i am not sure where all the confusion is coming from and maybe i am being to simple, but this book is simply not worth entertaining. The formula for truth is such: 1) Take anything you encounter and weigh it against Scripture 2) If it does not agree, THROW IT OUT!!!
Don't fill your mind with worthless material that does not honor God nor make room for God to make you more like Yeshua. This i a war, not a rehearsal and our time is something we do not get back. The enemy wants you dead and he will stop at nothing to get you off track.
Deuteronomy 28:11-15
11 "The LORD will make you abound in prosperity, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your beast and in the produce of your ground, in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you.
12 "The LORD will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.
13 "The LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you only will be above, and you will not be underneath, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, which I charge you today, to observe them carefully,
14and do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
Consequences of Disobedience
15 "But it shall come about, if you do not obey the LORD your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
This book offers nothing in the way of helping you obey all that God has commanded us. God is not a self-explaining black woman. He is Spirit and no man has seen the living God except in the person of Yeshua who is the radiance and exact nature of God (Hebrews 1). He offers no explanation for His ways because they are higher than ours (Isaiah 55) Allegory of the likes of C.S. Lewis (which does not alter Scripture or expound on it unnecessarily) is one thing, but this book pretentiously places characteristics on the Trinity that they themselves have not allowed for in the Bible.
What saddens me is that i feel the people who are being duped by this book are the very ones who know very little about THE BOOK (Bible). When you have Scripture hidden in your heart and are seeking to obey and align yourself with the will of God, His word is your only ally and protection against the lies of the world. Scripture is very clear about what happens to those who lack the knowledge of God's word:
Hosea 4:5-7
5 So you will stumble by day,
And the prophet also will stumble with you by night;
And I will destroy your mother.
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being My priest
Since you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
7 The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against Me;
I will change their glory into shame.
This passage deals with false prophets and God's people who are lead astray because they did not remember the commandments of God. God loves all His creation, but not all of His creation are loved as sons and daughters of the King. God is not a universalist and not all will be saved. Not my words, but from His word.
You must hear and obey like Abraham because he is the father of all who are of the faith (Romans 4). The way of salvation started in Genesis:
1) God intervened into Abraham's life (see Ephesians 2 for our story)
2) Abraham heard God's voice and believed (Genesis 15:6)
3) Abraham obeyed and left his homeland for somewhere he had never been (Matthew 28:18-20; pay attention to verse 20 for the obedience part)
Wheewww! That was a keyboard full and i won't bore ya'll any longer. Bottom line is that "The Shack" is a dangerous book for those not versed in Scripture and not something unexpected in these last days when men will want their ears tickled rather than hearing truth (2 Timothy 4:3). Test everything and you will be fine.
On a lighter note: the third job i am getting is as the Religious Director of Education for the Naval Air Station here in Fort Worth. Sweet! i get to work in the chapel and hag out with chaplains. The kids are doing great and getting so big. Pray that God grants us the strength to prepare them to stand in the gap for the dark days ahead. God bless and shalom!
