Heaven on Earth

I'm reading an absolutely wonderful book called The Hole in the Gospel by Richard Stearns, the CEO of World Vision. I am on fire to read more, and I implore all my friends to read this book so that we can talk about it together, and better yet, be the people God created us to be. Richard Stearns lived in a 10 bedroom fieldstone farmhouse on 5 acres of land, he drove a company provided Jaguar to work, he was the CEO of Lenox China making boocoo bucks. He left it all to serve God as the CEO of World Vision. Part of the reason I like it so much is that he really didn't want to, but, although extremely reluctant, and although he ignored the really strong hints God put in his way, he still answered God's call. I think I can be a lot like that! I don't even know where to start with everything that is speaking to me . . . consider the following quotes:

• ... as Christians, are we really given the options of turning away from the world's problems? Does God permit that?
• . . . Jesus asked a great deal of those who followeed Hiim. He expected much more from them than just believing He was God's Son. He challenged them to embrace radically different standards, to love their neighbors and their enemies, to forgive thos who wronged them, to lift up the poor and downtrodden, to share what they had with those who had little, and to live lives of sacrifice. Then he likened their effect on the world around them to that which light has on darkness.
• . . .the good news was meant to change the world. Belief is not enough. Worship is not enough. Personal morality is not enough. And Christian community is not enough. God has always demanded more. When we committed ourselves to following Christ, we also committed to living our lives in such a way that a watchingworld would catch a glimpse of God's charager--His love, justice, and mercy--through our words, actions, and behavior. . . Living out our faith privately was never meant to be an option.
• What if two billion people embraced this vision of God transforming ou world--through them. Imagine it. Indeed, what if even two thousand people took their faith to the next level--what might God do? Two thousand years ago the world was changed forever by just twelve. It can happen again.

And this is just the introduction to the book! Here is the last paragraph of the forward:

The word gospel literally means "good news." Jesus declared that He had come to "preach good news to the poor". (Luke 4:18) . . . What "good news" have God's people brought to the world's three billion poor? What "gospel" have millions of Africa's AIDS orphans seen? What gospel have most of us embraced in the twenty-first centruy? The answer is found in the title of this book: a gospel with a hole in it.