The Dawn Treader

"That The Shack is a dangerous book should be obvious from this review. The book’s subversive undertones seek to dismantle many aspects of the faith and these are subsequently replaced with doctrine that is just plain wrong. Error abounds. I urge you, the reader, to exercise care in reading and distributing this book. The Shack may be an engaging read but it is one that contains far too much error. Read it only with the utmost care and concern, critically evaluating the book against the unchanging standard of Scripture."

~ Challies

I consider Challies to be the cream of the crop of book reviewers.  I just read his review of The Shack.  Challies wrote an 18 page review and posted it on his website.

As I expected, he took it behind the shack shed for a doctrinal whooping.  I agree with his entire critique.  The book is full of theological errors.  If you are a young Christian, be careful reading the book.  You need to discuss it with a mature Christian who knows scripture and can clarify where the theology of Mr. Young (the author) strays from the Bible.

""Forgiveness is not about forgetting, Mack.  It is about letting go of another person's throat."

The Shack, p. 224

Have you read The Shack by Wm. Paul Young?  I finished it about a month ago.  A friend recommended I read it.  He prefaced it by saying, "I understand the controversy surrounding the book.  I get that.  But I read it, and my son read it, and we had some awesome conversations as a result."

That was all I needed to hear.  Given that the book has sold 3 million copies and counting, perhaps many of you have read it too.  If you haven't read the book, then don't read the rest of this post.  Buy or borrow the book, read it, and come back.

* SPOILER ALERT  *

Mike Cliff is a close friend of Mr. D.  Mike and his family recently experienced a horrific crash on an icy freeway outside Cleveland.  We thank God for sparing their lives, and praise God for the wonderful way He is blessing the Cliff family through this experience.  I don't just mean that God blessed them by keeping them alive.  The deeper blessing is what God has done to their lives, their souls and their faith, through this experience.

If your faith needs encouraging, ( and whose does not at times ) ... then you should check out this set up for the Cliffs by their friends.  Trish's emails are posted and chronicle their lives since December 23rd, when Mike lost control of his van after hitting black ice.  Take time to strengthen your faith by reading.

Fox News (in Highpoint) picked up the story of the Cliff family and went with it as their lead story last night

Please pray for pastor David, the Jollyblogger.   Mr. D will be praying for him and following updates on his blog.