Ronnie McBrayer

"You might ask, 'What is wrong with a little flag waving or a pledge to the nation of our birth?' Nothing! But to center American nationalism in the church is to marginalize the Lordship of Jesus. It demands that God share his place of supremacy with the flag. It fools us into calling this Empire, 'home.' It tricks us into worshipping the blessing of living where we live, rather than worshipping t...

Ronnie concludes his series from the Psalms (while connecting these with more contemporary songs), with this episode entitled, "Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen." Using Psalm 86, the African-American spiritual, and the insights of Viktor Frankl, this talk challenges the listener to wisely "choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.”

I know this is not the most pleasant subject for many people. But in the last words of President McKinley, "We are all going. We are all going." So long as death is way down the road, at some far and distant juncture that remains out of sight, it can remain out of mind. But we have no such promises. There are no guarantees that our end is decades or years in the future.  Allison Arieff says: “It i...

Bob Marley...The Book of Psalms...Meister Eckhart...John Oatman Jr. What do all of these have in common? Gratitude. It's the best way to live your life.

I have no way to prove this, but I suspect that more people know the song "How Great Thou Art" than know the Psalm upon which it is based - Psalm 8. I venture to guess that more people have heard this song in the last 75 years than have read the book of Psalms. And I think that’s just fine! Because, the song - “How Great Thou Art” -, remains faithful to the text.   Times have changed. Understandin...

Ronnie's continuing exploration of Psalms from the Revised Common Lectionary arrives at Psalm 104, with an ode to the Psalmists and contemporary artist, Fernando Ortega. Ronnie urges listeners to rediscover God's good creation by saying: "We are more fixated on looking through tiny digital windows on the world than living in and enjoying God’s actual, created world - a world that will remain more...

What do Stan Jones, King David, the Apache Tribe, the Canaanites, Baal, and Yahweh have in common? You'll have to listen to find out more. My latest talk from Psalm 68.

"God protects us from death and keeps us steady. Our God, you tested us, just as silver is tested. You trapped us in a net and gave us heavy burdens. You sent war chariots to crush our skulls. We traveled through fire and through floods but you brought us to a land of plenty” (Psalm 66 8-12). This is really a mixed bag here, isn't it? Praising God for God’s protection and care; and then acknowledg...

When it comes to people who have truly suffered, who have endured so much trouble, they must have something extraordinary that sustains them. It must be something solid. Something stronger than anything else. Something that doesn’t move, that doesn’t wash away. Surely, their feet have found a rock upon which to stand, a fortress in which to retreat. Surely, there is a love that carries them, buoys...

"Take in the scope of this ancient proverb: 'A rolling stone gathers no moss.' It emerged in  ancient Antioch, was rediscovered during the European Renaissance, beloved in the peat moss bogs of the Scot-Irish, and institutionalized by the royalty of blues, country, and rock and roll music. And sure as sunrise, there was no moss on the stone that covered the entrance to Jesus’ grave. It rolled away...

"Seventy percent of your body is water. Seventy percent of all you ingest is water. Seventy percent of this planet is water. Water is everywhere and in everything. Water is what each of us are made of, and water sustains us. Water sustains everything in our world. That's not hard too understand - because it is our reality. Is it then so hard to understand that Christ is in all and hold all things...

JB Phillips coined the phrase, "God-In-A-Box." What did he mean? We have tamed God. We think we own or control God. Just look how God works through the religious machinery we have built, after all. God is reduced to a wafer in the hands of a priest; a doctrinal statement; the rules and expectations of a particular denomination or church. But God is wilder and larger than any restriction humans mig...

Francis de Sales said, "I would rather answer to God for being too lenient than for being too severe. Is not God all love? Is not God the Father the Father of all mercy? Isn’t God the Son as a gentle Lamb? Is not God the Holy Spirit like a Dove? Can we act any different than God? It is a terrible thought, but one that is true: We love God as much as the person we love the least."

"I am the true vine," Jesus said. "Abide with me." My friends in recovery really get this concept of abiding - finding home on the way. It’s captured in Step 11 : “Seek - through prayer and meditation - to improve your conscious contact with God as you understand God, praying only for knowledge of God’s will and the power to carry it out.” Staying connected is how you stay on the wagon. Constant,...

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” Only card-carrying Christians get to go to heaven? Not so fast. This statement has nothing to do with religion. Nothing whatsoever, for Jesus did not come to start a new religion.  “Are you saying it does’t matter what people believe?” I didn’t say that. “Are you saying that all religions are the same?” I did...

"I am the resurrection and the life." - Jesus in John 11:25 Martha says to Jesus as he arrives too late to save her brother Lazarus, "Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died." Mary says the same thing to Jesus.  Jesus had let them down. More so, God’s chosen one had let them down. Thus, God had let them down. But who has not been disappointed with God? Who hasn’t wanted - a...

Maybe the cowboy is the consummate American. Driven. All in with big, thunderous, stampeding noise. Armed to the teeth, fighting, pushing, and eating everything from the head to the hoof on the promise of big payday. “I am the good cowboy.” Jesus wouldn’t say that. He couldn’t! Not in the stereotypical way. But he could say, “I am the good shepherd.” The cowboy consumes. The shepherd cares. The co...

Jesus said, "I am the gate." He didn’t speak of religion, sacraments, denominations, rituals, or even the Bible . He spoke of himself.  If we take Jesus at his word, and if he is the living in-the-flesh representation of all that God is,  then Jesus is enough. I am not anti-religion or anti-establishment, per se. I am simply pro-Jesus, and believe that our universe of faith revolves around the liv...

Consider the sun: It protects us, orders out time and the seasons. It provides what is needed for plants to grow, thus giving us air to breathe. It warms the oceans and keep the water currents moving. It is the basis of all agriculture. It disinfects our water. It provides renewable, abundant energy for life. It creates the gravity that keeps us grounded. When Jesus says, “I am the light of the wo...

In this second part of the Ronnie's series on the gospel of John and Jesus' "I Am" statements, he turns to John 6 where Jesus says, "I Am the bread of life." Jesus offered his listeners, and his readers today, a fulfillment beyond their shallow or misguided desires.

This is an introduction to the Gospel of John, Part 1 of 8: Of all the books in the New Testament, the Gospel of John sits unto itself. There is nothing else quite like it in the Christian Scriptures. Its most unique feature is its focus. From John 6:29: “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.” AndvJohn 20:31: This book was written “so that you may continue to be...

This is my motivational talk for 2026. “You cannot possibly make a difference,” will be whispered into your year, shouted at your face, and felt within the deepest part of your heart this coming year. But you can make a difference for "one little starfish." For one little classroom of school children; in one little corner of the community; with your one and only family. Lasting differences are har...

In A World Where You Can Be Anything...Be Kind. This is Ronnie's take on the Bethlehem Innkeeper, with assistance from Frederick Buechner.

In this conclusion to Ronnie's 9-Part series on The Serenity Prayer, the last word is happiness. "So that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with him forever and ever in the next:" Is the last line of the prayer. And this prayer shows us this way, if we are willing to surrender our wills to that Power greater than ourselves.

"I really thought I had come up with something a few years ago. But it wasn’t me. It wasn’t John Lennon either, no matter what you read on the Internet. It was Brazilian writer and journalist Fernando Sabino: 'Everything will be okay in the end; and if it’s not okay, then it’s not the end.' "This is my faith. This is my hope. This is what keeps me going, keeps me believing, keeps me looking toward...