Author: Jon Gauger

Do you memorize Scripture? Lots of folks don't. And the ones that don't are convinced the ones that do have an easier time with it. When I ask this question about Bible memorization, the most typical responses I get are: “I’ve tried, but just can’t seem to memorize.” “My brain doesn’t work so well anymore.” “Those verses just don’t seem to stick.” However, I have good news! You CAN memorize Scripture—even if (like me) it takes you longer. Much longer! I can relate to those who say, "My brain just doesn't seem to work so well anymore." However, most of…

The invitation said, “You and a guest are invited to an informative seminar that will change how you view and plan for the future!” If that subject line turns you toward retirement savings, annuities, and IRAs, think again. This scintillating seminar is offered at a local funeral home as a complimentary lunch event. You'll forgive the morbid punster in me who came up with a few alternative titles to their lunch-and-learn offer: Burn and Urn Caskets and Ask-its The Grape-ful Dead (assuming fruit is on the lunch menu). Bad puns aside, these helpful folks want me to “understand my options”…

In a stairwell not far from my office is a sign in red letters: Area of Refuge. This is where you’re supposed to go for safety when things turn dangerous. That image came to mind the other day when I read Psalm 2. Verse 12 says of God, “Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.” The thing that struck me is the reality that when faced with a storm—financial, personal, marital—any storm, we have a choice in what we designate as our refuge. I'd not given it much thought, but every storm brings a choice: Where ya gonna go…

Sunday morning. My wife and I have guests sitting with us at church: four-year-old Emma and seven-year-old Ava. Both are busy drawing. With a few magical strokes of her pencil, Ava transforms a blue prayer card into a canvas featuring a decidedly happy elephant. On the reverse side of the card, Ava prints her name and identifies the subject of her sketch: “Elofint.” How can you not smile? Young children are notorious for spelling words phonetically or looking at life literally. They also take extraordinary Bible promises at face value, without the slightest doubt. Probing questions here and there—yes—but cynicism…

As we step into the blackness of the torched home, my feet crunch over tiny bits of brokenness: broken furniture, broken roof tiles, broken glass. Wires and duct work dangle from the ceiling, while the melted blades of a ceiling fan droop like a sad version of Bugs Bunny. We are in Kibbutz Be'eri, one of twenty or so little communities attacked by the 3,000 Hamas terrorists who besieged Israel on October 7. Omri Kedem was here when the gunmen stormed in that Saturday morning. Hustling into their safe room, the family heard repeated shouts and banging on the door….

We are seated in comfortable chairs in a comfortable conference room. But I have rarely been less comfortable. Seated next to me at Jerusalem's Ministry of Foreign Affairs is Dr. Ayelet Levi-Shachar, a woman we have come to interview. She is the mother of a vivacious 19-year-old daughter (a triathlete, no less) named Naama. On October 6, Naama traveled from home to a Kibbutz in southern Israel, where she spent the night. Early Saturday morning that kibbutz was attacked by Hamas. She was hit in the leg with shrapnel. When Naama resisted capture, she was dragged by her hair, thrown…

She flipped the switch—but the lights didn’t come on.    The day we left for Florida, half of our kitchen lights decided to go on strike. My wife tried exercising the light switches and I checked the breaker box. No evidence of anything gone wrong.    I scanned the web for possible causes and fixes. Though I’m no electrician, I knew I could at least buy identical switches and replace the old ones, should they have worn out. This, I did. Alas, we were still in the dark (in more ways than one).    That’s when a friend at church…

It’s a phrase that has reached the top of the religiously acceptable food chain: “person of faith.” Online, on television, or in podcasts, you cannot escape the phrase: Did you know the quarterback is a person of faith? That singer is definitely a person of faith. But am I the only one wary of this increasingly popular expression? I'm not trying to pick a fight, but it bugs me. Why? In current American culture, saying your faith got you through is okay. But it is not okay to say that Jesus got you through. We're okay with religion in a fuzzy,…

The wind knocked my hat off, though the Captain—flashing a sly grin—bellowed that we were only using one-third of the Yamaha 250's engine. Eleven-year-old Caleb and I cruised the San Pablo River, Pablo Creek, and St. John’s River—all in search of fish. I smiled, pondering how the disciples might have processed this fishing charter of ours. What would James and John have thought of our fishing rods? Would Judas have stroked his beard in disapproval at our engine's 30-thousand-dollar price tag? Ultimately, we hauled in Trout, Red Fish, and Croakers during that four-hour charter. But not before I was reminded…

January is not prime planting season. But we planted anyway. The story has its—ur—roots back in September. That’s when I discovered some odd-looking pods on the sidewalk. Backlit by the early morning sun, these coiled curiosities looked like snakes ready to strike. I learned these are the seed pods of the Honey Locust tree, and for months, they sat on my garage bench. Finally, I decided to plant some of these seeds. But how? You must shred the pod to get to the seeds (a more arduous task than you might think). Online, I read three very different planting strategies….