Ronnie McBrayer
266 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 days ago - ★★★★★ - 21 ratingsPodcast of author, speaker, pastor, and spiritual teacher Ronnie McBrayer. This is his collection of talks, interviews, insights from the Enneagram, and conversations with friends on the ever-changing, ever-evolving nature of faith. It is especially for those who are “burned out on religion” - to quote Eugene Peterson’s marvelous paraphrase; for spiritual exiles; and those whose faith is in transition.
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Episodes
Crosswords: How the Cross of Jesus Reveals the Love of God, Part5
March 31, 2022 23:56 - 26 minutes - 24.1 MBIn episode five of "Crosswords: How the Cross of Jesus Reveals the Love of God," Ronnie talks about the importance and impact of an overlooked view of the cross called, "Moral Exemplar." Ronnie describes it like this: "The death of Jesus was such an act of loving sacrifice, such a far-reaching, world-transforming, relationship-changing event - that if understood even remotely - then Jesus’ example of all encompassing love would break our hearts open to love in return."
Crosswords: How the Cross of Jesus Reveals the Love of God, Part 4
March 18, 2022 22:49 - 25 minutes - 23.6 MBRonnie's continuing exploration of the cross of Jesus arrives at what scholars call, "Christus Victor;" summarized best by Irenaeus, who was born not long after the first Apostles died, said: “[in Jesus] God came to Earth that he might kill sin, deprive death of its power, restore life and freedom to all humanity, and raise a monument of victory.” But this is not a stuffy, theological lecture. Ronnie uses contemporary examples to help us think about how the victory of Christ works itself out...
Crosswords: How the Cross of Jesus Reveals the Love of God, Part 3
March 13, 2022 23:38 - 23 minutes - 21.9 MBIn his third installment of "Crosswords: How the Cross of Jesus Reveals the Love of God," Ronnie reaches for the oldest image Christian faith used to understand the death of Jesus. From the oldest Gospel, the words of Jesus himself: "The Son of Man did not come to be served. He came to serve others and to give his life as a ransom .” Ronnie explores how the cross "works" as a ransom, liberating us to live in freedom.
Crosswords: How the Cross of Jesus Reveals the Love of God, Part 2
March 04, 2022 16:58 - 22 minutes - 20.3 MBThis is Ronnie's second installment of a series on the Cross of Jesus. It could be sub-titled, "Love and Scandal." Using provocative, contemporary examples, Ronnie talks about the "foolishness of the cross." From the talk: "Could you for a minute get your mind around the fact that a military and political prisoner, taken in the land of our enemies, and executed by the world’s superpower, is the hope for the world? Or would you find such a story to be so far out of bounds, that the only concl...
Crosswords: How the Cross of Jesus Reveals the Love of God
February 24, 2022 02:55 - 24 minutes - 22 MBIn what promises to be a thought-provoking, belief-behind series of talks, Ronnie has launched a series on the meaning behind the Cross of Jesus. In this introductory talk, Ronnie points to Divine Love as the energizing force behind the "sacrifice of Jesus." Ronnie says, "Jesus did not come to save us from God - but to show us who God is. So, whatever happened on that hill outside Jerusalem all those years ago, it wasn’t God torturing his Son. Love cannot do that. It wasn’t God committing a...
Crosswords: How the Cross of Jesus Reveals the Love of God, Part 1
February 24, 2022 02:55 - 24 minutes - 22 MBIn what promises to be a thought-provoking, belief-behind series of talks, Ronnie has launched a series on the meaning behind the Cross of Jesus. In this introductory talk, Ronnie points to Divine Love as the energizing force behind the "sacrifice of Jesus." Ronnie says, "Jesus did not come to save us from God - but to show us who God is. So, whatever happened on that hill outside Jerusalem all those years ago, it wasn’t God torturing his Son. Love cannot do that. It wasn’t God committing a...
Good News...Not So Good, Part 2
February 18, 2022 01:47 - 26 minutes - 23.9 MBIn this conclusion of a two-part talk from Luke 4, Ronnie says: "We live in such an entitled, selfish, self-centered society, that when we begin to broach the subjects of concern and care for others, patient assistance, breaking the cycles of poverty and violence, intervening to help the 'least of these,' of intentionally taking sides with the weak - the very crux of what Christianity looks like when practiced publicly - it is dismissed as Pollyanna at best or Marxism at worst. I get it; I k...
Good News...Not So Good, Part 1
February 09, 2022 20:53 - 24 minutes - 22.1 MBIn 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”
February 04, 2022 21:32 - 21 minutes - 20.1 MBAfter 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...
The Day After
January 05, 2022 19:35 - 24 minutes - 22 MBWith 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 ...
WWHD? A Path to Peace
December 21, 2021 17:45 - 21 minutes - 19.3 MBWWHD? 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
December 16, 2021 16:20 - 23 minutes - 21.5 MB"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...”
December 10, 2021 23:58 - 26 minutes - 23.9 MBThis 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
December 01, 2021 17:23 - 31 minutes - 29.1 MBRonnie 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
November 25, 2021 01:07 - 27 minutes - 24.9 MBThe 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
November 04, 2021 16:12 - 27 minutes - 24.7 MBIn 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
November 04, 2021 15:59 - 26 minutes - 24 MBVisiting 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.
Try Something Different: Surrender, Part 8
October 22, 2021 00:20 - 25 minutes - 23.5 MBIn this conclusion to his series of talks on "letting go," Ronnie talks about surrendering the future: "Make your plans - sure. Set some goals. That’s good. Use some common sense and apply some hard-earned wisdom. You’re going to need that. And then, when all your plans are made, your goals have been adapted to melodic slogans and website catch-phrases, and you have wisely and sincerely anticipated every possible outcome - make sure it’s all written in pencil. Nothing will happen as you thin...
Try Something Different: Surrender, Part
October 22, 2021 00:20 - 25 minutes - 23.5 MBIn this conclusion to his series of talks on "letting go," Ronnie talks about surrendering the future: "Make your plans - sure. Set some goals. That’s good. Use some common sense and apply some hard-earned wisdom. You’re going to need that. And then, when all your plans are made, your goals have been adapted to melodic slogans and website catch-phrases, and you have wisely and sincerely anticipated every possible outcome - make sure it’s all written in pencil. Nothing will happen as you thin...
Try Something Different: Surrender, Part 7
October 13, 2021 19:21 - 29 minutes - 27 MB"One of the hardest things to let go of is the past, because surrendering the past usually involves forgiveness...Forgiveness doesn’t mean that what happened to you is now and suddenly, okay. It means that you are giving up your power to make it, okay. Forgiveness doesn’t mean that justice should not be sought. It means that achieving justice is ultimately out of your hands. Forgiveness doesn’t mean the past will never hurt you again. It means you have decided to stop hurting others - or you...
Try Something Different: Surrender, Part 6
October 04, 2021 15:04 - 29 minutes - 26.6 MB"God said it, I believe it, and that settles it!” God might have said it - but now God is unsaying it. Or maybe God didn’t say it at all? Maybe we were just told that God said it. Maybe there is more fluidity to belief than foundation. Maybe there is more mystery and movement to our convictions than surety and certainty. Maybe keeping the faith is more about staying on the path - Jesus is the way, you know, a moving, traveling, always unfolding journey - than it is about stopping and settli...
Try Something Different: Surrender, Part5
October 02, 2021 15:18 - 27 minutes - 25.3 MBEgo. Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Religious Extremism. Wild Horses. Find out what all these have in common in the fifth installment of Ronnie's current series, "Try Something Different: Surrender."
Try Something Different: Surrender, Part 4
September 22, 2021 14:29 - 24 minutes - 22.1 MB“Look at me…I am the captain now.” That was the iconic and improvised line delivered by Barkhad Abdi to Tom Hanks in the film, "Captain Phillips." It is a line, an attitude, used by us all - not of personal autonomy or personal liberty. It is a question of control. We all want to be in the captain’s chair. Ronnie explores this theme in his fourth installment of the current series.
Try Something Different: Surrender, Part 3
September 15, 2021 14:37 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MBThis is Part 3 of Ronnie's latest series: Try Something Different, Surrender. In this episode Ronnie confronts our "rights-driven" culture, in light of the self-limiting, self-surrendering Jesus. He concludes that to take the attitude of Christ, we must "give up on all we think you deserve...we stop worrying about reputation...about trying to prove something. We stop clinging to our place at the front of the line."
Try Something Different: Surrender, Part2
September 07, 2021 16:03 - 26 minutes - 24.6 MBThis is Part 2 of Ronnie's latest series: Try Something Different, Surrender. He answers these crucial questions: What is Jesus after from us? What does God want? What is it that we need to let go and surrender? The answer to all of these questions is ego and pride. Self-centeredness is the biggest barrier to our spiritual development; the biggest roadblock preventing us from following Jesus and being truly free.
Try Something Different: Surrender, Part 1
August 30, 2021 23:30 - 27 minutes - 25.4 MBDrawing inspiration from Jesus' words to his disciples, the mediations of Meister Eckhart, and an ancient poem by Rumi, Ronnie launches an ambition series of talks entitled: "Try Something Different: Surrender." In this introductory talk, Ronnie speaks to the "how" of surrender and letting go, and the role that suffering plays in our transformation.
"Leaving Evangelicalism:" A Conversation with David Gushee
August 24, 2021 01:29 - 44 minutes - 40.9 MBRonnie has a conversation with ethicist, distinguished professor, author, and pastor Dr. David Gushee. David's new book is entitled, "Leaving Evangelicalism."
6-5-4-3-2-1, Part Two
August 16, 2021 15:53 - 30 minutes - 28.2 MBRonnie completes his thoughts from a previous episode, concentrating on the necessity of surrender as the only means to achieve personal peace.
6-5-4-3-2-1, Part One
August 12, 2021 17:09 - 27 minutes - 25.4 MBRonnie returns and relaunches his podcast after months away recovering from Covid-19. He leads with a question, "When you come up against something that undoes you; that hurts you; that knocks you off your game; that pulls the curtains back on your vulnerabilities and your fragility: What are you going to do?"
Carry Hope In Your Heart, Part 5
March 20, 2021 13:50 - 26 minutes - 24 MBIn his conclusion to the book of Ruth, Ronnie illustrates how hope is the product of God’s work and human will.
Carry Hope In Your Heart, Part 4
March 10, 2021 16:02 - 23 minutes - 21.1 MBIn the fourth installment of his series on the book of Ruth, Ronnie uses events from Naomi and Ruth's life to illustrate that after you have done all you can do, you have to do the hardest thing of all: You have to wait - because waiting is as much a part of hope as working. Sometimes the work is the waiting.
Carry Hope In Your Heart, Part 3
February 08, 2021 16:04 - 23 minutes - 21.1 MBIn his third installment on the Book of Ruth, Ronnie reminds us to throw ourselves on the providence and possibilities of God. But hope is a verb. It moves you. It keeps us pointed in a God-ward direction.
Carry Hope In Your Heart, Part 2
February 08, 2021 15:55 - 21 minutes - 20 MBIn this second installment from the Book of Ruth, Ronnie connects the biblical story to the statesman Vaclaz Havel: "Hope is not optimism. It is a state of mind. It is the certainty that life has meaning, regardless of how it turns out…I am not an optimist, because I am not sure everything will end well. I just carry hope in my heart."
Carry Hope In Your Heart, Part 1
January 29, 2021 01:46 - 17 minutes - 15.8 MBIn this creative introduction to his series on the book of Ruth, Ronnie retells her story in a contemporary context, inviting the listener to reimagine her journey. Carry Hope in Your Heart is a five-part series.
Put Away Your Sword
January 21, 2021 14:03 - 23 minutes - 21.6 MBWith this sincere and earnest talk Ronnie takes on the myth of a Christian nation and the heresy of attempted violence to accomplish some good end.
Bless Your Heart
January 13, 2021 15:21 - 20 minutes - 18.5 MBBeginning with that Southern saying for every occasion and ending with the "Raising of the Hands," Ronnie gives a talk about receiving and extending God's highest blessing.
Winter Is Coming
January 07, 2021 14:32 - 26 minutes - 23.9 MBWith a timely appeal given the New Year, Ronnie reminds listeners of how the seasons of our lives are bound to change - and how time and action are of the essence.
Advent 2020 (4): Mary, Mary Quite Contrary
December 28, 2020 16:10 - 23 minutes - 21.6 MBIn the final talk of his Advent series, and final installment of 2020, Ronnie turns to The Magnificat, Mary’s radical, revolutionary song. Hers is a defiant call to overturn the status quo.
Advent 2020 (3): Does It Bring You Joy?
December 18, 2020 15:24 - 22 minutes - 20.5 MBFor the third week of Advent Ronnie turns to the Psalms and the question of joy. Joy is not so much about what’s going on outside, as is what happens within our hearts.
Advent 2020 (2): "Kiss A Guilty World in Love"
December 09, 2020 16:43 - 21 minutes - 19.9 MBFor the second Sunday of Advent, Ronnie turns to the Psalm 85 with an emphasis on "chesed," the "unfailing love" of God. (Note: Ronnie uses the title of 11 rock-n-roll songs throughout the talk, so listen close.)
Advent 2020 (1): "My Wounded Faith Endures"
December 01, 2020 18:49 - 19 minutes - 18.2 MBFor the first Sunday of Advent, Ronnie uses 1 Corinthians 1 and a series of stories to show that what we call "hope" is not wishful thinking. It is resiliency and perseverance, even when our faith is shaky.
The Power of Love
November 28, 2020 15:28 - 23 minutes - 21.1 MBWhy does the little dog do all the barking? Ronnie answers this question and shows how it relates to each of us, revealing that love is the power that gives us all we need to be at peace.
Proof of Identity
November 17, 2020 12:44 - 22 minutes - 20.4 MB"Who Are You?" We all have an identity: It is the complex - sometimes contradictory - construct that we have built for ourselves. That identity determines how we act and the type of people we become.
Crazy Love
November 12, 2020 21:46 - 21 minutes - 19.3 MBTwo declarations are making their rounds these days: "Everything is Crazy!" and "All We Need Is Love." In this talk, following the words of Paul - with a little help from Van Morrison, Foreigner, and Bonnie Raitt - Ronnie brings the crazy and the love together.
Dreams That You Dream, Part 12
October 28, 2020 14:40 - 22 minutes - 20.3 MBIn his conclusion to the series "Dreams That You Dream" based on the life of Joseph, Ronnie uses Joseph's own words to help us make meaning of our experiences. "You intended to harm me," Joseph told his brothers, "but God intended it all for good."
Dreams That You Dream, Part 11
October 20, 2020 14:19 - 22 minutes - 20.4 MBTyrone Edwards said, “Every parting is a form of death, and every reunion is a type of heaven.” In this episode Ronnie talks about life as it will be - and could be - as heaven is more than a final destination. It is a way of being in the world today.
Dreams That You Dream, Part 10
October 13, 2020 15:55 - 25 minutes - 23.7 MBEnough blood and tears. There comes a time to seek peace and forgiveness, letting past injuries go.
Dreams That You Dream, Part 9
October 07, 2020 16:45 - 22 minutes - 20.9 MB"You got to be tough if you are going to be stupid." This proverb is the hub around which this talk by Ronnie (and again, from the life of Joseph) centers. When we act stupidly, we have to toughen up because our own actions hurt us. The better option is to let our self-inflicted suffering open us up to a liberated way of living.
Dreams That You Dream, Part9
October 07, 2020 16:45 - 22 minutes - 20.9 MB"You got to be tough if you are going to be stupid." This proverb is the hub around which this talk by Ronnie (and again, from the life of Joseph) centers. When we act stupidly, we have to toughen up because our own actions hurt us. The better option is to let our self-inflicted suffering open us up to a liberated way of living.
Dreams That You Dream, Part 8
September 30, 2020 14:39 - 22 minutes - 20.7 MBBeing powerless in the face of injustice is one of the most common and infuriating experiences of being human. But what happens in those rare times when it is within one's power to take revenge? Ronnie explores how Joseph reacted in this exact circumstance in the eighth episode of his current series, "Dreams That You Dream."