No letters after my name. Free to be me.
Anyone going to this years Hillsong Conference? I went to last years one and loved it (with a few reservations of course) - read about my experience here and here.
Their youth band United would be so good to see again. And just to spend 5 days with 30,000 people is a complete buzz.
However, I don’t think I can make this year. Anyone going?
Ranking very high on Amazon’s best seller list is a book by William P. Young, The Shack
Additionally Christian personalities such as Michael W Smith and Eugene Peterson (Author of The Message) have endorsed it in a positive way. Here’s what Peterson had to say:
When the imagination of a writer and the passion of a theologian cross-fertilize the result is a novel on the order of The Shack. This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress did for his. It’s that good!
This has found many people rushing to buy the book and calling their experience in reading it, “a mind blowing experience, a spiritual stick of dynamite and a life changing book.”
So what’s the book about? Basically it’s this:
The Shack revolves around Mack (Mackenzie) Philips. Four years before this story begins, Mack’s young daughter, Missy, was abducted during a family vacation. Though her body was never found, the police did find evidence in an abandoned shack to prove that she had been brutally murdered by a notorious serial killer who preyed on young girls. As the story begins, Mack, who has been living in the shadow of his Great Sadness, receives a strange note that is apparently from God. God invites Mack to return to this shack for a get together. Though uncertain, Mack visits the scene of the crime and there has a weekend-long encounter with God, or, more properly, with the godhead.
In a nut shell, God asks Mack to meet in the shack for a deep and meaningful about His nature. The author was interviewed on the 700 Club on CBN and here is what he had to say:
It all sounds nice and fine and dandy until you get to meet the “god” Young introduces to Mack. You see God the Father is an African American woman called Papa. God the Son (Jesus) is a guy from the Middle East with plain looks apart from his big nose. And God the Spirit is Sarayu - a small and delicate little Asian girl.
Talking about messing with people’s heads! And the fact that Christians are out there endorsing this crap and readers are saying that their consciousness is altered as a result of reading this book, blows me away.
It really makes wonder about the state of Oprah Winfrey type, new age mentality spreading across Christianity these days and how Christians are sucking this up into their minds and souls and don’t have any idea of the vomit they are consuming.
To be honest, I haven’t read the book. But I don’t need to. There are many people holding onto biblical truth who have exposed this book for what it’s worth. Tim Challies, author of The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment
In his conclusions, Challies says:
Because of the sheer volume of error and because of the importance of the doctrines reinvented by the author, I would encourage Christians, and especially young Christians, to decline this invitation to meet with God in The Shack. It is not worth reading for the story and certainly not worth reading for the theology.
Despite the great amount of poor theology, my greatest concern is probably this one: the book has a quietly subversive quality to it. Young seems set on undermining orthodoxy Christianity.
One of the theological areas The Shack centres on is the nature of the trinity. And Young’s characters of a black female Papa, a plain and big nosed Son and a delicate little female Asian Sarayu spirit, struck a negative vibe in me as soon as I read it. Undoubtedly, Young’s work is in the genre of Mclaren’s work and you all you where I stand with Mclaren.
And in typical Mark Driscoll style, he nails this issue of the trinity in The Shack in his sermon series on doctrine. Below is a snippet:
As you can see. The Shack is a shocker when it comes to many aspects of Christianity. Many good things are mixed with many bad things resulting in a delightful read where you may be unaware of the realigning of your understanding of crucial doctrines. And isn’t this just what the devil wants?
If the nature of the trinity does confuse you and you want to know more about this important aspect in our understanding of God, I invite you to check out Driscoll’s sermon below.
Tags: The Shack | William P. Young | William Young | Trinity | Father | Spiritual Warfare | Son | Brian Mclaren | Mark Driscoll | Tim Challies
It’s always a good thing to come across quality Christian media. The three clips below are an example of some of the work coming out from a fellow Aussie’s imagination and God given talent.
The next clip come with a warning for people with epilepsy - mainly due to the rapid changing of pictures. So if you suffer epilepsy, just go onto the last one. If not, I hope you enjoy.
And this last one is my favourite. It’s always a fascinating experience to see how our God uses the weak in life to accomplish his plans and goals. I hope you watch it and are blessed and humbled by our position and our potential in Jesus.
Like I mentioned in a previous post, I believe we need to present the awesome message of Jesus is a way modern culture can relate to. These video’s are a great example of such work.
If you come across great work, please let me know as I am planning to build a library of video’s here.
Every now and then I come across a ministry which I seriously like. What I don’t like are self inflated “look at me” type ministries or personalities with the sole goal of boosting someone’s ego or profile. And in the ‘Christian” world, there are heaps of these.
In researching for an upcoming sermon on adultery and pornography, I revisited a site I checked out a couple of months back. xxxchurch.com is a site/ministry which tackles head on, the issues of porn in our society.
What I love most about this ministry is their approach to getting “out there” to the porn industry and tackling head on the issues it creates in society. Sometimes they get heavily attacked by more conservative Christian groups because, for example, they attend porn conferences and expo’s.
But like Jesus hanging out with prostitutes and tax collectors, these guys, led by Craig Gross, are making an impact. Have a look at the following documentary “Missionary Positions” for a fascinating and in-depth account of their ministry.
They have a bunch of video’s available on their website and on their YouTube Channel - so be sure to check it out. But two of their clips which I really appreciate and will use in my sermon are below. The first is about a guy who was once addicted to porn and the effect this had on his life.
The next clip is a music video called ‘Constance’. A great song about a devastating reality for so many people. Next time you are tempted to looking at porn, remember that the girl is somebody’s daughter.
xxxchurch.com also provide free accountability software to help you deal with your issue. A simple program running in the background monitoring your surfing patterns and emailing your accountability partner every two or four weeks of any dodgy sites you visit. Is it fool proof? No. But it’s a great tool to use if you want to change you addiction to porn. Here is the link.
I strongly suggest you check out xxxchurch.com even if you don’t have an issue with porn. A simple, yet in your face, approach is used for this whole area of sexual addiction. For example, on the topic of masturbation, they say:
What is XXXchurch’s stand on masturbation?
We have had literally thousands of emails about this particular issue. We have heard all the scenarios. “Well if I think about fruit while I’m masturbating, then that is not a sin.” Well isn’t that clever. Or…”If I’m giving glory to the Lord while I’m doing it, then that can’t be wrong.” Hmmm. Why don’t we just make that part of our Sunday morning services then? We have heard all the Pro-masturbation Christian arguments and we wonder if these people are really dealing in reality. It’s all very intellectual and quite scholarly, but we still don’t get it. Sorry.Our stance is simply this: you want to live a life that is honoring to God then start pleasing him and stop pleasing yourself. Stop making excuses and get some control over your life. Yes, it is tough. Yes, we know hormones are raging. However, God is calling us to holiness. Live an extraordinary life. Masturbation will leave you hanging every time!
Gotta love their style.
What you have said