Husker football coach encourages fervent prayer, bold action

Ron Brown's heard it about his prayer circles after each Husker football game.

Believe him, he's heard it -- from the ACLU, from university administrators, from upset fans.

He's heard threats. He's heard that, as a public employee endorsing Christianity, he's breaking the law. His response to all that?

"Take me to jail," the assistant Husker football coach says. "This life is not worth saving to lose my freedom in Christ."

That's the kind of boldness Brown encouraged Christians to have about their faith while speaking Thursday at a breakfast in Aurora celebrating the annual National Day of Prayer.

Brown likened prayer to a huddle in football -- a critical element but not the only one. If the Huskers remained in the huddle for an entire game, never to run a play, "that'd be a sorry team," he said.

Instead, Brown urged the nearly 200 people gathered at Aurora's Leadership Center to make sure their prayers for boldness and the spread of God's Word are coupled with action.

Brown readily acknowledged that talking boldly about one's faith at work or school could draw controversy or even result in getting fired. In fact, Christians should expect persecution as a part of living out their faith, he said.

"That doesn't mean that Christians have to clam up, go into a corner and not bring out the truth," Brown said. "Many of us have been ducking and running and hiding because we're afraid to get hit."

Brown returned to the Husker football coaching staff this year as tight ends coach after working as receivers coach from 1987 to 2003 under Tom Osborne and Frank Solich.

He spent the last four years as state director of the Fellowship for Christian Athletes but has long been active in Christian ministry during his coaching tenure.

He and former Husker Stan Parker are co-founders and co-directors of Mission Nebraska, which seeks to spread the Christian message throughout the state. The nonprofit group runs the My Bridge Radio network, including KROA in Doniphan.

All that involvement makes for a packed schedule, but on Thursday morning, just a few hours removed from a night flight from Philadelphia, Brown showed no signs of fatigue.

Sporting a black Nebraska polo shirt, Brown spoke energetically and forcefully, framing the Christian message in no uncertain terms.

"We're not just talking about a good religious experience here," he said. "The National Day of Prayer is focused on Jesus Christ and who he is."

Brown held up first-century Christians as an example, citing their prayer for boldness and their willingness to give up their lives for their faith. At least 11 of the Twelve Apostles are believed to have been killed because of their belief in Jesus.

"You think they were murdered for their faith because they were doing Bible studies here and a little retreat over there?" he said.

It comes down to consistency, he said. Prayers on Sunday are useless unless matched with action the rest of the week.

"I can't be two Ron Browns," he said. "I can't be a secular Ron Brown and a Christian Ron Brown.”