John Perkins

"We are called to play the Good Samaritan on life's roadside... but one day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that a system that produces beggars needs to be repaved. We are called to be the Good Samaritan, but after you lift so many people out of the ditch you start to ask, maybe the whole road to Jericho needs to be repaved."- Dr. Martin Luther King

I had the honor of sitting under the teaching of John Perkin this week at the Christian Community Development Association's Conference. I truly believe this man is an old prophet of the Amos quality. I felt like I was hearing history being made in those morning sessions. I also felt like a baton was being passed by an old leader who had fought the good fight. As a man who experienced the call to racial reconciliation in a jail cell while he was being beaten into a heart attack and near death...this is a man you need to hear in person. The wisdom on prophetic power that was in this man's loving words was deeply moving. The next church I plant will be in part because of this man's ministry this week. God used his words to confirm, expand and unleash the Spirit's work in the seasons ahead in a fresh way. God used pastor Erwin Mcmanus (www.mosaic.org) in a similar way in 05/06 before I launched out to plant our current church. It is in moments like these when God's word is being preached and the Spirit is using those words to open you heart, light your mind and awaken your will...that you are glad to be alive. I wept a lot of tears in these sessions. It was awesome to be among people engaged in the same call with the same heart and with years of experience. It was convicting to see men and women who were not just talking about working for the poor but were working among the poor. It was rejuvenating to be in a room with 1,500 people from many different racial groups. It was good to be with Christians who had works to show their faith...not just words. I was inspired by the call to not stop but expand and dream bigger...not in a upward mobility type of consumerist christian way...but in a Christ like way. Going to them...living among them...serving those God loved enough to spill His blood for. What are we willing to do in response to such a Lord?

"You guys are all into that born again thing, which is great. We do need to be born again, since Jesus said that to a guy named Nicodemus. But if you tell me I have to be born again to enter the Kingdom of God, I can tell you that you have to sell everything you have and give it to the poor, because Jesus said that to one guy too... But I guess that's why God invented highlighters, so we can highlight the parts we like and ignore the rest." -Rich Mullins (deceased musician)