It’s Better to Be Poor

Posted on April 15, 2026 by Roger E. Bruner

What Christian author–and many a non-Christian author as well–would fail to appreciate Proverbs 25:11?

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.

Proverbs 15:23 is in the same vein:

A man has joy by the answer of his mouth,
And a word spoken in due season, how good it is!

Those verses are the basis for the very short introductory song that precedes “It’s Better to Be Poor.”

I used these Proverbs for the actual song:

Proverbs 16-18
Better is a little with the fear of the Lord,
Than great treasure with trouble.
17 Better is a dinner of herbs where love is,
Than a fatted calf with hatred.
18 A wrathful man stirs up strife,
But he who is slow to anger allays contention.

Proverbs 25:1
A soft answer turns away wrath,
But a harsh word stirs up anger.

Proverbs 27:10
Do not forsake your own friend or your father’s friend,
Nor go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity;
Better is a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.

Because I used different Bible translations, it may not be obvious that all of the stanzas (not counting the short introductory song) are from Bible verses that say better this than something else.

You may listen to this song here and download free lead sheets here and here.

What joy a man feels
When he finds the right words
For just the right occasion.
Like apples of gold in a silver setting
Are words fitly spoken.

It’s better to be poor
And have riches in the Lord
Than to have vast earthly wealth
And let it ruin your life.

It’s better to eat soup
With your family and your friends
Than eat the finest steak
At the table of your foes.

It’s better to have neighbors
Who’ll come in times of need
Than have a loving brother
Who lives far, far away.

It’s better to be patient,
For patience can bring peace,
Than always lose your temper
And make bad matters worse.

It’s better to speak softly
When anger fills the air
Than try to shout your loudest
As you wage a war with words.

For the longest time I felt I needed one additional stanza. After many searches for another verse that meets the “better this than that” format, I happened upon the one with “neighbors” and “brother.”

I was adopted by Ben and Virginia Bruner when I was three days old. They never would tell me more than a tidbit about my birth parents, but when I had DNA testing done a few years ago, I learned I was the son of Steve and Julia Holko, originally from Czechoslovakia, and the brother of Sylvia, Rick, and Bob. Bob is the only one of my siblings still alive, and because he hasn’t responded to my attempts to get in touch with him, the “neighbor/brother” stanza means even more to me.

I’m working on novel #25. All of my books are available in both print
and Kindle editions. You may move quickly to my Amazon Author page by
using the QR code on the graphic depicting all of my novels. Although you may download FOUND IN TRANSLATION for $1.99, the complete ALTERED HEARTS series is available for just a dollar or two more.


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A Child Much Loved by You

Posted on April 8, 2026 by Roger E. Bruner

This isn’t one of my more recent songs, but it’s one I often sing when I first pick up my guitar in the morning. It has a special significance, as you can see below.

Years before Kathleen and I even dreamed of getting married, she was still living in upstate New York, a right fair distance from Virginia. We were very good friends, though, and we wanted to pray together. Cell coverage wasn’t good where she lived and trying to find an unused chat room didn’t always work. So we decided to try praying via email–back and forth, back and forth until one of us said, “Amen.”

We realized that we were relating to God very much as small children relate to their fathers. As special as our prayer times grew, it’s no wonder I felt inspired to write this song. You may listen to it here and find a free lead sheet here. (The lead sheet doesn’t show the change of keys, but I do the final stanza in A major.)

1.
Let me climb into Your lap,
My most loving Heavenly Father, (3x)
For I know I’m a child much loved by You.

2.
Let me look into Your face,
My most loving Heavenly Father, (3x)
For I know I’m a child much loved by You.

3.
Let me lean against Your arm,
My most loving Heavenly Father, (3x)
For I know I’m a child much loved by You.

4.
Let me whisper in Your ear,
My most loving Heavenly Father, (3x)
For I know I’m a child much loved by You.

5.
Let’s go walking hand in hand,
My most loving Heavenly Father, (3x)
For I know I’m a child much loved by You.
Yes, I know I’m a child much loved by You.
Lord, I know I’m a child much loved by You.

The first three stanzas are like approaching and then coming closer and closer to God. The fourth stanza is us approaching God in prayer and I sing it as quietly as possible. The last stanza, in which I change keys and sing more energetically, is our acknowledgement that we can rely on God to go with us and provide His ongoing companionship.

I’m working on novel #25. All of my books are available in both print and Kindle editions. You may move quickly to my Amazon Author page by using the QR code on the graphic depicting all of my novels. IMPRACTICALLY YOURS is a total rewrite of the very first novel I ever wrote; I don’t even acknowledge the old one!

Links you might be interested in:

  • Visit Roger’s website
  • Check out Roger’s free lead sheets
  • Shop for Roger’s books on Amazon

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Then Dawned Sunday

Posted on April 1, 2026 by Roger E. Bruner

Since Easter–Resurrection Day–didn’t occur on a Wednesday, I decided to share this song today, the Wednesday closest to Easter. Incidentally, the crucifixion likely took place on a Thursday and not on Good Friday, as most people believe. That’s the only way to make sense of the fact that Jesus was in the tomb for three days and three nights. The concern about removing Jesus’ body from the cross before the Sabbath referenced a special Sabbath that preceded the regular one. That was because of the celebration of the Passover.

I wrote this song at least as far back as 1970 and have made numerous small changes to the lyrics in the interim since then. It’s important to note that the Gospels give different accounts of what happened that Sunday morning based on the viewpoints of the Gospel writers. I took the liberty of combining various details into what I like to believe is a worshipful and moving song.

I invite you to listen to it here and to get a free download of the lead sheet here. Please note that the lead sheet has not been updated with these lyrics.

Then dawned Sunday,
The first day of the week,
When into the garden silently came
Troubled women to anoint the body of the Lord,
Who-Friday on a cross-had been slain.

These women had endured his trial;
These women watched him die.
They wept as they saw his body torn by pain.
But they never stopped to think-they never realized-
That what he had told them was true:
That they’d see him in the flesh, alive again.

The women approached the tomb
In the stillness of the dawn,
When they saw that the rock was gone from the door.
“Fear not,” an angel said.
“The one you seek is not dead,
He has risen and lives today,
Go to Galilee. There you’ll see the resurrected Lord.”

Then dawned Sunday, the first day of the week,
When out from the garden joyously ran
Shouting women to proclaim
That one who had been slain
Had lived, died, and arisen as God and man.

I’m still writing Christian novels. As you can see from the postcard graphic containing all of the covers, I’ve written and published twenty-four. I’m moving along on #25. You may access my Amazon Author page from the QR code. Matchmaker Payback is a fun read.

Links you might be interested in:

  • Visit Roger’s website
  • Check out Roger’s free lead sheets
  • Shop from Roger’s Amazon Author page
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All Around the World

Posted on March 25, 2026 by Roger E. Bruner

You may have read last week’s post about the round “Send Me; I’m Yours,” which was based on a  conversation between God and the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 6:8.

I heard the voice of the Lord say,
“Whom will I send? Who will go on our behalf?”
I answered, “Here I am, send me!”

It ought to be the response of any Christian who feels God calling him or her to perform a particular task. It took me years to become somewhat responsive by going on short term mission trips overseas. I’ve been to Australia, Wales, England, Romania, and Nicaragua. Regretfully, at 79 I’m not physically up to going that way any more. So I’m praying for some other kind of call that I’ll be up to answering “Here I am, send me!” to.

But that’s not the only  place in the Old Testament that involves going on mission for God.  Psalm 67:2 has this to say:

Send us around the world with the news of your saving power
and your eternal plan for all mankind. (Living Bible)

That Scripture, along with the Isaiah verse, is what inspired the lyrics of “Around the World,” which you may listen to here. Incidentally, this isn’t a round, but the verbal echos are hard to miss.

When You ask who’ll go,
Will we turn away?
Or will we exclaim,
“Here we are; send us!”?

Send us out, O Lord,
Into all the earth;
Let us tell the news
Of your saving power.

When You ask who’ll go,
Will we turn away?
Or will we exclaim,
“Here we are; send us!”?

Let us share Your Plan
With each tribe & tongue.
Send us out, O Lord,
All around the world.

When You ask who’ll go,
Will we turn away?
Or will we exclaim,
“Here we are; send us!”?

I write Christian novels as well as songs.  The twenty-four book cover graphic’s QR code links to my Amazon Author Page. My apologies for the fact some of my past novel cover pictures failed to show up when I published the posts. That shouldn’t be a problem from now on; I can verify that the image is .jpg or .png and NOT .pdf

I’ll be back again next Wednesday. Please join me then. Better still, sign up to receive these weekly posts by email.

Best regards,
Roger

Links you might be interested in:

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I’m Yours; Send Me

Posted on March 18, 2026 by Roger E. Bruner

I was recently looking through some of the songs I’ve written over the years for one I hadn’t posted here before. Lo and behold, “I’m Yours; Send Me” turned out to be just what I was hoping to find.

For years I had wanted to write a simple round. As you can see from the lyric sheet, available for free here, I only wrote it out as a two-part round. It might work with three, though, but I discovered I couldn’t make a new recording with three, so I quit trying and settled on two. Both voices are mine. You may listen to it here.

I have to be honest, though. My recording from many years ago is better. Maybe it’s my hearing, but I can’t tell if the old one might have three voices, also all mine. Check it out here if you’d like to compare.

The lyrics are simple…

When the Lord addresses you,
How will you respond to Him?
When He asks, “Who’ll go for me?”
Will you say, “I’m Yours; send me”?

and they are adapted from Isaiah 6:8 (New English Translation)

I heard the voice of the Lord say,
“Whom will I send? Who will go on our behalf?”
I answered, “Here I am, send me!”

I had been familiar with Isaiah 6:8 most of my life. But I didn’t have Isaiah’s spirit of servanthood and obedience. Not in my early years as a Christian. Developing even a little bit of that attitude has taken years. Many of them. I can’t say they were “wasted,” though. I believe God used that time to grow me in certain areas that would better qualify me to “go.”

At the same time, though, I’ve long had a heart for missions. Just not missions I would have to go somewhere to do. Working in Information Technology at the International Mission Board gave me a special thrill because of the way it allowed me to participate actively in missions behind the scenes. Safely. Without having to go.

And then I heard about an available, two-week mission trip to Australia. Who wouldn’t want to go to Australia? But on a mission trip? Hmm. Was that my call to go? The one I’d never wanted to hear before?

The answer was yes, and that trip changed my life. I fell in love with short-term mission trips. They’ve been mostly hard work–definitely not vacations.

I was dying to go back to Australia, and I had another opportunity. But it didn’t feel right that time. Did God have something else in mind? I learned of a mission trip to Wales. Wales? Hmm. Not as exciting as Oz, but was I willing to give up Australia if Wales was what God had in mind?

Apparently so.

I’ve always felt that forgetting about where I wanted to go and going where I felt I should go constituted my ultimate “Here am I. Send me.”

Are you ready to go where God directs you? Or will you hesitate? Will you hem and haw and make excuses the way I spent much of my life doing? Or will you take one step forward and say, “Send me”?

I’m working on novel #25. All of my books are available in both print and Kindle editions. You may move quickly to my Amazon Author page by using the QR code on the graphic depicting all of my novels. DOXXI NO MORE, pictured below, is a fun read. My apology for cover pictures that I only just discovered weren’t showing up in the published post.

Links you might be interested in:

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The BE Song

Posted on March 11, 2026 by Roger E. Bruner

Several years ago I wrote a novel called THE ELDER. It’s about an elderly man who lived to be helpful to others. When he was forced into retirement from a job in which he had been helpful to countless others, he was at a loss about whom he could help now and how he could do it.

When he picked up his old guitar after many years of ignoring it, he ended up writing a powerful Christian song, which his wife secretly sent a recording of to the local Christian radio station. It not only started a revival among station employees, it had a nationwide impact after they shared it with sister stations around the country.

I wrote “The BE Song” for the book. I’m not claiming that it’s powerful or  well-known. Truthfully, very few people have ever heard it, although I did put a link to the recording in the Kindle edition of THE ELDER.

If your spiritual life needs reviving, my prayer is that “The BE Song” may be beneficial.

Be my mouth, Lord, that I may speak.
Be my voice, Lord, that I may sing.
Be my words, Lord,
that I may bless those who hear.
Lord, be in me that I may be all I can be.
Lord, be in me that I may be all I can be.

Be my eyes, Lord, that I may see.
Be my ears, Lord, that I may hear.
Be my mind, Lord,
that I may seek, think, and learn.
Lord, be in me that I may be all I can be.
Lord, be in me that I may be all I can be.

Be my hands, Lord, that I may do.
Be my feet, Lord, that I may go.
Be my will, Lord,
that I may give, pray, and serve.
Lord, be in me that I may be all I can be.
Lord, be in me that I may be all I can be.

Be my heart, Lord, that I may love.
Be my tears, Lord, that I may care.
Be my spirit, Lord,
that I may share Your Good News.
Lord, be in me that I may be all I can be.
Lord, be in me that I may be all I can be.

You may listen to it here and find the lead sheet here. The QR on the postcard graphic of my novels will take you to my Amazon Author page.

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In the Lord’s Hands

Posted on March 4, 2026 by Roger E. Bruner

This is one of my older songs. It was especially fun to record back then, and I doubt I could do as well if I tried to do it again now. You may listen to it here or get the free PDF lead sheet here.

If you race against men
And the running wears you out,
Then how can you compete
Against swift horses?

If you always trip and fall
On a a path that’s straight and sure,
Then how can you hope to climb
The steepest mountains?

Who can hope to weigh the mountains
With a bathroom scale?
Who can hope to measure the oceans
With a coffee cup?

There are things we can’t do;
There are things we cannot change.
But everything in this whole world
Is in God’s hands.

Everything in this whole world
Is in God’s hands.

During the nearly nineteen years I worked at the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, I heard inspiring presentations from a number of people–fellow staff members, visiting missionaries, and special guests like Beth Moore and Ray Boltz. Today’s song was inspired by fellow staff member Jimmy Maroney, who later went overseas as a missionary.

The words are based on two Scripture passages. The first is Jeremiah 12:5:

“If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you
compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you
manage in the thickets by the Jordan?” (NIV)

That passage reminds me that humanity limits us greatly. We have high hopes many of which are impossible to reach.

The second is Isaiah 40:12:

“Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
or weighed the mountains on the scales
and the hills in a balance?” (NIV)

God’s works of creation are miraculous. How can we ever understand them? How can we even weigh or measure them using our limited human abilities?

My limitations aren’t terribly important, however. Not as long as the world and everything in it is truly “in the Lord’s hands.”

Note: I forget what translation of the Bible I was using at the time, but the references to “coffee cup” and “bathroom scales” are not original.

I write Christian novels as well as songs. In my mind, the one listed below is especially whimsical. All of my books are economically priced, and they’re free on Kindle Unlimited.

I’ll be back again next Wednesday. Please join me then. Better still, sign up to receive these weekly posts by email.

Best regards,
Roger

        

Links you might be interested in:

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The True Source

Posted on February 25, 2026 by Roger E. Bruner

I come believing, Lord,
That You’re the true source of LIFE,
And as I go my way,
Help me to be my best for You.

I come believing, Lord,
That You’re the true source of JOY,
And as I go my way,
May my heart sing praises to You.

I come believing, Lord,
That You’re the true source of LOVE,
And as I go my way,
Help me to love both friend and foe.

I come believing, Lord,
That You’re the true source of GRACE,
And as I go my way,
Help me to give and to forgive.

I come believing, Lord,
That You’re the true source of HOPE,
And as I go my way,
Help me to share Your precious truth.

I come believing, Lord,
That You’re the true source of LIGHT,
And as I go my way,
May Your light shine brightly through me.

And as I go my way,
Help me to be my best for You.

[You may listen to this song here. The free PDF of the lead sheet is here.]

A few years ago I posted the lyrics for a little song called “I Come Believing, Lord.” Honestly, it wasn’t a very memorable song. When I was looking at it later, I marveled that I’d even bothered to post it. It just didn’t seem very complete.

So I started switching the stanzas around and trying to figure out what I might add to make it better. For two or three weeks I struggled to improve the lyrics.  I kept “I come believing, Lord, that You’re the” because God is the source of everything He wants us to be and we ought to come to Him with that awareness. “And as I go my way” is about what each of the things God is enabling us to be or to do as the result of our prayers.

Even after completing all of the stanzas I thought it needed, placing them in the most sensible and most meaningful order became a new challenge. This is how I ended up thinking the ideas should flow:

  • Jesus promised Believers a more meaningful earthly life as well as an eternal one in Heaven. So praying for that kind of life and asking God to help us live our best for Him makes sense.
  • If we’re living the lives He wants us to live, we should be experiencing a true–a special–sense of joy. Not that we’re going to be happy every minute of our lives, but with the Holy Spirit within us, we should be able to enjoy the kind of joy that’s apt to break out in song.
  • Because God has given us His love, we should want to obey Jesus’ command to love others, whether they’re friends or enemies.
  • And because of everything He’s given us–His grace is beyond our comprehension–we should be willing to be gracious–to give to others in whatever ways we can and to forgive those who wrong us.
  • God’s light is brighter than anything we know, but if we’re living our best lives for Him, we want to reflect His love and be salt and light to those about us.
  • And that brings us back to the original life stanza.

The change in lyrics resulted in a few minor changes in the melody. Because the stanzas are short and repetitive in their format, I gave parts of the even-numbered stanzas a different melody. If you listen to the recording, you’ll figure out that the alternate melody is actually a harmony of the odd-numbered stanzas’ melody. I hope that keeps the song from sounding too tedious.

To say the least, I never anticipated that God would take a song I wrote long ago (I don’t even have a completion date on the original copy) and inspire me to turn it into something so much more complete. And, I hope, so much better.

I write Christian novels as well as songs. The most recent one is shown below and . The twenty-four book picture below that shows the pictures of all of my books. The QR code will take you to my Amazon Author page.

I’ll be back again next Wednesday. Please join me then. Better still, sign up to receive these weekly posts by email.

Best regards,
Roger

Links you might be interested in:

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All Those Who Wait Upon the Lord

Posted on February 18, 2026 by Roger E. Bruner

NOTE: Many apologies for my failure to post anything last Wednesday. My wife and I were flying to Memphis to celebrate her mom’s 100th birthday and I didn’t have my laptop with me.

I can’t believe I never posted this song before, but it’s definitely one of my oldest ones and still my favorite.

On August 18, 1976 my wife of that time, Debbie, gave birth to our first and only baby. In spite of a normal delivery, Beth died unexpectedly three days later of what turned out to have been an abnormally formed heart. We were distraught. A short time later I heard about a well-known minister who found comfort in Isaiah 40:31 following the death of his daughter. That verse

“…those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint”

brought us comfort, too, and led me to put it into song.

All those who wait upon the Lord
Shall have their strength renewed.
They will walk and not get weary
And run, but not run down.

Yes, they’ll walk and not get weary
And they’ll run but not run down.
They’ll walk and not get weary
And they’ll run, but not run down.

And they’ll rise up on wings like eagles
And fly, they will fly, they will fly.
They’ll fly, yes, they’ll fly, yes, they’ll fly.
They’ll fly, how they’ll fly, how they’ll fly.

They will fly.

If you’re interested in learning more about our experience, feel free to read my personal essay Memorial to Time.

On a more humorous note, I was attending a writers conference many years after that. Lynn DeShazo, the composer of numerous Christian songs (“More Precious than Silver” is one of them), was the worship leader. I asked if I could share a song with her after the session one day. Although she was reluctant to let me use her nice Taylor guitar, she relented and I sang this song for her. When I asked what she thought, she seemed hesitant to answer. But then with whatever else she said, she told me that the “run, but not run down” reminded her of the Energizer bunny. I certainly hadn’t knowingly borrowed from the Energizer ad, but I am still apt to think of it and smile whenever I sing this song now.

You may listen to “All Those Who Wait Upon the Lord” here. The lead sheet is available here.

Hopefully, the front/back cover image of The Elder (the next to the most recent of my novels) shows up below. Beneath that is a postcard graphic showing all twenty-four of my novels.

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A Special Brand-New Sun

Posted on February 4, 2026 by Roger E. Bruner

Okay, I realize the celebration of Christmas is officially over, but I haven’t stopped singing my two Christmas songs around the house. This song is one of them. I didn’t have a recording before, but I do now and wanted to share it with you. One that I hope captures the beauty and meaning of the lyrics.

I’ve always found the Christmas star to be fascinating. I’ve seen and heard a number of explanations about who the “wise men” were, where they came from, and the nature of the star they followed. They weren’t the only ones. The shepherds in the field also followed the star after the angels appeared to them and told them how to find newborn baby Jesus.

I prefer to think of the star as simply a God-created phenomenon. Just as the miraculous conception and birth of Jesus. As God’s Son, He became a special Sun for us.

Here are the lyrics…

Long years ago He made a wondrous star to shine
On a world so lost in death and darkness,
Yet still it leads to a manger bed of hope.
Yet still it leads to a manger bed of hope.

The Lord is so merciful and tender.
He made His precious Only Son to rise and shine
On a world lost in death and darkness
And guide our footsteps in His path of peace.
And guide our footsteps in His path of peace.

The Lord is so loving and so caring,
He sent His Only Son to die so we can live.
He leads us through the darkest of our valleys
And points the way to the light at Heaven’s gates.
He points the way to the light at Heaven’s gates.

You may listen here. The PDF of the lead sheet has been updated to include all three stanzas. Find it here.

So, let me wish you a belated Merry Christmas and a New Year that’s even better than last year.

By the way, I’m also the author of twenty-four Christian novels, which are depicted on the graphic below. The Angel on the Hill is the newest one, and the QR code will take you to my Amazon Author page.

Blessed regards,

Roger

If the front/back cover image of DOXXI NO-MORE doesn’t display here, click the link if there is one. I’m having to relearn how to do things in WordPress.

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