There are two ways to look at the present condition of the world. One is to look at the scandals in business, politics, sports and entertainment and say, "What's the point in trying to live a Spirit-filled life? Look at how bad everything is! No one seems to care about character." It all seems so driven by greed that we can only believe we are in the end times.
Another way to look at the state of the world is to realize that there is more to the story than just the scandal and the ethical blunders we read so much about. So, instead of giving up, we say, "Show me the people who are living honorably, faithful to God and their families. Those are the people I want to read about."
That's what you're holding in your hand right now. This is a collection of stories of leaders who have learned the eternal lessons of serving God in their work and their homes, who also work in the fields of business, politics, sports and entertainment.
This is a collection of personal stories of victory, failure, triumph, loss, all written by people who experienced these conditions. Just like you and me, and Job and Moses and Jesus, sometimes they wondered where God was in their experiences. Some of the people in this book asked where God was when they were being falsely accused. Some of them wondered why God granted them so much mercy when they didn't deserve it. Some of them never doubted God, but wondered how they would survive their predicaments. Some of them lost children to drug abuse. Some were confronted with what appeared to be unbeatable odds. These are the stories of individuals, but they're really all stories about God and how He works.
God has used some of the people in this book to change thousands of people's lives, like Josh McDowell as he speaks to standing-room only arenas, or like Tom Osborne as he inspires through his football legacy and his influence in Congress. God also has used some to change lives of fellow prisoners in a federal penitentiary, like Bill Kennedy, who loves through his Christian witness. Some have bought up urban property and used it to glorify God. Some have traded in their celebrity status to tell others about Jesus. But what I think is significant is that none of the people feels that his life is extraordinary. Every one of them points to the extraordinary work of God in their lives that has then pointed many others to Him.
Each story in this book is different. Some deal with professional sports, some with Hollywood, some with going to jail, some with family conflict, some with successful business ventures, some with bankruptcy. But they are similar in that all of them deal with how God can use our circumstances to make Himself known. You'll recognize some of the names - some of these people are my good friends. But what I hope you really recognize in this book is yourself. You and I have had many of the same temptations as these people. We are often tempted to look to our own strength, to be addicted to praise for our brilliance, to respond with anger rather than love, to worship success more than God, to believe that the world spins on an axis that looks a lot like us, to think that the Bible applies to people who aren't quite as smart as we are, to assume that the rules are a little different for us, to be impressed with ourselves, to ignore those who are less fortunate than us. And while you and I might respond to those temptations differently from the examples here, it is unmistakable that we are confronted with the same conditions of the human heart.
