Let Justice Roll Down [Hardcover]

John M. Perkins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 6, 2006

His brother died in his arms, shot by a deputy marshall. He was beaten and tortured by the sheriff and state police. But through it all he returned good for evil, love for hate, progress for prejudice and brought hope to black and white alike. The story of John Perkins is no ordinary story. Rather, it is a gripping portrayal of what happens when faith thrusts a person into the midst of a struggle against racism, oppression and injustice. It is about the costs of discipleship—the jailings, the floggings, the despair, the sacrifice. And it is about the transforming work of faith that allowed John to respond to such overwhelming indignities with miraculous compassion, vision and hope.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

His brother died in his arms, shot by a deputy marshall. He was beaten and tortured by the sheriff and state police. But through it all he returned good for evil, love for hate, progress for prejudice and brought hope to black and white alike. The story of John Perkins is no ordinary story. Rather, it is a gripping portrayal of what happens when faith thrusts a person into the midst of a struggle against racism, oppression and injustice. It is about the costs of discipleship—the jailings, the floggings, the despair, the sacrifice. And it is about the transforming work of faith that allowed John to respond to such overwhelming indignities with miraculous compassion, vision and hope.

About the Author

JOHN PERKINS has ministered among the poor for 40 years. He founded Mendenhall Ministries, Voice of Calvary Ministries and the Harambee Christian Family Center and Preparatory School and was cofounder of the Christian Community Development Association. He was the publisher of Urban Family Magazine and author of nine books. Despite dropping out of school after the third grade, he holds 8 honorary doctorates recognizing his outstanding leadership in racial reconciliation and Christian community development. He and his wife Vera Mae live in Mississippi. 

Product Details

• Age Range: 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Regal (December 6, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830743073
• ISBN-13: 978-0830743070
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 0.8 x 8.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #318,895 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John M. Perkins is a sharecropper's son who grew up in New Hebron, Mississippi amidst dire poverty. Fleeing to California at age 17 after his older brother's murder at the hands of a town marshal, he vowed never to return. However after converting to Christianity in 1960 he returned to Mendenhall, Mississippi to share the gospel of Christ. While in Mississippi, his outspoken nature and support and leadership in civil rights demonstrations resulted in repeated harassment, beatings and imprisonment. He again was arrested in 2005 year while protesting in Washington D.C. against U. S. Government defunding of programs aiding the poor.

In Mendenhall, Perkins and his wife, Vera Mae, founded Voice of Calvary Ministries. This Christian community development ministry started a church, health center, leadership development program, thrift store, low-income housing development, and training center. From this ministry, other development projects started in the neighboring towns of Canton, New Hebron and Edwards. Philip K. Reed, the previous pastor of Voice of Calvary Fellowship, has assumed the leadership of this dynamic ministry.

In 1982, the Perkins family returned to California and lived in the city of Pasadena where Perkins and his wife founded Harambee Christian Family Center in Northwest Pasadena, a neighborhood that had one of the highest daytime crime rates in California. Harambee is yet standing, running numerous programs including after school tutoring, Good News Bible Clubs, an award-winning technology center, summer day camp, youth internship programs, and a college scholarship program.

In 1983, while yet in California, Perkins and his wife, along with a few friends and other major supporters, established the John M. Perkins Foundation for Reconciliation & Development, Inc for the sole purpose of supporting their mission of advancing the principles of Christian community development and racial reconciliation throughout the world.

His many books include the memiors "Love is the Final Fight", "Follow Me to Freedom," "Welcoming Justice," the autobiography "Let Justice Roll Down", "With Justice for All", "A Quiet Revolution" and "Linking Arms, Linking Lives".

Visit www.jmpf.org for more information

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Authentic religion, practical healing of communities. April 20, 1997

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

This is the true and moving story of John Perkins, a black from Mississippi who experienced oppression by whites, including the murder of his brother. He overcame bitterness through the good news of Jesus Christ. Beaten almost to death for his efforts to empower the black community in the 60's, Perkins fought back with love and power from God, building a successful ministry of community spiritual and economic development that brought blacks and whites together. Perkins must be a man who truly believes that God became a man and dwelt among us. For that model of sacrificial love and service has been the benchmark and inspiration for his life and ministry. A refreshing break from the usual religious hype, this book will show skeptics an authentic, practical, and compelling Christianity they may have never seen before. And it will challenge Christian readers to apply, in utterly down-to-earth ways, the implications of their faith. No literary masterpiece, it simply tells what happened. Perkins is clearly not interested in self-promotion; he doesn't shirk from sharing his own blemishes and failures. This simplicity and humility of narrative serve to underscore the reality of God's presence in the events recounted, with the result that the reader is emboldened to take a bigger view of what God can do in his or her own life to bring about healing and reconciliation in his or her community. Of interest to anyone with such aspirations, this book should never be allowed to go out of print

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Personal account, personally told March 3, 2007

By Armchair Interviews

Format:Hardcover

Let Justice Roll Down is a powerful testimony to what can happen if one person has the courage to combine evangelism with social activism. John Perkins is one of our living heroes of the civil rights era who walked into the wilderness of racism and ignorance to minister to the poor and speak on the issues of racial reconciliation.

Growing up in a family of sharecroppers and bootleggers in Mississippi, John learned hard lessons about economic disparity and exploitation at an early age. Although these experiences were leading him toward black separatism, a total anti-white position, God stepped in and showed him the beauty of Christianity through his wife and children and his pastor at Bethlehem Church of Christ Holiness in California. It was here that a transformation of John's heart and soul occurred and he said YES to Jesus Christ.

John was led back to Mississippi to share the gospel and help black people find equality through voter registration, leadership training, church activities, Bible classes and housing co-ops. He became a lightening rod of discontent to a white community who resented his efforts to close the divide between the races. In 1970 John participated in a peaceful demonstration calling for desegregation of all public facilities, including schools, which ended with an arrest on trumped up charges. John was beaten severely for hours before bail was raised to release him. Yet it was though this experience that he saw for the first time how racism was a sickness that some people (black and white) used to feel important--as if to confirm they mattered.

The legal road of Perkins v. State of Mississippi was long and laborious. Through it all John prayed more than ever for God's strength not only for the ability to get through the legal ordeal but to do so as a man who could stand for righteousness without bitterness or vindictiveness.

Mr. Perkins writes this treasure as if he were speaking to you in your living room. I truly enjoyed reading this book as I became acquainted with one of America's profound evangelists who realized that man's solution to racism was spiritual. The mysterious truth that black or white, we all need to be born again.

Armchair Interviews says: Powerful message--a great read.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the bbest books read in high-school March 3, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

I read this as a sophomore in high school. Definitely a must for any teen christian looking to learn more about life as a christian