“Growth means change and change involves risk, stepping from the known to the unknown.”  author unknown

What have been some of the most life-altering books you have ever read?

However, he has given each one of us a special gift [i.e., grace] according to the generosity of Christ.  (Eph. 4:7; NLT)

Let me start this out by saying the obvious…I love to read.  I used to read a lot more than I do today.  I used to read a book a week without even trying.  Today, with the competition of the Internet, email, and all the other wonderful “time-savers” (?), my average is more like a book a month.  Hmmmm…sounds like that could be a club.

It’s been years since I read much of anything that was fiction.  I don’t say that to be snooty, but it was a habit that, upon reflection, I see was developed when I went back to school.  Then, after an eternity in graduate school (just ask Sharon), even when I was finally free again to pick my own reads, it was always in the area of self-improvement of one sort or another.

All that to say that reading a book from the fiction genre has been pretty unusual for me.  Over the last several months, I started hearing snatches of controversy over a little book titled The Shack by Wm. Paul Young.  I didn’t pay too much attention, because it sometimes seems like Christians especially love to fuss with each other about things like that, although it’s usually about non-fiction or so-called “pop theology” books.  Over the months, the controversy seems to be growing, and after having read the book and done a little research on it, I expect the din to grow even louder as it has now been picked up by a major publisher who has plans for a 500,000 copy press run in June and a national campaign in the secular market in July.

I happened to be at a social gathering at a good friend’s house and saw a copy and asked to borrow it.  About a third of the way into the book, I just couldn’t resist any longer and reached for a pen and started underlining key passages.  (My friend doesn’t even know yet that he’s going to get a new book back for the one he loaned to me.)  By the time I finished the book, it has more underlining than most of my graduate school theology text books.  Now, I don’t want to suggest that The Shack is a theology book, or even on that level, but I do want to say that some of the key ideas and phrasing of those ideas in the book is some of the clearest and most articulate theological statements I have ever seen.

I’ll give some examples later in the week, but for now let me say that The Shack is one of the most significant books I have ever read in my life.  Is it life changing?  For some, I’m sure it will be.  My theology has evolved over the last several years, and happened to be pretty much in alignment with much of what I read in Young’s book, but again, his way of revealing that particular theological paradigm is nothing short of magnificent.  The Shack clearly has earned a place in my top five list of lifetime reads.

If you haven’t read it…I encourage you to do so.  Expect to be stretched.  Maybe beyond what you can stand.  But then again, that’s why they’re called growing pains.  Be prepared to eat the meat and spit out the bones.

Prayer Power
Lord, growth can be painful at times.  It is often hard to lay down that which we were so sure about.  Help us to at least be open to hear and consider that which goes against the grain.  We trust that You will guide us through the many opinions to the truth.

Link of the Day
Official website for The Shack

Blessings on you as you begin a new week–the first week of the rest of your life.

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