Fr, Richard J. Hart brings years of preaching experience to the question of the cost of discipleship. The price tag in following Jesus is high-a life of self-giving. The reader (and pray-er) of this text will be challenged to look at life through Gospel eyes. This book is a call to conversion. -Robert F. Morneau, Auxiliary Bishop of Green Bay With a wide range of sources, Richard Hart has provided a handbook on the way of being a disciple in our world. Fidelity to this discipleship involves rewards and challenges. It will be a reward to read it-Michael Crosby Just as Dietrich Bonhoeffer warned against "cheap grace," the belief that one gains forgiveness without contrition, communion without confession, grace without discipleship, Hart beckons us away from the materialist, secularist temptation to avoid, at all costs, the sacrifices that are indivisible from our relationship with Christ. -Joshua Hren Richard J. Hart regularly leads parish renewals and retreats. He is the author of several spiritual books.

The Price of Being a Christian

Religion & Spirituality

Hart, Richard J.

Christian Books & Bibles

Wiseblood Books

According to a recent Gallup poll, nine in ten Americans believe in God. Yet how easily we can edge God out of our lives. This is what the ego does. Ego can stand for edging God out. We edge God out by being blind to the realities around us which cry out like a siren in the night for our attention. Our blurred vision needs healing so we can see with a wide angled lens. This will enable us to see that the worst of times can become the best of times when seen through the lens of the cross. By not listening to God, others, and our own bodies, we keep God below our radar screen. We listen more readily to the voices of materialism, consumerism and individualism. Some forty to sixty percent of our day is spent in listening, but how much do we actively listen? Sexual abuse, especially of children, is a horrible way to edge God out of our lives. Jesus showed us how to touch in a loving, caring, tender way. How many of us can show the highest kind of love by accepting Jesus' challenge by loving our enemies, doing good to those who hate us, and praying for those who mistreat us? We misuse our precious gift of speech by lying, detraction, slander, gossip, unjust anger. We edge God out by our failure to be involved in thorny justice issues like the environment, global warming, racism, sexism, militarism and immigration. How often we respond, "What can I do?" Instead of wringing our hands we need to open them up to others. The most ordinary things are drenched in divine possibility. But we become paralyzed by fear, failure and even death. We need to counteract all of this by spirited prayer which will prevent us from edging God out of our lives. God cannot be bothered to do for ourselves what we can do for ourselves. Prayer will enable us to see things in a new way, to think the unfamiliar, to accept the present moment even if it is disturbing.

Edging God Out

America Star Books

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Hart, Richard J.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Hart, Richard J.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Hart, Richard J.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Price of Being a Christian

Edging God Out