At first glance I suspected I was buying into some not-so-clever but effective marketing targeted at the liberated spiritualist.  Throw in a cool yellow cover, a frothy head and thick parchment pages and youʻve got a downright classic even before a page is read.  However upon reading I found myself seldom being able to put it down.  From red lights and lunch breaks I was along for the ride.

Opening in the 1700s and set in the history of the family known as Guinness. Mansfield delivers us a story worth knowing and more importantly worth telling.  He takes us through beer, culture, faith, business and social justice as the Guinness empire unfolds. This is not to say the book doesnʻt have some flat spots where I sensed some defensiveness as if Iʻm not already bought in.

I appreciate Mansfieldʻs honestly throughout the process, his insights and bold conclusions.  He didnʻt go in making a case for Guinness, God and culture but more as a journalist fascinated by these elements. Think the pub version of Case for Christ.

I like this book as a conversation starter, an easy share for those who appreciate beer and encouragement for the striving activist.

Thanks for writing this Stephen.

Cheers.

A story of streetside biography told over a century of faith, passion, war, art and one epic crime.

New York City.

A read that is not so much about where it's going but where it is.

A book that will leave your hands stained with honesty.

One of the best Iʻve read.

The social justice movement as of recent has had many books, many voices and many names. Yet itʻs been a Tribe thatʻs been void of something; a fatherly voice. In The Hole In Our Gospel Richard Stearns writes as someone who is humbly taking lead, not because heʻs comfortable or qualified (heʻd say he isnʻt) but because heʻs right and because he cares and because he calls the movement by itʻs rightful name, the Gospel.

As youʻd expect from the President of World Vision, this book is a heavy hitter. Itʻll actually push other books on your shelf around. Iʻm serious, maybe just go ahead and put your other books away for while. Stearns addresses the global state of poverty with passion and patience, story and statistic but without guilt or manipulation. This is less about criticizing the church and more about inspiring. Thatʻs not to say you wonʻt feel a sting with lines like, "If weʻre in Godʻs game, we need to put the American dream to death, because Godʻs game is different all together" or scriptures such as "if anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?"

The Hole In Our Gospel is for everyone. Pastors, activists, questors and those who just suspect there must be more to living than we oft encounter (i.e. pastors). Itʻs for you and me because weʻre both human and hurting people need us. Not just to care but to do.

We need this book not because weʻre in the dark about poverty but because weʻre in the dark as to what we should be doing about it.

The Hole In Our Gospel is a motivator. Personally and communally. Redirecting a faith that has often been pointing in the wrong direction. Reminding us that children dying from drinking water or the lack there of is simply not acceptable and that itʻs not someone elseʻs problem.

Itʻs ours. Itʻs mine. And itʻs yours.