When I was a student in middle school, my second biggest fear was that I would finish a big assignment, only to learn I had missed something. (My biggest fear was that I'd wake up and find myself running naked through the hallway just as all the classes were released.)
Imagine putting in weeks worth of work, staying up late, kissing any social life I never had good-bye and working countless hours, only to find out you had missed an important part of the assignment. Certainly you've felt that sinking feeling in your stomach that indicates hope has just left the building and he did not take his key with him.
Now imagine that fear applied to your entire life. Have you ever wondered if you had heard all the Bible stories and were still missing...something? If you have ever feared the reaction of an over-zealous teacher who had nothing better to do with her weekend than read your essays, imagine getting to the end of your life and hearing from God that you had missed the most important parts of His expectations.
I just recently read The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns, president of World Vision, an organization that finds new and creative ways to help those less fortunate. He introduces us to another side of his life. If you imagined that service organization presidents simply sprout up from a field of giving, then think again. Richard Stearns may not have been a (fill in the blank with your own worst version of a testimony), but he tells us of a comfortable Christian with a very good sense of business.
As he tells his story, it wasn't that he didn't care about those less fortunate. It wasn't even that he didn't help at his church and give as well. It was just that his heart wasn't truly broken by the things that break the heart of God. Through circumstances that can only be credited to God, Richard found himself in a position to lead World Vision in their efforts to make an authentic difference.
The rest of this book becomes a call to Christians everywhere to re-examine what's been missing from our gospel. It's more than simply talking about God who came down. I could go into more detail, but then this would become more book than book review.
This book comes complete with call to action as well as action steps. Perhaps the last book that was this complete became an all-time best seller.
Imagine putting in weeks worth of work, staying up late, kissing any social life I never had good-bye and working countless hours, only to find out you had missed an important part of the assignment. Certainly you've felt that sinking feeling in your stomach that indicates hope has just left the building and he did not take his key with him.
Now imagine that fear applied to your entire life. Have you ever wondered if you had heard all the Bible stories and were still missing...something? If you have ever feared the reaction of an over-zealous teacher who had nothing better to do with her weekend than read your essays, imagine getting to the end of your life and hearing from God that you had missed the most important parts of His expectations.
I just recently read The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns, president of World Vision, an organization that finds new and creative ways to help those less fortunate. He introduces us to another side of his life. If you imagined that service organization presidents simply sprout up from a field of giving, then think again. Richard Stearns may not have been a (fill in the blank with your own worst version of a testimony), but he tells us of a comfortable Christian with a very good sense of business.
As he tells his story, it wasn't that he didn't care about those less fortunate. It wasn't even that he didn't help at his church and give as well. It was just that his heart wasn't truly broken by the things that break the heart of God. Through circumstances that can only be credited to God, Richard found himself in a position to lead World Vision in their efforts to make an authentic difference.
The rest of this book becomes a call to Christians everywhere to re-examine what's been missing from our gospel. It's more than simply talking about God who came down. I could go into more detail, but then this would become more book than book review.
This book comes complete with call to action as well as action steps. Perhaps the last book that was this complete became an all-time best seller.
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