i have a cool story

so on sunday mornings, i usually go up the office around 6:45 to put the rest of the service into the computer. this past week i had sent the computer home with one of our tech team so he could clean it up some. we had talked on the phone, and he was going to bring it by on saturday afternoon when our pastor was at the office. so when i get there, there is no computer. he had gotten sidetracked and missed the pastor. so i've got nothing to do, so i think to myself, "i'll do some reading". in my office there are a great deal of books. i've looked over them many times, but yesterday one stuck out to me so i picked it up. i sat down and began to read. my tech guy called and said he was bringing the computer to me, so that problem was solved, but i couldn't put this book down. how had i not seen or even been interested in this book before. it was speaking to me right where my heart was. i had even heard of the author before. jetter had mentioned him on his blog. i sat there as art came with the computer and i had read the 1st 3 chapters of this book. so if you are interested at all, go and pick up Erwin McManus' "An Unstoppable Force" i haven't finished it, but the first 4 chapters are worth picking it up. so in typical chuckazooloo style, here are a few excerpts from the book.

Over the past 40 years the communities around many churches have changed dramatically, yet the church has stayed the same. Somewhere in the community's transformation, the church disconnected. And since the transition began incrementally, the local congregation was either unaware or unconcerned. The church must accimilate to a changing world, or she will destine herself to irrelevence or even extinction.

The biting truth is that this country is not rejecting spirituality, but Christianity.

Is it possible that it wasn't the nation that was becoming dangerously secular, but the church?

The crisis did not begin when prayer was removed from public schools but when we stopped praying.

With each culture shift, it is painfully obvious that the church has become an institution rather than a movement. The distinction lies in the fact that institutions preserve culture, while movements create culture.

How could we ever think that the Christian faith would be safe when it's central metaphor is an instrument of death? It is not a coincidence that baptism is a water grave depicting the death and resurrection. It is no less significant that the on going ordinance of the Lord's Supper is a reminder of sacrifice. How did we ever develop a safe theology from such a dangerous faith.

mere snippets of the wisdom in this book. i'm hooked. throw me some more Erwin McManus.

have a great day
chuck