More People to Love: How the Bible Starts in a Garden and Ends in a City and What That Means for You

Excellent scripture based book giving churches, their ministers and members guidance on reaching out to minister beyond the church walls. Highly recommend this book for its thoughtful look at the Bible's direction for Christians to love more people. And a bonus..purchase price of book goes to the two authors' church to support the church reaching more people to love.

A great read letting us know and understand that each and everyone of us has a part in God's love story, the greatest love story ever told.

During my first reading of More People to Love, I embraced the very attractive concept that the title puts forth - and so that was my main focus. As is nearly always the case, life happened - and I read the book again, this time more thoughtfully. There on my knees, God ministered to me through this book, during multiple personal and business crises that threatened to crush me and my husband - ones that impacted our family, our friends and our business associates. It is during such times that we need practical and Biblically sound encouragement to love more people, even though that "will also inevitably mean more crying and more fighting and more forgiving." This book reassures us with hope and purposefully demonstrates that our God has a plan to bless us in Christ Jesus as we love more people - "even and especially when it's hard." Amen!

The final words of "More People to Love" are: "There was once a pilgrim named Abraham. It’s said of Abraham that he was “looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:10). This verse means that Abraham knew that every other story of the universe was, ultimately, lacking a sturdy foundation. Abraham knew every other story was too flimsy to build his life upon. And not only this, but Abraham also believed that the story that began in a garden would end in a beautiful city, a city “designed by God.”Until we reach that city, may you and I live in the light of this story, The Story of God, The Story of More People to Love."That is a powerful vision: a promise of building our lives on a story with a sturdy foundation. I'm grateful for Abbott and Vrbicek bringing us afresh this story that God is calling us into and calling us to build our lives upon. May their casting of this vision compel many to give up our own petty and paltry stories for a story worth giving ourselves for.

In church congregations it's easy to find a routine that works and then to stick with it. Butt there is danger in the familiar comfort of those routines. The safety of the status quo often becomes a distraction or excuse and we miss out on the wild work of God's Spirit. Rarely does God allow his people to stay in a routine for very long but rather He consistently calls them into seasons of bold risk taking. Pastors Jason and Benjamin realize that faithful obedience is the result of trusting the bigger picture of God's Kingdom. Based on a sermon series presented in their local church, they offer a unique glimpse into the heart of a church community contemplating obedient change and how the leadership guides them through the process. When we can see our place in the larger history and mission of God's Kingdom our faith will grow. If there really are more people to love are we willing to take bold steps to love them? Can we leave comfort and security behind? Are we more concerned about maintaining our own church congregation or are we connecting them to their place in the broader work of God's Kingdom? This book had many challenging moments that caused me to step back and ask God to increase my faith and ability to love beyond my limits.

More people to love opens our eyes to a truth of love that is often missed. Love is sometimes inconvenient; but dying on a cross is the epitome of inconvenience. Our point of view is just that, our perspective on our life. More People to Love is about a change of perspective; from my perspective of inconvenience to God's perspective of opportunity to expand His Kingdom here on earth.

Benjamin and Jason have crafted a helpful, accessible and challenging look at God's purposes in the sweep of redemptive history, and how that relates to us now as we seek to carry on those purposes through the church. As each chapter comes right out of the text of scripture, they combine keen insights, helpful application to our time and context, often vulnerable and fun personal stories, all woven together with a gospel-centered grounding. I highly recommend that you give it a read!

A thoughtful, engaging, and sometimes-humorous look at God's call on his children's lives to open their hearts and their arms in order to bring more people into the Kingdom of God. By walking us through multiple stories in Scripture, the authors unfold how God's "Love More People" plan includes, at the most intimate and important level, you and I. Benjamin and Jason use their distinct but complementary writing styles to build a full picture of this plan through biblical history and on into eternity. Together, the authors' enthusiasm for the messiness and chaos of "making more room" in our days and lives for those who need to know of God is an inspiring challenge to those of us who are sometimes a little too comfortable in our own carved-out spaces.