The Tenth Anniversary Edition of Gary Haugen’s original book, Good News About Injustice, released this past month. One of the helpful new resources in the appendix is a sampling of recommended resources for further reading. I’m including the list below (click “read more” for the full list of titles.)

Which books have you read? Which would you recommend to others and why? Which do you hope to read?

Justice Theology
• The Dangerous Act of Worship: Living God’s Call to Justice.  Mark Labberton.  Intervarsity Press, 2007.

• God in the Dock.  C.S. Lewis. William. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1994.
General Human Rights

• Ethics.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  Simon & Schuster, 1995. 

• Letters and Papers from Prison. Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Simon & Schuster, 1997.
(It is recommended that the two selections by Bonhoeffer be read together for comprehension)

• Just Courage: God’s Great Expedition for the Restless Christian. Gary Haugen.  Intervarsity Press, 2008.

General Human Rights
• Human Rights Watch World Report.  Human Rights Watch, Published Annually.

• The Trafficking in Persons Report.  U.S. Department of State, Published in June Annually.

• Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy.  Kevin Bales. University of California Press, 2004.

• Not for Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade – and How We Can Fight It.  David Batstone.  HarperCollins Publishers, 2007.

• Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda. Roméo Dallaire. Da Capo Press, 2004. 

Read more...

Jon Foreman just gave a surprise performance here at Catalyst. Jon fronts the band Switchfoot and has been a tremendous advocate of IJM’s work. Jon and his band have gone to great lengths to give voice to the oppressed, even packing-out a stadium arena in the Philippines to benefit our work against sex-trafficking in that nation.

Jon’s parents, Mark and Jan Foreman, pastor Northcoast Calvary Chapel near San Diego and have also been tremendous partners in this journey. From international travels to the poorest regions of the world, to hosting me in their home for an intimate gathering to speak with leaders, to hosting Gary Haugen to preach to the thousands who attend their church, Mark and Jan are continually finding ways to draw near to God’s heart for justice and to bring others along with them in the work of rescuing the oppressed.

Such encouraging partners in this journey!
Take a moment to check-out Jon’s music and Mark’s hot-off-the-press book, Wholly Jesus.
[Jon live here at Catalyst below:]

Part 2 of my conversation with Andy Crouch last week. Here Andy addresses his claim that “we can’t change the world.” My question to him - where’s the hope in that? How do we then move forward to bring true transformation?

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BETHANY: Throughout all different sectors of society today we hear much talk about “changing the world.” What are we to make of this? How do you think we are to go about changing the world?

ANDY: Whenever you make culture, if by the grace of God you’re successful, it leads to transformation and change in the world.  That being said, I think that we get carried away sometimes… There are hundreds of books with the subtitle: “How such-and-such changed the world.” But it’s much harder in the midst of history or culture [as opposed to looking in retrospect] to be at all sure that what you do is going to have a transformative effect. If you’re in it, if you’re in the cultural project, to strategically bring a change, and that’s your goal, I think you run the risk basically of pride and of overreaching, of trying to strategize your way into enough cultural power to achieve your goal. The problem is that no one [person] has enough cultural power to achieve the kind of change they want to happen in the world, and so we can easily burn out on ‘changing the world.’

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This week I had an opportunity to chat with Andy Crouch, one of our Senior Fellows here at the Institute, about his new book Culture Making .  Andy has been a wonderful source of wisdom, ideas, and inspiration to IJM. He has traveled to experience our field work in Africa and India and frequently uses his wide-reaching influence as a writer and speaker to encourage others toward seeking justice for the oppressed. He also blesses us with his gifts in spiritual leadership at our Global Prayer Gatherings that happen each spring.  His official bio can be found here in the Senior Fellows section of our website. For more information and archives of all his writings, be sure to check-out Andy’s website at www.culture-making.com.

I am going to post a few highlights from our conversation. Due to length, I will separate the highlights over several posts. The full transcript will be available in our upcoming Resource Reservoir—or, if you to join the Institute, I will send you a copy on Monday.

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BETHANY:  Andy, thanks so much for taking the time to answer a few questions about your book.  To begin, what led you to write this book in the first place?

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One of the regular features here on the IJM Institute blog will be an interview series that we are calling “5 Minutes With...” This series will offer highlights from interviews that we conduct with a wide variety of leaders who are impacting the way the global Church understands and responds to injustice in our world today. (The “5 minute” version will be posted here on the blog and the full text of each interview will be available in the forthcoming Institute Resource Reservoir.)

This afternoon I’ll be spending some time talking with Andy Crouch about his new book Culture Making. This book just released in July and is truly remarkable. I am excited to have this opportunity to talk with Andy and to share our conversation with you later this week (be sure to check back).

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