58: Fast Living
I’ve known Scott Todd for several years now. I first became acquainted with him when he was leading an initiative to help stop the AIDS pandemic in Africa. Today, Scott is a champion not only to put an end to the AIDS crises but also to eradicate world poverty!
What I love about Scott’s new book, 58: Fast Living, is that it’s a book filled with optimism . . . with hope. For instance . . .
*In the past 8 years, the number of kids dying from measles has declined by 78%.
*22 countries have cut their malaria rate in half in only 6 years. They did it with insecticide-treated bed nets, access to better medicine and spraying to kill mosquitoes.
*We used to say that 44,000 children die each day from preventable causes. In the 1990s, that number dropped to 33,000 per day. And now it is down to 21,000.
You get the idea. And yes, more than 1 billion people still do not have access to clean drinking water. 3 billion people still live on less than $2 per day. 21,000 children still die every 24 hours from poverty and poverty related preventable diseases. BUT, Scott contends, there is no reason for all of this to come to a close in our lifetime!
58: Fast Living wrecked my heart–or God wrecked it through this book. As Scott admonishes us, “It’s time for us to ‘pray with our sleeves rolled up.’”
Pick this one up! Don’t put it down. Allow God to wreck your heart and change the world through you.
One Response to “58: Fast Living”
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Greg NettleI am a diehard Cleveland Browns fan that dies hard every year. I have traveled to Peru, Ecuador, Ireland, Tanzania, England, France, Holland, South Africa, Wales, Northern Ireland, Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, Haiti and Scotland. And there’s nothing I would rather do than have a cup of coffee with my wife, Julie, at our local Starbucks. I enjoy bungee jumping, whitewater rafting and skydiving. The faster the roller coaster the better. My most recent adventures have included climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and a spiritual pilgrimage to Israel. I have read more than 50 books a year for the past 20 years but my favorite is to read the Bible with my 10 year old daughter, Tabitha and newly adopted son, Elijah. I used to travel and sing with Rich Mullins and I have had breakfast with Jerry Falwell. I would rather spend an hour with Howard Stern than an hour with the Pope. I love Kraft macaroni and cheese out of a box, Ho Ho’s, filet mignon and lobster with drawn butter—jalapenos on everything..
I loved this book as well. While poverty and its causes are complex and multi-faceted, Fast Living helped simplify and clarify the issues. This would be a great book to study with a group, and there is a FREE small group discussion guide available You can download it here: http://live58.org/downloads/fast-living-readers-guide.pdf
Once you read the book, go to live58.org and select a project to support to actually take action against poverty.