The Shack

The Shack
By William P. Young

The Shack is one of the most extraordinary books I've ever read. Creative, intriguing, gutsy and a thoroughly engaging read, this remarkable novel addresses the age-old question of why/how a loving God can allow suffering and evil to exist in this world.

Overwhelmed by "The Great Sadness" that threatens to engulf him with tsunami severity, Mackenzie "Mack" Allen Phillips receives a cryptic note in his mailbox one winter afternoon. There’s no return address. No postal mark. No signature. The typed note is signed "Papa" - the word his wife, Nan, uses for God. Unbelievably, the sender asks Mack to meet him at the shack - the site of an immense tragedy about four years prior.

Against his better judgment, Mack gingerly, reluctantly finds himself on the road to the wilderness area where his young daughter, Missy, was abducted during a family camping trip and subsequently murdered. What and Who he finds at the shack travels with Mack through his blistering rage, sorrow, confusion, disillusionment, and accusation as well as infinite amazement, forgiveness, grace, and finally, immeasurable joy and wonder - without the clichés and canned answers on either side of the equation.

Set in the Pacific Northwest, this intense, beautifully written story is “ghostwritten" by the author as “told by” Mack, whose unspeakable personal loss leads him on a Bunyanesque journey into eternity - and some startling surprises.

Refreshingly, The Shack isn't about churchianity, sitting in a pew on Sundays, skimming through a Scripture reading so you can mark it off your daily to do list, or textbook academia that’s as dry as the Atacama. It centers on relationships that are as bold and dazzling and mysterious as a brand new harvest moon. The imaginative portrayal of the Trinitarian God is especially delicious and exhilarating in this regard, and within biblical bounds.

Note: The Shack</ is a novel, as in fiction. It neither purports nor pretends to be a theological treatise. So if you’re of the grim, puritanical and myopic American Gothic persuasion, never mind. Dollars to donuts you won’t get it.

That said, I’d like to add that of the nearly 200 books I've read thus far this year, The Shack is among my top three titles. I read the whole thing (250+ pages) cover-to-cover in just over 24 hours. It's THAT good. As in, brilliant. If you don’t read anything else this year and you’re looking for something fresh, authentic and amazing, don’t miss The Shack.

"Merry Tossmas"

From FOTF:

http://www.citizenlink.org/videofeatures/A000008654.cfm

Grace

Grace
By Richard Paul Evans
Simon & Schuster, 2008
ISBN-13: 978-1-4165-5003-7


I finished reading Richard Paul Evans’ newest release, Grace, last week. I held off on writing a review because I wanted to ruminate on the novel awhile, let it roll around in my head and “marinate.” You can’t rush a review of Grace. It’s not that kind of book. Here’s why:

When I read the Author’s Note regarding the 1874 child abuse case of Mary Ellen Wilson, I almost put Grace back on the library shelf. I can’t get near that topic without one of two reactions: dissolving into a soggy heap of tears, or wanting to personally thrash the stuffing out of the perpetrators. As the mother of four boys and the Children’s Ministries Co-Director for our church, child abuse enrages me beyond words. It also rips my heart out. Frankly, I wasn’t up for either emotion the day Grace came into the library (It took awhile. I was #23 in the “On Hold” queue). Tempted to put it back, I refrained from doing so for just one reason: I own every title Evans has ever written. I’m never been disappointed. So, on the strength of Evans’ prior work, I decided to trust him with this new book. So I stuffed Grace into my bag en route to the YMCA with my youngest. Poolside while Josiah splashed down the water slide, I gingerly withdrew Grace and started reading.

Grace opens with a recap of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Match Girl and some grandfatherly reflections from protagonist Eric Welch on Christmas Day 2006 (p.5). Told in the first person, the story unfolds in flashback fashion during Eric’s teen years and moves from October 1962 to early January 1963. Eric’s father, a construction worker, is unable to work due to Guillain Barre Syndrome. The family of four, which includes Eric’s ten year-old brother and best friend, Joel, is forced to move from southern California to a rundown, low-rent part of Utah. (I have a good friend with GBS. I’ve never seen this debilitating disease in another novel.) We struggle with Eric through the first four chapters as he endures the slings and arrows of being “the new kid” in middle school and all the attendant traumas and woes that unhappy scenario typically includes. In Eric’s case it’s exacerbated by being poor and from out-of-state to boot.

We meet fifteen year-old Grace in Chapter Five. She’s foraging for food in a dumpster behind “McBurger Queen,” Eric’s part-time (scum bag) employer. On page 34 we find out that Grace is a runaway: “I’m not going home.” But she has no where to go. Besides, there’s something about Grace (and grace) that’s …unexplained. Mysterious. Something that causes us as well as Eric to pause…

Unwilling to leave Grace roaming the streets alone on a cold October night, Eric brings her to the “clubhouse” he and Joel built behind the family’s sprawling, dilapidated home. The next 240 pages detail the tender uncertainties of First Love, selflessness and sacrifice, courage in the face of overwhelming odds, the Cuban Missile Crisis, family and emotional struggles, and Eric’s rage at the people who “coulda, shoulda, woulda” protected young Grace from her predacious stepfather – but didn’t. The willful ignorance of neighbors, school officials and law enforcement receive a withering indictment that’s all the more effective for its understated subtlety: “I sat alone staring at the back of a pew while people who didn’t really know anything about Grace talked about her as if they suddenly cared.” (p. 292). Evans gently but unequivocally shows how any willful blindness or ignorance makes us all complicit when it comes to crimes against children:

“You killed her. You and Dad and Joel and her pathetic, worthless mother and those stupid, idiotic policemen who just couldn’t wait to be heroes. … You all killed Grace…’ (p. 295)

If the story stopped here, it would have been poignant, but Evans doesn’t let it go. Not quite. He doesn’t leave us outraged, wrung-out, hopeless and helpless. Instead, he subtly intertwines themes of God’s grace, redemption and restoration throughout this carefully crafted story of a teen runaway (see the bottom of page 296). This reaches its zenith in an Epilogue that is both hopeful and heart-wrenching. It is in these final, gripping pages that we see how tragedy transforms a painfully shy, self-conscious fourteen year-old boy “with acne and a bad hair cut” into a tough-as-nails, take-no-prisoners prosecutor whose life is forever and irrevocably changed by those late autumn and winter months of 1962 and a girl named Grace:

“I have spent my life hunting down and prosecuting people like Grace’s stepfather. I carry Grace’s locket into every trial. I’ve earned a reputation as a fierce courtroom combatant who takes every case personally. What Grace saw in the candle was true of me as well. I am feared. … Today I continue my crusade. I have testified about child abuse before state lawmakers more times than I can remember. I’ve lived to see child advocacy become a public concern. I am grateful that the world finally has the courage to open its eyes. My wife asks me when we can retire, but I tell her I’ll die in the saddle. With my last breath I’ll continue to fight for these children. I cannot save them all, but I can save some of them, and that’s worth doing. There are other Graces out there.” (p. 305, 306).

I was personally relieved that Evans avoids any graphic details regarding Grace’s family history, relationships or the experiences that led to her running away from home. Consummate storyteller that he is, Evans drops subtle clues and hints throughout the story and allows us to fill in the blanks without assaulting us with additional traumatic narrative.

In terms of format and style, Grace features Evans’ usual short chapters and his trademark “diary entries” that preface each chapter. The style is vintage Evans, luminous and evocative, introducing us to three-dimensional characters whom we come to know, love, and miss as plot, climax, and conclusion unfold with great sensitivity and sagacity. The book closes with A Letter from Richard Paul Evans detailing practical help readers can provide via The Christmas Box Initiative and Operation Kids. Web sites and a toll-free phone number are included.

All in all, Grace is a fast – but not a light - read. I finished the book in an afternoon. I rate it four out of five stars. Although I love Evans' stories, Grace fell just a little short for me, maybe because it seemed emotionally manipulative, a tad pedantic and somewhat predictable at times. (This opinion may be due to the combined effects of sauna-like humidity, enough chlorine to choke a whale and countless interruptions from an errant beach ball – all part of trying to read beside an indoor pool.) While it isn’t as strong as either The Gift or Finding Noel, Grace is still a worthwhile read. In fact, I wanted to stand up at cheer by the final page. I plan on a re-read – just as soon as I restock my Kleenex stash.

Ah, Autumn!

Nisqually Wildlife Refuge

Freedom for Mothers

The following review was originally posted by our friends over at HEvencense. Used here by permission:

Today we take a closer look at a popular Bible study, Freedom for Mothers, by Denise Glenn of MotherWise Ministries, Houston, TX. Although Freedom for Mothers and its precursor, Wisdom for Mothers, are festooned with glittering endorsements from an impressive stable of Christian luminaries, one must wonder if any of those quoted actually read this material cover to cover, line by line. Freedom for Mothers purports to be "a bible (sic) study for moms based on John 15. This is an in-depth Bible study with practical mothering tips and instruction for prayer time."

Like Wisdom, Freedom for Mothers is divided into ten units. Each unit represents one week of study. Each week is divided into five daily lessons. In the interest of time and space, we'll limit ourselves to "Say What?!" examples from Units 3, 5, and 7 (there are lots more, but we'll just touch on these.)

Red flags wave vociferously throughout Unit 7, but let's start in Unit 3, The Principle of the Branch: the Root of the Problem, pp. 65 - 91. On page 71 Glenn writes:

"Jesus used an old garment and an old wineskin to illustrate our minds and hearts. Even if we get a 'patch' of His Word and 'sew' it onto our old thought patterns, it will 'tear' when 'washed' in the swirling waters of life's difficult circumstances. The new and old can't work together. We need an entirely new garment.

If we take the old wineskin of our attitudes, behaviors, and thought patterns as a mother and pour in God's Word, the old thnking patterns won't be able to contain the new powerful truths. The old will be shattered by the new. No, we must have new wineskins and new ways of thinking and new attitudes - to contain the new wine of Jesus' powerful life within us

." (Freedom for Mothers, p. 71)

Drawn from Matthew 9:16-17, this paragraph opens Unit 3 of Freedom for Mothers, The Anatomy of the Flesh. Not a bad analogy. But in proper context, is it the point of Matthew 9:16-17, or another example of "Denise Digressions" - playing fast and loose with the text to make her point - rather than allowing the text to speak for itself?

In context, Jesus has just healed two deomon-possessed men in the Gadarenes, where the people begged him to leave. Gadara is about six miles southeast of the Sea of Galilee. Apparently at their request, Jesus steps into a boat and "came to his own town" (vs. 1). There he heals a paralytic and outrages teachers of the law by forgiving the man's sins (vs. 2-8). He calls Matthew at his tax collector's booth (vs. 9) and soon thereafter John 's disciples come and ask him questions about fasting. Here's where we jump in at verse 15:

"Jesus answered, `How can the guests of the bridgroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast. No one sews a patch of unshrunken cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

In ancient times goatskins were used to hold wine. As the fresh grape juice fermented, the wine would expand, and the new wineskin would stretch. But a used skin, already stretched, would break.

Glenn muddles the plain sense of Matthew 9 with an attempt to equate "old wineskins" with "attitudes, behaviors, and thought patterns" and the flesh. (This view may have its roots in Liberty Savard's teachings and writings, referenced in the Notes section of Freedom for Mothers. Savard's teachings are not endorsed by credible Bible scholars.)

While Glenn's interpretation is Biblically valid in a broad sense, it clearly misses the point of this passage in Matthew. Here the Lord Jesus Christ uses a word picture that He brings a newness that cannot be confined within the old forms of the Old Testament. This is Law vs. Grace 101 - defining an old wineskin as "the flesh" rather than the old forms of religiosity may be a stretch (pun intended).

In Unit 5, The Principle of the Shears: Pruning the Branch (pp. 117- 152), Glenn isn't satisfied with the Biblical list of "deeds of the flesh" noted in Galatians 5:16-21. She seems compelled to include "... a detailed list of some patterns of `flesh' or self-nature" based on Discover the Master's Plan for Mastering Life, something published by "the Association of Exchanged Life Ministries, Inc." in 1993.

Curious? Here's the list:

Anger, anxiety, argumentative, biotry, bitterness, boastful, bossy. Causing dissension, conceited, controlling, critical trongue, depression, envy, fear. Feelings of rejection, feelings of worthlessness, gluttony, hatred, idolatry, impatience, impulsiveness. Impure thoughts, inadeuqcy, indifference to other's problems, insecurity, lasy, loner, materialistics, negativism, opinionated, overly sensitive and overly submissive. Passivity, pride, profane, rebellion at authoriity. Resentment, self-centered, self-confidence, self-deprecation, self-hatred, self-indulgence, self-justification, self-pity, self-reliance, self-righteous, self-sufficiency. (Take a deep breath now. We're almost there.) Sensuality, sexual lust, slow to forgive, stubbornness, temper. Too quick to speak, undue sadness. Vaniety, withdrawal, workaholic, worrier. (Wouldn't it be easier - and quicker - to just say, "If you're breathing, you're engaged in `patterns of flesh'? That seems to be the point of this exercise.)

Well. "Argumentative", "stubborn" and "opinionated"? There goes the legal profession! And those stalwart members of the Dutch and French Underground (to cite just one example) who "stubbornly" resisted the Third Reich during WWII? Tsk! Tsk! How 'bout pro-lifers who "stubbornly" stand up for the unborn and insist on their protection? Or the apostles who "stubbornly" spoke up for Christ, obeying God's commands rather than the edicts of Rome? "Undue sadness, overly sensitive to criticism" and "overly submissive"? According to whom? What is "overly submissive", by the way? And is someone standing by with a stopwatch to determine who is and isn't "too quick to speak"? "Slow to forgive," "passive," "loner", "indifferent" or "negative" - compared to what? Who makes that call?

We could go on, but you get the point. Perhaps the biggest problem with this extra-Biblical "list" is that its contents appear in a vacuum, without context or definition. "Anger" and "temper" sans context make the Lord Jesus Christ's action in overthrowing the tables in the temple "fleshly" or proceeding from "self-nature."

See what I mean?

This list can also encourage finger-pointing at others based on some questionable calls. Also note that a hefty portion of this list can be reasonably linked to specific temperament or personality types that may have little or nothing to do with "patterns of the flesh" or "self-nature." Some "patterns of the flesh" in this list, such as depression, may arguably arise from chemical and other imbalances as well as external factors beyond one's immediate control. Does that make them "fleshly"? I understand the point Glenn's trying to make here, but this is quite a stretch.

Let's move on.

Unit 7, The Principle of the Bud: Grafted to the Vine (pp. 173 - 200) hoists offers a fleet of red flags. Glenn opens this unit on p. 180 with a brief discussion of positive and negative self-esteem. She writes:

"How a mother views herself - who she is and why she is on earth - makes all the difference in her mothering. Mothering from a poor self-image makes for poor mothering. Mothering from an overly positive self-image may be even worse.

We mothers need to know who we are. We need to know why we are here. It is the only solution in having an accurate perception from which to mother our children.

I have incredibly good news for you. I can't wait wait to share this week's lesson with you because there are some liberating truths in God's Word that can change the esteem you have for yourself forever."

Glenn uses the word "self" (or a derivative) eight times in half a page. Personally, I'd rather focus on Jesus Christ than on me, myself, and I and my "self-esteem." But here's another issue. A big one. Down a couple sentences, Glenn writes:

"Let me put it as simply as I can. You were born with a desperately sinful nature (Romans 1:18). It was not responsive to God at all. When you came to Christ, that old sinful nature died (Romans 6:6). It no longer exists

(emphasis added)."

The old sinful nature "no longer exists"? Really. Then why do Christians sin? If the old sinful nature "no longer exists" as Glenn asserts, are Christians sinless? Hmmm.

A careful reading of Romans 6:6 doesn't support Glenn's claim: "For we know that our old self (the old, unregenate self in its pre-Christian state, dominated by sin) was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin - (verse 7) because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. (NIV)"

"That the body of sin might be done away with or destroyed" is not - repeat, NOT - the equivalent of saying "the old sinful nature does not exist"!!! Paul is NOT espousing the doctrine of sinlessness here, which Glenn's comments seem to imply or infer. The word destroyed here is katargeo, meaning "to make of none effect, to be paralyzed or canceled or nullified - "that we should no longer be slaves to (or serve) sin. (emphasis added)." Don't miss verses 7 - 12 which clarify the theme. Paul is NOT saying - repeat, NOT - that the old man nature has been eradicated or that it "no longer exists." He's saying that since the old man is crucifed, the body of sin has been put out of business, so that from now on we should not be in bondage to sin. Not sinless, but free from sin's shackles and power (v. 7). That's a far cry from claiming that "the old sinful nature no longer exists." (For a thorough and Biblically sound exegesis of Romans 6, see Commentary on Romans by Anders Nygren, pp. 230 - 248.)

Additional Observations:

-- Chiefly problematic is Glenn's penchant for proof-texting and her frequent violation of the historical-grammatical method of Biblical exegesis. The presentation is zealous but sloppy (see comments above.)

-- At 270+ pages, Freedom for Mothers is twice as long and half as lucid as it could be. Newbies are likely to find this plodding tome tedious and overly ambitious. A number of women with whom I spoke dropped out around Unit 5 or 6 with comments like "too long", "don't have time", "way too many pages", etc.

-- The Contents portion of this tome (pp. 9-10) lists ten units and Mothering Skills, but lacks page numbers for easy reference. Not exactly "user friendly."

-- Utilizing the old "shotgun approach," Glenn sprays superficial "Bible bullets" all over her text rather than focusing on salient points and topics and covering them in-depth. Leaps in logic as wide as the Grand Canyon open at times between one unit, topic or text and the next, leaving the study virtually incoherent in places.

-- Much of Wisdom and Freedom is written from the perspective of a white, middle or upper-middle class American (at least in the edition noted). Assumptions are made about jobs, bank accounts, leisure activities, homeowner status, family chemistry, disposable income, etc. that are inaccurate (and possibly offensive). See the Mothering Skills Discussion, Toys and Technology: Tots to Teens in Unit 3, pp. 67 - 70a.

Another example is Glenn's "Christmas Jar Miracle" testimony (pp. 217 - 222) includes a perspective some struggling moms may find hard to swallow and/or identify with. This is perhaps best summed up in Glenn's statement on p. 219: "At the end of the next pay period, I took the surplus left in the checking account, got it in cash, and put it in the jar. I knew how much money was in the jar and it wasn't much. In fact it was one-tenth of what we usually spent on Christmas."

Glenn uses the word "surplus" five times in one page, which may leave some moms thinking, "Surplus??? What's THAT??!!"

-- Glenn has a penchant for overusing the more familiar, rather diluted "Jesus" instead of His full regal title, the Lord Jesus Christ.

-- Several ladies I spoke to indicated that they found Glenn a gifted devotional writer or storyteller, but NOT a Bible scholar. This is obvious throughout Freedom.

-- Members of the MotherWise board or review committee remain anonymous and/or inaccessible. Readers may want to keep this in mind - and wonder why.

-- Glenn's "yuck-yuck," Pollyanna persona in the accompanying video appeals to some women as "warm" or "charming," but it may turn off (or irritate) those who are more serious and scholarly. This may be compounded by the overuse of colloquialisms and vernacular, such as the cloying "love bucket" analogy in Unit 2 (pp. 41 - 45).

-- Glenn cites sources for some of her units/concepts which may give cause for pause, such as Liberty Savard and Joyce Meyer (see pages 278-79.) For example, Glenn refers to "a new way to look at Matthew 16:19" and praying Savard's peculiar interpretation of this "binding and loosing" passage "concerning our attitudes and actions concerning money" (p. 218). Savard's teaching is based on a faulty understanding of the context of Matthew 16:19 that is repudiated by credible Bible scholars.

-- Astonishingly, Glenn doesn't consult (or at least never sources) any leading Bible scholars for this study (Strong's Greek Dictionary or Strong's Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary are not primary source materials, but reference tools). This should tell us something. Readers may wonder why authoritative evangelical sources/expositions are lacking in "an in-depth Bible study" purportedly "based on John 15." Conspicuous by its absence in Glenn's slapdash approach to Romans 6 - 9 are two of the finest scholarly commentaries ever written on the subject by C.E.B. Cranfield and Anders Nygren. We can only wonder why? (This should also tell us something.)

-- A line from the 1985 movie Out of Africa sums up most of this study. Turning to Denys Finch-Hatton (Robert Redford), Baroness Karen Blixen (Meryl Streep) inquires, "Is life really so d**n simple for you, Finch-Hatton?" The baroness has a point. We could ask the same question of Freedom for Mothers. Some may find Freedom's one-size-fits-all, formulaic approach to complex and often thorny issues and problems overly simplistic or inane.

To be fair, some of the above may be minimized or averted depending upon the skill and training of leaders at the local level. New believers or unseasoned, untrained Christians probably won't notice these deficiencies and may genuinely benefit from MotherWise materials. Women with sharp, alert minds and analytical skills should, and may opt to look elsewhere for more mature, balanced Bible studies.


Freedom for Mothers, by Denise Glenn of MotherWise Ministries. Published 1999 by Multnomah Publishers, Inc.

Indian Summer...

Just up the road...



Museum rose garden across the street.



Dewey Lake from Naches Peak Trail.



"Queen of the Cascades" (Mt. Rainier)








"Around town..."





Tipsoo Lake.

More when I get the hang of this better...

"Fireproof"

If you haven't yet seen this extraordinary movie, DO. TODAY. From the folks who brought us Facing the Giants (a personal favorite).

"You Have Our Attention"

The first response to any crisis is prayer; urgent and honest prayer. Before we turn to money managers and governments, let’s turn to the
Maker of the Universe.


You Have Our Attention, Lord
A prayer by Max Lucado - October 2008

Our friends lost their house
The co-worker lost her job
The couple next door lost their retirement
It seems that everyone is losing their footing

This scares us. This bailout with billions.
These rumblings of depression.
These headlines: ominous, thunderous -
“Going Broke!” “Going Down!” “Going Under!” “What's Next?”

What is next?

We’re listening. And we’re admitting: You were right.

You told us this would happen.
You shot straight about loving stuff and worshipping money.
Greed will break your heart, You warned.
Money will love you and leave you.
Don’t put your hope in riches that are so uncertain.

You were right. Money is a fickle lover and we just got dumped.

We were wrong to spend what we didn’t have.
Wrong to neglect prayer and ignore the poor.
Wrong to think we ever earned a dime. We didn’t. You gave it. And now, tell us Father, are You taking it?

We’re listening. And we’re praying.
Could you make something good out of this mess?

Of course You can. You always have.
You led slaves out of slavery,
Built temples out of ruins,
Turned stormy waves into a glassy pond and water into sweet wine.
This disorder awaits your order. So do we.

Through Christ,
Amen

God will always give what is right to His people who cry to Him night and day, and He will not be slow to answer them. (Luke 18:7 NCV)