The Shack... My Response to a Review

The Shack

One of the reasons I quit my job and went to a Christian college when I was 34 years old was to not have to depend on anyone, including my pastor, to tell me what the Bible says and how to interpret it.

The best thing that happened was that I am not challenged by any other religion and can witness to anyone regardless of their background. I usually state, “Great, so you believe in God…” and then share how Jesus Christ paid their sin debt.

My father didn’t get saved until he was 58 and I lost a son in a tragic accident when he was 17. The Shack challenged me to separate my understanding of the attributes of God that I derived from my father, and it helped me to finally grieve the loss of my son Corey.

I literally would be laughing my head off and then sobbing out loud from one page to the other. I understand that the book is a fictional story and not the Bible.

Calvin Miller’s Trilogy – The Singer, The Song and The Finale also allowed me to see God from a different perspective. He wrote: Institutions have a poor safety record. The guillotines of orthodoxy keep a clean blade that is always honed for heresy. And somewhere near the place where witches die an unseen sign is posted whose invisible letters clearly read:

WE ARE PROUD TO REPORT 0 WORKING DAYS LOST TO INJURY OR ACCIDENT – THE MANAGEMENT. Let us pray.

(See Note in Comment below.)

Eternal Life is a Free Gift

God sent his Son that we might have life.

ROMANS 6:23

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Salvation is a word we use for being set free from the effects  and the penalty of sin. It includes being delivered from the dominion of the devil. It was purchased for us by Jesus Christ through giving His own life at Calvary, as our substitute.

Salvation is not something you earn, but a free gift from God totally by His grace.

Humans have invented many religions with all kinds of rules,  trying to make themselves acceptable to God. But being right with God is not something we can achieve by our own efforts. God loved us so much that He accomplished it for us, and provides it as a free gift available to all who receive Jesus.

The Bible tells us we will be rewarded for the good we do. But it is not by doing good deeds, performing certain rituals, or by keeping a list of rules, that we are saved from sin and its effects. Salvation and having a home in Heaven are not rewards-- they are gifts.
 

ROMANS 3:21-23

But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago.

We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard.

Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.

You cannot earn salvation and being right with God. You can only receive it as a gift of love from God. It comes in the form of a Divine Person, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Outside of union with Jesus Christ, there is no salvation.

ACTS 4:12

There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.

If you believe this, then tell God:

“Right here, and right now, I receive Jesus Christ as my free gift, thank you for giving me eternal life. Amen!”

A Trail to Osteen and the Ethiopian Eunuch

It was a foggy start on the East Central Rail Trail that began at Green Springs in Volusia County and ended in Osteen.

Green Springs

I thought I was out for a day of exercise and site seeing, but it soon appeared I had an appointment with a man in Osteen. I keep a pocket full of pennies stamped with the Ten Commandments, just in case.

The trail from Green Springs to Osteen is just 5.7 miles, but that is just one way. I packed some trail mix, cashews and Gatorade for fuel. The trail ends at a roadside store, so I wasn't worried if I gobbled up everything just getting there.

My mother was born east of Osteen at her family's home off Maytown Road in Farmton. Dad would take us to Cow Creek to fish while Mom fried chicken on the bank. On afternoon trips to fish we always stopped at that store in Osteen. The sugar coated Ginger Bread Man was always my favorite. It's only a shell of the store it was then and as I reminisced with the new store owner, it was obvious he didn't speak English. He was staring at me like a calf looking at a new gate. "No speak English," he finally admitted.

Robert was gassing up his old pickup truck. He's done construction, a pool business and now clears land for a living. He said he was taking his equipment back to Charlotte because there just isn't enough work here now. He said he used to work at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, but it was also obvious he was originally from Syracuse, and not the South.

Finally, after a good conversation, I realized I would never see Robert again, so, I gave him one of my "pennies." He let me share with him the purpose of the penny with the Ten Commandments stamped on it and acknowledged that he understood what I was saying. He had to leave, so I reminded him that there are lots of folks like me in Charlotte. He agreed as he laughed and walked in to pay his bill.



Post Office

Inside Post Office

I decided I would take some pictures before heading back. I like to show people a picture of the old post office and tell them that this is downtown Osteen. There is a hole in the back door and you can see a box with cubby holes where they sorted the mail. There's an old organ, too. Not sure if this was also used for a church.



Osteen Feed & Hay

As I was walking back to my bike, I smelled some sweet feed. One of the pleasures of owning a horse is opening up a new bag of sweet feed. It smells better than most of the honey-bunches-of-oats we get for breakfast. I walked into the Osteen Feed and Hay store to just to get a big whiff.

It reminded me of the day I was with the preacher in Knoxville, Tennessee. We parked in front of a warehouse and the sweet smell was so inviting. I went inside and saw bales of tobacco stacked every where. I put my nose on one and sucked in a room full of air. "Man, if they tasted as good as they smelled......" oh, yeah, I was with the preacher.


After looking at all the new tack and feeders I met Bryant Lee. Bryant was the only one working there that day and a real pleasure to talk to. He lived in Deltona and loved working at the feed store. We had a lot in common. Bryant said he grew up in church, his Uncle was a Bishop at a church. Sorry, the church's name was too long to remember. I said, "So, you guys are tambourine whackers!" He laughed, "Yep, we do that to."

Bryant spoke fondly of church, so I asked him, "Sounds like you know you're going to heaven?" He said, "I sure hope to walk through those doors some day."

I asked him what he was basing his "hope" on. He told me how good he was and involved with the church growing up. Sounded a lot like my childhood, except for the "good" part.

I handed Bryant a Ten Commandment penny. Even as young as he was, it was difficult to figure out that the commandments were actually stamped on it. I told him that some people thank me, as if the penny was a good luck charm. But, it's actually written to show us we aren't good. We're all guilty of breaking God's law.

I asked Bryant if he ever "bore false witness," or told a lie. "Sure," he quickly admitted. "What does that make you," I said. "A liar," he agreed.

"Have you ever taken anything that didn't belong to you." "Hmmmmmm," he thought. "Come on now, you already told me you're a liar. Surely you've taken something, no matter how little, sometime in your life." "Yes," he said, "I'm a thief, too."

I told him that Jesus said if I look at someone with lust in my heart that I've committed adultery and if I hate my brother I'm the same as a murderer. That means that we are lying, thieving, adulterers and murderers. Besides, the Bible says if I broken one law, I'm guilty of them all.

So, I asked Bryant if he "stood before God right now, would you be guilty or innocent?" "Guilty," he said. "Would you go to Heaven or Hell." "Hmmm......?"

"You see, Bryant, if I could ever be good enough, then why did Jesus suffer and die for my sins? The Bible says that the 'wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ.' Jesus already paid for my sins by His death when he said on the cross, 'It is finished.' All that needed to be done was done. Hell is for those who haven't put their trust in Christ and will pay with their death for eternity."

In 1 John it says that 'This is the record that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son." And, "I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may KNOW you have eternal life." (Not hope, so).

I said, "John 3:16 says..." and Bryant finished, "For God so love the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

That's right.... do you see it? The only thing you need to do to get to Heaven is "believe." Believe that you are guilty of sin, that Jesus, the Son of God, paid your sin debt, and receive it as a free gift. How do you do that? You tell God, "I believe that, I accept what Jesus has done for me."

I told Bryant, "Do you realize that I rode my bike more than ten miles to tell you this today?"

In the book of Acts a man named Philip ran into the desert outside of Jerusalem to tell a man on his way back to Ethiopia the same message. The Eunuch from Ethiopia was in charge of the treasury for the Queen. He was a convert to Judaism and returning home after observing all that had just happened in Jerusalem. Perhaps, even the crucifixion of Jesus.

He was riding in his chariot and reading from the book of Isaiah:

He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth

 Philip asked, "Do you understand what your are reading?" The Eunuch replied, "How can I unless someone guide me?" And Philip explained to him that Isaiah was talking about Jesus, the Christ who has taken away the sins of the world.


Bryant Lee

When they came to some water the Eunuch asked Philip, "What hinders me from being baptized," and Philip answered, "If you believe... you may."

"You see Bryant, we don't get to Heaven by being good, we get to Heaven by believing. Do you believe?"


"Yes, I do," he said.

"Then what hinders you... 'Nothing,' he said."

I asked him to tell God this, "Dear God, I admit that I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died for me. Right here and right now, I put my trust in Him. Come into my heart, give me eternal life. Thank you in Jesus name, Amen."

I like it when folks get excited when they understand that they have eternal life. When they finally "know" that "God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us.... All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them." Bryant said, "This has been a crazy day!"

Tell me about it. I have to ride all the way back. Philip just "appeared" back and preached his way to Caesarea!

Follow Me and I Will Make You Fishers of Men

The 10 - C Spoon

No, it isn't the "Tennessee" spoon or even the Alabama (RollTide) spoon. It is the 10 - C Spoon because I make it from a penny that has been stamped with the Ten Commandments.

And, it catches fish!

I order the pennies from the Living Waters Ministry (Ray Comfort). I like to use them to engage people in a conversation about the Law and then share good news of the Gospel.

Since I love fishing, I made one into a fishing lure. Now. I give them to others who want to join my Fishers of Men Club. Jesus said in Matthew 4:19, Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.

Join the club, there is no limit on the number or size that you catch!
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Justification by Faith

 by Oswald Chambers, October 28

 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. —Roman 5:10

I am not saved by believing; I realize I am saved by believing. It is not repentance that saves me; repentance is the sign that I realize what God has done in Christ Jesus. The danger is to put the emphasis on the effect instead of on the cause. Is it my obedience that puts me right with God, my consecration.

Never! I am put right with God because prior to all, Christ died.

When I turn to God and by belief accept what God reveals I can accept, instantly the stupendous Atonement of Jesus Christ rushes me into a right relationship with God; and by the supernatural miracle of God’s grace I stand justified, not because I am sorry for my sin, not because I have repented, but because of what Jesus has done. The Spirit of God brings it with a breaking, all-over light, and I know, though I do not know how, that I am saved.

The salvation of God does not stand on human logic; it stands on the sacrificial Death of Jesus. We can be born again because of the Atonement of Our Lord. Sinful men and women can be changed into new creatures, not by their repentance or their belief, but by the marvelous work of God in Christ Jesus which is prior to all experience.

The impregnable safety of justification and sanctification is God Himself. We have not to work out these things ourselves; they have been worked out by the Atonement. The supernatural becomes natural by the miracle of God; there is the realization of what Jesus Christ has already done –

“It is finished.”

His! by Oswald Chambers

His!

September 04, 2011

They were Yours, You gave them to Me . . . —John 17:6

A missionary is someone in whom the Holy Spirit has brought about this realization: “You are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6:19). To say, “I am not my own,” is to have reached a high point in my spiritual stature. The true nature of that life in actual everyday confusion is evidenced by the deliberate giving up of myself to another Person through a sovereign decision, and that Person is Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit interprets and explains the nature of Jesus to me to make me one with my Lord, not that I might simply become a trophy for His showcase. Our Lord never sent any of His disciples out on the basis of what He had done for them. It was not until after the resurrection, when the disciples had perceived through the power of the Holy Spirit who Jesus really was, that He said, “Go” (Matthew 28:19; also see Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:8).

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). He was not saying that this person cannot be good and upright, but that he cannot be someone over whom Jesus can write the word Mine. Any one of the relationships our Lord mentions in this verse can compete with our relationship with Him. I may prefer to belong to my mother, or to my wife, or to myself, but if that is the case, then, Jesus said, “[You] cannot be My disciple.” This does not mean that I will not be saved, but it does mean that I cannot be entirely His.

Our Lord makes His disciple His very own possession, becoming responsible for him. “. . . you shall be witnesses to Me . . .” (Acts 1:8). The desire that comes into a disciple is not one of doing anything for Jesus, but of being a perfect delight to Him. The missionary’s secret is truly being able to say, “I am His, and He is accomplishing His work and His purposes through me.”

Be entirely His!