See the Amazon review(s) of the book, How God Became King: The Forgotten Story of the Gospels.  I loved this book! Wished I could have had its concepts and pointers back when I began my ministry, some 40 years ago. What will I now do with this rich revelation and teaching that helps broaden and deepen my understanding of what God has done, in Israel, in Christ - and continues to to do today through His People?

In his previous book, After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters (2010), Wright comments that Christian character should reflect "God's image once more into the world - the image of the generous, loving creator filling his world with beauty, order, freedom, and glory ... seeking, generating and sustaining justice and beauty in a world where both have been at a discount for too long."

In Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church Wright identifies 'justice' and 'beauty' as important areas in which "to work for God's kingdom in the present."  Wright asserts that God is redeeming the world of space, time and matter, not discarding it. He states: "... The church ... must... claim [the world of space, time and matter] for the kingdom of God, for the lordship of Jesus, and in the power of the Spirit so that we can then go out and work for that kingdom, announce that lordship, and effect change through that power."

I concur with the above and love the followig: "The mission of the church must therefore include, at a structural level, the recognition that our space, time and matter are all subject not to rejection but to redemption." 

"If it is true, as I have argued," says Wright, "that the whole world is now God's holy land, we must not rest as long as that land is spoiled and defaced. This is not an extra to the church's mission. It is central."

For Wright, 'mission' includes, for example, addressing "massive economic imbalance" and "Third World debt", politics, art, music, sculpture, poetry, architecture, town planning, transportation, agriculture, "proper use of resources" etc., areas of our 'life and work' through which Jesus is reclaiming and ruling his world.

All of these books are very worthwhile. They will challenge, provoke and, I pray, motivate the Christian to respond and to act in ways that please our Lord.