Book Review: The Shack - Do not be deceived

But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

2 Peter 2:1-3


Brothers and Sisters, I have been deceived. It was not a heresy or blasphemy that deceived me. God has blessed me with discernment enough to see these for what they are and call them what they are. The deception was that it was OK for me to overlook and dismiss these heresies as insignificant in light of other factors. I am speaking of the very popular book amongst Christians by William P. Young called The Shack. This book contains many wonderful Biblical truths. For example, this book speaks of God’s great love for His children and how He loves each of them in a special and unique way. It speaks of how God deeply desires to have a relationship with His children and will meet them in their time of greatest need. In fact, it places our relationship with God as being infinitely greater in importance to the traditions of religion. It speaks of how God desires to redeem all of mankind, even those who may have committed heinous sin. It also speaks of how fallen and twisted our world has become, how it is our own desire to be independent which has perverted His gifts to us, how this perversion is the source for pain and suffering in the world, and how God in His Sovereignty works that pain and suffering to His good. These are wonderful Biblical truths that every believer needs to know and understand and Young presents these truths through a powerful and moving story which literally made me cry like a little baby. I enjoyed the story tremendously.

Unfortunately, every since I read this book, I have been deeply convicted that my acceptance of this book, despite these truths, also provides tacit approval for the heresies contained within it – and the book contains some serious heresies. It is not so much that God the Father is portrayed as a female African American servant that concerned me. It was clearly explained in the book that this was only done because it was necessary in order for the main character to be able to relate to God. I can somewhat understand that. However, the book denies that God is Just or that God will bring punishment on the wicked. This is a critical truth that all men and women must acknowledge before they can accept the truth that they need Jesus. Although the book acknowledges that the justice of God is the sole reason that Christ came and was punished, it does not acknowledge that our rejection of Christ will bring about that judgment on our own souls. Instead, the book implies that God will not bring about punishment on any man because of what Jesus did on the cross. Indeed, the book goes as far as to say that Jesus makes himself known through all religions and does not necessarily desire us to become “Christian”. These are lies straight from – well – you know… these heresies cannot be overlooked.

Brothers and Sisters, my desire would be that you not read this book. However, if you do, know what you are reading. Do not be deceived.

Do You Need to be Rescued?

Have you ever felt like you were in such desperate straights that the only way out is to be rescued by someone greater than yourself? We all face times where we need to be rescued. Fortunately, we have a God who is in the rescue business. The Bible is full of rescue stories. Stories such as the these:

1. God commanded Noah to build an ark so that he and his family could be rescued from the flood
2. God provided a ram as a substitute to rescue Isaac when God commanded Abraham to sacrifice him
3. God rescued Lot from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
4. God rescued Jacob and his children from the famine by placing Joseph in a high ranking position in Egypt
5. God rescued the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt
6. God rescued Israel from the hands of their enemies by sending any number of judges such as Gideon, Deborah, and Samson
7. God rescued Israel from the Giant Goliath by sending a small boy, David, to slay him
8. God rescued Jonah from the belly of the whale and from his own disobedience
9. God rescued Elijah from the hands of Queen Jezebel after he defeated the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel
10. God rescued Israel from the hand of the Persians by putting Queen Esther in a unique place of influence over the king
11. Jesus rescued the disciples from a violent storm by simply saying to the wind and waves “peace, be still”
12. God rescued both Peter and Paul from prison
13. God rescued Paul and his companions from shipwreck

These are stories of physical rescue, which God is always capable of doing, but Jesus came to rescue us from the darkness of this world - spiritual rescue. His salvation is waiting for you. He wants to rescue you.

To hear more, click this link
Rescue Me

Why do Catholics know the names of all the demons?

The Bible says in 2 Timothy 2:4, “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.” (NIV). I got up Friday morning, the fourth day into my own personal battle with the H1N1 virus. If ever there were a time when I was “out of season,” it was then. My cough was extra-croupy. I was having difficulty breathing – so much so that I had to use a rescue inhaler. My voice was essentially non-existent, unless you considered a low, rumbly, grumbly, near unintelligible rasp a voice. I didn’t really want to go back to the doctor’s office, but if this got worse, I might be in real trouble. Plus, it was Friday and my doctor would not be in the office the next day if it did get worse. I managed to speak to my doctor’s office, who suggested that I come back into the office right after lunch. Friday afternoon in a doctor’s office – you can imagine how crowded it was – and I didn’t have an appointment. It was going to be a while.
I sat in the small, but crowded waiting room reading a book while I waited my turn (“Ethics for a Brave New World” by Feinberg and Feingberg – I recommend it to all Christians in this world of compromised ethics and upside down conviction). Sitting immediately adjacent to me was a fairly rough looking woman of middle age, who just a few minutes prior had been both smoking and coughing uncontrollably outside the front door (the waiting room was, of course, smoke free!). Without batting an eye, the woman looked directly at me and asked “Why do Catholics know the names of all the demons?” First of all, why ask me? There were about twelve other people in the room she could have asked. Second of all, why would I possibly know the answer to that? Did I look Catholic? Third of all, I don't think the Catholics claim to know the names of all the demons, just a few of them.
Since I was so “out of season,” I really didn’t want to be disturbed. Plus, I didn’t have a voice. As a result, I simply responded with “That’s really not something very relevant, is it?” and I went back to my book. Surprisingly, my voice was very normal. Very little rasp at all. She, however, was not satisfied with my trite response. “But I really want to know; don’t you want to know?” I wanted to say “Why would I want to know such a ridiculous thing?” Instead, I said “For me, I am satisfied with the grace that God has given me and knowing that it is sufficient for all things. I don’t really need to worry about the names of the demons.” Good answer. Now maybe I can return to my book? Nope, not yet.
It was clear that I was not getting out of this one when the woman responded back with (slightly paraphrased due to poor memory) “You know, there are so many truths to learn in all the religions of the world, I just want to piece them all together and find out the whole truth.” Ok, now it is a full on spiritual battle and an opportunity. Time to put the book down and actively engage.
I quoted her John 14:6 and explained to her how that Christianity was the only true religion because only through Christ can we achieve forgiveness of sins and heaven. I further explained how there was no need even considering the other religions of the world because we can not achieve salvation through them. At this point, I didn’t even think as to whether or not she was categorizing Catholicism as a separate religion or not, but that didn’t really matter. She retorted “But don’t the other religions have a measure of truth to them as well?” I further explained that when Jesus said he was THE TRUTH, he meant that he was the only truth. There is no other truth except the truth about Jesus Christ. Everything that God has chosen to reveal to us, he has revealed through the truth of His Word, the Bible. There it was. I had managed to get the gospel out there to a crowded room of sick people and my voice was holding up very well. My job was done, right? Wrong.
“I just think that God has called me to look into all these other religions too.” Really? Now it is time for the gloves to come off. I wanted to say “I don’t think that it is God calling you to do that, I think it is the devil!” but that would not have been “careful and patient instruction.” Instead, I challenged her a bit more gently: “I think that maybe God is calling you to believe in Jesus Christ and accept him as your savior and the only one who can forgive your sins.”
There it is. She could either accept it or reject it, but she couldn’t ignore it. You know, one should never be surprised at how people respond when you are sharing the gospel. “Oh, I’m not worried about that. I’ve already done that.” Right – and I am supposed to believe you on that one?
For a few moments there was silence, broken by one last act of desperation on her part. “I’m just looking for some direction.” As amusing as this story is, what is not amusing is the truth of the utter confusion and delusional spell that Satan has cast on the world. People really are desperate for direction, but remain blinded to the truth when it is placed right before them. My compassion for this woman was now growing as I responded “Let me ask you a question, how much time do you spend reading God’s word and praying?” She lied. Well, I can’t honestly say I know that she lied, but do you believe that she spends a “significant amount of [her] time reading the Bible”? Neither did I. So I went on to explain to her that all the direction we need is in the Bible. Because it is the only source of truth, we can find comfort and direction and peace through that truth. Furthermore, when we accept Jesus Christ as our savior, he sends the Holy Spirit to come and live in our lives and the Holy Spirit then helps guide and direct our lives if we let him and we listen to him.
Now there was truly silence and there were no more questions. Oddly enough, throughout the discourse, not one single person in the waiting room had been called to the back. When the door finally opened to call back the next patient, guess who it was. As the woman stood up to go to the back, I touched her arm and said these final words – “Go home tonight and read the Bible. First read the Gospel of John; then read Romans. I think you will find the direction you are looking for there.”
Maybe the conversation was for her. Maybe God was speaking to her – but maybe it was for someone else in the room. Someone who couldn’t help but hear what was being said. Either way, it reminded me that sharing the gospel is never really “out of season.”

Is the Bible True?

Have you ever wondered whether the Bible could really be trusted? After all, is everything in the Bible really true? Are we really supposed to believe that Noah filled the ark with every kind of animal? Are we really supposed to believe that Moses parted the Red Sea or that Elijah was carried up into heaven on a chariot of fire? Was Jonah really swallowed by a giant fish? And what about the miracles that Jesus supposedly performed – did they really happen?

These are actually not new questions. Libraries full of books have been dedicated to the integrity of scripture – on both sides of the argument – so it is not likely that I can give a full and complete explanation in a short article. However, I can hit the high spots…

These questions have been around in some form or other since the beginning of time. In recent history, the “Enlightenment” movement of the 18th and 19th century came to the conclusion that the supernatural aspects of the Bible were all fictional. In fact, Thomas Jefferson created his own version of the New Testament that removed all miracles and supernatural aspects of Jesus’ life – leaving only his moral teachings… but was he right in doing this?

Jefferson only dealt with the fantastic things, but even if such amazing things actually happened, how do we know we have the right scriptures. After all, there are ancient works that are not included in our Bible and the works that are included are different if you are Catholic versus Protestant. Who decided that the collection of scriptures we use are the right set of scriptures?

When you consider all these things, it is no wonder that Satan has convinced so many people that the Bible cannot be trusted. To confuse matters, high profile doubters such as Bart Ehrman make it their goal in life to confuse believers about their faith in the scriptures. They write books containing misleading statistics that question the reliability of the texts we call the inspired word of God.

On the other hand, since the first century AD, the organized church has stood firm on the foundational premise that what we now consider the Bible is the inspired word of God. Every major denomination holds to this principle. For example, the very first words of the first article of the Baptist Faith and Message says

The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy.

Similary, the first chapter of the Westminster Confession of Faith, used by the Presbyterian church, says

The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, and obeyed, depends not upon the testimony of any man, or Church; but wholly upon God (who is truth itself) the author thereof: and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God

The Confession of Faith of the United Methodist churches says

We believe the Holy Bible, Old and New Testaments, reveals the Word of God so far as it is necessary for our salvation. It is to be received through the Holy Spirit as the true rule and guide for faith and practice. Whatever is not revealed in or established by the Holy Scriptures is not to be made an article of faith nor is it to be taught as essential to salvation.

The very first of the sixteen Fundamental Truths of the Assemblies of God states:

The Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments, are verbally inspired of God and are the revelation of God to man, the infallible, authoritative rule of faith and conduct.

And even though the Roman Catholic church includes books in their Cannon that are excluded by the Protestant churches, the Catechism of the Catholic Church acknowledges the authority of scripture as well by saying

The inspired books teach the truth. "Since therefore all that the inspired authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures.

Universal acceptance of scripture as truth is fundamental to each of these (and other) denominations. How can all of these communities of faith make such claims about scripture? What is the basis for making what appears to be such an outlandish assertion? Wouldn’t common reason dictate otherwise?
Actually, it is reason itself that proves the authenticity and authority of scripture. Although as Christians we must take by faith that scripture is inspired and trustworthy, it is not a blind faith. Rather, it is a highly intellectual and reasoned faith that we maintain. Such reasoning goes as follows:

First, we must begin with the premise that God exists. This, in itself, is obviously a major philosophical debate and a matter of faith. However, although it is too complicated and distracting to this argument to discuss the philosophical matters of the existence of God, suffice it to say that it takes just as much faith to not believe in God as it does to believe in God. Therefore, for the purposes of this discussion, we will assume the existence of God.

Second, we must examine the nature of that God. Unfortunately, we must do this through the scripture and therefore open ourselves up to criticism regarding use of scripture (which is what we are debating) to prove the authenticity of scripture. However, what we are examining in this instance is not the miracles or accuracy of scripture, but rather the testimony of man regarding the nature of God. Accordingly, we find that God is Holy, perfect, and true. In fact, we find in Dueteronomy 32:4 that he is a God of Truth – a testimony repeated throughout the Old Testament scriptures. Numbers 23:19 says that God does not lie as does Titus 1:2. Hebrews 6:18 actually says that it is impossible for God to lie. 1 John 4 tells us that “God is light” (i.e., completely pure). Therefore, we must conclude that a Holy, truthful, and pure God can be trusted. Is there an element of faith in this assertion? Yes, there is, but we shall come back to this in a moment.

Third, we examine the testimony of the scripture itself regarding the scripture. This, indeed, is the most precarious point because we are using scripture to validate scripture. However, it is important to note what historical, biblical figures have said about scripture before making our rational arguments. Furthermore, we shall see that what the Bible says about itself is important in ascertaining whether or not the Bible itself is true.

1. Jesus himself confirmed the validity of scripture. He studies the scriptures as a child. He read the scriptures in public. He quoted and referenced the scriptures in his teachings.
2. Peter claimed that the scripture was spoken by the Holy Spirit (who is God) – Acts 1:16
3. Paul used scripture to reason with the Jews and uses scripture throughout his writings to prove the gospel
4. 2 Timothy 3:16 says that all scripture (in the Greek, literally EVERY scripture) is God breathed or inspired (in the Greek, literally EXHALED BY GOD).
5. James, the brother of Jesus, quoted scripture
6. In 2 Peter 1:21, Peter says that the writers of scripture were carried along by the Holy Spirit as they spoke the word of God
7. Proverbs 30:5 says that every word of God is flawless
8. In the same sense that the prophets spoke the word of God, the gospel was considered by the apostles to be the word of God
9. Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 2:13 that scripture is not the word of man, but the actual word of God

Now we are able to put these together and make a rational argument regarding the validity of scripture.

Premise 1: If God is Holy, true, and pure, then his word can be trusted.
Premise 2: If God is Holy, true, and pure, then he cannot lie (which is confirmed by the testimony of scripture).
Premise 3: If God can be trusted, then the word of God can be trusted.
Premise 4: Because God’s word can be trusted, if the Bible is the word of God, it can be trusted.
Premise 5: The Bible claims to be the word of God.
Premise 6: If the Bible is the word of God, every word in it must be true because God cannot lie.
Premise 7: If any portion of the Bible is not true, then the Bible cannot be the word of God.
Premise 8: If the Bible is not the word of God, then nothing in the Bible can be trusted because its claims about itself are false.

By logic, therefore, we can state that either (a) the Bible is God’s Holy word, totally complete and totally accurate or (b) the Bible has made false claims about itself and can be trusted for nothing. Notice that it is not necessary to take on faith that the Bible is God’s Word. It is only necessary to take on faith that God exists and that God is Holy, true, and pure. One must then choose – accept all of scripture or reject all of scripture based solely upon its claim that it is the word of God. We choose to accept all of scripture – including the many fantastic things that Jefferson and other “enlightened” people might wish to remove from that scripture.

Unfortunately, this still does not answer the question as to whether we have the right scripture and whether or not that scripture as we have received it through the centuries and translated it is reliable. Regarding the inclusion of the proper ancient texts, there is a clear disagreement between Protestant churches and the Catholic churches – particularly around the inclusion of the apocrypha. However, the Jewish religious leaders at the time of Jesus Christ had a very well established cannon of (what we now call Old Testament) scriptures. These scriptures would be the scriptures that Jesus himself studies, referenced, and taught. The Jewish religious leaders did not include the apocryphal books in that cannon and Jesus did not reference or teach from them. Therefore, the Protestant church does not consider them as part of their cannon.

Regarding the New Testament cannon, which was confirmed (not selected, confirmed) in the latter half of the third century, the criteria for including texts in the New Testament scriptural cannon was based primarily upon four criteria:

(a) Consistency regarding the message of the gospel
(b) Authorship by or closely associated with an apostle (particularly early, first century authorship)
(c) Universal acceptance by the first and second century church
(d) Universal use by the first and second century church (i.e., read during worship)

By definition, therefore, these criteria are not a “selection” of texts, but a confirmation of universally accepted texts.

Regarding its reliability, there are literally hundreds of thousands of surviving original texts from which
scripture has been collected, with many of them dating back as far as the third and fourth centuries. Of these hundreds of thousands of texts, there are admittedly some discrepancies. However, the discrepancies account for less than one percent of the text. Of the less than one percent of the texts that are in discrepancy, there are less than one percent of these that are of significant difference. Most are spelling of words, placement of words within a sentence, use of equivalent words, and grammar differences. Finally, of the less than one percent of the less than one percent of significant discrepancies, none have any theological significance and most modern English translations will make a note of these. Two of the most well known of these are the passage concerning the adulterous woman in John chapter 8 and the end of Mark chapter 16, neither of which are contained in some of the earliest remaining manuscripts but neither of which have a bearing on any significant point of gospel theology.

From this, we can conclude with significant confidence that we have a reliable understanding of the original, God inspired text of scripture. Where there is any doubt to this effect, there is no significant impact on our understanding of the gospel, God’s nature and purpose for our lives, the theological teachings of Christ and his apostles, or his commands to us. As a result, we can conclude, therefore, that the Bible is indeed true. Believe it.

Covetousness - American Idolatry

The other day I pulled into a restaurant parking lot. There, parked off by itself was a brand new Dodge Challenger – black with red stripes. All I could do was make a few guttural, primordial grunts. Honestly I sounded a bit like Tim Taylor from the old TV show, Home Improvement. I took a picture with my phone and sent it to my son, who had a very similar reaction. Muscle cars are a visual and auditory pleasure that my sons and I share. We love to look at them. We love to hear the roar of their engines – especially if they have a good exhaust system. We would love to drive them – but we don’t get the chance, so we must look from afar. We have a running joke at home: “Dad could never own a muscle car because he would worship it.” Of course it is not that I would go out into the driveway and bow down and pray to it – “Oh muscle car, help me through this day.” That would be silly.

What is not silly, however, is the extent of our American covetousness. Colossians 3:5 tells us that covetousness is nothing short of idolatry. Maybe we don’t bow down to and pray to our idols, but we worship them nonetheless. To worship something doesn’t mean to bow down and pray to it. To worship something means to ascribe to it worth, but we are to worship only the Lord our God. God alone has true value. God alone is truly worthy. Obviously, everything has some intrinsic worth - at least in human terms - so how do we distinguish between appropriately valuing something for its intrinsic worth and worshipping it.

We worship something when we give it greater worth than it deserves. God is to be first in our life, but we put so many things before God. Our careers, our family, our possessions - they all find places of worship in our lives that are inappropriate.

We also worship something, however, when we covet it. Covetousness is nothing more than greed, and greed is idolatry because it is placing greater worth and greater desire on something than it deserves. As a county, we have become greedy. We hold tightly to our possessions. We work diligently for greater possessions. Enough is never enough. Richer is better. The winner is the one who dies with the most toys. How sad, because none of the things to which we ascribe worth can ever make us happy. Romans 1:25 says that we worship and serve the created rather than the creator. This is so true. We are servants to our debt and our materialism. We won’t admit it to ourselves, but we place greater value – and greater dependence - on our wealth than on our creator. We say that we are being good stewards or that we are simply being wise by preparing for the future. The truth, however, is revealed when our wealth is challenged.

How would you respond to God if he asked you to give up everything you owned? But He wouldn’t do that, you declare! Really? Do we really know what God may ask of us? What if God wanted your house? Would you give it to him? What if God wanted your job? Would you give it to him? What if God wanted your credit rating? Would you give it to him? What if God wanted your 401k? Would you give it to him?

They are just things, right… or are they something more than that? Our goals? Our security? Our safety?

God alone gives us the ability to enjoy things. God alone can provide for our needs. God alone is worthy of our worship. Maybe it is time we tore down our idols

A Psalm from the Heart

O LORD, how long will you delay in keeping your promises?
How long will your servant continue to suffer?
I am encompassed about on all sides.
I am crushed by pressures I can not bear.
I am enslaved by those who would be my lord when you only are my LORD.

Am I being punished for sins of my past?
You, God, have forgiven me – have mercy and deliver me from my own folly!
Am I being purified by fire so that I may serve you more fully?
Then give me grace beyond measure for I perish in the process!
Am I being rained upon simply because the rain must fall?
Give me strength for I can no longer endure the storm!
Act now, O LORD, for your servant is weak.

Nevertheless, in all things, I will praise you.
You are worthy of all praise and honor and glory.
You control all things and direct their paths.
You make serpents crawl and donkeys speak.
You raise nations and then you raze nations.
You desire only good for your children.
Therefore, even in the storm, I will praise your name above all others.
For your sake and your glory I will suffer.
You are my LORD, You are my GOD.

How to Live a Happy Life

"Meaningless, Meaningless, Everything is Meaningless"

This is certainly not what you would expect out of God's Holy Word and it certainly isn't what you would expect as an introduction on how to live a happy life! However, this is precisely the message of one of scriptures most relevant books on living a happy life - Ecclesiastes.

If you haven't read Ecclesiastes in a while you should. There is SOOO much packed into it. It is highly under-rated in its practicality. Everyone should read Ecclesiastes at least once a year to help them set their priorities appropriately.

The link to the sermon below provides more detail on How to Live a Happy Life as outlined in this great book of Ecclesiastes.

How to Live a Happy Life
http://www.box.net/shared/79i31dj8hh