Author: Jon Gauger

They want you to feel relaxed. They want you to feel like you're in a friend's living room. But you're not.   You are in a surgical waiting room.  You and fifty others, doing everything to avoid thinking about the surgery your loved one is undergoing. On a sofa-like chair, one woman knits what appears to be a soft baby blanket.  An older gentleman is playing Sudoku, while his wife is engaged in a computer laptop version of Solitaire. Off to the side, a woman sips coffee, staring pensively into the cavernous room.  Another lady scribbles crayons in a kids' coloring…

Hi, my name is Jon and I have a new strategy for world evangelization–let me explain. I believe we could reach a sizeable percentage of the world for Christ…if Christians started acting like Christ around service people. What do I mean by “service people.”? It's the guy that fixes your car. It's the lady with the accent that gives you your coffee at Dunkin' Donuts.  Service people.  I'm thinking about the waitress at your favorite restaurant hang-out.  The busboy that fills your water glass repeatedly—because you're so thirsty. Give it a moment's thought, and you'll think of a bunch of…

When it comes to our kids, no name is apparently too special.  A recent article in the “The Week” confirms parents are no longer content naming their kids from a list of—quote–familiar names.  James, Kathy and Robert are out.   Aiden, Emma, and Gunner are in.  Christopher is more likely to go by “Topher.”   And even familiar names must now be spelled uniquely. Those who track names as a profession tell us that an emerging trend is to give your child a LAST name for his or her first name.  Hence the rise of names like Wilson and Taylor.  There is…

I’m thinking of someone I love.  Someone on one of the branches of our family tree.  Because this person sort of intimidates me, I am friendly in person, yet don’t go out of my way to fully engage in conversation or in other social settings.  We are polite, genial, and…not as comfortable with each other as I might wish. I suspect this might be a reliable snapshot—or at least, analogy—of how many of us feel about the Holy Spirit.  We know the Holy Spirit, the third member of the Godhead.  But we’re sort of intimidated by Him.  We’re polite, but…

The election is coming!  The election is coming!  To hear some folks, the outcome of the upcoming election will determine whether the human race…and planet earth itself…will survive. Don't get me wrong.  I'm concerned about the election, too.  I look forward to fulfilling my patriotic responsibility and casting a vote.  I'm researching the candidates, studying the issues.   But my concern about this election is much bigger than which candidate wins the White House, or which party controls congress. My concern is that too many Christians view this election just like non-Christians: we put way too much hope in it. To…

Halloween. Like it or not, the season is here. Christians can disagree over whether it's okay to dress up or go trick or treating.  But I am not interested in that discussion at the moment.  My focus is much more fundamental.  I want to talk about evil itself.  The evil that is increasingly celebrated at Halloween. The “Spirit” chain of Halloween stores has grown from 63 in 1999 to nearly a thousand this year!  In our neighborhoods, many homes now put more effort into decorating for Halloween than they do Christmas. The other day I passed a car with a…

When did America begin to self-destruct spiritually?  Do you ever wonder?  I have.   Ask ten people and you'll get ten answers. Some say it began in the 60s with the Beatles and permissive parenting.  That lead to drugs, free sex and a general contempt for authority.  Others say, “No, it began before that.  It was the 50s—think Elvis and his wild hip gyrations.”  Some point to the roaring 20s, with speakeasies and crime sprees and dime novels with questionable characters. But Harvard historian Dani Shapiro offers a disturbing piece of evidence that dates much earlier yet.  It was the year…

Leadership.  It's quite a buzz lately in Christian circles.  Have you noticed all the leadership chatter? Consider the enormous popularity of Christian publications like… Leadership Gold Leadership Journal magazine. Then there are all those Leadership conferences. But go ahead and Google Christian conferences on “Following Christ”…and you won't find much.   Following lacks the flash and fun of being a leader.  And, in my opinion, therein lies the danger. Now hear me carefully.  I'm not saying we don't need leaders, or that there shouldn't be any new training for leadership.  But I AM saying I think our current emphasis is probably…

By now news from the London Olympics is so old, it's not even in the rear view mirror.   We've moved on.  There’s a presidential election just before us…the NFL season is in full swing—complete with the REAL refs… These are the headlines that now dominate our attention. But a misstep in marketing takes me across the pond nearly every day.  Let me explain.  At the train station that I walk there lingers a set of illuminated photos of Olympic hopefuls–the heart of a bank's advertising campaign. The campaign’s idea was to suggest that in choosing the bank on the sign…you’d…

Recently, my wife and I sat down with our three year old granddaughter to watch the 1973 Disney animated classic, “Robin Hood.”  If you haven't seen the film—or it's been awhile—it's quite charming in every regard. As we sat there with Joslynn, giggling at all the onscreen antics, I was struck with an observation.   Though the storyline is a classic, and Robin Hood, Maid Marion, and the whole cast are delightfully depicted, it was the lesser characters that grabbed my attention. They are so well developed, so carefully crafted that I found myself looking forward to their every appearance.  For…