Original. Genuine. Contagious. These are the words that best describe Ronnie McBrayer.

Ronnie is an applauded story-teller with a schoolboy wit and a deep faith. Eagerly, he invites the reader and listener in to reflect, to laugh, to face the unexpected, to be stirred and to be challenged. One thing is certain: Those who encounter the words and stories of Ronnie McBrayer will not leave unchanged.

A product of the foothills of North Georgia, Ronnie claims he barely survived the fire-and-brimstone, fundamentalist upbringing of his Baptist-born childhood. But, in the great comedy of God, Ronnie has spent his adulthood in ministry, both preaching in and protesting against; both loving and leaving; both running away from and returning to the church. Ronnie's faith isn't in organized religion, however. It is in Jesus.

Ronnie holds degrees in Christian Education and Theology with additional studies in Bio-Ethics and Critical Incident Stress Management. He has been a pastor, chaplain, leader in social justice ministries, and a writer. But the role he enjoys most is being husband to Cindy and father to Blayze, Bryce, and Braden.

He is a dynamic and compassionate speaker, leader of A Simple Faith, and the author of several books including But God Meant It for Good, Keeping the Faith, and the newly released Leaving Religion, Following Jesus. He also writes a popular, award-winning faith-based weekly column for the newspapers of the Freedom Communications Group where he lives in the Northwest Florida Panhandle.