'The Shack'

As the title implies, I am interested in your thoughts, your feelings, ... your reaction to this book, "The Shack". I just finished reading it this evening, and my feelings are ... well, I don't want to unduly influence your own comments or thoughts.

Here are some questions to help prime the proverbial pump for discussion:

• What do you think is Paul Young's purpose in presenting this story?
• What were your "gut" feelings about the story?
• What did you think about the presentation of God?
• Did this story provoke any theological questions for you? If so, what were they?
• Did this story provoke any theological concerns for you? If so, what?
• How do you reconcile the "theology" of "The Shack" with the whole message of Scripture?
• How might this story be useful in communicating the gospel in today's culture/world?
• Do you see any limitations to this story's use in communicating the Christian faith? If so, what would they be?
• Does this book get you thinking about your own "theology"? How so?

I certainly don't expect anyone to answer all of these questions, though you are each welcome to try. I do encourage you consider each of them before you begin answering. I'm hoping that a number of people will indeed respond, and do so respectfully and thoughtfully, to any and all responses, not least, my own.

God's blessings to you!

The Difference of a Year

I'm living in the Chicagoland area, much as I was a year ago. The only difference is that a year ago, I just gotten out here, having driven cross-country to begin a grueling Summer of intensive German language reading studies. Back East, in Philadelphia, my family was adjusting to not having me around. It was hot and humid back in the Philadelphia region. Lots of thunderstorms. Lots. Back here in Chicago, it was hot, but not oppressive. Low humidity compared to what I was used to back East. Even comfortable.

Emily had just returned from completing her freshman year at Houghton College in upstate New York. She had done well, and had plans to major in Pre-Med. Emily is the third of seven kids. Her father is a Methodist pastor, and a year ago, was in the midst of packing up the church-owned parsonage he and his family had lived in for over fifteen years for a move to a new church family in the Delaware Water Gap region, north of Philadelphia.

That was a year ago.

On Tuesday, June 10, 2008, a terrible wave of thunderstorms blew through the Philadelphia region. That evening, Emily was outside, raking up fresh-cut grass, with one of her younger brothers when the storm hit. They went in, waiting out the storm, hoping for it to end so they could go back outside and cool off. From what I was told, the storm seemed to have ended. Emily and her brother went back outside, maybe fifty yards from their house. It thundered, and her brother decided to go in. There was a loud a thundering crash of lightening, and he decided to run inside, turning to yell to his sister to do the same, but she was lying on the ground.

I won't try to recount all the details to the story that was told to me many times. But Emily was struck by lightening. And she was dead. Her brother ran in, and told his parents, a neighbor called 9-1-1, and her father ran out and began CPR. An ambulance showed up, and continued trying to recusitate Emily. CPR wasn't working, and neither did the defibulator. My understanding was that after administering adrenalin along with another shot from the defibulator were they able to get her heart started ... somewhere around fifteen minutes after her heart had first stopped beating.

That was a year ago.

The initial prognosis was not good. It was an emotionally painful time. But after weeks in the burn unit, and then more weeks at a rehab hospital, Emily was able to go home. But she is not the same Emily. She suffered brain trauma due to the lack of oxygen, and requires much attention. However, God in His grace, delivered her. She undergoes regular therapy sessions due to the great attention, courage, and love of her parents and siblings. She has made noticable, if slow progress. And it is far greater progress than any of her initial physicians estimated possible.

She is relegated to a wheel chair, and needs help being fed. But with great effort, she can respond to some questions. She is aware of her surroundings.

That was a year ago.

She was dead, but now she is alive. It's the difference of a year. While there is no prodigalness (if there is such a word) to this story, Emily's parents are today thankful to God, the God of mercy and grace. God restored her, gave her back to them. Their lives are not at all what they thought they'd be at this point. Their life as a family is are hard. But they would not trade it for the alternative. They trust God. Trust Him to work through life's difficulties. Trust Him for the grace to deal with the day-to-day difficulties. Trust Him to bring life out of death.

The difference of a year can be absolutely incredible. It can also be absolutely frightening. We, like the hypothetical man in the book of James - whom James holds up as making all of life's plans without any care or concern for God - too often live our lives without any sense of how quickly life can change. Only those who have experienced tragedy, whose faith has been tested in the crucible of pain and suffering like Emily and her family, know how fragile is humanity. As Isaiah, and Peter after him remind us, the grass withers, and the flowers fade, but the Word of our God stands forever.

The difference of a year reminds me that God, and God alone, must be our foundation. As Emily's mom and dad have reminded me solely by the way they've lived out their faith this past year, only faith in God is enough to get us through a year.

Fear Factor

Is 'Fear' something that never crosses your mind? Something that other people deal with?

More than likely 'Fear' is something you know of, something you live with. If you're like me, you are familiar with fear. I know a lot about fear because I grew up with it as part of my life. When I was younger, fear almost won, almost drove me to kill myself. Even today, fear is something that still seeks to have mastery over my spirit. I know its cold voice.

But before we go any further, it's helpful to distinguish between rational, or what we might call 'real' fear, and irrational fear. Real fear is the sort of thing that keeps us alive, keeps from injury. It was the motivator that kept you from sticking your hand on a hot burner on the stove, or kept you from running out in traffic.

Irrational fear, however, is different.

It is an abberation of the former kind. It is sometimes no more than a figment of that part of our imagination which is fallen. And other times it is the means by which the enemy, Satan, the devil, seeks to paralyze us into inaction or doing the wrong thing. It often contains a grain of truth, just enough reality or facts to make it seem real, believable, or just plain old frightening. But whereas real fear is our bodies' way of keeping us alive or unhurt, irrational fear has only one purpose ... to hurt us, to harm us, to dehumanize us. And what I mean by that last part is simply that irrational, unreal fear makes us less than who God created us and calls us to be.

Do you fear? Does fear plan a daily role in your life? Does it effect your marriage? Your relationships and/or friendships? Does it keep you in the same dead-end job? Does fear keep you from attempting your dreams? Does fear keep you from giving your whole heart and life to God? Does it keep you from trusting God?

When fear seems bigger than life, when fear seems bigger than God, life is not full. No matter how good our lives may look on the outside, fear can still rule in our hearts. Image is not everything, however, for fear robs us of the joy that God would have us live out of. In some ways, fear that dominates one's life is nothing less than an idol. Even when we don't want it to be so, when we fear we are forcing God off the throne of our hearts. But lest you think this is a note to express to you how angry God is about you being fearful, fear not.

"Fear not". It is one of the most oft repeated messages God or His angels first speak to people. It tells us that fear is not part of God's kingdom. Fear is not part of God, and it is not be part of our character. And yet, that often seems like a word that's so much easier to agree with than it is a reality to live out of. We don't want to fear, and yet, if you've grown up with fear, or you have become accustomed to fear, it's hard to imagine how to live otherwise.

But this is exactly what God not only calls us to, but promises us. John the apostle writes exactly this, when he says of God's love for us, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." And Paul writes about God's work in us through His Holy Spirit, "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."

God is not a god of fear, but one who loves us - though not with a sloppy, sentimentalism that allows us to live however we want. True love, as John reminds us, drives out all fear. True love is the very opposite of fear. God's kingdom drives out fear. This is one of the awesome dynamics of the Kingdom of God that Jesus first proclaimed to the people of Galilee and Judea. It is the same message that his first disciples continued to spread to the ends of the earth. And it is at the heart of the message proclaimed in the combined witness of the New Testament Gospels and letters.

It is, I think at the heart of a story about Jesus and His disciples from the Gospel of John 6:16-24, where the apostle writes ...

16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 17 where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. 18 A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. 19 When they had rowed about three or three and a half miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened. 20 But he said to them, "It is I; don't be afraid." 21 Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading. 22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. 23 Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.

It is significant that among the disicples crossing the Sea of Galilee in that boat, several were experienced fishermen. Rough waters at night were nothing to be taken lightly. And yet when Jesus shows up, after night has fallen, they are frightened at the sight of him walking across the choppy, stormy waters. But wouldn't you be?

Instead, Jesus identifies Himself, "It is I." And He tells them, "Don't be afraid." We need to read more than just Jesus not wanting the disciples to be afraid. There's much more to both this story, and to our lives.

Jesus is not just trying to calm their fears in the moment. He's also making a statement; He's making a claim that only God can make. He is asserting that He is not only the Jewish Messiah, sent by God. He is stating that He is the God of heaven and earth, the One, True God, who commands nature.

Interestingly, in both Matthew 8 and Luke 8, Jesus calms a storm by merely speaking - commanding the storm to stop - and it does so. John wants us to know not only that God is with us when things seem dark and stormy. John, along with the other Gospel writers, is stating that Jesus is Lord over the things that cause us fear.

Don't read this the wrong way. God is not using the things that cause us fear in order to punish us or keep us down. Even coming to such a conclusion is the result of buying into fear. No, not at all. Instead, God wants us to trust Him in the midst of life's storms. The things that cause us fear, whether they be of the real kind (like mortgage foreclosure), or the irrational kind, are nothing compared to God, because the reality is - even if we cannot "feel" His presence - God is with us, and God is in control. He wants us to trust Him to take care us in the storm, and trust Him to bring it to an end.

Fear, the irrational kind, is ultimately the means for keeping us from believing God is as good as Scripture testifies to. Consider that even after humanity sins against God in the garden, God fashions clothes for Adam and Eve. Consider that God chooses one man to enter into a binding covenant with. Consider that God remembers His covenant, and rescues an insignificant group of slaves from Egypt, puts up with their complaints and whining, and leads them to the promised land. And that's just part of the Old Testament!

The revelation of God's love continues into and is incarnated in Jesus, God's Son. Consider this love is so great that Jesus teaches with the authority of God in order to correct the poor and sometimes false teaching of men. Consider that God's love in Jesus is so great that Jesus is willing to die a painful and hideous death in order to defeat sin, depraved human nature, and the devil. And consider God's love is so great that not even death could keep Jesus from rising from the dead to new life. And if that's not enough, consider, too, that it is God's love present in our lives, present in the heart of every faith-filled, believing man and woman in the third person of the Trinity, God the Holy Spirit.

God's love is with us. We do not need to fear anymore. God is with us. Emmanuel. God has saved His people. Y'shua. This is the Good News of the Kingdom of God. It is this love that keeps "fear" at bay in my own life.

It is this love that has defeated the power and temptations of death that sought after me to take my own life as a 17 year old, but which God meant instead to illuminate the power of His love for me in Jesus Christ. Love is all-powerful, because God is love. And true love drives out all fear.

Don't be afraid! God is with us!

The Wisdom of God, Part 2

I had been reading my daily e-devotion from Scripture Union, UK one morning, and there it was, staring at me ... the familiar but incredible story of Isaiah's vision of the throneroom of God. While this is a story I am quite familiar with, I wanted to read it with an eye toward understanding it wisely.

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.

2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.

3 And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."

4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."

6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.

7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

9 He said, "Go and tell this people: " 'Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.'

10 Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed."

11 Then I said, "For how long, O Lord?" And he answered:"Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged,

12 until the LORD has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken.

13 And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land."

Isaiah 6:1-13

There's a lot of imagery here, and it can be easy to miss its relevance for us today. But what stands out to me is how Isaiah's response is as attention getting as the very vision he is confronted with.

Imagine yourself caught up in a vision, finding yourself in the throne room of the LORD, and angelic beings flying around. What is your reaction? A throne room is not something we Americans can really identify with, and even the idea of seeing God on a throne isn't necessarily something that we could imagine too easily. We won't even touch on angels with six wings. But what they said made Isaiah shudder with fear ... and maybe we, too, should pay attention and pay heed to what they said.

Upon hearing their call - "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty" - Isaiah becomes mindful of his own sinfulness. We are not told why he becomes so conscious of it. We don't know exactly what he has done. But this is not the issue.

We need to realize that regardless of how "good" we think we are, our goodness, or our good deeds in no way measure us up to God, who is the very definition of "good". This is where 'Wisdom' comes to play. Wisdom from God helps us understand that in the presence of God, we must cry out for mercy, we must cry out for grace. God's Wisdom helps us realize that we need His salvation. It was Wisdom that helped Isaiah realize that being in the very presence of God was dangerous just because God is so holy, because to be in the presence of God is not safe.

I am drawn to remember that part of the story from the Chronicles of Narnia, in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, where the children are in Mr. and Mrs. Beaver's den, and he tells them about Aslan. The children are scared of what they've been told, and ask, "Is Aslan safe?" "Safe? No, Aslan isn't safe. But he's good."

God is not safe - He is not something we can manipulate for our own sense of good. God is not here to make us happy. Isaiah understood this.

This is the sort of wisdom that confronts us when we are in the very presence of God. We cannot resist it. It cannot be ignored. Why? Because it is part of how we were created. It is part of our DNA, as we have been created in the image of God. As Scripture elsewhere tells us, that every knee will bow before God (Rom. 14:11; Phil. 2:9-11). In the presence of God, we do nothing else - it is wisdom.

The question then is how do we gain this wisdom and apply it to our every day lives? How do we live in a way that is 'wise'? Again, Isaiah offers us a great example. He cries out his confession, and humbly receives God's grace and forgiveness. But then he does something that I think we often miss ...

Isaiah becomes quiet, and he listens. He does not try to make excuses, nor does he try to make bargains. Neither does he babble. He listens. And when he hears God's voice, God's call, "Whom shall I call, who shall go for us?", Isaiah is able to respond in faith. He can respond in faith because He knows God's grace - he knows, as in knowing by experience, God's forgiveness - he has experienced who God is. He speaks up, "Here I am, send me!"

This is wisdom. I want to suggest that wisdom can be differentiated from knowledge in several ways, one of which is that wisdom is not just something that fills the head, but is by its very nature, something that positively impacts the decisions and choices we make. It is an adverb to the way we live. Wisdom takes knowledge and applies it in a way that honors God, and shows us living much more closely to the way that God intended for us.

Even though God sends him on a difficult task - to deliver a message - he is willing to go ... confident in his relationship with God. This is no small thing. The mission is to deliver the hard news of judgment to the people of Judah and Jerusalem. But Isaiah does so, and does it willingly.

Why? I think that it is because he knows who he trusts is trustworthy. This is the point of Wisdom.

Are you willing to humble yourself to living out of the Wisdom of God, or will you reject it in favor of what you think you know? what you think is right? The Wisdom of God has been fully revealed in the event which billions of Christians around the world celebrate in Christmas. Jesus Christ is the Wisdom of God personified, incarnate, the living example of who God is, and who God calls us to be.

It is in reading the inspired Word of God that we see Wisdom lived out. Turn to such a passage as Matthew 5, and see it unfold in the teachings of Jesus. Turn to the crucifixion narratives in any of the Gospels, and feel it in Jesus' forgiveness of His murderers. Turn to Acts 1 and 2, and pay attention to Jesus' promises, as He gives the Wisdom of God in the giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

As Christians, we have access to the Wisdom of God because the Wisdom of God dwells in us. This is the good news. Now I invite you to choose Christ Jesus; choose to live wisely. And you will live out and live out of the Wisdom of God.

The Wisdom of God, part 1

What do you think of when you hear or read the word, 'wisdom'? Is it an amorphous something in your mind? Does it seem like one of those words that you feel like you know it, but can't really describe it? Is it different than knowledge? How does it apply to you?

James, the brother of the Lord Jesus Christ, wrote to Christians who were scattered around at least the western Mediterranean seaboard due to persecution. Throughout his letter to them, he expresses a number of thoughts and concerns, but what I find both incredible and self-convicting is how the wisdom of God flavors the entire letter. Consider the presence and power of God's wisdom in what James says here, where he writes in James 2 ...

1 My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2 Suppose someone comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor person in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the one wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the one who is poor, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?

8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. 9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 11 For he who said, "You shall not commit adultery," also said, "You shall not murder." If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.

12 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13 because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

It is easy to read this and just come away discouraged or frustrated with yourself for not living up to what James wrote to Christians almost two thousand years ago. And because we can remove ourselves from it by consideration of its original audience, or because we have socially removed ourselves from interactions with people who are different from ourselves, we think we're doing okay. Or maybe we think that because Jesus came, died on the cross, and rose again, that a "new" law is in effect, and so, like Martin Luther before us, we wrongly think that James is still, somehow, stuck in following the Law of Moses.

But is that true? If we understand that the Wisdom of God has been at work as the integral part of God's plans for creation from before He uttered the words that started it all off, then we must reject such thoughts. If we are willing to see Jesus as the fulfillment of all things in Old Testament that refer to God's making for Himself a people to be a light to the world, and not superseding the Law, then we must see God's Wisdom, not only at work from creation to His consummation at the end of Revelation, but God's Wisdom as God incarnate, Jesus Christ.

Understanding that allows us to appreciate, then, the words of Alistair Metcalfe, when he writes for Scripture Union UK's WordLive devotions (12/13/2008) ...

What’s going on inside the minds of individuals when they show favouritism?
Why is there such a strong temptation among people – even God’s own people – to
show preference towards the wealthy, the well-to-do or the well-connected – even
when they can be the very ones who tend to make our lives difficult (vs 6,7)?

James gives us a clue by going on to speak about the Law of Moses (vs
8–13). The first two commandments given in Exodus 20 establish God as the only
one to be feared and worshipped, and leave no room for idolatry – and I think
idolatry is the root issue here (see Exodus 20:3–6).

How easy it is for us to see people not for who they truly are – made in the image of God and carrying his identity – but purely in terms of what they can do for us. It’s only when we see other human beings as objects that we can covet their bodies adulterously. And it’s only when we see life as disposable that we can imagine dealing with them murderously (v 11).

God doesn’t show favouritism because he sees us rightly – not as
commodities, but as his children. Loving others as we love ourselves (v 8) means
choosing to see one another in the same way.

This is the Wisdom of God that is present in those who have received Jesus as Savior and Lord. The Wisdom of God is available to God's people. And yet, we often choose to live as though we knew Him not. We sin because we do not see the way God sees. We sin because we do not understand as God understands. We sin because we can only see what we (our sin self) want to see.

When we avail ourselves ... no better, when we surrender ourselves to God's mercy, we align our will, our very selves, with God. We are able to see people made in the image of God, the imago Dei. We do not see others as objects which we may covet, or life as disposable which we may toss. God have mercy upon us, for Jesus didn't just limit these sins to actions, but to thoughts - greed, lust, murder.

But the Wisdom of God is the "cure" to sin and sinfulness. As Jesus permeates us, our thoughts and then our lives become free from sin. This is why Paul writes that we are to be transformed [in and by the work of the Holy Spirit of God] through the renewing of our minds. This is not a dichotomy, as if our bodies didn't matter. Rather, Paul goes on to note that once our minds are renewed, we shall be able to test and approve - to know intimately - God's good and perfect will. We will know, we will approve, and we will participate willfully, joyfully in God's will - not in our own sinful desires.

What do you think? Where is the Wisdom of God in your life? It's more than just having Scripture memorized ... it is living the Scriptures out, and doing so to God's glory!