Erwin Raphael McManus - An Unstoppable Force: Daring to Become the Church God Had in Mind

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My failures are my gift to others. My successes are the gift of others to me. Even my failures find sweet memories through the gifts of friendship and community. I would like to thank a few of the many people who have shared the journey with me, both in times of failure and pain and in times of success and joy.

No one fits this description more than my partner in life, Kim. Together, we have found the oneness that Christs love alone makes possible. I would also like to express my gratitude for my son and daughter, Aaron and Mariah, who have both supported me in this effort and encouraged me. Your lives inspire me to live with vision and courage.

So many incredible people have richly blessed me throughout my spiritual journey. They fill the pages of this book. And to the person most responsible for teaching me to love risk and change, to embrace the entrepreneurial spirit, and to live the life of an explorer, I want to thank Alby Kiphuth for your gift to me. You are one unique person, Mom! I love you.

Finally, I would like to express my dismay at the goodness of God toward me and confess that I have received far beyond his reasonable generosity. Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you are willing to pour living water into such broken vessels. I pray that you are pleased with the content of this work.

And to those of you who now choose to journey with me through the pages to come, let us remove all excess baggage, for the road ahead requires that we be fleet of foot.

Advancing the Invisible Kingdom,

Erwin Raphael McManus

Contents

To my wife, Kim; my son, Aaron;
my daughter, Mariah;
my daughter in the Lord, Paty
and her husband, Steve.

To Mosaic.
It is the journey together we share and cherish.
It is the adventure we have found in his calling.
Sojourners each of us upon this divine landscape.
Explorers of dangerous mysteries.

What people are saying about

AN UNSTOPPABLE FORCE

Two thousand years ago, God ignited a breathtaking revolution using a handful of radical Christ followers. The centuries have seen that revolution fizzle. In a diagnosis that startles and unsettles, Erwin McManus shows what went wrong with the church and how we can again catch the momentum of the Holy Spirit. This book invites us to join a revolution.

Barbara Bradley Hagerty, Religion Correspondent at National Desk for NPR

An Unstoppable Force is an abrupt opening of the window shade, revealing that weve all been hitting the snooze button for decades. This is a book of timeless wisdom, explained in a present perspective that seeps authenticity and reality.

Brad Smith, president of Bakke Graduate University

You can hardly find a book more engrossing from page to pagebecause you rarely meet a man with as fascinating a story to tell. Loaded with profound insight as well as constant interest, McManus clearly has a lot to offer church leaders today, presented out of the raw, real context of actual ministry.

Ralph D. Winter, founder of the U.S. Center for World Mission

If I could require only one text for all my divinity students, if I could recommend only one book for every religious leader, this would be the one.

Leonard Sweet, E. Stanley Jones Professor of Evangelism at Drew University

Erwin McManus excites mefrom the first time we met to the end of An Unstoppable Force . Read this intelligent analysis of the church and clear-minded take on culture. It will equip and inspire you to approach church life with the kind of faith, hope, and love found at Mosaic.

Todd Hunter, church planter, pastor, and author of The Accidental Anglican and Our Favorite Sins

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EPILOGUE

There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siegeworks against it. Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man. So I said, Wisdom is better than strength. But the poor mans wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded. (Eccl. 9:1416)

What can one human being really do? After all were only human! So we look to superheroes to inspire us. They are unfettered by human frailty and limitation. If only we could be like them. Then we could really change things. Then we would make the world a different place. If only we could be more than human. Then we, too, could set the city free!

Or perhaps we have underestimated our capacity. Maybe being created in the image and likeness of the Creator God still means something. Could one poor man with the wisdom of God really rise up to set an entire city free? And what would motivate those he delivered to despise him? Is there a conspiracy of mediocrity? Are we unwitting enemies of nobility and heroism? In Australia its called cutting the tall poppy. We choose to live where apathy is normal and average is the goal. Occasionally, some refuse to cooperate. They rise out of the rubble of decadence and conformity, and by the power of God, they show us a new way. They shock us into reality. They force us to accept responsibility. They inspire and require us to consider a new way to be human.

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. (2 Peter 1:3)

AN UNSTOPPABLE FORCE

Published by David C Cook

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The website addresses recommended throughout this book are offered as a resource to you. These websites are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement on the part of David C Cook, nor do we vouch for their content.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. Scripture quotations marked nasb are taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org.)

LCCN 2013935962

ISBN 978-1-4347-0321-7

eISBN 978-1-4347-0610-2

2013 Erwin McManus

First hardcover edition published by Group Publishing, Inc in 2001 Erwin McManus, ISBN - 0-7644-2306-1

The Team: Alex Field, Nick Lee, Renada Arens, Karen Athen

Cover Design: Amy Konyndyk

Cover Photo: iStockphoto

Second Edition 2013

Photo by Hank Fortener

Erwin Raphael McManus is an author, speaker, activist, filmmaker, and innovator who specializes in the field of developing and unleashing personal and organizational creativity, uniqueness, innovation, and diversity. He is the creator and narrator of the short-film series SIGNS and is the founder of Mosaic in Los Angeles, California. He and his wife, Kim, live in Los Angeles and have three children, Aaron, Mariah, and Paty.