en-US Wed, 10 Dec 2008 18:40:02 -0800 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 368371 304 Fred Kammer 0809142279 Nelson 5
It is thru our love relationships that justice is done...

Justice is not rooted in physical laws but in spiritual laws... the laws of love...very meta-physical stuff indeed...

"Making the invisible visible (i.e., the unseen poor and Jesus)

...a preferential love of the poor...standing w/ the poor...blessed are the poor in spirit...]]> 4.10 1991
author: Fred Kammer
name: Nelson
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1991
rating: 5
read at: 2008/01/01
date added: 2008/12/10
shelves:
review:
a very in depth understanding of Christian Justice... the profoundly intertwined relationship of the Personal Gospel (i.e., "you must be saved..") and the Social Gospel (i.e., Do unto others....")... Loving God and loving our neighbor as ourself....

It is thru our love relationships that justice is done...

Justice is not rooted in physical laws but in spiritual laws... the laws of love...very meta-physical stuff indeed...

"Making the invisible visible (i.e., the unseen poor and Jesus)

...a preferential love of the poor...standing w/ the poor...blessed are the poor in spirit...
]]> 5987098
Justice has two to release from oppression and to empower.... which done rightly leads to peace and wellbeing... and/or shalom.

W/out understanding oppression it is imposssible to act wisely and passioately to incarnate Jubilee Justice in one's community. There is little theology or preaching on oppression in our churches today, even though oppression is a MAJOR biblical concept....Justice undergirds Christian Community Development/Empowerment in our inner-cities of America (i.e., the 4th World)...

W/out love there can never be true justice....

Justice brings a person or people from oppression to Shalom or it isn't justice...and there is then no liberation...

W/out Justice the "American Trinity" (individualism, materialism and ethnocentralism)fill the void and leaves our christianity lacking and unappealing to the world... it leaves us actually no different than the world...

A must read for the hardy true followers of Christ and the Kingdom Builders here on earth...who find something lacking in their theology.... who feel something is missing, cheap, or superficial about what is being taught in our churches...

Good stuff indeed... Grace be w/ you...

]]> 133 Lowell Noble Nelson 5
Justice has two sides: to release from oppression and to empower.... which done rightly leads to peace and wellbeing... and/or shalom.

W/out understanding oppression it is imposssible to act wisely and passioately to incarnate Jubilee Justice in one's community. There is little theology or preaching on oppression in our churches today, even though oppression is a MAJOR biblical concept....Justice undergirds Christian Community Development/Empowerment in our inner-cities of America (i.e., the 4th World)...

W/out love there can never be true justice....

Justice brings a person or people from oppression to Shalom or it isn't justice...and there is then no liberation...

W/out Justice the "American Trinity" (individualism, materialism and ethnocentralism)fill the void and leaves our christianity lacking and unappealing to the world... it leaves us actually no different than the world...

A must read for the hardy true followers of Christ and His Kingdom Builders here on earth...who find something lacking in their theology.... who feel something is missing, cheap, or superficial about what is being taught in our churches...

Good stuff indeed... Grace be w/ you o' kindred spirit...

]]> 4.33 2007
author: Lowell Noble
name: Nelson
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at: 2008/01/01
date added: 2008/12/10
shelves:
review:
order 601-209-

Justice has two sides: to release from oppression and to empower.... which done rightly leads to peace and wellbeing... and/or shalom.

W/out understanding oppression it is imposssible to act wisely and passioately to incarnate Jubilee Justice in one's community. There is little theology or preaching on oppression in our churches today, even though oppression is a MAJOR biblical concept....Justice undergirds Christian Community Development/Empowerment in our inner-cities of America (i.e., the 4th World)...

W/out love there can never be true justice....

Justice brings a person or people from oppression to Shalom or it isn't justice...and there is then no liberation...

W/out Justice the "American Trinity" (individualism, materialism and ethnocentralism)fill the void and leaves our christianity lacking and unappealing to the world... it leaves us actually no different than the world...

A must read for the hardy true followers of Christ and His Kingdom Builders here on earth...who find something lacking in their theology.... who feel something is missing, cheap, or superficial about what is being taught in our churches...

Good stuff indeed... Grace be w/ you o' kindred spirit...


]]> 478 The Economist hailed as "a prodigious achievement."

Drawing on vast new data that reveal Americans' changing behavior, Putnam shows how we have become increasingly disconnected from one another and how social structures--whether they be PTA, church, or political parties--have disintegrated. Until the publication of this groundbreaking work, no one had so deftly diagnosed the harm that these broken bonds have wreaked on our physical and civic health, nor had anyone exalted their fundamental power in creating a society that is happy, healthy, and safe.

Like defining works from the past, such as The Lonely Crowd and The Affluent Society, and like the works of C. Wright Mills and Betty Friedan, Putnam's Bowling Alone has identified a central crisis at the heart of our society and suggests what we can do.]]> 544 Robert D. Putnam 0743203046 Nelson 5 3.84 2000
author: Robert D. Putnam
name: Nelson
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at: 2007/01/01
date added: 2008/12/10
shelves:
review:
Putnam, sociologist, describes Social Capital (i.e., Social engagement/ connectivity/interaction) and its decline in America since the 1960’s. Along w/ this decline in our society’s connectivity comes increased mistrust and disengagement��. …and crime. W/ High social capital a society functions for the good of all and its economy and health increase��. And lower crime. There are two types of social capital: Bonding Social Capital (ie, bonding of like people’…”birds of a feather��), and Bridging Social Capital (caring/connecting for others not like yourself�� very inclusive, but harder work)�� There is a dark side to Bonding capital when there exist no bridging capital w/in a social group. This dark side is seen in the group’s exclusiveness. Bonding Social Capital is the societal glue and Bridging Social Capital is the societal WD-40��.They work together and are very needed in a community. This book is an exhaustive sociological study w/ many graphs to illustrate his points.
]]> 77832 224 Gregory A. Boyd 0310267315 Nelson 5 4.19 2006
author: Gregory A. Boyd
name: Nelson
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2008/01/01
date added: 2008/12/10
shelves:
review:
The Path through Politics Is Not the Road to God When the kingdom of God is manifested, it will wear the face of Jesus Christ. And that, says author Gregory Boyd, has never been true of any earthly government or power. Through close examination of Scripture and lessons drawn from history, Dr. Boyd argues that evangelical Christians who align themselves too closely with political causes or declare that they want to bring America "back to God" are actually doing harm--both to the body of Christ and society in general. Boyd shows how Jesus taught us to seek a "power-under" kingdom, where greatness is measured by sacrifice and service. There are no sides or enemies because we are meant to embrace and accept everyone. In The Myth of a Christian Nation, Dr. Boyd challenges readers to return to the true love of Calvary and the message of the cross--setting the "power-over" politics of worldly government aside
]]> 148188 192 John M. Perkins 0801071224 Nelson 5 4.20 1993
author: John M. Perkins
name: Nelson
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1993
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2008/12/10
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The Call to Christian Community Development. “It’s time for the whole church, yes, the whole church, to take a whole gospel on a whole mission to the whole world�� It is time for us to prove that the purpose of the gospel is to reconcile alienated people to God and to each other, across racial, cultural, social, and economic barriers.�� Not everyone is called to move to the inner city to minister there, but everyone is called to have a heart for its hurting people. This book shows us how to be sensitive to our brothers and sisters, come up w/ innovated and effective ministries, and count the cost. “It is much easier to build a new prison or enact a new welfare law or give someone a handout than it is to develop the person. So far we’ve settled for the impersonal and the bureaucratic.�� “…W/out our hands, w/out our feet, God has no way to touch the world of need.��
]]> 444660 Book by Perkins, John 226 John M. Perkins 0876807937 Nelson 5
Perkins is a GREAT man!... he's of Martin Luther King's vintage... he's lives and works in the inner-city of Jackson, Mississippi... he also began the Christian Community Development Assoc. () which now has 1000's of members across the inner-cities of America.]]> 4.33 1976
author: John M. Perkins
name: Nelson
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1976
rating: 5
read at: 2004/01/01
date added: 2008/12/10
shelves:
review:
Meeting human needs today: A Biblical challenge to Christians. The Call. Evangelism. Social Action. Economic Development. Justice. The Church��. Living out the reconciling love of Christ to the poor��.recognizing our need for each other ��. To encourage and learn from one another��. Show that it is possible for the church to live out the love of God in this world��. “The desperate problems of today’s poor will only be solved by the commitment of Christian ‘revolutionaries��, ordinary brothers and sisters w/ heroic faith who dare to walk, as the little Shepard boy David did, into the most dangerous of battlefields to confront the difficulties of our day.��

Perkins is a GREAT man!... he's of Martin Luther King's vintage... he's lives and works in the inner-city of Jackson, Mississippi... he also began the Christian Community Development Assoc. () which now has 1000's of members across the inner-cities of America.
]]> 241258 139 Robert D. Lupton 0830743790 Nelson 5 Serving people is distinctively different from developing/empowering people. Betterment does for others. Development/empowerment enables a person to change their life which brings hope.
It is a long journey from soft-hearted and cheap one way charity, to reciprocal interdependent relationships. Everyone must pull his own weight. That is the key to responsible charity. Which is not to say that everyone has equal capacity nor potential—just equal responsibility. ....Dignity, not pity, will win every time.
Neighborhoods decline because of dis-investment.Loading up a depressed neighborhood with services—faith-based or otherwise—does nothing to reverse that downward spiral. Re-investment is needed. Bottom line: the community must be re-neighbored. ..strategies to attract middle-income neighbors back into the area are essential.
A community will never come back to life through subsidies and services. Economic viability is the only thing that will build and sustain a healthy community. And then there’s the issue of the spiritual health of the neighborhood. It’s a matter of triage. We’ve got to stop the bleeding first.The odds of success have increased if there is a consensus among city council members and community leaders to lock arms.
Yet, who is the visionary? Without a vision the people perish.
A ministry that was starting out addressing a pressing need in the community would soon become a problem to that same community. The last thing a neighborhood struggling to revive needs is a proliferation of human services that will insure an ongoing flow of needy recipients into that community. If rebirth is to take place, a de-concentration of poverty and brokenness must take place.
]]> 4.08 2007
author: Robert D. Lupton
name: Nelson
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at: 2007/01/01
date added: 2008/12/10
shelves:
review:
"Doing for others what they can do for themselves is charity at its worst." What is true for the individual is also true for communities. Doing for a community what it could do for itself is as dangerous as it is to an individual.
Serving people is distinctively different from developing/empowering people. Betterment does for others. Development/empowerment enables a person to change their life which brings hope.
It is a long journey from soft-hearted and cheap one way charity, to reciprocal interdependent relationships. Everyone must pull his own weight. That is the key to responsible charity. Which is not to say that everyone has equal capacity nor potential—just equal responsibility. ....Dignity, not pity, will win every time.
Neighborhoods decline because of dis-investment.Loading up a depressed neighborhood with services—faith-based or otherwise—does nothing to reverse that downward spiral. Re-investment is needed. Bottom line: the community must be re-neighbored. ..strategies to attract middle-income neighbors back into the area are essential.
A community will never come back to life through subsidies and services. Economic viability is the only thing that will build and sustain a healthy community. And then there’s the issue of the spiritual health of the neighborhood. It’s a matter of triage. We’ve got to stop the bleeding first.The odds of success have increased if there is a consensus among city council members and community leaders to lock arms.
Yet, who is the visionary? Without a vision the people perish.
A ministry that was starting out addressing a pressing need in the community would soon become a problem to that same community. The last thing a neighborhood struggling to revive needs is a proliferation of human services that will insure an ongoing flow of needy recipients into that community. If rebirth is to take place, a de-concentration of poverty and brokenness must take place.

]]> 4519 199 Ruby K. Payne 1929229488 Nelson 5
POVERTY is defined as the extent a person lives w/out resources: Spiritual Resource, Role Models Resource, Emotional Resource, Educational Resource, Knowledge of Hidden, Rules Resource, Support System Re-source, Financial Resource, and Physical Resource

NOTE: In order to escape Generational Poverty, an under-resourced person must be "relationally" empowered w/ a number of the above resources.... just throwing money at the poverty problem has proven not to work...it's about caring relationships that empower...]]> 3.88 2001
author: Ruby K. Payne
name: Nelson
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2001
rating: 5
read at: 2005/01/01
date added: 2008/12/10
shelves:
review:
Quotes: “An individual brings w/ him/her the hidden rules of the class in which he/she was raised��..Schools and businesses operate from middle-class norms and use the hidden rules of middle class��..For students to become successful, we must understand their hidden rules and teach them the rules that will make them successful at school and work�� and “Two things that help one move out of poverty are education and (caring) relationships��

POVERTY is defined as the extent a person lives w/out resources: Spiritual Resource, Role Models Resource, Emotional Resource, Educational Resource, Knowledge of Hidden, Rules Resource, Support System Re-source, Financial Resource, and Physical Resource

NOTE: In order to escape Generational Poverty, an under-resourced person must be "relationally" empowered w/ a number of the above resources.... just throwing money at the poverty problem has proven not to work...it's about caring relationships that empower...
]]> 11180 320 Dan B. Allender 0891097031 Nelson 4 4.26 1991
author: Dan B. Allender
name: Nelson
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1991
rating: 4
read at: 2006/01/01
date added: 2008/12/10
shelves:
review:
((Quotes: “If Christ had practiced the kind of love we advocate nowadays, He would have lived to a ripe old age.�� and “Bold love is anything but passive. It is unpredictable, cunning, and creative. It is a violation of the natural order of things��..��))�� There’s a sermon on every page��
]]> 776993 208 T.D. Jakes 1577780264 Nelson 4 4.03 1997
author: T.D. Jakes
name: Nelson
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1997
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2008/12/10
shelves:
review:
��.((Quote from this devotional: “When the world sees men dropping differences and coming together, the world is going to want what Christians have. ……But only God can build that bridge.��))
]]> 273885 Combining a substantial body of evidence with sophisticated analysis and interpretation, the authors throw sharp light on the oldest American dilemma. In the end, they conclude that despite the best intentions of evangelical leaders and some positive trends, real racial reconciliation remains far over the horizon.]]> 224 Michael O. Emerson 0195147073 Nelson 5 4.17 2000
author: Michael O. Emerson
name: Nelson
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2008/12/10
shelves:
review:
��.((Christian sociologists take a look at evangelical religion and the racial problems in America��. ’THE�� recommended book to begin with on racial reconciliation))…�� White Christians think from an individual perspective and not a systematic prospective��.i.e., “if we get Jesus into their lives, everything will be fine”��.Blacks know that the “playing field�� is not level��..i.e., the system is racialized and it takes Jesus and a level playing field��. As such the white churches can not effect change and in reality they encourage racialazation w/out even being aware of their doing so��.. Great read, but in-your-face as a white Christian��.It will be a classic study in years to come...
]]> 1822101 “I am persuaded that the Church, as the steward of this gospel, holds the key to justice in our society. Either justice will come through us or it will not come at all.�� John Perkins’s optimistic view of justice becoming a reality starts and ends with the Church. With Justice for All is Perkins�� invitation to live out the gospel in a way that brings good news to the poor and liberty to the oppressed (from Luke 4:18). This invitation is extended to every racial and ethnic group to be reconciled to one another, to work together to make our land all God wants it to be. And it is a blueprint, a practical strategy for the work of biblical justice in our time. In an age of changing demographics where the need to break the cycle of poverty is staring many of us in the face, Perkins offers hope through practical ministry principles that work. This outstanding resource includes “Reflection�� questions for personal or group study as well as “Interaction�� sessions for groups to participate in activities together.
]]> 238 John M. Perkins 0830744959 Nelson 5 4.25 1981
author: John M. Perkins
name: Nelson
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1981
rating: 5
read at: 2005/01/01
date added: 2008/12/10
shelves:
review:
((Quotes (3 R’s): “To be an effective community developer I must Relocate into the community of need. I must live among those I am serving. ��. Reconciliation between white and blacks��.Redistribution. ��.Justice is achieved by working with God to share His resources with the disenfranchised of the earth.��))��..John also discusses the failure of government social welfare programs��..As a note, John Perkins, Martin Luther King vintage, is one of the fathers of racial reconciliation.
]]> 695567 Book by Linthicum, Robert 128 Robert Linthicum 0912552751 Nelson 0 4.20 1991
author: Robert Linthicum
name: Nelson
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1991
rating: 0
read at: 2005/01/01
date added: 2008/12/10
shelves:
review:
(Quotes: “Poverty is not so much the absence of goods as it is the absence of power �� the capability of being able to change one’s situation.�� and “If the church is to live, it will have to find some ways reaching out to its neighborhood. So the church begins to become concerned about its city, its neighborhood and its problems. This, of course, is a much more holistic approach because of the recognition that the church must be present to the people around it and must be concerned both with evangelism and social action.��
]]> 241259 144 Robert D. Lupton 0060653078 Nelson 0 4.38 1989
author: Robert D. Lupton
name: Nelson
average rating: 4.38
book published: 1989
rating: 0
read at: 2004/01/01
date added: 2008/12/10
shelves:
review:
Small book that celebrates the Gospel in Urban America w/ many short stories experiences (2-3 pages per story)…very clear and well written…a fun and mind opening read�� Lupton shows us the “other side�� thru simple stories��. Lupton Quote: “So it was that God’s children who suffer most from crushing poverty became the very ones God used to speak to us of our own spiritual poverty. From those who had very few material possession, we learned about our bondage to things. And from those who had much to fear and little hope, we learned courage and faith.��
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