A month or so ago, my sister-in-law mentioned to my wife the title of a book she had read. Intrigued by the title, I got a copy and finished reading it a week ago. The book is entitled The HOLE in Our Gospel, by Richard Stearns, the President of World Vision U.S.

As Luci Swindoll says on the jacket--"Brace yourself... this is one powerhouse book!"

I was asked recently what book--besides the Bible--had most "rocked my world." I have to say it is this one. The HOLE In Our Gospel forces the reader to ask and wrestle with some huge... "world-rocking"... questions--

• What if?
• What if all followers of Jesus looked beyond the walls of their churches and worked together in reclaiming the world for Christ's kingdom?
• What if we actually demonstrated God's love for the world instead of just talking about it?
• What if we embraced the whole Gospel of loving God AND loving our neighbors?
• What if each of us decided with renewed commitment to truly embrace the good news, the whole Gospel, and demonstrate it through our lives--not even in big ways, but in small ones?
• What if we each said to God, "Use me; I want to change the world"?
• What if 2 billion people (the number of Christians in the world today) embraced this vision of God transforming our world--through them (us!)?

Over my couple weeks in India, I will hopefully be able to present some posts that cause you to start wrestling (or continue wrestling!) with some of these questions.

As Rich Stearns writes--"What does God expect of us?... It's a simple question, really. But is the answer so simple? What is the Christian faith about? Going to church every Sunday, saying grace before meals, and avoiding the most serious sins--or does God expect more?" (The HOLE In Our Gospel, p.1)

Come along with me as I share some thoughts from The HOLE In Our Gospel and as I draw on our experiences in India to help illustrate the challenges we ALL face living the revolutionary, world-changing, whole Gospel!