Ronnie McBrayer

Good News...Not So Good, Part 1

In this first of two talks from Luke 4, Ronnie says: "When Jesus comes  preaching about 'releasing the captives' and 'setting the oppressed free' and 'God’s good favor' coming to us, it is good news...so long as it us. But when come come to understand that Jesus' intent is to spread his grace to 'them," - not just 'us' - all those people we have spent our lifetimes being suspicious of, if not outright hating, then the good news may not sound so good after all."

”Doctor, My Eyes”

After an interruption from a Covid outbreak at home, Ronnie is backwash his fifth year of podcasts! This talk, taking its title from Jackson Browne, is an appeal to look and see, to stop and listen, as God speaks to us in the Creation around us. Ronnie asks, "Have we grown so world-weary and tired that we have lost our vision? Have we grown so cynical and soured by the awfulness of what we humans do to each other, and how we act, that we can’t hear the beauty of Creation - thus we can’t hear God, if we are persons of faith? Maybe we need our eyes doctored and our ears opened to see and hear the goodness of God."

The Day After

With what a listener called one of the "most provocative, thoughtful messages I've heard from him over the years," Ronnie talks about moving on - into the new year to come. Based on Isaiah 65, he encourages listeners to believe that "the ones who have been harmed, hurt, and battered in the past, are the very ones who will rebuild a future." Things may never go back to the way they were, but things will go on - and so will we.
PS - Ronnie credits the "provocative, thoughtful" nature of this talk to new doses of albuterol. :-)

WWHD? A Path to Peace

WWHD? What Would Hilda Do?
Synthesizing the final Sunday of Advent with a remembrance of his dear friend Hilda McDonald, Ronnie plots a path to personal peace in spite of these chaotic times. 

”Let‘s Get This Over With:” Facing a Blue Christmas

"Let's get this over with." That's what Elvis Presley said just before recording the now classic Christmas song, "Blue Christmas." In this talk Ronnie talks about how the holidays can have that exact effect on us, but how we can still find lasting joy for this season and beyond.

”Hope Is A Thing With Feathers...”

This talk fuses the Apostle Paul with Emily Dickinson and the need of all our hearts: Hope. Using Dickinson's image of hope as a bird that sings and Paul's encouragement that God finishes the work that God begins, Ronnie delivers timely words for Advent and beyond. 

Take Me to the River, Part 2

Ronnie concludes his talk on the story of Naaman and Elisha from 2 Kings 5, focusing on gratitude - and how it is often the best medicine to cure what ails us.

Take Me To The River, Part 1

The story of Naaman and Elisha falls on our ears like a simple Sunday school tale. Yet, it's far more tangled than that. Based on 2 Kings 5, this is the first part in Ronnie's exploration of Naaman's healing, the complexities that surround the story, and the implications for each of us today.

”Sick and Tired,” Part 2

In the second part of his talk, "Sick and Tired" - which could be subtitled, "A Deal With the Devil," Ronnie talks about consequence, shares thoughts on divine punishment, and how we all come to a crossroads with the choice to wipe the slate clean. Legendary bluesman Robert Johnson is featured as well.

”Sick and Tired,” Part 1

Visiting the man at the pool of Bethesda and connecting that story from the Gospels with Fannie Lou Hamer and how we all desire change, Ronnie talks about how we must become "sick and tired of being sick and tired" before real transformation is possible.