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Condition Notes: SIGNED by author Richard Stearns!! Tight binding! Pages ALL super crisp/clean/unmarked! Hardcover in EXCELLENT condition! Dustjacket has some very light shelf/edge wear, otherwise great shape!

Title: The Hole in Our Gospel: What Does God Expect of Us? The Answer that Changed My Life and Might Just Change the World
Author: Richard Stearns
Format: Hardcover
Edition: First Edition
ISBN-10: 0785229183
ISBN-13: 9780785229186
Publication Year: 2009
Publisher: Thomas Nelson Inc.
Number of Pages: 303

About the Author: Richard Stearns advocates Christian compassion toward those around the world who suffer from poverty.

Stearns holds a bachelor's degree from Cornell University, where he joined the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity and studied neurobiology, and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. His professional career began in marketing with the Gillette Company in Boston. From 1977 to 1985, he held various roles with Parker Brothers, 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., overseeing three divisions, six manufacturing facilities, 4,000 employees, and $500 million in annual sales. He left Lenox when in June 1998 he became president of World Vision.

As president of World Vision Inc., Stearns was responsible for U.S. operations, which included advocacy, fundraising, and program development, and prioritized the organization's worldwide attention on the AIDS crisis.

Stearns has appeared on CNN, Fox, ABC, NBC, and PBS, and has written pieces published in the Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, and other print media. He is a frequent speaker at churches, conferences, and denominational gatherings, and has spoken at Harvard University, the Lausanne Congress, and a variety of international venues.

Stearns and his wife, Reneé, have five children and live in Bellevue, Washington.

About the Book: The Hole In Our Gospel: What Does God Expect of Us? The Answer That Changed My Life and Might Just Change the World (Thomas Nelson, March 2009), is Stearns’ first book and a call to fulfill God’s commandment to help address poverty and injustice. Stearns makes a case for God’s heart for the poor while introducing readers to some of the billions of people who daily struggle to survive hunger and disease.[citation needed]

Stearns believes there is a glaring hole in Christianity as it is practiced in the United States. What’s missing? An active concern for people affected by poverty and injustice. Quoting extensively from scripture, Stearns illuminates God’s commitment to aid the poor and leaves no doubt that God expects his followers to do the same.

The author explains how Christians of previous generations encountered three basic roadblocks to exercising Christian compassion: a lack of awareness (knowing the need), access (being able to reach the needy), and ability (having resources to meet the need). Stearns writes, “For the first time in the history of the human race, we have the awareness, the access and the ability to reach out to our most desperate neighbors around the world. The programs, tools, and technologies to virtually eliminate the most extreme kinds of poverty and suffering in our world are now available. This is truly good news for the poor—but only if we do our part.”[citation needed]

While Stearns believes that individual Christians and churches have a responsibility to take action to alleviate global poverty, he has discouraged unilateral action in which churches launch their own programs around the world. Stearns has argued that churches "think we can somehow tackle [global poverty] using only amateurs and volunteers." Churches hire expert consultants to assist them in managing their local congregations like successful businesses: music, accounting, audiovisual support, counseling, and building construction. Shouldn't Christians do the same to assist with realizing their global mission, which involves them in "tackling complicated problems halfway around the world?" Stearns says that solving poverty is incredibly complex, that it is more like rocket science in its difficulty than people realize.

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