Author: Jon Gauger

What does courage look like?  Chiune Sugihara is a name most of us have never heard of.  Yet this man, born in Japan in 1900, is a soul who embodies Christian courage.  Joining a Christian fraternity at his university, Chiune became proficient at learning languages—English, German, Russian—launching him into a career with Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  Bombing Raid  In 1939, his government placed Chiune at the Japanese consulate in Kaunas, Lithuania.  There, he met a Jewish man who had recently fled Poland after a bombing raid had taken the lives of his wife and children.  It was then Chiune…

A comfortable chair, a scenic backdrop—and an all-absorbing book.  That’s what Diana and I call ultimate relaxation.  Reading is a hobby my wife and I share with gusto.  She reads a wide range of devotional books, historical fiction, cookbooks, and a lot about the British monarchy (she could probably earn a haul on Jeopardy).  I read biographies, westerns, action novels (think Clive Cussler), mysteries (John Grisham, Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle) plus Christian writers like Tim Keller, Kyle Idleman, Charles Spurgeon, and J.C. Ryle.  Right now, I'm reading a book by puritan Richard Baxter. I’m learning that any title by…

One of the many reasons most of us dread a trip to the dentist is that the news we get there seems disproportionately negative. Whether it’s a simple dental cleaning (“You need to floss more”) or an X-ray (“that spot suggests a problem”) a dental exam is rarely a good news kind of experience. Open Wide! May I play the role of the dentist-you-dread for just a moment?  Open wide–we’re about to take an exam based on a discomforting hypothesis of mine.  Simply stated, it goes like this: Most of us Christians have a long list of stuff we claim…

“Have I got a story for you!” When my friend, Jack, opens a conversation like that, he usually does.  “Bob sounded upset.  I could tell.” Jack was talking about his friend Bob, whom he has known for nearly 30 years.  For more than 20 of those years, Bob and his wife Betty were Jack’s neighbors.  "If Only I Had More Evidence" During those years, Jack and his wife, Deanna, tried to witness to them, and shared the gospel on several occasions.  But Bob is extraordinarily independent and convinced that God will somehow squash all of his freedom should he yield…

The wonder of children…is their sense of wonder. At three years of age, Lucy is full of wonder.  But the Christmas season has a way of drawing it out, like nothing else. Along with her three siblings, Lucy was intrigued with the idea of visiting a live nativity.  The Ponte Vedra Presbyterian Church of Jacksonville, Florida does it up big.  Think 8,000 square feet of big!  Think thousands of visitors walking about the streets of a recreated city of Bethlehem—some walls towering 20 feet in the air.  Don't be frightened off by all the yelling Hear the sounds of the…

He is every teacher's nightmare—the pain of the preschool, according to my wife, Diana.  Just look for the boy grabbing toys away from others.  Or shoving kids in line.  Or hitting the child that ticks him off.  That's Garrett. He plays too rough. Talks too loud.  Cares too little about anyone or anything other than himself. Having heard so many stories about Garrett, I was most interested in meeting the little tyke as I showed up with my camera bag.  Like Herding Cats My wife has a rich tradition of taking a Christmas class photo in front of a floor-to-ceiling…

It's the one last Christmas gift he invites her to open.  It’s a small box.  Inside, a key.  It goes with the (CUE THE MUSIC) Lexus sitting in their driveway.  The one with the massive red bow on top.   She gives him a look, then a kiss (MUSIC SWELLS), and they roar off down the road happily ever after as the voice-over invites us to get in on the gift giving.  Who DOES this? Am I the only one watching these commercials wondering, “Who DOES this?!   Who gives their wife or husband a Lexus or Lincoln MKZ as a Christmas…

It was just a small pine bough there on the sidewalk.  But I was obliged to pick it up and take it to my office.  I have always loved the smell, the look—even the feel of pine trees.  It must go back to my childhood at Christmastime. To this day, the smell of a pine tree brings back so many happy memories, and whenever I pass by a Christmas tree lot, I like to stand there and just sniff the air.   My favorite restaurant in the entire world is called White Pines and at home you’ll find a soap…

Confession.  I keep some contact names in my Outlook address book even after they have passed away.  A former boss.   A friend.  I just can’t bring myself to delete their names.  For example, there’s this guy I met in the pulpit of a church in Romania. It was one of the first times I ever preached in Ploiesti, the oil producing town an hour north of Bucharest. Stefan (not his real name) stood next to me and translated the message with remarkable ease—despite my rookie ways.  He Never Complained Stefan was not a large man, but he had a huge…

They came from entirely dissimilar cultures. They gathered from opposite sides of the ocean. They spoke languages different from each other. Yet they sat down and enjoyed each other’s company, getting to know each other over a Thanksgiving dinner together.   Something More Current You are perhaps envisioning the Massachusetts meal we know today as the first Thanksgiving. Yet I have in mind something much more current.   I'm thinking of a series of “Thanksgiving meals” we shared days ago in Sofia, Bulgaria at Moody Radio’s Global Partners Training.  More than a hundred Christian media professionals gathered from nearly a…