With the help of God's grace, I have written three books over the past five years.  My health and lack of financing has not permitted me to do much marketing.  As a result I have not sold many copies.  However, the primary objective is not income but the spreading of the Word.  Following is a summary of the three books:

"Will the Real Christians Please Stand Up!:"  This 300+ page book is a series of  reflections on the true meaning of the Christian life.  It is not for the fainthearted or marginal Christian.  Rather, it is for Christians who are willing to take up the challenge of the committed Christian life as disciples of Jesus Christ.  There is a heavy emphasis on the application of Sacred Scripture.  The book is based on nine years of messages given in the picturesque 19th century chapel on the grounds of Silver Dollar City, a theme park in SW Missouri.  The book is available online at xulonpress.com.

"Reflections:  The Challenge and Excitement of the Committed Christian Life:"  This is a shorter book of 35 reflections on the dedicated Christian life.  For several years I had the privilege of having a three-minute program entitled "Reflections" on one of the Christian radio stations in the Ozarks of SW Missouri -- based in Branson, to be precise.  The station is 88.1 FM, Life FM, and it also streams on the web.  I expanded on 35 of the reflections and made each a three-page meditation.  There are thought and discussion questions for each reflection.  The book is available online at authorhouse.com.

"Christian...Catholic...and Praising Jesus!:"  I am a Catholic living in the midst of the Bible Belt, where there is much misunderstanding of and downright hostility toward Catholicism on the part of many Christians.  My ministry for 8 years has been the coordination of The Uninterrupted Prayer Team in SW Missouri.  It is a non-denominational ministry and has included personal contact with many pastors and lay people of many different churches.  It has been fulfilling to see people change their opinion about my church as they go to know me as a Christian.  But this also inspired me to write a book on the Catholic Church.  It is not a work of apologetics, not a defense of the faith.  Rather, it is an explanation of what the Church teaches and believes.  The initial chapters deal with doctrines that all Christians must adhere to if they are truly Christians -- including Catholics.  The subsequent chapters address doctrines specifically Catholic.  Each chapter includes a narrative, a prayer, and excerpts from the writings of Early Church leaders.  The book is for people who are not Catholics, to give them a better understanding of the Catholic Church.  The book is also for Catholics, to give them a deeper understanding of the Catholic faith.  The book is available online at authorhouse.com.

If you would like more information on these books, please contact me at (417) 331-1028 or at bburt98@aol.com.

Peace.

The great Early Church leader, Augustine of Hippo, wrote the following in a commentary on the Psalms:  "'Lord, I have cried out to you, hear me.'  This is a prayer we can all say.  This is not my prayer, but that of the whole Christ.  Rather, it is said in the name of his body.  When Christ was on earth he prayed in his human nature, and prayed to the Father in the name of his body, and when he prayed drops of blood flowed from his whole body.  So it is written in the Gospel:  'Jesus prayed with earnest prayer, and sweated blood.'  What is this blood streaming from his whole body but the martyrdom of the whole Church?

'Lord, I have cried to you, hear me; listen to the sound of my prayer, when I call upon you.'  Did you imagine that crying was over when you said:  'I have cried to you'?  You have cried, but do not as yet feel free from care.  If anguish is at an end, crying is at an end; but if the Church, the body of Christ, must suffer anguish until the end of time, it must not say only:  'I have cried to you, hear me;' it must also say:  'Listen to the sound of my prayer, when I call upon you.'

'Let my prayer rise like incense in your sight; let the raising of my hands be an evening sacrifice.'  This is generally understood of Christ, the head, as every Christian acknowledges.  When day was fading into evening, the Lord laid down his life on the cross, to take it up again; he did not list his life against his will.  Here, too, we are symbolized.  What part of him hung of the cross if not the part he had received from us?  How could God the Father ever cast off and abandon his only Son, who is indeed one God with him?  Yet Christ, nailing our weakness to the cross (where, as the Apostle says:  'Our old nature was nailed to the cross with him'), cried out with the very voice of our humanity:  'My God, my
God, why have you forsaken me?

The evening sacrifice is then the passion of the Lord, the cross of the Lord, the oblation of the victim that brings salvation, the holocaust acceptable to God.  In his resurrection he made this evening sacrifice a morning sacrifice.  Prayer offered in holiness from a faithful heart rises like incense from a holy altar.  Nothing is more fragrant than the fragrance of the Lord.  May all who believe share in this fragrance.

Therefore, 'our old nature,' in the words of the Apostle, 'was nailed to the cross with him, in order,' as he says, 'to destroy our sinful body, so that we may be slaves to sin no longer.'"

Listen to the following passage from Chapter 2 of Mark's Gospel:  "As Jesus passed by, he saw Levi, son of Alphaeus, sitting at the customs post.  Jesus said to him, 'Follow me.'  And he got up and followed Jesus.  While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners sat with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many who followed him.  Some scribes who were Pharisees saw that Jesus was eating with sinners and tax collectors and said to his disciples, 'Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?'  Jesus heard this and said to them, 'Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.  I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.'"

When we really analyze this, we must come to the conclusion that Jesus had a specific meaning for the word "righteous."  No one was truly righteous in God's sight before the death and Resurrection of Jesus and the accepting of Him as Savior.  As Jesus addressed those Pharisees, He realized their hardness of heart and their insensitivity -- Jesus knew that they were not righteous, but self-righteous.  And this, brothers and sisters, is a serious trap that Christians can fall into today.  Self-righteousness is an expression of inner pride and arrogance.  Many Christians think that they have it made specifically because they are Christians.  They pity and look down on those who are not.  They believe that just because they have accepted Jesus they have no concern about eternal life.  But Scripture, both Old and New Testaments, is full of references to the fact that it is the truly humble and dependent people who have access to God.  The proud do not.

There is nothing we have that did not come from God.  All we can do on our own is sin, and we cannot even do that without God holding us in existence to be able to sin!  God Himself became one of us -- the infinite God took on a human nature.  God is Love, but God is also Humility.  If we want access to Jesus, to the Father and to the Holy Spirit, both now and in eternity, we must have truly humble hearts.  Any righteousness that we have is a gift from God.

The previous blog, written on behalf of another website, provides a variety of responses to the question.  But the answer to this question for a Christian can determine if the person is truly a committed Christian or one in name only.  Yes, that's right:  Christianity can be like a "country club" and, sadly, is for many people who bear the name Christian.  But a real Christian is a dedicated follower of Jesus Christ; the very name "Christian" points to that.  During His life on earth, Jesus called people to follow Him; but He never forced it.  He also told His followers that they must take up their cross to follow Him if they were really committed to be His disciples.  There is a powerful example of this in the sixth chapter of John's Gospel.  Jesus was talking to the religious leaders about who He was, where He came from, and what His followers must do.  He reminded them that the Israelites in the desert were given manna from heaven to eat; He then went on to say that now followers were called to eat His Body and drink His Blood.  This scandalized the Jewish leaders as an invitation to cannibalism.  Even many of His disciples, from that day on, refused to walk with Him.  So, Jesus turned to the Apostles and asked them if they were going to leave also.  Peter replied, "Master, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life."  Jesus did not tell the people that He was talking in figurative terms; He let them walk away.  He meant it literally.  It is interesting and very meaningful that only John's Gospel does not give the account of the Last Supper.  John covered the intent of it here.  So, the answer to the question, "Where do I turn?" or "Where does a Christian turn?" is TO JESUS.  He has the answers, He provides the grace, He gives the direction.  That requires a personal relationship with Him, and that relationship is what constitutes the heart and soul of the Christian life.

This question is normally asked in the face of some crisis or tragedy.  It is one of the most important questions of life.  The answer normally comes from the philosophical or spiritual perspective of the individual.  Some of the situations that give rise to this question include the following:  The death of a loved one, or the loss of a job or income, or a national/international crisis.  These are but a few of the manifold life situations we can face.  Some people turn into themselves and try to "pull themselves up by their bootstraps."  Others turn to mentors or close friends and family members, or to organizations.  Yet others turn to God.  The shakiest of these is the turning into oneself; some crises really require turning to others or to God for help.

http://www.midlifemingle.com/blog/2009/12/31/where-do-you-turn.html