Ronnie McBrayer

Ronnie launches a three-part series of talks based on the agricultural parables of Jesus from Matthew 13. Using the words of Jesus, the vocation of farming, and quoting Canadian poet Brian Brett - Ronnie speaks about "farming as a profession of hope." He says: "I want you to become a farmer. There is a life and life-giving life that you can take on as a craft, a profession, a hopeful vocation to g...

Taking a reading from the conclusion of Paul's letter to the Galatians, Ronnie addresses mytical experience and the Apostle's "stigmata." Ronnie says, "To be a stigmatic in Medieval time was to be a mystic. To be stigmatized today would be an act of shame and disgrace. But as understood by Paul, his stigma was a mark of legitimacy...Few of us are persecuted. Our pluralistic world may make us uncom...

In a talk that weaves the words of Jesus from Matthew 7:24-29 with the life of the late Keith Whitley and personal experience, Ronnie speaks to addiction, on behalf of those who love someone in addiction, and finding "rock bottom." 

Returning to the Book of Ecclesiastes, Ronnie concludes his mini-series entitled, "A Tale of Two Tales," this episode focusing on the brevity and urgency of life. He says, " Taken all together - the serendipities and the disappointments - the victories and the tragedies - the joy and the grieving - the successes and the setbacks - all that we gain and all that we lose - we acquire an awareness, as...

With readings from Ecclesiastes 1 and 5, Ronnie continues his impromptu series, "A Tale of Two Tales." Beyond the science of "what" and when" - as it relates to life and creation - Ronnie turns to the spiritual questions of "why" and "what?" Why are we here? What is the meaning of this life? He says, "Science can tell us with more and more detail HOW life happens, but it cannot tell us WHY. It doe...

This is a recording from several months ago when Ronnie and Garet McHugh hosted a Q and A on the book Daniel; how it is almost exclusively treated as predictive material by evangelical readers; and how systems of interpretation determine one's faith and practice. This episode is a bit longer than most on this podcast, but helpful for those restructuring their view of the Old Testament prophets. An...

In this second part of "A Tale of Two Tales," Ronnie continues his discussion of Genesis 1 and 2, fusing with it the Creation Psalms (8, 19, and 33), and summary of the Church's ongoing - but necessary - suspicion of science. Ronnie says, "We live in a universe so vast - so massive - that we cannot comprehend it. It is useless, almost, to even share the data. Yet, the cosmos has been this enormous...

"The story of Genesis 1 and 2 is a story of two stories, a tale of two tales, about creation," so Ronnie proposes in this first of two talks on the subject. Ronnie invites 21st Century believers and skeptics to consider anew the questions being asked and answered at the outset of the Hebrew Scriptures. Straight to the point, he says: "We cannot read these two chapters literally; the people who wro...

From Ronnie's talk on Acts 2 for Pentecost Sunday: "A major challenge - a genuine problem when it comes to our religious institutions - is predictability. Everything can be so rote, mechanical. Expected. Boring, if you like. Dead. No joy, no laughter, no life. I’m not saying churches or denominations should intentionally 'mix it up,' or that they should throw out their liturgy or their well-establ...

"Acts 1, traditionally read on Ascension Sunday, is not about Jesus floating away into the ether. This is a story about power; a story about a different kind of power, a power opposite of today’s brand of pseudo-Christianity driven by ambition (which is the same violence that fueled the Crusades). The moment one uses force, coercion, strong-arm tactics, or manipulation in the name of Jesus, that i...

Fusing the cautionary tale of Jesus from Matthew 18 with the prophetic words of the late Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, Ronnie speaks of "teaching our children well." This talk sounds an alarm on the dangers of hate, how it is passed along to younger generations, and how we all have a role - a duty - to resist it.

In a talk spanning from Thomas Cahill's summary of ancient Ireland to what William Miller playfully calls, "Refrigerator Rights," Ronnie speaks from Acts 2:42-47 on the importance of genuine community: "Even if you have just one, two or three others - a precious few, whose hearts are bound together with yours on the journey - it becomes enough to get you through the hardest of times. It will be en...

Two of Jesus' disciples took to walking the road to Emmaus (Luke 24) with the blues. Their journey ended with the unexpected. Ronnie says, "This is one of the more remarkable post-resurrection accounts in the New Testament. There are so many opinions, interpretations, applications, observations, and themes here. It is like the proverbial blind men reaching out to describe an elephant. we can only...

Speaking from 1 Peter 1:3-9, Ronnie talks about the role of struggle and suffering in our lives: "There is no gold without the fire. There is no remaking or remolding without the hammer and the anvil...There are no short cuts; no quick fixes; no easy exits. The only challenge is making it today - not tomorrow or next week; the only task is what is - not what could be, might be, or should of been;...

“The Dream of the Rood” is an ancient Christian poem, written in Old Anglo-Saxon English. It is a story-telling, meaning-making, Jesus-explaining tale that was shared by word of mouth in a time when Anglo-Saxons, largely could not read - and they certainly didn’t have a runic translation of the Bible. We don’t know who wrote this poem. It’s likely we will never know. But if you are an English-spea...

From the Palm Sunday Reading of Matthew 26, and based on a song by the legendary Woody Guthrie, Ronnie takes an off-center look at Judas Iscariot. He says, "All the disciples believed that Jesus going to Jerusalem at Passover was for the purpose of pulling some messianic rabbit out of his hat. Now, the kingdom would come, as Jesus, like Clark Kent, would explode from a phone booth, revealing his s...

"Can these bones live again?" That is the question put to the Prophet Ezekiel in Ezekiel 37 as he looked over a valley of skeletal remains. Ezekiel cannot answer, because there is nothing he can do. He can only entrust God with all future possibilities. If there will be life in the afterword of disaster, it will be because of what God knows and what God does. Ronnie says of this encounter, "When w...

Speaking from Psalm 19 and the Hebrew Proverbs, Ronnie brings his "Simplify" series to a conclusion, inviting us all to simplify our speech: "It’s perennial wisdom. When it comes to talking, less is more. If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all previous doubt. Nowhere is simplification more applicabl...

In this seventh of eight talks entitled, "Simplify, Simplify," Ronnie says, "Let’s talk about boundaries today. Let’s talk about disentangling our entanglements. Let’s talk about defending ourselves against being pulled into things we have no business being pulled into. Let’s talk about setting healthy limits that will reduce the probability of us being hurt, harmed, poisoned or generally stressed...

Part 8: Paul's Theology and Legacy No single individual outside of Jesus of Nazareth has been more influential within Christianity than Paul the Apostle. After his radical conversion he became the church’s most zealous missionary. Without his travels and letters, Christianity would be much different than the version we have inherited today. Join Ronnie as he leads this eight-part study on “The Lif...

This is Part 6 of Ronnie's latest series of talks entitled: "Simplify. Simplify." The subject is stress, and how to lighten our emotional and spiritual burdens in this ill-managed, tumultuous world. Based on Philippians 4, Ronnie follows the Apostle Paul's advice: "Be Glad. Be Gentle. Say Grace. Seek the Good." This is no silver bullet, no magic formula or elixir. It is a way of living, and it tak...

Part 7: "Spanish Speculation" (Paul's Release, Further Travels, Re-Arrest, and Death) No single individual outside of Jesus of Nazareth has been more influential within Christianity than Paul the Apostle. After his radical conversion he became the church’s most zealous missionary. Without his travels and letters, Christianity would be much different than the version we have inherited today. Join R...

This is Part 5 of Ronnie's latest series of talks entitled: "Simplify. Simplify." Ronnie talks about the "success" in this talk, a visit with Jesus and Martha (Luke 10:38-42), Martha the struggling and suffering perfectionist. In a talk that became deeply personal, Ronnie said: "The more quiet and more still we become - the more we are able to know and experience the love of Christ. His perfect lo...

Part 6: "When in Rome..." (Paul's Arrest and Journey to Italy) No single individual outside of Jesus of Nazareth has been more influential within Christianity than Paul the Apostle. After his radical conversion he became the church’s most zealous missionary. Without his travels and letters, Christianity would be much different than the version we have inherited today. Join Ronnie as he leads this...

This is Part 4 of Ronnie's latest series of talks entitled: "Simplify. Simplify." Ronnie talks about the "seasons of life" in this talk (Psalm 90), specifically two seasons, the two halves of life. In the first half, we are striving. We are working on our edifice, our image, the container of life. We seek accomplishment. We seek our people, our place. We have much to prove; demonstrating to oursel...