The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller

I'm in the process of reading this book and have found it so insightful that I am recommending to others before I have even completed the reading myself. His chapter on longing for home really got me thinking. I'll give a full review once I complete the book, but his comment about the holidays was worth sharing during this season. He says, "Many of the people in my church have shared with me how disappointing Christmas and Thanksgiving are to them. They prepare for the holidays hoping that, finally, this year, the gathering of the family at that important place will deliver the experience of warmth, joy, comfort, and love that they want from it. But these events almost always fail, crushed under the weight of our impossible expectations." Who can't relate to that?

Reasons I Don't Share a Verbal Witness

10) People will think I'm weird, strange or stupid.
9) I'll make people uncomfortable.
8) That's just not my gift.
7) That's the pastor's job.
6) I'm afraid that I won't have the "right" answers.
5) I don't want to appear pushy.
4) I just want to witness through my life.
3) I don't want to drive people away.
2) Once I talk about Jesus, people will be looking for my every flaw and failure.
1) My own relationship with Christ is not that great; why export that?

I just wrote these as a sort of stream-of-consciousness, brain drain based on past comments from people and my own excuses. But what I really want to know are your personal reasons. I know there are many valid reasons and I want to try to help address these. Perhaps you already have an idea of a resource we could provide that would help you. Let me know that as well.

The Story of India

I watched part of The Story of India on PBS last night. In part 2, The Power of Ideas, historian Michael Wood gives a history of the Buddha. I was interested by the fact that much of what he said about Buddha confirmed what a Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias, a native of India, had often said before. Wood explains that Buddhism is about becoming better human beings. Worldly desires are bad and need to be stifled. He notes that even though Buddhism began in India, it is not the dominant religion there. He comments that Buddhism was a protest religion and is basically atheistic. Back to Zacharias. He says that he believes that one reason for Buddhism's popularity today is that "you can be good without God".

So I would say that Buddhism is still a protest religion. Not a protest against Hinduism, but against God Himself. We have an elevated view of man and a complete lack of comprehension about God's true character and attributes. I believe that if we could get a glimpse of God's true holiness and glory, we would be struck with how far short we fall by comparison. Our response should be to humbly come to God and ask Him to forgive our arrogance.

World Views Are Displayed in Many Ways

Today’s post is prompted in part to Bill’s comments about The Shack. He says “My only fear of books like this is that they can distort our view of God. We must keep in mind that this is fiction.” That is a valid concern. Bill and I agree that a good purpose for this book would be as a conversation starter. I would hope that it would open a door to dialog about issues of faith and to be able to point out where our beliefs differ from the book’s, hopefully in a non-threatening way. Ideologies pervade all communication devices from movies to books to Comedy Central.

Most of us don’t distinguish between fiction and other genres. The Da Vinci Code illustrates this. Many people were looking for something else to believe in. There is a quote in the December 22, 2003 edition of Time magazine that illustrates this. The cover story, “The Lost Gospels”, was prompted by the popularity of the Da Vinci Code book. Marcus Borg, author of The Heart of Christianity, states, “There’s a lot interest in early Christian diversity because many people who have left the church—and some who are still in it—are looking for a new way of becoming Christian.”

I believe this interest is generated for two main reasons. The first is that the majority of the mainstream church is not functioning as Jesus intended. Many churches are barely distinguishable from secular service organizations. Jesus is well hidden in these environments. The second reason could be that when people realize the implications of coming to grips with the real Jesus, God incarnate, they are unwilling to let Him impact their whole lives. If Jesus is the creator God, He created us and desires full access into our lives. This is not just a Sunday morning thing. It is a daily encounter where our beliefs about who Jesus is affect the choices we make in all areas. It should affect how we treat other people, that includes those who are different from us or hold different viewpoints. Most of us are pretty stubborn about giving up control of all areas of our lives. We think that we will be confined by that. The mystery about this is that Jesus promises us freedom as we submit to Him. He says it Himself, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” He is talking about freeing us from being slaves to sin. As Bob Dylan wrote, “You’ve got to serve somebody.” We get to choose who or what we serve.

I believe that Christ followers living out their faith in close relationship to Jesus is the best way to counter error. Living a transformed life is the best apologetic in my opinion.

Actions Reflect True Beliefs

This past year I purchased some domain names. Most of them are still parked. But one of those has come to mind repeatedly of late. I have been trying to formulate a plan for KnowWhyYouBelieve.com. This morning I received some reinforcement to implement this site from my Bible reading. I only read a short passage this morning, but it was packed with meaning for me. The passage was Luke 6:46-49. Jesus is emphasizing the importance of not only hearing His words, but also putting them into practice. “He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock.” This relates well with my initial reason for purchasing the domain name. Know and believe are both words that are packed with meaning. Those will be fully articulated once the site is up. For for now, suffice it to say that I am troubled by the fact that so many people haven’t seriously examined their own belief system regarding their eternity. I work with people who pride themselves on being informed on the “important issues” of our day, yet they don’t take that same approach to eternal issues. Beliefs need to be examined to determine whether they are trust worthy. Do they have a foundation that will hold you up during tough times (and good times for that matter)? And do your actions prove that you truly believe what you say you believe? Jesus is saying that the wise among us will be actively living out our faith and that our deeds will reflect our beliefs. And this should be a good thing as we, more and more, reflect the heart of God.

Thoughts on The Shack

As the blog header states, I would like this to be a place where dialog can take place about spiritual matters. My goal is to be able to have these conversations in a non-threatening environment. So to that end, my first post is a brief review on the novel, The Shack, currently #1 on the New York Times Best sellers list in the Paperback Trade Fiction category.

Plenty has been written about The Shack both good and bad. Fortunately, I didn’t read any reviews of this book until after I read the book itself. I should say up front that I am coming from a different perspective than many of the serious reviewers. I have studied Christian apologetics off and on for many years and have been active in dialogging in matters of faith and spirituality with anyone who seems interested and open.

It is often difficult to open a door for these sorts of discussions even though many people struggle with the issues contained in the book. What intrigued me most about this book is the author’s ability to present these issues in a non-threatening way that engages the reader. Many have asked the question, “Where is God in the midst of pain and suffering?” The Shack attempts to answer that question and more.

There are many people outside of the church that aren’t looking to the church for answers to their heart-felt questions either due to unfortunate experiences from their past, other baggage they are carrying or barriers that the church unintentionally puts up. I am in favor of anything that opens doors for dialog so that people can more readily process spiritual matters. The bottom line is that many are being drawn closer to God through reading The Shack. I think whenever that happens, it’s a good thing. I didn’t agree with everything it contained from a theological perspective, but it deeply touched me emotionally and spiritually. Is the writing on the level of Dickens or Austen? No it isn’t. But it still has the power to touch and hopefully break down some barriers to belief. I would recommend this book as a conversation starter.

For an extensive critique on the theology of The Shack, a good source can be found on Tim Challies blog site http://www.challies.com/archives/book-reviews/a-review-of-the-shack-download-it-here.php