"Before you can do what’s right, you have to see what’s right.
When it comes to racial reconciliation, we often ask, “Where do we go from here?” But has it ever occurred to you that the real question is “Why are we still here?” In other words, until we’ve seen the problem of racism correctly—its history, its current effects, and its root causes—we aren’t equipped to head in the right direction. We’ll just keep falling into the same old patterns. The blind will lead the blind, and no one will have the vision to foster real change.
But take hope! Restoring our spiritual sight is exactly what Jesus came to achieve.
In this book, Josh Clemons and Hazen Stevens—one white, one black, and both brothers in Christ—will invite you to start the journey toward racial reconciliation and justice. Join us as we:
- Know the story of racism in the West, the church’s complicity in it, and how that story impacts each of us
- Own our own contributory roles in the present and historic sin of racism
- Change the story by getting involved with the laborious—yet glorious!—work of racial reconciliation and justice
In Know. Own. Change., the authors set aside the world’s patterns of division and hate. Instead, they set a tone that emerges from spiritual kinship in Christ. Every page seeks to honor Him, pointing believers back to Jesus as the one who is reconciling all things to himself."
"Can joy come from suffering?
We think of suffering as the worst of all evils. Our culture tells us to avoid it at all costs. But can suffering produce growth in us when we learn to endure it . . . then value it . . . then allow God to redeem it?
John Perkins’ response to suffering at the hands of a white sheriff in a Mississippi jail became the springboard that God used to put him in front of U.S. presidents, international politicians, and evangelical church leaders. Perkins sees endurance in suffering as a virtue that makes us more like Christ and ultimately produces uncommon joy in the heart of the sufferer who trusts in Him. Christ walked the path of love all the way to the cross, and even in the midst our brokenness, we can do the same.
In Count It All Joy, you will be encouraged to lean into suffering when it comes your way, stand alongside others who suffer, and believe that God will repurpose your suffering according to His good plan. God doesn’t intend your life to be free of all suffering. Instead, He wants you trust Him in the midst of it and discover the unexpected joy that trials can produce."
"Dr. Perkins' final manifesto on race, faith, and reconciliation.
We are living in historic times. Not since the civil rights movement of the 60's has our country been as vigorously engaged in the reconciliation conversation. There is a great opportunity right now for culture to change, to be a more perfect union. However, it cannot be done without the Church, because the faith of the people is more powerful than any law government can enact.
The church is the heart and moral compass of a nation. To turn a country away from God you must sideline the Church. To turn a nation to God the Church must turn first. Racism won't end in America until the Church is reconciled first and then, and only then, it can spiritually and morally lead the way.
In this his crowning work, Dr. Perkins speaks honestly to the church about the things he's discovered to be crucial about reconciliation, discipleship, and justice… the principles vital to a complete ministry of reconciliation."
He offers a call to repentance to both the white church and the black church. He explains how band-aid approaches of the past won't do. And while applauding these starter efforts, he holds that true reconciliation won't happen until we get more intentional and relational. True friendships must happen and on every level. This will take the whole church, not just the pastors and staff.
The racial reconciliation of our churches and nation won't be done with big campaigns or through mass media. It will come one loving, sacrificial relationship at a time. The Gospel and all that it encompasses has always traveled best relationally. We have much to learn from each other and each have unique poverties that can only be filled by one another. The way forward is to become "wounded healers" who bandage each other up as we discover what the family of God really looks like. Real relationships, sacrificial love between actual people, is the way forward. Nothing less will do."
"Something is wrong in our society. Deeply wrong.
The belief that all lives matter is at the heart of our founding documents - but we must admit that this conviction has never truly reflected reality in America. Movements such as Black Lives Matter have arisen in response to recent displays of violence and mistreatment, and some of us defensively answer back, "All lives matter." But do they? Really?
This audio book is an exploration of that question. It delves into history and current events, into Christian teaching and personal stories, in order to start a conversation about the way forward. Its raw but hopeful words will help move us from apathy to empathy and from empathy to action.
We cannot do everything. But we can each do something."
""Justice is something every generation has to strive for."
A trailblazer in the civil rights movement, John M. Perkins led voter registration efforts in 1964, worked for school desegregation in 1967, and was jailed and tortured in 1970. He is no less zealous today as he sees a new generation of freedom fighters battling the same issues and the same systems he has spent his life working to correct.
Through his raw, personal stories spanning from the civil rights era to today, Perkins shows us that, though the fight is not over, there are many reasons to hope and to carry on the good work he and his contemporaries began more than a generation ago. He calls us to work for justice by living out God's redemptive love in all of our relationships.
"It all comes down to love," he says. "Love will always be our final fight.""
""Only the power of Christ's crucifixion on the cross and the glory of His resurrection can heal the deep racial wounds in both black and white people in America."
Here is a real-life story of the transforming power of Jesus Christ and one man's response to Jesus's call to love others.
John Perkins, founder of Voice of Calvary ministries, was born in New Hebron, Mississippi, in 1930. His family was made up of sharecroppers, and he grew up in grinding poverty, part of a system that preserved prejudice and racism. After his brother was killed, Perkins left Mississippi for California, where he found job opportunities, racism of another kind, and faith in Jesus Christ. He returned to Mississippi to share the gospel and help his own people find equality, justice, and economic independence through self-help cooperative efforts. And he made progress - too much progress.
Everything came to a head early in 1970, when John Perkins and others went through an unbelievable night of torture at the hands of white law enforcement officers. Beaten almost to death, Perkins somehow survived and so did his work, which moves ahead today with a threefold strategy:
• Biblical evangelism and Christian education
• The kind of social action that should come out of knowing Jesus Christ as Savior
• Visible community development that is creating new models for black housing, economic independence, education, and health care"
