Really? There is not a hole in our gospel. I mean look around in any city throughout the US and you will see churches, non-profits, rescue missions, and social services provided by the state helping and serving the poor and downcast. Surely there is not a hole in my gospel. Richard Stearns has written a great book that exposes the hole not only in my gospel, but most US churches.
We live in extreme wealth, comfort, and contentment, which has led us to our own idolatry of money. When there is an idol there is also a firm grip on the idol. In the book Richard tells about his personal resistance in his life to leave the corporate world as CEO and take a job with World Vision. He writes with humility, honesty, and transparency about his struggle to leave the "finer" things of his extravagant life and serve alongside an organization that reaches out to the downtrodden of the world.
My journey of the poor and outcast started when I was in the 3rd grade. My parents took me to Impact Church to be exposed to the orphans, widows, and those that society has cast out as "the least of these." I remember my first encounter walking under a bridge in downtown Houston and experiencing tent cities and shelters that mark all of our urban centers across the world. Years later I spent a summer at Impact working with the children in the inner city and reaching out to their families through various ministries. Not sure that my parents really grasped the full extension of the experiences they gave me as we visited different churches who truly reached out and ministered to the whole person. Today my life is not the same because of my life experiences and now "The Hole in Our Gospel" is a part of that overarching story of my life.
You cannot read this book and not be moved closer to Christ and those stricken by AIDS, hunger, malnutrition, disease and lack of educational opportunities.
Read Isaiah 58 and Matthew 25; if that does not move you and shake you then please give this book a chance. There actually my be a chance that your heart is hard like Eph 4 talks about. If that is the case then cry out to God to break your heart from your ego, pride, and idol of self.
Now for the book giveaway:
You have a really good chance to win this book; my analytic count is not high and I do not have many people subscribed via my RSS. Therefore, there may only be 3 comments and that would leave you with a 1 in 3 chance of winning.
Four ways to enter:
1. Tweet about the book giveaway and be sure to use @lantzhoward in the tweet so I can keep up with you.
2. Leave a comment below.
3. Post on Facebook about the book giveaway.
4. Write on your blog your first experience with the poor and downtrodden and link to this giveaway in your blog post.
You can do one or all four. Be sure to leave a comment for each one that you participate in. Next Wednesday I will use a number generator and try to figure out who won. Please keep in mind this is my first giveaway and there my be a few glitches, but I will contact the winner and send the book to you via the mail after you win.
Giveaway ends Wednesday March 17th at 12pm pacific time.
----
Book provided by Book Sneeze and Thomas Nelson.
No comments:
Post a Comment