Want to Change the World? This is a Must-Read!!

What better way to breathe life back into my blog than the review of such a terrific book.  Kudos to Thomas Nelson for snatching this one up.

Richard Stearns could have his feet up in some cabana in the Bahamas instead of sweating in mosquito-infested jungles. Having served as CEO in two prosperous countries, he has lived the “American Dream”. But after searching his heart, he cashed it in for God’s dream and now heads up World Vision. Why talk about the author first instead of the content of his book? I don’t know about you, but I find it much more palatable to get the hard stuff of life and tough criticisms thrown at me if the guy who does it is authentic and knows what he is talking about. The Hole in our Gospel is replete with statistics, shocking facts, and heart-wrenching stories. But there’s actually something to it. And what is even better, the author seems not to have any other agenda than to wake up the Church in America to what is missing in the watered-down, bleached out “good news” we spoon-feed people and to recruit Christians to follow Jesus’ commands. Quoting his own words on page 243 “. . .I have also attempted to make clear from Scripture that the whole gospel—the very social revolution Jesus intended as His kingdom unfolded “in earth as it is in heaven”—has been entrusted to us, those who claim to follow Christ. Jesus seeks a new world order in which this whole gospel, hallmarked by compassion, justice, and  proclamation of the good news, becomes a reality, first in our hearts and minds, and then in the wider world through our influence.”

You can’t read this book without feeling touched and convicted, stirred to doing something concrete, not just entertaining rhetoric in an ivory tower. I have worked as a missionary in South America for almost thirty-five years and consider myself a generous person. Yet, this book was a wake-up call for me. How can we preach the gospel of Jesus and ignore the issues that Jesus was so concerned with? How can we preach the redemption of a soul and disregard the salvation of an entire society?

The Hole in our Gospel includes a study guide to get down to the important issues and help, after receiving a wealth of information and encouragement, to answer the barebones question, “What will you do?”

If you don’t want to know what God expects of you or how to patch up the hole in the gospel we proclaim, then don’t read this book. But if you want to glimpse the heart of God, capture a vision of how he sees the world and what He longs for us to do while in it . . . this is the book for you.

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