Reading The Shack

Reading The Shack - Part 2

I came across a review of the Shack by Scott Lindsey this morning on Resurgence. He did a great job summarizing many of my concerns with The Shack, so I am simply going to post a link here. He also links several other reviews that are worthwhile. I like Lindsey's especially, though, because he tries to strike a balance between acknowledging what is good in the novel while also clearly calling out the theological shortcomings.

Check it out here.

Comments

The Gospel, Faith, and Asking Jesus into Your Heart

Kelly, our wonderful Trailhead Kids leader, sent me a link to a great blog over at Sojourn Church. It is titled " 9 Reasons not to Ask Jesus into your Heart ." You should read it because it is clear, succinct, and right. I am not a fan of asking Jesus into your heart. I am not a fan of committing your life to Christ or making him Lord of your life or asking Jesus to be your friend, either. Strange thing for a pastor to say, right? Wrong. After I became a believer and started working in a Christian high school, I came to see just how short those kinds of sayings fall from leading people to the real gospel. As a new believer (and a lover of all things English), I loved my job, most of the things about my school, and, of course, my students. One of the key frustrations I had, though, was that so many of my students claimed to follow Jesus but so few of them seemed to know him or love him. So, about two months into the school year, I de...

Teaching the Story Arc of the Bible

Each of the Journey campuses has started teaching a gospel class - a class that answers basic questions about following Christ and being a member in our church. This class has attracted a large number of people who are "peaking over the fence" - checking this whole Christianity thing out. That is both exciting and challenging. It gives us the chance to share the Bible with people who don't necessarily come to it with faith - as well as challenge those who do trust the Bible to get on mission with us. Our first lesson was on the story arc of the Bible - what is referred to as the diachronic view of scripture. Simply put, it is a way of looking at scripture as a complete story - with one major primary theme: God in Jesus reconciling the world to himself. Teaching a diachronic view of scripture to postmodern culture, though, presents some unique challenges. In prepping to teach, I wrote out the following thoughts. I would be glad to get any thoughts you have on this to...

Time Waster: Smoking Gun's list of 2008's Best Mug Shots

OK - another complete waste of time. A complete and total waste of time. I am warning you. It will waste your time and you will wonder why it is so completely useless and fascinating. Just warning you. Smoking Gun's 2008 best mug shot line up. Just click the picture above to be taken to the original list.

Glorious Mud

Search This Blog