By Dr. DAN ERICKSON
After a restless night a few weeks ago, I finally gave up on sleep and begin to listen to the whisper of the Holy Spirit. (Is the middle of the night the only time God speaks to me or the only time I am quiet enough to listen?) God impressed upon me that a Force was rising in America and that it would be unstoppable because it would be ordained of him. He was asking me to help bring the call to revitalize the church in America. God impressed upon me that the church has been idle too long and that it must rise up.
I thought, “Who am I? I am nobody. Don’t you want someone with a national ministry, a megachurch or a radio/television ministry like Joel Osteen, Chuck Colson, Chuck Swindoll or James Dobson? They would be able to influence hundreds of thousands of people? God, you know I am a nobody and I kind of like it that way. So why me?”
He made it clear to me that the “nobodies” were going to be the ones who took a stand and made a difference. He said to me, “I’m asking you to do it because I know you will do what I command without question and will not get in my way. No man is going to take credit for what I am going to do.” I realized that I have been in his army for the last 40 years and I was not about to disobey him now. I asked God how he wanted me to issue this challenge. He instructed me to write a Christian Manifesto.
I honestly did not know what one was and what was to be communicated in it. He said it should be called “An Unstoppable Force – A Christian Manifesto.” The title was the simple part. As God begin to speak to me, I begin to write. I kept writing until the basic formation of the manifesto was in place. It evolved over the next eight weeks.
One section was to highlight 12 absolutes truths of the Christian faith. These became the Declarations of the Christian Faith. It also became clear that we were to create a parchment of these declarations that could be mounted in people’s homes, businesses and churches. This was based on God’s call to Israel in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 to prominently place his commands in their homes and in their hearts:
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
He reminded me, “When people do not know what they stand for, they will fall for anything.” These declarations were to be a foundation for all of life.
I spent several weeks field testing and finalizing each part, including the preamble, summons to commitment, evidences of the Unstoppable Force and The Unstoppable Prayer for the Nation. It was suggested that we give people the opportunity to join The Unstoppable Force and become part of something that is bigger and mightier than anything of this world. It is God’s Force!
In the weeks that have followed, the reception of the message has been nothing short of spectacular. Only God knows how fast it will move across this country. All I know is that I don’t want to miss the ride and get in the way but to be a channel between the heart of God and the needs of mankind.
God’s remnant is ready to be The Church in America and around the world. It is time for the leadership of the church to get out of the way and allow God to call forth his people. When his people humble themselves and pray and seek his face and turn from their wicked ways, then he will move from Heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their families, marriages, churches and nation. Only then will his eyes be opened and his ears attentive to their prayers.
If you want to join The Force and would like a copy of the Manifesto or the parchment version of the Declarations of the Christian Faith, go to www.anunstoppleforce.org. It time to rise up; it’s time for the church to become The Church in America. It’s time to spread the word. Join us and imagine God’s possibilities!
