There is a whole genre of exposé literature, interviews, videos that follow this familiar formula: “I am an ex-[whatever] and I am going to reveal the shocking inside secrets.” Ex-Communist. Ex-Janitor at Area 51. Ex-Catholic priest (Charles Chiniquy, Fifty Years in the Church of Rome, 1885). Ex Guy-who-sprayed-chemtrails-from-my-jet (see below). Ex-Jesuit (Jack Chick's man, "Alberto,"... Continue Reading →
1-2 Thessalonians and the Olivet Discourse
To download the entire article with footnotes click here: Shogren_1 Thess 2 Thess and the Olivet Discourse How can we sketch out the outline of Christian eschatology from the years AD 40-50s and earlier? The Thessalonian epistles provide the clearest, datable data. The Thessalonians learned their eschatology from Paul; the apostle added to or further developed... Continue Reading →
** GARY commentary alert!
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 →
No commentary necessary
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 →
Want to set a date for the rapture and maybe take home a prize? Step right up, son, three shots for a quarter!
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 →
“I (still) don’t believe it!” Thoughts on truth and social media, Part III
I have written elsewhere: "set aside videos of cute kittens or adolescents cracking up their skateboards. Let's focus on those other things - political, social, religious, etc. - which get posted on social media and spread like wildfire!" I invite you to read the first two parts of this series before reading Part III: "I don't... Continue Reading →
Israel and Palestine and a Hope for Peace
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 →
The NIV and six degrees of Rupert Murdoch
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 →
Bible Prophecy, ch 1 – “Bible Prophecies” that are NOT found in the Bible
This is a long essay with numerous footnotes. The reader may prefer to download it in pdf form: Shogren_Bible Prophecy #1 Bible Prophecies that are NOT in the Bible I plan on at least two more articles in this series, in which I will describe End-Time expectations that may or may not be found in the... Continue Reading →
Christians and “Coincidences” or Is There a Hex in the Patternicity?
This article has many images and footnotes; I encourage the reader to download it as a pdf here: Shogren_Christians and Coincidences It happened just the other day: I had been thinking about James Bond, and later when I pulled out a form of identification for the bank teller, I noticed that my ID number began with 007!... Continue Reading →