Author: Jon Gauger

We love happy endings: In our books In our movies In our lives. It’s not that we’re pollyannish. We know life isn’t fair. The girl doesn't always get the guy. The job we're confident is God's will often eludes us. The cancer we pray would go into remission does so. Only to return and claim our loved one. Poised at the edge of a new year while glancing back at the old, this fascination of ours with happy endings is brought into sharp, even painful, focus. And here’s the brutal biblical truth: Nowhere in Scripture are we ever urged to…

Do you make a Christmas wish list? This year, we didn’t get around to it until Monday of this week. As in five days before Christmas (no sense in rushing these things, right?). The discipline of putting pen to paper brought to mind a question. What if, instead of just Diana and me sitting there in the family room, Jesus was there, too? And what if He decided to hand each of us a wish list? What would we find? I suspect the Son of God would not ask for a pair of new sandals or an updated robe. If…

Small gifts matter. Check out this email from my friend, Jack:   Peppermint bark in a metal tin. That—and a Christmas card—were in one hand as I knocked on the door with the other. It was just a small gift. With the house cloaked in afternoon shadows, the window's reflection made it difficult to see if Mark was home. Mark lives a few doors down from us, but he’s been existing in a world far from ours: grief. When at last I saw someone behind the door glass, it was not the face of Mark, the home repair guy we…

You've heard there's a national coin shortage, a computer chip shortage, a cream cheese shortage (I'm not joking), and a truck driver shortage. Supposedly, there's also a shortage of Christmas trees—real and fake—and we can likely expect another toilet paper shortage soon. To this list, add one more: a shortage of people who care to listen to others. Everybody loves a conversation. But hardly anybody likes to listen. Perhaps you’ve had the experience of asking someone about their day—and then been fire-hosed with a ten-minute monologue. (Of course, you’ve never done that, have you?). Despite Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, people…

With Thanksgiving in the rearview mirror, it was time to set up our Christmas manger scene. Slot A met Tab B, and the white cut-out boards snapped together in no time. The final touch—a white floodlight to illuminate Jesus and the manger scene. Having shoved the plastic fixture into the lawn, I connected the extension cords, turned the light switch and…nothing. A quick examination revealed a crack that was more than a little suspicious. Time to replace it. We found a new fixture at Home Depot the next day, and I eagerly threaded the floodlight into the socket. We turned…

Just an average-looking envelope. Not so much as a scribble on it. But inside was a ring. A wedding ring? It sure seemed that way to Laura, a neighbor lady. She'd found it in the street, not far from our home, while out for a walk with her dog. The ring bore a tiny inscription suggesting it was a gift from Gabe. But Gabe who? There are 50 some houses on our street. Though we know many of the neighbors, we surely don’t know them all. And what proof was there that it belonged to anyone on our street, anyway?…

We are just back from a trip to Israel. In eight days of audio and video recording, we interviewed 18 different people for some upcoming Moody Radio specials. Among them is a guy named Nizar Touma. He is pastor of the church of the Nazarene in the heart of Nazareth. If you’ve never been there, here’s what would likely surprise you if you were to visit Jesus’ hometown today. First, Nazareth is noisy. It's a city of nearly 80,000 with all the bustle and business of a busy place. Indeed, Nazareth is the largest Arab city in all of Israel….

Nobody wants to stick out. Everybody wants to blend in. That’s the mantra of a middle school kid. Unfortunately, it’s also the way many of us approach our faith as we navigate our culture. We don’t want to make waves, ruffle feathers, or stick out in any way.  And that's a problem. Because Scripture calls us to be separate from the world. In 2 Corinthians. 6:17, we hear God calling: "Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate," says the Lord. What exactly does it mean to be separate? Godly Christians haven’t always agreed. But we know the Almighty…

Did you know that within 24 hours of the United Nations' declaration of Israel's statehood, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Syria launched a full-scale attack? Did you know that nearly 30 countries—including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Libya, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Somalia, and North Korea—still do not recognize Israel as a nation? Did you know that Arab leaders have publicly stated they want to “throw the Jews into the sea?” Did you know that in 2017, Iran constructed a large clock that is right now counting down to what they hope will be the end of Israel’s existence? Did you know that Hamas fired more than…

In Richard Matheson’s novel, The Shrinking Man, the lead character Scott Carey is exposed to a radioactive cloud causing him to begin shrinking. In just months, he loses three inches in height and continues to get smaller—to the point a Black Widow spider pursues him in his own basement. John the Baptist’s life exemplifies a different kind of shrinking. When comparing himself to Jesus Christ, John declares, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).  Could seven words possibly pack more punch? Ours is an age of shallow slogans and empty talking points. But when John the Baptist made…