The Shack Attack

Ok, so I may be a little out of touch with modern literature (I tend to read more books by dead guys), especially when it comes to all of the modern day fiction that gets pumped out in the Christian market. When it comes to fiction, the main books which have caught my eye would be the more modern Hanegraaff/Brouwer Last Disciple series, of course the classics like the Narnia series and the Lord of the Rings series, as well as the even more classic Bunyan writings Pilgrim's Progress and The Holy War. With the tons of fiction that gets pumped out these days, it is no surprise that I missed hearing about The Shack by William P. Young until just recently.

I was intrigued by the comparison that this book might be potentially as influential on our generation as Bunyan's classic was on his, I thought it worth looking into what all the discussion was about. The book has obviously generated great interest in both the Christian and secular world, so what exactly is it about? I had noticed in passing that something about the book had been mentioned for a few weeks in our church bulletin, but never paid much attention to it, since they often mention book reviews, etc. in there. When I heard that the book was controversial, I read the mention in the bulletin more closely to find that our church had a couple printed book reviews of it on the church book table, so I picked up some copies and dug into them today.

I have not read the book, and from what I am reading review wise, have no plans on running out and buying or reading it (I have way too many other great books to read, why waste time on what I am finding to be less than truthful material). So, while there are tons of reviews on this book, I found the following ones to be quite informative and revealing, so simply wanted to share these links.

They reveal the attacks that the books make upon the modern Church, Seminaries, and many aspects of biblical theology (mainly God's sovereignty, free will, sin and the trinity). When books like Dan Brown's ridiculously fictitious Da Vinci Codeand Angels and Demons become so hugely popular in the secular market because of their attacks on historic Christian truths, it is understandable. The Christian market rose up and spoke out against such attacks. The books went on to be huge and became high grossing movies.

When a book like The Shack comes along, and has just as many (actually, it sound like it has even more) glaring historic and biblical errors in it (and talks of a movie seem to be in the works too), it is quite a surprise to find many in the church buying, consuming, and giving praise for it.

There are so many good points from these reviews that I would love to highlight to entice you to read further, but instead will just say please...read further. Be informed about the issues and controversy surrounding this book. It has become so hugely popular, even (oddly) by many Christians, that you will probably need to be equipped in case you run into someone (maybe even in your own church) praising this compelling and theology altering slab of fiction.

The first review is from Paul Grimmond written in Nov. 2008:

We Need more shack time

and the second is a bit longer and thorough one, being more of a booklet (in .pdf format) but well worth the time investment, by Tim Challies:

A Reader's Review of The Shack

Read...and be informed.

Old Testament Studies

I have recently begun a concerted effort to study the Old Testament in more depth, for the purpose of more fully grasping the weight and purpose of what is said in the New Testament. I fully stand behind the idea that much of the confusion in the modern church, leading to many odd and misleading doctrines, comes from a faulty, or often totally absent reading/understanding of the words and language of what was laid out in the OT.

I wish to share some of the books I have begun using for this study, and if you know of any others that are great, please let me know. These are just a few that I currently have in my possession for the study. The first being picture above, Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. This massive 1239 page volume promises to hold a wealth of wisdom as it looks to take the words of the NT and find their OT reference point. Click the book photo or link to read some great reviews and additional information.

Another book I will be using is "An Old Testament Theology: An Exegetical, Canonical, and Thematic Approach" by Bruce K. Waltke. I do not know much about it aside from the great reviews it got. The author is listed as being one of the outstanding OT scholars around, and is the professor of OT at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando. I did find it odd that some reviewers listed him as leaning towards dispensational understandings in some area, which I thought strange for someone supposedly Reformed, but noticed he did get his ThD from Dallas Theological Seminary), so I am hoping it is not too persuasive in his writing.

Another book I recently heard of and acquired which sounds promising, is "A New Vision for Israel: The Teachings of Jesus in National Context" by Scot McKnight. The book looks at Jesus and his dealing with national Israel and its role as God's holy people in the first century world, and his message calling them to repentance.

I see people too often taking words of the NT way out of context and making odd applications to today's church, when the thrust of what was being said was directed at the specific first century people, under specific scenarios applicable to their culture and issues of that time. This is not to say that I don't feel we can glean applications from most all of scripture, but far too often, the original intent and application is ignored, unknown or just abused beyond all reason, and the true thrust of what is being said gets butchered. So far, I have begun reading the prologue, and have been pleased with the direction this book is heading.

A couple recent NT Wright book purchases which I have also begun reading, are directed along the same line, and so far have proved very enlightening and helpful to my studies. The most recent book which goes for the throat of modern understandings in various areas, and gets to some of the roots of the historic meaning of issues, is "Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church." One of the reviews on the back cover states

Responsible Christians must carefully study this book. It uniquely meets the challenge facing the Church with recovering the original, radical understanding of resurrection, salvation, and the Good News of life now in the Kingdom of God. - Dallas Willard

It sounds very promising and helpful.

Another of his books that I actually began reading a couple months ago, is volume three of the Christian Origins and the Question of God series, entitled "The Resurrection of the Son of God." I have read a good chunk of the beginning and have been well pleased on the amount of great historical depth he presents. I have been on the search for the first two volumes (hoping to find them in hardback at a reasonable price), but know my continued reading in this volume will be beneficial.

And the last major set I will mention (but not by far the last of the books I will use), is a nice set I recently acquired, entitled "The IVP Bible Background Commentary" and has a volume on both the New and Old Testament. It appears to be a very interesting commentary, which each verse/section presenting background information and references that will hopfully aid in my study.

There are various other titles I have gleaned from recently, and I am always on the lookout for books to further and deepen my study in this area, so feel free to post suggestions of what has been beneficial in your studies in this area.

I am sure as the study continues, I will be sharing pieces of what I find in these volumes, and welcome any discussion you may wish to share.

Christians and Voting

As voting seasons is upon us, I wanted to add my words to the always exciting discussion of politics. I will keep it brief, to the point, and hope not to stir up too much trouble (yeah right).

So, when it comes to politics, which of the two parties should a Christian support? Well, that is sort of a trick questions, as we should not be thinking about voting and politics with this mindset at all.

There are more than two parties than run during each election. Yet most people are inclined to only think and consider the main two parties. I am so tired of hearing things like "voting third party is to throw away a vote or voting for the other guy," "I have to vote for the lesser of two evils," etc.

Christian's should know that God is in charge of everything, including who gets into office. We should be voting for the person who has the right system of belief that we as Christians can support. It is not our duty to vote for the one we think is most conservative and has the best chance of winning; we should think of who would God want us to vote for...and put the results in his hands.

If Christians as a whole considered this mentality, then it may take an election or two or three, but you would all of a sudden see some third party candidates in the spotlight because of the increased votes they keep getting. We would no longer have simply two parties getting the press. People approach an election like it is the last one we'll ever have, so we'd better make it good. We need to have a multi-generational, and long term mind-set when it comes to change. We need to stop thinking only about what might effect this next election, and think of what might turn the tides...down the road if need be.

If every profession Christian out there just first registered to vote, but then actually went and voted for a candidate that they could in good conscience support as God's candidate, we would see a major change overnight I am sure. All of a sudden a Christian or super-conservative party would light up on the radar with huge numbers. But we will never see that as long as people keep relying on the same excuses they give for not wanting to vote for a smaller party outside of the main two.

We have more than two lousy choices. We have God on our side when we vote...are we on His side when we case our vote?

As Christians, we have a duty, a command, to vote and support the most godly candidate running, regardless of their party and chances of winning, and not just the lesser of the two evils. When you stand before God, will you be able to say "I voted for the candidate that most conformed to your ways, Lord" or will you be embarrassed by your lesser evil choice?

Think....Pray....VOTE!!

Compared to Paul I am ___?

In Sunday School today we did an overview of the life of Paul, and I couldn't help but be personaly convicted by some of what was discussed regarding his persecutions. Have you ever stood back and looked at your life, witness and personal persecution and considered how it compared to one such as Paul?

While time were certainly a bit different during Paul's day, with him being a central figure in helping to launch the early Church upon a hostile Jewish and pagan society, I really have to wonder just how much different it was from where we have come today. Do we not have an ever growing hostility against religion and all things Christian from our American society and government? Sure, they haven't begun any kind of corporal punishment for our religion, but is that because they don't want to go that far, or is it because as a church (and individuals) we pose no serious threat to them, their establishments or authority?

Missionaries in foreign lands today put themselves in much more dangerous situations than most do in America. What do we do as a church that poses a threat to the growing humanistic and atheistic establishment, or as individuals that cause ripples in our local society's lifestyle? What activities do we do that have the potential to bring us under persecution?

Let us look at just some of what Paul went through in the name of Christ (taken from 2 Corinthians 11:24-28:

Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.

History tells us that many people actually have died from the punishment of receiving thirty-nine lashes. Christ underwent such punishment himself. Yet Paul underwent the punishment five times...five times nearly beaten to death. His back most likely was one big scar. How many times would we go through such torture for the gospel's sake, before we changed our tune?

Three times I was beaten with rods.

We know some countries still practice "caning" which I assume is similar to being was Paul relates as being beaten by rods. Same thought...how many times would we go through this before we watered down our message/lifestyle?

Once I was stoned.

Stoning was a form of capital punishment. It was the equivalent of the death penalty. It was not a penalty that you were supposed to live through; it was supposed to end in death. This would be like saying "once I went to the electric chair" (thank you R.C. Sproul for that analogy). Whether Paul is relating that he was actually put through the full legal form of stoning, or just that he had suffered people throwing stones at him for his message, makes no real difference...rocks are rocks, and neither would be a pleasant experience.

Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.

Sounds like Paul was attacked by just about everyone from all sides; his own people, the Gentiles, false brothers, and all types of places he went. Talk about being an outcast, Paul seems to have experienced much of that during his preaching years. At least (for now) we don't have it near as bad from town to town.

But here is the one that I think takes the cake:

And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.

As if life wasn't already enough of a physical pain to him, on top of it all he was in constant anxiety from the very churches he helps start, he served, and he wrote letters to help instruct.

How many pastors today have been stressed out to the point of considered giving up preaching simply because of becoming overwhelmed by trying to deal with their one small congregation? Paul had many congregations he was "in charge" of, that relied on his help and guidance while he was out helping to preach and start new ones.

So Paul is dutifully going from town to town preaching to the Gentiles, helping establish fruitful congregations, and still at most every city he is met with opposition, tortures and imprisoning, all the while receiving letters of complaints, bickering and whining from congregations he previously helped establish. All of that for all of those years, finally brought to an end by his being beheaded by the sword. What a life! What a thorn in the flesh! What a witness for the gospel!

So, how was your week?

Here we are again

Well, my original blog was hijacked and abused by spammers, and was shut down by the hosting company. So, here I am, starting over, with all of my old tidbits and jewels of information lost (for the second time actually). But no worries, I didn't have much to say over there anyway. So here we are! I have a handful of interesting (to me) thoughts that I have been eager to post, I just have to formulate them in a digestible means for you all, and then they'll appear. Stay tuned!