Solid Foods

McShorts

2010-05-06T18:19:00.000-07:00

Updates, Uh Ohs and a Eulogy

UPDATES

McManus Studios LLC appears to be thriving with this brief mention in the New York Times:

The New York Times
Media & Advertising - People and Accounts of Note
Published March 1, 2010

"Boy and Rocket, Los Angeles, a commercial production company, was opened as a division of McManus Studios by Erwin R. McManus, who leads McManus Studios, and Kevin T. Willson. Mr. Willson is a director who directed a commercial for Doritos, “Casket,” which was one of four spots created by consumers that the Doritos parent, the Frito-Lay unit of PepsiCo, ran during Super Bowl XLIV on Feb. 7."

Public records for McManus Studios LLC can be found at the California Business Portal. It appears to be a for profit company since McManus Studios LLC does not appear on the California Attorney General's Registry of Charitable Trusts.

Interesting how the New York Times doesn't report that Erwin R. McManus is the pastor of Mosaic in Los Angeles.

In the meantime, the sad saga of the orphaned "Awakens" continues with this update on their non-profit status from the CA Registry of Charitable Trusts:

(Info current as of 5/6/2010)

1. Awaken Center for Creativity - NOT REGISTERED (This is a new designation)

2. Awaken International - Charity, Exempt, Active

3. Awaken - Charity, Exempt, Active

4. Awaken Humanity - Charity, Exempt, Active

So, three of the children are now "active" but, have they been good little children and filed their tax forms on time? Remember, the McManus Studios website once said that "Awaken is a non-profit under McManus Studios."

Curiouser and curiouser.

UH OH!

As of May 15, 2010, the IRS may start revoking the exempt status of 501(c) non-profit organizations that have not filed tax returns in the past 3 years. This also applies to small non-profits making $25,000 a year who are required to file the new "electronic postcard" Form 990-N.

If a small non-profit has been relying on the exempt status of a larger parent organization, they'd better make sure the parent has been reporting to the IRS that it is the fiscal agent for the smaller group!

For calendar year organizations, the first return was due on May 15, 2008.

RIP EMERGING CHURCH?

Once again, Erwin McManus' name is included in a movement he claims he is not a part of and worse yet, it is a movement that is now no longer considered "fresh" and "cutting edge."

Farewell emerging church, 1989-2010

Well, at least McManus has something to fall back on in his old age
. . . maybe.

The McSuper Bowl

2010-01-23T00:24:00.000-08:00

"Casket"
Erwin McManus' Commercial for Doritos

Doritos is sponsoring a "consumer-made ad contest" to be shown during the Superbowl broadcast.

Super Bowl commercial slots selling fast, CBS says

Quote:

Doritos has six finalists. The three that air will be picked in online voting. In one ad, a guy stages his own funeral just to munch Doritos and watch football undisturbed — in a casket. Just as unlikely is the guy who produced it: a pastor. "It's a miracle and a divine comedy that we've made it this far," says Erwin McManus, pastor at Mosaic, a church in Whittier, Calif. "I think it's God's sense of humor."

"Casket" has made it to the top 6 entries in this contest. The final 3 will be decided by online voting.

Of course, Erwin McManus is promoting his entry on Twitter and Mosaic has a brief promo at Mosaic.org.

What's interesting about the Mosaic blurb is the information that this commercial was created by a "team from Mosaic."

Other people promoting the "Casket" commercial include Rick Warren and Jon Gordon.

According to Jon Gordon's blog,

Erwin Mcmanus, a friend of mine, is the exec producer of a funny Dorrito’s commercial that MIGHT get shown during the Super Bowl! Out of 4000 submissions they made the top 6 but need our votes to make it into the top 3.

Eric Bryant has a promo on his blog,

"Now you can help my friends win the competition! Please help us spread the word!"

Among Eric's "friends" is Erwin McManus; who also just happens to be Eric's boss.

Oh, did I mention the prize money?

Here is the breakdown from Moneycentral.com

Potential grand prizing for the contest will be based on each of the three winning ad's ranking on the USA TODAY Ad Meter:

* $1 million will be awarded for a Doritos ad that scores the number one spot on the Ad Meter
* $600,000 will be awarded for a Doritos ad that scores the number two spot on the Ad Meter
* $400,000 will be awarded for a Doritos ad that scores the number three spot on the Ad Meter

If the consumer-created Doritos ads sweep all top three rankings of the USA TODAY Ad Meter, an additional $1 million bonus will be awarded to each winner for a total prize giveaway of $5 million.

Which raises the question, "If McManus' team wins, who gets the prize money?"

If this commercial was made using "a team from Mosaic", it seems only fair that Mosaic should get a share if "Casket" wins any money but things in the McTwilight Zone are not always so cut and dry.

I came across this "tweet" from a woman named So-Young Kang, the CEO and Managing Partner of "The Awaken Group." [Yes, it is "related" to the now infamous family of "Awakens" created by Erwin McManus!]

So-Young Kang

So-Young Kang Erwin McManus' film production company finalist in national contest

Note the "Erwin McManus' film production company" part.

The following is from the Awaken Group website:

January 7, 2010
Erwin McManus’ film production company finalist in national contest

Erwin McManus, one of our Founding Partners, and his film production company have made the final 3 in a national contest for a Doritos commercial to air during the Super Bowl this year.

So, Erwin hasn't wasted any time launching his "new" film company and now he has a "new" bio to go with it.

Wedgewood Circle

ERWIN RAPHAEL MCMANUS

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 committed to creating environments that expand imagination, unleash creativity, and maximize the creative potential in every individual and organization. Erwin is the Founder and President of Awaken and McManus Studios. Convinced that the world is changed by dreamers and visionaries, Awaken serves the purpose of history by maximizing the divine potential in every human being. He also serves as a Senior Scientist with the Gallup Organization. Engaging such issues as culture, creativity, change, and leadership, Erwin is widely known as a thought-provoking communicator. His travels have taken him to over 30 countries and he has spoken to over a million people from a wide variety of audiences, including the NFL, Lionsgate, New Line Cinema, and ILOG. His work is featured in numerous films, articles, and magazines across the US and internationally.

If McManus does win the 5 million dollars, it would be nice if he developed a "new" conscience too and returned some of the $700,000 in donations he accepted from members of the original Church on Brady who answered his call for "sacrificial giving."

Instead of a new church, all they got was the "commercial."

Yvonne W.

UPDATES

13CW31
California Sports AP News

SUPER BOWL AD-MEGACHURCH LA megachurch hopes to win Super Bowl ad contest

(Stations: Moving on financial, sports and entertainment services.)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sometimes it's tough for churches to break through to audiences on Sundays during football season, never mind when it's the Super Bowl.

So a Los Angeles megachurch is trying to break through with its own commercial during the game.

The Mosaic church is among the top six finalists in the Doritos' "Crash the Super Bowl" commercial contest.

Their lighthearted spoof plays off the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Many of the church's 3,000 members work in the film and TV industry.

If they make the top three in online voting, their commercial will be aired during the Super Bowl.

Lead pastor Erwin McManus says he hopes the humorous ad shows it's OK to laugh in the faith community.

The Parthenon
Marshall University's Student Newspaper

"Church ad a contender for commercial challenge, could air during Sunday's Super Bowl"
by Kate McCloy

This article has been 404'd and is now unavailable. It had been picked up by the College Media Network. I found it on a Google cached page.

Here are a few excerpts:

Erwin McManus, the head pastor of Mosaic church in Pasadena, Calif., is viewing the ad competition as a chance to present his faith to one of TV’s largest audiences when they are least expecting it, according to the USA TODAY Web site.

"It sounds like it's a good goal to get the message out, but with the description of the commercial, I'm not sure if the message will come across or not."

Chris Roberts
Campus Minister
Herd4Christ

McManus said on the USA TODAY Web site he wants people to know that they have a sense of humor and that it's OK to laugh. He said so much of what comes out of the faith community seems sour and somber. He wants to show people that they can be people of faith and enjoy life and laugh.

According to the USA TODAY Web site, if the ad, which is relating to the resurrection of Christ, makes it to the top three in an online contest, the ad will air during the Super Bowl on Sunday.

Beliefnetnews
Calif. Church Gets into the Game With Super Bowl Doritos Ad

Erwin McManus expresses his views on "earning the right to be heard."

SUPERBOWL UPDATES

The Superbowl is over but the "buzz" continues. Here are a two reactions to "Casket" and the final ad results from USA Today's Ad Meter.

Forbes.com
The Ad Bowl
Best And Worst Ads Of Super Bowl XLIV
Laurie Burkitt, 02.07.10, 09:45 PM EST

PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay aired three commercials for Doritos. Reviews by our panel were mixed. Tom Bedecarre, CEO of digital ad agency AKQA, liked a consumer-generated spot in which a dog scores Doritos after strapping a bark-prevention collar on a snacker. He bashed as “tasteless” another commercial in which a guy who’s going to be buried with Doritos, springs out in his casket during his funeral.

Politics Daily
David Gibson
Is the Resurrection Funny? One Church Has a Super Bowl Bet on It

Political columnist David Gibson was not amused by "Casket."

USA Today Ad Meter results

"Casket" missed the top ten and came in at #14.

Ye Olde Pub McManus

2009-12-17T15:01:00.000-08:00

The McTwilight Zone
Restaurant Guide
Rating: ???

Is Erwin McManus contemplating opening a bar?

According to Trade Markia.com, on Monday, October 19, 2009, a U.S. federal trademark registration was filed for TABLE FOOD FOR THOUGHT. This trademark is owned by McManus Studios, LLC.

The TABLE FOOD FOR THOUGHT trademark is filed in the category of Restaurant and Hotel Services . The description provided to the USPTO for TABLE FOOD FOR THOUGHT is Restaurant and bar services.

The street address given for this registration is almost identical to the one listed at the California Business Portal for McManus Studios, LLC. The name of the person listed as the Agent for Service of Process is Erwin McManus' secretary.

I guess if you get used to holding church services in a bar, then why not own one?

After all, according to Erwin McManus, "the church is not a building."

Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name . . .

Yvonne W.

Erwin McManus and the Reinvention of "Awaken"

2009-12-15T18:21:00.000-08:00

The McCloning Begins Anew

The confusion surrounding Erwin McManus and his growing list of "companies" continues with the latest incarnation known as "McManus Studios LLC."

This time around, McManus has opted to limit the use of the word "Awaken" to just one aspect of his new business ventures leaving his previous website, http://awaken.org/ in limbo until he gets around to reusing or dropping this particular URL completely.

[You can still find the link to the original Awaken website at the remodeled Mosaic website by clicking on the sidebar called "Discover More" next to the old Awaken logo.]

Erwin has also been busy updating his biographical information.

His previous bio at http://erwinmcmanus.com/bio/ was:

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. In other words, he gets bored really easily.

He is committed to creating environments that expand imagination, unleash creativity, and maximize the creative potential in every individual and organization. Erwin is also the catalyst behind Awaken. Convinced that the world is changed by dreamers and visionaries, Awaken serves the purpose of history by maximizing the divine potential in every human being.

Engaging such issues as culture, creativity, change, and leadership, Erwin is widely known as a thought-provoking communicator. His travels have taken him to over 30 countries and he has spoken to over a million people from a wide variety of audiences, including the NFL, Lionsgate, New Line Cinema, and ILOG. His work is featured in numerous films, articles, and magazines across the US and internationally.

His new bio at the Premiere Speakers Bureau has been altered to read:

erwin raphael mcmanus is an author, speaker, activist, filmmaker, artist and innovator who specializes in the field of developing and unleashing personal and organizational creativity, uniqueness, innovation and diversity. In other words, he gets bored really easily.

He is committed to creating environments that expand imagination, unleash creativity, and maximize the creative potential in every individual and organization. Erwin is the catalyst and founder of the non-profit Awaken Humanity. Convinced that the world is changed by dreamers and visionaries, Awaken Humanity serves the purpose of history by maximizing the divine potential in every human being.

As Curator of McManus Studios, Erwin and his team strive to create experiences that inspire humanity to live our most heroic lives through products that promote beauty, story, community, creativity, and humanity. McManus Studios brings art to life through films, fashion, and DreamLABs.

Erwin is also Explorer and Founding Partner of The Awaken Group, a global leadership development consulting firm with expertise in aligning people to strategically drive innovation and creativity by unleashing the maximum potential of organization.

Engaging such issues as culture, change, creativity and leadership, Erwin is widely known as a thought-provoking communicator. His travels have taken him to over 30 countries and he has spoken to over a million people from a wide variety of audiences, including the NFL, Golf Inc., California Builders Association, NYU, Columbia U, New Line Cinema, and ILOG. His work is featured in numerous films, articles, and magazines across the US and internationally.

Erwin's previous 3 brainchildren, Awaken Center for Creativity, Awaken International and Awaken, now languish in "suspended" corporate status animation among the abandoned corporations at the California Business Porta l. These poor unwanted "non-profits" are still listed with the California Attorney General's Registry of Charitable Trusts while their favored little sister, Awaken Humanity, now reigns like a pampered child.

Hopefully, somebody will take pity on these corporations and put them out of their misery by legally dissolving them but that would involve:

1. VOTE BY BOARD OF DIRECTORS OR MAJORITY OF CORPORATION TO DISSOLVE AND PREPARE CERTIFICATE OF ELECTION TO WIND UP AND DISSOLVE (IF APPLICABLE) AND/OR A CERTIFICATE OF DISSOLUTION

2. PREPARE FINAL STATE TAX RETURN AND VERIFY CURRENT STATUS WITH FRANCHISE TAX BOARD

3. OBTAIN DISSOLUTION WAIVER FROM THE ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE BEFORE DISPOSING OF ANY REMAINING ASSETS

4. SUBMIT FINAL NOTICE OF SUBMISSION TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE’S OFFICE

5. SUBMIT FINAL NOTICE OF SUBMISSION TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE

Source for above: General Guide for Dissolving a California Nonprofit Organization

I mean, who wants to go through all that trouble when you can just rename your organization and start over?

Especially when you can "unveil" your new company at the UNICEF Gala and get to hear Tony Bennet, see Mohammed Ali and watch the "masses surround Oceans 11!"
[Erwin McManus "tweet"]

Must I forever be a beggar
Whose golden dreams will not come true?
Or will I go from rags to riches?
My fate is up to you

Yvonne W.

Dreamlab

2009-12-14T14:16:00.000-08:00

"A New Season of the McTwilight Zone"

Erwin McManus, Awaken Humanity and the creative minds at the "experimental church" Mosaic have come up with a new product called "Dreamlab."

I call it a "product" because of this line near the end of the special invitation by Erwin McManus:

"Learn from world class 15 minute mentoring videos."

Following a now familiar pattern, people interested in signing up for the Dreamlab experience must write to an email address dreamlab@awaken.org for more information, including the cost of the mentoring videos since that information is not mentioned in the video.

DreamLab - Mentor Invitation from Erwin McManus from Awaken on Vimeo.

[By the way, in the video invitation, Erwin mentions that he is standing in a back alley in downtown Los Angeles. I hope he obtained a film permit from the city of L.A. to shoot that video!]

The description of another video posted on Vimeo says this about Dreamlab:
Source

Awaken Humanity is launching a new concept called DreamLab.

DreamLab is going to connect thousands of dreamers across the globe with mentors who want to speak into their lives and create a hopeful future. I’ve sent you this video specifically because I think that you have such valuable and inspiring wisdom that could light the fuse for so many of these dormant dreams.

Erwin

-Don't sleep through your dreams-

. . . and . . .

DreamLAB connects thousands of dreamers across the globe with mentors who want to speak into their lives and create a hopeful future. A dream is a terrible thing to waste.

"A dream is a terrible thing to waste."

This is the best the "creative" minds at Awaken could come up with? A cliched plagiarizing of "A mind is a terrible thing to waste," the UNCF's world famous slogan?

Now that is a terrible thing to witness.

Yvonne W.

UPDATE
December 17, 2009

I found the webpage for McManus Studios which lists the various "studios" under it's banner; among which is DreamLab.

This is from the FAQ's for Dreamlab:

How much does it cost?
Nothing! Awaken provides DreamLABs free of cost in order to help dreamers across the world live their dreams wide awake! Want to give back! Help us advertise DreamLABs to your friends!

How is DreamLAB connected with Erwin McManus?
DreamLAB was created by Erwin McManus and inspired by his most recent book WideAwake. WideAwake can be purchased at www.awaken.org/resources

What is Awaken?
Awaken is a collaboration between a team of dreamers and innovators who specialize in the field of developing and unleashing personal and organizational creativity. Our mission is to help people discover, cultivate and act on their divine potential to create a better world.

Awaken is committed to creating environments that expand imagination and unleash creativity. Convinced that the world is changed by dreamers and visionaries, Awaken serves humanity through its commitment to maximize the creative potential in every individual and organization. Awaken emerges out of the unique ministry of Mosaic and reflects Mosaic’s commitment to creativity, uniqueness, innovation and diversity. Awaken is a non-profit under McManus Studios.

So, the 15 minute videos are provided free of charge but participants are encouraged to "advertise" the service, which of course is a way to encourage free advertising for "Wide Awake" and all the rest of Erwin's books.

That last line about Awaken is interesting, "Awaken is a non-profit under McManus Studios."

This is different from what I was told by Jimmy Duke (the former Director/Vice President of Awaken) and Eric Bryant (the current Executive Pastor of Mosaic LA.)

In early April, 2007 Jimmy Duke sent an email informing me that Awaken was operating under a separate 501c3.

Later that same month, Eric Bryant sent me a series of emails answering my questions about Awaken.

On April 27, 2007 Eric Bryant wrote:

Awaken is a registered 501c3 under the name Awaken Humanity. We just received our paperwork recently. The Secretary of State should be updating their website soon. This summer we are registering for tax exempt status. Currently, Awaken is still a subsidiary of Mosaic until we finish this paperwork.

Both the California Secretary of State Business Portal and the State Attorney General's Registry of Charitable Trusts must not have gotten the memo from Mosaic that their state databases are mysteriously incorrect because both of them still list the following corporations as separate entities:

Awaken Center for Creativity - Corporate status: still suspended. Registry status: pending.

Awaken International - Corporate status: still suspended. Registry status: exempt/active.

Awaken - Corporate status: still suspended. Registry status: exempt/active.

Awaken Humanity - Corporate status: active. Registry status: exempt/active.

In an earlier email dated April 20, 2007, Eric Bryant wrote:

Every year the Mosaic leadership determines the relationship between Mosaic and Awaken.

So, now that "Awaken/Awaken Humanity" is under the banner of McManus Studios, the essential question has come down to this:

What is the relationship between Mosaic and "McManus Studios?"

When it comes to Erwin McManus, the answer just keeps getting more and more complicated.

Maybe only his hairdresser knows for sure.

Yvonne W.

Barbarian Tattoos?

2009-07-01T13:27:00.000-07:00

Another episode of the
"McTwilight Zone"

This is bizarre even by "McTwilight Zone" standards!

A word of caution: this site may contain advertisements with sexually provocative content.

Rank My Tattoos

Barbarian Way Crash Rhinos - Tribal Art Tattoo

Comment from site:

This tattoo is from Erwin McManus' book the Barbarian Way. I believe the art work was done by Joby Harris at www.mosaic.org.

Erwin McManus and Wealth Without A Job

2009-06-02T17:59:00.001-07:00

Another brief jaunt into the
"McTwilight Zone"

If you don’t know who Erwin McManus is you’re in for a real treat…

The following is offered without commentary:

Wealth Without A Job
Wealth Builders Blog
http://wealthwithoutajob.info/archives/530

May 28, 2009
Erwin McManus Coming to Phoenix - May 30th - Boost Your Entreprenuer Business
By Dr. Andy Fuehl

Excerpts:

Erwin is the author of 7 books including:

* the best-selling “The Barbarian Way”
* the award-winning “An Unstoppable Force”
* and #1 Recent best seller “Wide Awake”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Erwin is also acting Pastor of 20 churches in California called “Mosaic”! As well as a wealthy Entrepreneur doing business with companies like Pixar and Google and has made a fortune in real-estate as well as business.

He’s also a nationally-known speaker, activist, filmmaker and innovator who specializes in the field of developing and unleashing personal and organizational creativity, uniqueness, innovation and diversity.

Needless to say there is a lot you can learn them (sic) someone like Erwin.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Associated link: http://erwin.businessmentorshipintl.com/

Business Mentorship International Presents Erwin McManus in…
“MAKING YOUR BUSINESS IDEAS A REALITY”
Business Meeting

Erwin is the author of 7 books including the best-selling “The Barbarian Way” and the award-winning “An Unstoppable Force”. And the #1 recent best seller “Wide Awake”. Erwin is also Pastor of 20 churches in California called “Mosaic” as well as a wealthy Entrepreneur doing business with companies like Pixar and Google and has created wealth in real-estate as well as business.

He’s also a nationally-known speaker, activist, filmmaker and innovator who specializes in the field of developing and unleashing personal and organizational creativity, uniqueness, innovation and diversity. In other words, there is never a dull moment with Erwin. The typical cost for Erwin to speak at an event is $200 to $500 per head but due to strategic relationships you will only be required to pay $10 to show your commitment to change and create wealth in your life.

Besides that, he’s hooked on creating environments that will expand your imagination, unleash your creativity, and maximize your creative potential.

This event will be bursting at the seams with mind-bending information to whip your business minds into shape, while at the same time, trim the fat out off your thinking…

---------------------

Erwin's appearance at this event is confirmed by this personal account at the blog, The Joshua Collective.

---------------------

Compare Erwin's appearance at this event to what he told an interviewer for Bluefish TV:

[Interviewer]: How do you respond to the popular idea that God wants us to be secure, comfortable and wealthy?

Erwin McManus: Certainly for those of us who live here in the Western World—and any place that has been affected by affluence, security, safety and comfort—there’s a sense where we begin to buy into a subtle theological lie that God promises us safety and security and comfort and wealth…the truth of the matter is that God has never promised us that we would always be secure or comfortable or become wealthy.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Make sure you bring your friends, coworkers, business partners and loved ones with you. I guarantee you’re in for a real treat.

To Your Success,

Dr. Andy Fuehl

Source: Wealth Without A Job

Yvonne W.

ORIGINS at CatalystWest

2009-04-22T12:04:00.000-07:00

Beware of "throwing down the gauntlet" before God

“For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God...” (Acts 5:38-39 NIV)
Passage quoted at the Origins Project website

Today is the start of the three day conference called CatalystWest which is being held here in California at Mariner's church. http://www.catalystwestcoast.com/

Part of the conference is something called Origins Lab. I've already mentioned Alex McManus' involvement in this lab in my previous post, "Alex McManus."

The main opening speaker for the Origins lab is Erwin McManus. According to CatalystWest:

"Join Origins designer and curator Erwin McManus as he guides you through an experience that will refresh your soul and reframe your thinking."

The "Origins Labs" feature the following speakers: Dan Kimball, Dave Gibbons, "Mosaic Regional Catalysts", Naeem Fazal (of Mosaic Church in Charlotte, NC), Zac Woodfin, Mark Batterson, Alex McManus, Eric Bryant and David Arcos (of Mosaic LA.)

Also featured are non-profit organizers Jamie Tworkowski (founder/director of the non-profit, To Write Love On Her Arms), Larry Acosta (president and founder of the Hispanic Ministry Center, Urban Youth Workers Institute and Kidworks) and Blake Mycoskie, (founder of TOMS shoes.)

The speakers listed under the "explorer" category are: Alan and Deborah Hirsch, Margaret Feinberg, and Rick Yamamoto.

Rick Yamamoto is described in these words:

"Rick Yamamoto, who identifies upcoming talent for multi-billion dollar investors, is sought for his entrepreneurial investment expertise. Rick's latest project is Talent Spelunking, discovering one's genius through exceptional performance patterns. Rick, researcher for Erwin McManus and co-author of 'The Uprising Experience', is involved in coaching and teaching roles at Mosaic Church."

There is no mention of the fact that Rick Yamamoto is an elder at Mosaic LA. He was one of the original elders of the Church on Brady while the church was still under the leadership of Bro. Tom.

Back at the Origins Project website the reader is told that "a new community is forming" and that:

Origins Project is partnering with Catalyst for the opening day with the “labs.” Origins will include an opening and closing session along with several more intimate breakouts in between. It will be a time to interact and meet others who have this heart of mission. That same day we will be announcing the name of the network, and we hope to have the website ready by that date too.

source: events

But what exactly is this "new" community?

Before the text was changed, this new network was described as a community of:

- Friends, pioneers, innovators and catalysts who want to dream and work for the Gospel together rather than alone.
- Leaders, entrepreneurs, pastors, misfits, and artists who share a high view of Scripture and a radical commitment to evangelism while being faithfully committed to what is expressed in the Lausanne Covenant.
- Missionally-minded people from different backgrounds who use different methods in different cultural contexts but share the same experimental passion and risk-taking heart for serving, loving, and helping people connect to God through Jesus.

source for above: Google cached page

Before the Origins Project website underwent a facelift to its current look, the page featured a write in section where people could ask about this new network. There was one particular question that I felt should be repeated:
(The "Dan" answering the question is Dan Kimball.)

source for below: Google cached page

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. Roger
Feb 27th, 2009 at 4:55 pm

So, what’s the difference between this Origins Project” and the Lausanne Movement? Since the text at http://theoriginsproject.org/ mentions being true to the Lausanne Covenant, I’m assuming that in principle there is no fundamental disagreement between the two?

Why multiply entities beyond necessity? If you’re going to be another Lausanne - well - why not join Lausanne instead of creating your own organization and the headaches that go with it?

See the Manila Manifesto.

Perhaps I’m missing the point, though. Obviously. You’ve posted snippets of information on the main page, but I fail to see how this network is different from any other. It almost looks as if you’re creating a network because you’re unhappy with what’s out there and you all want something “for you” (with which you think you will be happy). If so… more power to you, but I *really* think you’d be better served by being part of an already extant organization. There are *plenty* of them.

5. Dan
Mar 1st, 2009 at 5:51 pm

Hi Roger!

I don’t know enough about the ongoing activities of the Lausanne Movement apart from the big event that happens every 10 years or so. Maybe someone else can speak more about that as it isn’t something I am too familiar with that.

As you correctly wrote, there are all types of wonderful networks out there! That is the beauty of diversity and need in our world. For us, it was birthed out of relationships and I think as this develops there will be distinctions developed. And if it is something that fuels the passion for mission/evangelism and innovation as we share ideas and dreams and experiences together - that is what this is for. And for the Kingdom, to me the more ways to fuel mission/evangelism the better. That’s what church planters do also as there are always existing churches in a town or city and it shouldn’t prevent someone to plant a new church in that community of they feel God is moving them towards that. I love that there are many networks/communities as long as they encourage movement and momentum towards Kingdom activity and mission. So I hope more networks/communities will be birthed if they encourage people towards mission.

Thank you for your great comments and questions!

Dan

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I don't know who "Roger" is but I felt he had raised some valid points that Dan Kimball failed to address completely so I asked a follow up question:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

8. Yvonne W.
Mar 4th, 2009 at 12:30 pm

To Dan Kimball,

Like Roger stated above, I too am wondering about the need for yet another “network.”

As Roger put it so well,

“Why multiply entities beyond necessity? If you’re going to be another Lausanne - well - why not join Lausanne instead of creating your own organization and the headaches that go with it?”

Your response was that you hoped “more networks/communities will be birthed if they encourage people towards mission.”

I’d like to add another dimension to this question by asking:

When you create another network “like” the Lausanne Movement, doesn’t this detract attention away from the actual Lausanne Movement?

In addtion to this, given the current, global economic crisis wouldn’t the creation of new
“networks”, “communities”, “organizations” etc., etc., put a strain on the donor base for all such groups?

I mean, why dilute the pool of volunteers and financial backers by creating more “networks” instead of helping those that already exist? This is especially true when the “new” ones claim to be similar to the old.

Yvonne W.

9. Dan
Mar 6th, 2009 at 2:20 pm

Hi Yvonne,

Thanks for the input and questions! As I shared a little in the earlier post, in all the conversations I have had with many people and church leaders - Lausanne is not coming up as something that people know about the ongoings of it apart from the bigger events and how they are part of it. What we are doing seems pretty different from what I am reading about with Lausanne and the only reason we brought that in was because they had a doctrinal statement and we were trying to find something to initially use as got started. But from my brief understanding, what we are envisioning seems significantly different in how it will develop. Same passion for evangelism and mission, but the structure and what the community will be like and function seems a lot different from what I can tell.

Maybe others can comment on this, as I don’t know enough to be able to answer your question adequately. And thank you so much for commenting and asking. Great question!

10. Yvonne W.
Mar 7th, 2009 at 2:30 pm

Dear Dan,

You wrote that from your:

“brief understanding, what we are envisioning seems significantly different in how it will develop. Same passion for evangelism and mission, but the structure and what the community will be like and function seems a lot different from what I can tell.”

Would you please elaborate on those differences?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dan never answered my last question but I was heartened to see that I wasn't the only one interested in the answer.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

12. Pamela Urfer
Mar 17th, 2009 at 8:40 am

What IS this “envisioning?” or do we have to go to Catalyst to find out?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dan didn't answer her either.

Pamela Urfer is the president of the University of California Interfaith Council. A previous question from her was #3 in the list.

Perhaps the unspoken answer to her last question was "Sign up for CatalystWest?"

I hope Pamela made it to the conference.

In any case, CatalystWest opened today and true to their word, the webpage for the Origins Project has been changed.

The new wording on the homepage now states:

A new community is forming

We are a community of followers of Jesus who are passionate about seeing people know God and experience life as He intended. As we are guided by the Scriptures, we will inspire one another to embrace innovation and creativity as a means to fulfill this mission.

The about page now states:

We are friends, pioneers, misfits, leaders, artists and innovators who want to dream and work together rather than alone in participating in God’s mission in this world. We are from different backgrounds and use different methods in different cultural contexts, but share the same passion to love, serve, and take risks to see others connect and experience the transforming love of God in Jesus.

We share a commitment to the gospel of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and the power of the Holy Spirit, to the Scriptures as God’s inspired Word, to the truths of the historical, orthodox creeds (e.g., The Nicene Creed, The Apostles’ Creed), to the missional vision of the Lausanne Covenant and as we serve on this mission to see others understand God’s dream for them as they follow Jesus.

Note the change from:

"being faithfully committed to what is expressed in the Lausanne Covenant"

to:

"We share a commitment . . . to the missional vision of the Lausanne Covenant."

It seems that Roger's question had an impact.

So, what exactly does this "new" community have to offer that is, well, "new?"

Please view the videoclip on the Orgins Project homepage for a short message from Dave Gibbons of NewSong Church.

"So coming very soon you're gonna find some really great events like
conferences, forums, and some one on one types of gatherings that will be fabulous."
Dave Gibbons, NewSong Church

MORE "conferences, forums and one on one gatherings?" How original.

The jury is still out on whether or not this new network will pass the scriptural challenge of Acts 5:38-39 but I am reminded of another verse from the old testament:

"Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.
(Psalm 127: 1 NASB)

I guess we'll just have to wait and see which verse applies to Origins.

Yvonne W.

P.S. By the way, the original "Origins Project" webpages used to include this copyright information at the bottom of the page: © 2008 Mosaic & Awaken.

That information has been replaced by © Origins.

Fool's Gold

2009-04-16T15:00:00.000-07:00

Assaying the gold content of "An Unstoppable Force"

It recently came to my attention that there is what appears to be (at best) a misleading claim on the official Erwin McManus website. http://erwinmcmanus.com/unstoppableforce/

This page claims that the book "An Unstoppable Force" (2001) is a

"Winner of the Gold Medallion Book Award."

I have in my possession a copy of this book and the dust cover clearly shows a gray (not gold) seal inscribed with the words "Finalist - The Gold Medallion Book Award." The cover of my book is exactly the same as the one depicted at Erwin McManus.com and if you look closely, you can see the small banner with the word "Finalist" draped across the gray seal

I've written to the company that grants these awards, Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, http://www.ecpa.org, for clarification on this claim since their website does not list Erwin McManus' "An Unstoppable Force" among it's past Gold Medallion award recipients for the year 2001 nor for any other year.

I will post their response as soon as I receive it.

Yvonne W.

While I wait for the ECPA to respond . . .

Zondervan is the publisher of "An Unstoppable Force." This is what Zondervan had to say about Erwin McManus and his book:

Erwin Raphael McManus
Erwin R. McManus (BA, University of North Carolina; MDiv, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) serves as lead pastor and cultural architect of Mosaic, a diverse, multi-ethnic church based in Los Angeles, California. As founder of Awaken, an entrepreneurial community, Erwin collaborates with a team of dreamers and innovators who specialize in the field of developing and unleashing personal and organizational creativity. A national and international consultant on culture, change, leadership, and creativity, he partners with Bethel Theological Seminary as a futurist and distinguished lecturer. He is the author of the ECPA Silver Medallion Award-winning book, An Unstoppable Force, and Seizing Your Divine Moment, Uprising: A Revolution of the Soul, and The Barbarian Way.

http://www.zondervan.com/Cultures/en-US/Authors/Author.htm?ContributorID=McManusE&QueryStringSite=Zondervan

Readers please note: The ECPA does not have a "silver" medallion category!!!

Yvonne W.

UPDATE:

I have just received a reply from the ECPA:

Dear Yvonne,

In 2002, An Unstoppable Force by Erwin McManus was a finalist in the category of Christian Ministry.

The winner of the category was not this book but the following:

Christian Ministry
Ministering To Twenty-First Century Families
W Publishing Group, A Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Dennis Rainey

Thus, the silver finalist seal is correct.

Thank you for your inquiry.

Sincerely,

Cindy

Cindy Carter

ECPA

Awards, Resources, ChristianManuscriptSubmissions.com

ccarter@ecpa.org

9633 South 48th Street, Suite 140

Phoenix, AZ 85044

www.ecpa.org

So, Zondervan was correct in stating that "An Unstoppable Force" was the winner of the ECPA Silver Medallion, even though the ECPA does not specifically mention a "silver" category on its webpages.

Alex McManus

2009-03-11T10:20:00.000-07:00

"I am a Christ following secular humanist with a tendency towards atheism and paranormal experiences."

Alex McManus *

Alex is Erwin Raphael McManus' older brother. Alex has his own website at: http://alexmcmanus.org/ He is the creator of the International Mentoring Network, the on-line community Voxtropolis and is the author of, Making the World Human Again: The Quest to save the Future from Religion. http://www.amazon.com/Making-World-Human-Again-Religion/dp/0310285143

The International Mentoring Network

According to the "About Alex" page at Alex McManus own website, http://alexmcmanus.org/:

In October 2004, Alex launched the International Mentoring Network, a custom made mentoring process with dense relational components, to discover, develop and deploy leaders. The IMN is part social network, part cyber-seminary, part Idea Studio and part Bohemian chill. Alex accepts — via the IMN — a small cadre of emerging leaders to mentor each year.

Alex's website also includes a link to "IMN Consulting" which offers four services to "serve you in your development both as a leader and as a person."

These services are:

1. Personal Life and Mission Mentoring - Those who sign up for Alex McManus' "M" are eligible for a "significant discount" for these services.

2. Organizational Consult - For churches and other organizations.

3. Leadership Excellence - This is for churches with memberships between 500 - 1500.

4. Speaker Request - For those interested in having Alex speak at their function.

Another service is the IMN's Signature 7-Day MENTORING IMMERSION -

A 6-month cohort-based training experience that combines an intensive and immersive f2f conversation (one week) and once per month online briefings.

The IMN also offer training opportunities through its conferences such as The Human Event, Humana 2.0, Humana 2.08 and The Makers of Fire Tour, an event held in 2006 to replace something called the IMN regionals. http://alexmcmanus.org/2006/07/14/the-makers-of-fire-tour/

The IMN Website

What does the IMN say about itself?

http://theimn.com/IMN_about.html

The IMN is a global network of Kingdom Operatives engaged in a 21st century effort to topple the status quo wherever it opposes true humanity and hinders the life-transformative way of Jesus Christ. We are a cyber-connected, globally-engaged, locally-invested network of change agents with growing undergrounds regularly forming throughout the UK, EU and US.

The "about" page gives no information about the business structure of the IMN and interestingly, the link to the "consulting" page leads to an almost blank page with this message:

"As a service to the broader Christ following movement, the IMN offers future-oriented consultations for churches, denominations and church planting organizations."

No other business information about the consulting services is provided.

A quick tour of the site reveals that it offers a Cohort Process, Operative Training, Internships, and other services.

The IMN.com website is built around a spy theme and uses espionage lingo to describe it's participants as"operatives", it's leaders as"Field Agents" and it's services as "operative training." One of the IMN's so-called "training facilities" [self-described as located in a "previously undisclosed location" in California] is known simply as "The Farm."

The IMN takes it's spy theme seriously; the site offers scant information regarding it's actual consulting or training services and for most of these, those who are interested must "apply" via email and be "accepted" in order to participate.

On the hub page for the IMN, there is a link to International Field Offices but ironically this page provides little "concrete" information:

"On the concrete side, the IMN currently operates out of four fluid centers - the Los Angeles Area, Central Florida, Amsterdam and the UK with plans to expand to Montreal, Seattle/Vancouver within the next two to three years."

No physical addresses are given for any of these "fluid centers."

The International Mentoring Network, Inc.

I wrote about Alex McManus and the Nevada registered corporation, The International Mentoring Network, Inc., in my previous post:

Response to Erwin McManus Interview with Church Executive http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2008/09/response-to-erwin-mcmanus-interview_24.html

In regards to the IMN,

Alex McManus is also:
President
Director
Treasurer
. . . and his wife, Adriana, is Secretary.

Unfortunately, as of September 1, 2008, the state of Nevada has
REVOKED the corporate status of the International Mentoring Network..Please
refer to the Nevada Secretary of State Business Entity Search:
https://esos.state.nv.us/SOSServices/AnonymousAccess/CorpSearch/CorpSearch.aspx

In Nevada, the International Mentoring Network, Inc. is registered as a domestic corporation. It does not carry a non-profit designation.

I've attempted to find an alternate corporate registration for the International Mentoring Network by searching the Secretary of State databases in all 50 US states but so far I haven't found any other registration related to Alex McManus or the IMN.

The International Mentoring Network, Inc. does not show up on a search of Clark County, Nevada's business license database. http://sandgate.co.clark.nv.us/businessLicense/businessSearch/blindex.asp The IMN may fall into a category of businesses that do not require a license but that is impossible to determine without knowing the yearly net income for the IMN. Currently, the IMN owes the state of Nevada $700 to reinstate it's corporate status.

The International Mentoring Network, Inc. is not registered as a corporation in the states of California and Florida, the two states mentioned in it's webpages.

Voxtropolis and Culture Pubs

Voxtropolis is a on-line social network "community" with “real world” expressions known as “Vox Culture Pubs.” According to: http://voxtropolis.com/culture-pubs-voxtropolis/

A Culture Pub is a performing arts experience where local independent artists can make their voices heard and where local communities can be shaped.

Each Culture Pub exists as a local public benefit for local independent artists and also as a global public benefit for the poor, exploited and enslaved of the world.

The Culture Pub venue may be the living room of a small apartment in Germany where friends gather to taste wine and listen to live music or a rented facility in Southern California transformed into a gathering place and performing arts venue. Whether you’re in Houston, Miami, Boston, London or Madrid, keep your ears open for buzz about Voxtropolis.

The Culture Pub was envisioned by Alex and Niza McManus as a way of developing community among local independent artists, bohemians, thinkers and activists. The Network began to grow as others began to see a new way of working together to make the world a better place.

We currently have Culture Pubs in the USA, CANADA, and the UK. Culture Pubs™ are “concrete world” expressions of Culture Pub™ Central, Voxtropolis.com.

One of the original culture pubs was started in Sacramento, CA.

I recently came across an interesting blog entry written by a Sacramento artist named Liv Moe. In her blog, she expresses her surprise at learning that a local arts venue, Voxtropolis Sacramento, has/had (?) a religious affiliation. (see footnote)

"Introduction to the Church as Culture Pub," Liv Moe http://livmoe.blogspot.com/2008/12/introduction-to-church-as-culture-pub.html

Please take the time to read the original post and the comments (including two of my own) that follow.

Alex McManus posted a comment to Liv Moe’s blog in which he weakly attempted to make a distinction between the religious activities of the IMN and those of Voxtropolis. Unfortunately for Alex, most of the other commentors did not agree with his distinction.

During my search for background information regarding the IMN and Voxtropolis I came across this entry from the Greater Orlando Baptist Association:

http://www.baptistsites.net/goba/index.cfm?page=11

PLEASE NOTE: The text for this page has been changed since I posted my own comment to Liv Moe's blog. Interestingly enough, one of the organizations listed in the Greater Orlando Baptist Association's "partner links" is . . . International Mentoring Network http://alexmcmanus.org/.

The HUMAN EVENT February 5-6, 2009 2/06/09 (9:00 AM - 5:00 PM) Registration Information

Join Alex McManus, Eric Bryant, Eric Sweiven, Brian Russel, and Mike Harris for a concentrated conversation on the topics below...

Words, Deeds and Rhythms-The Church as an Experiment in Translation

Making the World Human Again-The Quest to Save the Future from Religion

Dancing in the streets: Thinking about the Future

Voxtropolis: Starting in, with, and for the world

How to raise leaders in a missional community

How to create leadership teams in a multicultural context

Planting Churches and Launching Culture Pubs: Partnering with pop culture, teaming with local business, and getting things moving

Unleashing The Scriptures: Realigning our Lives to the Heart of God

The HUMAN EVENT is created and hosted by the International Mentoring Network (IMN). We someties refer to this event as H2.09 (i.e. Human Event 2009).

This missional leadership experience is subversively embedded within an art and music jam called Voxtropolis (Voxtropolis.com)

The IMN/Voxtropolis "Connection"

The following comes from http://theimn.com/IMN_hub.html

From the IMN Hub choose menu option: Mentoring & Operative Training then click on "Operatives"

VCPN is an acronym for the Voxtropolis Culture Pub Network - an alternative to a traditional church planting network. These IMN Field Agents are operating at the very highest levels of missionality. Their mission is to create 3rd spaces that work to move unchurched people towards and with Christ. Recommended for those who (1) want to generate movement or (2) want to support the equipping of apostolic teams in the midst of cultural engagement. (Annual Subscription)

The hyper-link for the VCPN has been disabled.

Catalyst West Coast Conference, April 22-24, 2009

What is the Catalyst West Coast Conference?

http://www.catalystwestcoast.com/

According to the above, Catalyst is . . .

"A conference that inspires next generation church leaders to be agents of change."

Among the featured speakers at this year's conference are Erwin McManus, Eric Bryant and other leaders of Mosaic LA.

Under the sub-heading "Origins/Labs" - "Innovators" is the announcement that Alex McManus is scheduled to speak on the topic of: Culture Pubs: Starting In, With And For The World.

Culture Pubs: Starting In, With And For The World

Just don't let the world know about "the mission."

(Cue spy music)

Yvonne W.

* The above quote by Alex McManus is taken from his comment posted to Liv Moe’s blog.
http://livmoe.blogspot.com/2008/12/introduction-to-church-as-culture-pub.html

Footnote: Voxtropolis Sacramento is registered with the California Secretary of State's Business Portal as an active corporation. http://kepler.sos.ca.gov/list.html

Voxtropolis Sacramento is also registered with the California State Attorney General’s Registry of Charitable Trusts as a public benefit charity. http://ag.ca.gov/charities/

Officially, Voxtropolis Sacramento is not listed as a religious non-profit.

Response to Erwin McManus Interview with Church Executive

2008-09-24T16:33:00.001-07:00

. . . continued from previous post

The CE Interview: Erwin McManus, Senior Pastor, Mosaic Church, Los Angeles,CA
Volume 2008, Issue 10 - 10 2008 Erwin McManus, Senior Pastor, Mosaic Church
by: Ronald E. Keener
http://www.churchexecutive.com/article.asp?IndexID=1108

In his latest interview, Erwin McManus has not only once again repeated the same erroneous facts about the history of the Church on Brady but he has also managed to find new ways to insult its former members.

In addition to these, this interview includes other erroneous, misleading, or just plain odd statements regarding Mosaic, Alex McManus and Erwin McManus.

Regarding Mosaic

The bizarre "statistics" given for Mosaic

Just how many "ethnicities" are there at Mosaic?

The CE interviewer states:

Mosaic has 50 ethnicities; it’s called one of the world’s most diverse congregations.

McManus does not correct the CE interviewer's number, however; the number of "ethnicities at Mosaic" fluctuates wildly each time Erwin is interviewed or a new item about Mosaic appears in print. Here is a brief list of the various numbers that have been cited:

40

Monday Morning Insight blog http://mondaymorninginsight.com/index.php/site/comments/erwin_mcmanus_american_christians_are_incredibly_self_indulgent/

50

The Presbyterian Outlook Leader of Mosaic says he almost tore his church apart to make it successful Written by Leslie Scanlon Friday, 10 October 2003 00:00 http://www.pres-outlook.com/news-and-analysis/1-news-a-analysis/1909-leader-of-mosaic-says-he-almost-tore-his-church-apart-to-make-it-successful.html

55

The Clause (Azusa Pacific University)
http://clause.apu.edu/April%2011/news/article2.html

60

Crosswalk.com Erwin McManus Advocates Following the Barbarian Way
Janet Chismar Senior Editor, News & Culture
http://www.crosswalk.com/root/1324251/page0/

See also:
Christian Examiner
http://www.christianexaminer.com/Articles/Articles%20Mar05/Art_Mar05_09.html

80

Monday Morning Insight (reprint of article in Infuze Magazine, no longer available online) Google cached page
http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:P8bmqBC3cAIJ:mondaymorninginsight.com/index.php/site/comments/an_interview_with_erwin_mcmanus/+Erwin+McManus,+nationalities&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us

See also:
NationMaster
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Mosaic-Church
This is also an excellent history of the Church on Brady.

Chistianbook.com
Description of Eric Bryant’s “Peppermint Filled Piñatas”
See section entitled, Publisher’s Weekly http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product/?item_no=73848&p=1006338
Eric Bryant is the executive pastor for Mosaic so one would think he would know how many "ethnicities" there are at his church.

85

Church Report Online
January 2007, by Dr. John N. Vaughan
http://www.thecronline.com/mag_article.php?mid=860&mname=January

(The numbers and citations given above are just a small sample of the many variations given for the number of "ethnicities" at Mosaic.)

PLEASE DO NOT MISS THIS POINT!

Do these numbers make sense?

A statistical range of 40 - 85 different "ethnicities in attendance at Mosaic" is a HUGE span to swallow. To better illustrate this point, let's look at just the time period between January 2007 when Dr. John N. Vaughan wrote his profile on Mosaic and September 2008, the date of this latest interview with Erwin McManus and Church Executive:

According to these two dates alone, the reader is expected to believe that in the past year and 9 months, Mosaic has dropped from a high of 85 "ethnicities" down to 50.

This means that Mosaic no longer has representatives from 35 "ethnicities."

But how does Mosaic define “ethnicity" in the first place and how is this data being collected? As far as I know, Erwin McManus did away with the concept of "registration cards" soon after he took over the pastorship of the Church on Brady so how does Mosaic know how many "ethnicities" are represented by it's membership?

Ultimately, the question of defining "ethnicity" becomes rather meaningless because it is such a confusing and subjective endeavor . Even the U.S. Center for World Mission's "Joshua Project" finds it to be a difficult and daunting task.

Joshua Project
http://www.joshuaproject.net/how-many-people-groups.php

In my opinion, citing the number of "ethnicities" in attendance at any church is nothing more than grandstanding for publicity.

A short side note:

In this CE interview, Erwin says,

"I also had people come to me and say if one more Asian comes into our church, we’re leaving the church. We had maybe 10 Asians in our church and now we’re almost 50 percent Asian. We have so many people from Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Burmese backgrounds."

I don't know if anyone said this to Erwin but I do know that such a racist attitude was not characteristic of the Church on Brady.

Regarding Alex McManus

In this interview with CE, Erwin mentions his brother Alex McManus:

Alex was a key leader here at Mosaic for several years. In 2004 he launched the International Mentoring Network [theimn.com] to discover, develop and deploy leaders. He describes his work as being part social network, part cyber seminary and part idea studio.

What Erwin doesn't mention is that his brother was fired from Mosaic for being too “out there” in his beliefs.

Alex McManus has posted several lists of his strange thoughts at his blog:

“Into the Mystic”
http://www.xanga.com/alexmcmanus
A List: Things I’m thinking about (Part 1-3)

Alex McManus also has a new book coming out soon with this interesting title:

Making the World Human Again
Jesus’ Quest to Save the Future from Religion
(Coming January 2009)
Available through Zondervan:
http://www.zondervan.com/Cultures/en-US/Product/ProductDetail.htm?ProdID=com.zondervan.9780310302568&QueryStringSite=Zondervan

Alex McManus did in fact, start the International Mentoring Network, Inc.

(Don't confuse this with the International Mentoring Network Organization, http://www.imno.org/imno.asp, they are completely separate corporations!)

In regards to the IMN, Alex McManus is also:

President

Director

Treasurer

. . . and his wife, Adriana, is Secretary.

Unfortunately, as of September 1, 2008, the state of Nevada has REVOKED the corporate status of the International Mentoring Network..

Please refer to the Nevada Secretary of State Business Entity Search:
https://esos.state.nv.us/SOSServices/AnonymousAccess/CorpSearch/CorpSearch.aspx

Regarding Erwin McManus

Erwin's College and Seminary Years

There is little public information about Erwin McManus' college years but the following is from his own published bio:

http://erwinmcmanus.com/bio/

Erwin is a native of El Salvador, and is a graduate of the University of North Carolina and Southwestern Theological Seminary.

According to Erwin's own website, he is a graduate of the University of North Carolin AND Southwestern Theological Seminary. So why does Erwin tell CE that he "dropped out" of seminary?

CE: You left seminary and what was your first assignment?

EM: I went to seminary for a semester and dropped out. It really seemed incredibly outdated and antiquated and irrelevant to the culture that I knew. Because of my faith I had such a high view of the Scripture, really the seminary didn’t have as high view of Scripture as I did. They kept bringing up theories that would question the Scriptures.

I’d been in a secular university studying the Bible under an orthodox Jewish professor who had a higher view of the Old Testament. So it was kind of a curious thing for me. I started multiple churches among the poor or homeless or prostitutes or drug dealers or drug addicts. So I spent my time reaching the community that I felt Jesus cared about.

Several other bios about Erwin McManus say that he graduated from seminary:

Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erwin_McManus

Bluefish TV

http://www.bluefishtv.com/Bio/1024/Erwin_McManus

The Veritas Forum

http://www.veritas.org/media/presenters/60

Bethel University

http://seminary.bethel.edu/faculty/bssp/mcmanus-e

For more references to his "graduation" from Seminary, run a Google search using "Erwin McManus Southwestern Theological Seminary."

Maybe Erwin McManus did "drop out" of seminary at some point, but according to his own biography he must have "dropped back in" sometime later in order to graduate with his Master of Divinity degree.

Erwin's Resume

There is also very little public information about the job history of Erwin McManus aside from the brief statements he has made about himself. Unfortunately, even on those rare occasions when Erwin does say something about himself, he often doesn't provide any critical details that would make it easy to verify his statements.

1. In this interview for CE, the interviewer asked Erwin about his work as a futurist in his "own company."

Erwin doesn't correct the interviewer's assumption that he had his "own company" but take note of the fact that Erwin doesn't give a name for this company either.

2. Erwin often states that he "worked among the urban poor" in Dallas, Texas for 10 years before coming to California yet he never identifies what group or church he might have been working with during those years. This is really odd.

In the CE interview, Erwin claims he started "multiple churches among the poor or homeless or prostitutes or drug dealers or drug addicts." Starting "multiple churches" is an impressive point to put on one's resume so why doesn't Erwin give the name of any of these churches?

The Wikipedia article for Erwin McManus states that he started "two churches" while in Dallas but the editors of Wikipedia have flagged this claim with "citation needed."

Wikipedia: Explanation for Citation needed
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed

3. Then there are the numerous "non profit" ventures that Erwin McManus has been involved with:

a. The "unnamed" non profit he started with a Catholic Nun just two weeks after he became a christian:

Thomas Nelson Newsroom
http://news.thomasnelson.com/2008/03/01/dream-wide-awake/

As a 20-year-old philosophy student, he had a break-through and discovered his faith.

Inspired by this ultimate wake-up call, Erwin put his faith into action and immediately started a non-profit with a nun helping prostitutes escape from Jamaican drug cartels. Erwin remained committed to this dangerous yet life-saving work for the next 10 years of his life.

Christians in Cinema:
http://www.christiancinema.com/catalog/newsdesk_info.php?newsdesk_id=666

I came to Christ the evening of August 20, and I came back to college the next week. I started my first non-profit organization within two weeks of becoming a believer.

Why doesn't Erwin McManus give the name for this non-profit?

b. Global Impact

Several of Erwin’s bios identify him as the president and/or founder of a non profit called “Global Impact” but there is no other information available about exactly what this organization was, where it was based, or what its mission was.

When I contacted the executive pastor of Mosaic, Eric Bryant, to ask him what Global Impact was, all he would tell me is that “it no longer exists.” I have no idea if this is the same non-profit Erwin started in college.

For more about Global Impact, see my previous posts:

Non-Profit or Non-Existent?
http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2007/04/non-profit-or-non-existent.html#links

Erwin Mcmanus' Global Impact
http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2007/05/erwin-mcmanus-global-impact.html

c. The "Awakens"

I have already devoted extensive coverage to these in my previous posts about "Awaken":

Non-Profit or Non-Existent?
http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2007/04/non-profit-or-non-existent.html#links

A Wake Up Call to Erwin McManus and "Awaken"
http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2007/05/wake-up-call-to-erwin-mcmanus-and.html

Part two to above:
http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2007/05/wake-up-call-to-erwin-mcmanus-and_05.html

The Awaken Humanity Music Festival
http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2007/05/awaken-humanity-music-festival.html

Shining Daylight on Erwin McManus's Awaken (Parts 1 - 4)

http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2007/08/shining-daylight-on-erwin-mcmanus.html

http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2007/09/shining-daylight-on-erwin-mcmanus.html

http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2007/09/shining-daylight-on-erwin-mcmanus_03.html

http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2007/09/shining-daylight-on-erwin-mcmanus_05.html

Awaken Humanity or Mosaic Ministry?
http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2007/12/awaken-humanity-or-mosaic-ministry.html

Erwin McManus: Awaken 2008
http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2007/12/erwin-mcmanus-awaken-2008.html

Awaken Humanity's Slice of the Mosaic Pie
http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2008/02/awaken-humanitys-slice-of-mosaic-pie.html

Wide Awake or Why Wake?
http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2008/07/wide-awake-or-why-wake.html

Erwin McManus and The McName Game
http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2008/07/erwin-mcmanus-and-mcname-game.html

Mosaic LA Film Festival
http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2008/08/mosaic-la-film-festival.html

Three of these "Awakens" have had their corporate status suspended by the state of California:

Awaken Center for Creativity

Awaken International

Awaken

The corporate status of Awaken Humanity is still "active" but there are a few "oddities" associated with this newest member of the "Awaken" family:

a. The registration year for the corporation Awaken Humanity is 2007.

Note the date given for the copyright information on the following messages by Erwin McManus.

"Leadership"

http://odeo.com/audio/1235756/view

For more information, visit mosaic.org. Copyright 2006 Awaken Humanity. #20060521

“New Under the Sun”

http://odeo.com/audio/3565573/view

For more information, visit mosaic.org. Copyright 2006 Awaken Humanity. #20061203

Keep in mind, Awaken Humanity became it's own legal entity in 2007 while Awaken was incorporated as a legal entity in 2005.

Then there is this strange blog entry written by an employee of Erwin McManus' Awaken:

Blog: Soulscape

Awaken Humanity
By Alan Luu • July 7, 2006

Awaken Humanity…or rather awakenhumanity.org — that’s the website for my new employer, Awaken.

Awaken belongs to Erwin McManus, the pastor of my church, Mosaic. Some call it the “public face” of Mosaic. Others know it as the non-profit company that puts on the Origins Conference, in conjunction with Mosaic. In the future, Awaken hopes to be known for producing cutting edge films, for its music label, and more. Whatever Awaken is, I am now one of its employees, responsible for some IT support, as well as for managing its websites (awakenhumanity.org, mosaicalliance.org, erwinmcmanus.com, theoriginsproject.org).

So here we have a clear example of the names Awaken and Awaken Humanity being used interchangeably to refer to the same entity.

Whatever Awaken is

Sadly, it seems that this question along with many other questions regarding Mosaic, Awaken and the man himself will not be answered any time soon through an interview with Erwin McManus.

Yvonne W.

Response to Erwin McManus Interview with Church Executive

2008-09-24T14:18:00.000-07:00

Here we go again

The CE Interview: Erwin McManus, Senior Pastor, Mosaic Church, Los Angeles, CA
Volume 2008, Issue 10 - 10 2008
Erwin McManus, Senior Pastor, Mosaic Church
by: Ronald E. Keener

http://www.churchexecutive.com/article.asp?IndexID=1108

Dear Reader,

Throughout my posts here at Solid Foods, I have tried my best to point out and correct the many false impressions, incorrect facts and historical errors that Erwin McManus has repeated in his interviews and talks.

Now a new interview with Erwin McManus has appeared in the pages of Church Executive.

In addition to what many of you may recognize as now "standard story lines" from Erwin McManus ( * issues which I have already covered in my previous posts) this interview included some new statements that I feel demand a response.

This is my response to this interview.

Regarding the Church on Brady

A brief note to my readers: The hyperlink given in the CE interview for the "The First Southern Baptist Church of East Los Angeles" is incorrect and I have written to the editor to ask for a correction.

The link given is for The First Baptist Church of Los Angeles located at 760 South Westmoreland Avenue Los Angeles, California 90005.

The address for the original Church on Brady (officially named The First Southern Baptist Church of East Los Angeles) was 715 S. Brady Avenue, East Los Angeles, CA 90022.

Erwin insults the former members of the CoB by implying the church "didn't live up to it's values."

When CE asked about the changes he brought to the Church on Brady, this was Erwin's response:

The great challenge for our church was that we said all the right things: We wanted to evangelize, we wanted to reach people for Christ, but we didn’t really do the things that we said we were going to do. There was a great challenge to transition the church back to live up to its values.

This comment stands in stark contrast to the history put out by Erwin McManus’s own church, Mosaic, in the brochure written for the “Origins” conference. (See my previous post - "Update: A Revisionist HIstory of the Church on Brady", The Origins Experience - http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2007/03/revisionist-history-of-church-on-brady_22.html)

Brother Tom led the church through a common mission to "become a spiritual reference point east of downtown Los Angeles and a sending base to the ends of the earth."

In his 25 years as Senior Pastor, the newly renamed Church on Brady saw the Lord take a handful of people and give birth to a vibrant community of 500 in average attendance. During those years, an extraordinary movement of God resulted in The Church on Brady starting churches both in Los Angeles and internationally.

George Hunter III, Church for the Unchurched, wrote that the Church on Brady was a "new American apostolic church, rather than a traditional one."

George Hunter III added to this claim in Reaching the Unreached (1997) that "after examining American apostolic churches (including Willow Creek Community Church and Saddleback Church) he found The Church on Brady to be "...the most apostolic congregation in America."

The Church on Brady was also commended by the International Mission Board (IMB) for sending more international missionaries than any other church in the Southern Baptist Convention.

Based on these commendations, how can Erwin now claim that "Brady didn't live up to it's values?" As further proof of the ridiculous nature of this assertion I offer this bit of evidence from:

Future Church: Ministry in a Post-Seeker Age,
copyright 2002 by Jim L. Wilson,
Published by Serendipity House, 8100 SouthPark Way, Littleton, CO 80120
Portrait: “Moving with the Spirit” Mosaic, Los Angeles, CA
p. 19
http://www.gregwa.com/images/future.pdf

With a passion he learned serving the urban poor, McManus built on the mission spirit of the Church on Brady to lead the people into the future.

I would think it would have been hard for Erwin McManus to build on the” mission-spirit” of the Church on Brady if such a spirit didn’t already exist.

Erwin insults the former members of the Church on Brady by claiming they were "hostile" towards Hollywood, gays and people with Aids.

Erwin's response to CE:

It was a great church; it was kind of a blue collar family church but it was more known for what it was against — like the movie industry, it was hostile toward people with AIDS, it was hostile towards the gay community.

This is outrageous.

The Church on Brady was NEVER hostile towards Hollywood and his assertion that it was "hostile" to gays and aids victims is a misleading exaggeration.

Hollywood

I have no idea where Erwin came up with the idea that Brady was "hostile" towards Hollywood when so many of the people who attended Brady before the arrival of Erwin McManus had close ties to Hollywood. This statement by Erwin McManus makes absolutely no sense.

Gays

Bro. Tom, the former pastor of the Church on Brady, was a conservative, SBC pastor and like many other conservative SBC pastors, he would occasionally speak out against the sin of homosexuality. This is completely in line with the SBC statement of faith.

The truly bizarre part about this particular attack by Erwin McManus is that when it comes to citing an actual "statement of faith," for Erwin's Mosaic, the official Mosaic.org website refers people to the Baptist Faith and Message.

Why does Erwin criticize Brady for adhering to the same statement of faith that his own church cites as it doctrinal position on homosexuality? Would Erwin classify himself and his church as being "hostile" towards gays?

How does Mosaic treat members of the GLBT community?

"The Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy was eating me inside." Jose Arroyo

The Mosaic of Pain website presents an interview with Jose Arroyo, a former member of Mosaic. In this interview, Jose outlines his experiences as an openly gay man who not only became a member of its "volunteer staff" but was also given a great deal of leadership responsibilities based on his artistic and computer job skills. Jose's story about how he was treated at Mosaic is quite compelling.

To read this interview, please go to the Mosaic of Pain comments page 12 at http://mosaicofpaincontinues.blogspot.com/2008/08/mop-comments-page-xx.html

Victims of Aids

In regards to Aids, when the Aids epidemic first broke out there was a lot of public fear because even the medical experts at that time were not sure how the disease was transmitted. It took a very long time for scientists to even isolate the virus and confirm that it was primarily a sexually transmitted disease and that you couldn’t “catch it” just by being in the same room with an infected person.

The tragic shadow of the Aids epidemic fell over the Church on Brady when one of our church children contracted the virus via a tainted blood transfusion.

The entire church rallied around that stricken little girl and she became a catalyst for change in people’s attitudes towards ALL Aids victims. Upon the suggestion of the health care workers in our congregation, the Church on Brady even installed a special bathroom facility designed to accommodate the health needs of people with Aids.

When the sad announcement was made that this child had succumbed to her illness, there wasn’t a dry eye in the church. Before she died, this little girl had written a collection of poetry and her book was sold for many years in the church bookstore.

This all happened before the arrival of Erwin McManus and I know that book of poetry was still being reprinted and sold at Mosaic after he took over.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: (posted Feb. 27, 2009)

From Erwin McManus' own book, "An Unstoppable Force", p.154:

Here is Erwin's version of the story:

"Stephanie had severe factor 7 hemophilia, and she had contracted AIDS through a blood transfusion. It was 1983, and the word AIDS was just becoming a
part of our vernacular. We were uncertain if AIDS was airborne, which created a
tremendous fear of contamination. The Los Angeles congregation that I later came
to pastor had decisions to make. They had to decide whether to follow the
pattern of many churches across America and ask those who were infected with AIDS to leave the church for the safety of the congregation or to choose to invite the Sakumas to stay at the risk of the congregation's own lives.

Under the leadership of the former pastor and the elders, the congregation decided that they would either live together or die together. Since that time, Stephanie Sakuma has died and gone to be with the Lord. She was a tremendous poet with a deep spiritual insight and love for God. Her life inspired a published work that has sold both in the United States and
Japan."

Erwin insults the former members of the Church on Brady by claiming the church property was sold at an "undervalued price."

This is what McManus told CE:

You don’t have a main campus?

We sold everything we had; we sold the property we owned at an undervalued price to a Spanish-speaking congregation so they could have a building because the area was Spanish-speaking. Then we just became homeless and have traveled around the city for the last 10 years.

Erwin is mistaken when he says the church property was sold at an “undervalued price.”

The truth is that the building was sold at a profit that paid off the congregation’s existing debt with plenty left over to put in the bank as “seed money” for a larger facility.

At that time, the congregation of the Church on Brady had every intention of purchasing a larger facility in the near future and in fact, at least one of the properties under consideration, the Chicago Title building, was a personal favorite of Erwin McManus but the price tag proved to be far too high.

What people outside of Mosaic don’t know is that between 1997 and 2006 the church leadership entered into serious negotiations to purchase the following properties:

1. Rosemead School of Counseling located in Walnut.

2. Chicago Title Building, Rosemead. The several million asking price was far beyond what the congregation could afford.

3. A space in the soon to be built Artist and Loft center in downtown Los Angeles.

4. The Carlson Building.

5. Bimbo’s Bakery, Los Feliz. Negotiations ended in 2004; did not survive through the escrow process.

6. New Hope church property, Los Feliz (2005)

“Crash”, a fundraising campaign to raise additional money towards the purchase of New Hope, was announced to the congregation but was never implemented when the property owners failed to respond to further inquiries. An informal inquiry was made to the owners of the Soho nightclub in downtown Los Angeles, but there were no formal negotiations to purchase it. In 2006, informal inquiries were made regarding an abandoned school property in Silverlake.

The “Believing the Impossible” campaign
(Several former members have nicknamed this the “Believe or Leave” campaign.)

Erwin McManus never mentions the two capital fundraising campaigns that were held to raise money towards the purchase of a larger, permanent facility to replace the original Church on Brady property

When the purchase of the Chicago Title building was being considered, Erwin and the church leader made an arrangement with the building’s owners to allow the congregation to tour the building and hold one Sunday gathering inside the facility. This was done to give the congregation a chance to “catch” the vision for purchasing the building.

The price tag for the Chicago Title building was in the millions so a fundraising dinner was arranged.

The “Believing the Impossible” capital fundraising banquet was held at Los Angeles’ Union Station on June 27, 1997. It was at this event that Erwin McManus asked the congregation to “give sacrificially” and he urged everyone to defer making any large, personal or household purchases and instead donate that money to the church for the fundraising campaign.

(One person donated the money he had intended to spend on a new car and a married couple donated the money they had been saving for the down payment on a home..)

The promotional brochure for the campaign specifically stated that the search for a new facility would be conducted “within the Los Angeles area.”

Approximately $700,000 was raised towards the purchase of a new building but instead of purchasing a new facility “within the Los Angeles area” these designated funds were redirected (without following the correct protocols for such a measure) towards paying off the mortgage on a daughter congregation located 50 miles away from Los Angeles in Chino, California.

When a source inside Mosaic warned me this dispersal of funds was about to happen, I tried to get the word out to former members of the Church on Brady in case any of them wanted a refund on their donation. I was contacted by one of these former members who did manage to get his last minute request in and he did receive a refund check from Mosaic.

When I asked Mosaic’s executive pastor, Eric Bryant, about this transfer of designated funds for another project, he just told me “the money has been spent.”

Erwin's assertion that the Brady property was sold at "undervalued price to a Spanish-speaking congregation so they could have a building because the area was Spanish-speaking," is just the latest in a line of "alternative realities" given for the decision to move from the East Los Angeles location.

Erwin has given the following explanations for why the Church on Brady was sold:

"As a witness to New Testament values"

The Presbyterian Outlook
“Leader of Mosaic says he almost tore his church apart to make it successful!”
By Leslie Scanlon
Friday, 10 October 2003

“He (Erwin) talked about selling the church property as a witness to New Testament values.”

“We weren’t reaching enough people in that venue.”

Church Solutions
Swimming Upstream
Erwin Raphael McManus’ Postmodern Ministry Goes Against the Current — and Gets Results
Posted on: 02/23/2007
By Rae Ann Slaybaugh

CB: You sold the property you owned and opted instead to meet in four locations across LA, including a night club and a high school, often vacating a space with one day’s notice. For many pastors, that sounds chaotic — but there you are with a congregation of 3,000.

McManus: Yeah, and what’s really fascinating is who those 3,000 are and what they’re like. Even though we did move quite a few times, often it was because we felt like we weren’t reaching enough people in that venue.

"Nomads for the gospel"

Mosaic Brochure for "The Origin's Experience"

In 2003 Mosaic sold it's property in east Los Angeles and became entirely mobile, operating as nomads for the gospel throughout one of the largest metropolitan cities in the world. Still growing, we are ever more convinced through our experience that the church is people, not a building.

“Erwin doesn’t want people to think the church is a building.”

Tu Cuidad Magazine,
December/January 2007.
Cover story: “Got Jesus Dude? Born in El Salvador, born again in the U.S., Erwin McManus now leads the hippest ministry in L.A.”,
By Yvette Doss

By his fifth year at the Church on Brady, McManus had persuaded members to sell their building and expand into rented spaces throughout the city. They would become a roving, nomadic congregation made up, as McManus says, of the people, the community. “We did that because we didn’t want people to think the church was a building.”

The REAL reason for the sale of the Church on Brady

Over-crowding due to phenomenal growth that had begun BEFORE THE ARRIVAL OF ERWIN MCMANUS was the real reason for why the Church on Brady was sold!

I have documented this is my previous post, "A Revisionist History of the Church on Brady?

Why does Erwin McManus continue to repeat his inaccurate version of events regarding the Church on Brady?

Perphaps the question that should be asked is:

"What's wrong with telling the truth about
the Church on Brady?"

To be continued . . . Regarding Mosaic

Yvonne W.

* In this interview with CE, Erwin McManus once again repeats an inaccurate version of events regarding the history of the Church on Brady. For more on these, please read my posts "A Revisionist History of the Church on Brady?" and "Revisiting Erwin McManus' Revisionist History" parts 1 and 2.

Mosaic LA Film Festival

2008-08-31T20:26:00.000-07:00

Mosaic partners with Awaken

Stop your search. The future is waiting within you...send us an awesome entry...

Erwin McManus's new book and dvd series, "Wide Awake: The Future is Waiting Within You," is now available in bookstores. The dvd features "five compelling short films" inspired by the book "Wide Awake."

As part of the promotional campaign for this new book, the official Erwin McManus website, http://erwinmcmanus.com/ links to a contest in which entrants are asked to submit a short 2 minute video or 200 word essay, but this isn't the only "contest" associated with Erwin McManus' new book; an entire film festival has been created around the book and DVD; "Wide Awake."

Mosaic.org now has this notice on it's front page:

http://www.mosaic.org/

*MOSAIC LA FILM FESTIVAL
Life is not a montage. It is a thousand short films back-to-back that illuminate our victories, tragedies, and revelations. For this reason we invite you to submit films and join us for the Mosaic LA Film Fest, which will be on Nov 8. It is here that we want to spotlight the storied potential of humanity. Visit www.mosaiclafilmfest.com for more information.

Here is the link to the official Mosaic LA Film Festival website:

http://www.mosaiclafilmfest.com/main.html

The "about" link states that "*The 2008 Mosaic LA Film Festival is sponsored by Mosaic and Awaken.*" The MosaicLA Film Festival website is still under construction and many of its links are not yet operational.

What is the Mosaic LA Film Festival?

The Mosaic LA Film Festival (MOLAFF) is themed around the 8 concepts discussed in the book "Wide Awake": Dream, Explore, Adapt, Create, Invest, Enjoy, Focus, Expect. The festival appears to be open to the general public.

Contestants are required to pay an entrance fee and cash prizes are offered for the top winners along with "perks."

According to their "mission statement" MOLAFF:

"will give filmmakers the opportunity to engage their art, beliefs, and purpose to create inspired, meaningful films."

The official MOLAFF "guidelines" state:

http://www.mosaiclafilmfest.com/guidelines.html

"We are daring you to move us--that's why we welcome films that test the boundaries of comfort. But entries that exhibit gratuitously violent, sexual, or otherwise offensive content will not be accepted."

Comments about MOLAFF

Entrance Fees

Please note that the entry fees for this film festival are being collected by Mosaic and not Awaken.

The Mosaic LA Film Festival entry form, http://www.mosaiclafilmfest.com/MOLA_Entry_Form_2008.pdf, states:

Please send your fee as a money order or cashier's check (in U.S. dollars) to Mosaic LA.

Remember, the non-profit organization named "Awaken" has had its corporate status suspended by the state of California. [See my previous post, "Erwin McManus and the McName Game,"] http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2008/07/erwin-mcmanus-and-mcname-game.html

As a church, Mosaic is automatically tax exempt under IRS 501c regulations. It is not clear if such an exemption extends to income generated by "entry fees" for a film festival. Mosaic may have to report these monies as unrelated business income (UBI.)

Nature of the film festival

There is a brief reference to Erwin McManus near the bottom of the MOLAFF submissions page:

These concepts were derived from the new book Wide Awake [link] by Erwin Raphael McManus. Participants wanting to buy the book can do so at amazon.com or any bookstore.

Nowhere on the MOLAFF website, http://www.mosaiclafilmfest.com/main.html, does it mention that one of the sponsors is a church. The closest it comes to mentioning this fact is a hyperlink to Mosaic http://www.mosaic.org/.

A truly odd point is that the hyperlink to Awaken doesn't lead to the official Awaken.org website but takes you instead to a separate site, http://www.wideawakethefilms.com/. This is a promotional website for Erwin McManus' new book/dvd "Wide Awake", it even has an online store where you can purchase these materials.

The official Awaken.org, http://awaken.org/, doesn't mention the Mosaic LA film festival.

The most interesting aspect of this film festival though is in the"perks." http://www.mosaiclafilmfest.com/perks.html

One of those perks is the opportunity to have one's work included in the next "Wide Awake" dvd series. Since the theme of the festival is "Wide Awake" it's hard not to think that the primary reason for hosting this festival isn't about giving artists:

". . . the opportunity to engage their art, beliefs, and purpose to create inspired, meaningful films"

. . . but is rather an attempt to generate new (and over-head free) material for Erwin McManus!

But hey, artists, go ahead and enter. After all, it's your entrance fees . . . your concepts . . . your hard work . . . your intellectual property rights . . .

Stop your search. The future is waiting within you...send us an awesome entry...

Yvonne W.

UPDATE: September 12, 2008

Mosaic has issued a press release for the Mosaic LA Film Festival. It can be found at: http://www.scribd.com/doc/5883592/mosaic-press-release The date on the release is September 8, 2008.

In this press release, Mosaic announces that the location for the film festival will be the Silent Movie Theater in Los Angeles, CA.

"We're really interested in seeing life-changing filmmaking,"said Shannon Black, the festival's head organizer. "We hope that everyone who participates-filmmakers as well as those who attend and volunteer-will experience a positive change in the way that they view the world, and each other."*

What really interests me is the language this press release uses to describe "partners" Mosaic.org and Awaken.org- "two nonprofits dedicated to creatively serving the Los Angeles area and beyond."

Which nonprofit "Awaken" is the press release referring to? The California registered corporation Awaken Humanity which is "doing business as" Awaken or the California registered Awaken which has had its corporate status suspended by the state?

Then there is this description:

"The 2008 Mosaic LA Film Festival is sponsored by Mosaic.org and Awaken.org. collaborative community-serving organizations headquartered in Pasadena, CA."

Collaborative community-serving organizations? Does the writer of this press release really expect readers to forget the sentence that immediately precedes this one?

"The festival theme "Wide Awake" was inspired by a book of the same title written by Erwin Raphael McManus, leader of Mosaic Church, a creative community with satellite campuses across the greater Los Angeles area."

Well, at least the organizers for MOLAFF have finally identified Mosaic as "a church."

Alas, another disturbing bit of semantic juggling occurs in this line:

"It is anticipated that some entries will be chosen for the Awaken short film series distributed by Lions Gate and Indelible."

What's missing from this line, " . . . the Awaken short film series," is the actual title and author: "Wide Awake" by Erwin Raphael McManus.

Dear readers, this is one press release where you really should read between the lines, and it helps to rearrange them too.

Yvonne W.

*Withoutabox lists Gabriel Lawrence, filmmaker, as the organizer for this event. https://www.withoutabox.com/03film/03t_fin/03t_fin_fest_01over.php?festival_id=7241

P.S. I just googled Silent Film Theater in Los Angeles and came across their blog. Please check out the entry for Tuesday, September 9, 2008, "Is He Your Friend?" (referring to Jesus.)

http://www.silentmovietheatre.com/blog/index.html

Is this the venue Mosaic has chosen for it's film festival? A theater that held a "mondo Christploitation night?" Readers, I urge you to explore the rest of the Silent Movie Theater's website on your own. http://www.silentmovietheatre.com/

P.P.S. Here is a direct link to what the "mondo christploitation night" was all about and what movies were viewed.

A Word of Caution: This link contains bad language and inappropriate subject matter for small children.

http://www.silentmovietheatre.com/calendar/saturday_late.html

Quote from this site:

"Who says Christians don’t like exploitation? Evangelical filmmakers are filmmakers too--they want to engage, excite, scare and please their audience with the best rip-roarin' tale they can--but with a message too!"

A Brief Trip into . . .

2008-08-27T13:24:00.000-07:00

The McTwilight Zone

Submitted for your approval . . .

April 11, 2008
Azuza Pacific University
The Clause, "Mosaic’s Erwin McManus meets with students to answer questions about being a pastor" by Laura Jane Kenny, staff writer
http://clause.apu.edu/April%2011/news/article2.html

McManus became a Christian when he was twenty-years-old. One credit away from completing his major in philosophy, McManus changed to try to find something that would better fit his new lifestyle, even if he did not know what that fit was. He finished with a psychology degree and then decided to go to seminary at Southwestern Theological Seminary. He then shared his life journey and how he became the leader of Mosaic.

McManus talked about when he thought God wanted him to be a pastor. His wife and even his son told him that they did not think he should be a pastor. However, McManus felt a conviction. “Do you ever have a moment when you think, ‘This isn’t really one of those conversations you are and God are having. This is one of those moments where God is just God and he is saying this is what I want you to do and we will work out the details later,’”

McManus told a group of college students that he felt such a strong "conviction" to become a pastor that even his wife and son couldn't convince him not to become one.

Compare the version above to the story McManus told to a group of his adult peers one year earlier. . .

February 2007
Erwin McManus speaking at the National Religious Broadcaster's Conference REACH Feb 17-20,2007 in Florida. (Hard copy source: NRB Reach 2007, CD Rom) See also: Comment by Frank Loaiza - http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2007/03/revisionist-history-of-church-on-brady.html

And I can tell you when I began this journey in L.A. fifteens years ago I was just an attender at Mosaic. It wasn't called Mosaic then, it had a different name. It was called The Church on Brady, which actually had a legal name of "First Southern Baptist Church of East Los Angeles (audience laughter). That's a beautifully relevant name, isn't it? (audience laughter) And I was just an attender there, and the pastor asked me if I would consider taking over the congregation–or leading the congregation. And he'd been there twenty-five years and I was very adamant and very clear
I have no desire to be a pastor. I wanted to do something meaningful with my life

(audience laughter). And I had the mission of Christ on my heart; I wanted to see the world reached for Him. And I, after examining the local church felt it was no longer a valid instrument to really bring cultural transformation.

For the skeptics in the audience, McManus retold this version of how he became the pastor of Mosaic during his own Awaken Conference held April 1 - 3, 2008; just 10 days before he spoke at Azusa Pacific University.

Source: Personal blog of Nathan Lyke
(see Tuesday, April 1, 2008) http://nathanlyke.com/blog/?p=95

Scary, isn't it?

Yvonne W.

Erwin McManus And The McName Game

2008-07-22T19:00:00.000-07:00

What's in a name?

So what's the big deal anyway? After all, "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet," right? Well, maybe that was true in Shakespeare's time but not anymore. With today's new commercial hybrids, some roses have sacrificed scent for "showiness" and if you're referring to the "stinking rose" (garlic), first of all, it's not a rose and it doesn't smell sweet at all.

The mystery surrounding Erwin McManus' non-profit ventures continues with the latest development that "Awaken", the corporation created in 2005, has had its corporate status suspended by the State of Calfornia.

[See the California Business Portal at http://kepler.ss.ca.gov/list.html. Type in "Awaken" to find the corporation which lists Erwin McManus' publicist, Sealy M. Yates, as the Agent for Service of Process.]

Over at Mosaic of Pain, http://mosaicofpain.com/ a debate had been raging over whether this particular "Awaken" is a non-profit or for profit corporation.

A poster using the screen name Gal. 5:15 wrote this on July 16, 2008 3:04 PM :

"Whoever said Awaken is a non-profit, charitable organization Just because it doesn't HAVE any profits doesn't mean it doesn't want to. Now there IS a ministry called Awaken Humanity which is squarely under Mosaic oversight, and is currently run by Janice Sakuma. THAT Awaken is responsible for partnering with various non-profits and service projects around the globe. You can read about it here: (http://www.mosaic.org/awaken-humanity)"

The answer to the "whoever" part of Gal. 5:15's question is . . .

Erwin Raphael McManus!

McManus refered to "Awaken" as a non-profit in a 2006 interview with Infuze Magazine:

"We created Awaken as an organization to focus on unleashing the potential in every human being. We didn't want to be resisted by people saying, "You're a church. You can't come into these institutions. You can't come to these organizations. You're not allowed in this arena." So we created a non-profit organization that focuses on unleashing the creative potential in every human being and we help people without God begin to see how they're uniquely designed. And we're so convinced that if we can help people see that they're created in the image and likeness of God, they will be drawn to relationship with Him."

What about Awaken Humanity?

Mosaic's executive pastor Eric Michael Bryant sent me this conflicting information in an email on April 27, 2007:

"Awaken is a registered 501c3 under the name Awaken Humanity. We just received our paperwork recently. The Secretary of State should be updating their website soon. This summer we are registering for tax exempt status. Currently, Awaken is still a subsidiary of Mosaic until we finish this paperwork."

It's clear from this email that Eric Bryant is referring to Awaken and Awaken Humanity as though they are one and the same. I've already discussed this confusion and more importantly the issue of their tax exempt status in a previous post here at Solid Foods.

[See: A Wake Up Call to Erwin McManus and Awaken: http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2007/05/wake-up-call-to-erwin-mcmanus-and_05.html]

So Eric Bryant mixed up the names Awaken and Awaken Humanity, what's in a name right? Well, in this case it could mean the difference between apples and oranges.

Consider this quote from Erwin McManus: [Source: Interview entitled: Erwin Raphael McManus (Crave) , written by David Barrios, Monday, 17 March 2008 11:14 - Original link was, http://www.andersonvision.com/index.php?view=article&catid=44%3Ainterviews&id=1048%3Aerwin-raphael-mcmanus-crave&option=com_content&Itemid=60.

This link is now broken. Here is the link for the Google cached page:

http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:-zF5ZNYVFsgJ:www.andersonvision.com/index.php%3Fview%3Darticle%26catid%3D44%253Ainterviews%26id%3D1048%253Aerwin-raphael-mcmanus-crave%26option%3Dcom_content%26Itemid%3D60+AndersonVision.com+Erwin+Raphael+McManus&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us]

8. What was the inspiration of “Awaken” and could you explain to the readers what “Awaken” was? Is that perhaps the first step towards Mosaic?

ERM: No it’s the other way around. Mosaic was first, and Awaken was born out of that rich community and experience. Really at the core, Awaken is a reflection of my own heart and sense of stewardship for humanity. I wanted to be able to reach outside of the parameters of the church and serve the broader human community without the obstacle of religion. Simply put, we wanted to help people whether they believed what we believe or not.

In the case of "Awaken", it certainly seems as though Erwin McManus did not intend it to be a "subsidiary" of Mosaic.

What kind of "rose" is Awaken?

According to Erwin McManus, Awaken is a "non-profit" organization. It's interesting to note though that Awaken holds the copyright to most if not all of McManus' film and DVD productions.

McManus uses a different name for Awaken in this interview with Rich and Tanya Hooper on American Family Radio, AFR 90.5 FM KTXG Dallas/Greenville Texas, http://ktxg.afr.net/index.phpoption=com_content&task=view&id=17&Itemid=33

[Go to line 2 of the audio.]

During the interview, Erwin McManus is asked about his new book "Wide Awake" and its companion DVD. McManus says this,

"I have a film company, Awaken Films, and part of our passion is to awaken people to live this heroic life.”

The official Awaken website mentions Awaken Films, http://awaken.org/films along with Awaken Theatrical and Awaken Commercial. There is also a link to Wide Awake Records, http://awaken.org/music. There is no further explanation as to exactly what all these "Awakens" are.

Will the real "Awaken" please stand up?

How is "Awaken" presented to the outside world? For insight into that question, I looked up several individuals associated with "Awaken."

1. Ian Eyre - Film Maker

This is from Ian Eyre's profile at LinkedIn.com, an "online network" for professionals. The profiles are self-written by their owners.

http://www.linkedin.com/in/eyrefilms

Ian Eyre

Producer, Director, Stunt Coordinator
Awaken Films/Mosaic Film Team
(Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Entertainment industry)

April 2005 — Present (3 years 5 months)

Producer, director and/or stunt coordinator of multiple videos for Mosaic (mosaic.org/films/videos/videos.html).

My comment: Non-profits cannot be "privately held."

2. Samraj Gandhi - Film Producer

Another self-written profile from LinkedIn.com

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/5/006/226

Samraj Gandhi

Samraj Gandhi specializes in creating movies which make meaning for audiences worldwide and money for investors. He is interested in working with talented crew and always looking to keep good company. He is a growing producer focused on providing people, films that elicit emotions. In October 2007 he produced a 16mm Short Film 'Apartment B' with a professional crew of 45 talented members budgeted at $20,000. It was directed by Jimmy Duke. The film is now distributed through Lionsgate, sold at Wal-mart, Target and Barnes & Noble under the title Wide Awake. After that project, he produced Wide Awake starring Erwin McManus. In March 2008 he produced a short film "Babycakes" for a well known film festival in Los Angeles.

Assosiate Producer
Wide Awake - Short Film Series
(Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Motion Pictures and Film industry)

Producer - (Apartment B)
Awaken Films
(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Motion Pictures and Film industry)

Video Podcast Editor
Mosaic.org
(Non-Profit; 11-50 employees; Broadcast Media industry)

My comment: Please note that Mr. Gandhi describes Wide Awake and Awaken Films as both "privately held" but describes Mosaic as a "non profit."

James (Jimmy) Duke - Former Vice President of "Awaken" and now its Director.

The following is from a website for "The Least of These", a movie starring Isaiah Washington.

See: The Filmmakers at:
http://www.theleastofthesemovie.com/page296.html

James Duke is an independent filmmaker whose credits include writing, producing and directing numerous short films, documentaries, and theatrical productions. He is the director of Awaken, an independent production company birthed from the community of Mosaic in order to create provocative entertainment and commercial cinema. Awaken's distribution partners include Lionsgate Films, Word Entertainment and the Indelible Creative Group. He has been married to his beautiful wife, Samantha, since 2005.

This is what Jimmy Duke wrote about himself at LinkedIn.com:

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/5/3A8/180

Filmmaker Awaken (Non-Profit; Entertainment industry)

My comment: Jimmy Duke is the person who wrote a series of emails to me in 2007 in which he stated that Awaken has its own 501c3 separate from Mosaic. He also said he didn't know what an IRS form 990 was. When I asked to see a copy of the 501c3 determination letter I was told,

"I don’t know if I can do that . . ."

When I informed him that Awaken International and Awaken Center for Creativity were both under a suspended status with the California Business Portal, Mr. Duke wrote back:

I will tell you that after seeing that on your website, I got concerned. Our status might actually be suspended. And I might be partially to blame because I never filed with the state last year when I was in charge. We are actually looking into it ourselves, and hopefully we won’t be “suspended” for long! :)

Eric Bryant - Executive Pastor of Mosaic and current Vice President of "Awaken."

The following can be found on Eric Bryant's blog, http://www.ericbryant.org/2008/06/27/pfp-audio-recording/

PFP Audio Recording
June 27th, 2008 Eric Bryant Posted in General, Peppermint-Filled Piñatas

Appreciate your prayers as I go into the Awaken studios
to record an audio book version of PFP. Thanks!

My comment: Awaken has a studio? Is this the same studio as Wide Awake Records?

Erwin McManus - Founder and President of "Awaken."

Press Pubs.com has this interesting article about a new film project on the true life story of John Turnipseed.

Press Pubs.com, Locals produce film that features Hollywood talent
Jul 30, 2008 - 09:48:11 CDT.
by Kristine GoodrichStaff writer

http://www.presspubs.com/articles/2008/07/30/white_bear_press/news/doc4890736539ef6149387992.txt

The yet-to-be-titled film stars Larry Gilliard Jr. and Clarke Peters, both currently best known for their roles in HBO’s "The Wire." Gilliard plays D'Angelo Barksdale, and Peters plays Detective Lester Freamon. Screenwriter Nathan Scoggins and director Jimmy Duke come through Awaken Films, a Christian based independent production company. Awaken leader Erwin McManus of Los Angeles, who is also an author and speaker, is one of the film’s producers.

MediaBistro.com also mentions this movie in its interview with Erwin McManus:

To access article, go to http://www.mediabistro.com/

Search for Erwin McManus

Article title: Erwin McManus: We Are All in the Creative Class

Posted: Monday, Aug 04 by "Ron"

"Every human being is creative," he reminds me as the wind buffets around his cell phone; the LA-based pastor and motivational leader is calling from Minneapolis, where his production company, Awaken, is shooting a film about John Turnipseed, a former gang leader turned local community activist. His belief in that creative potential is a key principle in Wide Awake, a book that makes the case that "creativity is the natural result of spirituality," a forceful desire to make something better of your life and the world around you. The human spirit is designed for greatness and inspiration, McManus tells me; the key is "finding a dream that matches your life."

Over at Props On Wheels.com, http://propsonwheels.com/credentials1.htm, the movie project above is described as the "John Turnipseed Project, Awaken Production."

This is how Erwin McManus decribes Awaken at his own website http://erwinmcmanus.com/awaken/

As founder of Awaken, Erwin collaborates with a team of dreamers and innovators who specialize in the field of developing and unleashing personal and organizational creativity. Awaken is committed to creating environments that expand imagination and unleash creativity. Convinced that the world is changed by dreamers and visionaries, Awaken serves humanity through its commitment to maximize the creative potential in every individual and organization. Awaken emerges out of the unique ministry of Mosaic and reflects Mosaic’s commitment to creativity, uniqueness, innovation and diversity.

The official Awaken website offers the following description:

http://awaken.org/

Awaken is a collaboration between a team of dreamers and innovators who specialize in the field of developing and unleashing personal and organizational creativity. Awaken is committed to creating environments that expand imagination and unleash creativity. Convinced that the world is changed by dreamers and visionaries, Awaken serves humanity through its commitment to maximize the creative potential in every individual and organization. Awaken emerges out of the unique ministry of Mosaic and reflects Mosaic’s commitment to creativity, uniqueness, innovation and diversity.

For review:

"Awaken" is: A California registered corporation which has had it's corporate status suspended.

"Awaken" has been described as:

*A collaboration with a team of dreamers and innovators

*"His" [referring to Erwin McManus] production company

*A Christian based, independent production company

*A studio

*A non profit, entertainment industry

*"Privately held"

*A "subsidiary" of Mosaic

*". . . outside of the parameters of the church" to "serve the broader human community without the obstacle of religion." (Erwin McManus)

"What's in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

It may not be important what you call it but most people still expect a rose to smell like a rose.

They don't expect it to smell "fishy."

Yvonne W.

Wide Awake or Why Wake?

2008-07-11T13:29:00.000-07:00

Is Anyone Awake at "Awaken?"

Erwin McManus was the featured guest on yesterday's broadcast of TBN's "Praise the Lord" (July 10, 2008.) http://www.tbn.org/index.php/2/37.html During the broadcast, McManus promoted his newest book, "Wide Awake: The Future is Waiting Within You." Included with the book is a short video preview of the films produced by Erwin McManus' (non-profit?) organization "Awaken."

Most of what Erwin McManus had to say during his interview was the same old, same old but then something odd caught my attention.

The interview turned to the subject of "What if God doesn't come through the way we thought he would?" Erwin McManus goes on to talk about how he loves living with what he calls the "big if", the uncertainty and mystery surrounding what God does. At this point (roughly at 36:58 into the broadcast) McManus mentions that while on a recent trip to Europe, he called his wife Kim and told her,

"Honey, the things we're trying to do, if they fail, we're going to go bankrupt, we're going to lose everything."

Kim replied, "Then why did you do it?"

He answered that he felt he "had to."

His wife responded by saying, "Alright then, let's just keep going forward together."

That brief admission from Erwin McManus struck me as being more than a little bit strange so I began to wonder if there had been any recent changes with the registered California corporation "Awaken" which holds the copyright for the films McManus mentioned in his PTL interview.

I went back to the California Business Portal, http://kepler.ss.ca.gov/list.html, and typed in "Awaken" in the search field.

I was not surprised to discover that the corporation called "Awaken"created in 2005 which lists Erwin McManus' publicist Sealy M. Yates as the Agent for Service of Process is now under a suspended status.

This fits in with the disturbing pattern of corporations created by Erwin McManus or people acting on his behalf:

Awaken Center for Creativity

Created 2002

Status: Suspended

Awaken International

Created 2003

Status: Suspended

Awaken

Created 2005

Status: Suspended

What does suspended mean?

According to the California Business Portal, suspended means:

"The California corporation has lost all rights and powers for failure to meet statutory filing requirements of either the Secretary of State's office or the Franchise Tax Board."

So what about the last of the "Awakens", Awaken Humanity?

The California registered corporation, Awaken Humanity was created in the summer of 2007 and list Eric Bryant as it's Agent for Service of Process. Eric Bryant is the executive pastor of Erwin McManus's church Mosaic, L.A. As of today's date, July 11, 2008, Awaken Humanity is still listed as "active." The nature of the business relationship between Awaken Humanity and Mosaic remains unclear since the name "Awaken Humanity" is still being used by Mosaic to describe it's own programs.

I have an email from Eric Bryant in which he assured me that Awaken Humanity would be seeking it's own tax exempt, 501c3 status from the IRS in the summer of 2007. Eric Bryant has not responded to my last email nor acknowledged my valid request for documentation on his "non-profit" organization Awaken Humanity.

Today I looked for but could not find "Awaken Humanity" in my search of the IRS Publication 78 listing of charities and non-profits. http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=96136,00.html

Eric Bryant keeps a blog of his own, http://www.ericbryant.org/, and this is an excerpt from his entry on July 8th, 2008 entitled: Want to Talk Next Week?

I would love to connect with you personally next Tuesday, July 15th at 10am (Pacific Standard Time) in our next Teleseminar.

The topic: Catalyzing Community (starting a small group, a ministry, a non-profit, or even a church). We’ll also interact and I’ll try to answer as many of your questions as I can.

Eric Bryant then goes on to tell his readers how they can "register" to participate in this discussion next week.

Given the above track record for "Awaken", I have no doubts that Eric and his crew are qualified to speak on the topic of "starting a small group, a ministry, a non-profit, or even a church."

The jury is still out on whether they can successfully continue a "non-profit."

Yvonne W.

A Thank You to Brother Tom

2008-03-27T18:33:00.000-07:00

Easter and Christmas are the two times of the year when I find myself really missing "old Brady." A big reason for this is because I was a part of the choir and drama team and every year we would stage these elaborate Easter and Christmas productions which were offered as a free gift to the neighborhood. It was a lot of work but it was so worth it!

Another reason why these productions were so special was that our pastor, "Bro Tom" would get really excited about them too. His enthusiasm was infectious.

I don't really remember the first time I met Bro. Tom. I know it must have happened sometime during my sophomore year in high school but unfortunately, I don't remember most of what happened during my high school years. The reason for this is that my mother died unexpectedly in October, 1978. I was 15 years old; just a month and a half away from what should have been my "sweet sixteen" birthday.

My memories of this time in my life are fuzzy and imprecise (I realize now that I must have been suffering from deep shock) but I do have one vague memory: I remember seeing someone I had never met before crying with my father. That man was Bro. Tom.

After my mother's death, my sister and I began to attend the high school group at the Church on Brady in East Los Angeles. It was very different from our old church group and gave us a lot of new friends and new activities to distract our grieving minds. To this day, my sister and I still maintain close ties with many of the friends we made in the Brady high school ministry.

I remember one particular summer we got these t-shirts with the anagram Brady C.O.O.L emblazoned on them. The letters stood for "Christians Offering Others Life." I think that was the first "christian" t-shirt I ever wore.

On Sundays, we would sit with our father in the sanctuary and listen to Bro. Tom preach. Bro. Tom's sermons were always deep and full of surprises; sometimes he would do funny sound effects or slip into different "voices" as he read narratives passages from the Bible and sometimes he would use unusual "props" to get a point across. I remember taking A LOT of notes during his talks, it was the first time I'd ever wanted to do that during a sermon and often I'd look over my neighbor's shoulder to catch a key phrase or quote that I'd missed because he was speaking too fast.

Bro. Tom had a habit of being a bit, uh, "long-winded" in his sermons! Still, most of the time his talks were so interesting it wasn't that hard to sit through them.

One of the things I appreciated the most about Bro. Tom back then was his accessibility. When I went off to college, I encountered many situations where my faith was challenged but whenever I had questions, I knew I could just walk up to Bro. Tom and get his take on how I should handle them.

An example of one of these situations was the time a college professor said some disparaging things about Jesus Christ. It happened during class time, this professor ranted on about how he had "gone to seminary" so he knew that Jesus never claimed to be the Son of God. The professor said a lot of other things too that I knew were misrepresenting christianity. The very next Sunday I walked up to Bro. Tom and asked for his help in refuting the claims the teacher had made. Bro. Tom loaded me up with scripture verses and coached me on what to say. The next time my college class met, I was very nervous but plucked up the courage to ask the teacher, right there in front of the whole class, if I could please respond to the remarks he had made about my faith. When he reluctantly agreed, I shared with the teacher and my fellow classmates what Bro. Tom had told me.

It was hard to speak up in front of so many people but I knew I had to say something for the sake of my fellow classmates. For the rest of the semester, the teacher stayed on topic and refrained from sharing anymore of his insights about Christianity.

Now that another Easter season has ended, I just wanted to take the time to say:

"Thank you Bro. Tom. You helped me develop the strength of my convictions, gave me tools I needed to effectively handle the Word of God and by your example you showed me how to politely but firmly stand up for my beliefs."

With much affection,

Yvonne W.

For those of you unfamiliar with Bro. Tom, here are some other places on the net that offer up tributes and/or complimentary comments about him:

Blogs:

Andrew Jones, Tall Skinny Kiwi, "Hooked on Wolf" Be sure to read through the many comments on this page.
http://tallskinnykiwi.typepad.com/tallskinnykiwi/2005/03/hooked_on_wolf.html

Seth Barnes, Radical Living in a Comfortable World, "Statistics show that seminaries are counterproductive"
http://www.sethbarnes.com/index.asp?filename=statistics-show-that-seminaries-are-counterproductive

Albert Reyes, Pan Dulce, "Universal Discipleship Pattern Available Online"
http://pandulce.typepad.com/pan_dulce/2007/11/universal-disci.html

Rich Swansn, Rich's Blog, "A Threshold to the Gospel"
http://www.downshoredrift.com/downshoredrift/2006/10/thom_wolf_and_t.html#more

"Soundchick", A Voice of Hope, "Mosaic - A Conversation"
http://soundchick.typepad.com/blog/2004/12/mosaic_a_conver.html

Randy, Postmodern Areopagus, "Thom Wolf"
http://postmodernareopagus.blogspot.com/2005/03/thom-wolf.html

Web Pages:

"Biblical 'Man of Peace' Approach is Key to Effective Outreach"By Erich Bridges, Baptist Press
http://www.ethnicharvest.org/links/articles/bridges_man_of_peace.htm

"What would your church be like if . . .", Bob Roberts, Jr., Glocalnet
http://www.glocal.net/enews/2005/may/may2005.htm This page contains the following information on Bro. Tom:

The Decision

During that time, I revisited something Thom Wolf and Carol Davis had said. Thom is the former pastor of Church on Brady that has planted many churches and sent out many missionaries (and is now a missionary himself). Carol served on staff with Thom and now heads up her own missions organization. These two individuals began to teach me what I wasn't ready to hear—they began to plant seeds inside of me about what it meant to grow the Church, Capital C, not just my church. Those are two different things altogether. Sometimes, what's good for my church isn't always what's good for the Church. And sometimes, frankly, what's good for the Church may actually be bad for my church. In the following agonizing months, I made a decision. Instead of being the biggest church in the area, we were going to church the area.

"Reaching Lindsay", OnMission
http://www.onmission.com/site/c.cnKHIPNuEoG/b.830465/k.99AB/Reaching_Lindsay.htm Footnote from article above:

1 Thom Wolf in his oral presentation, Postmodernity and the Urban Church Agenda, at the American Society for Church Growth Annual Conference, Orlando, Florida, November 1997, made the case for asking the lost person to consider the possibility of the resurrection and then the implications for their life, if true.

"Discipleship 101", International Mission Board, Southern Baptist Convention
http://www.teamcef.com/stuff.htm

A simple, effective and reproducible discipleship track for new believers seeking to grow in the Word and grow in obedience. This tool was developed by one of our IMB teams in Central Europe and is an adaptation of Thom Wolf's universal disciple.

The article above also includes this special thanks to Bro. Tom:

"Special Thanks. A special word of thanks and appreciation is due to Dr. Thom Wolf for his dedication to true indigenous, Biblical and reproducible methods in Bible training and fulfillment of the Great Commission among all peoples. The graphic is by and large a result of his ingenuity and research."November 2003

At last! Bro. Tom finally has his own website!

Bro. Tom's website:

http://www.drthomwolf.com/

Awaken Humanity's Slice of the Mosaic Pie

2008-02-25T13:34:00.000-08:00

Questions regarding the mailer,

"Mosaic: a LOOK BACK on 2007 and a LOOK AHEAD to 2008"

Mosaic L.A., the congregation led by Erwin McManus, recently sent out a mailer entitled: "Mosaic: a LOOK BACK on 2007 and a LOOK AHEAD to 2008."

A copy of this mailer was provided to me by a former member of Mosaic.

The mailer is high on hype but low on useful information regarding the relationship between the California registered "non-profit" corporation "Awaken Humanity" and the IRS tax exempt church, Mosaic L.A.

The Mosaic mailer has the appearance of a slick, promotional brochure. On the first inside fold there is a list of Mosaic trivia, "highlights from 2007," followed by short descriptions of the various aspects of Awaken Humanity 2006-2007 (Goal: $100,000, Given: $124,318.89.)

[The following nformation and excerpts are from the mailer:]

Awaken Africa

This sections mentions Breath of Heaven Children's Village in Zambia, "Informal Settlements" (Emthonjeni?) in South Africa and church planters among remote Zambian villages.

Awaken Europe

This section mentions the existences of teams to plant "Mosaic churches" in Germany, France, Ireland, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, and Sweden.

Awaken Los Angeles (excerpt)

"Through ServeLA, we helped our city through projects including Yelo with SEA (character and strengths training for at-risk students), Anti-Human Trafficking movements, ministry to the homeless, clean and sober recovery groups and Neo-Underground Railroad."

Global Leadership Conference (excerpt)

"A "time of encouragement and rest for our Mosaic International leaders, overseas workers, and their families in the summer of 2007." Also mentions care packages, Mosaic leadership development materials, "communication and re-entry needs to our international leaders."

The next fold of the mailer features a colored graph of yearly giving at Mosaic with the following information:

2005: $2,327,334

2006: $2,818,340 (Up 121.1%)

2007: $3,306,088 (Up 117.3%)

2008: $4,093,558 (Up 123.8%) This last column is in red and must represent a projected increase.

On the same page is a pie chart demonstrating Mosaic's"2007 Budgeted Expenses $3,977,782."
The pie chart is divided into:

52% Mission Support (Wages and Benefits)

24% Rents and Leases

21% Operations/Departmental Expenses

3% Awaken Humanity Giving

On the back of this fold is another pie chart illustrating Mosaic's 2008 Budget (2008 Budget $4,464,386.)

48% Mission Support (Wages and Benefits)

25% Rents and Leases

22% Operations/Departmental Expenses

5% Mosaic Alliances & Humanitarian Projects

There is also this personal message from Erwin McManus:

Thank you all for your generosity and your commitment to partner together to serve the world in Jesus' name with your time and resources to Mosaic!
Advancing the Invisible Kingdom,
Erwin R. McManus
(A photo of McManus is featured next to his signature.)

The last part of the brochure is a panel with brief descriptions of the focus areas for Awaken Humanity Projects 2007-2008, Goal: $150,000, Given $56,000.

Awaken Africa

This has the same basic information as that given for 2006/2007.

Awaken Asia and Middle East

Lists the following Projects: teaching teams, children's creative arts teams, arts teams for the Beijing Olympics, Yelo leadership teams, and a team to stop human trafficking. "Donations will also towards the building of Living Stones Village Orphanage in China for the handicapped and abandoned."

Awaken Ensenada and Honduras (excerpt)

"Bringing love and encouragement to communities lving well below the poverty level in Ensenada, Mexico, with construction, medical, children's and church leadership needs. Further south, we are helping with entrepreneurial and educational opportunities for families in the trash dumps of Honduras."

Mosaic Alliance Projects

(This category appears to be replacing the 2007 Awaken Europe) Church plants in Germany, New Zealand and Southeast Asia.

Awaken Los Angeles (NOTE: "ServeLA" appears to be the new umbrella ministry title for the following:)

"Through ServeLA . . . " projects include Yelo with SEA, Anti-Human Trafficking, homeless ministry and clean and sober.

Awaken the World (excerpt)

"When moments of crisis occur, we can be ready to move and to serve - anywhere in the world."

All of this information looks pretty straight forward but how does it compare against the information that was originally posted at both the Awaken.org and Mosaic.org websites?

AWAKEN.ORG: Awaken Humanity

This is the text that appeared at awaken.org/awaken-humanity back in May of 2007:

(Please note: the text at www.awaken.org/awaken-humanity has been altered since May of 2007 but I have retained a copy of the May webpage with the following text in place. I have added the highlights.)

(Humanity) the quality of being humane

Awaken Humanity is a documentary film project dedicated to making a difference on the issues of poverty, HIV/AIDS, and human trafficking.

Entitled “Things You Should Care About,” each film highlights a community or organization that is actively moving towards global change in their local community. Awaken Humanity strives to help people feel deeply about human suffering and become apart of a global force to bring about change.

* * *

“Awaken Humanity 2007″ - a chance to change the world with the gift of compassion and humanitarian service. GOAL: $100,000 to bring faith, love and hope to millions around the world!

*AWAKEN AFRICA

Zambia and South Africa

Africa is in a state of unprecedented crisis. In response to the human and spiritual poverty that threatens to devastate an entire generation, Awaken Humanity will be focusing on village outreach, training local leadership as well as providing transportation for local leaders to travel to remote
areas.

Breath of Heaven Children’s Village in Zambia cares for children orphaned by the impact of HIV/AIDS. Your donation helps support the shelter, health, education, and spiritual development each child deserves.

Informal Settlements in South Africa are concentrated areas with displaced inhabitants and orphans, the majority living with HIV/AIDS. Your contribution will enable community development, AIDS relief and care, along with leadership training for local leaders and church planters.

*AWAKEN L.A.

Los Angeles has its own battles with gang activity, drugs, alcohol and spiritual hunger. Awaken Humanity mobilizes service to the needy and disadvantaged living in Los Angeles. Gifts will be used to fund some of the following projects:

SEA (Soladad Enrichment Action) serves at-risk youth in a final effort to encourage graduation from high school. Awaken Humanity would like to fund 400 students (and all 14 schools eventually) to participate in Yelo, a course in “StrengthFinders” and character development, to help students discover and use their unique abilities.

Nightlight L.A. is an organization in Bangkok, Thailand, and Los Angeles committed to combating human trafficking and the exploitation of women and children through outreach, transformative healing, economic and educational opportunities. NightLight encourages involvement in advocacy and follow-up care for women and children by developing a public awareness of the physical, psychological, legal, and economic consequences of prostitution and trafficking.

Homeless Service is in cooperation and support with other agencies such as L.A. Mission and Union Rescue Mission.

Clean and Sober provides assistance and support for those with life-dominating habits especially addiction to alcohol and drugs.

Neo-Underground Railroad encourages disadvantaged children and youth in South Los Angeles to experience and develop their abilities through a free creative arts and tutoring program.

*All donations are tax deductible. Please make checks payable to “Awaken” and indicate “Awaken Humanity” on the memo line and send to the Awaken offices
at:

Awaken

1443E. Washington Blvd. #659

Pasadena, CA 91104-2650

*Note this is a mailing address and not an office address. Or, give online with the link below.

Donations will be distributed according to the need of each
area.

[In the above text, under Awaken Africa, there were two embedded video clips. The first featured Breath of Heaven Children's Village, the second featured "Emthonjeni" - this name was clearly visible in the video.]

It seesm fairly obvious that the Awaken Humanity described at awaken.org and the Awaken Humanity mentioned in the Mosaic mailer must be one and the same.

Both:

* Set a fundraising goal of $100,000

* Mention most of the same "projects" the money was being raised for.

Questions about this comparison:

Based on this side by side comparison, the Mosaic mailer raises far more questions than it answers but I'm only going to address a few of these questions:

*When were "Awaken Europe" and the "Global Leadership Conference" added to the Awaken Humanity 2007 campaign? These were not a part of the original fundraising appeal at awaken.org.

*Why wasn't the original appeal at awaken.org amended to accomodate these changes?

*Since adding more causes to the original campaign would result in less money being donated to each individual project, shouldn't donors have been notified of these additions?

*What happened to the "documentary film project?"

Back in April of 2007, I posed this very question to Mosaic's Executive Pastor, Eric Bryant (who is listed as the Agent for Service of Process for the California corporation, Awaken Humanity.) His response was:

"$0 given towards Awaken Humanity goes towards films. All the
money goes towards the projects listed."

Email from Eric Bryant, 4/20/07

*If what Eric Bryant said is true, then why did awaken.org say "Awaken Humanity IS a documentary film project?"

*What is the relationship between Erwin McManus' Awaken, Awaken Humanity and Mosaic?

It's very confusing how these three separate, legal entities keep referring back to eachother as though they were all a single organization. For example:

*If donations to Awaken were already "tax deductible" AND Awaken Humanity was listed as a part of Erwin McManus' Awaken, then why does Awaken Humanity now appear in a mailer sent out by Mosaic?

*Does this mean that Awaken Humanity is no longer a part of Awaken.org but is now a part of Mosaic?

*Does this mean Awaken Humanity is no longer seeking separate 501c3 status with the IRS?

I was told by Eric Bryant that Awaken Humanity would be seeking 501c3 status in the summer of 2007. Eric Bryant never responded to my request for a copy of the letter of intent to the IRS, a request that I am entitled to make under current IRS regulations.

The fact that "Awaken Humanity Giving" now appears as a "slice" in the Mosaic 2007 budgeted expenses suggests that it may no longer be seeking it's own tax exempt status but will remain as a "ministry" of Mosaic.

*Does this mean that Awaken Humanity will be dissolving it's corporate status with the state of California or will it remain, seemingly abandoned, in the California Business Portal database along with Erwin McManus' Awaken Center for Creativity and Awaken International?

MOSAIC.ORG: Mosaic Newsletter, August 2007

This is the information that appeared under the banner "Awaken Humanity" in the Mosaic Newsletter for August, 2007: (This version of the Mosaic Newsletter is no longer available but I have retained a copy for my files. I have added the highlights to this excerpt.)

Awaken Humanity:

Mosaic 2007 Global Focus for Year-Round Giving and Action

Giving update: As the summer is in full swing and many of these projects are in progress or already completed we wanted to give you an update.

So far this year we have raised $118,519.09!

Our original goal of $100,000 raised to bring faith, hope and love around the world has been met! You have exceeded our expectations, let's continue to support these amazing projects as giving will continue year-round and projects will be reviewe and updated in October. If you would like to serve with one of these projects or have additional projects you would like to be considered for Awaken Humanity focus, please let Janice know at Janice@mosiac.org. Thanks for your generosity. Your gifts are making a world of difference!

Awaken Humanity General: $68,828.40

Your giving has allowed for the Mosaic community to support the projects listed to the right, as well as assist our overseas workers to continue to expand the kingdom of God.

Awaken Africa: $40,412.69

Zambia and South Africa

Primary purposes: Breath of Heaven Children's Village in Zambia
Informal Settlements in South Africa
Providing a boat for transportation of local teams to remote, unreached
areas.

Awaken Europe: $2,300.00

Reaching major cities of influence.

Primary purposes: Mosaic Dusseldorf, Germany

Mosaic Paris, France

Teams in Dublin, Ireland and Zurich, Switzerland

Global Leadership Conference: $4,268.00
Assisting, Training, and Supporting our Overseas Workers

Primary Purposes: Overseas workers covering Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Middle East, Africa, Europe, and South Africa.
Awaken L.A.: $2,710.00
Local Influence

Primary purposes: Nighlight L.A. (human trafficking)

Homeless Ministries

Neo-Underground Railroad (creative arts for kids in South LA.)

Yelo with SEA
Clean and Sober

I've already commented extensively on this particular entry in the Mosaic newsletter in my previous post, "Shining Daylight on Erwin McManus' Awaken, Part 3", http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2007/09/shining-daylight-on-erwin-mcmanus_03.html. Please read this post for my analysis on approximately how much money each charitable cause received based on this "update" provided by Mosaic.

At the time this newsletter appeared, Mosaic was reporting that the total amount raised by the Awaken Humanity campaign for 2007 was $118,519.09. According to Mosaic's mailer, this amount rose slightly to $124,318.89, an additonal $5,799.80.

PLEASE NOTE! The Mosaic newsletter mentioned the exact same four categories given in the recent Mosaic mailer:

Awaken Africa ($40,412.69 was given to this category as per the information in the newletter.)

Awaken Europe ($2,300.00, " ")

Awaken Los Angeles ($2,710.00, " " )

Global Leadership Conference ($4,268.0, " " )

*But what about the $68,828.40 that went into something called "Awaken Humanity General?" This category is missing from the recent Mosaic mailer.

*Since the final total was even higher than reported in August of 2007 (by $5,799.80), exactly how much money went to the original charitable goals and how much ended up in the unspecified "general fund?"

*Why didn't the recent mailer from Mosaic give an updated breakdown on these projects?

*What happened to the money in the Awaken Humanity General fund?

A few concluding thoughts:

According to the pie chart representing Mosaic's 2007 Budgeted Expenses (found in the Mosaic mailer) 3% of last year's $3,977,782 was spent on Awaken Humanity Giving.

The pie chart for Mosaic's 2008 Budget projects an ambitious increase in giving to:

FOUR MILLION, four hundred sixty four thousand, three hundred eighty six dollars.

Of this projected amount, a mere 5% has been designated for "Mosaic Alliances & Humanitarian Projects." That is an interesting choice of words given that the very same mailer includes information on Awaken Humanity Projects for 2007-2008. Please note that the pie chart DOES NOT say, "Awaken Humanity Projects."

*What does this mean?

*Is Awaken Humanity a part of the Mosaic budget or isn't it?

I have recently heard from both insiders within Mosaic and outsiders who have attended conferences sponsored by Mosaic that Erwin McManus has begun to voice "concerns" about the financial health of his church.

Could part of these concerns be due to the "$650,00 interest only loan" that Mosaic recently paid off on behalf of it's newest campus, Mosaic Inland (formerly Inland Community Church) This is reported in the Mosaic 2007 Highlights of the recent mailer, "Mosaic: a LOOK BACK on 2007 and a LOOK AHEAD to 2008."

What about the addition of "19 paid staff bringing the total to 42." (Again, this information is the mailer.)

Then there are the "major renovations to Mott Auditorium - new lights, seating and interior design." (Mosaic mailer)

Why is Erwin McManus suddenly so concerned?

In any case, referring back to my previous post regarding the breakdown of the funds for Awaken Humanity 2007, "Shining Daylight on Erwin McManus's Awaken Part 3, http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2007/09/shining-daylight-on-erwin-mcmanus_03.html it appears as though the $100,000+ raised for that campaign was not effectively distributed since it had to be divided among so many different charitable causes.

In the final analysis, if the numbers provided by the August Mosaic Newsletter were correct, some of the charities mentioned received hardly any funds at all when compared against the total amount raised.

***Wouldn't it have been wiser to cut back on the number of charitable "projects" and given each of the remaining causes a much larger donation?

Now for the year 2008, Awaken Humanity has set a goal of raising $150,000 but has added even MORE charitable causes to its roster of "projects."

I think this is the saddest thought of all:

5% isn't a very big slice of pie; especially when you have to share it with an every increasing amount of mouths.

Yvonne W.

Erwin McManus and the "low morale" of the Church on Brady

2008-01-30T10:50:00.000-08:00

The truth "emerges."

In my previous post "Revisiting Erwin McManus' Revisionist History, Part 2" http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2008/01/revisiting-erwin-mcmanus-revisionist_26.html I included this direct quote from Erwin McManus:

mosaic experiment

From: erwin

Comments

several of your comments or questions ask for a bit of our story. mosaic is over 50 years old. born out of s.b.c.roots we are still affiliated. church had many great features when i came 10 years ago, yet faced some real crisis. it had been stuck at 500(adults and children- about 300 adults) and had been declining for 4 years. they were in about $1,000,000 debt, deficit of nearly $90,000 and a little more than a thousand dollars in the bank. low morale was no small contributor to the situation.

Source: Online discussion with Erwin McManus on his book, "An Unstoppable Force," 2002 http://easumbandy.com/fileadmin/community/Coaching_Seminar_Archive_Files/Erwin_McManus_062002-An_Unstoppable_Force.pdf

This is an article in The Presbyterian Outlook dated October 10, 2003.

[To my readers: Please follow the link and read the entire article.]

Leader of Mosaic says he almost tore his church apart to make it successful,

By Leslie Scanlon, Outlook National Reporter, http://www.pres-outlook.com/HTML/mosaic101003.html,

The above link is now broken. Here is a new one:
http://www.pres-outlook.com/html/mosaic101003.html
(YW, May 11, 2008)

Sorry, once again the link has been broken. To access this story, please go to http://www.pres-outlook.com/index.php and search for Erwin McManus. (YW, May 21, 2008)

[Unless otherwise noted, the following quotes are from this article:]

PORTLAND — It sounds like a success story now: a young, growing, multicultural congregation in Los Angeles that’s reaching all kinds of people for Jesus. But there was a time in that Mosaic ministry when people were so upset, when there was so much change and conflict, that Erwin McManus couldn’t sleep and he gained 30 pounds and his right eye twitched uncontrollably for a year from the stress. On Sundays he used to sit in his car outside the worship service, unable to bring himself to get out, until an elder would come and bang on the car window and insist that he stand up and preach, saying, "Erwin, it’s time. The music’s almost over."What McManus was doing then — putting into play the same convictions about ministry and about what’s right that’s made Mosaic grow and that people now are trying to copy — actually was making his church smaller. People were leaving because they didn’t like what he was doing. McManus is loud and forceful and not too politic, he skips the shirt and tie and wants a church that’s apostolic and prophetic — that has the zeal and the can’t-stop it fire for God that the first-century apostles had. He thinks a pastor should be a revolutionary, reaching out to tell the world about Jesus, not a nurturer of church institutions and property and the people who are already there.

When reporters and book authors quote Erwin about the "low morale" and "falling attendance" of the Church on Brady/Mosaic, are they aware of the fact that most of this ocurred AFTER his succession as pastor? The paragraph above implies that people left because "they didn't like what he was doing." While this may be partially true, what is conveniently missing from this statement is the fact that Erwin McManus also "invited" people who disagreed with him to LEAVE THE CHURCH during his address at the June 27, 1997 "Believe the Impossible" fundraiser at Union Station!

Several ex-members of Mosaic has since labeled this fundraiser the "Believe or Leave" campaign.

"He thinks a pastor should be a revolutionary, reaching out to tell the world about Jesus, not a nurturer of church institutions and property and the people who are already there."

If Erwin felt this way about being a pastor, then why did he agree to become the pastor of the Church on Brady in the first place? Doesn't this statement imply that he did the congregation a grave disservice by agreeing to become their pastor?

He talked about selling the church property as a witness to New Testament values, sending so many people off to do mission work there’s no one left to come to worship, worshiping in different places in different ways — the people stay where they already are, the pastor drives around.

What does Erwin mean when he says "selling the church property" would be a witness to New Testament values? How does this fit in with the "Believe the Impossible" capital fundraiser which raised approximately $700,000 towards the PURCHASE OF A NEW BUILDING?

Since Erwin knew the Church on Brady was already a well-known and highly commended church in the area of foreign missions why did this become a problem after he assumed command?

In the next two paragraphs of this article Erwin goes on to complain about the "welcome part" of the church service and how it was actually "unwelcoming" to visitors. As a former member, I don't recall any complaints made about this part of the service but I do remember that many visitors often complimented the Church on Brady for it's friendly atmosphere.

In fact, here is an excerpt from a post dating back to December 7, 2004 in "A Voice of Hope" written by "Lu" (aka: "Soundchick")

http://soundchick.typepad.com/blog/2004/12/mosaic_a_conver.html

Mosaic: A Conversation

I felt a strong sense of God's presence as soon as I walked through the door. I knew the people here lived by their faith, not just expressed it on Sundays. Not only that, there was true community at Brady. I know Erwin is at times fond of talking about how he nixed the "Welcome" time because members were stepping over guests to greet each other. However, I never saw that in my years at Mosaic. In fact, to quite the contrary, I'm the product of members constantly greeting me. Even after I was serving on the sound team I was often greeted by members whom I had not yet met and who welcomed me warmly during that welcome time. I saw how much they loved the Lord through how the showered me with attention and love. I also saw servanthood modeled by staff and elders that I'd never seen before. I remember seeing a staff member straightening chairs and cleaning up trash between services. It's an image that will long stay in my memory. My dad had served on staff and several churches, and I don't ever remember seeing anyone on staff doing such "menial" labor. I was amazed, and I was hooked. I felt compelled to follow their leading. I also saw hope reflected in the lives of the people around me. They followed hard after Jesus, which means they often took hard blows in life. But they never gave up, never stopped serving Jesus, no matter what happened. They also never pretended to not hurt, or pretended all was well in life. They were honest about where they were and what they were feeling.

Going back to the article in the Outlook National Reporter there is this memorable quote:

He ended up doing work with the urban poor in Los Angeles, at a Southern Baptist congregation that was 60 years old, in debt and losing members, but had no real sense it was dying. But the process of making change was painful — in the early days, McManus said, the congregation lost 100 people in just a month.

"He ended up doing work with the urban poor in Los Angeles. . ."

The physical building of the Church on Brady was located in an economically depressed area of East Los Angeles but the congregation itself was not "poor." It was mostly a racially diverse mixture of Hispanics, Asians (from the nearby communities of Monterey Park and Alhambra, cities with large Asian communities), and Anglos with a few other races mixed in.

". . . in debt. . . "

Yes, the Church on Brady was in debt but this was due to a recent rebuilding project which, when completed, actually raised the value of the property above the amount that was owed.

". . . but had no sense it was dying . . ."

Dying? The church was THRIVING before the arrival of Erwin McManus!

". . . in the early days, McManus said, the congregation lost 100 people in just a month."

In the years leading up to 1993, when Erwin McManus took over, the Church on Brady under the leadership of Pastor Thomas A. Wolf was experiencing steady growth to the point where it was forced to take on a massive rebuilding project to make more room. In a very short time, even the newly remodeled and expanded church building became too cramped to hold the growing congregation.

Soon after Erwin McManus took over as lead pastor, the "Believe the Impossible" campaign was begun to raise money towards the purchase of a larger facility, specifically; it was held in the hope of raising enough money to purchase the Chicago Title building located at 1515 Walnut Grove Avenue in Rosemead. This was a huge, industrial building complex on a very large lot with more than enough parking spaces for the existing congregation. As further incentive for the congregation to "give sacrificially" arrangements were made with the property owners to hold a Sunday service in this building along with tours of the complex. (I was an eye-witness to this event.)

Later, at the "Believe the Impossible" capital fundraising banquet, Erwin encouraged everyone to "believe" and "give sacrificially." The crowd was encouraged to sell off personal property, antiques, and collector's items. The crowd was also asked to defer making any large purchases such as cars and homes and instead put that money towards the building project

I remember Erwin telling the crowd that God would honor this step of faith. I also remember Erwin's "invitation" that if anyone felt this was not God's will they should feel free to seek out another congregation.

At this time it seemed as if Erwin was interested in creating a "mega-church" of his own but the campaign failed to raise enough money to meet the several million dollar price tag attached to the Chicago Title building.

The money that was raised during the "Believe the Impossible" campaign was never used to purchase a new building. According to an email sent by Eric Bryant, the current executive pastor of Mosaic, to a donor who asked for a refund of his contribution to the "Believe the Impossible" campaign the money from this fundraiser "has been spent." I've learned that in February of 2007, ten years after the fundraising banquet at Union Station, these same funds were used to pay off an existing debt on a daughter church of Mosaic which has been renamed Mosaic Inland. (See "A Revisionist History of the Church on Brady? http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2007/03/revisionist-history-of-church-on-brady.html )

When Erwin says "the congregation lost 100 people in just a month," is he referring to the people who left in response to his "invitation" to leave? What about those who might have left once they realized that their "sacrificial giving" appeared to have been in vain?

To turn things around, the congregation made a commitment to mission — McManus said he spent some time pondering the question, "Is it possible to send so many people out that a church ceases to exist?" Mosaic sent 400 people on mission trips in a year, some of whom weren’t sure at all they were ready to go. "We even shut down all of our services one Sunday because there was no one left," he said (adding that they forgot some visitors might not know and show
up).

The Church on Brady was already committed to foreign missions and had been commended for this by the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board, http://www.universal-disciple.com/about%20us.htm.

"We even shut down all of our services one Sunday because there was no one left," he said (adding that they forgot some visitors might not know and show up)."

To my readers: Was there ever a time when Mosaic failed to hold services because "there was no one left?" If so, I would like to know the exact date of when this occurred.

The age of the congregation dropped like the temperature in winter: from an average age of 50 to 24, with a high percentage of single folks. Mosaic now is 40 percent Asian and has members from more than 50 nationalities.

I remember feeling the loss of the Church on Brady's senior citizens. I used to be the secretary for the church choir when it had 75 members, many of whom were older people. One of the first changes that Erwin made after taking over as the Pastor was to eliminate the choir in favor of small worship teams. Rehearsals went from open meetings to closed sessions "by invitation only." I felt a great sense of loss when the older women whom I had looked up to during my time in choir left the church because they felt there was no longer a place for them.

Erwin McManus has said and written (or allowed others to say or write) a lot of negative things about the Church on Brady, its congregation, its leaders and its former pastor but he doesn't like it when his critics say negative things about him. This is what he has to say about his critics from his latest interview:

Assist News Service, January 28, 2008 Story by By Dan WoodingFounder of ASSIST Ministries http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2008/s08010207.htm

[Again, PLEASE read the entire article!]

"How a Salvadoran came to America, changed his name, and became a husband, father, writer, futurist, activist, artist and spiritual and cultural leader: Erwin Raphael McManus now serves as the lead pastor and Cultural Architect of Mosaic in Los Angeles"

I then asked Erwin McManus if he considered himself to be a controversial person.

“When you say a ‘controversial person’ that sounds like a self identity,” he said. “I think I’m a person who seems to create a lot of controversy.”

I then pointed out that some websites put out all kinds of negative critiques about him, so I wondered how he dealt with this.

“Well, obviously when someone says something negative about you, especially something that’s untrue, that’s hurtful, it can be disturbing and certainly because I have a nineteen year old son, and a fifteen year old daughter, and another daughter who is our foster daughter who lives in Indonesia as a missionary, and when they’re reading all these things that are said about me, it’s very painful because people don’t factor in that you have a wife and you have kids and you have family,” he said.

“But I don’t really want to say what they say about me because it gives them more publicity than they deserve. I think the reality is that in Christianity when someone doesn’t conform to our standard understanding of what a person’s supposed to say and do, we immediately feel like they’re somehow heretical or disconnected.
“I once shared with my wife that I think a part of the problem with modern Christianity is that we really seem to be in an adversarial position against creativity, innovation, imagination and human uniqueness. I think that’s a fundamental problem and it’s not just about me.”

Negative criticism of Erwin McManus is nothing new. When anyone chooses to place oneself in the public eye, especially as a "person who seems to create a lot of controversy,” one also has to expect that negative publicity is just par for the course. As a celebrity pastor for more than 10 years now, shouldn't his wife and children already possess the necessary coping skills to deal with critics?

Erwin McManus is concerned about how the "negative things people say" about him will affect his wife, kids and family. How does he reconcile this concern for his own family with the "negative things" he has said and written about OTHER people?

For example, did Erwin McManus "factor in" the effect his harsh words might have on the wives, kids and families of the following people?

1. Thomas Wolf (Former pastor of The Church on Brady)

In his online response to readers of his book, "An Unstoppable Force", Erwin McManus paints a very negative picture of Bro. Tom. http://easumbandy.com/fileadmin/community/Coaching_Seminar_Archive_Files/Erwin_McManus_062002-An_Unstoppable_Force.pdf

Several of you asked about our transition. Perhaps the most significant mistake we made was that the former pastor, who was here 24 years before me, remained as an elder and held the position of teaching pastor(although I did all the teaching). He was only 49 years old at the time of the transition, so it wasn't a retirement scenario. Though we held many common heart values, our approach, style and rate of change and implementation dramatically differed. Things worked well as long as I was furthering the vision and ethos he had established. Once that began to change as a result of my own personal leadership, things went bad fast. We underestimated the inseparable nature of spiritual leadership and individuals. You can give up your position, your title, really any formal authority, and if you have 25 years of leadership credibility, you have not relinquished leadership in that context. It was not necessary for him to oppose me or any of my actions - to simply remain neutral or indifferent was enough to turn people in the opposite direction. If he expressed concern, doubt or disapproval, it was nothing less than polarized leadership. The elders of the congregation who had all been appointed by him and had known him for decades eventually asked him to resign. As you may well know, this is unheard of. It's always the new guy that gets the boot. These men, though his best friends, were committed both to my leadership and the future of the church.

In the statements above, Erwin McManus implies that his predecessor, Tom Wolf, was:

* Taking credit for Erwin's work - " . . . held the position of teaching pastor(although I did all the teaching). "

Bro. Tom had just accepted a teaching position at Golden Gate Seminary, hence the "teaching pastor" title.

* Controlling - "Things worked well as long as I was furthering the vision and ethos he had established."

When Bro. Tom decided to step down from the pastorship of the Church on Brady, it was announced that he and the elders would be seeking a replacement that would "further" his vision.

* Unwilling to relinquish his position - "You can give up your position, your title, really any formal authority, and if you have 25 years of leadership credibility, you have not relinquished leadership in that context."

Bro. Tom had established a strong loyalty with his congregation. Did Erwin expect the congregation to simply transfer 25 years worth of hard earned trust to an as-yet-untested newcomer?

* Manipulative - "It was not necessary for him to oppose me or any of my actions - to simply remain neutral or indifferent was enough to turn people in the opposite direction. If he expressed concern, doubt or disapproval, it was nothing less than polarized leadership."

Bro. Tom remained as an elder. As an elder, wasn't it his job to express his concerns, doubts or disapproval? What are elders supposed to do?

*Subjected to church discipline - "The elders of the congregation who had all been appointed by him and had known him for decades eventually asked him to resign."

This is NOT true. Bro. Tom was approached by the elders and asked to consider taking a leave of absence from Mosaic to give Erwin McManus time to solidy his leadership position at the church. Instead, Pastor Wolf decided to tender his resignation.

I find Erwin's last statement regarding the elders of Mosaic rather troubling,

"These men, though his best friends, were committed both to my leadership and the future of the church. "

I believe these men acted in what they felt was the best interest of the church yet there is something about the way this statement is worded that hints at betrayal. I don't see why Erwin felt it necessary to include this statement in his comments.

NOTE: During my research for this and all my other entries here at Solid Foods, I have never come across an instance in which Bro. Tom has said or written anything negative about his successor Erwin McManus.

2. Mr. Robbie Sortino (Former Youth Pastor for Mosaic, founded Mosaic Pasadena)

Erwin revealed painful, highly personal information provided to him during private counseling sesssions. Erwin also describes Mr. Sortino as, "emotionally broken," "coming on staff prematurely," "depressed," having a heart filled with "violence and anger," having a "hardened heart," and that "He saw anyone who worked for "the institution" as the enemy, and that included me."

Original article written by Erwin McManus, "Broken People Can Become Whole Disciples," http://www.christianitytoday.com/biblestudies/areas/biblestudies/articles/040916.html

See also my article at Solid Foods, "Broken People, Broken Pieces or a Broken Pastor?" http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2007/09/broken-people-broken-pieces-or-broken.html

NOTE: One of Mr. Sortino's adult sons began the first "Mosaic of Pain" website as a MySpace page back in early 2007. The site aired criticisms of Erwin McManus. Apparently in response to the negative publicity this site was generating at Mosaic, the Sortinos were contacted by leaders at Mosaic and Mr. Sortino's son was "asked" to remove the site. As a last minute act of protest against Mosaic, Mr. Sortino's son installed a clock icon to count down the hours and minutes that were left until the site was scheduled to go down. He also embedded a video clip from the movie, "The X-Men 2" showing the scene where Mystique dives in front of Magneto to save him from being shot with a dart that would cause him to lose his mutant powers. She loses her powers instead and reverts to being a mere mortal. At this point, Magneto responds by saying, "I'm sorry, my dear. You're not one of us anymore."

Soon after this, a team of three leaders from Mosaic showed up, unannounced, at the Sortino's home around 10 pm. Since Mr. Sortino was not home at the time and there were minor children present, these leaders were denied entry. The very next day, the Sortinos received a visit from the police in response to a possible "threat" phoned in by Mosaic.

The police found no grounds for such a threat, no arrests were made and no charges were ever filed. The original "Mosaic of Pain" website was dismantled.

The Mosaic of Pain website, http://mosaicofpain.com/index2.html , has been resurrected by other formers members of Mosaic.

3. Mr. and Mrs. Eddie Marshall (Former Missionaries - Church on Brady/Mosaic)

Again, Erwin used personal information (regarding a child no less!) obtained during private counseling sessions in a [mass email sent out] * to other Mosaic missionaries.

Comment posted to Solid Foods, "Broken People, Broken Pieces or a Broken Pastor," http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2007/09/broken-people-broken-pieces-or-broken.html

My wife and I experienced two similar situations with Erwin McManus. He divulged two very confidential matters that were told to him in Pastor/Parishioner confidentiality. And, in doing so he misled the individuals he told this information to. They were concerned why Linda and I had left Mosaic and Erwin used these two VERY personal (one involving one of our children) situations in an attempt to explain our departure. Fortunately, that person phoned me immediately and we realized the attempt at deception. It was painful, to say the least, to have a Pastor do this to you, but I now see that we were just one of many. Eddie Marshall

* Correction: This happened during a private conversation between Erwin McManus and another missionary couple. Please see comments below.

4. Mr. Frank Loaiza (Former Member - Church on Brady/Mosaic)

Erwin has misquoted and taken out of context a statement made by Mr. Loaiza regarding the balance between evangelism and discipleship: "Truth remains the same, lies always change," blog by Frank Loaiza, http://loaizas.blogspot.com/

Post made February 21, 2007

I have been told that Erwin has quoted me as saying that I said, "Mosaic is too evangelistic" This is simply not true, I never said this. I said that we had an unbalanced emphasis on evangelism and not enough emphasis on discipleship.

In addition to these examples, Erwin McManus has made this generic jab at former members of the Church on Brady:

The Baptist Standard, March 9, 2007 http://www.baptiststandard.com/postnuke/index.php?module=htmlpages&func=display&pid=6104

'Comfortable' Christians Lose Touch with the World

Starting Mosaic was not easy, McManus said, and many times he wanted to quit. But he always found the people who brought him the most problems were those who never brought a lost person to church.

Erwin says: "I think a part of the problem with modern Christianity is that we really seem to be in an adversarial position against creativity, innovation, imagination and human uniqueness. I think that’s a fundamental problem and it’s not just about me."

As an artist and writer, I have nothing against creativity, innovation, imagination and human uniqueness.

What makes me uncomfortable is the way in which Erwin McManus appears to be using these qualities to revise the historical facts of the Church on Brady, tarnish the reputations and accomplishments of Bro. Tom and other former leaders, and completely dismiss the generosity of the many good, christian people I had the privilege of seving alongside.

In the case of Erwin McManus, I leave it up to you to decide what the "fundamental" problem is.

"It’s not just about me.” - Erwin McManus

Yvonne W.

Revisiting Erwin McManus' Revisionist History Part 2

2008-01-26T13:16:00.000-08:00

More revisions

Dear Readers: I have been overwhelmed by the sheer volume of "revisions" regarding the history of The Church on Brady that I have discovered during the course of my research on this topic. Here are a few of my latest findings:

2000

"Into the Future: Turning Today's Church Trends into Tomorrow's Opportunities"
By Elmer Towns and Warren Bird, Foreward by Dr. Leith Anderson
Copyright 2000 by Elmer Towns and Warren Bird
Published by Fleming H. Revell, a division of Baker Book House Company
P.O.Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287

http://www.elmertowns.com/books/online/into_future/Into_the_Future[ETowns].pdf

The following is from the above book:

Page 19
New Slant on Apologetics: Reaching Artists through the
Arts

Mosaic (Formerly The Church on
Brady)

Denomination: Southern Baptist Convention
(SBC)

Lead Pastor: Erwin McManus (since
1993)

Recent goal: To produce radical disciples of Jesus Christ; to be a spiritual reference point throughout Los Angeles and sending base to the ends of the earth.

Church vision: To live by faith, to be known by love and to be a voice of hope.

Year founded: 1953

Attendance: 1100 (now) 500 (5 years ago) 600 (10 years ago)

My comments: The goal and vision stated above were originally proposed by Pastor Thomas A. Wolf of the Church on Brady.

The attendance numbers given in this book do not match up with what was really happening at Brady during this time period. The book was published in 2000, if the numbers given were correct this would mean that attendance fell from 600 in 1990 to 500 by 1995.

While there may have been some variance in the attendance numbers during this time period keep in mind that the Church on Brady was also involved in a major church renovation project that was needed to expand the existing facilities to accomodate the phenomenal growth the congregation was experiencing BEFORE Erwin McManus came on as lead pastor.

At one time, the Church on Brady was holding three Sunday services, Wednesday night classes and experimented for a time with a Saturday night service to help ease the over-crowding issues on Sunday mornings. Parking space became a major obstacle for further growth since the original church had only two small lots immediately adjacent to the building. Congregants would park their cars up and down Brady Avenue and on the side streets that intersected it. Eventually, the church was able to purchase an additional plot of land on Brady Avenue just north of the building and converted it into a paved and lighted parking lot and when this too became inadequate the church obtained permission to use a small, gravel paved lot situated under the electrical towers further up the street. A volunteer-driven shuttle bus was used to ferry people from these far lots to the front door of the Church on Brady.

Here is a notable quote from this book:

"If people are coming here to be entertained, they're going to be shocked. What we're doing is for people who are serious about truth," says McManus, known for his hard-hitting preaching. The church offers serious training for those who would become Jesus' disciples. For several years it sent out more overseas believers than any other Southern Baptist congregation, even those ten times its size. In thirty months they sent thirty-two adults into the 10/40 window.

My comment: The Church on Brady was known for it's unusual commitment to missions but this was already a fact before Erwin arrived.

“GenX Religion” by Richard W. Flory and Donald Earl Miller. Routledge, New York, London. Published 11/15/2000.

See excerpts regarding the Church on Brady, article on Mosaic written by LaDawn Prieto

http://books.google.com/books?id=B2yKZwd6l2EC&pg=PA66&lpg=PA66&dq=%22the+church+on+brady%22&source=web&ots=q-Pv0P9dC7&sig=XWKbg5DDCJWea8eNVD9rR-K-hd0

Another link to above:
http://books.google.com/books?id=B2yKZwd6l2EC&pg=PA57&dq=%22the+church+on+brady%22&sig=q3-dgBbV4JhqLIMnUrRRiWKxHRI

"Having been in other church ministries with the leaders at Mosaic, then called "the Church on Brady," he and his family felt comfortable with the community and began attending services. He stated that he began volunteering as a consultant to the church to assist in strategizing to raise the falling church attendance numbers. Erwin's contributions were seen as significant to the church as he brought experience as a national and international consultant and speaker on the issues of leadership development, organizational change, church planting, and urban and global issues."

My comments: Erwin McManus DID NOT come to the Church on Brady as a consultant "to assist in strategizing to raise the falling attendance numbers!" There were NO falling attendance numbers! The Church on Brady was practically bursting at the seams when Erwin took over from Pastor Thomas Wolf (aka: Bro. Tom.) This statement completely ignores and dismisses the "Share the Vision" capitol fundraising campaign and the additional "Build the Vision" capital fund-raising campaign that were launched to fund the church remodeling and expansion. It also completely ignores and dismisses the "Believe the Impossible" fundraising campaign that BEGAN on June 27, 1997, just 4 years after Erwin McManus came on as lead pastor! All of this is documented in my previous blog entry, "A Revisionist History of the Church on Brady."
http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2007_03_11_archive.html

Another quote:

"I can honestly say that I didn't want to be pastor but felt like God wanted me to be the pastor." He said that he felt he could bring the church into a more multicultural experience and desired to "do something that either no one else will do, or no one else can do."

My comments: The Church on Brady was a "multi-cultural" church long before Erwin arrived.

2002

http://www.gregwa.com/images/future.pdf

Portrait:

“Moving with the Spirit”
Mosaic, Los
Angeles, CA

After ten years in the Dallas Metroplex, McManus packed up his family and moved to Los Angeles and continued his ministry as a futurist and consultant to various Christian ministries. Tom Wolf, the pastor of the Church on Brady, had previously asked McManus to consider becoming the pastor of his church. McManus said no. "Anybody who reads anything that Lyle Schallar has written," McManus says, "knows you don't follow a 25-year pastorate because you're destined for failure." He did agree, however, to serve the church as a consultant one day a week after he arrived in LA.

Later, the Elders of the church approached McManus with the same question. This time McManus said he would become their pastor if he got a unanimous call. Knowing that no pastor gets a unanimous call in a Southern Baptist Church, McManus felt safe. When the votes were counted, there wasn't a single one dissenting. After a period of transition, McManus became the pastor of the church and Wolf moved into a position with Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, CA.

My comment: In my update to "A Revisionist History of the Church on Brady?" I revealed that there were at least 4 votes against approving Erwin McManus as pastor for the Church on Brady. http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2007_03_18_archive.html

Later in the same book:

With a passion he learned serving the urban poor, McManus built on the mission spirit of the Church on Brady to lead the people into the future. He changed the ambiance of the worship center to feel more like a cafe than an auditorium. Sprinkled among the traditional seating they set up mosaic tables and sofas and chairs.

My comment: At least Erwin acknowledges that "he built on the mission spirit of the Church on Brady."

Still later:

The church is multi-ethnic, multi-generational, and multi-cultural. Among the 100-plus people a year the church baptized are Communists, Buddhists, Hindus, and members of the gay community. The church attracts Asians, Hispanics, Anglos, Blacks, and just about any other ethnicity that lives in the area. They shatter the homogeneous unit principle and include everyone

My comment: Once again, the church was ALREADY "multi-ethnic, multi-generational, and multi-cultural. " Now that Erwin McManus has taken over he has shifted it's ministry focus towards the young.

One more quote from "Future Church":

When McManus came to the Church on Brady, it was contemporary, following an 80's model of ministry. In fact, it was a leader in the contemporary church movement. But even though it was a contemporary church, it was time-locked in the 80s. Los Angeles had moved into the future while Brady remained behind. Any church with fixed structure in a fluid environment will become outdated and irrelevant. What the church was calling "contemporary" wasn't. So McManus began leading them into the future.

My comments: The Church on Brady may have been classified as "contemporary" but it had an impressive reputation for church planting and sending out foreign missionaries. The only serious constraint the church experienced was not enough space to accomodate the growing congregation. This is precisely what the "Believe the Impossible" fundraising campaign was all about.

The statement, "Any church with fixed structure in a fluid environment will become outdated and irrelevant" doesn't account for the fact that Erwin was leading the congregation towards the purchase of a larger BUILDING.

ERWIN'S OWN WORDS

The following is from an online discussion about Erwin McManus' book "An Unstoppable Force." This "conversation" took place in 2002: (The bad grammar in the first entry is copied directly from the source.)

http://easumbandy.com/fileadmin/community/Coaching_Seminar_Archive_Files/Erwin_McManus_062002-An_Unstoppable_Force.pdf

mosaic experiment
From: erwin
Comments

several of your comments or questions ask for a bit of our story. mosaic is over 50 years old. born out of s.b.c.roots we are still affiliated. church had many great features when i came 10 years ago, yet faced some real crisis. it had been stuck at 500(adults and children- about 300 adults) and had been declining for 4 years. they were in about $1,000,000 debt, deficit of nearly $90,000 and a little more than a thousand dollars in the bank. low morale was no small contributor to the situation.

My comments: Once again, the Church on Brady was NOT declining! Also, there was no financial "crisis", the church was in debt for approximately $1,000,000 but this was because of a loan taken out to pay for the church remodeling. Once the renovations were complete, the property value of the Church on Brady actually rose to at least $2,000,000 (this is a conservative estimate, the actual amount was closer to $3 million!) Bonds had been sold to the congregation as a part of the "Build the Vision" campaign and these were actually paid out EARLY! (My husband, who was single at that time, purchased one of these bonds and was pleasantly surprised when he got his money back faster than he had expected.)

Due to the rise in property values in Los Angeles, when the Church on Brady property was eventually sold, the congregation made more than enough money to pay off it's remaining debt and had plenty to spare.

I don't know what Erwin meant by "low morale." The Church on Brady I remember was pretty excited by the growth and changes that were happening during this time.

This is what Erwin had to say about the "transition" from the Church on Brady to Mosaic:

Several of you asked about our transition. Perhaps the most significant mistake we made was that the former pastor, who was here 24 years before me, remained as an elder and held the position of teaching pastor(although I did all the teaching). He was only 49 years old at the time of the transition, so it wasn't a retirement scenario. Though we held many common heart values, our approach, style and rate of change and implementation dramatically differed. Things worked well as long as I was furthering the vision and ethos he had established. Once that began to change as a result of my own personal leadership, things went bad fast. We underestimated the inseparable nature of spiritual leadership and individuals. You can give up your position, your title, really any formal authority, and if you have 25 years of leadership credibility, you have not relinquished leadership in that context. It was not necessary for him to oppose me or any of my actions - to simply remain neutral or indifferent was enough to turn people in the opposite direction. If he expressed concern, doubt or disapproval, it was nothing less than polarized leadership. The elders of the congregation who had all been appointed by him and had known him for decades eventually asked him to resign. As you may well know, this is unheard of. It's always the new guy that gets the boot. These men, though his best friends, were committed both to my leadership and the future of the church.

My comments: Bro. Tom was the "teaching pastor" because he "taught" at Golden Gate Seminary. The title was more of a honorarium than an indication of his position at the Church on Brady. Of course Erwin McManus "did all of the teaching", he was the lead pastor!

This is the story I was told about the Bro. Tom incident:

When tensions erupted between Bro. Tom and Erwin, the Elders tried to diffuse the situation by recommending that Bro. Tom step down from his position as elder and leave temporarily, for a period of about 1 year, in order to give the congregation a chance to "get used" to relying on Erwin alone. The Elders had every intention of inviting Bro. Tom back once this had been accomplished.

The Elders did not ask Bro. Tom to resign, he offered his letter of resignation after the recommendation was presented to him.

Erwin McManus was aware of this recommendation before it was presented to Bro. Tom.

While I may not agree with the way this situation was handled, I believe the Elders acted in what they felt was the best interest of the church. These men had called Erwin McManus to the pastorship of the Church on Brady and in doing so, they had committed themselves to serving under his leadership.

2007

Ministry Mentor, “Pastor as Architect” Interview with Erwin McManus. 2007
http://www.ministrymentor.com/archives/details.asp?issue=5/1/2007

Here are some quotes from Erwin McManus:

"I came to Mosaic as a volunteer. Nobody called me here to be the pastor."

How does Erwin reconcile the above statement with what he told Jim L. Wilson, the author of "Future Church" back in 2002? [See the quotation from "Future Church" listed above under the year 2002.]

The church owned property--¾ of an acre with only 40 parking spaces, and we had over a thousand people coming to Mosaic. So we sold the property. For the last ten years we’ve been homeless, in a sense, across the city of LA. Two years ago, we were in seven locations in one year. But that’s allowed us to be at critical epicenters all over LA.

To do this, we had to change our theological position. The church’s name was “The Church on Brady” The church name was a location that you came to. But the church isn’t a place that you come to--we are the church. We are sent out into the world.

Once again Erwin forgets to mention the fact that his congregation had raised over $700,000 towards the purchase of a new facility during the "Believe the Impossible" campaign. If Erwin felt so strongly that "the church isn't a place that you come to," why didn't he return this money to the donors?

Then there is this final dig at the former members of the Church on Brady who disagreed with his "vision":

There were people who were committed to coming to the building but were not committed to the missions of the church. They loved the church’s stability, its predictability, and the safety that was found there. Basically, we said, “No, it’s not going to be a place that’s defined by comfort and predictability. We’re going to be a place known by risk and faith and sacrifice.”

Question: What about the numerous people who gave "sacrificially" at the urging of Erwin McManus? What happened to Erwin's "vision" to provide these people with a new building?

A concluding thought:

Erwin McManus said, "What we're doing is for people who are serious about truth."

My guestion to Erwin McManus is, "What 'truth' are you speaking about?"

Yvonne W.

*Should any of the above links suddenly become "unavailable" I have retained copies for my files.

Update: The following quote by Erwin McManus can be found in his 2008 interview with The Chrisitian Post, http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080122/30917_Interview:_Cultural_Architect_on_Rethinking_Church_Methods,_Not_Gospel.htm,

CP: Do you have predictions for trends that will occur inside the church in
the new year, such as multi-site or satellite broadcast?

McManus: I’ve been doing multi-site since 1988 so for me this is not a new thing. I’ve been part of multiple sites for 20 years, but back then people just thought I was out of my mind. But now they think it is the new way, so it’s never fun doing it so early because everyone thinks you’re just crazy.

Erwin has been "doing multi-site since 1988?" Erwin took over the pastorship of the Church on Brady in 1993. The Church on Brady property was sold sometime around 2001.

So if Erwin was already "doing multi-site" BEFORE he came to the Church on Brady, why did he urge his new congregation to "give sacrificially" towards the purchase of a new building in 1997 during the "Believe the Impossible" campaign?

Revisiting Erwin McManus' Revisionist History

2008-01-22T17:17:00.000-08:00

And the "revisions" continue . . .

In my very first blog entry here at Solid Foods,"A Revisionist History of the Church on Brady?", http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2007_03__archive.html

. . . I recounted a few of the puzzling and contradictory statements made regarding the history of the Church on Brady. Some of these statements are direct quotes from Erwin McManus, the man who took over the leadership of this church and has since transformed it into "Mosaic."

Unfortunately, Erwin is not the only one making odd statements about a church that the International Mission Board (IMB) of the Southern Baptists once hailed as "sending more missionaries through the IMB than any other church." http://www.universal-disciple.com/about%20us.htm

Rick Warren

From the Mosaic Website FAQ’s comments section:
http://mosaic.org/faq/#faq4

The following excerpt is from the foreword written by Rick Warren of Saddleback Community Church for Erwin McManus' book, "An Unstoppable Force." It can be found in the section entitled, “What Others Are Saying About Erwin and Mosaic,” directly under the FAQ’s: [Please note the passages I have highlighted.]

FOREWORD: This inspiring book is written by a survivor. Eight years ago, my friend Erwin McManus was called to pastor a church with a great history in urban Los Angeles. The Church on Brady was known for its creative pastor, its diversity, and its heart for missions. Most church consultants would have recommended that Erwin not accept the leadership of the church for 3 reasons: First, he’d be following a great senior pastor who served 25 years and created a very unique culture. Second, the church had been plateaued for 15 years and in decline for a few years. Third, the congregation was land-locked on 3/4th of an acre on a one-block street. Conventional wisdom would say “You’d be a fool to try to change a church with so much history. You’ll be martyred.” Transitioning this church for a different 21st century ministry would be difficult and painful. But Erwin stepped out in faith and accepted the challenge. Now he has led the church through a process of transition and renewal that is amazing, even changing the name of the church to Mosaic, (which, by the way, I think is one of the coolest names for any church). He has not only survived the transition, he has grown and thrived. That is rare.

Rick Warren, Saddleback Community Church

I have a few comments to make about these statements by Rick Warren.

1. The Church on Brady did have a “great history” with a creative pastor (Pastor Thomas Wolf who is now serving on the foreign mission field in India), it did have a wonderful ethinic diversity and it was officially recognized by the SBC for its unique "heart for missions." These are undeniable facts.

2. Rick Warren’s statement,

“Second, the church had been platueaued for 15 years and in decline for a few years,”

is incorrect. As I have already written in my first Solid Foods entry,

"A Revisionist History of the Church on Brady," http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2007_03_11_archive.html,

. . . the COB was thriving and experiencing phenomenal growth long before Erwin McManus came on as lead pastor in 1994 and it continued to grow after he took over. According to Rick Warren's timeframe, the COB would have been"platueaued" and "in decline" before 1984 and this is simply NOT TRUE.

How does Rick Warren reconcile his statement that the COB had been "platueaued for 15 years" and "in decline for several" with the following FACTS:

A. Erwin McManus came on as lead pastor of the Church on Brady in 1994.

B. Pastor Thomas Wolf wasn't asked to leave until 1998.

C. In "Scouting for Souls" written March 1996, Marc Speigler wrote this about the Church on Brady:

Reference: Find Articles.com Scouting for Souls, March 1996, Marc Spiegler (Brief commentary on the early work of Pastor Thomas Wolf)http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4021/is_n3_v18/ai_18056292

When Pastor Thomas Wolf first came to Southern California's Church on Brady in 1969, the situation seemed dire. The Southern Baptist church in East Los Angeles had seen its historically Anglo following erode to 45 people as the neighborhood became mostly Mexican. Facing fiscal problems and demographic change, church elders even considered selling off the dilapidated property. Today, after more than a quarter century of Wolf's leadership, the Church on Brady boasts services averaging 700 worshippers, drawn from an ethnic mix as diverse as East L.A. itself.

A church that grew from 45 members to averaging 700 worshippers does not sound like a church that "has platueaued" or is in "decline."

D. During the entire 1990's the Church on Brady was known for it's unique commitment to foreign missions.

Reference: Universal Disciple: History of the Church on Brady http://www.universal-disciple.com/about%20us.htm

Perhaps that is why in the early 1990's the International
Mission Board (IMB) of the Southern Baptists informed the Church on Brady that they were sending more missionaries through the IMB than any other church. That translates to first among the 45,000 congregations of the largest evangelical Protestant group in America. At the time, from a base of 400 worshipers, The Church on Brady had sent some 12 to the mission fields. Second place went to a 3,000 worshipers congregation with 3. When they left in the late 1990's, Brady was sending more than 55 full time missionaries. Such a sending ratio places the Church on Brady at the time of Thom Wolf’s transition from senior pastor in 1994 as a kind of Pacific Rim/West Coast Hernnhut of the late 20th century. Hernnhut is the Moravian community of Central Europe in the 18th century. This is God working through ordinary people.

In the above passage, "they" refers to Pastor Thomas Wolf and his Executive Assistant Carol Davis.

E. Then there is this from George Hunter III's book, "Reaching the Unreached" dated 1997:

Reference: Global Spectrum & University Institute

http://www.crew-ministries.com/Crew%20Ministries/global%20spectrum.htm

George Hunter III, Reaching the Unreached (1997) examined 13 American apostolic churches. The congregations included Chicago-area Willow Creek and Orange County California’s Saddleback. Though numerically the least by a significant gap, George Hunter found The Church of Brady to be “...the most apostolic congregation in America.” Its focus on multiplication rather than maintenance produced unusual results

PLEASE NOTE that George Hunter III included Rick Warren's own Saddleback Community Church in his book.

3. The Church on Brady was indeed “landlocked” on a small plot in the middle of a low income, residential area of East Los Angeles. Brady Avenue, from whence the church got its nickname, "The Church on Brady" is not a "one block street" but actually runs for several blocks and intersects with busy Whittier Blvd. It should be noted though that these facts never hindered the congregation from growing or attracting a large range of people from different ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds and many of these people commuted long distances just to attend services there. [The original buildings that were once the COB still exist at 715 Brady Ave., East Los Angeles.]

When the congregation grew too large for the original sanctuary building, the people rallied to provide not only the money but also the volunteer manpower to complete a church “make over.” (I know this first-hand because I helped to demolish the original walls and personally hammered in many of the spanish-style roof tiles on the new building .)

When the church quickly outgrew the new buildings, another capital fundraising campaign was begun to raise money towards the purchase of a facility in a different location. This campaign began at the“Believing the Impossible” banquet held at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles on June 27, 1997.

Gradually, the congregation began to meet in various rented spaces in nearby neighborhoods in preparation for what many hoped would be a permanent move to a new, larger facility. (At one time or another, the newly renamed “Mosaic” was meeting on the nearby campuses of Schurr High School in Montebello, East Los Angeles College and San Gabriel High School. During this period of transition, the elders were actively seeking out and in some cases making bids on properties but unfortunately none of these were successful.) The last unsuccessful bid on a property was made in 2006 for a school property in Silverlake. Again, all of this is documented in “A Revisionist History of the Church on Brady?”

4. Rick Warren credits Erwin McManus with, “. . . even changing the name of the church to Mosaic, (which, by the way, I think is one of the coolest names for any church)” Erwin McManus initiated the official name change but he did not come up with the name “Mosaic”, that now dubious honor belongs to former youth pastor Robbie Sortino. In fact, Mr. Sortino was the man who began a rather successful ministry in Pasadena, Calfornia which was later taken over by Erwin McManus and has now become the official “home” ministry of Mosaic. The SBC website’s “church finder” still lists Robbie Sortino as the pastor of Mosaic in Pasadena. *

Mosaic now rents the Mott Auditorium on the campus of the William Carey Institute in Pasadena. Mosaic has moved from its cramped roots in a low income, predominately spanish-speaking neighborhood of East Los Angeles to a spacious new facility in affluent, upper class Pasadena, California.

Why would Rick Warren make such statements? Isn't Rick Warren an SBC pastor? The true history of the Church on Brady is known to the SBC. Even Mosaic is a part of the SBC; or at least that's what it urges it's proteges to say,

". . . put that you are a part of an SBC church (Mosaic). "
http://www.mosaic.org/protege-faq

Even if you allow for the possibility that Rick Warren was unaware of the SBC's commendation of the Church on Brady during the early 1990's, how could he not know what George Hunter III wrote in his book in 1997 when Warren's own church was included in that same book?

But Rick Warren isn't the only one offering up a revised history of the Church on Brady.

Monday Morning Insight

The Monday Morning Insight blog, January 17, 2008 by Todd Rhoades, has this post on a recent article by Erwin McManus featured in Christianity Today. http://mondaymorninginsight.com/index.php/site/comments/erwin_mcmanus_american_christians_are_incredibly_self_indulgent/

In the blog, Rhoades states:

McManus, whose church members’ average age is 25 years old, is known for breaking the “rules” of traditional church and applying spiritual creativity to engage and develop the next generation of Christian leaders. Since becoming lead pastor of Mosaic about a decade ago, McManus’ church membership has grown from about 300 adults to more than 3,000 adults. The historically Southern Baptist church also boasts over 40 different nationalities and is “packed” with artists such as musicians, writers and filmmakers.

Among the attendees are also 80-year-old members from the generation before McManus arrived, who are said to “root on” the younger generation of church members.

I have been told that there is actually about 10 senior citizens currently attending Sunday school classes at Mosaic of which I can personally name 5. Of the total, only about 3 or 4 of these senior citizens are in their eighties. If you include all the senior citizens at Mosaic, this would work out to 1 senior citizen per 300 adults at Mosaic. That's a lot of young people for these 10 senior citizens to "root on!"

The truth is that the majority of the senior citizens who once attended the original Church on Brady left for other churches soon after it's transition to Mosaic or have since passed on.

Remember readers, Mosaic shifted its ministry focus to concentrate on "“...the top 15% of innovators and early adopters often overlooked by most churches.” These "innovators and early adopters" tend to be young which is reflected in the fact that the average age for Mosaic attenders is 25.

Reference: CROnline, January 2007, "Profiles in Church Growth - Mosaic" by Dr. John N. Vaughan. The original page is no longer available but I found this cached page: http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:wceZJ7xLTvYJ:www.thecronline.com/mag_article.php%3Fmid%3D860%26mname%3DJanuary+Erwin+McManus,+New+Under+the+Sun&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=30&gl=us

So why all the revisions?

Is this just a case of misinformation being passed on without question?

In any case, once again, this blogger is left with a unpalatable taste in her mouth.

Yvonne W.

*For more about former Mosaic youth pastorRobbie Sortino please see my Solid Foods entry, "Broken People, Broken Pieces or a Broken Pastor," http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2007/09/broken-people-broken-pieces-or-broken.html

Erwin McManus: Awaken 2008

2007-12-27T09:35:00.000-08:00

"AWAKEN is more than a conference..."

The mystery surrounding Erwin McManus' "non-profit organization", Awaken, continues with the upcoming conference entitled:

Awaken 2008
http://awaken2008.com/

This three day "journey into the imagination of spiritual leaders" takes place April 1 - 3, 2008. It is being held at:

Mott Auditorium – William Carey University
1539 East Howard Street
Pasadena, CA 91104

This is the same address as Erwin McManus' home congregation, Mosaic, L.A.

Ticket prices for this event range from the "super early bird" special of $199 for groups of 10+ to $369 per person for those who miss the discount deadlines. You can purchase your ticket on-line or call the phone number provided for more information. To order online you must first set up an account.

Nowhere on the Awaken Conference website does it mention who will be receiving the ticket money for this event; Awaken or Mosaic.

I sent the following *email to the on-line ticket service provider:

I have a question about an event using your on-line ticket services.

Awaken Conference 2008 - Live Event
April 1-3, 2008
Mosaic Church
Host: Erwin McManus

Is this event being held by Mosaic church? What I would like to know is if the ticket money is going directly to Mosaic or to some other organization.

As a church, Mosaic is a tax exempt 501c3 under IRS regulations.

As a Calfornia corporation, Erwin McManus' company Awaken is not a tax exempt 501c3.

The website for the conference and the ticket- order pages connected to it do not indicate what organization will be receiving the money for this event.

Thank you for your time,

Yvonne W.
(I used my full name)

In addition to the ticket sales, I looked into who are the conference sponsors and exhibitors - http://www.awaken2008.com/sponsors/

Sponsors:

Mosaic Alliance - The Awaken website, http://awaken.org/, lists the Mosaic Alliance as being a part of Awaken.

Awaken - This is Erwin McManus' company which lists his literary agent as the Agent for Service of Process in it's incorporation paperwork.

Mosaic - The church, Mosaic, L.A.

CCN - Church Communication Network

Exhibitors:

SHE Community - This is the women's ministry of Mosaic, L.A.

As of December 27, 2007, [with the exception of CCN] there are no other sponsors/exhibitors for the Awaken 2008 conference apart from Awaken or Mosaic but the conference is still trying to recruit others.

"Your company, ministry or organization can connect with up to 2,000 ministry and community leaders at the Awaken 2008 Conference. Awaken 2008 sponsors and exhibitors will be situated in high-traffic areas of the Mosaic Community Campus."
http://www.awaken2008.com/sponsors/opportunities/index.html

Interestingly, the contact person for inquiries regarding sponsorship or exhibiting at this event has an email address from CCN. This was a bit of a surprise to me until I clicked on the icon to the CCN webpage http://www.ccn.tv/ and discovered that CCN has close ties to just about every speaker scheduled to appear at the Awaken 2008 conference.

So what is going on here?

Is "Awaken" a non-profit organization?

Is the Awaken 2008 conference an "Awaken" event or isn't it?

What is the relationship between "Awaken" and Mosaic?

"Awaken is more than a conference . . . "

*UPDATE

I just received this reply to my email:

Yvonne:

The organization hosting the event is Church
Communication Network (http://www.ccn.tv/). They will be
receiving the registration fees.

Jorin Slaybaugh
E-vent
Software, Inc.

I guess this explains the email address from CCN.

Yvonne W.

NEW

I've been thinking about the curious facts that CCN is receiving the ticket money for:

1. An event called Awaken 2008 hosted by Erwin McManus which looks very much like an Awaken event since it features the same corporate logo as Awaken and . . .

2. This event is being held on the campus of Mosaic, L.A.

What exactly does Awaken or Mosaic gain from this arrangement?

CCN is a for profit company. That's fine, I have no problem with that.

As far as I can tell Awaken appears to be operating as a "for profit" company despite the fact that Erwin McManus has called it a "non-profit" since it doesn't show up on the IRS publication 78 list for federally recognized 501c3 tax exempt organizations and it doesn't appear on the list of the California State Attorney General's Roster of Charitable Trusts.

As a church, Mosaic is automatically classified as a federally recognized 501c3, tax-exempt organization.

So . . .

A. Here we have a for profit organization (CCN) collecting ticket fees for an event

B. . . .which uses the corporate logo of another organization (for profit or non-profit?] and the event is hosted by the founder and president of this same (for profit or non-profit?) organization

C. . . . and the event is being held at the grounds of a third, non-profit organization.

Why?

I hope that Mosaic is at the very least collecting some type of rental fee for the use of it's facilities.

Awaken Humanity or Mosaic Ministry?

2007-12-05T09:51:00.000-08:00

Which is it?

The Mosaic Newsletter for December 2007 is now posted at http://mosaic.org/newsletter. Featured at the top of the newsletter is Mosaic's promo for:

AWAKEN HUMANITY - Mosaic 2008 Global Focus for Year-Round Giving and Action

GOAL: $150,000 to bring faith, love and hope to millions around the world!

Is Mosaic taking over for Awaken Humanity? Remember readers, Awaken Humanity, is registered as a non-profit corporation in the state of California. http://kepler.ss.ca.gov/list.html

As such, it is a wholly separate, legal entity from Mosaic.

Awaken Humanity is not yet recognized by the IRS as a tax exempt organization.

http://apps.irs.gov/app/pub78

Awaken Humanity is not listed with the California Attorney General's List of Charitable Trusts.

http://www.ag.ca.gov/charities/?PHPSESSID=49f54090f99113cd9f86c197c59f7a73

Oddly, this is the text at the Awaken Humanity webpage:

http://www.awaken.org/awaken-humanity

Awaken Humanity 15 Comments
Humanitarian Projects

“Awaken Humanity
2008″ - a chance to change the world with the gift of compassion and humanitarian service.

GOAL: $150,000 to bring faith, love and hope to
millions around the world!

So, which is it? Mosaic or Awaken Humanity? They both contain the same plea for money but with this marked difference:

The Mosaic Newsletter instructs donors "that all donations are tax deductible" and "please make out your check to "Mosaic" and indicate "Awaken Humanity" on the memo section or offering envelope.

The Awaken Humanity webpage states "all donations are tax deductible" but instructs donors to "please make checks payable to "Awaken" and indicate "Awaken Humanity" on the memo line and send to the Awaken offices at:

Awaken
1443 E. Washington Blvd. #659
Pasadena CA 91104-2650
*Note this is a mailing address and not an office
address.

The Awaken Humanity page also offers donors the option to give on-line through PayPal. I followed this link and found that it is still working under the PayPal banner "AwakenHumanity.org."

The Mosaic Newsletter includes the following sub-headings under Awaken Humanity - Mosaic 2008 Global Focus for Year-Round Giving and Action:

Awaken Africa: Zambia and North Africa

[The Newsletter states that "our Mosaic community will be focusing on alleviating suffering through aide to orphans and community development." The Newsletter mentions "Breath of Heaven Children's Village" and states that donations will "help support the building of a Mosaic home for these children.

Aide to North Africa consists of sending a "business team" to assist in creating entrepreneurial opportunities; supposedly for the needy.]

Awaken Asia and Middle East: China, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, Thailand, Lebanon

[This section includes an invitation to use one's talents and job skills in assisting Mosaic's Cross Cultural Workers (CCW's.) I don't know what "cross cultural workers" are, perhaps this is Mosaic's new name for "missionaries?" Donations will also be provided to Living Stones Village Orphanage in China for the handicapped and abandoned.]

Awaken Ensenada and Honduras

["Mosaic" has regularly sent service teams to Ensenada in the past. What is odd about this section is this rather mysterious bit of information: "Further south in Latin America, a new Mosaic opportunity is being created for our community to create entrepreneurial and educational opportunities for families living in the trash dumps of Honduras, and the city of Tegucigalpa destroyed by a hurricane in 1998."]

Mosaic Alliance Projects

[The Mosaic Alliance is listed under "Movement" at http://awaken.org/. The Mosaic Newsletter reveals that donations will "go towards starting churches and campuses in places such as Dusseldorf, Germany; Wellington, New Zealand and Southeast Africa.]

Awaken L.A.

[A new ministry, "ServeInland", joins "ServeLA."]

Awaken the World

"When moments of crisis occur, we plan to be ready to move and to serve. In the past, we have immediately sent a team to Rwanda in 1994, to Southeast Asia after the Tsunami, and to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, to name a few. We can continue to be a part of rapidly responding to meeting the needs in tangible ways through our donations and efforts through Awaken Humanity."

[The text here implies that Mosaic is planning to put together a "disaster response" team for global crises such as hurricanes, tsunamis and other disasters. Note the line: "We can continue to be a part of rapidly responding to meeting the needs in tangible ways through our donations and efforts through Awaken Humanity." Aside from the awkward wording, there is again the blurring of the lines between Mosaic and Awaken Humanity.]

In my earlier post "A Wake Up Call to Erwin McManus and Awaken" http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2007/05/wake-up-call-to-erwin-mcmanus-and.html I quoted from the original text at Awaken Humanity for 2007:

Awaken Humanity is a documentary film project dedicated to making a difference on the issues of poverty, HIV/AIDS, and human trafficking.Entitled “Things You Should Care About,” each film highlights a community or organization that is actively moving towards global change in their local community. Awaken Humanity strives to help people feel deeply about human suffering and become apart of a global force to bring about change.
[The paragraph above has been removed from the Awaken Humanity 2008 version.]

* * *
“Awaken Humanity 2007″ - a chance to change the world with the gift of compassion and humanitarian service.GOAL: $100,000 to bring faith, love and hope to millions around the world!
[The goal for 2008 has been raised to $150,000]
*AWAKEN AFRICA
Zambia and South Africa

Africa is in a state of unprecedented crisis. In response to the human and spiritual poverty that threatens to devastate an entire generation, Awaken Humanity will be focusing on village outreach, training local leadership as well as providing transportation for local leaders to travel to remote areas.

Breath of Heaven Children’s Village in Zambia cares for children orphaned by the impact of HIV/AIDS. Your donation helps support the shelter,health, education, and spiritual development each child deserves.

Informal Settlements in South Africa are concentrated areas with displaced inhabitants and orphans, the majority living with HIV/AIDS. Your contribution will enable community development, AIDS relief and care, along with leadership training for local leaders and church planters.
[South Africa has been replaced by North Africa in the 2008 version of Awaken Humanity. Emthonjeni, the non-profit organization featured in the video clip, is in South Africa.]

*AWAKEN L.A.

Los Angeles has its own battles with gang activity, drugs, alcohol and spiritual hunger. Awaken Humanity mobilizes service to the needy and disadvantaged living in Los Angeles. Gifts will be used to fund some of the following projects:
[That last line has been changed to read "your gifts help us meet strategic needs in our city." All of the charities below have been removed from the Awaken Humanity 2008 webpage:]

SEA (Soladad Enrichment Action) serves at-risk youth in a final effort to encourage graduation from high school. Awaken Humanity would like to fund 400 students (and all 14 schools eventually) to participate in Yelo, a course in “StrengthFinders” and character development, to help students discover and use their unique abilities.

Nightlight L.A. is an organization in Bangkok, Thailand, and Los Angeles committed to combating human trafficking and the exploitation of women and children through outreach, transformative healing, economic and educational opportunities. NightLight encourages involvement in advocacy and follow-up care for women and children by developing a public awareness of the physical, psychological, legal, and economic consequences of prostitution and trafficking.

Homeless Service is in cooperation and support with other agencies such as L.A. Mission and Union Rescue MissionClean and Sober provides assistance and support for those with life-dominating habits especially addiction to alcohol and drugs.

Neo-Underground Railroad encourages disadvantaged children and youth in South Los Angeles to experience and develop their abilities through a free creative arts and tutoring program.

Addition for 2008 version: The section below has been added.
*AWAKEN THE WORLD
When moments of crisis occur, we plan to be ready to move and to serve. In the past, we have immediately sent a team to Rwanda in 1994, to Southeast Asia after the Tsunami in 2004, and to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, to name a few. We can continue to be a part of rapidly responding to meeting the needs in tangible ways through our donations and efforts through Awaken Humanity.
[Except for minor changes, this is the same text that is repeated in the December 2007 Mosaic Newsletter.]

So what exactly is going on here?

What is the relationship between Mosaic and "Awaken Humanity?"

At the California Business Portal, http://kepler.ss.ca.gov/list.html, Mosaic's Executive Pastor Eric Bryant is listed as the Agent for Service of Process for the corporation Awaken Humanity. He is also the Vice President of Awaken Humanity.

The address listed for the corporation Awaken Humanity created on 4/20/2007 is the same address for Mosaic L.A. in McGavran Hall, Pasadena. Mosaic moved it's offices here from it's former address at 13200 Crossroads Parkway North in the City of Industry.

The active corporation AWAKEN lists as it's address: 13200 Crossroads Parkway North, City of Industry. The Agent for Service of Process is Sealy M. Yates, Erwin McManus' literary agent.

Which brings us back full circle to the question I've been asking for months:

What is the relationship between Mosaic and Erwin McManus' AWAKEN?

A Side Note:

Beneath the December 2008, Mosaic Newsletter headline for Awaken Humanity is this rather disturbing line:

This Christmas begins the Mosaic Global Focus for touching the world with the gift of Christ through humanitarian service and sacrificial donations. Join us in giving and/or going on a trip this year! Get more info at the Awaken Humanity table on Sunday or contact Janice Sakuma!

The phrase "sacrificial donations" should be familiar to all former members of the Church on Brady who participated in the "Believe the Impossible" capital fundraising campaign held at Los Angeles' Union Station on June 29, 1997. It was the phrase used by Erwin McManus to encourage those in attendance to donate money towards the goal of purchasing a new facility within the Los Angeles area to house the growing congregation.

That purchase never happened and a former member who asked for a refund of his donation was informed in an email sent from Mosaic that the BTI funds "have been spent." I subsequently learned that these funds were used to pay off the second mortgage on Inland Community Church in Chino, California. This church has been renamed Mosaic Inland.

Mosaic Inland is nowhere near "the Los Angeles area" and is a daughter congregation of Mosaic.

The former COB members I have been in contact with were never notified by Mosaic of it's plan to use the "Believe the Impossible" funds for a use other than what was originally intended.

Yvonne W.

Mc to Mc: Questions from an Irishman

2007-11-27T10:23:00.000-08:00

The Erwin McManus/Inland Community Church Connection

This past week I received some interesting (and completely unsolicitated) emails from a recent Erwin McManus conference attendee in Northern Ireland to my gmail account at yvonneneem@gmail.com. With the permission of the man who sent in these questions, I felt our "conversation" was worthy of sharing with my readers here at Solid Foods.

Emails from an Irishman:

Nov. 19
From Jonny M,

Hi was at a mens conference in Belfast, N Ireland on 17th Nov, just 2 days ago. As part of his presentation he said he had 2 million $ in the bank but just took on $5m of debt from some other organization. Maybe you could shed some light on this.Enjoyed your blog, he's a bit smoth for this Irishman!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nov. 20
Reply to Jonny M,

Thank you for your reply!

I don't know what conference this was (it's hard to keep up with everything) so I can't be sure what Erwin McManus was talking about but I do know that his church, Mosaic L.A., assumed a large debt when they bailed out Pastor Ralph Neighbor's Inland Community Church here in San Bernardino, California. Here is the excerpt about this from my post at Solid Foods - A Revisionist History of the Church on Brady?:

Sometime in February, 2007, the "Believe the Impossible" funds were used to pay off a second mortgage on the financially troubled Inland Community Church, one of the "daughter" churches of the original Church on Brady mentioned above. This property now belongs to Mosaic and has been renamed Mosaic Inland. It is still being used by the original "daughter" congregation. This property is located in San Bernardino County, a little more than 30 miles away from the original site on Brady Ave. in East L.A. and well beyond the original search parameters given to the donors at the fundraising banquet. Inland was floundering to survive after a scandal of it's own when it's parent church, Mosaic, decided to step in to help by paying off the second mortgage. From what I've heard, Inland is still struggling with low attendance.

I'm curious about something though, did Erwin say "he" had 2 million in the bank and took on 5 million in debt or did he say it was Mosaic that did this? Now that would be an interesting answer.

Thanks again for your response.

Yvonne W.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nov. 20
From Jonny M,

Hi Yvonne nice to hear from you, i wrote this mail after hours of research on Erwin McManus, it was pretty late and to the point, so if you don't mind i'll expand a bit. Heres a link to the conference I was at http://www.themandate.net/ , it's a one day event for men, about 4000 attended before i forget. So the main speaker was Erwin and between him and the praise band i came away really encouraged and uplifted. (Some background, I'm 32 married with 2 young kids, wouldn't say i'm a spiritual firebrand just an average guy, self employed and working every hour of daylight i can get! I come from quite a strict evangelical background with lots of strong Bible teaching, we attend a local Baptist church.) Anyway back to the subject, I bought his book barbarian way and was reading it before i left the building. I'm nearly finished it and was getting me really firedup. So i thought hold on, let's research this guy before I change the world single handidly. So i find maybe 80% of feedback on the net is negative. Then i found your website, you wouldn't be a part time detective by any chance!! the detail was amazing, so i'm thinking no smoke without a fire. So could you honestly give me an idea of what this guys reputation is like at home. I know the people i was with were really impressed by him but wouldn't be too happy if he was a fraud. Just how mixed up is he? Anyway if you can't answer these questions for reasons i don't need to know, i'll just keep reading your and others web sites. So before i finish, the bit about the money. An audio cd can be purchased form the website, the session was living the adventure part 3. This is where he said the church had $2m clear in the bank, but recently took on a debt of $7m, if i'm right that would leave $5m of debt. Did he say the church or his debt i'm not sure but the audio will tell. I feel kind of guilty saying all this now! Anyway reply soon and thanks for taking the time to reply in the first place

Jonathan Mc

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nov. 20
Reply to Jonny M,

Jonny M,

I believe that 7 million debt was incurred when Mosaic L.A. assumed the 2nd mortgage for Inland Community Church. As I wrote before, Mosaic assumed the debt as "a favor" to Inland and it's pastor Ralph Neighbor; who happens to be one of Erwin McManus's most vocal supporters.

What I find interesting is that now, just a few short months after assuming this debt, you inform me that Erwin has begun to speak about it during his conference talks. May I ask you a question? In what context was this topic presented? Was it mentioned in passing? Did Erwin seem to be complaining about the debt? Did he ever mention Inland Community Church?

The reason I ask is because this 2nd mortgage was taken out on a very valuable piece of real estate in the city of Chino, San Bernardino county, California. The original Inland Community Church congregation purchased the land and buildings under the assumption that the congregation would continue to grow and thus bring in new revenue to pay off the original debt but unfortunately those hopes were dashed and worse, the church ended up further in debt due to large legal fees AND lost members due to the scandal.

With rising real estate values here in California, I wonder if the land/buildings are worth more than the outstanding debt. If so, it might be highly profitable to sell Mosaic Inland rather than keep the ailing church alive. Remember, in his early days back in Texas, this is exactly the sort of thing Erwin McManus was known for. If this were to occur, where would the money go? Would it go towards the purchase of a more appropriately sized property for the congregation in Chino or would the money go into the general fund for Mosaic L.A.? Keep in mind what happened to the funds raised by the original congregation of the Church on Brady.

So what if Inland was sold, what then? The congregation would have the option of joining one of the many other Mosaic clones here in California but what would happen to Pastor Ralph Neighbor? If you'll take the time to continue to read my blog and those of other ex-Mosaic members (links are available at Solid Foods) you'll soon see that Erwin McManus has left a long trail of discarded coworkers behind him.

Yvonne W.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nov. 21
Sent to Jonny M,

Jonny M.,

I've enjoyed writing to you on the topic of Erwin McManus and Inland Community Church. Your emails regarding Erwin's recent remarks at the conference in Belfast has certainly sparked my curiosity about why this issue of "indebtedness" has suddenly become worthy of mention from the pulpit.

I plan to comment on this topic in my blog, Solid Foods, and would like to quote from these emails.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Yvonne W.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nov. 23
From Jonny M,

thanks for the mail, have been busy with work last couple of days. You can quote me in your blog no problem. The session where he talked about the debt was a q and a session from the audience just in case that makes any difference. He also talked about a small house they bought which turned out to be a landfill site unknown to them, but after various core samples on the last one they found good ground, kept the plot and were offered 3 times the amount for it, thought this may be of interest. He also expressed an interest in N Ireland, perhaps this was after the afternoon collection came to around $50000! Thanks

J McM

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nov. 23
Reply to Jonny M,

Jonny M,

Thanks for your permission to quote you in the blog and I really do appreciate the information.

I don't know anything about the house situation. He may have been speaking about a house he bought for his family but I wouldn't know anything about his personal finances. It is an interesting story though.

As to N. Ireland, I can't say what his interests are there either but I do know his Mosaic Alliance is growing and has many members in foreign countries all over the world.

Do you know what the $50,000 was raised for? Was it an honorarium for Erwin McManus himself or a donation to one of his organizations? (Mosaic or Awaken?) I'm a little curious as to where the money went.

Thanks again for reading my blog and responding.

Yvonne W.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To My Readers,

I had never heard the story about "the house on the toxic waste site" before but I've been told by people who attended Mosaic that this is a common anecdote told by Erwin McManus. Apparently, this incident happened back when Erwin was still in Texas (long before he came on as Pastor of the Church on Brady/Mosaic) and the piece of property in question was a vacant lot purchased by the congregation he was a part of. The property was bought without the precaution of an environmental study and when the congregation sought to build on it, the problem of toxic waste was discovered. This rendered the lot useless and a total economic loss since it could not be resold.

After waiting for a period of time (and several core samples later) the lot was eventually declared free of contamination and the congregation sold the property at a profit.

If anyone knows more about this story or has a correction, please add your input here in the comments section.

Yvonne W.

Fleeing Daylight?

2007-11-23T14:35:00.000-08:00

What happened to Awaken.Org?

As a regular part of my routine here at Solid Foods I check for broken links every now and then to ensure that my readers are able to access the same information sources I've used in compiling my reports on Erwin McManus, Awaken and Mosaic.

This past week I discovered what appear to be several broken links to Awaken.org.

Accessing http://awaken.org/ still takes you to the front page of the Awaken website but the drop down menus at the top of the page appear to have been removed. This means that from this page you can no longer access the sections entitled:

"Movement": Conferences and workshops such as the Origin's Project, Ethos, Yelo

"Imagination": Awaken Films, Wide Awake Records, Urban Poets

"Humanity": Awaken Humanity (the non-profit, humanitarian aide arm of Awaken)

"Village": International Mentoring Institute (founded by Erwin's brother, Alex McManus), IMPAC Services (a capital stewardship company once hired by Mosaic.)

"Resources": A place to purchase cds, dvds, books and other Erwin McManus related products.

Most of the guestions I have raised about "Awaken" were based on information gleaned from these areas of Awaken.org but thankfully only a few of the links I provided in my reports no longer work. For now, the links that still work may be the only way to access this information.

To My Readers:

If you discover a broken link, please drop me a line at yvonneneem@gmail.com. Include the link (cut and paste it directly into your email) and tell me which post it appears in so that I can comment on it or you can add a comment to the post in which the broken link appears. I would appreciate the extra eyes.

Thanks,

Yvonne W.

UPDATE: Well, it appears that whatever problem it was that Awaken.org was experiencing has been fixed. The missing subtitles are once again available for view.

Erwin McManus' Sky High Audience

2007-10-09T20:05:00.001-07:00

What's that up in the sky? It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's a radio ad!

This interesting bit of information recently appeared on Erwin McManus' "Awaken" website:http://awaken.org/

Listen to Erwin McManus speak on creativity, to be aired on Sky Radio on American Airlines flights in December 2007.

I had never heard of Sky Radio before so I did a little search for more information.

I found out that American Airlines is conducting a series of "interviews" for its in-flight radio broadcasts for the month of December, 2007 entitled "America's Innovators and Entrepreneurs."

This series of "interviews" will

. . . air worldwide on American Airlines' "FORTUNE In-Flight Radio" Channel during the entire month of December 2007.

Source: http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2007/07/26/inflight_newsta.html

Sounds impressive doesn't it?

WRONG.

Apparently, back in July, 2007, American Airlines sent out a large number of emails to potential "interviewees" offering to feature such people on their in-flight radio program.

The catch: the "interviewee" has to PAY for the privilege of being interviewed!

In other words, it's a SELF-PROMOTIONAL, PAID ADVERTISEMENT.

Check out this blog for a rather scathing commentary on this American Airlines tactic:

Freakonomics

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/07/27/what-an-honor-and-it-only-costs-3995/

For a more revealing look into this, check out this blog which includes the actual email that was sent out:

apophenia

http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2007/07/26/inflight_newsta.html

If Erwin McManus did in fact record an "interview" for the series, "America's Innovators and Entrepreneurs," then somebody shelled out at least $3,995 to pay for his spot.

I wonder who that was.

Yvonne W.

UPDATE: This "interview" is now available at: http://www.skyradionet.com/americansky.cfm

Broken People, Broken Pieces or a Broken Pastor?

2007-09-13T14:49:00.000-07:00

Erwin McManus’ Self-Censorship

Question:

Why did Erwin McManus alter a document copyrighted in 2000?

My first post here at Solid Foods, “A Revisionist History of the Church on Brady?” raised questions about the public statements Erwin Raphael McManus has made regarding the history of the church he inherited. This post will address a specific incident in which McManus appears to have altered a published document, presumably in reaction to the accusations of a former leader at Mosaic.

* In respect for the family’s privacy, I will not identify the former leader’s ex- wife by name in this article but will simply refer to her by her first initial. Unfortunately, I have no control over what has already been published on the internet by others.

Background

In February 2007, Robbie Sortino, a former youth pastor and pastor at Mosaic, under the leadership of Erwin McManus, published a blog in which he raised serious questions about his former leader.

In the blog,

http://truthdiscovery.blogspot.com/

Robbie Sortino alleges that there have been many people that Erwin McManus has rejected, manipulated and abandoned. In addition, he states that Erwin McManus has created a community with an ethos of emotional and spiritual abuse.

My Search

In an attempt to find any independent evidence that might verify Robbie Sortino's claims I conducted an internet search on March 5, 2007.

That search revealed the following article,

“Broken People Can Become Whole Disciples.” Erwin McManus, Christianity Today International/Leadership Journal, Spring 2000, Vol. XXI, No. 2, Page 48 [The publisher identifies this article as a “Bible study.”]

Direct Link:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/biblestudies/areas/biblestudies/articles/040916.html

Google cached link:

http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:OKsLNoNfxHwJ:www.christianitytoday.com/biblestudies/areas/biblestudies/articles/040916.html+broken+people+can+become+whole+disciples&hl=en&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us
[NOTE: I have included the cached link because at the time when I first wrote this post the original suddenly became “unavailable. " I have a copy of the article on file here at Solid Foods.]

In the article, McManus uses the example of “Sarah” as an illustration:

Excerpt:

The challenge for today's church is how to make whole disciples out of broken people. Some people’s brokenness is obvious. Abuse or abandonment has left scars. With others, beautiful exteriors have been carefully crafted to hide what no one really wants to see anyway. Sometimes only their eyes betray them. Or the unsteadiness in the voice, or the almost unnoticeable trembling of the hands.

That was Sarah's case. Who would guess this young wife with two children had just had a lesbian affair? Sarah's infidelity masked a deeper internal fragmentation. How could her husband Michael have known that his emotional inaccessibility would lead to this kind of alienation? Though he loved Sarah deeply, his own background made the prospect of intimacy something he feared almost more than abandonment. Their marriage was fragile, their future uncertain.

Can you make disciples of such people? The road was difficult, but now, 10 years later, Michael and Sarah have a strong marriage and a ministry to others. The ingredient critical to this story is the role of the local church.

At the end of the article McManus writes:

Like Michael and Sarah, Robbie and M*(see above) remind me of God's power to make us whole. Gifted and talented, they could serve as poster children for human potential. Yet, especially for Robbie, a pain-filled childhood and rebellious adolescence left him emotionally broken. Coming on staff prematurely, he had to work out much of his struggles while in the heat of vocational ministry.

I was the brand new senior pastor and he was the home-grown youth pastor. Our first year was tense. Here was a young man who had at one time flipped his car out of control on the highway in an attempt to end his life. Every Christmas he would struggle with depression. From his youth Robbie's heart had been filled with violence and anger. The product of divorce, he hardened his heart to survive, and now he needed that heart tender to serve others effectively. He saw anyone who worked for "the institution" as the enemy, and that included me.

At times I wondered if the past would haunt him forever. It took a lot of prayer and patience to earn his trust and respect, but over time, in community, we saw him shift from building his future through power and intellect to humility and gratitude.
We probably fought every week for two years, and I can't tell you how many times I wanted to dismiss him just for irritating me. Yet today he is one of my greatest friends and there are few people I trust as much.I don't know anyone who works so hard to serve others. No matter how many times he makes a mistake, he is always there seeking forgiveness and making things right. He and M are the kind of models I hope my children emulate. Now, six years later, Robbie is the lead pastor for one of our most promising church plants. There are many like Robbie and M at Mosaic. Our leadership is made up of broken people who have become whole disciples.

Follow Up Internet Search

An internet search I conducted on March 19, 2007 revealed that the original bible study which appeared on Christianity Today International/Leadership Journal website was “no longer available.” Keep in mind, the article was printed in the hard copy issues of this publication, removing or "altering" its content electronically, on-line, does not erase the existence of the original article.

SPECIAL NOTE: Erwin McManus is a contributing editor to Leadership Journal This is the same branch of Christianity Today which published Erwin McManus' article, "Broken People Can Become Whole Disciples."

An article with the title, “Broken Pieces” has appeared at: http://erwinmcmanus.com/broken-pieces, The Official Erwin McManus website. The text of this article is almost identical to the previously published article.

What is similar:

The most significant challenge for today’s church is how to make whole disciples out of broken people. From my vantage point as pastor of an urban church, abuse, pain, and abandonment are the recurring themes of our contemporary society. Some people’s brokenness is obvious. With others, beautiful exteriors have been carefully crafted to hide what no one really wants to see anyway. Sometimes only their eyes betray them. Except when the conversation begins. Then it’s the unsteadiness in their voice, or the almost unnoticeable trembling of their hands.

That was Sarah’s case. Who would ever guess this young wife with two children just had a lesbian affair? How could her husband Michael have known that his emotional inaccessibility and distance would result in this kind of alienation? Though he loved Sarah deeply, his own brokenness made the prospect of intimacy something he feared almost more than abandonment. For Sarah her infidelity unveiled a deeper fragmentation of her personal identity. Their marriage was at best fragile–their future uncertain.

How can you make disciples of such people?The road to healing and recovery was difficult, but now, ten years later, Michael and Sarah have a strong marriage and a far-reaching ministry. The ingredient critical to this story is the role of the local church in the process of life change.

What has changed:

In the section of the article ironically subtitled “Integrity Comes Through Humility” the paragraphs concerning Robbie Sortino and M have now been omitted. In addition to these omissions, large sections of the original text have also been revised

The Real Sarah and Michael

When contacted about the identities of Sarah and Michael; Pastor Robert Martinez (A former pastor and elder at Mosaic, Los Angeles) stated that, “he could not recall any such persons,” and that he was struck by the detailed similarities between their story and that of the Sortino’s. He believes the story McManus tells about Sarah and Michael is in reality the true story of Robbie Sortino and his ex-wife M.

When Robbie Sortino was asked if he or his ex-wife had ever granted Erwin McManus permission to print their story in his writings, Robbie Sortino’s answer was, “ABSOLUTELY NOT!”

FACT:

Mr. McManus altered a document that has been available to the public for 7 years just one month after Robbie Sortino’s allegations appeared on the internet.

QUESTIONS:

Was this done to avoid a possible lawsuit?

Why would any pastor choose to publicize the details of such intimate, painful, real life crises experienced by a member of his own staff as an example in an article?

Why would a pastor do so without the permission of those involved?

Is this how Erwin McManus treats those whom he describes as "one of my greatest friends;" one of the " few people I trust as much?"

Maybe a partial answer to these questions can be found at the end of “Broken People Can Become Whole Disciples.”

In McManus’ own words:

Brokenness can be the result of many things—abuse, neglect, abandonment, trauma, or sin. We could be either victim or victimizer. Most often we have a dual role.

Hurt people hurt people.

Yvonne W.

(My editorial comments in this post were reviewed and approved by Robbie Sortino.)

IMPORTANT UPDATE

The revised article, “Broken Pieces” has disappeared from: http://erwinmcmanus.com/broken-pieces, The Official Erwin McManus website.

I located another source for the original, unedited, version of "Broken People Can Become Whole Disciples." It was reprinted in Catalyst 2005:

http://209.168.235.4/Newsletters/catalyst/Full/default.aspx?article_id=4

Shining Daylight on Erwin McManus' Awaken 4

2007-09-05T18:19:00.000-07:00

PART FOUR

Awaken Humanity

Update On The Awaken Humanity Music Festival

On May 13,2007, Mosaic and Awaken sponsored the Awaken Humanity Music Festival at the Mayan Club in Los Angeles.

This concert was promoted as a fundraiser "in support of both children and mothers in need."

The actual text from the online promotion of this event at http://awakenhumanityfestival.org/thecause states that proceeds from the concert will go towards:

Awaken Africa

*Healthcare initiatives
*A women's conference
*Developing a children's village (Breath of Heaven Children's Village)

Awaken Los Angeles

*Nightlight
*Homeless Service (specifically mentions Union Rescue Mission and L.A. Mission)
*Neo-Underground Railroad

Almost 4 months later there has been no update from either Mosaic, Awaken, or Awaken Humanity (a new, non-profit corporation created on April 20, 2007.)

As I pointed out in part three of this series, Mosaic has posted an interesting breakdown of how the monies raised for Awaken Humanity's "$100,000 goal" fundraising campaign was distributed.

An accounting for the money raised from concert goers to the Awaken Humanity Music Festival was conspicuously absent from that breakdown.

I have the following questions for Awaken Humanity (or Mosaic or Awaken):

1. Exactly how much money did the Awaken Humanity Music Festival take in? (Gross and net)

2. What percentage of that money was used for charitable purposes and what percentage went towards operating costs, etc?

3. Of the money that was available for charitable purposes, how was this money divided among the various causes?

4. Please define "healthcare initiatives?" Where those initiatives in the USA or Africa?

5. What was the name of the "women's conference." Who sponsored this conference and what was it's purpose?

6. Since the name, L.A. Mission, was not included in the Mosaic newsletter, did it still receive a portion of the proceeds from the concert?

7. Since the name, Union Rescue Mission, is now included in a separate section of the Mosaic newsletter apart from Awaken Humanity, did it still receive a portion of the proceeds from the concert?

In my previous post, Answering A Critic, I gave my response to NameCritic regarding his criticism of my questions regarding the distinction between "all proceeds" and "extra proceeds." I would like to add to that response by pointing out the following bit of information from the Awaken Humanity Music Festival MySpace webpage: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=182148849

100% of all donations go to the following causes . . .

So now the guestion is: Which of these is correct, "all", "extra" or "100%" ?

I would also like to point out that the internal links (found in the blue box under the heading: Awaken Humanity Festival-Los Angeles-Mother's Day Interests) have now been disabled.

I commented on these links in my previous post on the Awaken Humanity Music Festival, http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2007/05/awaken-humanity-music-festival.html [Scroll down to "A Brief Follow Up."]

These are the same links that Matt Thomas defended in his comment on the same page:

Wow you really have done some research haven't you. I'm impressed that your so detailed. I see how you were trying to prove a point, but that whole section on myspace is a tad far fetched. I added all those people, and to be honest I was totally cool with people showing up with different values(and they did). That was actually one of the key points to the event. So good job, lol. Anyway, good luck with your search for drama.
Matt Thomas

Mr. Thomas,

If you were so "totally cool" with those links, then why did you remove them?

This interesting blog by Serena Leslie, a concert participant, can be found at:
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=149523643&blogID=262753232

May 9, 2007 - Wednesday

AWAKEN HUMANITY MUSIC FESTIVAL Awaken Humanity Music festival to be hled this Sunday May 13th at The Mayan Theater. Many different tpes of music, and if that's not ebough to convence you, I am going to be singing a lil som'in som'in around 6pm. Suggested Donation of $10, and it starts at 4pm and goes on till the morning! Come out and Support a good cause. PLus I myself am trying to raise money to go to West Africa through Awaken Humanty and don't know yet if we will be fundrasing there or not, but there are many ways to help my team out, including donating money.

Here is an interesting "eye-witness" account of the Awaken Humanity Music Festival from a another member of one of the participating bands: http://aaronivey.wordpress.com/tag/ministry/ (Scroll down to "Ministry in the South")

Excerpts from: Aaron Ivey, May 15, 2007

. . . the Awaken Humanity Festival was hosted by Mosaic Church, but it was very non-religious. (and i use that term in a good way). we were really the only “Christian music” at the festival. alot of bands that probably weren’t believers were on the bill. thousands of people our age from all sorts of careers, lifestyles, backgrounds, religions attended the festival.

no gospel tracts passed out. no one “shared the gospel” from a stage. no one was asked to recite a prayer. there was no evangelist given the 9:30pm time slot. i didnt see any “Jesus Got ‘Er Done” shirts. no one sold any JESUS JUNK at product tables. and in the end, i wonder if simply letting God do HIS THING in and through the conversations, the music, the company, the art… well, i wonder if that is more effective in the end?

it definitely resonates more with my thoughts on what Jesus would have done if he would have physically been downtown at the Mayan Sunday night."

So what kind of concert was the Awaken Humanity Music Festival and who did it benefit?

Was it a fundraiser for mothers and children in need?

Was it a fun way to network with people "of different values?"

Was it a way for people to raise money for their personal mission trips to Africa?

Or was it a way for "God to do His thing;" (without ever being mentioned.)

I'll let you, the reader, decide.

Yvonne W.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: The Mosaic newsletter for September no longer includes the financial information it published in its August issue.

I have a copy of the August newsletter on file here at Solid Foods.

Yvonne W.

Shining Daylight on Erwin McManus' Awaken 3

2007-09-03T12:04:00.000-07:00

PART THREE

Continued from previous post.

4. Awaken Humanity

In my previous posts "Non-Profit or Non-Existent?", "A Wake Up Call to Erwin McManus and Awaken," "The Awaken Humanity Music Festival" and parts one and two of "Shining Daylight on Erwin McManus' Awaken", I have commented on the text under "Awaken Humanity" at http://www.awaken.org/awaken-humanity

While the original text at this page remains untouched, the official Mosaic newsletter http://mosaic.org/newsletter reveals some significant changes in both content and language.

Awaken Humanity: Then and Now

Text of the original Awaken Humanity website’s appeal for donations compared to the updated (in green) information posted on Mosaic’s newsletter.

(Humanity) the quality of being humane
Awaken Humanity is a documentary film project dedicated to making a difference on the issues of poverty, HIV/AIDS, and human trafficking. Entitled “Things You Should Care About,” each film highlights a community or organization that is actively moving towards global change in their local community. Awaken Humanity strives to help people feel deeply about human suffering and become apart of a global force to bring about change.

[The newsletter does not mention any type of film project connected with Awaken Humanity, however; Mosaic now claims to have its own “Mosaic Films” department with a separate entry on the newsletter.]

“Awaken Humanity 2007″ - a chance to change the world with the gift of compassion and humanitarian service.

Awaken Humanity: Mosaic 2007 Global Focus for Year Round Giving and Action

GOAL: $100,000 to bring faith, love and hope to millions around the world!

So far this year we have raised $118,519.09!

Our original goal of $100,000.00 has been met

AWAKEN AFRICA
Zambia and South Africa

AWAKEN AFRICA $40,412.69
Zambia and South Africa

. . . providing transportation for local leaders to travel to remote areas.

Providing a boat for transportation of local teams to remote, unreached areas
[As written, this sentence is still ambiguous as to whether or not a boat was actually provided.]

Breath of Heaven Children’s Village in Zambia

Primary purposes: Breath of Heaven Children’s Village in Zambia
[The newsletter does not mention the exact amount of the donation given to this cause.]

Informal Settlements in South Africa

Informal Settlements in South Africa
[This is all that is mentioned. No precise amount is mentioned. Emthonjeni (whose name is featured in the video clip at Awaken Humanity) is sponsored by Mosaiek church in South Africa.]

AWAKEN L.A.
Gifts will be used to fund some of the following projects:

AWAKEN L.A. $2,710.00
Local Influence
[No longer mentions the word "fund."]

SEA (Soladad Enrichment Action)
Awaken Humanity would like to fund 400 students (and all 14 schools eventually) to participate in Yelo, a course in “StrengthFinders” and character development, to help students discover and use their unique abilities.

Yelo with SEA
[No further info given. Note: “Yelo with SEA." Keep in mind, I was told by SEA that they were trying to create a matching funds arrangement with Awaken Humanity to provide Yelo to its students.]

Nightlight L.A.

Nightlight L.A. (Human trafficking)
No further information on this charity is mentioned in the Mosaic newsletter. No specific amount mentioned.

Homeless Service is in cooperation and support with other agencies such as L.A. Mission and Union Rescue Mission

Homeless Ministries
There is no longer any mention of the L.A. Mission. No breakdown given on what amounts were donated to which organizations.

Important Note: Mosaic’s newsletter now includes a separate section entitled: serveLA where it claims to be teaming with the following organizations and churches: Union Station Foundation, Union Rescue Mission and First Baptist Church of West Los Angeles

Question: Since these agencies are listed under a separate category and not under Awaken Humanity does this mean they are excluded from receiving a portion of the funds raised during the Awaken Humanity campaign?

Clean and Sober

Clean and Sober
No amount mentioned.

Neo-Underground Railroad

Neo-Underground Railroad
No amount mentioned.

NOTE: The following information is given at the Awaken Humanity webpage:

*All donations are tax deductible. Please make checks payable to “Awaken” and indicate “Awaken Humanity” on the memo line and send to the Awaken offices at:

Awaken
1443 E. Washington Blvd. #659
Pasadena, CA 91104-2650
*Note this is a mailing address and not an office address.

Or, give online with the link below. Donations will be distributed according to the need of each area.

The Mosaic newsletter lumps all of the above under the banner “Awaken Humanity: Mosaic 2007 Global Focus for Year Round Giving and Action”

The new contact person for Awaken Humanity is Janice Sakuma, Janice@mosaic.org, not Eric Bryant, Awaken Humanity's Vice President.

The focus of Awaken Humanity appears to have shifted from a one time giving campaign with a goal of $100,000 to:

You have exceeded our expectations, let’s continue to support these amazing projects as giving will continue year-round and projects will be reviewed and updated in October.

New Additions

The newsletter break down of the monies raised for Awaken Humanity includes the following additions not listed in its original fundraising appeal:

Awaken Humanity General: $68,828.40

Your giving has allowed for the Mosaic community to support the projects listed to the right, as well as assist our overseas workers to continue to expand the Kingdom of God.

[Questions: Since Awaken Humanity General has retained the lion’s share of the money that was raised, why is there no breakdown on how this money is going to be spent? For instance: just how much of this general fund is going towards supporting overseas workers?

What happened to the “film project?”]

Awaken Europe $2,300.00
Reaching major cities of influence

Primary purposes: Mosaic Dusseldorf, Germany

Mosaic Paris, France

Teams in Dublin, Ireland and Zurich, Switzerland

Global Leadership Conference: $4,268,00

Assisting, Training and Supporting our Overseas Workers
Primary Purposes: Overseas workers covering Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Middle East, Africa, Europe and South Africa

Breakdown on the Money

What was originally asked for:

Awaken Africa: $40,412.69

This amount was somehow divided three ways between:

1. Breath of Heaven Children’s Village“
2. Informal Settlements in South Africa” (Emthonjeni)
3. The purchase of a boat.

Consider this, if the amount given to these three causes was divided equally this would amount to: $13,470.89 for each cause.

Awaken L.A. $2,710.00

This amount was somehow divided between:

1. Nightlight L.A.
2. Homeless Ministries
Union Rescue Mission
L.A. Mission
3. Neo-Underground Railroad
4. SEA
5. Clean and Sober

Divided 5 ways this amounts to

$542 for each cause.

Breaking it down further to list the Union Rescue Mission and L.A. Mission separately the total amount for all six causes comes to: $451.66 for each cause

According to the breakdown listed on Mosaic’s own newsletter, Awaken Humanity may have reached its “fundraising goal” of raising $100,000 but in reality only $43,122.69 has been allocated for the causes Awaken Humanity listed in its original fundraising materials.

What happened to the rest of the money?

The following projects were not mentioned in the original Awaken Humanity fundraising appeal:

Awaken Europe: $2,300.00

1. Mosaic Dusseldorf, Germany (A part of the Mosaic Alliance)
2. Mosaic Paris, France
3. Teams in Dublin, Ireland and Zurich, Switzerland {No breakdown given on these teams}

Divided three ways, the amount for each cause is: $766.66

Global Leadership Conference: $4,268.00

Assisting, Training and Supporting our Overseas Workers
Primary Purposes: Overseas workers covering Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Middle East, Africa, Europe and South Africa

[What does this mean? What conference is being referred to? Was this money spent on operating costs for a conference?]

Awaken Humanity General fund: $68,828.40

Your giving has allowed for the Mosaic community to support the projects listed to the right, as well as assist our overseas workers to continue to expand the Kingdom of God.

[Again, what does this mean: “assist our overseas workers” and why is this point listed under two different categories?]

Final Comments on Part Three

According to the update given in the Mosaic newsletter, Awaken Humanity achieved its fundraising goal of $100,000. Keep in mind that Awaken Humanity is a separate, corporate entity registered in the State of California and that Eric Bryant assured me that it would be filing with the IRS for 501c3 status sometime during the summer of 2007.

As a separate, non-profit corporation, why didn't Awaken Humanity post this update on its fundraising activities under its own name?

According to the numbers provided by Mosaic, less than half of the $100,000 raised for Awaken Humanity was actually spent on the charitable purposes/organizations designated in the original appeal for money.

The majority of the money, $68,828.40 , went into a "general fund' that was never mentioned in the original fundraising appeal.

An additional $2,300.00 (not mentioned in the original appeal) was spent on "Awaken Europe."

An additional $4,268.00 (not mentioned in the original appeal) was spent on a "Global Leadership Conference."

Added together, these expenses come out to $75,396.40.

Total money raised was:

$118,519.09 -

$100,000.00 (Original goal)

= $18,519.09 surplus.

If the surplus amount raised above the original goal of $100,000.00 was only $18,519 and a total of $75,396.40 was designated to a general fund, Awaken Europe and a Global Leadership Conference this means that:

$56,877.31

was taken from the original Awaken Humanity fundraising goal to fund projects other than those listed in the original fundraising appeal.

I believe this answers the question posed by Yvonne Napoleon of the Neo-Underground Railroad when she wrote this comment:

Does this mean Awaken is raising funds for some main project and whatever is leftover will be given to the other charities?

I will have more on the Awaken Humanity Music Festival in Part Four.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: The Mosaic newsletter for September no longer includes the financial information it published in its August issue.

I have a copy of the August newsletter on file here at Solid Foods.

Yvonne W.

Shining Daylight on Erwin McManus' Awaken 2

2007-09-02T16:35:00.000-07:00

PART TWO

On April 7, 2000, I began to report on an organization calling itself Awaken in my post "Non-Profit or Non-Existent?" http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2007_04_01_archive.html

Since writing that post I have discovered 4 different "Awakens" with ties to Erwin McManus and his church Mosaic, L.A. All of these Awakens are official corporations with the State of California but two of them, Awaken Center for Creativity and Awaken International are currently listed under a suspended status with the California Business Portal.

The other two Awakens, Awaken and Awaken Humanity are listed in good standing.

Part Two of this series, Shining Daylight on Erwin McManus' Awaken, will focus on these latter corporations. I will also report on changes that have been made to the official Mosaic webpage since I began my reports in April.

Awaken

In an interview with Infuze Magazine, http://www.infuzemag.com/interviews/books/erwin_mcmanus/
Erwin McManus gave his description of what Awaken is and mentioned it is composed of 4 parts:

Awaken Films
Wide Awake Records
The Mosaic Alliance
*Awaken Humanity

*Due to it's separate, corporate identity, I will discuss Awaken Humanity last.

1. Awaken Films http://www.awaken.org/films

AWAKEN FILMS is an independent production company creating provocative entertainment and commercial cinema.

ChristianCinema.com has this blurb about the latest offering from "Erwin McManus and Awaken:" http://www.christiancinema.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1807

Best-selling author and pastor of Mosaic Church in downtown Los Angeles, Erwin McManus releases Crave - a new series of short films created by Mosaic's own Awaken Films that corresponds to themes outlined in Erwin's latest best-selling book Soul Cravings (Thomas Nelson).As founder of Awaken, McManus has collaborated with a team of dreamers and innovators creating this stunning new series of short films that communicate spiritual truth in a revolutionary new way. Crave uses the visual storytelling medium of film to reveal the hidden mysteries that permeate the soul. Tapping some of Hollywood's brightest writers, directors, and actors, these films tell stories that can be used in either church or small group setting. Each film features an intro from McManus and a short message on the theme of the film.

ChristianCinema.com goes on to list the 3 short films entitled: Nameless Moment, Popstar and Midnight Clear. ChristianCinema.com states that the "Public Performance Rights" belong to Awaken and that this series is produced by Awaken.

Your Music Zone, http://www.yourmusiczone.com/go/ymz/news_more/erwin_mcmanus_introduces_short_film_series_crave_june_5th/
has this to say about Erwin McManus' DVD series Crave:

Erwin McManus Introduces Short Film Series, Crave, June 5th
Publish Date: May 29, 2007

Best-selling author and pastor of Mosaic in Los Angeles, Erwin Raphael McManus releases Crave, a new short film series created by Awaken and Indelible Creative Group. The three-disc box set is inspired by themes from McManus’ latest book, Soul Cravings.

Awaken holds the copyrights to Mosaic's videoblogs and podcasts: http://www.mefeedia.com/feeds/20011/
http://mefeedia.com/tags/mosaic/

At the official website for Awaken, http://www.mosaic.org/resources, one can purchase original short films and message bumpers.

Is Awaken Films and "independent production company?"

I have been unable to find a listing for Awaken Films at the California Business Portal: http://kepler.sos.ca.gov/list.html. It does not appear as a corporation or LLC.

There is also no listing for Indelible Creative Group as either a corporation or LLC in California.

Eventually, I found this information on Indelible Creative Group at its online store: http://indelibleonlinestore.com/contact-us.aspx

Contact Indelible Creative Group

E-mail: info@indelibleonline.com

436 Main Street Suite 205Franklin, TN 37064

Phone: 615-791-4131

A search of the Tennessee Business Information Search website:http://www.tennesseeanytime.org/soscorp/ revealed that Indelible Creative Group is a "for profit" LLC.

An odd change at Mosaic

The Mosaic newsletter for August 07, http://www.mosaic.org/newsletter, now includes this curious bit of information:

Like to direct, produce, write or shoot films and videos? Want to connect with other people in the industry and gain experience on fun and meaningful shoots? The Mosaic film team meets together on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of every month! Join them! Visit www.mosaic.org/films

Why would Mosaic need its own film team when its production needs are already being met by Awaken?

2. Wide Awake Records http://www.awaken.org/music

The page for Wide Awake Records contains only two items, one is a promo for the band Prague and the other is an advertisement for the Awaken Humanity Music Festival.

Prague has disbanded. http://www.myspace.com/praguerock

This cached page http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:u9PPPYWBrpwJ:www.nexhit.com/track.asp%3Fid%3D328780+%22Wide+Awake+Records%22&hl=en&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;ct=clnk&cd=14&gl=us shows "Wide Awake Records" as both producer and copyright holder for Prague's debut album of the same name.

Individual songs from this album can be purchased through Walmart: http://musicdownloads.walmart.com/catalog/servlet/AlbumServlet;jsessionid=GYQQLKtBHW6P2sqPpFkhpghmLj74VDT13Bwf3XnYLFKT8ffp7cCh!1863663573?id=187777. Note the produced by/copyright for Wide Awake Records.

After much searching I discovered that Mervin Lei is the producer for Wide Awake Records. http://www.linkedin.com/pub/1/862/6b9 Clicking on the internal link at this site for Wide Awake Records returns the viewer to the official Awaken webpage at http://www.awaken.org/

I have found another recording artist named Ski Johnson who lists Wide Awake Records as his record label but I have yet to confirm that this is the same one associated with McManus' Wide Awake Records.

Ski Johnson
Barnes and Nobel lists Wide Awake Records label http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?r=1&ean=825346166322
Vox Pop Records lists "Sensitivity" by Ski Johnson - Label: Wide Awake http://www.netsoundsmusic.com/nsudsii/2/310044166/1138/2.html

Wide Awake Records producer Mervin Lei has posted several photos of the band Til June: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mervinlei/ but it is unclear whether this band is signed under the Wide Awake Records label.

To date, this is all the information I have on Wide Awake Records.

Does Wide Awake Records have any other recording artists under its label?

I have already discussed the Awaken Humanity Music Festival in a previous blog but will continue this topic under 4. Awaken Humanity.

3. The Mosaic Alliance: http://www.mosaicalliance.com/

According to Erwin McManus', the Mosaic Alliance is part of his non-profit organization Awaken. (See interview with Infuze Magazine: http://www.infuzemag.com/interviews/books/erwin_mcmanus/ )

Interestingly enough, when one clicks on the "connect" link to join the Mosaic Alliance you are directed to an Acteva site that features the Mosaic logo with a small "Awaken" banner at the top. http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=116793

If the Mosaic Alliance is under Awaken, and Awaken is a separate non-profit, why is the Mosaic logo shown?

Which organization receives the money collected to join the alliance?

The following names are listed under the contact information for the Mosaic Alliance: http://www.mosaicalliance.com/contact

Contact
For questions in regards to the Alliance, Church Planting, or
other related matters, please contact:

Steve Saccone, National Mosaic
Alliance Catalyst, at steve@mosaic.org

Neil Nakamoto, International Mosaic Alliance Catalyst, at neil@mosaic.org
Rick Yamamoto, Strategist, at rick@mosaic.org

For questions
regarding the Mosaic Alliance website and technical issues, please
contact: Alan Luu, Webmaster, at webmaster@mosaic.org

Mosaic.org? What exactly is the relationship between Awaken, the Mosaic Alliance and Mosaic?

Planting a Mosaic Church: http://mosaicalliance.com/planting.html

This is very odd.

If you would like to plant a Mosaic in your community and/or be listed as one of the Mosaic church plants, there are a few requirements.

There are 6 requirements for planting a Mosaic church:

1.) You must sign up and pay the fee for becoming a level 2 [$200 annual fee] or level 3 member [$200 + 5% of your annual budget] of the Mosaic Alliance.

2.) You are required to send 2 character references. [Forms are provided]

3.) You must attend at least one conference. Whose conference? Awaken's or Mosaic? Or are they all the same thing?

These are the conferences listed under "movement" at Awaken.org:

The Origins Project http://www.theoriginsproject.org/

AWAKEN Presents…ORIGINS CHARLOTTE 2007

In 2007, Awaken and Mosaic brings the Origins Experience to Charlotte, North Carolina!

Ethos http://www.awaken.org/ethos06

AWAKEN Presents…ETHOS NY 2006 - The Fuel of Movement

Note that the advertisment says "Register online at www.awakenhumanity.org/ethos

Yelo http://yelo.awaken.org/

yelō is an Awaken event that focuses on unleashing your creativity, elevating your influence, challenging your character, and maximizing your leadership potential.

4.) You must ascribe to Mosaic's core values in some way.

Again, what is the relationship between Awaken and Mosaic?

5.) You must schedule a telephone conversation to "dialogue further about the possibilities."

6.) Attend a 4 day Church Planters Assessment Workshop.

One last time, what exactly is the relationship between Awaken (the corporation which lists Sealy M. Yates as the Agent for Service of Process) and Mosaic, L.A.?

To be continued in Part Three.

Yvonne W.

Answering A Critic

2007-08-20T18:00:00.000-07:00

On August 16, 2007, the following comment regarding my post on the Awaken Humanity Music Festival was sent to my Gmail account by someone called "NameCritic." Given the nature of this particular comment, I felt it deserved a full post response.

The email from NameCritic:

You know you are a drama queen right? I'm a member of Mosaic Miami and we also have concerts that include artists that are not "christian artists."

Traditional churches preach to believers. Mosaic delivers God's message to nonbelievers as well. Kind of like Jesus did. Instead of MySpace, research the bible.

As far as "extra proceeds" is concerned. Have you ever put on a charity event? I have. Hundreds of them.

There are COSTS involved in holding any event. Once the costs are covered the "extra proceeds" then go to the charitable purpose intended.

Really, you need to get a life. Or better yet, attend some Mosaic events. Nonbelievers are welcome to attend.

NameCritic

My Response:

"NameCritic", (Chris McElroy right?)

In Gmail, your name shows up as a link which provided me with your blogger ID ending in the numbers 4657.

Your blog is: "Belong, Believe, Become," http://mosaicmiami.blogspot.com/,
a blog about Mosaic Miami. Judging by the level of sophistication displayed in this blog I find it a little hard to believe that you are just "a member" of Mosaic Miami.

Drama Queen

When I was a member of the Church on Brady/Mosaic, L.A. I was also a member of the drama team. I never got to play the role of a queen but I did get to play Pharoah's daughter so I quess one could say I've been a "drama princess."

Christian vs. Non-christian bands

As to your comment regarding holding concerts with non-christian artists in the line up: I have no problem with secular concerts, I've gone to hear groups play based on the simple fact that I enjoyed the music. I also have no problem with christian and non-christian bands playing together in the same lineup.

In the case of the Awaken Humanity Music Festival, the event was advertised as a "christian concert" by at least one promotor and it was well known that Mosaic CHURCH was the sponsor. Given these facts, I find it more than a little disturbing that a band calling itself "Devil Dust" was in the line up, especially after I viewed the website for this band. The fact that most of the bands in the line up were not christian wasn't made clear to the public. This is the point I wanted to emphasize in my previous post. I wonder if some of the people who attended the concert would have done so had they known the exact nature of the bands who would be playing.

Traditional churches

I do agree with your comment that "traditional churches preach to believers." What I disagree with is your implication that this is all they do. In the many "traditional" churches I have visited during my lifetime, I've heard preaching to believers and I've witnessed the EVANGELIZING of non-believers.

The Great Commission was given to all of Christ's followers, not just to a select few such as Mosaic, and even if there are some churches who fail to obey this command it is not only unfair but completely illogical to imply that all "traditional churches", (a rather vague generality) have failed to do so.

Researching the Bible

You wrote: Mosaic delivers God's message to nonbelievers as well. Kind of like Jesus did. Instead of MySpace, research the bible.

NameCritic, since you suggested that I "research the Bible", perhaps you could give me your comments on the following passsages of scripture: (Taken from the NASB)

Matt 15:27-28

Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon. And a Caananite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, "have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed." But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came out and implored him saying, "Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us." But He answered and said, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, "Lord, help me!" And He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." But she said, "Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." Then Jesus said to her, "O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed at once.

Mark 7:28-30

Jesus got up and went away from there to the region of Tyre. And when He had entered a house, He wanted no one to know of it; yet He could not escape notice. But after hearing of Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet. Now the woman was a Gentile of the Syrophoenician race. And she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. And He was saying to her, "Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." But she answered and said to Him, "Yes Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children's crumbs." And He said to her, "Because of this answer go; the demon has gone out of your daughter." And going back to her home, she found the child lying on the bed, the demon having left.

It is my understanding that although Jesus did on occasion minister to the "non-believers" (Gentiles of non-Jewish descent) His main mission was to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel." This doesn't mean he didn't care about Gentiles! If the gospel was ONLY meant for the Jews then Jesus would have never even bothered to help people like this Syrophoenician woman.

The Great Commission Matthew 10:5-6, 28:19

Before the Cross

Matt. 10: 5-6

These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them; "Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

After the Resurrection

Matt. 20:19-20

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

NameCritic,

The gospel is indeed for "all the nations," yet Jesus did not personally seek out "non-believers" during his earthly ministry. This task was assigned to His church. Perhaps you are the one who should study the Bible more.

Getting back to the Awaken Humanity Music Festival:

I don't disagree with you that there are substantial costs involved in hosting any type of charity event. The problem I see with this particular event is the conflicting language used to describe its purpose and the actual amount of the proceeds that would be used for charitable purposes as opposed to the "administrative" costs of holding the event.

If you have indeed put on hundreds of charity events, then surely you are aware of how crucial it is (not to mention, "required by law") to be clear about what percentage of the proceeds will actually be used for charitable purposes and what percentage will be used to cover the "costs of holding" the event. In this case we have conflicting statements from the same source, Eric Bryant, about "all proceeds" and "extra proceeds."

Well, what is it?

Is it ALL proceeds? (Meaning that the administrative costs of the event such as rental fees for the facilities, wages to workers, appearance fees for the bands, advertising expenses, etc., were either covered by the host agency or that all of these items were donated free of charge to the festival organizers so that the total amount of money donated by concert goers will be given to the charitable causes mentioned in the festival promotional materials.)

Or . . .

Is it the EXTRA proceeds? (Meaning that after the above administrative costs have been deducted from the total amount collected from concert goers, whatever money is left over will be donated to the charity causes.)

What about this promotional blurb from Tooth and Nail Records?

http://www.toothandnail.com/news.php?id=94
Project 86 Aligns with Awaken Humanity for Awaken Humanity Festival May 13

Project 86 is proud and honored to be a part of the Awaken Humanity Festival, coming to the Mayan in Los Angles on May 13. This festival is a humanitarian benefit for several worthwhile causes, with all proceeds going directly to the hands of those in need. The festival has a suggested donation of $10 at the door. Read on for more info!

Did Tooth and Nail Records "get it wrong" when they wrote this? If so, why didn't Awaken Humanity or Mosaic correct the error before the concert? Why has there been no clarification after the concert?

More importantly, why has there been no update on the Awaken Humanity Music Festival itself? Exactly how much money did the concert raise and out of that specific amount, how much actually made it "to the hands of those in need?" NameCritic, all I am doing is pointing out the confusion surrounding this event.

You wrote:

Really, you need to get a life. Or better yet, attend some Mosaic events. Nonbelievers are welcome to attend.

NameCritic:

If this is the way you invite "non-believers" to Mosaic Miami, then I feel truly sorry for you and for them.

Fortunately for me, I don't need such an invitation, I've already answered the one offered to me by my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He has given me a new life in Him.

Yvonne

Shining Daylight On Erwin McManus' Awaken

2007-08-16T13:05:00.000-07:00

PART ONE

In my previous post, A Wake Up Call To Erwin McManus and Awaken, I commented that when I visited the California Secretary of State's official webpage, it led me to the California Business Portal where public records on state corporations are available for view online through their Business Search, http://kepler.ss.ca.gov/list.html.

Based on the information I discovered at the above database, I asked numerous questions regarding the activities of an organization(s) called "Awaken" associated with Erwin McManus and his church Mosaic,L.A.

Looking for answers to at least some of these questions I have continued to search the internet for information.

The majority of my original questions still remain unanswered yet recently I uncovered new information leading to new questions.

A Chronology of "Awaken"

At the California Business Portal I was able to identify three corporations with ties to Erwin McManus and/or people working on his behalf. While researching corporations using the name "Awaken", I recently discovered that I had overlooked a fourth Awaken.

Here is the chronology on "Awaken" in its various forms:
(Information current as of "AUG 10, 2007," California Business Portal.)

1. AWAKEN CENTER FOR CREATIVITY
Date Filed: 8/7/2002
Status: Suspended
Agent for Service of Process: ERWIN MCMANNS (The last name is misspelled)

My Comments: The Agent for Service of Process is indeed, Erwin McManus, the address listed for this corporation is that of the Church on Brady. I have been unable to find any further information on this corporation anywhere on the internet.

According to the California Business Portal, suspended means:

"The California corporation has lost all rights and powers for failure to meet statutory filing requirements of either the Secretary of State's office or the Franchise Tax Board. Information regarding the type of suspension can be obtained by requesting a status report. Fees and instructions for requesting
a status report are included on the Business Entities Records Order Form."

2. AWAKEN INTERNATIONAL
Date Filed: 7/22/2003
Status: Suspended
Agent for Service of Process: ERWIN R. MCMANUS

My comments: It is my understanding that at one time, this version of "Awaken" listed as its board members the elders of Mosaic, L.A. The elders resigned from their board positions when key financial reports necessary to complete the legal paperwork were not provided in time to meet the filing deadlines. Perhaps this is why the status of this particular "Awaken" has been suspended by the state of California. (See the definition of "suspended" above.)

3. AWAKEN (Previously overlooked)
Date filed: 2/28/2005
Status: Active
Agent for Service of Process: SEALY M. YATES

My Comments: In my original research, I did not recognize the name Sealy M. Yates and therefore thought this was an unrelated "Awaken." When I later went back for a second look and actually brought up the more detailed information on this Awaken, I was surprised to find that I recognized the former Crossroads Parkway address for Mosaic, L.A. A subsequent Google search of the name Sealy M. Yates led me to the discovery that he is in fact, Erwin McManus' literary agent.

According to the Calfornia Business Portal, the active status means:

"California Corporation: Subject to any licensing requirements otherwise imposed by the laws of this state, the California corporation is authorized to exercise all of its powers, rights and privileges in the State of California."

Apparently this Awaken is filing the proper paperwork with the State of California to retain its "active" corporate status.

While this "Awaken" is a valid California corporation, I have not been able to find any official records indicating it is a non-profit organization. Please keep reading for more on this particular "Awaken."

4. AWAKEN HUMANITY
Date Filed: 4/20/2007
Status: Active
Agent for Service of Process: ERIC BRYANT

My Comments: The address given for this "Awaken" is the same address of Sealy M. Yates. Eric Bryant has been described as "Erwin McManus' right hand man"; he is also the Vice President of Awaken Humanity, the Agent for Service of Process of Mosaic, L.A. and the executive pastor of Mosaic.

Eric Bryant's Words Regarding Awaken and Awaken Humanity

This is an excerpt of an email sent to me by Eric Bryant on April 27, 2007 regarding Awaken Humanity:

Awaken is a registered 501c3 under the name Awaken Humanity. We just received our paperwork recently. The Secretary of State should be updating their website soon. This summer we are registering for tax exempt status. Currently, Awaken is still a subsidiary of Mosaic until we finish this paperwork. The elders began this paperwork process awhile back, but we have a few more loose ends to tie up.

A Closer Look At Eric Bryant's Words

Awaken is a registered 501c3 under the name Awaken Humanity.

This is a rather confusing statement given the fact that "Awaken" was created two years before "Awaken Humanity." More importantly, if Awaken is a "registered 501c3" then why doesn't it show up on the IRS database for charity organizations? This list is called Publication 78 and can be accessed at: http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=96136,00.html

The IRS describes their database thus:

Publication 78, Cumulative List of Organizations described in Section 170(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, is a list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible charitable contributions. This online version is offered to help you conduct a more efficient search of these organizations.

Claiming that Awaken is a "registered 501c3" organization gives the impression that it is already recognized by the IRS as a tax exempt organization. Although churches and certain religious organizations are exempt from having to register, Eric Bryant said in this statement that Awaken is registered; past tense, therefore shouldn't it show up on the IRS list? In other words, even if Awaken is exempt from filing according to the IRS rules and therefore doesn't need to file (in which case it would not show up on the IRS database) Eric Bryant said that it is registered which means that is in fact, filing with the IRS.

Maybe Eric Bryant is unclear on the difference between "non-profit" and "tax exempt." One would hope that the Vice President of a charity organization would know the difference.

Please see this online article written by Joanne Fritz, "Do I Have to File for Tax Exempt Status to be Non-Profit?", regarding the difference between non-profit and tax-exempt at About.com: http://nonprofit.about.com/od/qathebasics/f/donothaveto.htm

The Secretary of State should be updating their website soon.

Obviously, this has not happened yet since I conducted my latest search on August 16, 2007, almost 3 1/2 months after this statement by Eric Bryant. Keep in mind, the California Business Portal is updated weekly.

This summer we are registering for tax exempt status.

Again, how can Awaken or Awaken Humanity be a "registered" 501c3 if "this summer we are registering for tax exempt status? How can any organization be a "registered" anything BEFORE it actually "registers?"

Currently, Awaken is still a subsidiary of Mosaic until we finish this paperwork.

According to the California Business Portal, "Awaken" (Agent for Service of Process: Sealy M. Yates) is a fully functioning corporation. It appears to be a wholly independent, legal entity and NOT a "subsidiary" of Mosaic.

The elders began this paperwork process awhile back, but we have a few more loose ends to tie up.

As I mentioned in my previous post, A Wake Up Call To Erwin McManus And Awaken, and in the timeline above, the "Awaken" Eric Bryant is referring to in this statement is Awaken International. As I reported earlier, all of the elders of Mosaic resigned from the board of Awaken International when it became clear that the financial reports necessary to complete the legal paperwork would not be supplied to them in time to meet the filing deadlines. This corporation remains under a suspended status. To the best of my knowledge, (with the exception of Elders Erwin McManus and Eric Bryant) the remaining elders of Mosaic are not a part of Awaken or Awaken Humanity. Accepting a position as a board member of a charity entails accepting the legal responsibilities of that position.

So what exactly is ErwinMcManus' "Awaken?"

ERWIN MCMANUS' OWN WORDS

In this 2006 Interview with Infuze Magazine, http://www.infuzemag.com/interviews/books/erwin_mcmanus/
Erwin McManus gives his own explanation of what "Awaken" is:

Erwin McManus
Interviews : Books
Posted by Matt Conner 12:01 AM
Wednesday, 18 October 2006

Awaken was our response to being overwhelmed with 50-100 pastors from all over the world showing up at our doorstep every week. Our church is really not that big of a church and we ended up having, in some ways, an unexpected global relationship. So we said,"What do we do?" We could ignore it and let it filter away. Or we could see it as the fingerprint of God allowing us and inviting us to have influence and shape the ways that churches relate to the future.

We created Awaken as an organization to focus on unleashing the potential in every human being. We didn't want to be resisted by people saying, "You're a church. You can't come into these institutions. You can't come to these organizations. You're not allowed in this arena." So we created a non-profit organization that focuses on unleashing the creative potential in every human being and we help people without God begin to see how they're uniquely designed. And we're so convinced that if we can help people see that they're created in the image and likeness of God, they will be drawn to relationship with Him.

In this same interview, McManus goes on to explain that Awaken is composed of four parts:

1 Awaken Films: A film deparment.

2. Wide Awake Records: A record label.

3. Awaken Humanity: "And we have Awaken Humanity, which focuses on creating documentaries and we're just calling it "Things You Should Care About."" Erwin McManus

4. The Mosaic Alliance. A membership organization made up of individuals, churches and others.

The Mosaic Alliance is comprised of three levels: Level 1 is free, levels 2 and 3 require an annual membership fee of $200 plus those interested in joining at Level 3 are reguired to:

"Invest 5% of your annual budget towards church planting with the Mosaic Alliance in critical metropolitan cities worldwide. "

For more on the Mosaic Alliance see: http://mosaicalliance.com/

So in Erwin McManus' own words, Awaken appears to be the parent "non-profit" organization of Awaken Humanity, not the otherway around as Eric Bryant indicated.

Questions:

What is Awaken's status with the IRS?

It is evident by Awaken's listing at the California Business Portal that it has already completed at least one of the first steps required for becoming a registered 501c3 by filing for corporation status in Calfornia and it appears to be operating in compliance with state law. Does Awaken intend to file for tax exempt status?

Are donations to Awaken tax deductible? This is a crucial question to ask given that the following text can be found at the Awaken.org website under the subheading Awaken Humanity: http://www.awaken.org/awaken-humanity

*All donations are tax deductible. Please make checks payable to “Awaken” and indicate “Awaken Humanity” on the memo line and send to the Awaken offices at:
Awaken1443 E. Washington Blvd. #659Pasadena, CA 91104-2650

*Note this is a mailing address and not an office address.
Or, give online with the link below. Donations will be distributed according to the need of each area.

(Please note that once again, the wording of the above indicates that Awaken Humanity is under Awaken.)

As I have stated above, "non-profit" does not necessarily mean "tax exempt", nor does it mean "tax deductible." For another good explanation of the difference please see this article by Eve Rose Borenstein, "Legal Needs Relative to Non-profit and/or Tax Exempt Status of New Organizations", at http://www.managementhelp.org/legal/lgl_need.htm

"When the public thinks of "tax-exempt" groups, they often equate same with charities and the possibility of writing off donations to same. But it is only groups who receive a 501(c)(3) determination letter from the Internal Revenue Service who do, in fact, qualify to receive tax-deductible dollars from the public."

3. Is Awaken a religious non-profit? What does Erwin McManus mean when he states: We didn't want to be resisted by people saying, "You're a church. You can't come into these institutions. You can't come to these organizations. You're not allowed in this arena." Is Erwin McManus trying to say that he wanted to create an organization that was not tied to a church? The answer to this question directly speaks to my next question:

4. What exactly is Awaken's relationship to Mosaic? The IRS recognizes very specific types of religious organizations as being exempt from federal tax filing requirements. Awaken's religious "identity" would have a direct impact on whether or not it is subject to filing a Form 990 (or other applicable forms) with the IRS. For more on this please see the IRS instructions for filing the Form 990 at:http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i990-ez.pdf

It is my understanding that if Awaken is merely a "subsidiary" of Mosaic as Eric Bryant stated, then it would be covered under the blanket 501c3 status of Mosaic, L.A. If this is the case, then Awaken must also be included in the annual budget reports of Mosaic. This seems highly unlikely given Awaken's corporate status with the State of California.

A Few Concluding Comments On Part One

Eric Bryant has still not responded to my last email sent on May 3, 2007.

At the end of May, after waiting for a response from Mosaic, I sent an email to the California Southern Baptist Convention outlining my concerns regarding "Awaken." Despite its claims of being"non-denominational", Mosaic, L.A. reports directly to the CSBC. When that letter failed to elicit a response, I sent the same letter (with additional information that became available during the interim) to the main offices of the national Southern Baptist Convention.

I have not received a response from the Southern Baptist Convention.

Curiously, soon after sending these letters I began to notice changes at the official Mosaic, L.A. website: http://mosaic.org/

I will comment on these changes as well as other matters in Part Two.

Yvonne W.

Bad Link

2007-05-17T08:27:00.000-07:00

I have replaced a bad link with the correct one.

To the person who pointed it out to me, thank you very much.

Yvonne

The Awaken Humanity Music Festival

2007-05-13T22:18:00.001-07:00

UPDATE ON AWAKEN

The confusion surrounding the organization "Awaken" continues with the Awaken Humanity Music Festival taking place tonight, May 13, 2007, at the Mayan. Consider these excerpts from on-line promotional materials regarding the concert:

The information below is taken from an advertisement regarding the Awaken Humanity Music Festival

BackPage.com

http://losangeles.backpage.com/community/classifieds/ViewAd?oid=oid%3A882736&name=events

Charity

Awaken Africa

1. Africa is in a state of unprecedented crisis. In response to the human poverty that threatens to devastate an entire generation,Awaken Humanity will be focusing on several projects including healthcare initiatives,a women’s conference,and developing a children’s village outside of Lusaka,Zambia. The Children’s Village will provide a stable, secure, family-like environment that will allow the children who have been orphaned after losing their parents to HIV/Aids to interact with the neighboring community.

Awaken Los Angeles

1. NightLight, an organization in Bangkok, Thailand and Los Angeles committed to combating the exploitation of women and children.

2. Homeless Service is in cooperation and support with other agencies such as L.A. Mission and Union Rescue Mission.

3. Neo-Underground Railroad encourages disadvantaged children and youth in South Los Angeles to experience and develop their abilities through a free creative arts and tutoring program.

(Questions: Awaken Humanity will be focusing on "several projects?" Is Awaken Humanity referring to Breath of Heaven Children's Village as a "project" of Awaken? Did Awaken ever receive written permission from the L.A. Mission, Union Rescue Mission and Neo Underground Railroad for the use of their names?)

The Hard Music Magazine, HM News Update: Week Ending 5-12
http://www.hmmagazine.com/exclusive/hm_news_update_week_ending_512200705/index.php
Quotes from the article, Rival Projects Awaken Humanity, featuring the band Project 86:

But first off, they will headline the
2007 Awaken Humanity
Festival on May 13th (Mother's Day) in Los Angeles to benefit critical assistance programs for women and children. The Awaken Humanity organization supports a wide range of programs, both local and abroad, ranging from helping at-risk Los Angeles youth in their efforts to graduate from high school to developing a“children’s village” in Zambia, Africa for children orphaned by HIV/AIDS.

"For the first time in the history of the band, we have
the opportunity to align ourselves with a cause like The Awaken Humanity Festival," says vocalist Andrew Schwab.

"We completely supportAwaken and their
desire to provide relief in areas where it is needed most. This is an effort that anyone with a heart can make a true impact on the downcast, broken, and
meek. We are proud to be a part of this."

(In the first paragraph cited above, the line "helping at-risk Los Angeles youth in their efforts to graduate from high school" refers to the unnamed Neo Underground Railroad while Breath of Heaven Children's Village in Zambia is simply referred to as a "children's village."

It is interesting to note that lead vocalist Andrew Schwab praises "Awaken" for its "desire to provide relief in areas where it is needed most" without mentioning the actual charities the concert proceeds are intended to benefit.)

Christian Examiner, Los Angeles County Edition
http://www.christianexaminer.com/Regions/LA_briefs.html

Festival benefits moms, children
LOS ANGELES — Mosaic, a multi-cultural church based in Los Angeles, is hosting the Awaken Humanity Music Festival May 13 as a benefit to numerous agencies that serve children and mothers in need.

Supported by Mosaic’s Awaken ministry, which fosters creativity as a means to usher in global change to end suffering, the event will feature 26 bands on four stages. It will be held at the Mayan Theatre, beginning at 4 p.m.

The featured performers include Project 86, Stranger,
Northern, Until June, Odd Thomas, Buddy, Avner, Kari Kimmel, Spur58, Stevie Scott, Bobbito The Chef , Sovory, Avion Blackman, Legacy , Gina Star, John Torres, Matt Shockley, Matt Thomas, Trent Dean, Brian Thomas, Devil Dust, Liam Hardman, Graffiti61, Dana Elliot and Glare of Rockets.

The cost is $10, with proceeds to benefit a children’s village that is raising money to build an orphanage outside of Luska, Zambia; NightLight, an organization in Bangkok, Thailand and Los Angeles that is committed to combating the exploitation of women and children; Homeless Service, which cooperates with and supports other agencies such as L.A. Mission, and Union Rescue Mission and Neo-Underground Railroad, which encourages disadvantaged
children and youth in South Los Angeles to experience and develop their abilities through a free creative arts and tutoring program. Food will be available beginning at 7 p.m., when In-N-Out burgers will provide a mobile truck.

A special gift will be provided to mothers.

The theater is located at 1038 S. Hill St.

For more information, visit awakenhumanityfestival.org.

(Mosaic . . . is hosting the Awaken Humanity Music Festival? Isn't Awaken Humanity a separate entity? Also, what does this mean, "Supported by Mosaic’s Awaken ministry, . . .?" Does this mean that "Awaken" will show up in the yearly budget for Mosaic? If this is the case, then why does it need its own 501(c)(3)? When did it become a ministry of Mosaic?

As I have revealed in my previous blogs, Awaken Humanity's claim that it "cooperates with and supports other agencies such as L.A. Mission . . . and Neo-Underground Railroad," does not match what I was told by the representatives of these two charities.)

This item on the Festival can be found at Eric Bryant’s MySpace Blog, (remember, Eric Bryant is the Vice President of Awaken and is listed with the California Business Portal as the Agent for Service of Process for the corporation “Awaken Humanity” filed on April 20, 2007.)
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm

Friday, April 27,
2007

Awaken Humanity Music Festival Mayan May 13th

In the spirit of changing the world, don’t miss the Awaken Humanity Music Festival
at the Mayan on May 13th featuring 5 stages, 20+ bands and 6+ hours of
music.

All proceeds go towards Awaken Humanity projects which include building a Children’s Village in Zambia and helping at risk teens in Los Angeles.

(Again, the question comes up: Why is Awaken Humanity labeling these charitable works as "projects" of Awaken?")

The questions keep piling up.

Yvonne W.

A Brief Follow Up

This information is posted in a sidebar on the Awaken Humanity Music Festival MySpace page:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=182148849

"Our main interest is to bring together people from all walks of life who care
about humanity enough to join us in a fight for those who cannot fight for
themselves."

(The above text is a link to other MySpace webpages with similar "interests." The top entry listed, www.myspace.com/commie_dic, is a page on socialism.)

". . .We all have different beliefs,"

(Again, this short portion is a link to other pages which discuss political views, social issues, and philosophy. Among these are sites with sexually offensive graphics.)

". . . but share the common goal.

(There is another link associated with this statement.)

In regards to this ending phrase, "...but share a common goal," after reading through a sample of the sites linked to this sidebar I am still wondering, what is this "common goal" between Awaken Humanity and these other webpages? Whatever this goal is, it does not appear to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ as it's focus.

Perhaps I'm just missing the point. I leave it up to you, the reader, to check this out for yourself but please, if you do find something that relates back to chrisitianity in a positive way, would you be so kind as to let me know what it is?

More . . .

Eric Bryant, vice president of "Awaken" maintains two different blog presences on the internet. Here are contradictory quotes from each:

1. Eric Bryant's Blog http://www.ericbryant.org/blog/

The evening was filled with the sounds of great bands at the first ever Awaken Humanity Music Festival at the Mayan. All of the extra proceeds will go towards
some of our humanitarian efforts in Zambia and Los Angeles

Extra proceeds? Compare this to below:

2. Eric Bryant's MySpace blog http://www.myspace.com/ericmichaelbryant

"All proceeds go towards Awaken Humanity humanitarian projects. . ."

(To find this quote, click on the Awaken Humanity Music Festival link under "Eric's Latest Blog Entry.")

For independent confirmation of the "all proceeds" line, I searched the Tooth and Nail Records site, http://www.toothandnail.com/news.php for the cached page regarding the "Awaken Humanity Music Festival."

"This festival is a humanitarian benefit for several worthwhile causes, with all proceeds going directly to the hands of those in need. "

So what is the actual amount going towards these "humanitarian projects?"