Author: John Braun
In the upper room, Jesus told his disciple a great deal about what was soon to happen. He told them, “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now be...
Scripture is the revelation of God—his message from above to all of us here below. Its primary message is the gospel, and that’s the power to open our under...
Perhaps Shakespeare’s tragedy, Julius Caesar, brought the idea of the Ides of March to English speakers. Without his play, it seems that March 15 might not be...
A few weeks ago when I was taking a walk, I passed a car with the license plate “PVB 3V5.” It dawned on me that the plate was a Christian confession that re...
The Bible is God’s revelation. It’s not speculation. God’s revelation focuses on one person—Jesus Christ. Many have asked why an itinerant preacher two ...
Birthday parties for family members are most often special events—the candles, the cake, the presents, and then the pictures. Years later we trot out the pict...
We spent a couple of days in the northern part of Wisconsin. The leaves were green at home when we left. When we arrived, the trees were mostly green except for...
“Our Father in heaven.” So Jesus taught us his prayer. It’s actually our prayer. It begins, “Our Father.” Yet we say it so often it might have become ...
I’m looking out my study window this morning. The grass is green. The birds are flying from branch to branch. The robins are hopping on the grass to find lunc...
Christians often live quiet, humble lives, but their lives matter. How do we measure the value and importance of a Christian life? We gravitate to those who hav...
This is my third or fourth try at this thought. The past months have brought all kinds of things to mind: first, COVID-19, then the protests, the violence, and ...
It’s been a test for us all. It included self-quarantine and social distancing. All the while businesses were closed, and contacts with friends and family bec...
Good job and thank you! I thought this but couldn’t say it to everyone I thought should hear it. As I write this, we have been asked—mandated—to avoid unn...
As I write this thought, we are all concerned about the spread of a virus that has already killed thousands. Events and responses change day to day and sometime...
“Don’t forget, you’re going to die,” the message on the screen read. It was from an app that sends five e-mails each day with the sober reminder that de...
Christianity is not just a label, a category, or a space to be filled in for some pollster. We are named after Christ. The shepherds heard the angels identify t...
Seeing the little baby in the manger at Christmas fills us all with joy and wonder. It is a universal experience because we have all looked with joy and wonder ...
I admit that sometimes when I read the epistles of the New Testament, I easily skip over the first couple of verses. In those verses, Paul, who wrote most of th...
John A. Braun What does God see and know about us humans? We often think that he has forgotten us, but God sees all that we have done, all that every human has ...
Christians have dual citizenship. We are children of God and part of his kingdom, yet we still call this world home. John A. Braun We got off the plane and head...
John A. Braun The presence of Thanksgiving at the end of every November helps us to pause and count our blessings. That exercise will be repeated this year as w...