another review of The Shack

Trevin Wax has the same problem with The Shack that I do. I really like his approach to the “it’s just fiction” argument.
Check this out:
Let’s say you meet an author who wants to use your grandparents as the main characters in a novel. The author tells you that the narrative will be fictional, [...]

danger of moralistic deism

here is Matt Chandler talking about the necessity of the centrality of the Gospel and the danger when it is assumed.

Love that last line.
“But you don’t put God in your debt. I know this because really really faithful men in the Scripture have it go really really bad for them.”
hat [...]

conception of self part II

earlier I quoted C.S. Lewis in Perelandra to illustrate the point that our enemy has as his project the inflation of our ego to the point that we find it difficult to deny anything to ourselves and our own vision of how the world should be.
Satan has as his project affirming to us that we [...]

God in nature

Challies put up an excellent post yesterday about the nine things he learned about God from nature. Take some time this weekend to read it.
I have also been struck by this fact when I take pictures:
…A GOD OF DETAIL
God overlooked no detail in creating this world. While humans like to declare that certain parts [...]

who do you trust? part III

all right, now let’s go back where we started. In John 10:10, Jesus contrasts himself and his mission with the thief.
The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. Jesus came to bring abundant life.
and here are we sheep in the middle. we have a choice to make.
do [...]

worship such a God

Vitamin Z has a quote from D.A. Carson that is well worth repeating.
But despite all the mysteries bound up with the nature of God, I perceive, on the basis of Scripture, that he is simultaneously personal and transcendent. He is utterly sovereign over his created order, yet he is nothing less than personal as he [...]

wow!! now this is photography

Check out these awesome pictures and blog post from a fellow Aggie.
So my second technique was using a high ISO to capture as many stars as I could inside the exposure. So how I did that was I cranked up my ISO to about 3200-4000. Side Note: The 5d Mark ii (which is the camera [...]

trusting God in judgment

R.C. Sproul has a good reminder of the need to trust God even at the point of judgment.
A person who trusts God trusts not only His promises but His judgment. Even in a prayer of contrition, such a person acknowledges that God would be absolutely justified to destroy him for his sin. You can never [...]

the Shack part IV (conclusion)

this is the wrap up of my series on The Shack. Part I, Part II and Part III are intended to convey to you that God is God.
The reason that I am so exercised about this book is simple. The god portrayed in this book is not the God of the bible. [...]

the Shack part I

I am reading the Shack. It took all the way to page 165 (out of 246) before I got completely angry. Up to that time I was reading at a relatively low grade frustration level. The prose was juvenile. the story was wooden. The theology was wrong. The emphasis [...]

going with what you know

sometimes in the midst of heartbreak and pain, it is easy to lose sight of God. We get overwhelmed. Platitudes and cliches in that moment don’t help.
That is why I love the Psalms. David was an emotional guy on an emotional roller coaster. Compare Psalm 35 (David on a [...]

God’s glory

Al Mohler also touches on the question that I quoted from John Piper the other day.
First he starts with an important reminder:
Human beings are trapped in a human frame of reference. When we think of motivation, we inevitably start with our own self-conscious knowledge of our own motivations. For a human to seek [...]

why pray?

A recurring theme in our men’s Bible study and on this blog is the question “why should we pray if God is sovereign over all?” another variant is “why should we pray if God is going to to what God is going to do anyway?”
Here are two previous posts that I have put up [...]

God saves bad people (hallelujah!)

here is a word from Dr. Art Azurdia III courtesy of the Ramblin’ Pastor Man.

Romans 5:1-11:
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we [...]

worshipping a figment of our own heart

Since I read Dr. Roger Olson’s article attempting to relieve God of responsibility for the I35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis Minnesota a quote posted by Todd Bumgarner from John Calvin a couple of days prior to that has been echoing in my brain.
here it is:
Indeed, vanity joined with pride can be detected in the fact [...]

Questions at church?

I don’t watch the show Desperate Housewives so I only have a passing familiarity with it or its characters. But thanks to the Vision Navigator, I saw this clip and it struck a chord with me.
watch this right quick (excuse the mild expletive)

parenthetically, do you get the impression that this [...]

thought for the day

from David Bosch, Believing the Future via Todd Hiestand.
“Mission is more than and different from recruiting to our brand of religion; it is alerting people to the universal reign of God.”
David Bosch in Believing the Future

more on marriage

This quick post is an update to the one below it to give a little more context.
The angst described in this article has been felt by every person married more than a week. That is why the article strikes such an emotional chord. The very real presence of ebbs and flows of happiness [...]

what is community?

Ok. the Thirsty Theologian had an interesting link on his page that I followed yesterday evening to discover this post. (by the way, TT has some great posts up top right now about why a literal translation of the Bible is better. Go take a look. For instance “if I relay a message [...]

fathers

The Henry Institute has a new essay up on the importance of fathers in all of our lives. It is well worth a few minutes of your time. Very sad, but necessary for us dads to hear and reflect upon. Here is a small portion of it, but please go read the [...]

Think like beginners

Steve is on it again. Go read his block quote from Alan Hirsch and his two concluding questions.
Rather than a quick fix or silver bullet, we need silver imaginations.
Minds that are transformed and renewed by our willingness to sacrifice everything at the feet of our Savior. Minds that are taken captive, and [...]