rica for Seminario ESEPA's anniversary; I gave a talk on "Christian Leaders and LifelongLearning." I suggested that "reading" was one of the best tools for building up brain power. And that reading broadly, including books we disagree with, will help rescue us from our social media echo chambers. Just... Continue Reading →
Women explore God’s Good News. THAT’S Good News. Isn’t it?
Spoiler alert - Bugs Bunny and I don't see eye to eye on this one! In March, Logos placed a joyful announcement on their Facebook page, featuring Bible commentaries written by “women who wield words for God’s glory.” Out of the ones they highlighted, I had just used Karen Jobes’s commentary to help translate a... Continue Reading →