On Wednesday evening, August 19, Paul Young, the author of the New York Times Best Seller, The Shack, will be sharing his testimony at Mountaintop of how he was reached by the grace of God.  I personally have seen how understanding the grace of God through this novel has reached very hardened unbelievers and helped them connect faithfully with God through Christ.  I have also heard, via recording, Mr. Young's testimony.  It chronicles a painful, deeply moving journey, through darkness into God's light.  Therefore, when a family in our church generously offered to make it possible for Mr. Young to come to Mountaintop, I accepted their gift.  Mountaintop, from her inception, has been focused on the mission of reaching unchurched people with the good news of God's love in Christ and helping them go from being fans to players on Jesus' team.  That is a huge part of the response to Paul Young's book, and I hope and pray that we will use this event as an opportunity to invite unchurched friends and family to join us for that August 19 evening.

Mr. Young will be primarily sharing his testimony of how God reached out to him in the darkness of his own sin with cleansing, forgiveness, and transforming grace.  The main focus of his remarks will not be the story line of the book but rather the spiritual life line of Paul Young.  The book is essentially an attempt by a father to give his children a gift (self-published through Kinko's) which seeks to share with them how their father was radically saved by the love of God in Christ Jesus.  The story line is fiction, but the insights about the love and grace of God are, in my assessment, anything but.  There is much creativity in his story, but the creativity, the artistic nuancing, is purposeful and often yields very profound theological insights.  


The book has received both praise and criticism.  The images Young uses of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are unorthodox.  The dialogue is casual and homey.  The "three in oneness" of the Trinity is perhaps too subtly handled.  The transcendent holiness of God is not emphasized in equal proportion to His immanence and mercy.  It does not filter its theology through the penal substitution view of the atonement.  When evaluated from the standpoint of doctrinal theology, of which there are many different versions and systems, in the views of some of the proponents of the various theological systems, it does not measure up.  If I were offering a course in systematic theology, The Shack would not be my choice of a text.  However, if I wanted to teach a course on the doctrine of divine grace, it would appear on the reading list.   In fact, I am yet to find any theological system that encompasses and balances well all the biblical insights about God.  That is completely understandable.  God is bigger than any theological system the mind of man can develop.  That is not Paul Young's purpose.  And, at Mountaintop, as we have said from the beginning of our church, the test we will apply in proclamation and teaching is the Bible itself, not the Bible as interpreted by Calvin, Wesley, Scofield, Darby, or Paul Young.  So, when we respond to anyone's interpretation of Scripture, the Bible, fairly, accurately, and humbly interpreted, must be the final standard as to the legitimacy of the depiction.  That discussion will be occurring before, during, and after Paul Young's visit, as it should, and God always blesses that honest journey into discovery with discernment and spiritual growth.

As I read the book, it seemed to me that the central biblical teaching which provides the theme of The Shack is Romans 5:8 – "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  Other central theme truths are John 3:16-21 and Luke 15:1-7.  The book is Paul Young's understanding of God when seen through the lens of His amazing grace.  It is Young's artistic word portrait of how he sees and hears God.  It seems to be Young's spiritual journal only expressed through the genre of story.  That's very much what a parable is—a short story created to make one central point, and not to be used as a source for a complete theology.

The Shack has been used by God to bring many to Jesus, and we are praying that God will use August 19 for that purpose too.  If you would like to buy a copy and read it before Mr. Young's visit, you can do so in Harvest.  And, please don't forget, this event is a great chance to invite an unchurched friend or family member to come and hear about the way God's grace personally reaches out to us.  I hope you will be there and seek God's discernment on the basis of the Bible.  That's how we should be handling all of life; so, whatever calls us to develop that process in our walk with God is a good thing, a very good thing.

Thanks you so very, very much for your prayers during these days of some challenges for our family.  It means more than words can say to all of us.

God bless you in every way,