2 pages from The Shack

Doni, age 3ish at the shack we stayed in at Mount Hermon, Ca.

Last night was a night of insight for me in our Shack study. I thought I would share my notes from just two pages of the Annotated Shack discussion guide.

136 What happens when humans determine good and evil for themselves? What is the chief result?
A It allows man to play god in his self determination and independence without any of the prerequisite abilities for doing it successfully. Man becomes fuzzy in his thinking about God and seeking to be free ends up in a bondage he cannot break out of. Sahck study guide, shack discussion guide
What is Evil?
A The absence of Good. Read the third paragraph pg 136 for the complete description. Don’t overlook the implications of this teaching. If I understand this correctly, it answers the question “did God create Evil? NO, God only created good, love etc. Stepping outside of what god created is ALL evil from God’s perspective. Anything of any description that separates us from the Love of God is by definition evil. We have personified evil and given it a power it does not have. (Satan may be a personification of Evil but is not evil itself by this definition). The focus of our lives then should NOT be to stay away from evil, but to stay IN the Love and fellowship of God. Consider this: there is no scientific formula for darkness because it is not created. It is true nothingness and is described in Genesis 1 as darkness being prevalent in the pre creation state. GE 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. GE 1:3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God did not create dark, he created light. Under the same reasoning, God did not create Evil. Evil is like dark, it describes the absence of Gods light. In practical application we need to place the emphasis of our lives on staying in the light more than just avoiding evil. We do not want to be like King Amaziah: 2CH 25:1 Amaziah was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. 2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a perfect heart.
Our challenge is to follow the instructions of John: 1JN 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. Walking in the light will go a long way towards taking care of the sin problem in man.

What are the implications of “Both evil and darkness can only be understood in relation to Light and Good; they do not have any actual existence”?
A They do not have the power we credit them with having. Simply add light and the darkness disappears.
How does light and good actually exist? What are the relationship implications of that?
A They exist only in God. The further we are from him the darker it is. With God living in me, light exists in me, not darkness. 1 Jo 1:5-7
Why does independent living always result in evil? Are there any exceptions?
A It always ends in death and darkness because it is not where God is.
137 What is the difference between personal rights and being loved. What are personal rights, where do we get them, how to we keep or enforce them?
A Rights are something I determine and must fight for to protect and keep, even if it means infringing on your rights. First rule of rights is mine come first. I get to make them up as I go, change them on a whim and never have to communicate the lines to another until they are threatened. I will use any power, strategy, system, institution, threat, or force at my disposal to keep my rights as I see them. To surrender is tantamount to the death of me. Love is not something we can fight for. True and pure love is something freely offered and accepted
What does Sarayu mean “rights are were survivors go, so they won’t have to work out relationships”?
A Rights are a life long struggle to find and defend. Battle scars abound of every sort. Rights are a walled fortress that must lock out every other human being and God lest they be challenged and overthrown. I can only live in relationship to the degree I surrender my idea of personal rights.
When a person is demanding their rights, what are they actually doing? Where will that lead?
A choosing to live independently of everyone. To maintain their rights they will have to destroy another’s rights. It will lead to darkness, separation, loneliness, despair, grief and to exactly the opposite of what they think enforcing their personal rights will lead.
Can you get your rights by demanding them?
A of course. You have the right to be alone, live in the dark, trapped by unrealized dreams and desires, defeated, deflated and on the way to being destroyed, void of what you thought you were getting by demanding your rights.
What is the net result when we surrender all rights to God.
A Freedom, light, liberty, the pursuit and possession of happiness, the fruit of the spirit, confidence, life, purpose, power, fulfillment, adventure, mystery, surprise, glory, praise and the like.
In relationship to God?
A A peek into the depth of the love of God. Participation in his actual activities on earth now and for eternity. A chance to bring him glory. Understanding, loss of fear, regret, guilt and shame.
In relationship to others?
A The opportunity to love and be loved, to share, fulfill and be filled, to understand, fellowship, worship together. To be more than you could be alone. Be free of expectations, performance, demands and fear of abuse. To live and serve with no fear of being taken advantage of. To know friendship, experience a oneness like the oneness that exists in the godhead. To have a little bit of heaven on earth. To live and love free. When I give up my rights I don’t have to protect myself from you. I have nothing to protect thus nothing to lose but much to gain.
Why did Jesus give up his rights as God to become Man?
A To make all the above possible.
How does God react to our anger? Elucidate
A With eternal love of purpose.
138 What does the garden of your soul look like? Is it a mess or a fractal?. Why do you say that?
A Fractals are only possible when Romans 8:28 is in effect with God’s children. Without his working, it is just a mess, and ugly at that.

Above is a year old picture of my part of relationships. I place it here becasue it is reminder to me of how important relationships are. In my 40 years of ministry I have often been troubled with the state of Christianity in general and the Church in particular. I have wondered if there were not something missing, something we should have a better grasp on than we do. One area of weakness seems to me to be in our offer of salvation. I watched a YouTube video of the magician Penn, (of Penn and Teller) tell of a man who came to a show to give him a Bible. He claims to be an athiest but admits that if anyone truly thought there was a litteral hell, that person should do everything he could to keep anyone from going there. While hell is real and avoiding it is important, avoiding it is NOT the reason God created us. The reason is seen clearly in THE SHACK by Paul Youngs. Along about page 102 God explains to Mack that unless He, as a trinity, lived in love and relationship, He could not offer it to anyone else. Consider deeply for a moment the reality that in essence the universe has only two componets: God and NOT God or the Creator and the Created. God exists in what we call the trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. A 100% understanding and explaination of this is beyond me but here is what I do understand. At the very core of the nature of God exists a relationship among the trinity. Somehow in their agreement and united counsel they decided to create man in their own image in order to include man in their relationship. Salvation is NOT just and offer to avoid hell, it is an offer to here and now enter into that eternal relationship with God. It is an offer to live knowing you are loved completely and eternally. Our problems are not that we sin but that we reject the offer of living in relationship with Them, choosing instead to live independently. The Good News is not just that we can avoid hell, but that we can litterally live in a relationship of Love with the Creator. Is that the way you always thought about it?

Father Knows Best

Pastor Sam & Nedia

Fixing Fiesta Food

Have you ever wondered "what is God doing?" Almost 30 years ago I realized the church where I was pasturing was in the “wrong” place. Phoenix was advancing north and our church would (and is now) become the geographical center of Phoenix. My first ministry was 4 freeway exits from downtown LA. I grew up there in the 50’s when it was the suburbs. The handwriting was plainly on the wall. All the other churches in our area were pulling out and since we were tucked into the middle of a neighborhood, we should make plans to pull out too. I surveyed the area and found the perfect piece of property, maybe 2 miles from our weekly home bible study called Country Fellowship. It was on the back side of nowhere. Miles of orange groves separated it from any developments. There was a corner lot on a main intersection , 13 acres for $110K. Dirt Cheap for Phoenix. As I tentatively planned and prayed, a good friend, David Morgan introduced me to Fermin Whittier of the Southern Baptist Mission Board. Fermin had tons of experience in this sort of thing and could be quite helpful. I told him of my ideas of moving the church but his response was totally deflating. As I recall he said “you realize that is white flight, don’t you?” He knew I had not even thought of it. But he was right. What I believed I knew was coming was a Mexican barrio, the signs were all there. That is what had happened in LA. My home area of the 50’s was a barrio in the early 70’s (and is an Asian community today!) My intention was not to avoid the Spanish speaking population, just shepherd the English speaking one I had. Fermin went on to ask what happens if every church in your area does that? Who will be left to minister in that community? His words haunted me for weeks as God unveiled a new dream. It was clear to me I should forget moving, minister to the people God would send, and prepare for a Spanish speaking ministry. Perhaps the Ministries would run side by side, perhaps the area would turn into a full blown barrio and we would give the church property to our Spanish speaking brothers. That part was never clear and still is not. What was clear was we were to stay put for as long as it took. I met with the pastors of the other inner city churches and asked what they thought could and should be done for an inner city ministry. None of those men had been around long enough to know but were as helpful as they could be. Over the years we tried several cross-cultural plants that failed. Two Spanish speaking plants and one Romanian.

About two years ago we made our forth attempt at establishing a Spanish speaking church. Pastor Sam and his wife Nedia felt the burden to start a Spanish speaking ministry in our area. They are two of God’s most gracious servants I have ever met. I inquired where they had been for the last 30 years! They were busy getting saved came the response. This past summer 106 of us spent the weekend in the mountains together camping. 44 Spanish and 62 of us. The children got along fantastic, the Spanish speakers went with their strong point, they fed us, and fed us. Boy, do they know how to camp cook! While trying to finish a steak big enough for a family I overheard Nedia tell to another Spanish woman, “he’s been wait ing for us for 30 years”. I guess I don’t need to tell you how I felt about that.

I can’t begin to tell you of the hills and valleys of the last 30 years, wondering, waiting, wishing and yes whining. I still don’t know how the story will end, there are too many chapters left to be written. This I do know. All those other churches and pastors I talked to back then are gone. The churches were sold, the pastors moved on. The property I picked how houses CCV, the largest church in the valley. They bought not only the 11 acres but a couple hundred more besides. I am elated for them. They are in the center of one of best areas in north Phoenix. I knew it all along, it was just not where I belong. The body of believers I celebrate with and lead is working on a relational model of fellowship and discipleship that operates a little differently than a traditional church. We laid the ground work for it years before I read any of Wayne Jacobsen's works or the Shack. Our mission is to set people to live life loved and free in Jesus. It is a lot more basic and I believe where Father wants us to go. One other thing I do know. I know I am glad I stayed around for 30years to see what Father was doing. I feel it most when I pray with Sam and Nedia. They pray in Spanish and it is music to me. In some ways I feel like I traded 11 acres of prime property for the relationships I have with these people. I definitely got the best end of the deal. It’s true, Father knows best.

Bait and Switch?

My girls, my Bro and my wife

Several people I know make at least part of their living selling Newspaper subscriptions. The bait to try the paper is a gift card that is roughly equal to the first months subscription. In accepting the card, the person is agreeing to start a subscription to that newspaper which they can later cancel if they choose. Of course this is my simplified explanation, but the customer must be made aware that this will be an ongoing purchase until it is cancelled. It is the same way with the book, magazine and music sales pitches we hear all the time. How clear the sales person makes the continued subscription is a matter of debate but I imagine many people never hear much beyond the free gift card. It is like the TV music pitches for the oldies. Buy one at the regular price and get the second one for a penny. The fine print that you can’t read at the bottom of the screen is that now they will send you their choice for music every month for eternity if you do not cancel…in person…at their home office…in a place you have never heard of or will ever find. A lot of sales pitches work like this, including the typical pitch to receive Christ as your Savior and stay out of hell. While that is true, it is not all the truth or even the true starting point of importance. After 40 years of pastoral ministry I am becoming concerned more and more that our well meaning evangelistic efforts are at a very minimum misguided. Consider this from Andrew Murray:
“The statement we so often hear, “Make a decision for Jesus Christ,” places the emphasis on something our Lord never trusted. He never asks us to decide for Him, but to yield to Him—something very different.” People still decide, not yield. I believe I have lived my life trying to do your job, going for a decision that has no need to grow as apposed to yielding that has growth as its very essence.”

It seems to me that our evangelistic zeal is to get a decision not make a disciple. Are we trying to do something only the Holy Spirit can do? Notice Jesus’ way of making disciples in his time on earth. The decision was to follow, not just make a decision. I’m thinking there is a lot of baiting going on in the Christian world today that is part innocent and part ignorant. In the long run this may be doing more damage to the kingdom than it is doing good. Statistically the churches of today are much larger than at any time in history. Why are so many people making so little difference? Why is Christianity today characterized as a mile wide and an inch deep? Could it be so simple as they made a decision but never yielded? Is there something you or I can do about it? I'm thinking there is. What do you think?

If you haven’t read He Love’s Me by Wayne Jacobsen, now might be a good time. It is a great sequel to the theology behind The Shack.

Meeting with Wayne Jacobsen

The Shack editor/contributor/publisher Wayne Jacobsen was in Arizona this weekend and I had the opportunity to visit with him for a while last night. I really enjoyed our time even though I had to share it with a few others. I found Wayne to be real, likable and worth listening too. One of the reoccurring questions asked centered around raising children, in or out of the institutional church. His answer was simple. Parents raise children, not programs. I believe that and have taught it for years. How do we teach our children? The way they did in the OT. Use life to teach life principles. To help illustrate how to do it, I posted 101 sermons in a second on immanuelmission.com. Here is a sample.

101 SERMONS IN A SECOND: Using every day life situations and common objects to keep central the message of Christ.



1. Activities: Choosing friends and activities Put food coloring in cooking oil and mix in water. Let it stand for a few minuets. Note how it separates. Sometimes there are reasons to put the together for a while, but some things will just not stay together. 2CO 6:14

2. Anger/Temper: Baking soda and vinegar in balloon. Pour backing soda and vinegar into a balloon. The expanding balloon represents what happens to us when we get angry. COL 3:8

3. Anger: Can you pop a straw? Pinch both ends of a straw and rotate the straw end over end causing the straw to wrap up on itself. The center of the straw will form a bubble. Have someone flick the end of the straw with their finger. If it is wound tight, it will pop with little pressure. This illustrates what happens to all of us when we get “wound up to tight”. The least little thing can make us POP! PRO 29:11

4. Arguing/Yelling: Have you ever tried to argue in a whisper? PRO 15:1

5. Auto Breaks: Brakes are used to slow down and stop a car. What slows down and stops our bad behavior? PSA 119:11 If we have memorized His Word, it will act like the brakes in a car when danger pops in front of us.

6. Auto Bumper stickers. What bumper sticker do you like? Should we have a bumper sticker on our car? What should it say?

7. Auto Gas fill up = Wouldn’t it be nice to never have to put gas in the car? Just like we have to keep our car full of gas, we must keep our bodies full of food and our spirit filled with Him. JOH 6: 35

8. Auto Gas Gage: The gas gage on your car reminds us to keep the tank full so we do not run out of gas and become stranded. What reminds you to keep your spiritual tank full? Sunday Worship, Bible studies, Family devotions. Heb 10;24-25

9. Auto Windshield cleaning Sometimes windows get so dirty from daily driving we cannot see clearly out of them, especially when it is dark outside. To see the road clearly and be safe the windshield must be washed. Sometimes our spiritual windshields need to be cleaned too. Sin and attacks of Satan have stained the window and it is always dark outside in this spiritual world. We clean our windshield with confession to see the life ahead with the light of God’s Word. ACT 28:26-27

10. Braces: Make braces a reminder that the tongue needs a guard. PRO 10:19; JAM 1:4. 1PE 3:10

The idea is not to lecture children in a school type setting but to trust the Holy Spirit to lead you to teach as life happens. Just keep it real. There are 89 more on the web site if you need some help getting started.

The Shack Annotated discussion guide,

Chapter 6
A PIECE OF p
88 “Well Mackenzie, don’t just stand there with your mouth open like your pants are full”. How does the earthy talk coming from God affect you? The story?
A At first it made me uncomfortable. My God box is so small some words are absolutely forbidden and a lot of words seem out of place. I was raised in an ultra strict home when it came to anything that my parents considered crude language, which was just about everything There were certain OT words we deliberately ignored, translated or mispronounced. We were greatly relieved when the NIV traded Balaam’s ass for a donkey. To bad the NIV couldn’t do something about his home town of Shittim or the plant of the same name. I do not have the freedom to use anything crude and I am not going to look for it. I will just try to stop judging another’s freedom.
89 Is the real Holy Spirit full of surprises with perfect timing? Explain
A the Holy Spirit seems to never show up when requested but is never late either. He shows up in the oddest places at the oddest times with exactly what was needed for the situation. He is seldom predictable, but can be expected to do what only he can do, on time every time
Jesus had just told Mack he was free to do what ever he wanted and Mack volunteered feeling obligated to talk to Papa. Jesus instructs: “Don’t go because you feel obligated. That won’t get you any points here. Go because it’s what you want to do”. What is the message here?
A Mack went to the Shack for the purpose of talking to God and Jesus knew that. Jesus freed him to do what down deep he wanted to do the most. Talk to God. Oswald Chambers said What causes you to say “I will not obey” is something less deep and penetrating than your will. It is perversity or stubbornness, and they are never in agreement with God. THE MOST PROFOUND THING IN A PERSON IS HIS WILL, NOT SIN. Oct-6 Because Christ indwells us we are stronger than the grip of sin.
Phil 2:13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. The closer we are to God, the more we can do what we really want to do.

90 How does the creator value things given?
How can Papa listen to music from a band that has not been born yet?
One of the benefits of living in the eternal present. He created time and is not controlled by it.
What does this mean in relation to how Papa might view all of life’s experiences?
There is a sense in which because God literally indwells us, he experiences life through us as we experience it. Certainly he would view it differently but there is a level of participation here. When I am in awe of a beautiful sunset or a thunder bolt or the cry of my grand daughter I experience something special that I can share and worship God in the experience. He too is a participant.
How is time different for us?
91 Would God really value all kinds of music? Why?
Why was Mack uncomfortable with Papa manifesting as a woman? Why did Papa manifest that way?
92 “If you will let me Mack, I will be the Papa you never had”. How much does our earthly fathers effect how we view our heavenly father?
“If you couldn’t take care of Missy, how can I trust you to take care of me?” In the back of Mack’s mind would he also wonder why God did not rescue him as a boy too?
A Because of our incorrect view of God’s love, Satan will try to tie together the rejections and disappointments of life into one colossal lie: God does not, nor did he ever love you…It is easy to tie it all together and get us to believing it.
Why does God allow the great gulfs that separate us from Him?
A So we can freely chose to come to and love him.
Do all God’s children have wounds at some point in life that God needs to heal? Does anyone escape?
A Only those like Missy to die very young.
“Life takes a bit of time and a lot of relationship”. In your life, does relationship really triumph over answers?
A Many of the criticisms that have come to me because of my high regard for The Shack, or any other doctrinal issue for that matter, have put right answers over relationship. Frankly, I really don’t care if you agree or not as long as I know you love me. If I am wrong I am sure God is wise enough to correct me. I no longer feel the need to keep everyone straight! That is quite freeing for my relationships. And yes, people do sin, big time sometimes, and I can still love them because God does.
93 What are the “head issues” that must be gotten out of the way that makes the heart issues easier to work on?
A The head issues are the religious conditioning, ritual, institutionalism, right answers, correct doctrine, best theology, religious clichés that have no understanding, hierarchy, authority, practice, preference, rules, legalism, denominations, attitudes, expectations, assumptions, history, stereotypes , and anything else that is religious without relationship.
Is a relationship a head issue or a heart issue or some combination of both? Explain.
A Typically we “ask Jesus into our heart” as a head issue that promises a relationship that never grows. Josh Mc Dowell (Evidence that Demands a verdict; More than a Carpenter) argues “my heart cannot accept what my mind rejects”. Clearly there must be some basic understanding of WHO God is and what he is offering. This is where imagery clashes with revelation. When the head understands that God is offering a personal relationship and his love and forgiveness the heart can rejoice in an informed decision.
Why is Papa depicted as a woman?
A Simply to break up the stereotype and get Mack thinking about who God really is as revealed in scripture Many of the criticisms of the Shack ignore this explaination.
How big a part of the average Christian’s life is religious conditioning compared to genuine relationship?
A Experience strongly suggests that most people who practice the faith have no idea of why they do anything they do. The relationship offered has been reduced to rule, regulations and ritual. Worship feeling centered, Prayer is a wish list or therapy, struggles abound with guilt, there is little sense of freedom and not indication of an actual relationship with the Loving God of the Universe. Trust is simply a code word for conduct and rule keeping, faith is absent of true hope. Life is lived in a bondage Houdini couldn’t escape and the believer is consigned to live a life that is anything but free.
List all the religious (or non religious) stereotypes of God you have heard of. Which are the most accurate?
94 If God is not male or female, why is he presented as Father in the Bible? Is his feminine side ever shown?
Agree or disagree: God is neither male or female because gender is part of creation and God is above and beyond creation but it is contained in him.
Does God’s prior knowledge of any matter affect our freedom to choose?
A When I see you reach for the light switch I know the light is going to come on, but I am not turning it on or are you?.
95 What are the limiting influences of life that limit freedom?
A Health, wealth, age, ability, IQ, opportunity, race, religion, politics, environmental factors etc. Life itself imposes limits.
Why can’t freedom be forced?
A Logically it would not then be freedom.
How is a person ever truly free?
Where does freedom happen? Why there?
A Freedom is a process that happens inside our relationship with Jesus. We are free only there because he removed all the barriers and penalties caused by our sins.
Why did Papa have scars on her wrist to match the one’s on Jesus’ wrists?
A Don’t forget this is fiction: God has no body, he is spirit. Theoretically if he had a body it would have the same scars as Jesus. The point is the Union of the father and son. Whatever Jesus experienced, God did. In a similar way, when god indwells us he experiences what we experience in a way I do not understand. What I do understand is he really knows exactly how I feel and why I feel that way.
Col 1: 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
96 “Love always leaves a significant mark”. What kinds of marks does love leave?
A Healing marks, not wounds. Fruit of the spirit stuff.
Was Jesus alone on the cross, forsaken? Was that in his humanity only?
A Some deep thinkers are going to get really skittish here trying to make certain we understand the exact nature of the incarnation and the nuances of the inter-relationship of the flesh and the spirit. The point is simple, The father and son cannot be separated in essence. “the Son can do nothing of Himself …” (John 5:19) I’m going to avoid the heavy theology of who is “righter” here and accept with Joy that though Jesus felt forsaken, the father was there as a participant according to the eternal plan. I will never be forsaken either. Make every effort here to KEEP IT SIMPLE. Some people will REALLY get pushy here. Just love them and smile!
Wayne Jacobsen explains this really well in He Loves Me, Pg 140-141. He looks at the original reference Jesus quoted from in the Messianic Psalm 22 showing that even though David FELT forsaken, he knew he was not forsaken ending with “yet he has not hidden his face from him but listened to his cry for help. What Jesus felt at the time is arguable, what he knew is written for us. He knew that God could not and would not leave him. It was right there in the scripture.
“Mackenzie I never left him, I never left you”. What is the message and point here?
A Since the believer is indwelt by God as a miracle of the new birth, it is impossible for God to ever leave or forsake us. It is possible to feel alone when we are not alone.
“When all you can see is your pain, perhaps then you lose sight of me?” What did Papa mean?
A There can be an instant during Labor that a mother in pain may lose sight of the purpose. When she looks at her baby, the pain is forgotten and the blessing begins.
How did Jesus put himself completely in God’s hands? How do we?A Wayne Jacobson’s HE LOVES ME is (I think) the foundation for the Shack here. It is advertized in the back of the Shack and is worthwhile for understanding better the nature of the trinity and what happened on the Cross. The other book, So you don’t want to go to church anymore? Likely