It feels like we all found a DeLorean time machine and traveled back in time ten years ago. In 2007, gas cost $3.38 per gallon, the first iPhone was released, and Nancy Pelosi was elected as the first female Speaker of the US Congress. But it doesn’t feel like 2007 because of any of those items. Rather, one other earth-shattering event that took place that year – at least earth-shattering for evangelical Christians – was the release of The Shack. Continue reading
Last summer it was announced The Shack would be made into a film. The official poster was released today. Continue reading
Yesterday, I posted an article with some details about the upcoming release of a film based upon the book, The Shack.
I’ve been watching interaction from a couple of different places on social media and, as expected, it is once again stirring up memories of the split-decision from 7-8 years ago when the book was released. Many see the value of the book; many see it as dangerous material.
Because of my recent work around the area of missiology (study of missions), I’m regularly thinking about contextualization. What does it mean to communicate the truth of God, the word of God in a particular context?
In one particular social media place, I offered some thoughts on contextualization of the word of God and so I thought I would post similar thoughts here. Continue reading
Recently the news came out that, The Shack, mega-selling book by author William Paul Young, is being made into a film. The release date looks to be projected for some time in 2016.
If you will remember, with the release of this book in 2008, it caused quite the split-decision amongst evangelicals. The response was comparable to Marmite (if you’re British you’ll understand that reference). People generally either hated it or loved it.
But the book has gone on to sell 10+ million copies. Continue reading
Five years ago this month, William Paul Young self-published a book that would become a New York Times bestseller, selling a million copies in just over one year. Of course, that book is known as The Shack. I first read the book in the late summer of 2008, posting a more positive 3-article review – article 1, article 2, article 3. I gave a more detailed, in-depth review due to some of the negative hubbub created within the evangelical church, which as with Rob Bell’s Love Wins, it probably created more sales than it deterred.
Over the past months, I have been drawn to pick up the book again, read it afresh after all the craze (both positive and negative) has died down. Maybe I am being drawn back to the book as Mack was drawn back to the shack where his daughter was horribly slain. I have no such tragedy in my life that compares to that of the storied account ofThe Shack, but I do expect to learn as I re-engage with the book this time around, something about God and his good purposes in the midst of tragedy.
We shall see.
On a side note, it grieves me to read of the lawsuit that took place in 2010 over the royalties for the book. It seems Young and former partners of Windblown Media, Wayne Jacobsen and Brad Cummings. Nevertheless, I pick up the book with the anticipation of engaging with God as I turn the pages.
The Prodigal Thought 