I arrived in Mexico City yesterday. Today has been a long, but rewarding day. We left the hotel in Mexico City this morning at 6:00 to drive to Puebla, where I spoke all day. The round trip drive was 6 hours and we were at the meeting nine hours- a long day! But as you can see from the short testimonies in the video below, it is always worth it.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
The Shack Revisited
In case you haven't seen it, I'm posting beneath these comments an article in today's USA TODAY about The Shack, which I recommended on this blog a few weeks ago. I realize, as this article shows, that my position on Paul Young's book stands in contradiction to other Christian leaders, many of whom I respect.
My thoughts on their most common objections are these:
1. As to the idea of God being presented as a woman in the book -- I am no more an advocate of a feminist theology than is Al Mohler or others who have so vehemently accused Paul Young of going over the edge on choosing to portray God as an African-American woman. I have no doubt about whether or not that was Paul Young's intention. It wasn't. He simply wanted to show that God exists outside the limited stereotypical ways we have perceived Him. For that matter, God's Word does show a feminine aspect to the way He relates to us at times. For instance, Isaiah 66:12-13 says, "And you will be nursed, you will be carried on the hip and fondled on the knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you..." Here God indicates that He relates to us like a mother at times.
Again, Isaiah 49:15: "Can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you." God is obviously comparing His love to that of a mother in this verse.
The Psalmist apparently saw no problem with relating to God in ways similar to how a child relates to his mother. Psalm 131:2 says, "Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; Like a weaned child {rests} against his mother, My soul is like a weaned child within me."
To equate Young's portrayal of the tender aspects of God as a woman to be equivalent to advocating an egalitarian, militant feminism comes from, I suspect, a fear. I think it's a knee-jerk reaction because the very idea of God as a woman in this book pushes the hot-button about feminist theology in some. God isn't a woman. Nor is He a man. He is a Spirit. I don't think any Evangelical Christian will start praying to "Our Heavenly Mother" because of what Paul wrote here.
2. The idea that The Shack somehow denigrates the authority of God - I believe that Young does a good job of showing Trinitarian theology at its best. The prevalent underlying theme between the Godhead within the shack is the love they share among themselves. It is an admirable description of perichoresis - the intimate circle of love that exists within the Trinity as they interact together in unity. I read no attempt in the book to redefine the nature of the Trinity nor to undermine the role of God the Father.
I have met in person and spoken to Paul Young. In fact, I talked to him by phone this morning. I've seen his interviews on TV and heard him on the radio. I understand that books shape the way people think - even fiction, or perhaps especially fiction, has the power to do that. But I don't find anything in The Shack that is going to cause somebody to jump the track of orthodoxy and land in the ditch of heresy.
I suppose that, if one examines the book with the microscope of systematic theology, he may find some things that could have been better said or not said at all. But the book wasn't written as a systematic theology. I read it more like poetry. You don't approach a poetry book and a science book in the same way. Of course, if there is something in a poem that will cause a person to embrace heresy, that's a serious matter. But I just don't see it here.
The Shack is a love story - one of love shared among the Trinity and shared with mankind. I think the potential of the book to stir the reader to rejoice in Papa's love is much greater than any risk of causing him to run doctrinally amuck.
If you haven't read the book, get it. See what you think for yourself. As I told the reporter who interviewed me for the article below, pure grace always divides people. In a world of Christian books that are, for the most part, of the how-to-pull-yourself-up-by-your-own-spiritual-bootstraps variety, I'm glad to see a book hit #1 that points people to a loving God who loves them passionately regardless of what they may be going through and how well they navigate life.
By Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY
PORTLAND, Ore. — By rights, William Young, 53, should be a mess.
Emotionally distant from his missionary parents. Sexually abused by the New Guinea tribe they lived among. Grief-stricken for loved ones who died too young, too suddenly. Frantic to earn God's love, yet cheating on his wife, Kim.
Young functioned by stuffing all the evil done to him and by him into a "shack" — his metaphor for an ugly, dark place hidden so deeply within him that it seemed beyond God's healing reach.
His adultery, 15 years ago, finally blew the doors off that shack, forcing him to confront his past. "Kim made it clear," he says. "I had to face every awful thing."
Now, his first novel, The Shack— centered on dialogues between a miserable main character, Mack, and three unorthodox characterizations of the Holy Trinity — telescopes Young's transformation to a man spiritually reborn and aware every moment of God's love. It slams "legalistic" religions, denominations and doctrines. It barely even mentions the Bible.
Instead, Mack's secrets, lies, pain and fears are swept away in a 48-hour encounter in the woods with a sassy black woman who embodies God the creator. Jesus is portrayed as a big-nosed carpenter in a plaid shirt; the Holy Spirit is an Asian sylph called Sarayu.
So why are critics calling it heresy?
They say Young's surprise hit, which has been in the Top 50 on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list for 10 weeks (it's now No. 17), promotes a wrong-headed view of universal salvation, as free to all as an open bar at a party.
They read Young's message as saying you can just discover Jesus' love inside yourself, turn your life over to him, and you're on your way to heaven. No need to put in time in the pews or know theology.
Albert Mohler, a leading theologian of the Southern Baptist Convention, which takes the Bible literally, trashes The Shack in his weekly radio show, calling it "deeply subversive," "scripturally incorrect" and downright "dangerous."
Says Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle: "If you haven't read The Shack, don't!"
Driscoll, whose multi-campus non-denominational church is packed with 6,000 people each weekend in the least-churched corner of the nation, says he is "horrified" by Young's book. He says "it misrepresents God. Young misses the big E on the eye chart."
To Driscoll, doctrine is essential, like a fence the Almighty erects to safeguard the saved from error.
The Shack has fans, too. Young gets nearly 100 e-mails a day from readers saying they found solace and inspiration in his novel.
They overlook the clichés ("Religious machinery can chew up people," Jesus says), stereotypes, like the Jewish Jesus' big nose, and the awkward prose. The black female God, incongruously called Papa, tells Mack, "Don't just stand there gawkin' with your mouth open like your pants are full."
Incredible journey
Minister Steve McVey of Tampa, author of Grace Walk, praises The Shack.
McVey says Young connects with people outside of, or unhappy with, institutional churches that "tell us what we ought to do for God, while grace focuses on what God has already done. A person discovers grace when you come to the end of your own self-sufficiency and realize you have been made acceptable through Jesus Christ and him alone. You can't score points with God."
Today, Young, who goes by his middle name, Paul, happily recounts how he finally tapped the wellspring of God's love he says was always there for him to find.
He exudes quiet calm, disrupted now and then by bursts of enthusiasm, like bear-hugging strangers on first meeting.
Ordinary things delight him. He walks up to Multnomah Falls, his plaid shirt and fleece jacket coated with the mist of the cascading water, his smile irrepressible.
This majestic waterfall plays a role in the novel's opening pages. Mack tells his little daughter, Missy, the legend of an Indian princess who hurls herself over the falls to save her people from death.
Will I have to die to save others? she asks him. No, he tells her, Jesus has done this for you, and she sleeps soundly, secure in Christ.
The foreshadowing is hardly subtle: the sacrifice of an innocent life for the sake of salvation. Missy is kidnapped by a serial killer and is murdered in a filthy, deserted shack in the wilderness.
Years later, Mack, still devastated, receives a note inviting him back to the shack. It's signed "Papa," the name his more resilient and spiritual wife, Nan, uses for God.
Mack's weekend at the shack is a compressed journey toward belief, forgiveness and acceptance.
But what a trip. Instead of a dump, this shack is a mansion in an Eden-like garden where God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit embrace him. For two days, they talk, eat, walk, garden and share visions of heaven, where little Missy romps happily.
They tell Mack they live in a loving relationship without hierarchy, guilt or shame, all fully human, all divine. They say that through Jesus' death, God is "fully reconciled" to the whole world, so that all might discover God's love.
It's a vision of joy to Young, however far it strays from most evangelical dogma.
Young was born in Canada to missionaries who brought him as an infant to New Guinea to live with the primitive Dani tribe. He says he was subject to the harsh verbal attacks of his unhappy father, and sexual assaults by tribesmen. He went to a missionary boarding school at age 6, he says, and was molested by older students.
He never lost a sense of God, but to Young, God was distant and judgmental. "I learned to survive by becoming a performer/perfectionist," he says.
Even as he roamed the world and eventually wound up in a Bible seminary for the Christian Missionary Alliance, he knew he wasn't meant to be a pastor or missionary. He finally graduated from Western Pacific College in Portland and landed at a Four Square Gospel church, working with collegians.
There he met Kim, who poked holes "in my version of being a perfect performer to earn God's love. You can't perform for God. You can't run. You can't hide. You can adapt, but that won't heal the stuff you've buried deep inside, in your 'shack.' "
Soon after they married, waves of tragedy gouged their life. When he was 25, his 18-year-old brother died in a work accident, Kim's mother died unexpectedly, and his niece, 5 years and one day old, was run over by a cement truck while riding her new birthday bicycle.
Grace seemed nowhere in sight.
Young was 38 and the father of six when his life took a hairpin turn after his adultery. He spent a year in counseling, years more soul-searching, marveling at Kim's steadfast commitment, before he reached wholeness in faith, he says.
He wrote The Shack in 2005, prompted by Kim. She wanted him to open up his heart and his thinking to their children, now ages 14 to 27. The book was meant to be like the box top on a jigsaw puzzle, the picture that shows where all the pieces fit, Young says.
An open life
Eventually, he sent the manuscript to a writer he admired, Wayne Jacobsen, a former pastor and author of So You Don't Want to Go to Church Any More, under the pen name Jake Colsen. Jacobsen and another former pastor, Brad Cummings, spent 15 months editing the book with Young to clarify the focus and rip out pages of theological jargon, Young says.
"We had great conversations about how people are the church. The church is not just a place you go to quote Scripture and feel guilty," Young says.
Jacobsen and Cummings published it through their own company, Windblown Media, after established publishers rebuffed it. They promoted it on Christian websites and broadcast outlets, trying to attract a New York publisher.
Now there are 1.1 million copies in print and, two weeks ago, FaithWords, a division of Hachette Book Group, signed on as co-publisher with Windblown. Hatchette agreed to a 500,000-copy press run in June and a national campaign in the secular market in July.
The Shack's success has changed Young's life — a little.
He no longer works three jobs running a manufacturer's sales office and working on websites. Kim still works at Gresham High School as a baker, but she's driving a new Honda. They've moved from the tiny rental house, where he wrote The Shack in the windowless basement near the washing machine, to a bigger rental nearby.
Holding hands and beaming at one of their grandchildren, the Youngs say they'd be fine if the money vanished tomorrow.
"Mack is me, a guy who has made a mess of everything," Young says. "The book takes him outside everything familiar, back to the worst experience of his life and lets him recognize God is so much greater."
Yet, as McVey, the minister from Tampa, says, "This pure grace of God has always divided people."
Mohler, Driscoll and other evangelicals pick The Shack apart plank by plank.
No, God can't be a presented as a woman. No, the three parts of the Trinity did not all become fully human. Yes, there is a hierarchy in the Holy Trinity with God the Father in command. Yes, God will punish sin.
Young shrugs them off. Out there in America, where only three in 10 people attend weekly worship services and millions are ignorant of the Bible, his readers struggle to find a good God amid their pain.
As for critics, he shakes his head.
"I don't want to enter the Ultimate Fighting ring and duke it out in a cage-match with dogmatists. I have no need to knock churches down or pull people out," he says.
"I have a lot of freedom by knowing that you really experience God in relationships, wherever you are. It's fluid and dynamic, not cemented into an institution with a concrete foundation."
"But it's not about me. I have everything that matters, a free and open life full of love and empty of all secrets."
My thoughts on their most common objections are these:
1. As to the idea of God being presented as a woman in the book -- I am no more an advocate of a feminist theology than is Al Mohler or others who have so vehemently accused Paul Young of going over the edge on choosing to portray God as an African-American woman. I have no doubt about whether or not that was Paul Young's intention. It wasn't. He simply wanted to show that God exists outside the limited stereotypical ways we have perceived Him. For that matter, God's Word does show a feminine aspect to the way He relates to us at times. For instance, Isaiah 66:12-13 says, "And you will be nursed, you will be carried on the hip and fondled on the knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you..." Here God indicates that He relates to us like a mother at times.
Again, Isaiah 49:15: "Can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you." God is obviously comparing His love to that of a mother in this verse.
The Psalmist apparently saw no problem with relating to God in ways similar to how a child relates to his mother. Psalm 131:2 says, "Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; Like a weaned child {rests} against his mother, My soul is like a weaned child within me."
To equate Young's portrayal of the tender aspects of God as a woman to be equivalent to advocating an egalitarian, militant feminism comes from, I suspect, a fear. I think it's a knee-jerk reaction because the very idea of God as a woman in this book pushes the hot-button about feminist theology in some. God isn't a woman. Nor is He a man. He is a Spirit. I don't think any Evangelical Christian will start praying to "Our Heavenly Mother" because of what Paul wrote here.
2. The idea that The Shack somehow denigrates the authority of God - I believe that Young does a good job of showing Trinitarian theology at its best. The prevalent underlying theme between the Godhead within the shack is the love they share among themselves. It is an admirable description of perichoresis - the intimate circle of love that exists within the Trinity as they interact together in unity. I read no attempt in the book to redefine the nature of the Trinity nor to undermine the role of God the Father.
I have met in person and spoken to Paul Young. In fact, I talked to him by phone this morning. I've seen his interviews on TV and heard him on the radio. I understand that books shape the way people think - even fiction, or perhaps especially fiction, has the power to do that. But I don't find anything in The Shack that is going to cause somebody to jump the track of orthodoxy and land in the ditch of heresy.
I suppose that, if one examines the book with the microscope of systematic theology, he may find some things that could have been better said or not said at all. But the book wasn't written as a systematic theology. I read it more like poetry. You don't approach a poetry book and a science book in the same way. Of course, if there is something in a poem that will cause a person to embrace heresy, that's a serious matter. But I just don't see it here.
The Shack is a love story - one of love shared among the Trinity and shared with mankind. I think the potential of the book to stir the reader to rejoice in Papa's love is much greater than any risk of causing him to run doctrinally amuck.
If you haven't read the book, get it. See what you think for yourself. As I told the reporter who interviewed me for the article below, pure grace always divides people. In a world of Christian books that are, for the most part, of the how-to-pull-yourself-up-by-your-own-spiritual-bootstraps variety, I'm glad to see a book hit #1 that points people to a loving God who loves them passionately regardless of what they may be going through and how well they navigate life.
By Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY
PORTLAND, Ore. — By rights, William Young, 53, should be a mess.
Emotionally distant from his missionary parents. Sexually abused by the New Guinea tribe they lived among. Grief-stricken for loved ones who died too young, too suddenly. Frantic to earn God's love, yet cheating on his wife, Kim.
Young functioned by stuffing all the evil done to him and by him into a "shack" — his metaphor for an ugly, dark place hidden so deeply within him that it seemed beyond God's healing reach.
His adultery, 15 years ago, finally blew the doors off that shack, forcing him to confront his past. "Kim made it clear," he says. "I had to face every awful thing."
Now, his first novel, The Shack— centered on dialogues between a miserable main character, Mack, and three unorthodox characterizations of the Holy Trinity — telescopes Young's transformation to a man spiritually reborn and aware every moment of God's love. It slams "legalistic" religions, denominations and doctrines. It barely even mentions the Bible.
Instead, Mack's secrets, lies, pain and fears are swept away in a 48-hour encounter in the woods with a sassy black woman who embodies God the creator. Jesus is portrayed as a big-nosed carpenter in a plaid shirt; the Holy Spirit is an Asian sylph called Sarayu.
So why are critics calling it heresy?
They say Young's surprise hit, which has been in the Top 50 on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list for 10 weeks (it's now No. 17), promotes a wrong-headed view of universal salvation, as free to all as an open bar at a party.
They read Young's message as saying you can just discover Jesus' love inside yourself, turn your life over to him, and you're on your way to heaven. No need to put in time in the pews or know theology.
Albert Mohler, a leading theologian of the Southern Baptist Convention, which takes the Bible literally, trashes The Shack in his weekly radio show, calling it "deeply subversive," "scripturally incorrect" and downright "dangerous."
Says Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle: "If you haven't read The Shack, don't!"
Driscoll, whose multi-campus non-denominational church is packed with 6,000 people each weekend in the least-churched corner of the nation, says he is "horrified" by Young's book. He says "it misrepresents God. Young misses the big E on the eye chart."
To Driscoll, doctrine is essential, like a fence the Almighty erects to safeguard the saved from error.
The Shack has fans, too. Young gets nearly 100 e-mails a day from readers saying they found solace and inspiration in his novel.
They overlook the clichés ("Religious machinery can chew up people," Jesus says), stereotypes, like the Jewish Jesus' big nose, and the awkward prose. The black female God, incongruously called Papa, tells Mack, "Don't just stand there gawkin' with your mouth open like your pants are full."
Incredible journey
Minister Steve McVey of Tampa, author of Grace Walk, praises The Shack.
McVey says Young connects with people outside of, or unhappy with, institutional churches that "tell us what we ought to do for God, while grace focuses on what God has already done. A person discovers grace when you come to the end of your own self-sufficiency and realize you have been made acceptable through Jesus Christ and him alone. You can't score points with God."
Today, Young, who goes by his middle name, Paul, happily recounts how he finally tapped the wellspring of God's love he says was always there for him to find.
He exudes quiet calm, disrupted now and then by bursts of enthusiasm, like bear-hugging strangers on first meeting.
Ordinary things delight him. He walks up to Multnomah Falls, his plaid shirt and fleece jacket coated with the mist of the cascading water, his smile irrepressible.
This majestic waterfall plays a role in the novel's opening pages. Mack tells his little daughter, Missy, the legend of an Indian princess who hurls herself over the falls to save her people from death.
Will I have to die to save others? she asks him. No, he tells her, Jesus has done this for you, and she sleeps soundly, secure in Christ.
The foreshadowing is hardly subtle: the sacrifice of an innocent life for the sake of salvation. Missy is kidnapped by a serial killer and is murdered in a filthy, deserted shack in the wilderness.
Years later, Mack, still devastated, receives a note inviting him back to the shack. It's signed "Papa," the name his more resilient and spiritual wife, Nan, uses for God.
Mack's weekend at the shack is a compressed journey toward belief, forgiveness and acceptance.
But what a trip. Instead of a dump, this shack is a mansion in an Eden-like garden where God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit embrace him. For two days, they talk, eat, walk, garden and share visions of heaven, where little Missy romps happily.
They tell Mack they live in a loving relationship without hierarchy, guilt or shame, all fully human, all divine. They say that through Jesus' death, God is "fully reconciled" to the whole world, so that all might discover God's love.
It's a vision of joy to Young, however far it strays from most evangelical dogma.
Young was born in Canada to missionaries who brought him as an infant to New Guinea to live with the primitive Dani tribe. He says he was subject to the harsh verbal attacks of his unhappy father, and sexual assaults by tribesmen. He went to a missionary boarding school at age 6, he says, and was molested by older students.
He never lost a sense of God, but to Young, God was distant and judgmental. "I learned to survive by becoming a performer/perfectionist," he says.
Even as he roamed the world and eventually wound up in a Bible seminary for the Christian Missionary Alliance, he knew he wasn't meant to be a pastor or missionary. He finally graduated from Western Pacific College in Portland and landed at a Four Square Gospel church, working with collegians.
There he met Kim, who poked holes "in my version of being a perfect performer to earn God's love. You can't perform for God. You can't run. You can't hide. You can adapt, but that won't heal the stuff you've buried deep inside, in your 'shack.' "
Soon after they married, waves of tragedy gouged their life. When he was 25, his 18-year-old brother died in a work accident, Kim's mother died unexpectedly, and his niece, 5 years and one day old, was run over by a cement truck while riding her new birthday bicycle.
Grace seemed nowhere in sight.
Young was 38 and the father of six when his life took a hairpin turn after his adultery. He spent a year in counseling, years more soul-searching, marveling at Kim's steadfast commitment, before he reached wholeness in faith, he says.
He wrote The Shack in 2005, prompted by Kim. She wanted him to open up his heart and his thinking to their children, now ages 14 to 27. The book was meant to be like the box top on a jigsaw puzzle, the picture that shows where all the pieces fit, Young says.
An open life
Eventually, he sent the manuscript to a writer he admired, Wayne Jacobsen, a former pastor and author of So You Don't Want to Go to Church Any More, under the pen name Jake Colsen. Jacobsen and another former pastor, Brad Cummings, spent 15 months editing the book with Young to clarify the focus and rip out pages of theological jargon, Young says.
"We had great conversations about how people are the church. The church is not just a place you go to quote Scripture and feel guilty," Young says.
Jacobsen and Cummings published it through their own company, Windblown Media, after established publishers rebuffed it. They promoted it on Christian websites and broadcast outlets, trying to attract a New York publisher.
Now there are 1.1 million copies in print and, two weeks ago, FaithWords, a division of Hachette Book Group, signed on as co-publisher with Windblown. Hatchette agreed to a 500,000-copy press run in June and a national campaign in the secular market in July.
The Shack's success has changed Young's life — a little.
He no longer works three jobs running a manufacturer's sales office and working on websites. Kim still works at Gresham High School as a baker, but she's driving a new Honda. They've moved from the tiny rental house, where he wrote The Shack in the windowless basement near the washing machine, to a bigger rental nearby.
Holding hands and beaming at one of their grandchildren, the Youngs say they'd be fine if the money vanished tomorrow.
"Mack is me, a guy who has made a mess of everything," Young says. "The book takes him outside everything familiar, back to the worst experience of his life and lets him recognize God is so much greater."
Yet, as McVey, the minister from Tampa, says, "This pure grace of God has always divided people."
Mohler, Driscoll and other evangelicals pick The Shack apart plank by plank.
No, God can't be a presented as a woman. No, the three parts of the Trinity did not all become fully human. Yes, there is a hierarchy in the Holy Trinity with God the Father in command. Yes, God will punish sin.
Young shrugs them off. Out there in America, where only three in 10 people attend weekly worship services and millions are ignorant of the Bible, his readers struggle to find a good God amid their pain.
As for critics, he shakes his head.
"I don't want to enter the Ultimate Fighting ring and duke it out in a cage-match with dogmatists. I have no need to knock churches down or pull people out," he says.
"I have a lot of freedom by knowing that you really experience God in relationships, wherever you are. It's fluid and dynamic, not cemented into an institution with a concrete foundation."
"But it's not about me. I have everything that matters, a free and open life full of love and empty of all secrets."
Monday, May 26, 2008
Prince Caspian
We spent our Memorial Day afternoon at the theater, where we saw the new Narnia film - Prince Caspian. Though I didn't think it was as good as the first Narnia movie, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. Like The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, this one was filled with not-so-subtle messages about what it means to live as a Christian in a fallen world. I read one review that said the subtitle for this movie could have been "Onward Christian Soldiers," an observation with which I completely agree.
Early in the movie the theme was set when it was said, "When Aslan (the Christ figure) bears his teeth, winter meets its death." The rest of the movie is the struggle for the true kings and queens of Narnia to reclaim their birthright, provided by Aslan's previous sacrifice of himself in spite of the fact that he has not made his presence known in a physical way in a long time.
I won't describe the plot here. There are many sites online that do that. I will mention a few powerful scenes that really touched me in the movie.
One was when the bear rushed at Lucy to attack her. They were surprised that he acted in such a "savage" way and that, unlike when they had left Narnia, he didn't speak. The point was that, in Aslan's physical absence, he had forgotten who he was. Forgetting Christ reduces everybody to savage behavior.
Another great scene was when the Penvensie children were told that, again in Aslan's absence, the trees had gone so deep into themselves that they no longer danced. It is a very touching scene toward the end of the movie when Aslan comments that the trees have slept long enough. He roars and they awaken to dance again. It made me think of how the Apostle Paul described creation groaning, waiting for the coming of Christ.
I loved the way that Lucy could see Aslan when the others couldn't - an obvious reference to the reality that we must have childlike faith and "be looking for Him" in our daily lives if we are to see our Aslan.
If you haven't seen the movie, I recommend it. I'd give The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe five stars and give this one four stars. It's definitely worth the time and cost of the ticket.
Back From Our Sailing Trip
Melanie and I arrived home last night after a wonderful sailing trip with our good friends, Roger and Jan Dean, aboard their boat, Agape.
On our way home, we stopped by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings State Park in Ocala. The movie "Cross Creek" is one of our favorites. The state park is at Cross Creek, as is the house where she lived and wrote The Yearling. If you haven't seen the movie, I highly recommend it. We had a good time at the park, seeing where she lived and wrote her books.
I'd forgotten today is a holiday. What a great way to end a vacation :) We plan to go see the new Chronicles of Narnia movie later this afternoon.
These are some shots we took along the way on our trip.
On our way home, we stopped by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings State Park in Ocala. The movie "Cross Creek" is one of our favorites. The state park is at Cross Creek, as is the house where she lived and wrote The Yearling. If you haven't seen the movie, I highly recommend it. We had a good time at the park, seeing where she lived and wrote her books.
I'd forgotten today is a holiday. What a great way to end a vacation :) We plan to go see the new Chronicles of Narnia movie later this afternoon.
These are some shots we took along the way on our trip.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Sailing In Agape - Day Ten
We had a problem with the windex (wind indicator) on the boat that required Roger to go up the 65 foot mast to check it out. I raised and lowered him with a line normally used to raise the spinnaker. He's a trusting soul. :)
From Cocoa To Daytona
TALKING POINTS
1. A chart is necessary to navigate safely through the waters.
2. The chart will keep you out of trouble.
3. However, the primary purpose of the chart isn't to keep you from trouble, but to maximize the pleasure of your journey.
4. The Bible isn't primarily a guide for our journey thorugh life, but rather is intended to enable us to know Christ more intimately.
From Cocoa To Daytona
TALKING POINTS
1. A chart is necessary to navigate safely through the waters.
2. The chart will keep you out of trouble.
3. However, the primary purpose of the chart isn't to keep you from trouble, but to maximize the pleasure of your journey.
4. The Bible isn't primarily a guide for our journey thorugh life, but rather is intended to enable us to know Christ more intimately.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Sailing In Agape - Day Nine
FROM FORT PIERCE TO COCOA BEACH
Our trip back to Jacksonville is taking a little longer than anticipated due to the contrary winds and the weather. As you can see on this video, it poured down rain on us for several hours yesterday as we inched our way north. We couldn't go out to sea because of the weather, so we came up the Intercoastal Waterway.
Today, we'll go from Cocoa to Daytona Beach. Then tomorrow, from Daytona Beach to St. Augustine. Then on Sunday we will reach our destination in Jacksonville.
TALKING POINTS
1. Sailing through life can bring some unexpected storms (squalls) into our lives. Being a Christian doesn't exempt us from that.
2. Sometimes we can avoid the storms in life, but at other times there is nothing we can do except go through them.
3. We don't form our viewpoint about the goodness of God during the storms. That needs to be decided in our minds before the storms ever come.
4. When the squalls of life come, hunker down, trust the Lord, and know that "this too, shall pass."
Our trip back to Jacksonville is taking a little longer than anticipated due to the contrary winds and the weather. As you can see on this video, it poured down rain on us for several hours yesterday as we inched our way north. We couldn't go out to sea because of the weather, so we came up the Intercoastal Waterway.
Today, we'll go from Cocoa to Daytona Beach. Then tomorrow, from Daytona Beach to St. Augustine. Then on Sunday we will reach our destination in Jacksonville.
TALKING POINTS
1. Sailing through life can bring some unexpected storms (squalls) into our lives. Being a Christian doesn't exempt us from that.
2. Sometimes we can avoid the storms in life, but at other times there is nothing we can do except go through them.
3. We don't form our viewpoint about the goodness of God during the storms. That needs to be decided in our minds before the storms ever come.
4. When the squalls of life come, hunker down, trust the Lord, and know that "this too, shall pass."
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Sailing In Agape - Day Eight
IN FORT PIERCE, FL
TALKING POINTS
1. You never know when a hurricane may come into your life.
2. When one does come, do the things you can do to move through it safely.
3. Having done all you can do, entrust yourself to God.
4. Know that He is Lord of the winds and has everything under control.
TALKING POINTS
1. You never know when a hurricane may come into your life.
2. When one does come, do the things you can do to move through it safely.
3. Having done all you can do, entrust yourself to God.
4. Know that He is Lord of the winds and has everything under control.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Sailing In Agape - Day Seven
FROM FT LAUDERDALE HEADING NORTH AT DAWN
TALKING POINTS
1. The water looks different as the day progresses. Each time of the day shows its beauty in a different way. That's how it is in our relationship to God as we age.
2. God never changes, but our relationship to Him evolves as we move from phase to phase in life.
3. We can relax and enjoy Him regardless of where we are in our lifetime.
TALKING POINTS
1. The water looks different as the day progresses. Each time of the day shows its beauty in a different way. That's how it is in our relationship to God as we age.
2. God never changes, but our relationship to Him evolves as we move from phase to phase in life.
3. We can relax and enjoy Him regardless of where we are in our lifetime.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Sailing In Agape - Day Six
In Fort Lauderdale
TALKING POINTS
1. Sometimes the Lord takes us into the storm in order to teach us.
2. When you are afraid, look at the Captain's (Christ's) face. He stands in the midst of the storms with perfect calmness because He has everything under control.
3. The best thing to do during the storm when you feel like you are about to go under is to let go of the sheet (give up control).
4. It is the nature of a boat to always turn up into the wind. (Weather helm) It is the nature of the Christian to turn to God during the storms of life.
TALKING POINTS
1. Sometimes the Lord takes us into the storm in order to teach us.
2. When you are afraid, look at the Captain's (Christ's) face. He stands in the midst of the storms with perfect calmness because He has everything under control.
3. The best thing to do during the storm when you feel like you are about to go under is to let go of the sheet (give up control).
4. It is the nature of a boat to always turn up into the wind. (Weather helm) It is the nature of the Christian to turn to God during the storms of life.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Sailing In Agape - Day Five
FROM KEY BISCAYNE TO FORT LAUDERDALE
TALKING POINTS
1. On a close-haul tack, it is possible to actually sail into the wind. Sometimes it seems like God is coming against us in life but, in reality, He isn't opposing us at all. He is pulling us forward toward Himself.
2. On that point of sail, it seems like we aren't making progress but we are really moving forward. At times in life when it seems we aren't making any progres at all, God is still working in our lives to bring us to where He wants us to be.
3. When it feels like the wind is against you, just adjust your sails properly and trust that you are moving ahead. Keep your eyes on your Father and respond to His working in your life and you will make progress.
TALKING POINTS
1. On a close-haul tack, it is possible to actually sail into the wind. Sometimes it seems like God is coming against us in life but, in reality, He isn't opposing us at all. He is pulling us forward toward Himself.
2. On that point of sail, it seems like we aren't making progress but we are really moving forward. At times in life when it seems we aren't making any progres at all, God is still working in our lives to bring us to where He wants us to be.
3. When it feels like the wind is against you, just adjust your sails properly and trust that you are moving ahead. Keep your eyes on your Father and respond to His working in your life and you will make progress.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Sailing In Agape - Day Four
Heading North Again
TALKING POINTS
1. Some times the Lord gives us days when the wind is at our back. We're sailing along smoothly through life with few demands on us.
2. There are times when our course in life is smooth, but we may be vulnerable to an accidental jibe. (When the wind shifts and the boom on the mainsail suddenly swings across the boat, doing damage to the boat or anybody in the way.) When life is going well, we need to be careful to still watch the wind (depend on Christ) and not become careless as we move along.
3. Days of smooth sailing are a gift from Him. Thank Him for them and enjoy them.
Note: the content on this blog series is copyrighted, not so that you can't use it, but so that the ideas I post here can't be used in a book without my permission. For several years, I've planned to write a book about sailing as a metaphor for grace. I still plan to do that one day and for that reason want to reserve the rights to the material so that somebody else can't take my ideas and run with them in a book. You can use this for your own personal ministry to others. Just don't write a book about it :)
TALKING POINTS
1. Some times the Lord gives us days when the wind is at our back. We're sailing along smoothly through life with few demands on us.
2. There are times when our course in life is smooth, but we may be vulnerable to an accidental jibe. (When the wind shifts and the boom on the mainsail suddenly swings across the boat, doing damage to the boat or anybody in the way.) When life is going well, we need to be careful to still watch the wind (depend on Christ) and not become careless as we move along.
3. Days of smooth sailing are a gift from Him. Thank Him for them and enjoy them.
Note: the content on this blog series is copyrighted, not so that you can't use it, but so that the ideas I post here can't be used in a book without my permission. For several years, I've planned to write a book about sailing as a metaphor for grace. I still plan to do that one day and for that reason want to reserve the rights to the material so that somebody else can't take my ideas and run with them in a book. You can use this for your own personal ministry to others. Just don't write a book about it :)
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Sailing In Agape - Day Three
LARGO SOUND
TALKING POINTS
1. When the wind (Christ within you) stops moving you forward, don't do anything other than patiently wait.
2. As you are sailing (living as a Christian) the goal isn't to reach your destination as quickly as possible. The goal is to enjoy the journey!
3. There is often a temptation to begin to operate under artificial power (the flesh), but we need to resist that temptation.
4. When we operate under artificial power, the ride won't be pleasant because we aren't functioning the way we have been desgined to function.
5. The wind will blow again. Just wait for it.
Note: the content on this blog series is copyrighted, not so that you can't use it, but so that the ideas I post here can't be used in a book without my permission. For several years, I've planned to write a book about sailing as a metaphor for grace. I still plan to do that one day and for that reason want to reserve the rights to the material so that somebody else can't take my ideas and run with them in a book. You can use this for your own personal ministry to others. Just don't write a book about it :)
TALKING POINTS
1. When the wind (Christ within you) stops moving you forward, don't do anything other than patiently wait.
2. As you are sailing (living as a Christian) the goal isn't to reach your destination as quickly as possible. The goal is to enjoy the journey!
3. There is often a temptation to begin to operate under artificial power (the flesh), but we need to resist that temptation.
4. When we operate under artificial power, the ride won't be pleasant because we aren't functioning the way we have been desgined to function.
5. The wind will blow again. Just wait for it.
Note: the content on this blog series is copyrighted, not so that you can't use it, but so that the ideas I post here can't be used in a book without my permission. For several years, I've planned to write a book about sailing as a metaphor for grace. I still plan to do that one day and for that reason want to reserve the rights to the material so that somebody else can't take my ideas and run with them in a book. You can use this for your own personal ministry to others. Just don't write a book about it :)
Friday, May 16, 2008
Sailing In Agape - Day Two
Day Two - From Key Biscayne To Key Largo
TALKING POINTS
1. The sails on the boat can be a metaphor for our lives. The wind (Christ's Spirit) must fill us in order for us to move forward toward our destination.
2. The tell-tales let you know when the wind is moving across the sail in the most efficient way. The tell-tales in our lives are joy and peace. When Christ animates our lives, these will both "line up" together.
3. Sometimes one tell=tale will be horizontal, showing that the wind is moving across the sail in the best way at that place, while another tell-tale will be jumping around in every direction -showing that part of the sail isn't getting optimum wind flow across it. It is possible that we are appropriating the sufficiency of Christ in one area of life, yet still may need to submit another area of life to Him.
4. Sanctification is the ongoing work of the spirit (wind) increasingly showing us areas that we still can yield to His control (the tell-tales showing how the wind can be trimmed for maximum efficiency).
Note: the content on this blog series is copyrighted, not so that you can't use it, but so that the ideas I post here can't be used in a book without my permission. For several years, I've planned to write a book about sailing as a metaphor for grace. I still plan to do that one day and for that reason want to reserve the rights to the material so that somebody else can't take my ideas and run with them in a book. You can use this for your own personal ministry to others. Just don't write a book about it :)
TALKING POINTS
1. The sails on the boat can be a metaphor for our lives. The wind (Christ's Spirit) must fill us in order for us to move forward toward our destination.
2. The tell-tales let you know when the wind is moving across the sail in the most efficient way. The tell-tales in our lives are joy and peace. When Christ animates our lives, these will both "line up" together.
3. Sometimes one tell=tale will be horizontal, showing that the wind is moving across the sail in the best way at that place, while another tell-tale will be jumping around in every direction -showing that part of the sail isn't getting optimum wind flow across it. It is possible that we are appropriating the sufficiency of Christ in one area of life, yet still may need to submit another area of life to Him.
4. Sanctification is the ongoing work of the spirit (wind) increasingly showing us areas that we still can yield to His control (the tell-tales showing how the wind can be trimmed for maximum efficiency).
Note: the content on this blog series is copyrighted, not so that you can't use it, but so that the ideas I post here can't be used in a book without my permission. For several years, I've planned to write a book about sailing as a metaphor for grace. I still plan to do that one day and for that reason want to reserve the rights to the material so that somebody else can't take my ideas and run with them in a book. You can use this for your own personal ministry to others. Just don't write a book about it :)
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Sailing In Agape - Day One
FROM FORT LAUDERDALE TO KEY BISCAYNE
I'm aboard the boat Agape right now in Key Biscayne, FL. I haven't recorded the last two of the "Top 10 Things God Will Never Say To You." I'd done the others before I left home.
As I thought about recording them, I had the idea to do something else instead. I absolutely will record and post the other two of the Top 10 list after I'm back home. I'll list the eight I've already done, then post the other two.
But, for now, I've decided to use our sailing trip as a vehicle for making a few applications about the grace walk. My plan is to post these videos every day while we're sailing. I'm using an air card to access the Internet from aboard the boat, and have already seen that the signal strength varies from place to place. So, if you should check one day and there's no blog, you'll know it's because I couldn't get a strong enough signal to upload a video that day.
Anyway, here's the video from our first day. I'll put the "Talking Points" beneath it." So read those after you've watched.
TALKING POINTS
1. Living on land can be a metaphor for living in legalism because, there, we function under our own power when we walk around. We are in control of how we navigate from one place to the next.
2. Being aboard the boat is like moving in grace because we must cooperate with the wind and water. It doesn't do what we want. Instead, we must adjust our course to it. Jesus said that the wind blows wherever it wills.
3. The wind is a type of the Holy Spirit.
4. The water is a type of God's Word.
5. As we walk in grace, we are empowered by the Wind of the Spirit of Christ within us and move forward in the Water of the Word, which is Jesus too. Remember that John said in the beginning was the Word and the Word was God and the Word was with God. (Jesus)
Note: the content on this blog series is copyrighted, not so that you can't use it, but so that the ideas I post here can't be used in a book without my permission. For several years, I've planned to write a book about sailing as a metaphor for grace. I still plan to do that one day and for that reason want to reserve the rights to the material so that somebody else can't take my ideas and run with them in a book. You can use this for your own personal ministry to others. Just don't write a book about it :)
I'm aboard the boat Agape right now in Key Biscayne, FL. I haven't recorded the last two of the "Top 10 Things God Will Never Say To You." I'd done the others before I left home.
As I thought about recording them, I had the idea to do something else instead. I absolutely will record and post the other two of the Top 10 list after I'm back home. I'll list the eight I've already done, then post the other two.
But, for now, I've decided to use our sailing trip as a vehicle for making a few applications about the grace walk. My plan is to post these videos every day while we're sailing. I'm using an air card to access the Internet from aboard the boat, and have already seen that the signal strength varies from place to place. So, if you should check one day and there's no blog, you'll know it's because I couldn't get a strong enough signal to upload a video that day.
Anyway, here's the video from our first day. I'll put the "Talking Points" beneath it." So read those after you've watched.
TALKING POINTS
1. Living on land can be a metaphor for living in legalism because, there, we function under our own power when we walk around. We are in control of how we navigate from one place to the next.
2. Being aboard the boat is like moving in grace because we must cooperate with the wind and water. It doesn't do what we want. Instead, we must adjust our course to it. Jesus said that the wind blows wherever it wills.
3. The wind is a type of the Holy Spirit.
4. The water is a type of God's Word.
5. As we walk in grace, we are empowered by the Wind of the Spirit of Christ within us and move forward in the Water of the Word, which is Jesus too. Remember that John said in the beginning was the Word and the Word was God and the Word was with God. (Jesus)
Note: the content on this blog series is copyrighted, not so that you can't use it, but so that the ideas I post here can't be used in a book without my permission. For several years, I've planned to write a book about sailing as a metaphor for grace. I still plan to do that one day and for that reason want to reserve the rights to the material so that somebody else can't take my ideas and run with them in a book. You can use this for your own personal ministry to others. Just don't write a book about it :)
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Friday, May 09, 2008
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Ministry in Atlanta
This weekend will be a busy one. I'm speaking tomorrow morning and evening and again on Saturday morning at the Association of Exchanged Life Ministries annual meeting in Atlanta. The theme is "Knowing God." My topics will be Knowing God's Will, Knowing God's Word and Knowing God's Way. Many of those in this association are good friends of mine and it's an honor for me to speak there.
Then on Saturday afternoon and on Sunday, I'll be recording a new video series, similar in format to The Grace Walk Experience videos. The topic will be How To Know And Do The Will of God. It will consist of eight sessions. The videos will be used along with the book I've written to accompany it. I'm not sure when it will be available, but will keep you posted on this blog and my web site. I'm recording it, teaching the material in a small group, in the same place where I did The Grace Walk Experience series.
I plan to start a new video blog series next week. I've decided on the topic, The Top Ten Things God Will Never Say. Check back here to see the videos.
Then on Saturday afternoon and on Sunday, I'll be recording a new video series, similar in format to The Grace Walk Experience videos. The topic will be How To Know And Do The Will of God. It will consist of eight sessions. The videos will be used along with the book I've written to accompany it. I'm not sure when it will be available, but will keep you posted on this blog and my web site. I'm recording it, teaching the material in a small group, in the same place where I did The Grace Walk Experience series.
I plan to start a new video blog series next week. I've decided on the topic, The Top Ten Things God Will Never Say. Check back here to see the videos.
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