Thursday, May 14, 2009

Quotes from The Shack...

God: "Mackenzie, I am neither male nor female, even though both genders are derived from my nature. If I choose to appear to you as a man or a woman, it's because I love you."
Mack: "But then, why is there such an emphasis on you being a Father? I mean, it seems to be the way you most reveal yourself."
God: "Well, there are many reasons for that, and some of them go very deep. Let me say for now that we knew once the Creation was broken, true fathering would be much more lacking than mothering. Don't misunderstand me, both are needed-but an emphasis on father is necessary because of the enormity of its absence."

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God: "Most birds were created to fly. Being grounded for them is a limitation within their ability to fly, not the other way around. You, on the other hand, were created to be loved. So for you to live as if you were unloved is a limitation, not the other way around. Living unloved is like clipping a bird's wings and removing its ability to fly. Not something I want for you. Mack, pain has a way of clipping our wings and keeping us from being able to fly. And if left unresolved for very long, you can almost forget that you were ever created to fly in the first place. I'm not like you, Mack. I am God. I am who I am. And unlike you, my wings can't be clipped."

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God: "When we three spoke ourself into human existence as the Son of God, we became fully human. We also chose to embrace all the limitations that this entailed. Even though we have always been present in this created universe, we now became flesh and blood. It would be like this bird, whose nature it is to fly, choosing only to walk and remain grounded. He doesn't stop being the bird, but it does alter his experience of life significantly. Although by nature he is fully God, Jesus is fully human and lives as such. While never losing the innate ability to fly, he chooses moment-by-moment to remain grounded. That is why his name is Immanuel, God with us, or God with you, to be more precise."
Mack: "But what about all the miracles? The healings? Raising people from the dead? Doessn't that prove that Jesus was God-you know, more than human?"
God: "No, it proves that Jesus is truly human. Mackenzie, I can fly, but humans can't. Jesus is fully human. Although he is also fully God, he has never drawn upon his nature as God to do anything. He has only lived out of his relationship with me, living in the very same manner that I desire to be in relationship with every human being. He is just the firs to do it to the uttermost-the first to absolutely trust my life within him, the first to believe in my love and my goodness without regard for appearance or consequence."
Mack: "So, when he healed the blind?"
God: "He did it as a dependent, limited human being trusting in my life and power to be at work within him and through him. Jesus, as a human being, had no power within himself to heal anyone."

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God: "A bird's not defined by being grounded but by his ability to fly. Remember this, humans are not defined by their limitations, but by the intentions that I have for them; not by what they seem to be, but by everything it means to be created in my image."

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I would recommend The Shack to anyone with the ability to discern. There are many Biblical inconsistencies and also many things that may or may not be interpreted properly, but in my opinion the things that weren't doctrinally sound stuck out like a sore thumb. Just bring everything back to the Word of God. One thing the book has done for me has been to get me reading my Bible in order to sort out what is truth and what is pure fiction. And besides, if you want to know what to watch out there, there are plenty of book reviews that will tell you what's wrong with it.

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