Gary Shogren's Blog
Paul was a traveling apostle, not the local pastor of Corinth. Nevertheless, he had to deal with the members of this flock in a pastoral way, teaching, encouraging and rebuking them. I’ve spend some years studying 1 Corinthians, and I must admit honestly, that if I had been Paul, I would have been heavily tempted... Continue Reading →
A few weeks ago, a young Christian friend of mine turned 13. His mom asked some of us to write out words of counsel for him. Here are things I wish someone had told me at age 13, given in no particular order and no with aim to be comprehensive: At this stage, your brain is keyed... Continue Reading →
May Christians create holidays? The Bible gives us precedent to say Yes. First, God’s people have always celebrated holidays that are not mandated in the Bible. To name three, the feast of Purim was established in the 400s BC, when Esther and Mordecai saved the Jews from slaughter. The name Purim is the Hebrew form... Continue Reading →
[I wrote this post at the very end of 2012. In 2021 we relocated to the States, since all of my teaching at Seminario ESEPA is now done online. A lot has changed since I wrote this, especially in the possibility of accessing older printed works online. And when I visit the Westminster Seminary library,... Continue Reading →
A special story for the season! It is a scientific fact: the winters of one’s child years are much colder, darker, snowier and more perilous than the winters served to these same people as adults. Nor is this natural law any respecter of generation. Old-timer, post-war, boomer, post-boomer: each child in every era survives to... Continue Reading →
Chapter Five – I start to teach others For two years I had been taking in the Bible and growing in prayer and evangelism. I served a summer as a camp counselor at Camp Pine Ridge in Rumney, New Hampshire. The older counselors were students at Bible college, and they told me that the New... Continue Reading →
Advent season starts this Sunday (2012). Like many Christians, I’ll be following a plan of Bible readings and prayers in preparation for Christmas and in anticipation of the Second Coming. I don’t forsee being stressed; in fact, I plan not to be stressed. I don’t want to gloat or be "that guy", but we have... Continue Reading →
When I open the Bible and see things that seem too harsh or too merciful, too strict or too easy, counterintuitive or surprising or even shocking, then I dare to hope that the Spirit is about to lead me away from my truths to a deeper grasp of his Truth.
Please read Part I before starting Part II; click HERE Chapter Three – My Sojourn in Pentecostalism Until I turned 14, the only charismatic person I knew anything about was JFK. Since then I have been charismatic (one year, give or take); then post-charismatic; anti-charismatic; teacher of charismatics; bridge-builder with charismatics; regular spokesman against neo-Pentecostals... Continue Reading →
In September 1972, I picked up a Bible, opened it and began to read it for myself. To be sure, I had grown up in a Bible-believing Baptist church. I went to Sunday School, memorized Bible verses, could recite the books of the Bible. I knew what Revelation was about and the basic plot of... Continue Reading →
Open Our Eyes, Lord! 