Books

Making a Difference

The God Who Hung on the Cross is a vibrant chronicle of an 81-year-old man’s mission

The God Who Hung on the Cross Dois I. Rosser Jr. and Ellen Vaughn Zondervan, 244 pages, $18.99

Complacent, comfortable Christians should find this somewhat uneven book a stirring call to make a difference in the world. “We need to be relentless in the quest to bring help to those whom God loves,” writes Dois Rosser, an 81-year-old former car salesman on a mission to use his time, money, and talent to make a difference wherever he can.

The heart of the book is in its stories: lepers in India constructing a church from scratch; a Down syndrome boy raised by monkeys in Cambodia; or the condition of children’s prisons in India. Despite the heart-rending nature of many of the anecdotes, plenty of wry humor keeps the book from becoming heavy-handed.

Ellen Vaughn, an award-winning author, travels with Rosser and shares her perceptions of him, his work, and how it affects her life. The dual authorship weakens cohesiveness (the reader encounters chapters by Rosser and then by Vaughn in no particular pattern), and the narrative slows when it delves into the details of Rosser’s foundation. But the appeal of the book is in the vibrant enthusiasm Rosser and Vaughn bring to the timeless message of what God can do through individuals.

Copyright © 2003 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Related Elsewhere

The God Who Hung on the Cross is available at Christianbook.com.

For more book reviews, see Christianity Today’s archives.

Also in this issue

The Higher Self Gets Down to Business: An old movement appears anew—in the corporate world.

Cover Story

The Higher Self Gets Down To Business

Jeff M. Sellers

Heavenly Bodies

Yugoslavia: Divided by distrust

Kristian Kahrs

Quotation Marks

The Unluckiest Church

Heresy at Wheaton?

Prostitutes Sue Christians

Flash: Mother Teresa Was Human

Evangelism Antagonism

Christianity Today Editorial

New Life for Prolife

Christianity Today Editorial

"Reflections: Sex, Love, and Marriage"

Richard A. Kauffman

Nigeria: Sub-Saharan Powder Keg

Jeff M. Sellers

News

"John F. Walvoord, 92, longtime Dallas president, dies"

Mark A. Kellner

Fighting Within and Fears Without

Darrell Block: ’Public-Square’ Societies Keep Us Honest

We're Rich

Faith vs. Statistics

Openness Season

Christopher A. Hall

Words Well Chosen

Cindy Crosby

A Refugee's Challenges

Cindy Crosby

A Stellar Whodunnit

Cindy Crosby

Tallying Compassion

News

Elms Make Like a Tree

Wire Story

Clergy ratings at lowest point ever

Religion News Service

Wire Story

Pakistan: Three killed in Christmas attack on church

Religion News Service

PLUS: Utopia or Kingdom Come?

Jeff M. Sellers

PLUS: Prosperity Consciousness

Jeff M. Sellers

The Profit of God

Jeff Van Duzer and Tim Dearborn

PLUS: Bad Company Corrupts

Tim Dearborn

"Once you Forgive, there will be Healing"

S. David, with additional reporting by Manpreet Singh

Headship with a Heart

Steven Tracy

News

Go Figure

"PLUS: The Neighborhood's Last, Best Hope"

Ram A. Cnaan

How to Rebuild a Country

Wendy Murray Zoba

Wrath Control

M. Blaine Smith

What Conversion Is and Is Not

John G. Stackhouse Jr.

The Peoples are Here

Tony Carnes

Saving Black Babies

Sheryl Blunt

Local Church fights for evangelical ID card

Mark A. Kellner

Beach blanket rebirth

Todd Hertz

Prolife as Mafia?

Tim Callahan

View issue

Our Latest

News

Facing Arrest, Cuban Christian Influencers Continue Call for Freedom

Hannah Herrera

Young people are using social media to spread the gospel and denounce the Communist regime.

Public Theology Project

Against the Casinofication of the Church

The Atlantic’s McKay Coppins told me about problems that feel eerily similar to what I see in the church.

Wire Story

The Religion Gender Gap Among the Young Is Disappearing

Bob Smietana - Religion News Service

Women still dominate church pews, but studies find that devotion among Gen Z women has cooled to levels on par with Gen Z men.

Just War Theory Is Supposed to Be Frustrating

The venerable theological tradition makes war slower, riskier, costlier, and less efficient—and that’s the point.

The Russell Moore Show

Karen Swallow Prior on Birds, Bees, and Babies

How should the church address infertility and childlessness?

Will the Church Enter the Guys’ Group Chat?

Luke Simon

Young men are looking for online presence. The church needs to offer more than weekly breakfasts.

Attempts at Cultural Crossover

From Pat Robertson’s soap opera to creation science, CT reported evangelical efforts to go mainstream in 1982.

Wire Story

Young, Educated, and Urban Pastors Are Most Likely to Use AI

Aaron Earls - Lifeway Research

A survey found denominational differences in pastors’ use of the technology, as well as widespread skepticism about its reliability.

addApple PodcastsDown ArrowDown ArrowDown Arrowarrow_left_altLeft ArrowLeft ArrowRight ArrowRight ArrowRight Arrowarrow_up_altUp ArrowUp ArrowAvailable at Amazoncaret-downCloseCloseellipseEmailEmailExpandExpandExternalExternalFacebookfacebook-squarefolderGiftGiftGooglegoogleGoogle KeephamburgerInstagraminstagram-squareLinkLinklinkedin-squareListenListenListenChristianity TodayCT Creative Studio Logologo_orgMegaphoneMenuMenupausePinterestPlayPlayPocketPodcastprintremoveRSSRSSSaveSavesaveSearchSearchsearchSpotifyStitcherTelegramTable of ContentsTable of Contentstwitter-squareWhatsAppXYouTubeYouTube