Go ahead, take a big breath.  That’s what this chapter is in the book.  It’s a chance to take a breath.  Going from gut twisting narrative, to mystery, to heady conversation with God, this chapter is a bit of a break.  There’s plenty to say, but the pace slows down a bit.
One of the intriguing [...]

Continue reading about Exploring, “The Shack”-7- God On the Dock, Jesus and Relationship

Ok, so there’s way too much in this chapter.  Too much for me to comment on everything.  I don’t want to do this all the time, but for this chapter I’m going to hit some highlights and I want you to post comments where you have thoughts or would appreciate more depth and response.  I’d [...]

Continue reading about Exploring, “The Shack”- 6- First Conversation with Papa

Dan on September 4th, 2008

So how do you think you’ll greet God?  That’s one of the questions asked in this chapter of The Shack.  There are a number of interesting points in this chapter, but this is the question that presses the hardest.
Mack is walking up the shack and he’s trying to figure out what a person should do [...]

Continue reading about Exploring, “The Shack”-5- Meeting God

Dan on August 28th, 2008

This is a chapter that communicates a lot in a very true way about grief.  You can feel the emotion on the pages as Mack experiences the fear and loss associated with the abduction and murder of his daughter.  And as he’s walking through it, part of the reason I think it feels so real [...]

Continue reading about Exploring, “The Shack”-4- The Great Sadness

In the first three chapters our story begins.  We’re introduced to Mack and we find out about the note, his family, glimpses into his personality, and the fateful trip he took with his children.  As we dig into these chapters, we’re going to find that in the way of narratives there may often be multiple [...]

Continue reading about Exploring, “The Shack”- 3- Into the Story and Controversy

Just the forward of this book invites discussion.  In this little note we hear that Willie, a friend of Mack, will put into words Mack’s story.  You are carried into this world and what I find interesting is that it’s very easy already to blur the line between what is fiction and what’s not.
First, you [...]

Continue reading about Exploring, “The Shack”- 2- Can a Story be Both Fiction and Nonfiction?

So is The Shack something that will, “leave you craving the presence of God” or is it meant to “deceive you with a counterfeit Jesus”?  Is it going “to do for our generation what John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress did for his” or is it “outright heresy”?
As you read reviews of The Shack, and there are [...]

Continue reading about Exploring “The Shack”- 1- First Impressions (and maybe seconds)