Unfinished: Believing Is Only the Beginning

Like his previous work, this follow-up to the 2010 ECPA Book of the Year, The Hole in Our Gospel, points to a deficiency in the Christian gospel. But while Stearns, the president of the relief agency World Vision, earlier focused on the gaping hole in the lives of Christians who only accept the “ticket to heaven” belief, he now fleshes out the way Christians are called to be revolutionaries who must storm the gates of hell—he finds evil personified in world atrocities—in order to open the doors to the kingdom of God. He explicates Bible texts to explain that Jesus calls upon his followers to make disciples and further the kingdom. Stearns exhorts churches to stop looking inward and begin calling people to act with the love and justice of God to radically change culture and society. Stearns, who chose to leave corporate leadership to lead the nonprofit, has signed over all royalties to World Vision. He has written an inspiring, action-oriented book that is long overdue in evangelical circles, bringing social justice, evangelism, and kingdom together in a dynamic and logical exhortation. Agent: Lee Hough, Alive Communications. (Apr. 30)