So. Every now and then a book comes along that just gives you a swift kick in the rear. Last year we seemed to read a few of those. Mr Platt (Radical) and Mr Chan (Crazy Love) were sure to wake us up and help us realize what in the world we were meant to be doing in this life. It felt like 2010 was the year of reading kick booty books. At least it was for us.
But God clearly was not done with us yet. I picked up a book in the bookstore recently. I had heard about it somewhere along the line. I was looking for a good read, and so took it home with me.
Oh. My. Goodness. Gracious!
Awesome. Amazing. Life changing.
Seriously. It is just too good not to share.
Ever needed confirmation about what the Church SHOULD be doing?
I started reading “The Hole in our Gospel” and literally could not put it down. Richard Stearns writes from the heart, from his own personal journey as one of America’s top CEO’s who was called by God to give it all up and GO into the poorest and most desperate places on earth. His story is amazing and totally powerful.
We believe with all our hearts that God is doing something radical on the earth today. We see it everywhere. He is waking up the sleeping church. He is calling His bride to rise up and DO what He has commanded us to do. Yes, it absolutely is all in His Word…but He has also used amazing authors to stretch and challenge the body of Christ. I think that this is definitely one of those books.
Sitting in a church pew, singing a few good songs, and then trying hard to stay awake during the sermon is no longer good enough, friends. Having good intentions about starting a fabulous outreach and then never quite finding the time to get it done, well, it’s no longer good enough either. God expects so much more of His church. He expects everything from us.
James 2:17 tells us that “faith without action is dead.”
Ouch!
Never before have Christians needed to take hold of that verse and put it into action more than right now. There is a dying world out there. The orphan crisis is getting worse by the day–the statistics are more than my heart can comprehend. People are dying of starvation. Natural disasters are in the news daily. The widows are abandoned. The poor get poorer. The children suffer. Need is everywhere–these are desperate times that we are living in. The world is NOT called to go. WE ARE! God’s people are commanded to take care of all these things. It’s a mandate…non-negotiable.
Yet sadly, we’ve perfected the art of negotiating with God.
I’ll be honest with you. God is stirring mine and Anthony’s hearts like never before. We have run out of excuses as to why we should not do the things God has told us to do. The Lord has been shaking us up big time over the last few months. It has been a time of God stripping away from us the things that hinder and hold us back. We look back on our lives and know that we can never go back and do things the way we used to do them. The things we used to hold onto are no longer important–we don’t care about them anymore. We’ve promised the Lord, “Anywhere. Anything.” And we mean it. We are ready and willing to go anywhere and do anything for the sake of the Gospel. We have missed it so often in the past. Missed God. We’ve let our pathetic excuses and lame reasons about why we should not be obedient rob us of experiencing all that God has in store for us. We’ve decided this far and no further.
“Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.” 1 Sam 3:9
God is calling His church to action! We are to be do-ers of his Word. “The Hole in our Gospel” is about that very thing. DOING the Gospel.
Is God doing something in your hearts too? Is He shaking things up in your lives like He is in ours? I don’t know about you, but we don’t want to miss out on what the Lord is doing on the earth today. We just don’t. No regrets.
Anywhere. Anything.
Need to step way out of your comfort zone? Need the encouragement to do so?
I would love for you guys to read “The Hole in our Gospel” too. If you haven’t read it–and would like to–leave a comment and I will give away TWO copies. Any old comment will do. You have until midnight on Friday to enter.
