I finished The Shack last night. The book started off wonderfully, but bogged down about half of the way in. If you plow through a couple of chapters, then you will be rewarded. It’s fictional, and therefore one needs to understand this is one man’s take on the Trinity. He uses a very unique method of explaining the different expressions of God, as well as those ever-challenging questions relating to judgment, forgiveness, wisdom, etc.
I thought I would include some powerful quotes from the book.
“Mackenzie, judgment is not about destruction, but about setting things straight.”
“Mack, just because I work incredible good out of unspeakable tragedies doesn’t mean I orchestrate the tragedies… Grace doesn’t depend on suffering to exist, but where there is suffering you will find grace in many facets and colors.”
“They still play us (God/Jesus) off like good/bad cop most of the time, especially the religious folk… When they want people to do what they think is right, they need a stern God. When they need forgiveness, they run to Jesus.”
“Paradigms power perception and perception power emotions. Most emotions are responses to perception – what you think is true about a given situation. If your perception is false, then your emotional response to it will be false too. So check your perceptions, and beyond that check the truthfulness of your paradigms – what you believe.”
“Forgiveness doesn’t establish relationship. In Jesus, I have forgiven all humans for their sins against me, but only some choose relationship.”
I glad you read it! I just finished it too. Be praying for you…amazingly regularly!