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

by Richard Stearns (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 225 ratings
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ECPA 2010 Christian Book of the Year Award Winner! What Does God Expect of Us?

Is our faith only about going to church, studying the Bible, and avoiding the most serious sins—or does God expect more? Have we embraced the whole gospel or a gospel with a hole in it?

More than twenty years ago Rich Stearns came face-to-face with that question as he sat in a mud hut in Rakai, Uganda, listening to the heartbreaking story of an orphaned child. Stearns’s journey there took much more than a long flight to Africa. It took answering God’s call on his life, a call that tore him out of his corner office at one of America’s most prestigious corporations—to walk with the poorest of the poor in our world.

This anniversary edition of The Hole in Our Gospel features new content along with full-color graphics on poverty statistics, a guide for churches on short-term missions and international engagement, and an index of Scripture on poverty, justice, faith in action, and more. The Hole in Our Gospel changed people’s lives, and some of those personal accounts also appear in this anniversary edition. Stearns’s compelling story demonstrates that the whole gospel was always meant to be a world-changing, social revolution, a revolution that begins with each one of us.

The Hole in Our Gospel is also available in Spanish, Vacío en nuestro evangelio.

 

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  1. Print length
    389 pages
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    English
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  4. Publisher
    Thomas Nelson
  5. Publication date
    May 27, 2014
  6. File size
    19452 KB
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Richard Stearns has served as president of World Vision US since 1998, bringing with him twenty-three years of corporate experience. Rich and his wife, Reneé, have supported World Vision since 1984. Th ey have five children of their own plus millions more around the world. Follow Rich at RichStearns.org.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00GUTB6TE
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thomas Nelson; Special, Revised, Updated edition (May 27, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 27, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 19452 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Up to 5 simultaneous devices, per publisher limits
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 389 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 225 ratings

About the author

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Richard Stearns

Richard Stearns

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Richard Stearns brought nearly 25 years of corporate experience to World Vision when he became its president in June 1998.

Stearns holds a bachelor's degree form Cornell University and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. His professional career began in marketing with the Gillette Company. From 1977 to 1985, he held various roles with Parker Brothers Games, culminating in his appointment as president in 1984. In 1985, he became a vice president at The Franklin Mint, then joined Lenox in 1987 as president of Lenox Collections. In 1995, Stearns was named president and chief executive officer of Lenox Inc. As president of World Vision Inc., Stearns is responsible for U.S. operations, which include fund raising, advocacy, and program development.

Stearns and his wife, Renee, have been World Vision supporters since 1984. The couple has five children and live in Bellevue, Washington.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
225 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Mark Bloomer
5.0 out of 5 stars Open your eyes and see
Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2019
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This is a wonderful and well written book about our call as Christians to reach out and help those in need. Richard Stearns begins with his testimonial about how he was in a lucrative position as president and CEO of Lenox when he got contacted by World Vision to serve as their president and CEO. Stearns had to uproot his family, move from Pennsylvania to Washington State, take a pay downgrade, and ultimately become involved in some of the most challenging struggles of poverty in the world. Stearns sights many biblical passages in which Christ directly calls us to help those in desperate need. Richard Stearns talks at length about particular challenges in the developing world including struggles to find clean water, children becoming orphaned due to the aids epidemic, children unable to attend school because their family is so desperate the children have to work, etc. Stearns talks about how the contemporary church has largely become complacent about the desperate needs around the world, worshipping in relatively luxurious churches with many community programs but with little outreach to help those desperately in need across the world. This book is not an advertisement to give to World Vision though World Vision happens to be a well established agency with a very affective approach toward addressing the issues of poverty. This is a book primarily focused on Christ's plea for us to reach out and share with those who have less and who are in great need. Stearns is a wonderful writer and I highly recommend this book. I will be getting his other book "He Walks Among Us". to learn more about the mission work he was involved in.
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Anne Larson
5.0 out of 5 stars A powerful and passionate call to action which includes facts, not rhetoric...
Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2015
Verified Purchase
This is for everyone, not only Christians. It clearly illustrates that our neighbors are global. What affects them affects us. Poverty and injustice anywhere, drags all of us down with it. We can do more. All of us. Any of us. Richard Stearns, former CEO of Lenox, and CEO of World Vision for the last 20 years, calls us out. Out of our complacency. Out of the comfort of our six-coat closet. Out of our assumption of clean water and enough food to eat every day. Out of our assumption of fairness and democracy.
The Hole in Our Gospel so inspired me a year ago, that I bought 11 copies to share as holiday gifts. And no, I am far from western-style wealthy. It inspired me to clean out my closets and shelves in my small one bedroom apartment, to share unused and unneeded items. It inspired me to sponsor a little boy, Teboho, in Lesotho (Africa) so that he and his family and community might have some of the basics that I took for granted. I chose Teboho, because he was born on the exact same day and year as my grandson, Aidan. They will both turn 14 this month. Brothers from another mother, on another continent. My hope is that my grandson sees a different way of life from his own. That both have value and dignity. It is right. It is just. It is a small but important thing to do. It will make a difference. I recommend that this be your book of choice this year for yourself and your friends and family. Change and love begin with our own personal choices. We can choose to do it differently.
13 people found this helpful
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K. Ramsey
5.0 out of 5 stars Don't read this if you want to be comfortable with your faith
Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2015
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The title should be more like "The other half of our Gospel". Most American Christians only live the "salvation" half of the Christian Gospel (if even that!). Most ignore the "love thy neighbor" half. We live in a comfy-cozy existence within our borders while much of the world starves or dies of disease and malnutrition, has little or no place to live and has not heard of or ever been shown the love of Christ. Richard Stearns clearly and pointedly reminds us that Christ did not just bring salvation to the world so that we can wait for heaven some day but that we need to bring him, his grace and his mercy to others. When we do this collectively, corporately and en masse, we will see the rest of the world stand up and take notice. Thank you, Mr. Stearns.
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars a good read
Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2020
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When I was assigned this book in class, my expectations of it weren’t very high. However, as I read the book I learned more about the author as a person and what the aim of the book was and that impacted me extensively.
The author of this book Richard Stearns is a good man. He gave up his high-end job as a CEO to be a part of world vision simply because he felt that was where God wanted him to be. He had a family to feed and he was honorable enough to sit down and talk it through with his family. He agonized over the decision until he realized he needed to go down the path God was telling him. He goes into great detail about his background and that helps us understand why it was so hard for him to go down the path that was laid before him but also why it was one of the best decisions he ever made.
The focus and the aim of the book, is to educate the hole in the gospel and how that affects the fight against poverty. It shows us our faults and instead of just stating our faults he provides ways we can fix our faults. The focus of the book is affected by its strengths and weakness. While the book may not seem like it but it does have many strengths. One strength is that he pulls the reader in and keeps things interesting by using a first-person perspective. He doesn’t just hammer you with facts and says he’s rights but he connects it. He makes it so that when you read a chapter you instantly see the connection. Another strength is the fact that Stearns tries to make the book relatable to someone who may not be Christian. This is a strength because it makes it so that book applies to everyone and not those who are Christian. The last strength is that the points he makes are relevant to everyone and he backs up those points with facts. The only major weaknesses are that he does take some time to get to the point he’s trying to make and that at times it can feel like he’s repeating himself on points already made.
In my opinion, I believe those who wish to help the impoverished or simply to learn more about poverty they should read this book. They don’t have to be Christian to be impacted for the better from this book. They will be impacted for the better simply because Stearns writes from the heart and by explaining the life the reader relates to him and has a deeper understanding of what is being talked about in the book. Even with the weaknesses that are present in this book, anyone who reads this book will be impacted for the better.
In conclusion if you are looking to help those who are impoverished, or to learn more about poverty I recommend this book whole heartedly. It has its strengths and weaknesses but the focus of the book is met by the author of this book and it is a good book.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Emma
5.0 out of 5 stars Muy recomendable
Reviewed in Spain on July 5, 2021
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Excellent book. Libro genial! Lo recomiendo!
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A. Wood
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in Australia on February 6, 2016
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Is very challenging for a christian to assess his attitude to what he believes
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S Tummey
2.0 out of 5 stars Heard good things about this ... but was disappointed
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 3, 2017
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Half this book seems to be filled with indexes! I was interested that it was written by the US president of World Vision, and I enjoyed the autobiographical parts of the book, but sadly they only amounted to a very small proportion of it.
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