Spasm control

Okay, so this post may damage my reputation as a blogger and writer in general, but I cannot help sharing something that has made me laugh everyday-twice a day-for the last week. I better prep you first.

Most of you all know that I have been traveling to Peru on a regular basis over the last year and a half to work with a local community and help build a new mission. Many of you have even been to Peru with me to join in on this work. Actually, some of you may even be able to proclaim with me that you have suffered from food poisoning, montezuma's revenge, or even parasites living in you (or as I like to call them "my little friends"). It seems that every time I go to Peru I can spend all week eating the local back country food and not get sick. But it is almost guaranteed that on the last night I will eat something in touristy Lima and get extremely sick. I am talking major spasms--(if there are children around you may want to send them to bed)--and it is paralyzing. One time I got so sick from food that I ate in Lima that when I was back in the rural area I had to go to the local po-dunk clinic to receive TWO IV's. I was there for more than 8 hours because I lost so much fluid and weight--just had to soak it all back up.

So anyway, I should have known better than to eat anything in Lima on my last night of my recent trip because that next morning and for the whole following week I was paralyzed. I finally went to the doctor a week later when I wasn't getting better on my own. (I don't know why we men think this way--ah, just give it a few more days and I will feel better). So I've been taking the meds for four days now, and I feel wonderful and I can say that I have had success in my spasm control.

I think the reason why I have been successful is (among the two other medications that kill the parasites) I have been taking this:

Yeah, I am rolling on the floor even now! I hope this gives you a hop in your step for the rest of the week!

15 pro-life truths from John Piper

1. Existing fetal homicide laws make a man guilty of manslaughter if he kills the baby in a mother’s womb (except in the case of abortion).

2. Fetal surgery is performed on babies in the womb to save them while another child the same age is being legally destroyed.

3. Babies can sometimes survive on their own at 23 or 24 weeks, but abortion is legal beyond this limit.

4. Living on its own is not the criterion of human personhood, as we know from the use of respirators and dialysis.

5. Size is irrelevant to human personhood, as we know from the difference between a one-week-old and a six-year-old.

6. Developed reasoning powers are not the criterion of personhood, as we know from the capacities of three-month-old babies.

7. Infants in the womb are human beings scientifically by virtue of their genetic make up.

8. Ultrasound has given a stunning window on the womb that shows the unborn at eight weeks sucking his thumb, recoiling from pricking, responding to sound. All the organs are present, the brain is functioning, the heart is pumping, the liver is making blood cells, the kidneys are cleaning fluids, and there is a fingerprint. Virtually all abortions happen later than this date.

9. Justice dictates that when two legitimate rights conflict, the limitation of rights that does the least harm is the most just. Bearing a child for adoption does less harm than killing him.

10. Justice dictates that when either of two people must be inconvenienced or hurt to alleviate their united predicament, the one who bore the greater responsibility for the predicament should bear more of the inconvenience or hurt to alleviate it.

11. Justice dictates that a person may not coerce harm on another person by threatening voluntary harm on themselves.

12. The outcast and the disadvantaged and exploited are to be cared for in a special way, especially those with no voice of their own.
13. What is happening in the womb is the unique person-nurturing work of God, who alone has the right to give and take life.

14. There are countless clinics that offer life and hope to both mother and child (and father and parents), with care of every kind lovingly provided by people who will meet every need they can.

15.Jesus Christ can forgive all sins, and will give all who trusts him the help they need to do everything that life requires.

My Review of The Shack

The Shack is a heart-felt story of a man's personal experience with God. The main character goes through a horrible tragedy and the book goes on to tell the story about how God enters into relationship with Mack (the main character) and touches his heart.

I have had a great experience reading this book. I finished it last night. Looking back over the last week or so, each time I read the book I found myself desiring a deep intimacy. As I wrote that sentence I was reminded that the one who is reaching out and truly desiring intimacy with us is Jesus Himself. Of course, it is great that I desire intimacy with the Father, but it's not about me wanting it, it's about Him giving it. God desired(s) to have intimacy and relationship with us so much that he sent Jesus, his only son, to make it possible. God in the flesh.

I very much appreciate the story's way of describing the Trinity in perfect unity. None of the three parts of the Trinity acts, hears, or speaks without the other two knowing. They are one in three persons. God is so utterly different than us; but at the same time we are made in the image of Him! That is mind-blowing!

The Shack is a work of fiction and is not a doctrinal dissertation! The truth in this book is the relationship with God that was lost at the fall of man, and that the only way that relationship can be restored is through Christ. And the person(s) that go about expressing that relationship are the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!

I recommend this book to all of you, no matter where you are at in your walk with God. Whether you are Catholic, Pentecostal, Lutheran or Calvinist, or even an atheist, this story will move you. It will challenge the box that you have put God in and pull you closer to a relationship with Him.

Let us learn from a great leader

A Proclamation.

Whereas, the Senate of the United States, devoutly recognizing the Supreme Authority and just Government of Almighty God, in all the affairs of men and of nations, has, by a resolution, requested the President to designate and set apart a day for National prayer and humiliation.

And whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.

And, insomuch as we know that, by His divine law, nations like individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment, inflicted upon us, for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole People? We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!

It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.

Now, therefore, in compliance with the request, and fully concurring in the views of the Senate, I do, by this my proclamation, designate and set apart Thursday, the 30th. day of April, 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting and prayer. And I do hereby request all the People to abstain, on that day, from their ordinary secular pursuits, and to unite, at their several places of public worship and their respective homes, in keeping the day holy to the Lord, and devoted to the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that solemn occasion.

All this being done, in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope authorized by the Divine teachings, that the united cry of the Nation will be heard on high, and answered with blessings, no less than the pardon of our national sins, and the restoration of our now divided and suffering Country, to its former happy condition of unity and peace.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty seventh.

President Abraham Lincoln

Doesn't it seem that our nation is in the same circumstances now that we were in when President Lincoln put this national day of fasting and confession into place?  We have SO FORGOTTEN the Lord Jesus in all of the blessings that he has bestowed upon us.  Every blessing that we have comes from Him.  NOT ONE BLESSING IS OF HUMAN ORIGIN!

"Remember therefore from where you have fallen: repent, and do the works you did at first.  If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent."  Revelation 2:5

Our nation was built on basic Christian principles, our founding fathers (contrary to what revisionist historians want us to believe) were true, flawed and sinful, Christians.  If you study the founding fathers of our nation you will find that they profess ABSOLUTE truth in the Bible and Christ Crucified, and that any country that desires freedom and liberty must be grounded in absolute truth and morality which comes from Christian faith.  My dear friends there are absolutes in life.  Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation, let us not forget!

An Explanation by one of the contributors to The Shack

Is The Shack Heresy?

By Wayne Jacobsen

We knew it would happen eventually. Frankly we thought it would happen far sooner and in far greater quantity than we have seen to date. But we knew The Shack was edgy enough to prompt some significant backlash, which is why so many publishing companies didn't want to take it on at the beginning.
I never thought everyone was going to love this book. Art is incredibly subjective as to whether a story and style are appealing. I have no problem with a spirited discussion of some of the theological issues raised in The Shack. The books I love most are the ones that challenge my theological constructs and invite a robust discussion among friends, whether I agree with everything in them or not in the end,. That is especially true of a work of fiction where people will bring their own interpretations of the same events or conversations. I never view a book as all good or all bad. It's like eating chicken. Enjoy the meat and toss the bones.
What is surprising, however, is the hostile tone of false accusation and the conspiracy theories that some are willing to put on this book. Some have even warned others not to read it or they will be led into deception. It saddens me that people want to use a book like this to polarize God's family, whether it's overenthusiastic reader thrusting it in someone's face telling them they "must read" this book, or when people read their own theological agendas into a work, then denounce it as heresy.
If you're interested, read it for yourself. Don't let someone else do your thinking for you. If it helps convey the reality of Jesus to you, great! If all you can see is sinister motives and false teaching in it, then put it aside. I don't have time to give a point-by-point rebuttal to the reviews I've read, but I would like to make some comments on some of the issues that have come up since I'm getting way too many emails asking me what I think of some of the questions they raise. I'll also admit at the outset, that I'm biased. Admittedly, I'm biased. I was part of a team with the author of working on this manuscript for over a year and am part of the company formed to print and distribute this book. But I'm also well acquainted with the purpose and passions of this book.
What do I think? I tire of the self-appointed doctrine police, especially when they toss around false accusations like "new age conspiracy", "counterfeit Jesus" or "heresy" to promote fear in people as a way of advancing their own agenda. What many of them don't realize is that research actually shows that more people will buy a book after reading a negative review than they do after reading a positive one. It peaks their curiosity as to why someone would take so much time to denounce someone else's book.
But such reviews also confuse people who are afraid of being seduced into error and for those I think the false accusations demand a response. Let me assure any of you reading this that all three of us who worked on this book are deeply committed followers of Jesus Christ who have a passion for the Truth of the Scriptures and who have studied and taught the life of Jesus over the vast majority of our lifetimes. But none of us would begin to pretend that we have a complete picture of all that God is or that our theology is flawless. We are all still growing in our appreciation for him and our desire to be like him, and we hope this book encourages you to that process as well. In the end, this says the best stuff we know about God at this point in our journeys. Is it a complete picture of him? Of course not! Who could put all that he is into a little story like this one? But if it is a catalyst to get thousands of people to talk about theology--who God is and how he makes himself known in the world--we would be blessed.
This is a story of one believer's brokenness and how God reached into that pain and pulled him out and as such is a compelling story of God's redemption. The pain and healing come straight from a life that was broken by guilt and shame at an incredibly deep level and he compresses into a weekend the lessons that helped him walk out of that pain and find life in Jesus again.
That said, the content of this book does take a harsh look at how many of our religious institutions and practices have blinded people to the simple Gospel and replaced it with a religion of rules and rituals that have long ceased to reflect the Lord of Glory. Some will disagree with that assessment and the solutions this book offers, and the reviews that do so honestly merit discussion. But those who confuse the issues by making up their own back-story for the book, or ascribing motives to its publication without ever finding out the truth, only prove our point.
Here are some brief comments on the major issues that have been raised about The Shack:
Does the book promote universalism?
Some people can find a universalist under every bush. This book flatly states that all roads do not lead to Jesus, while it affirms that Jesus can find his followers wherever they may have wandered into sin or false beliefs. Just because he can find followers in the most unlikely places, does not validate those places. I don't know how we could have been clearer, but people will quote portions out of that context and draw a false conclusion.
Does it devalue Scripture?
Just because we didn't put Scriptural addresses with their numbers and colons at every allusion in the story, does not mean that the Bible isn't the key source in virtually every conversation Mack has with God. Scriptural teachings and references appear on almost every page. They are reworded in ways to be relevant to those reading the story, but at every point we sought to be true to the way God has revealed himself in the Bible except for the literary characterizations that move the story forward. At its core the book is one long Bible study as Mack seeks to resolve his anger at God.
Is this God too nice?
Others have claimed that the God of The Shack is simply too nice, or having him in humorous human situations trivializes him. Really? Who wants to be on that side of the argument? For those who think this God is too easy, please tell me in what way does he let Mack off on anything? He holds his feet to the fire about every lie in his mind and every broken place in his heart. I guess what people these critics cannot see is confrontation and healing inside a relationship of love and compassion. This is not the angry and tyrannical God that religion has been using for 2000 years to beat people into conformity and we are not surprised that this threatens the self-proclaimed doctrine police.
One reviewer even thought this passage from The Shack was a mockery of the true God: "I'm not a bully, not some self-centered demanding little deity insisting on my own way. I am good, and I desire only what is best for you. You cannot find that through guilt or condemnation...." That wasn't mocking God but a view of God that seems him as a demanding, self-centered tyrant? The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ revealed himself as the God who would lay down his life for us to redeem us to himself.
The words, "I don't want slaves to do my will; I want brothers and sisters who will share life with me," are simply a reflection of John 15:15. Unfortunately those who tend toward legalism among us have no idea how much more completely Jesus transforms us out of a relationship of love, than we could ever muster in our gritted-teeth obedience. This is at the heart of the new covenant--that love will fulfill the law, where human effort cannot.
Does it distort or demean the Trinity?
One of the concerns expressed about The Shack is that it presents the Trinity outside of a hierarchy. In fact many religious traditions think they find their basis for hierarchical organizations in what they've assumed about the Trinity. To look at the Trinity as a relationship without the need for command and control is one of the intriguing parts of this story. If they walk in complete unity, why would a hierarchy be needed? They live in love and honor each other. While in the flesh Jesus did walk in obedience to the Father as our example, elsewhere Scripture speaks of their complete unity, love and glory in relating to each other. Different functions need not imply a different status.
This extends in other ways to look at how healed people can relate to each other inside their relationship with God that defines authority and submission in ways most are not used to, but that are far more consistent with what we see in the early believers and in the teaching of Scripture. It is also true of many believers around the world who are learning to experience the life of Father's family without all the hierarchical maintenance and drama that has plagued followers of Christ since the third century.
People may see this differently and find this challenging, if only because it represents some thought they have not been exposed to before. Here we might be better off having a discussion instead of dragging out the "heretic" label when it is unwarranted.
Does it leave out discussions about church, salvation and other important aspects of Christianity?
This is some of the most curious complaints I've ever read. This is the story about God making himself available to one of his followers who is being swallowed up by tragedy and his crisis of faith in God's goodness over it. This is not a treatise on every element of theological study. Perhaps we should have paused in the story to have an altar call, or perhaps we should have drug a pipe organ into the woods and enlisted a choir to hold a service, but that was not the point.
Is this a Feminist God?
The book uses some characterizations of God to mess with the religious stereotypes only to get people to consider God as he really is, not how we have reconstituted him as a white, male autocrat bent on religious conformity. There are important reasons in the story why God takes the expressions he does for Mack, which underlines his nature to meet us where we are, to lead us to where he is. While Jesus was incarnated as man, God as a spirit has no gender, even though we fully embrace that he has taken on the imagery of the Father to express his heart and mind to us. We also recognize Scripture uses traditional female imagery to help us understand other aspects of God's person, as when Jesus compares himself to a hen gathering chicks, or David likens himself to a weaned child in his mother's arms.
Has it touched people too deeply?
Some reviewers point to Amazon.com reviews and people who have claimed it had a transforming effect on their spiritual lives as proof of its demonic origin. Please! How absurd is that? Do we prefer books that leave people untouched? This book touches lives because it deals with God in the midst of pain in an honest, straightforward way and because for many this is the first time they have seen the power of theology worked out inside a relationship with God himself.
Does The Shack promote Ultimate Reconciliation (UR)?
It does not. While some of that was in earlier versions because of the author's partiality at the time to some aspects of what people call UR, I made it clear at the outset that I didn't embrace UR as sound teaching and didn't want to be involved in a project that promoted it. In my view UR is an extrapolation of Scripture to humanistic conclusions about our Father's love that has to be forced on the biblical text.
Since I don't believe in UR and wholeheartedly embrace the finished product, I think those who see UR here, either positively or negatively are reading into the text. To me that was the beauty of the collaboration. Three hearts weighed in on the theology to make it as true as we could muster. The process also helped shape our theologies in honest, protracted discussions. I think the author would say that some of that dialog significantly affected his views. This book represents growth in that area for all of us. Holding him to the conclusions he may have embraced years earlier would be unfair to the ongoing process of God in his life and theology.
That said, however, I'm not afraid to have that discussion with people I regard as brothers and sisters since many have held that view in the course of theological history. Also keep in mind that the heretic hunters lump many absurd notions into what they call UR, but when I actually talk to those people partial to some view of ultimate reconciliation they do not endorse all the absurdities ascribed to them. This is a heavily nuanced discussion with UR meaning a lot of different things to different people. For myself, I am convinced that Jesus is someone we have to accept through repentance and belief in this age to participate in his life.
Throughout The Shack Mack's choices are in play, determining what he will let God do in his life through their encounter. He is no victim of God's process. He is a willing participant at every juncture. And even though Papa says "He is reconciled to all men" he also notes that, "not all men are reconciled to me."
Is the author promoting the emergent movement?
This guilt-by-association tactic is completely contrived. Neither the author, nor Brad and I at Windblown have ever been part of the emergent conversation. Some of their bloggers have written about the book, but we have not had any significant contact with the leaders of that movement and they have not been the core audience that has embraced this book.
That said I have met many people in the emergent conversation that have proved to be brothers and sisters in the faith. While I'm not nuts about all they do, a lot of the statements made about them by critics are as false as what some say about The Shack. They do deeply embrace the Scriptures. As I see it they are not trying to re-invent Christianity, but trying to communicate it in ways that captures a new generation. While I don't agree with many of the conclusions they're sorting through at the moment, they are not raving humanists. I have found them passionate seekers of the Lord Jesus Christ, who are asking some wonderful questions about God and how he makes himself known in us.
Does The Shack promote new age philosophy or Hinduism?
Amazingly some people have made assumptions about some of the names to think there is some eastern mysticism here, but when you hear how Paul selected the names he did it wasn't to make veiled references to Hinduism, black Madonnas, or anything else. It was to uncover facets of God's character that are clear in the Scriptures.
It's amazing how much people will make up to indulge their fantasies and falsely label something to fit their own conclusions. Some have even insisted that Mack flying in his dreams was veiled instructions in astral travel. Absolutely absurd! Has this man never read fiction, or had a dream? Just because someone screams there is a demon under that bush, doesn't mean there is.
* * * * *
We realize this would be a challenging read for those who see no difference between the religious conditioning that underlies Christianity as it is often presented in the 21st Century and the simple, powerful life in Christ that Jesus offered to his followers. Our hope was to help people see how the Loving Creator can penetrate our defenses and lead us to healing. Our prayer is that through this book people will see the God of the Bible as Jesus presented him to be--an endearing reality who wants to love us out of our sin and bondage and into his life. This is a message of grace and healing that does not condone or excuse sin, but shows God destroying it through the dynamic relationship he wants with each of his children.
We realize folks will disagree. We planned on it. We appreciate the interaction of those who have honest concerns and questions. Those who have been captured by this story are encouraged to search the Scriptures to see if these things are so and not trust us or the ravings of those who misinterpret this book, either threatened by its success, or those who want to ride on it to push their own fear-based agenda.

***********

I realize this is a long post to read, but I thought it would be appropriate to post this after my post yesterday. Does is it stimulate any thoughts for conversation?

Interesting Chart--What do you think about it?

Beliefs	Biblical Christianity	Transition See Emerging, Kingdom and PEACE	New Spirituality See The Shack, The Secret and Theosophy
TRUTH Timeless or relative?	God's eternal, unchanging Word! Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:6	Truth is de-emphasized to avoid division: “Humanity is recognizing the need for a more vital approach to God... men are tired of doctrinal and dogmatic differences....”23	“...a portion of truth... is found in every religious and philosophical system…. There is no room for absolute truth.... But there are relative truths."26      “When we can contact our own inner God, all truth will be revealed to us."58
JESUS our Savior or a "World Teacher"?	"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Matt 16:15-16 "...that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow... and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord....." Phil. 2:10-11	“The teaching of Christ is not obsolete and out of date. It needs only to be rescued from the interpretations of the theologies of the past …”8	“…see Christ as representing all the faiths and taking His rightful place as World Teacher.… They may not call Him Christ, but they have their own name for Him and follow Him as truly and faithfully as their Western brethren.”13
INCARNATION Jesus or you?	"He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God..." Col. 1:15  "The Word became flesh  (incarnate) and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory." John 1:14	"For the church not to speak to pop culture, not to use [its] images... that's not being very incarnational.... In order to incarnate Christ into the culture... we have to look to redeem pop culture." Leonard Sweet [note 2]	"God, the scripture is saying, is formless consciousness and the essence of who you are." Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth, p. 219 "You are God in a physical body ... You are all power ... You are all intelligence ... You are the creator." The Secret. [note 3]
SALVATION By faith or by works?	"...by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works...."      “...wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction.... Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life... there are few who find it." Matt. 7:13-14	"We have taught that Christ died to save the world and have endeavored to show that only believers could be saved … Individual salvation is surely selfish in its interest and its origin.”76	"Only those principles and truths which are universally recognized and which find their place in every religion are truly necessary to salvation.” 20
FAITH Based on Truth or experience?	"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God..." Gal. 2:20-21     "...your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God." 1 Cor. 2:5	“The need is for vision, wisdom and that wide tolerance which will see divinity on every hand and recognize the Christ in every human being.”10	“...there will emerge the universal religion, the One Church. …doctrines and dogmas will no longer be regarded as necessary, for faith will be based on experience.…"16
SIN Confessed or ignored?	"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.... If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:8-9	Sin and guilt are ignored, minimized, redefined, or replaced by unbiblical tolerance or -- as spirit guide Djwhal Khul called it,  “the Law of Loving Understanding."	"There is no sin." [note 1]     “That old message of right and wrong … good and evil, everlasting rewarding and everlasting damnation, has done nothing to end the suffering. …because it is a message of separation.”77
GOSPEL The Truth or   deception?	The "good news" about the suffering, redeeming death, and victorious resurrection of Jesus -- that we might be saved from sin and joined to Christ.     Those who deny His Gospel will face His judgment.	The old Gospel is replaced by a more "positive" gospel: God loves you and has a wonderful plan for you. Just agree and accept in His love. Don't dwell on sin.	"...this message is the only message that can save the world.… That message is The New Gospel: WE ARE ALL ONE.”78
FELLOWSHIP In Christ or through facilitated dialogue?	"...love one another; as I have loved you..." John 13:34          "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another....singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord....." Col. 3:16	Small dialectic groups must be non-judgmental, "authentic" and affirming, showing unconditional tolerance and acceptance, seeking consensus and unity in diversity. [note 4]	"Our object is not to destroy any religion, but rather to... filter each, thus ridding them of their respective impurities.... Free discussion, temperate, candid, undefiled by personalities and animosity, is, we think, the most efficacious means of getting rid of error.... ”26 [See The Dialectic Process]
SERVICE God's way or the world's way [Praxis]	"...whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men." Col. 3:23     "...they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us..." 2 Cor. 8:5     "...distributing to the needs of the saints...." Rom. 12:13	"The first Reformation was... about creeds; this one's going to be about our deeds."     "The last thing many believers need today is to go to another Bible study.... What they need are serving experiences..." Rick Warren [note 5]	"The New Group of World Servers ... can be regarded as the embodiment of the emerging kingdom of God on earth ... not a Christian kingdom.... It is a grouping of all those who – belonging as they do to every world religion... are free from the spirit of hatred and separativeness..... It is a group... without a ...bible of any kind... it has no creed..."[note 6]
SEPARATION or  universal oneness?	"Walk as children of light ... finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. " Eph. 5:8-11	"Key to the New Spirituality is a belief that God is not separate from anyone or anything  -- and neither are we."44	“...the ushering in of the new world order... will gather into its ranks all men of peace and good will … the embodiment of the emerging Kingdom of God on earth… It is a grouping of all those who... are free from the spirit of hatred and separativeness.”52
PERSECUTION or "tolerance" for "resisters"	"...the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me." John 16:2-3	"Postmodern culture is a change-or-be-changed world. The word is out: Reinvent yourself for the 21st century or die." Emerging church leader, Leonard Sweet, Soul Tsunami	"Evolve or die: that is our only choice now. ...at this time about ten percent of people in North America are already awakening.... This is probably enough of a critical mass to bring about a new earth." Eckhart Tolle, author of A New Earth and The Power of Now
KINGDOM of GOD or Kingdom of the World?	Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world." John 18:36      "He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son... in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins." Colossians 1:13	“Christ's major task was the establishing of God's kingdom upon earth. He showed us the way in which humanity could enter that kingdom … the way is found in service to our fellow men …"4	“The true Church is the kingdom of God on earth … composed of all, regardless of race or creed, who live by the light within, who have discovered the fact of the mystical Christ in their hearts.”11

 

I am almost done reading "The Shack" and I knew that a lot of it would be pretty controversial (looking at it from a traditional conservative Christian theological view).  I like how it shows intimacy with God and how He heals us with love when we are in a relationship with Him.  I don't think I can get myself to lump "The Shack" into the far right column of the chart above, but I do know that I believe all that is in the far left column of the chart because it is pure scripture.  I know that the Shack has led me to tears and to laughter and that it is a very involving story that makes me want to believe that the experiences are true.  I think it is a wonderful work of fiction that pushes people to examine their walk of Faith.

What do you think?  Tell me.