Tyler Braun's Blog, page 16

A Season of Giving?

This Christmas slogan is overused by organizations around the world in order to increase their end of year donations: “a season for giving.” That’s quite often the summation of Christmas—simply a season of giving. With this in mind, you can likely think of similar slogans such as “it is better to give than receive.” That one is actually from the Bible (Acts 20:35).

This is universally accepted, at all times of the year, but especially so around Christmas. My church has emphasized Advent Cons...

The Two Christmas Responses

The Gospel of Luke juxtaposes two different responses to God’s deliverance. In being pitted against each other we quickly see how God’s coming pushes people in two directions. The question left for you is simply, which response is yours?

The Doubting One

Luke 1:5-25 recounts the story of Zechariah being told by the angel Gabriel about the birth of his son. This was not just any pregnancy. Zechariah’s wife Elizabeth had not been able to become pregnant for many years (“they were both very old...

Shaken By Ultimate Calamities

Last week as news headlines were again gripped by terror—the new normal in today’s world—I began to wonder why Christians seem to react the same as everyone else: fight for your rights, demonize the supposed enemy, declare war on anyone who disagrees with you. These reactions, based completely on fear, define who we are as people: no longer moving in a direction, instead, only responding through the fear of external forces around us.

You cannot live today without being shaken by the realitie...

A Guide to the Advent Season

Advent is nothing new, even though all the cool kids are talking about it now. Here’s a great in-depth summary of what Advent is. Advent comes from a latin word meaning “coming.” Advent covers the 4 Sundays (starting a few days back) leading up to Christmas, followed by acelebration feast for twelve days, ending in what is known as Epiphany.

Certainly Scripture does not force an observance of the Advent season, but for those who could use some extra structure and focus to their daily devotio...

When Obedience Over Politics Puts You in the Minority

“You are the God who sees me. I have now seen the One who sees me.”

The God of the Bible is the God of the outcast, the helpless, the homeless, and the refugee. In Genesis 16 Hagar flees from her angry boss Sarai. Not long before this moment when Hagar is forced to flee the family compound, Sarai asked Hagar to have sex with Sarai’s husband Abram, in order for the family to have an heir of their own.

After fleeing the abusive situation, Hagarfinds herself all alone, pregnant, needing help. G...

Why I Write Less (among other reasons)

I used to post here six or seven times a week. Then I wrote five days a week. Then three days a week…you see where this is going. Now I’m lucky when I get a post up here once a week.

It’s been a slow fade, but a fade nonetheless.

I have plenty of reasons. Good ones too. I work more. I became a dad to a boy. And then a girl too. And I’m married. Oh and I try to have hobbies that take me away from my screens.

But the real reason lies underneath the surface. Every day I see people publish writi...

To Hell in a Hand Basket

I’ve noticed a common denominator in conversations surrounding me, and conversations I’ve been invited into as well: they start with a current event, and they end with a Christian’s worry about the future. “If things are this bad now, can you imagine how bad they’re going to get?”

I call this Doomsday Theology. It’s the theology imploring for Jesus to return now because things are horrible around here. It’s the theologysaying the church is under attack and we must be prepared for the war. It...

The Problem So Easily Ignored: Race, Education, and Sacrifice

Recently This American Life released two episodes surrounding Ferguson, Michael Brown, and integration within the American education system. Despite the charged issues, the producers created the kind of episode worth listening to: prompting more questions, wondering where you might fit within progression for all sides.

At the heart of the episodes was the question of why American school districts gave up on the integration focus of the 70s and 80s. Test scores from these periods in history s...

Drowning in the Stain: Sexualized Swiping and Hook-Up Culture

In the year 2000, award-winning American novelist Philip Roth published a book titled The Human Stain. The book is a loose continuation of 2 prior books, whose main character follows significant cultural events during his lifetime. The Human Stain follows a college professor named Coleman Silk. Coleman is a fair-skinned black man, who decided in his early 20s that he could pass for a white Jewish man, while in fact not being Jewish or white. Coleman rose in the ranks of college professors, g...

The Blessing of the Ashley Madison Hack (part one of two)

One of the worst feelings in the world is when you’ve hid something and the secret gets uncovered. It’s a massive punch to the gut, causing the referee to wave out the team doctors. You’re not hurt, though you feel like you might die. You can’t breathe. Inevitably, hiding anything leads to this moment.

In college I had this feeling. The feeling of wrestling with a demon, who has you in a chokehold, unable to breathe. The secret I had kept from everyone close to me had seemingly been uncovere...