Blog Special on a few more books about justice

Here are a few more recent titles to supplement this week’s theme, books about global justice, inspired by the G20 Summit and the protests in Pittsburgh.  For more serious or academic titles, see the brand new list I posted over at my monthly column, here (September 09.)  Some great deeper books listed there, from the new, fantastic Justice Project (which really isn’t that deep, just very comprehensive and in hardcover, so I listed it there) to the fascinating and diverse collection in The Gospel and Globalization by Michael Goheen & Erin Glanville (one of my own personal favorites)  and several more excellent ones….

Here are a few to whet your appetite, perhaps more basic and less academic.

The Skeptics Guide to Global Poverty  Dale Hanson Bourke (Authentic) $9.99 This is a
skeptics guide to global poverty.jpg handsome paperback, full color inside, similar to another fabulous one the author did on AIDS.  These answers the tough questions real people ask, a simple overview of the complex issues. I have long been a fan of Ms Bourke’s journalism and writing, and here she provides a great service.  Very solid information, nicely arranged and usefully presented, simple and clear. 

god's economy.jpgGod’s Economy: Redefining the Health & Wealth Gospel  Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove (Zondervan) $14.99  Kudos to Zondervan for being willing to publish this feisty author, who draws on radical sources and is impeccably Biblical.  Eugene Peterson has a very good forward, reminding us that the Bible indeed talks about abundance and abundant life but that, ironically, although most Americans talk about it a lot, few seem very content.  This is not a self-help book, nor really a scholarly overview of globalization.  It is just a solid, inspiring, helpful way to get our heads (and hearts) on straight about money, materialism, and God’s call to an upside down way of life that is blessed.  Just what is God’s economy? I suppose you know that isn’t what the television preachers say…

do justice.jpgDo Justice: A Social Justice Road Map  edited by Kristin Vander Giessen-Reitsma (catapult) $7.95  You may recall that we’ve promoted this before…it is a small collection of mostly great writing (aha: I have a bibliography here, too) about development, poverty, justice-education, globalization and God’s call to service, community development and such.  We love the bi-weekly ezine catapult and some of these pieces were published on line.  Some are new for this handsome paperback collection.  Very nicely done.

EMC paperback.jpgEverything Must Change: When the World’s Biggest Problems and Jesus’ Good News Collide Brian McLaren (Nelson) $14.99  You may know how we were somewhat involved in the hardback book’s tour, how we promoted this wonderful study of the inter-relatedness of major world problems and the framing narratives that drive them.  I have used some of Brian’s brief youtube clips around this theme and tour, and then the DVD curriculum, which is very exciting, visionary, inspiring. (Email me if you want more info on that!)  Now, the book is out in paperback, with a bright new cover and a provocative new sub-title. Glad that they are trying to help folk understand what this is about, how Jesus’ Kingdom ways are uniquely able to address the complexity of our broken global world, as we take up our role as “revolutionaries of hope.”  I really recommend this big picture book, readable and interesting and in many ways quite profound.

Social Justice Handbook: Small Steps for a Better World  Mae Elise Cannon (IVP) $20.00social justice handbook.jpg  I have been wishing for a fabulous guidebook like this for 30 years, and in all of my study of resources for social action, there is simply nothing like this on the market. It includes lots of topics, and is well written.  From trafficking to environmental concerns, from homelessness to debt relief, from global trade issues to domestic violence, this has brief articles, good theology, practical suggestions.  There are nice biographical sketches too of folks who have made a difference, Christians throughout church history, and some activists today.  Very instructive, pointing you to further resources.  Rave review on the back from Gary Haugen and a forward by John Perkins.  Thank God for what Shane Claiborne calls “a cookbook for plotting goodness and stirring up holy mischief.”


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