Called to Be Friends, Called to Serve

In an age defined by hyper-polarization comes a story of an unlikely and surprising friendship between two friends with radically different backgrounds and histories who find each other because they were found by God. Called to Be Friends, Called to Serve commemorates the never-before-told friendship between theologian and advocate John M. Perkins and philanthropist Howard F. Ahmanson Jr. Their story is a journey of hope through differences, tracing Perkins's and Ahmanson's distinct and overlapping biographies, vocation, leadership, and the significance of their emerging friendship for the good of others. 50% discount when ordering through Wipf and Stock's website Coupon code: FRIENDS50 (effective until May 31st)

It's easy to hang out with people who are like us - people who talk like us, eat like us, and vote like us. But at the heart of the Gospel is a call to love bigger than the circles of sameness, to venture beyond the confines of biology and nationality and to be 'born again.' This book is the story of a holy, courageous, enduring, full-Gospel friendship.
I've known Howard and John for decades. I've learned from both of them, and I've humbly disagreed with each of them at times. But beyond opinions and issues, they have taught me about friendship and sacrificial love. They've shown me that there is something more important than being right, and that is being humble, and kind, and Christ-like. They've taught me it's not enough to be right in our heads, but we also have to be compassionate in our hearts. This book is a gift to the church, and to the world...just like John Perkins and Howard Ahmanson.
--Shane Claiborne, author, activist, co-founder of Red Letter Christians

Paul Marshall has masterfully woven the stories of two distinctly different lives into a beautiful tapestry. Is it possible for people from opposing sides of the tracks to bridge the unspoken divide? How can we form meaningful friendships that draw from - and literally transform the very best that each has to offer? Called to Be Friends: Called to Serve shows us how. It's a must-read in our fractured, divided world!
--Karen Waddles, contributor to John M. Perkins's books, He Calls Me Friend: The
Healing Power of Friendship in a Lonely World (Moody, 2019); One Blood: Parting
Words to the Church on Race and Love (Moody, 2020); Count it All Joy: The
Ridiculous Paradox of Suffering (Moody, 2021).

In our age of tribalism we differentiate ourselves by class, race, education, and communication style. So how does John Perkins (a poor African American Christian with a third grade education plus eloquence) become for 40 years a good friend of Howard Ahmanson, a rich white Christian with a postgraduate linguistics degree plus a Tourette's syndrome stutter? Paul Marshall's account displays the shared syllable in their backgrounds: Christ.
-Marvin Olasky, chairman of Zenger House and former editor in chief of World

Paul Marshall has brought together the lives of two incredible human beings and their quest to positively serve and impact our communities. I am fortunate to have met Dr. John Perkins and blessed to call Howard Ahmanson a good friend. Both are brilliant men of God who were interested in a renewal movement to draw together people through Christian community development in America. = Called to Be Friends: Called to Serve is a book I highly recommend.
--Jim Palmer, President and CEO of RSI Dream Communities

When good friendships occur, they are bright, sparkling wonders. Such is surely the case with the friendship shared between John Perkins and Howard Ahmanson, Jr. The story narrated by Paul Marshall in Called to be Friends, Called to Serve is filled with surprises, blessings, joys, struggles, pain, and sorrow, as two unlikely friends join hands in contending for justice in a world distanced so far from it. It is more than this, though. It is the story of two people -- initially so different from one another -- learning to be friends, and in the hearing we are all blessed.
--Christopher A. Hall, Ph.D., member of the Renovaré Ministry Team, and an author of several books on the wisdom and spirituality of the Church Fathers.

As a friend of the Ahmansons and an acquaintance of Mr. Perkins, I was moved and encouraged to read the story of John Perkins and Howard Ahmanson's unlikely friendship. Their respective stories of Christ's redempti

Paul Marshall is Wilson Professor of Religious Freedom at Baylor University, and senior fellow at the Religious Freedom Institute and Hudson Institute. He has authored over twenty books, including Silenced: How Apostasy and Blasphemy Codes Choke Freedom Worldwide (Oxford University Press, 2011), Blind Spot: When Journalists Don't Get Religion (Oxford University Press, 2009), Religious Freedom in the World (Rowman and Littlefield, 2008). His work has been translated into twenty languages.

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