Gary Shogren's Blog
This commentary was prepared for Kairos Publications in Buenos Aires. It was composed specifically for the Latin American church. In some cases I have retained the words "Latin America," at other times I have substituted "the Americas." The bibliography reflects what is available to the Spanish-speaking church. We will publish it a section at a... Continue Reading →
To my surprise, I just found out that Zondervan republished my Thessalonians commentary some months back! You can now buy three full commentaries in one eBook! Mine has a lot of Greek in it, but also much application and thoughts on how to preach the letters. The collection includes Holmes NIV Application Commentary (which I... Continue Reading →
When I first saw the title of the epic novel Cien Años de Soledad by Gabriel García Márquez, and got that it meant “one hundred years of solitude,” my heart leapt in anticipation. But 500 pages later, I finally grasped that the protagonists of the story didn’t get their promised seclusion; the title seems to... Continue Reading →
According to Matthew 1:23 (in the form Iesous or Yeshua) means "he shall save." Matthew also states that Christ fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 - "And you shall call his name Immanuel, which translated means, God with us." In 1-2 Thessalonians, Paul also reveals how Jesus is the personal manifestation of Yahweh. The following... Continue Reading →
Here is a snapshot of one and the same website, once in early September, once in early October. BEFORE AND AFTER STILL LATER - it still looks the same! "Currently offline!" These are not Photoshopped, by the way, except to blur out the website address. Which was a very gracious act on my part. By... Continue Reading →
There are Christians who are King James people because they prefer the wonderful language and cadence of the KJV, or who believe (with little evidence, but no matter for now) that it best represents the original Hebrew or Greek texts. Overall, with these brothers and sisters, I have no serious quarrel. But when someone condemns... Continue Reading →
Autumn [2017] swings around, and with it this year's harvest of Rapture Predictions. This year it’s September 23 (tomorrow!). And yes, I have looked over the “proofs”; given the late date, they are not worth the time it would take to overturn them. Each Rapture Prediction typically begins with a bang and ends with... Continue Reading →
Companion essay: "Why would a hurricane hit Texas and Florida and not, for example, Alabama?" As Hurricane Irma approached Florida in September 2017, Latin America awoke to hear a number of its anointed prophets and apostles shouting, "You, Irma, go away!" This is a manifestation of the doctrine known as the Prosperity Gospel, the Rhema... Continue Reading →
Seminario ESEPA held a conference in 2014 on the topic of "Israel and Palestine." They asked me to be one of the participants; I offered the following thoughts, which I have updated a bit, with the warning that they come from a Bible student with only cursory knowledge of world affairs. Good evening, and thank... Continue Reading →
We see it in panicked blog posts and garish YouTube videos, and hear it in whispers from concerned friends! That Rupert Murdoch is trying to take your Bible away from you and make you use the NIV Bible instead! That he is a friend to the Vatican and a pornographer and the guy who put... Continue Reading →
Open Our Eyes, Lord! 