Gary Shogren's Blog
Should a preacher refer to Hebrew or Greek from the pulpit? In all but a few instances, emphatically not, see “But the Greek REALLY says…” Why Hebrew and Greek are not needed in the pulpit, Part 1 The study of original languages, like all study of technical background, is to inform the preacher, not to impress the... Continue Reading →
In 1995 I published "Running in Circles: how to find freedom from addictive behavior" with Baker Book House. It is written with the addict in mind, using straightforward language for the person who isn't necessarily a Christian. Now you can buy a copy from Amazon.com as a Kindle book.
According to 2 Thessalonians, Timothy brought Paul a question from a panicky church: Has the Day of the Lord come? Paul ties together language of the return of Christ from his own oral teaching, the Matthean tradition, Daniel and 1 Thessalonians. No indeed! he says, and I can prove it. Has the Man of Lawlessness... Continue Reading →
Since the Rapture has made headlines lately, here are some observations. The New Testament was written in Greek. Some argue that it was originally done in Hebrew, but they cannot provide ancient Hebrew (or Aramaic or Syriac) manuscripts to back that up. All of Paul’s churches used Greek as their principal language. Paul himself had... Continue Reading →
Thunder and lightning; how I love them. It’s a good thing too: here in Costa Rica, just about every afternoon from May through December we have a ferocious electrical storm. One tries to adjust one’s schedule so as not to be caught out in the torrential rain. And amusingly, the other day the paper ran... Continue Reading →
It was 9pm EDT and I was hooked up to Family Radio by internet, since I live outside the US. Harold Camping was going to speak and explain why the Rapture didn't come on May 21. Remember, Camping had been absolutely clear about what was going to happen: the Rapture of 200 million people and... Continue Reading →
May 21 has come and gone. You won’t hear an “I told you so” from this Christian. No jokes. No funny looks. No condescending pity. Only concern. When someone predicts a date for the rapture, it is not a miscalculation, but an actual sin.[1] It is a sin that has dreadful consequences for those who... Continue Reading →
Please also see my blog after May 22: http://justinofnablus.com/2011/05/22/for-campings-followers-its-may-22-lets-have-a-serious-talk/ There are thousands of followers of Family Radio who believe that the Lord will return on May 21, 2011. I have read the material of Harold Camping and am thoroughly convinced that his calculations are groundless. He is a man of boundless imagination but he uses... Continue Reading →
Once upon a time, Paul told the new believers in Thessalonica: “So, for this reason we give thanks to God without fail: because when you received the proclaimed word from us, that is, the word of God, you received it, not as a human message, but as what it really is, the word of God”... Continue Reading →
The following is a scholarly address, which I seem to remember giving many years ago before the International Association of Scholars, Theologians, Philosophers and other Professional Thinking Persons (AFL-CIO). Thank you for your invitation to address this scholarly assembly. Webster’s defines “scholarly” as “Of, relating to, or characteristic of scholars or scholarship”; but later on... Continue Reading →
Open Our Eyes, Lord! 