"Unleashed" - Book Review

Rather than living a long life, are you willing to live a life worth living?  Are you willing to lose everything on God’s behalf to gain everything He desires for you?  Erwin Raphael McManus presents these and other thought-provoking questions in his book Unleashed: Release the Untamed Faith Within.  Using the biblical examples of John the Baptist and Peter, and the ultimate example of Jesus, he shows what it means to live the barbarian life.  He sprinkles the book with illustrations about his daughter Mariah, who is a full-fledged barbarian of beauty (displayed on the cover of the book exhibiting the essence of the title).

The author, a first-generation Christian who wasn’t raised according to all the ‘rules’, fights the Christian cliché “the safest place to be is in the center of God’s will.”  Instead, he argues that it is a dangerous and costly place to be.  God’s will for us is not about our comfort.  Nor is it a cattle call for us to live the same kind of life as everyone else.  His desire is not to conform us but transform us, not to make us compliant but to make us creative, and not to domesticate us but to liberate us.

The “civilized” faith is ritualistic, safe, reasonable, routine, stable, follows requirements, keeps people in line, focuses on being a good citizen, and follows the letter of the law.  The barbarian life is courageous, sacrificial, visionary, intimate, passionate, loving, challenging, mysterious, risky, listens to the voice of the Spirit, experiences God, focuses on a mission, and lives the spirit of the law.  All that we are meant to do is through the outward flowing of faith, hope and love.

For me, this book was refreshing, revitalizing, and inspiring! It is thought-provoking as well as entertaining and easy to read in a sitting or two.  After reading this book, I found it easier to embrace my quirky self and to stop trying to be what everyone else wants or expects me to be.  Instead my focus is to be guided by the footprints of Jesus. We are supposed to do whatever Jesus calls us to do the moment it is clear to us. I want to be a barbarian!

To comply with regulations by the Federal Trade Commission 16 CFR Part 255, I am disclosing that BookSneeze® provided me a complimentary copy of this book.  I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions I have expressed are my own.