Why you shouldn't look for God in "The Shack"

There is probably not one of us who has either seen the movie The Shack, or read the book, or at the very least, knows of someone who has, and thought The Shack was the best movie or book they have ever read.  Now, while I can believe such a book or film can be entertaining, and insightful; even plant seeds of faith in a non-believer; we have to be able to discern what is truth, and what is fiction.  The Shack is fiction, and dangerous fiction in that while it feels good on the surface, it has some false premises that can damage or even destroy ones relationship with Christ.  Below are just a couple of key points:

• In "The Shack", God the Father Himself comes to the shack...as a woman?  God has always referred to himself as masculine (sorry, ladies; but please stay, with me for a bit longer!) and never in the flesh.  That was Jesus's job, to be God in the flesh.  Jesus walked and talked with us on earth.  God the Father on earth could not be directly viewed by sinful man without dying (Exodus 33:20; Isaiah 6).   What The Shack does is recreate god in man's image; or, in other words, promote idolatry.

• What? No Hell?  The Shack implies through an underlying theme that all of mankind and even Satan and his fallen angels can and will be reconciled to God, enter Heaven, thus eliminate the need for Hell and the Lake of Fire.  Very appealing, but not very biblically Sound.  (Revelation 20:10-15)  Satan will not be let back into the heavenly realm, so he can try to overthrow God again.  Those who choose to reject God and his offer of love will not be forced to repent and be thrown into Heaven, as The Shack suggests.  That's not love, love respects freedom of choice.  (Ladies, you know that guy you had no interest in who kept pursuing you?  Would that be love if he forced you to love him??  God is not just a God of love, but a God of justice as well.

While The Shack can be treated as good, secular fiction, with a lot of biblical truths; one must be careful in regard to the half truths and falsehoods that are laced throughout the book and film.  This story paints a universal message, that all religions lead to God; while Jesus said He is the way, the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him. (John 14:6)  So while all religions do lead to God, most lead to a God, sitting on a throne of judgment, seperating himself from those who chose not to have any relationship with Him while they were on earth.  The only place for an eternal human being to go who does not want fellowship with God is the lake of fire; the second death, that truly lasts for eternity.

Christianity is not a religion where you need to appease a god; it's about God's love for us, that He (Christ) died for us (Romans 5:8).  God has done all that needs to be done to reconcile the relationship between mankind and Himself, that will we have left to do is say, "Thank you, Lord Jesus", and spend time with Him; in prayer, in reading His word, the Bible, and sharing this good news with others.

Why does God allow suffering, injustice and oppression on Earth?

In having a conversation with an atheist some time ago, he cited all the reasons why he and others like him refuse to believe in any kind of a deity.  Most of them claim science will eventually be able to prove the universe was not created but evolved, but one of their "evidences" comes from the notion that God cannot be all that powerful; or if He is, he must not be all that good of a god since there are so many injustices in the world, so many diseases, so much oppression, pain, suffering and misery taking place.  A good god should not permit such things to happen.

Those of us in Christ know that God actually permits such evil to exist on the earth.  When Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, they chose not just to rebel from God, they chose to learn what good and evil truly are.  As a result, we live in a beautiful world that also has earthquakes, tornados, plagues, and a host of maladies the make life difficult at times.  God from the beginning cursed the ground for our sake (Genesis 3:17, NKJV). So we can enjoy the appearance and the fragrance of a rose, while getting pricked by its thorns.  Good and evil.

Albert Einstein described evil as a lack of good.  Just as cold is actually an absence of heat, and darkness is an absence of light.  And if every good thing comes from our creator God, then the absence of God is in effect, pure evil.  The realm of Lucifer, aka Satan.

We as humans get to choose whether or not to do good or evil; to ourselves as well as to one another.  The Bible gives us lessons on how to do good, as well as examples of doing evil.  It also gives consequences; good and bad, for doing either good or evil respectively.  And we get to choose whether or not we follow God's good rules; or our own rules, which by God's standards, are truly evil.

This is what Heaven and Hell are all about.  Heaven is eternity with God; Hell, on the other hand, is eternity separated from God.  And everyone gets to choose where they spend eternity.  In this day and age, that choice is based on one's faith that Jesus Christ is their Lord and King; and because of that, we seek a complete, perfect relationship with Him.  (Prior to Christ, or for those who die without ever hearing this good news, those with the heart that seeks God will find him, and His eternal Salvation (Romans 1:20).)  I believe God's grace will give such a person a place in heaven.  But God will not send anyone to Hell; the individual chooses Hell because he or she wants to avoid having a relationship with God.

How do I know this?  Seriously, I'm not anyone's judge, jury and executioner.  I'm just a messenger; and as such, I may get the message wrong.  Yet, when asked the question, "If there became scientific evidence that removed any and all doubt that God is real, and that Jesus is real; would you become a Christian?", most atheists would either refuse to answer the question or flat out say, "No".  The honest ones who say no would state they like their lifestyle just as it is, and refuse to answer to any higher power.  Others would insist on debating the point further.

The bottom line is, God cannot make any of us love him.  As much as He loves His creation, we as individuals get to choose to love Him back.  And Heaven and Hell are the places we go; based on who we choose to love.

Jesus Calls All - 75

Why would God send anyone to hell? Especially if He loves all of us??

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Without a doubt, there is not one of us; be it Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, Pagan or Atheist; that has not sinned - not broken one of God’s commandments -over the last 24 hours. We may not think it’s not that bad, but remember, God’s standards are much higher than ours.

We may work excessively in pursuit of money. Many have placed money in front of God on our priority list. Or perhaps we place ourselves over God with a selfish pride. How many other pursuits do we have that we have placed a higher priority than God? Have we cursed God? Do we keep a traditional Sabbath; on Saturday? Do we disrespect our parents? Do we murder (or hate others), commit adultery (or simply lust after another) steal, lie or covet? Maybe not all of them today, but all of us do one or more of these things daily. Sometimes multiple times a day! (Exodus 20)
So, we all deserve eternity in Hell. At the very least, we deserve the death we face. And this is where God’s love comes in. He gives us a way out, through His son, Jesus Christ, who was God in the flesh (John 1:14). Christ took your place; your death sentence, when he died on the cross 2000 years ago. As a result, the physical death of your body becomes irrelevant. You have been offered a free gift of eternal life.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Accept this free gift, as you are, and you will be spared from Hell. Better yet, you live with Jesus in paradise, with no pain, suffering, tears, all that bad stuff we experience on earth. Don’t worry about cleaning up your life first – Jesus changes millions of lives each day. Humble yourself and surrender your life to Jesus. Get involved with a church where sinners like you and I meet weekly to give glory to God.

But it’s your choice. You can accept or reject this free gift. You can send yourself to heaven or to hell. You have been offered a free gift, a free pass into absolute paradise. But if you would rather spend eternity apart form God (in hell) God will respect your choice.

You see, it’s not God that will send you to hell. You will send yourself there.

Have You Prayed for your Country Today? 10

…Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." - Matthew 6:10

I was reminded of this phrase earlier this week. Imagine: God’s will, being done on earth, as it already has been done in heaven.

No pain or suffering, no scarcity, no difficulties, no ugliness. Not just the good things in life, but only the better than the best things in life. In great abundance, as well.

That’s heaven. That’s God’s kingdom, God’s will. That eternal place where most of us reading this will enter. The eternal place where God wants all to enter, but He understands that’s our individual choice, not His to make.

There will come a day when America will become irrelevant, and a new world order will replace it. That may be this year, 100 years from now, or some other time.  It's not for any of us to know, except it will happen in God’s perfect time.  We can pray all we want for God to heal our land – and pray we should – but we all must understand God’s answer may be “No, not this time, I have something bigger and better for you”.

When we pray for America, let’s also pray for our Lord’s return, and His will be done, under His terms, not ours. The latter is greater than the former.

© 2009 David Etenburn. Non - commercial reproduction permitted