An adventure in Kalamazoo

So I decided to visit a friend Thursday through Saturday morning within the past couple weeks,and started my journey in the afternoon. I was pretty excited about this for multiple reasons. One, I was going to be able to jam out to tunes in my car for 4 hours plus. Two, I was going to get to spend some quality time with someone I like spending time with. Three, I was going to get to explore a new place I'd never been.

I arrived Thursday night, around 930 pm, where we decided to figure out what it was we were going to do the first night. We decided to go to a Italian restaurant for a few martinis and then over to a piano bar that had a pretty awesome atmosphere. On a side/random note...Matt Gerrard from American Idol was there. (This is where he is from and where he started playing) After leaving this place to head home, we had the brilliant idea of "breaking in to the football field" to run around on the field and play some football. Well the breaking in didn't really happen as the gate was left wide open, but we definitely fulfilled the rest of the mission.

The next day I went for a run, went to dinner at the place we had had drinks, and got to see a comedy show at the Allegan County Fair. So that one can have a clear visual...picture the Waukesha County Fair, add some rednecks, and insert a comedian. The show definitely was very funny, but had some major ups and downs. Jeff Dunham, the comedian, got a bad case of the giggles which definitely prolonged the show. After this we wandered around the fair, rode some rides, and decided to rent a movie.

If you haven't seen it... Last house on the Left... Don't bother. By far one of the worst movies I have ever seen... but the company was good :) The next day I was supposed to go to a wedding but that ended up not being the case. We did some more wandering, checked out some pre-game action of the Western Football game, and then watched Madagascar 2 before passing out. I wasn't feeling very well, so it turned out to be a much earlier night than it planned to be. Quite alright with me.

Sunday was my last day to be in the 'zoo and it was spent touring Western's campus and then lounging around the house watching the Packer game...and their heartbreaking loss. Now for the really interesting part of the story...

Sometime over the course of the weekend my checking account had some major errors going on, and it was the only thing I had for spending purposes after spending my cash over the weekend. This presents a problem when needing to come home and pay tolls, but I had enough gas, and enough for tolls etc... so I went on my merry way. I was still not feeling well and stopped to take some pain meds along the way. Well this apparently caused me to zone out, BADLY...and when I realized that I hadn't really been paying attention (there was a 100 mile stretch I had to drive anyways...I realized I had gone just that, an additional 100 in the wrong direction. So now I find myself lost in some random area of Indiana, where I barely have reception, have only cash for tolls, a non-working debit card, and after using all my toll cash for gas...enough to get me roughly to Chicago.

As one can imagine, I am upset, as well as sick... something that doesn't happen all too often for me. I prayed, and a few friends happened to call around this time so I was able to talk to them and kinda calm down. A friend in Milwaukee volunteered to come all the way to Chicago, meet me and fill up my tank, get me some cash for tolls, and most importantly feed me because I hadn't eaten since noon. (It was around midnight)

So I start my journey back towards Chicago, and am feeling much better about things, when I realize hey I have 3 tolls to pay before I get to Chicago. I have no money. The tolls do not have Ipass lanes if I wanted to even try to chance running through that, and basically I am seeming to be out of luck. Cue me being upset again now. I get to the first toll, and explain to the lady my whole situation...and she lets me pass. 4.25 toll, and didn't have to pay. Feeling better about it, and hoping the next two will be equally as understanding. Second toll comes along, same story... good to go. Then we get to the lovely state of Illinois. I come to the toll, tell the lady what is going on... and she proceeds to tell me she doesn't care and that if I can't pay the ticket she is going to call the police and I will get a ticket. It's late. I'm tired. Sick. Want to be home. In Bed. And am on the verge of tears. She suggests asking the person behind me. I think to myself... okay... I'm in Chicago... do I really want to even do that...and decide yea I guess so not wanting to prolong my night even more.

I hop out of my car middle of the freeway and am somewhat relieved to see a young couple behind my car. I explain the situation, and they paid my 3.00 toll. At this point I am beyond grateful, and thanked them the best a tired and ill 24 year woman could do given the circumstances. At this point my friend was also arriving in Chicago, and we decided to meet up at a Jewel Osco off Lake Street.

It took about an hour to find an open gas station, food, a bathroom, but after that we were on our way back home. Now the challenge would be staying awake. I talked to a few friends on the way home, as well as the one that came to pick me up. I can't even begin to thanks every person involved in getting me home last night. Long story short, I was incredibly stressed, not feeling the best, but extremely relieved to see the goodness in the hearts of those that helped. It meant a lot to me, and I really appreciated it.

Although the trip home was absolutely a mess, the weekend was far from that. I had an awesome time, and really enjoyed spending time with my friend. The good that came from the weekend more than triples the bad that came from the ride home. I just hope that next time I make the visit, the trip takes 4 hours instead of 9 :)

The Shack

I read The Shack this past month. It was a suggestion of a few close friends of mine. It was also small and a quick read amidst my already growing reading list and school work. After finishing it I could see why many would eagerly embrace the book. Young’s work was easy to follow, emotionally connecting, and strongly emphasized our relationship with God. However, with its strengths it also had weaknesses. Now to be sure, every book has both strong and weak points. However, the problem I had with The Shack was that in many ways, although a fiction book, misrepresented God.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the book, and made connections from the book. The book can enrich peoples' lives and even grow them spiritually I believe, however I feel that a person needs to have a pretty solid foundation before diving into this book. It could be a very dangerous thing to have a book – even a work of fiction – whose intention is to help people understand God, yet have him making statements which contradict what he already said in his Word.

Some VERY BRIEF examples…

1. On the God-forsakeness of the Cross

The Shack

God the father says of Jesus on the cross, “Regardless of what he felt at that moment, I never left him” (96).

The Bible

It seems to indicate that at some level, God the Father did “turn” from his Son as his wrath for sin was poured upon Jesus. Mark 15:34 reads, “And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’ which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’

2. On God Punishing People

The Shack

Papa: “I don’t need to punish people for sin. Sin is its own punishment, devouring you from the inside. It’s not my purpose to punish it; it’s my joy to cure it. (122)”

The Bible

All one needs to do is look through the Bible to be clearly convinced that God has and will punish people for their sins. Romans 2:5-6, “But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God will give to each person according to what he has done.”

3. On God and Institutions

The Shack

Young’s book definitely has a distaste towards almost anything organized at a macro level. The church is no exception. Frequently, God in The Shack takes his hack at the idea of institutions.

Jesus: “I don’t create institutions – never have, never will. (178)”

The Bible

God created the institutions like marriage (cf., Gen. 1-3), government (cf., Rom. 13), and yes, even the church (cf., Mt. 16:18, Heb. 13:17)

4. On God Saving Everyone

The Shack

William Young has been exposed by those who know him as being a proponent of universal reconciliation, essentially the idea that Jesus will save everyone and no one will go to Hell.

Papa: “Forgiveness does not establish relationship. In Jesus, I have forgiven all humans for their sins against me, but only some choose relationship. … When Jesus forgave those who nailed him to the cross they were no longer in his debt, nor mine. In my relationship with those men, I will never bring up what they did, or shame them, or embarrass them. (224)”

In fact, a reader can easily get the sense that you don’t even have to be a Christian to enter into God’s Kingdom.

Jesus: “Those who love me come from every system that exists. They were Buddhists or Mormons, Baptists or Muslims… I have no desire to make them Christian, but I do want to join in their transformation into sons and daughters of my Papa, into brothers and sisters, into my Beloved (182).”

The Bible

It is clear that only those who believe in this lifetime have their sins forgiven through the work of Jesus on the Cross. Hebrews 9:27, “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” This shows us that once you die there is no second chance with Jesus. And it is only through faith alone in Christ that forgiveness is procured. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

5. On Roles in the Godhead

The Shack

The Shack teaches that hierarchical roles are the result of sin. In fact one gets the feeling from the book that any form is unacceptable (husbands to wives, parents to children, and yes, God the Father to God the Son).

Sarayu: “Mackenzie, we have no concept of final authority among us, only unity. We are in a circle of relationship, not a chain of command or ‘great chain of being’ as your ancestors termed it. What you’re seeing here is relationship without any overlay of power. We don’t need power over the other because we are always looking out for the best. Hierarchy would make no sense among us. Actually, this is your problem, not ours. (122)”

The Bible

Not only do we see roles of leadership given in mankind (cf., Gen. 2; Eph. 5:22ff) but we see roles each member of the Trinity takes. For example, the Son submits to the Father. 1 Corinthians 15:28, “When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.” 1 Corinthians 11:3, “But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.”

Okay, that’s just a sampling of some of the issues that arose for me in the book. I simply wanted to show that there is enough questionable content in this book to demonstrate this is more than just a nice read. It’s just fiction, not a theology book, however when most of the positive response I’ve heard about the book ironically revolves exactly around the fact that the it refreshingly presents God in a certain light. In other words, it teaches a theology to a certain extent.

I did enjoy the book, and really did like the story, I just would like to have people be informed a bit before reading.