Living in Color - Annotated by Randy Woodley (Paperback)

About the Book

Randy Woodley, a Keetowah Cherokee, casts a biblical, multiethnic vision for people of every nation, tribe and tongue to live in community together. Includes a study guide.

Book Synopsis

Randy Woodley, a Keetowah Cherokee, casts a biblical, multiethnic vision for people of every nation, tribe and tongue to live in community together. Includes a study guide.

Review Quotes

"Living in Color is dynamic, thoughtful and pointed. You may not agree with everything Randy Woodley writes, but I know you will think deeply about multicultural ministry. Be prepared to feel a little uncomfortable, but most of all, be prepared to follow the insights suggested in the book to help build churches unified around the Lord Jesus Christ."

"Living in Color is a dynamic and insightful message that the church today needs to hear. I believe that Randy Woodley has done no less in these pages than pen the heart of the Father. The body of Christ is like a jigsaw puzzle, each piece unique and beautiful--yet only when each piece is interlocked with the others does God's true picture of the church emerge. Through the pages of this book, Randy has brought that picture to light so that all who read it can catch a fresh vision of the body of Christ, the way the Father intended it to be."

"Every move of God has cutting-edge apostolic people who walk the front lines for God. Randy and Edith are this way for the First Nations people of North America. We are thankful for their efforts on behalf of all of us. Thank you (quyana) for this wonderful book."

"For too long our perceptions as Christians have been contaminated by our cultural bias. How can we grow from societal boundaries to possessing the mind of Christ, who values other cultures so much that he left heaven to be found in appearance as a man? Randy Woodley tackles this problem with kingdom vision and with grace and truth."

"Our loving Father God is answering his Son's prayer in John 17. Randy Woodley's fine and timely book clarifies for our minds and hearts that unity is not uniformity or conformity. Neither is it mere acceptance, condescension or tolerance. Unity is active celebration of diversity. Randy makes it clear that diversity in unity is God's plan; that diversity is not just happenstance but the very plan of God to bring forth the best in all of us as we share who we are with one another."It is good to read the work of a man who knows that getting along is not compromise that reduces all to less, but the laying down of one life for one another within the cultural context of each, so that every man is appreciated, met and enabled to become his own glory in the kaleidoscope of beauty that God, who loves variety, is creating. What Randy teaches is vital if we are to reveal Jesus to the hungry and usher in the end times."

"Randy Woodley has taken a complicated and sensitive subject and presented it in a siimple and enjoyable way. He does this by using the gift of the Indian--getting to the point of the matter with humor, stories and humility. A must-read for anyone who desires to share Jesus cross-culturally."

"Randy Woodley is one of perhaps two dozen First Nations leaders God is raising up in the new millennium to proclaim the news: You can be fully Native and fully Christian all at once. As we white Christians accept this message, which still seems like news, we can begin for the first time to attain reconciliation between whites and Natives. White leaders can reach out to Native leaders like Randy, and Natives to whites, respecting each other's strengths and integrity."With his depth of learning (I've seen his library!), lived pastoral experience and reputation for integrity in white-Native reconciliation, Randy is the right person to communicate this vision. This book conveys the love vision of God's heart as expressed through a Cherokee soul."

"This book is very much needed in our world today and a must-read. Randy states eloquently and clearly the truth behind each people group--that is, God created all of us to be different from one another, and diversity among people groups and their cultures is part of his creation and plan. To learn this is the first step toward being Jesus to other cultures and accepting how they worship him within that culture."

"This book resounds with God's love for all the peoples he has made in his image. Through the stories of his own Native American heritage and the experiences of others, Randy Woodley develops biblical themes of justice, creation and God's love, along with biblical models of contextualization and diversity. This book will interest all those committed to racial and cultural reconciliation."

"When I finished Randy Woodley's Living in Color, I wept with joy--for good reason. Having been drawn by Christ from the civil rights movement of the 1960s and early '70s, I was grieved to see that movement shatter into warring hordes of special interests alienating each other and 'balkanizing' our land. But Randy Woodley here offers us a mighty, biblically based vision of a path to wholeness and unity in God's Spirit through understanding his true plan to express himself uniquely through his ever-diverse creation 'from every tongue, tribe and people' of a new nation, distinct in its parts yet appreciative of each."And Randy gives us more than mere vision; he lays out practical steps to help us reach diversity without division, reconciliation without recrimination, restitution without retribution--all in the healing Spirit of Christ's love! I pray that Randy's work will move the hearts of millions as a restorer of a godly dream and a 'repairer of the breach' in our land (and the entire world's) torn and tormented social fabric."

About the Author

Randy Woodley (PhD, Asbury Seminary) is Distinguished Professor of Faith and Culture and the director of intercultural and indigenous studies at George Fox Evangelical Seminary. Woodley is a Keetoowah Cherokee Indian who has been in ministry among First Nations people since 1984. He is a teacher, poet, activist, former pastor, missiologist and historian. He and his wife, Edith (Eastern Shoshone/Choctaw), are cofounders of Eagle's Wings Ministry and are considered early innovators in the Native American Contextual Movement. He is a founding board member of NAIITS, the North American Institute for Indigenous Theological Studies, and he administers the Fox/ NAIITS cooperative Master of Arts Intercultural Studies degree.Woodley is active in the ongoing discussions concerning new church movements, racial and ethnic diversity, peace, social justice, interreligious dialogue and mission. He regularly blogs in these areas and is the author of Shalom and the Community of Creation: An Indigenous Vision and Living in Color: Embracing God's Passion for Ethnic Diversity.