Features
- Cover Type: Paperback with 216 pages
- Published by: InterVarsity Press June 2004
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 0830832246
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-0830832248
-
Book Dimensions:
8 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
- Weighs: 4.8 ounces
Product Description
Scott Roley was once an up-and-coming singer/songwriter in the contemporary Christian music scene, but then God called him to a different kind of ministry. He left his life of privilege, became a church pastor and moved into a disadvantaged neighborhood. There he began to learn hands-on what "loving your neighbor" required of him--social justice, community development and racial reconciliation.
As a youth of the '60s, Roley attended the March on Washington and was captivated by Martin Luther King Jr.'s vision for societal transformation. Now, as a community leader and activist, he is embodying the ideals that are needed to forge a just society. Following Jesus' example of incarnational ministry, Roley's work demonstrates how God uses faith-based organizations to change lives. This remarkable life journey exemplifies Christian hope in caring for the disinherited and renewing our communities, one neighborhood at a time.
From the Inside Flap
"There's no one more qualified to write this book than Scott Roley, who tells the story of reconciliation with his life. The chapter on adoption alone is worth the price of the book. Having journeyed alongside both James and Scott for years, I can recommend what they write and say because I know how they live--with a desire to know Jesus better and make him known." Steven Curtis Chapman, songwriter and recording artist
"God's Neighborhood shows us, in powerful ways, how to live as God designed us?not as isolated individuals struggling against the odds, but as community members serving God and each other. This book is an engrossing story with universal application. It is a story of sacrifice and gain. It is a story of hope, and of joy. Through the reading of this book, I learned about the heart of God!" Michael O. Emerson, Professor of Sociology, University of Notre Dame, coauthor of Divided by Faith and United by Faith
"You would need to be a minority living in a white evangelical subculture to understand fully when I say that God's Neighborhood is a safe place. Scott and Linda Roley are a safe place. The 'balm of Gilead' that gets down in the trenches with the wounded brother to make him whole is the balm that washes over me as I read God's Neighborhood." Kirk Whalum, saxophonist and recording artist
Reader ReviewsGod's Neighborhood is chiefly a journey. Scott Roley, once a rising contemporary Christian music artist and song writer, reaches back to his childhood, moves us through his growing up years and on into his adult years, asking us to join him on a life journey, a spiritual journey. He pauses along the way, asking the questions, "What providence placed me here? What does God want me to learn?" Like he asked while living in Washington DC, "What providence placed me in a neighborhood close enough to Washington to view the Capital dome? What should I be learning, seeing, thinking?" But, Roley doesn't stop asking the question in Washington DC-he asks these questions at every turn, every venture throughout his life. Eventually, Christian music ministry gave way to a different kind of ministry. Roley pens it best, "God's Neighborhood is about understanding and participating in Christian community. It describes a response to the biblical mandate of care for the poor." In reading God's Neighborhood, we are asked to join the author as he leaves his life of privilege, then seeks church ministry, and eventually moves into a disadvantaged neighborhood. There, we learn with him and his friends (among whom is another famous Christian artist, Michael Card) what "loving your neighbor" actually means. What it means with feet and hands, namely community development and racial reconciliation. "We must look into the eyes of poverty," Roley exhorts, "and examine the heart, soul, and psyche of it. People aren't just in need of drug rehab, roof over their heads or decent food to eat. They also require the dignity of true and relevant education, affordable health care, and living wage opportunities." And yes, this from an Evangelical Christian. Roley writes, "The journey of our hearts into racial reconciliation and community renewal from Hard Bargain to Mount Hope is a moment-to-moment decision to place faith and trust in Christ. It is why we strive for the renewal of our streets, rehabilitation for our crumbling homes and lives, the revival of real relationships among the least and the lost, and redemption for all through our Savior Jesus." Roley invites us to share the same journey, a journey that exemplifies Christian hope in caring for the disinherited and renewing our communities, one neighborhood at a time. This book, although very easy to read and fast paced, is dangerous-a book, not for Christians who are faint-hearted, or comfortable in their complacency.
Search for books at
