Commissioned to Love

Living Out the Whole Gospel

5th Anniversary Edition

The Whole Gospel for a Divided World 

Five years later, Commissioned to Love still speaks to a moment we’re living now—where the Church is called to do more than proclaim faith. We must live it, completely and together.

After five years, Commissioned to Love remains a clarion call for something every believer and leader knows in their heart: we’re called to live out the whole Gospel, not just part of it.

In the time since this book first released, the Church has come through a pandemic. We’ve responded, or tried to, to social unrest and political division. And we’re still grappling with the fundamental question that haunts us: What does it mean to follow Jesus fully?

John P. Perkins and Anthony D. Bobo, Jr. knew this urgency. They built this book on a framework that works: Christian Community Development intersected with Jesus’ own Commission Circles in Acts 1:8. Not theory. Not nice ideas. Practice.

In these pages, you’ll find what it looks like when a church doesn’t just do evangelism: it disciples. When it doesn’t just pursue justice: it builds reconciliation. When it doesn’t just believe the Gospel: it lives it.

Whether you lead a church, facilitate a small group, or simply hunger to understand what whole Gospel living looks like, this book is for you.

5th Anniversary Edition

2026
197 Pages
Berlin, Germany: I Am Intercultural 

Order the paperback directly from us in Berlin! (coming soon)

How to Use This Book

Commissioned to Love is designed to work in multiple ways, depending on how you’re engaging with it.

FOR INDIVIDUAL READERS

If you’re reading on your own, approach this book as both reflection and invitation:

• Read with intention. Each chapter builds on the last, so moving through sequentially works best. But don’t rush.
• Sit with the reflection questions. They’re not just prompts, they’re doorways into your own practice and conviction. Take time to journal, think, pray.
• Notice what moves you. Where does the text push against your assumptions? Where does it align with your own sense of calling? These are the places transformation begins.
• Consider sharing. After you’ve read, consider who in your life might benefit from working through this material together. Sometimes a book comes alive when discussed.

FOR SMALL GROUPS

This book is built for group study. The reflection questions work as discussion starters, and the framework naturally creates space for diverse voices and experiences.

Suggested approach:

1. Gather regularly. Weekly or biweekly works well; it keeps momentum and lets the material settle between sessions.
2. Come prepared. Have each person read the chapter ahead of time. This means real discussion, not summary.
3. Start with experience. Before diving into the text’s ideas, ask: What brought you here? What’s your starting point on justice, reconciliation, evangelism, discipleship? This grounds the work in lived reality.
4. Use the reflection questions. They’re your guide. Don’t feel constrained by them, follow where the group’s interest goes.
5. End with action. Before you finish, ask: What’s one thing this chapter invites us to do or try? Even small steps matter.
6. Take the Commission Circles seriously. The framework moves from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to the ends of the earth. As a group, name what each looks like for you. Where do you already have presence? Where is God calling you?

Ideal group size: 6–15 people. Smaller groups allow deeper conversation; larger groups benefit from breaking into subgroups for certain discussions.

THE CHAPTERS

Chapter 1: Jesus Is the Way Starts where it matters. Orients you to the authors’ conviction that every principle flows from Christology, not methodology.
Chapter 2: Introducing the Commission Circles The framework itself. Essential reading for understanding the structure John and Anthony use throughout.
Chapter 3: Christian Community Development Explores the eight principles that make this approach holistic and relational, not transactional.
Chapter 4: The Church in Action Moves from theory into practice. How do learning, living, loving, and learning again shape ministry?
Chapter 5: Leading in Practice For leaders of groups, churches, and organizations. What does next-generation leadership look like when grounded in these principles?
Chapter 6: Church-Based Community Development Brings it full circle. Real examples from the authors’ ministries. See what whole Gospel living produces.

BONUS CONTENT

The book includes Commission Circles Worksheets to help you and your group work through the framework visually and practically. Use these to:

• Map your own context (where is your Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, ends of the earth?)
• Assess where your church or ministry currently engages
• Identify gaps and new possibilities
• Plan next steps with clarity and specificity

A NOTE ON THE TIMING

After five years, this book remains urgent. The pandemic changed how we gather, but didn’t change the call. Political division deepens, but the invitation to reconciliation remains. If anything, the moment demands leaders and churches who understand what whole Gospel living looks like.

This is the right time to read, to discuss, and to act on what you learn.

Endorsements

Endorsements are from the 2020 or 2026 version of the book, and the roles of the endorsers may have changed. 

“The authors have woven a convincing case that the mission of the gospel is intrinsic and inescapably holistic for and to all. I believe that the church and others who read this book would benefit greatly as they will find in these principles a well-rounded approach for a missional thrust for the next era of leaders.”

“The book offers a framework to aid leaders and congregations in making disciples in all nations & among all people groups not with just words but with their actions as well. John and Anthony outline, in tangible terms, a spiritual formation to help the next generation become ‘gospel activists’. They encourage a pursuit of a holistic approach to bring about the transformation of a cynical generation who wants real reconciliation in a divided world.”

“Commissioned to Love is the kind of book that promotes excellent missiology, systematic reflection and discipleship making. It calls to all, but especially the next generation to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Dr. Robert L. Owens | From the Afterword

“The Church remains one of the most influential centers for empowerment, development, and transformation, especially in urban and under-resourced communities. Commissioned To Love reminds us of both timeless principles and revitalizing strategies for community development and engagement. Dr. Anthony Bobo Jr. and John P. Perkins provide a guide for the Church to stay rooted in the Gospel and consider new methodologies to address today’s social and spiritual challenges.”

Rev. Dr. Efrem Smith | Co-Senior Pastor, Midtown Church; Co-Owner, Influential LLC

“John P. Perkins and Anthony D. Bobo, Jr. have placed their spiritual fingers on the pulse of our low-wealth communities to identify the challenges that they confront as well as the opportunities for local churches to respond to those challenges. Their book provides a template for the church to demonstrate its 21st Century relevance.”

Reverend Matthew J. Watts | Senior Pastor and Teacher, Grace Bible Church, Charleston, West Virginia

“The concept of Commission Circles flows from the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus essentially told his disciples: Ready, Set, Wait. They did wait and they received the promised Holy Spirit who empowers the church for mission. Perkins and Bobo present a fresh application of Acts 1:8 in proclaiming and demonstrating the whole Gospel bringing hope and guidance to many.”

Dr. John Wenrich | President, Evangelical Covenant Church

“Pastor John and Anthony have a contagious commitment to the poor and to the local church. This is an important introduction to living out Christ’s commission in urban America today! This is an important read for church leaders today.”

Aaron Graham | Lead Pastor, The District Church, Washington, DC

“It is an honor to be a friend and co-laborer of this Man of God! I am grateful for the ministry insights, the passionate exhortations, and most of all, the Biblical values lived out in the life and ministry of Pastor John Perkins!”

Dr. John Teter | Founder and Senior Minister, Fountain of Life Covenant Church, Long Beach, CA

“I’ve had the privilege of knowing John for years. I love his all-encompassing embrace for his community, practicing what he preaches.”

Jon Foreman | Switchfoot

“This book is written to change things. It hits the bullseye for how the Church has the opportunity to transform our nation by the lived power of Christ, through salty, authentic, relationship-driven Kingdom people. What I’m most thankful for is the voice of the authors, next generation leaders writing from lived experience, not internet research.”

Joe Knittig | CEO, The Global Orphan Project