During this week-long event, Dr. John Perkins spoke on Christ-centered social justice, racial reconciliation, and community development. Dr. Perkins is a Promise Keepers speaker, and the author of many books including “Beyond Charity”, and “Resurrecting Hope”. As a pastor who stood for civil rights in Mississippi during the 1960’s, he was arrested and beaten nearly to death for registering African-Americans to vote. As a result of his commitment to living out the words of Christ, he refused to return hate for hate and instead asked God to fill his heart with love for his enemies. Dr. Perkins went on to launch ministries in Mississippi and in Los Angeles, and organized the Christian Community Development Association and the Foundation on Reconciliation and Development. He has been a guest lecturer at many universities including Oxford University, Stanford University, and Harvard University. In 1999 Dr. Perkins was awarded Prison Fellowship’s 11th annual William Wilberforce Award. An advisor to three U.S. presidents, Dr. Perkins has also gained the friendship of Senator Mark Hatfield, who said recently, “I have the utmost respect and admiration for Dr. John Perkins and his ministry. He is a herald of peace and a defender of human dignity. His message is one that must be heard and acted upon.”
Dr. John M. Perkins at Mount Olivet morning service
During this week-long event, Dr. John Perkins spoke on Christ-centered social justice, racial reconciliation, and community development. Dr. Perkins is a Promise Keepers speaker, and the author of many books including “Beyond Charity”, and “Resurrecting Hope”. As a pastor who stood for civil rights in Mississippi during the 1960’s, he was arrested and beaten nearly to death for registering African-Americans to vote. As a result of his commitment to living out the words of Christ, he refused to return hate for hate and instead asked God to fill his heart with love for his enemies. Dr. Perkins went on to launch ministries in Mississippi and in Los Angeles, and organized the Christian Community Development Association and the Foundation on Reconciliation and Development. He has been a guest lecturer at many universities including Oxford University, Stanford University, and Harvard University. In 1999 Dr. Perkins was awarded Prison Fellowship’s 11th annual William Wilberforce Award. An advisor to three U.S. presidents, Dr. Perkins has also gained the friendship of Senator Mark Hatfield, who said recently, “I have the utmost respect and admiration for Dr. John Perkins and his ministry. He is a herald of peace and a defender of human dignity. His message is one that must be heard and acted upon.”
Dr. John M. Perkins
During this week-long event, Dr. John Perkins spoke on Christ-centered social justice, racial reconciliation, and community development. Dr. Perkins is a Promise Keepers speaker, and the author of many books including “Beyond Charity”, and “Resurrecting Hope”. As a pastor who stood for civil rights in Mississippi during the 1960’s, he was arrested and beaten nearly to death for registering African-Americans to vote. As a result of his commitment to living out the words of Christ, he refused to return hate for hate and instead asked God to fill his heart with love for his enemies. Dr. Perkins went on to launch ministries in Mississippi and in Los Angeles, and organized the Christian Community Development Association and the Foundation on Reconciliation and Development. He has been a guest lecturer at many universities including Oxford University, Stanford University, and Harvard University. In 1999 Dr. Perkins was awarded Prison Fellowship’s 11th annual William Wilberforce Award. An advisor to three U.S. presidents, Dr. Perkins has also gained the friendship of Senator Mark Hatfield, who said recently, “I have the utmost respect and admiration for Dr. John Perkins and his ministry. He is a herald of peace and a defender of human dignity. His message is one that must be heard and acted upon.”
Presenting the Word of Christ in a Postmodern World
The religious and cultural landscape of America is changing rapidly. Standard approaches to evangelism, apologetics, and church growth have lost much of their luster. One can trace a great deal of this to “postmodernism,” a movement that impacts your life and those around you, even if you are not familiar with the term.
Dr. Daniel Lockwood, Multnomah’s President, has recently written an article in the Christian News Northwest (page 12 of the April issue) where he speaks of the challenges facing the Evangelical Church in the new millennium, including that of postmodernism. While addressing some key items of concern related to postmodernity, Dr. Lockwood also points out some merits of the movement, even suggesting that the cultural shift to postmodernity “may be as significant as the shift from the Middle Ages to modernity.” He goes on to claim that if such is the case we “must ask ourselves how to communicate the gospel, disciple believers, and train Christian leaders in our colleges and seminaries for a postmodern world.” This event was an attempt to help prepare the Evangelical Church for such a task.
There were four sessions, involving three presentations and one panel discussion with questions and answers, attempting to define postmodernism and delineate a way of thinking and life, which honors Christ and reaches people for Christ in this cultural context.