Category Books

The Hole in Our Gospel: What Does God Expect of Us? The Answer That Changed My Life and Might Just Change the World »

Authors: Richard Stearns
ISBN-13: 9780849947001, ISBN-10: 0849947006
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Nelson, Thomas, Inc.
Date Published: May 2010
Edition: (Non-applicable)

Author Biography: Richard Stearns

Book Synopsis

"Preach the Gospel always. Use words if necessary." - St. Francis of Assisi

It's 1998 and Richard Stearns' heart is breaking as he sits in a mud hut and listens to the story of an orphaned child in Rakai, Uganda. His journey to this place took more than a long flight from the United States to Africa. It took answering God's call on his life, a call that hurtled him out of his presidential corner office at Lenox-America's finest tableware company-to this humble corner of Uganda.

This is a story of how a corporate CEO faced his own struggle to obey God whatever the cost, and his passionate call for Christians to change the world by actively living out their faith. Using his own journey as an example, Stearns explores the hole that exists in our understanding of the Gospel.

Two thousand years ago, twelve people changed the world. Stearns believes it can happen again.

ECPA 2010 Christian Book of the Year Award Winner!

Dann Wigner - Library Journal

"What does God expect of us?" This is the central question that recurs often in Stearns's book. He answers this question by highlighting the social injustices prevalent around the world and emphasizing that many Christians in the United States remain oblivious to these needs. Stearns (president, World Vision U.S.A.) left his corner office in 1998 to help orphans in Uganda, answering God's call. Through many personal anecdotes, he pleads passionately for greater involvement by Christians in global crises of hunger, disease, and poverty. He also indicts American Christians for omitting the necessity of action from their faith. While Stearns's book includes some fresh statistics and current stories, the classic in this subgenre of Christian literature remains Ronald J. Sider's Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger. Overall, Stearns's work falters from an overreliance on subjectivity and emotional appeal. Optional for larger public libraries and specialized collections.

Acknowledgments xiii

Introduction 1

Prologue 7

Part 1 The Hole in My Gospel-and Maybe Yours

Chapter 1 A Hole in the Whole 15

Chapter 2 A Coward for God 25

Chapter 3 You Lack One Thing 36

Part 2 The Hole Gets Deeper

Chapter 4 The Towering Pillars of Compassion and Justice 53

Chapter 5 The Three Greatest Commandments 64

Chapter 6 A Hole in Me 73

Chapter 7 The Stick in Your Hand 88