Book Recommendation: The Shack

I'm not really into writing book reviews, especially when it comes to books that have already been reviewed so ably and so often. So instead, I offer a book recommendation. If you haven't yet read The Shack by William P. Young, pick it up and read it. It is a wonderful read that has a wonderful way of stripping you of the religious and regimented ways that we view God.

it's a novel and is a fairly quick read, but there is some deep and heady stuff woven in its pages. I think you will see why Eugene Peterson (the author of The Message Bible translation) says that it could be this generation's Pilgrim's Progress.

Enjoy!

Three Pennies and a Big God

It is said that Mother Theresa (before she was Mother Theresa and was just a young teenager), approached her superiors and told them that she had a vision to build an orphanage. She said, "I have three pennies and a vision from God to build an orphanage."

Her superiors reminded her that three pennies you couldn't do anything. Her response was classic, "I know. But with God and three pennies, I can do anything."

We would do well to remember that it is not the amount of resources that we have to give to God, but the God that we give our resources to. Frequently we focus on the little that we have financially, intellectually or physically and all we can see is lack. God doesn't need resources, He owns the cattle on a thousand hills.

God is interested in you giving your resources to Him and believing that He is actually big enough to do whatever He wants with them. We would all do well to remember Theresa's example.

Should We Expel Demons as a Normal Course of Action?

I'm reading John Wimber's Power Healing and in it, he has a section on the demonic. He notes that the Scripture makes a clear distinction between those suffering physical illness caused by demons and those who were simply sick. In both cases, Jesus healed. But in the cases where the sickness was caused by demons, he expelled the demons. In those where people where just sick, he simply healed them.

Wimber goes on to make some important distinctions about the nature of demonization (the term "demon possessed" is actually a poor translation and is less indicative of the way demons actually work in a human being), ministering to a person who is experiencing demonic influence and some typical indicators that a person may be demonized.

Reading Wimber's comments reminded me of Thomas Merton's account of the Catholic rite of baptism in his excellent The Seven Storey Mountain. During the rite, the priest has the candidate renounce Satan and his works and then blows on the candidate and says "receive the Holy Spirit."

I remember reading Merton's account and it seemed so practical and so earthy. Why not take a proactive approach to exorcism? Reading Wimber, makes me wonder again. Demonization and exorcism happens so rarely in our church today, perhaps it is because we are not more intentional about it?

Rather than deal with demonic manifestation as they appear, perhaps we should include some teaching and some practical application as part of either the class we require people to take before they are baptized or else during one of the basic courses we want everyone in the church to take? Nothing weird or heavy-handed, just some basic teaching on the reality of the demonic, the freedom and authority of the believer and a time of prayer.

Life is a Matter of Luck

Life is a matter of luck, and the odds in favor of success are in no way enhanced by extreme caution.
— WWII German U-Boat Commander Eric Topp

I came across this quote at the end of the book Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson and was struck by its weight. While I cannot ascribe to the worldview that says that "life is a matter of luck," I am particularly drawn to the idea that extreme caution is NOT a good way to live life - no matter what your worldview.

I happen to believe that God is the Supreme Being of universe and that He does involve Himself with human affairs in an active way. But, I do not believe that He actively approves of everything that happens on the Earth. I remember having a discussion with a friend once who expressed his understanding of God's sovereignty. He said that he had always assumed that everything that happened in and on the Earth, had proceeded down a kind of c,osmic conveyor belt over which God presided. Anything that God did not want to end up on Earth, He would remove, and anything that He was okay with, was allowed to proceed.

I don't think God set the universe up quite like that. I do believe He knows everything that is going to happen (as well as what could happen in any and all possible alternate worlds to this one) and that He selected this world out of the many possible worlds to bring into existence. And I also believe that God responds to prayer and changes things in the world frequently. But I do believe that He set things into motion according to the laws of the universe (which He established).

Among these laws of the universe are the scientific laws like the law of gravity, the laws of thermodynamics, the laws of conservation of mass and energy and so on. But I think there are also laws that govern the universe that are as real as the scientific laws but are not immediately provable via the scientific method (and this is partly because that they are not scientific laws). These types of laws are things like the law of sowing and reaping (or karma), the laws of servanthood, the law of the opposite and so on.

I believe it is fair to say that none of these laws seem to indicate that living one's life with extreme caution is the best (or even safest) plan. What think you?