It has only been recently that I have had the opportunity to do what I will lovingly call "unrequired" reading. During the past three and a half years in seminary, I was inundated with books and articles to read (I am quite positive that many of those still need to be finished!). During this time, many of the requests or suggestions of books to read from parishioners and friends began to stack up. Sometimes I would buy the book and put it on my shelf, while other times I would be given the book by someone and add it to the pile. Needless to say, after all this time, the book pile is quite large.
I thought that it would be interesting to share what I am reading in hopes that others who are reading the same or other materials may be able to participate in a dialog about those books.
Anyway, one of the many books on that pile was The Shack.
Let me begin this review by playing the role of captain obvious and restating that this is a work of fiction! It has the word fiction printed on the back cover above the bar code and is recognized in the reviews as a work of fiction. As such, although Christian in orientation, it should still be read as a work of fiction.
That means that it is not a theological treatise, although it deals with some pretty hefty theological elements. The subtitle, "Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity", acknowledges the books wrestling with theodicy (how to reconcile God's power, God's grace/love, and God's jusitice). It deals with both community and communion (the act, not the sacrament). It deals with mercy and grace. It deals with free will and sin.
I will tell you that if you are a supporter of predestination, this book will drive you absolutely batty. For those that have an Armenian, Weslayan, or similar bent, you will be more at home with the writing presented.
Putting theology aside for a moment, I will tell you that Young is a gifted story teller. While there were a couple of spots where the dialog appeared a little corny, those moments were limited in frequency and brief in length (two instances at less than 1/4 page each). The Shack is an easy and pleasurable read. Young's word choice and narrative style create such vivid word pictures that you actually feel like you are in the story.
The story unfolds with a family going on a camping trip. During this time of vacation, Missy (Mack's youngest daughter) is abducted and murdered. After four years of funk (referred to as the Great Sadness), Mack receives a mysterious note on a dismal winter day that invites him back to that place of great pain and sadness...The Shack. Against his better judgment, Mack goes to the shack seeking answers...what he finds is God. Mack's encounter with God leaves him changed.
But the answers that Mack receives during his encounter with God are not the only surprises of the book...in fact, the end was a complete surprise (another gift of Young's talented writing ability).
Since the book is fiction, I don't want to spoil the end of the book for those who haven't read it yet. I will tell you that the book is well worth the read. It is thought provoking and if nothing else, it just might cause you to ask better questions about why you believe what you believe.
If you have read the book, what do you think of it?
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
February 10, 2009
Here is today’s Psalm and prayer:
Psalm 100:1-5
Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come into his presence with singing. Know that the LORD is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name. For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
Amen.
Psalm 100:1-5
Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come into his presence with singing. Know that the LORD is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name. For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
Amen.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Time with God - A Growing Concern
There are more than 100 blogs in my RSS feed. They run the gamut from theological to family update oriented. Some are political, some are religious, some are for fun, and some revolve around some pretty serious issues for our world. In each of the blogging genres that I follow (except the family and friend general updates), I have selected some to follow that usually flow with my own beliefs, some that are at the opposite end of the spectrum, and others that fall at varying places along the spectrum. This creates a really interesting tapestry in which to explore, question, debate, and discuss my own understandings and beliefs. This also helps me to recognize patterns within my own perspectives and the perspectives of others.
In the realm of Christian faith within the blogosphere, I am beginning to notice a pattern that is disturbing to me. Many of our theological reflectors, our seminarians, church planters, church leaders, and lay people keep bringing up the same issue on their blogs regarding spending time with God. These folks often say that as ministry, school, and life demands increase, personal time with God (in prayer, studying the Bible, worshiping, etc) dramatically decreases. As a solution to this problem, we are encouraged to get back to spending more time with God (specifically in the aforementioned ways).
At the outer level, there is nothing seemingly wrong with spending more time in prayer, Bible study, worship, etc. These things are definitively a part of our journey as Christians...they can feed and nurture our relationships with God and with others...but they are not the only "parts" of our journey. This is where the disturbing part comes in...it seems to me that many are describing spending time in two distinct ways.
Let me back up just a moment and say that my understanding of the Christian faith revolves around relationships. What Christ has done through his life, death, and resurrection was to reconcile the relationship between humanity and God. You want to know about community, look at God. You want to be in relationship with others and the world around you, turn to God. After all, isn't it Scripture that reminds us that we are to love God and love our neighbors as we love ourselves...it is about relationships.
So (returning to our previous discussion) to delineate spiritual disciplines (under the guise of 'spending more time with God') as partial requirements of the Christian faith seems to do two things(in their most extreme presentations):
First, it seems to create a false compartmentalization between faith and the rest of our lives. For example, time with God can certainly mean time in prayer and time in the study of Scripture, but is time with God's children, in service, or with family any less time with God? With such effort in the world to compartmentalize our lives (our work lives, our home lives, our school lives, our family lives, our spiritual lives, etc) it appears to me that the Gospel speaks of a faith in God/a relationship with God that permeates the entirety of our lives. As such, faith isn't a single part of our lives, but rather is something that permeates the entirety of our lives. By keeping (or attempting to keep) God at bay in any area of our lives is merely to reify the compartments that are familiar to and comfortable for us.
The second extreme often presented is the use of spending time with God (referencing again the aforementioned spiritual disciplines) as rules for being Christian. Sadly, things like studying the Scriptures, worship, and prayer are relegated to requirements of what it truly means to be Christian...if you don't do them, in a particular way and with a particular frequency; then maybe you aren't particularly Christian. Isn't this part of the problem when Jesus is asked about the greatest commandment (almost as if those asking might be saying if we can't keep all of them, which one or ones should we pay particularly close attention to)? Didn't a segment of humanity take 10 simple rules and create more than 600 rules (like not wearing shoes heavier than a certain weight on the Sabbath because that might be considered work)...did not Jesus' response to the aforementioned question simplify things for us? In this perspective, we have to be very careful in discerning how the disciplines fall into Christ's discourse on the greatest commandments.
At these extremes, it seems to me that the gospel is distorted. As disciplines, yes they (the ways of spending time with God) can be means of grace that draw us closer to God and to each other. But if the transformation that is occurring in and through us in our study, worship, prayer times, etc is not reflected in our everyday walking around, breathing, eating, waking lives; then is it really transformation? We can't be truly altered/changed/transformed in our faith without there being fruit in the rest of our lives...our faith cannot be relegated to a compartment that only takes up part of our day or part of our week...and to present it as such, does nothing to speak to the truth of the wholeness and fullness of salvation that the gospel proclaims. At the other end of the spectrum, we have never been good at following rules. If my prayer, worship and study don't look like someone else's, it doesn't mean that it is not authentic or less fruitful. To say that spending time with God must look a particular way (frequency, presentation, etc) seems to squelch what the Spirit may be doing in a group of people or an individual. When we broach this extreme, we essentially set up a new law that becomes impossible to fulfill.
In the end, it seems to me that it is the work of the Holy Spirit, in and through us, that draws us closer to God and to one another. It is the overflow of love from God that drives us to know more about that love and pursue growth in that relationship. It is an ongoing desire to know God more that calls us to prayer, worship, study, etc. And it is in these places in more, that God continues the work he began in us. As we learn to love God more (out of the loving relationship that God has for us) we learn to love others. In our loving others we can still be present with God even in service to those others. In the end, it returns to our relationship with God and with each other. Our very lives, not just the faith parts, are radically altered by the saving and sanctifying grace of God.
I hope that my thoughts on this are clear, but if you want to do more reading on the subject, one of the resources that has had the most significant impact on my life regarding the disciplines and spending time with God is the work of Richard Foster entitled "Celebration of Discipline."
Am I the only one that has noticed this? What do you think about compartmentalizing God or turning the disciplines into rules? What resources have helped you come to an understanding about these things?
In the realm of Christian faith within the blogosphere, I am beginning to notice a pattern that is disturbing to me. Many of our theological reflectors, our seminarians, church planters, church leaders, and lay people keep bringing up the same issue on their blogs regarding spending time with God. These folks often say that as ministry, school, and life demands increase, personal time with God (in prayer, studying the Bible, worshiping, etc) dramatically decreases. As a solution to this problem, we are encouraged to get back to spending more time with God (specifically in the aforementioned ways).
At the outer level, there is nothing seemingly wrong with spending more time in prayer, Bible study, worship, etc. These things are definitively a part of our journey as Christians...they can feed and nurture our relationships with God and with others...but they are not the only "parts" of our journey. This is where the disturbing part comes in...it seems to me that many are describing spending time in two distinct ways.
Let me back up just a moment and say that my understanding of the Christian faith revolves around relationships. What Christ has done through his life, death, and resurrection was to reconcile the relationship between humanity and God. You want to know about community, look at God. You want to be in relationship with others and the world around you, turn to God. After all, isn't it Scripture that reminds us that we are to love God and love our neighbors as we love ourselves...it is about relationships.
So (returning to our previous discussion) to delineate spiritual disciplines (under the guise of 'spending more time with God') as partial requirements of the Christian faith seems to do two things(in their most extreme presentations):
First, it seems to create a false compartmentalization between faith and the rest of our lives. For example, time with God can certainly mean time in prayer and time in the study of Scripture, but is time with God's children, in service, or with family any less time with God? With such effort in the world to compartmentalize our lives (our work lives, our home lives, our school lives, our family lives, our spiritual lives, etc) it appears to me that the Gospel speaks of a faith in God/a relationship with God that permeates the entirety of our lives. As such, faith isn't a single part of our lives, but rather is something that permeates the entirety of our lives. By keeping (or attempting to keep) God at bay in any area of our lives is merely to reify the compartments that are familiar to and comfortable for us.
The second extreme often presented is the use of spending time with God (referencing again the aforementioned spiritual disciplines) as rules for being Christian. Sadly, things like studying the Scriptures, worship, and prayer are relegated to requirements of what it truly means to be Christian...if you don't do them, in a particular way and with a particular frequency; then maybe you aren't particularly Christian. Isn't this part of the problem when Jesus is asked about the greatest commandment (almost as if those asking might be saying if we can't keep all of them, which one or ones should we pay particularly close attention to)? Didn't a segment of humanity take 10 simple rules and create more than 600 rules (like not wearing shoes heavier than a certain weight on the Sabbath because that might be considered work)...did not Jesus' response to the aforementioned question simplify things for us? In this perspective, we have to be very careful in discerning how the disciplines fall into Christ's discourse on the greatest commandments.
At these extremes, it seems to me that the gospel is distorted. As disciplines, yes they (the ways of spending time with God) can be means of grace that draw us closer to God and to each other. But if the transformation that is occurring in and through us in our study, worship, prayer times, etc is not reflected in our everyday walking around, breathing, eating, waking lives; then is it really transformation? We can't be truly altered/changed/transformed in our faith without there being fruit in the rest of our lives...our faith cannot be relegated to a compartment that only takes up part of our day or part of our week...and to present it as such, does nothing to speak to the truth of the wholeness and fullness of salvation that the gospel proclaims. At the other end of the spectrum, we have never been good at following rules. If my prayer, worship and study don't look like someone else's, it doesn't mean that it is not authentic or less fruitful. To say that spending time with God must look a particular way (frequency, presentation, etc) seems to squelch what the Spirit may be doing in a group of people or an individual. When we broach this extreme, we essentially set up a new law that becomes impossible to fulfill.
In the end, it seems to me that it is the work of the Holy Spirit, in and through us, that draws us closer to God and to one another. It is the overflow of love from God that drives us to know more about that love and pursue growth in that relationship. It is an ongoing desire to know God more that calls us to prayer, worship, study, etc. And it is in these places in more, that God continues the work he began in us. As we learn to love God more (out of the loving relationship that God has for us) we learn to love others. In our loving others we can still be present with God even in service to those others. In the end, it returns to our relationship with God and with each other. Our very lives, not just the faith parts, are radically altered by the saving and sanctifying grace of God.
I hope that my thoughts on this are clear, but if you want to do more reading on the subject, one of the resources that has had the most significant impact on my life regarding the disciplines and spending time with God is the work of Richard Foster entitled "Celebration of Discipline."
Am I the only one that has noticed this? What do you think about compartmentalizing God or turning the disciplines into rules? What resources have helped you come to an understanding about these things?
February 9, 2009
Here is today’s Psalm and prayer:
Psalm 96:1-13
O sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples. For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he is to be revered above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the LORD made the heavens. Honor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts. Worship the LORD in holy splendor; tremble before him, all the earth. Say among the nations, "The LORD is king! The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity." Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD; for he is coming, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with his truth.
Amen.
Psalm 96:1-13
O sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples. For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he is to be revered above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the LORD made the heavens. Honor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts. Worship the LORD in holy splendor; tremble before him, all the earth. Say among the nations, "The LORD is king! The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity." Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD; for he is coming, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with his truth.
Amen.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
February 8, 2009
Here is today’s Psalm and prayer:
Psalm 93:1-5
The LORD is king, he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed, he is girded with strength. He has established the world; it shall never be moved; your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting. The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their roaring. More majestic than the thunders of mighty waters, more majestic than the waves of the sea, majestic on high is the LORD! Your decrees are very sure; holiness befits your house, O LORD, forevermore.
Amen.
Psalm 93:1-5
The LORD is king, he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed, he is girded with strength. He has established the world; it shall never be moved; your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting. The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their roaring. More majestic than the thunders of mighty waters, more majestic than the waves of the sea, majestic on high is the LORD! Your decrees are very sure; holiness befits your house, O LORD, forevermore.
Amen.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
February 7, 2009
Here is today’s Psalm and prayer:
Psalm 90:1-17
Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. You turn us back to dust, and say, "Turn back, you mortals." For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past, or like a watch in the night. You sweep them away; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning; in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers. For we are consumed by your anger; by your wrath we are overwhelmed. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your countenance. For all our days pass away under your wrath; our years come to an end like a sigh. The days of our life are seventy years, or perhaps eighty, if we are strong; even then their span is only toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. Who considers the power of your anger? Your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you. So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart. Turn, O LORD! How long? Have compassion on your servants! Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad as many days as you have afflicted us, and as many years as we have seen evil. Let your work be manifest to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and prosper for us the work of our hands-- O prosper the work of our hands!
Amen.
Psalm 90:1-17
Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. You turn us back to dust, and say, "Turn back, you mortals." For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past, or like a watch in the night. You sweep them away; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning; in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers. For we are consumed by your anger; by your wrath we are overwhelmed. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your countenance. For all our days pass away under your wrath; our years come to an end like a sigh. The days of our life are seventy years, or perhaps eighty, if we are strong; even then their span is only toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. Who considers the power of your anger? Your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you. So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart. Turn, O LORD! How long? Have compassion on your servants! Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad as many days as you have afflicted us, and as many years as we have seen evil. Let your work be manifest to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and prosper for us the work of our hands-- O prosper the work of our hands!
Amen.
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