It was not that long ago that African Americans and other minorities were excluded from many spheres of American public life. We have seen remarkable progress in recent decades toward Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream of beloved community. But this is not only because of the activism and sacrifice of a certain generation of civil rights leaders. It happened because God was on the move. Historian and theologian Charles Marsh partners with veteran activist John Perkins to chronicle God's vision for more equitable and just world. They show how the civil rights movement was one important episode in God's larger movement throughout human history of pursuing justice and beloved community. Perkins reflects on his long ministry and identifies key themes and lessons he has learned, and Marsh highlights the legacy of Perkins's work in American society. Together they show how abandoned places are being restored, divisions are being reconciled, and what individuals and communities are now doing to welcome peace and justice. The God Movement continues yet today. Come, discover your part in the beloved community. There is unfinished work still to do.
Welcoming Justice
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle.
Learn more
| |||||||||||||||
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
Review
"For years, John Perkins and Charles Marsh have been two of our most important figures in the discussion of--and pursuit of--reconciliation. Now, from their passion for justice, their love of the gospel and their friendship with one another, comes this gem, which may be the most important book either of them has written yet." (Lauren F. Winner, author of Girl Meets God )
"Growing up in a Korean American immigrant church context, I did not hear the name John Perkins all that often. Since those early years, I have made a concerted effort to learn as much as possible about the work of one of the most important American Christian voices of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This book provides important insights into the life, testimony, theology and ministry of John Perkins. It is both a work of inspiration and a work of history (reflecting the leanings of the dual authors) that must be read by any student or practitioner of social justice ministry. The book provides novices, faithful servants and even the weary laborers the inspiration to persevere in God's kingdom work. John Perkins and Charles Marsh provide for us a view of compassion, mercy and justice ministry that needs to be heeded in the context of a new evangelicalism in North America." (Soong-Chan Rah, Milton B. Engebretson Associate Professor of Church Growth and Evangelism, North Park Theological Seminary, and author of The Next Evangelicalism )
"Welcoming Justice represents the perfect marriage of social justice and scholarly reflection. Far too often, those endeavors are not connected, leaving either effort impoverished. Everyone interested in thoughtful and just social change will find this book richly rewarding." (Dr. Susan M. Glisson, executive director, The William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation, University of Mississippi )
"The blood that runs through the veins of our nation is a muddy river; its waters are deep with honor and shame, joy and pain, compassion and exploitation. Charles Marsh and John Perkins are incredible navigators in the murky waters of race and reconciliation. To see the past, present and future of 'the dream' of the beloved community through the eyes of Perkins and Marsh is to see a resurrection of hope. These are two men who live out the ideas they speak about with eloquence and beauty. If words are the scaffolding we build our lives on, this book lays a true and elegant foundation." (Jon Foreman, songwriter, musician and cofounder of the alternative rock bands Switchfoot and Fiction Family )
"For decades John Perkins's footsteps have been leading people out of captivity, like Moses. And Charles Marsh has been tracking those footsteps with the eye of a historian, showing us that this liberation journey is an ancient one, and it ain't over yet . . . It did not end with Moses or with Dr. King, nor will it end with John Perkins. In Welcoming Justice, Perkins and Marsh have created a perfect harmony, a freedom song that will echo with hope through the streets of injustice and the halls of academia, inviting everyone who hears to take a step out of the empire in which we live and to move one step closer to the Promised Land, the beloved community of God." (Shane Claiborne, author, activist and recovering sinner )
"Together, Perkins and Marsh are attempting to restore the vision, both conceptually and practically, showing how theology can indeed be lived out in a multicultural society despite its deeply stained past. I know of no better time to attempt such a project, and no team better equipped to accomplish it." (from the foreword by Philip Yancey )
"Growing up in a Korean American immigrant church context, I did not hear the name John Perkins all that often. Since those early years, I have made a concerted effort to learn as much as possible about the work of one of the most important American Christian voices of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This book provides important insights into the life, testimony, theology and ministry of John Perkins. It is both a work of inspiration and a work of history (reflecting the leanings of the dual authors) that must be read by any student or practitioner of social justice ministry. The book provides novices, faithful servants and even the weary laborers the inspiration to persevere in God's kingdom work. John Perkins and Charles Marsh provide for us a view of compassion, mercy and justice ministry that needs to be heeded in the context of a new evangelicalism in North America." (Soong-Chan Rah, Milton B. Engebretson Associate Professor of Church Growth and Evangelism, North Park Theological Seminary, and author of The Next Evangelicalism )
"Welcoming Justice represents the perfect marriage of social justice and scholarly reflection. Far too often, those endeavors are not connected, leaving either effort impoverished. Everyone interested in thoughtful and just social change will find this book richly rewarding." (Dr. Susan M. Glisson, executive director, The William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation, University of Mississippi )
"The blood that runs through the veins of our nation is a muddy river; its waters are deep with honor and shame, joy and pain, compassion and exploitation. Charles Marsh and John Perkins are incredible navigators in the murky waters of race and reconciliation. To see the past, present and future of 'the dream' of the beloved community through the eyes of Perkins and Marsh is to see a resurrection of hope. These are two men who live out the ideas they speak about with eloquence and beauty. If words are the scaffolding we build our lives on, this book lays a true and elegant foundation." (Jon Foreman, songwriter, musician and cofounder of the alternative rock bands Switchfoot and Fiction Family )
"For decades John Perkins's footsteps have been leading people out of captivity, like Moses. And Charles Marsh has been tracking those footsteps with the eye of a historian, showing us that this liberation journey is an ancient one, and it ain't over yet . . . It did not end with Moses or with Dr. King, nor will it end with John Perkins. In Welcoming Justice, Perkins and Marsh have created a perfect harmony, a freedom song that will echo with hope through the streets of injustice and the halls of academia, inviting everyone who hears to take a step out of the empire in which we live and to move one step closer to the Promised Land, the beloved community of God." (Shane Claiborne, author, activist and recovering sinner )
"Together, Perkins and Marsh are attempting to restore the vision, both conceptually and practically, showing how theology can indeed be lived out in a multicultural society despite its deeply stained past. I know of no better time to attempt such a project, and no team better equipped to accomplish it." (from the foreword by Philip Yancey )
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Authors
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Embrace Reconciliation,
By
This review is from: Welcoming Justice: God's Movement Toward Beloved Community (Resources for Reconciliation) (Paperback)
I have been involved with the issue of reconciliation for about 5 years now. My wife and I (and our son who was 2 years old at the time) spent 3 months on an intense residential course on Biblical Reconciliation before we moved to the States. For three months I was steeped in lecturers and books on reconciliation. The paper that I wrote for the course, The Paradox of A Divided Church Called To Be Reconcilers To The World, was published as a chapter in a book. I also edited a resource book for schools on Biblical Reconciliation. It was for these reasons that I was excited to review this book.
Charles Marsh (Seminary Professor) and John Perkins (Civil Rights activist) team together to write on God's movement towards `Beloved Community.' As John Perkins writes, God is calling me to help churches see and incorporate as an essential part of discipleship. The captivity of the church to our culture has left us so divided. The church has a massive, God given role in reconciliation and it needs to embrace this call. The gospel itself is a call to reconciliation - turn back to The Father who desires to be restored in relationship with his children through his Son Jesus Christ; The Church is called to be a blessing in places of brokenness, so God sends us to the jails. God wants us to interrupt this broken system with his love. The chapters are shared between Perkins and Marsh. When you read Perkins chapters you literally hear his cry leaping from the pages - the cry for the church to get serious about true reconciliation; serious about being involved with a broken world; serious about community that is attractive, discipleship based and reconciliation focused. Christians have spent a lot of time talking about who Jesus is without paying attention to how he lived. Community based church is a key feature for the authors. A Church that simply attracts people who commute in and out is not as asset to a community. They contribute very little, if not nothing to the community (accept traffic problems on a Sunday). A Church that is made up of people from the community is an asset to the community - investing time and energy in those with whom they live with to declare God's reconciliation and to be an illustration of reconciliation to the community. Of course the two key areas that need this is racial relations and those in poverty and time is spent on these issues. John Perkins insights into the civil rights movement of the 50's and 60's are very insightful. Much has changed and much progress has been made since Martin Luther-Kings death some 40 years ago, but there is more to be done; We're not there yet, but we are living in a new time. This is a time for re-building. I pray that every Christian, young and old alike, would have the courage to give themselves fully to God's movement toward reconciliation and beloved community in society. My only difficulty with the book was that some of the chapters were a little disjointed. Sometimes I was not sure where the chapter was heading. But overall this is a great little book. This book should be read by all Christians but especially pastors and church leaders so that reconciliation gets into the DNA of the church. Definitely recommended.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Welcoming Understanding,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Welcoming Justice: God's Movement Toward Beloved Community (Resources for Reconciliation) (Paperback)
Growing up near the end of the 1960's in a Republican household where racism was just beneath the surface and later coming to faith in the world's Messiah in an evangelical world that saw faith as opposed to justice, this book helped me understand the roots of the civil rights movement and how the foundation changed after MLK's death. The book goes on to discuss and recapture the vision of the gospel for reconciliation on every level of human socity through fidelity to Jesus' teaching. It's refreshing how it pictures the gospel as the hope not just for the human soul but for human societies.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A compelling, challenging and encouraging read,
By
This review is from: Welcoming Justice: God's Movement Toward Beloved Community (Resources for Reconciliation) (Paperback)
Though both men have a long history in racial reconciliation -- Charles Marsh as a professor and the director of the Project on Lived Theology at the University of Virginia, and John Perkins as the founder of the Voice of Calvary in Mississippi and the Christian Community Development Association -- this book looks forward more than it looks back. Both men lament the failure of the Civil Rights Movement to hold on to its Christian roots, and both men are critical of the continuing "cultural captivity" of the evangelical church. But both men also see God continuing his work of reconciliation down to the present, and Perkins in particular, expresses optimism that many of today's youth -- high school and college students -- have a vision for God's Beloved Community and are working to make it a reality.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Inside This Book
(learn more)
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
So You'd Like to...
|
|
