Tuesday, July 1, 2008

The Shack



I finished reading The Shack by William P. Young.

The Shack is a fictional story about a man named Mac who comes to know his God in a very personal way. The man had heard a lot about God but hadn't really experienced Him. Since knowing God instead of just knowing about Him is something very real and dear to me, I found the book intriguing. I had heard a lot about The Shack before I read it so I knew it wasn't going to be a traditional or religious book. In fact, I think it gives religion a good swift kick.
WARNING- SPOILERS AHEAD
I had also heard that there was a violent crime commited in the book. To be honest, I had to put the book down a few times because of it. I have a highly sensitive nature and a very visual and vivid imagination, so I generally don't read or watch crime stories. Thankfully, I have the talent of skimming a written page or I wouldn't have been able to read the rest of the book. I had even thought that I wasn't meant to read the book and almost sent it back to the person who loaned it to me. But I came to the conclusion that I was supposed to read it and I am very glad that I did.
One of my favorite parts of the book is when Mac is hanging out at the lake with Jesus and Mac is asking Jesus questions and wanting to talk about spiritual things. Finally, Jesus let's Him know in His own special way that He just wants to hang out with Mac and enjoy the great outdoors. In other words, BE QUIET! ;> Boy, can I relate to that! Ha!
I've heard that some people have taken the book too seriously. Some of the heresy police are raking over it with a fine tooth comb. I'll admit that (even) I was tempted to become paranoid over "questionable doctrine" rather than just read the book and let the Lord teach me if He wanted too. Friends, God can be trusted with a book! He can be trusted- period!
Fear not little flock.
Has anyone else read The Shack? Let's talk about it.

2 comments:

Rhondi said...

I read The Shack. It challenged some of my preconceived ideas of who I think God is which is always good because we all tend to put God in a box. I like the way God Jesus and the Holy Spirit interacted and how loving they were to one anoher. And the Father being a big black woman who was always making good food was great!
I din't like to have to read the details about the little girl though. That was very hard and I kipped over as much as I could of that.

Holly said...

Hi, Rhondi!

My first Shack reply!

I liked the way that it took some time for Mac to relate to the Father as a man because of his back ground. After a while, Mac could relate to the Father more. Mac had to be more convinced of the goodness of God.

Well, I'm glad I wasn't the only one who skipped over the hard parts!

Have a great day, Rhondi!