Business News, Personal Finance and Money News.

Is "The Shack" Heresy? Part 1“Before you are tempted to burn us at the stake, will you at least do me the favor of allowing me to stand in front of the firing squad and answer any questions that they might have.”  That’s what I said to one of the head executives of  Lifeway Christian Bookstores when he called to say that “he” might be in need of a job. In short order, we had become wonderful friends, but in the latest brouhaha, his head was on the chopping block as well. Over a month or so prior, he called one afternoon to introduce himself and congratulate us on our success with The Shack. Sales had begun to snowball, and it seemed like over night, everyone was talking about The Shack.

Our little book that had been turned down by 2. So much so, “they” were calling us. After the brief exchange of pleasantries, here came the opportunity: “We’d like to make The Shack our Lifeway presents ‘Book of the Month’.”  Sounded great to me, so I said: “Fantastic, you go right ahead.”  That’s when I was informed, “That’s not exactly how this works…” Supposedly this honor is something that publishers normally pay thousands of dollars to enjoy as the bookstore chain mounts a big, front of store, promotional campaign to drive sales.

I said, “That’s great, but you called me. If that’s something Lifeway would like to do, I’m happy to sell you some books.”   That wasn’t the kind of response they were used to. But hey, when you don’t know what the rules are, it’s not like you can be guilty of intentionally trying to break them. Just seemed goofy that if it was their idea, why did I have to pay for it.

Right?)After a couple more calls, and I wouldn’t budge—I guess they liked the book enough on its own, to go through with their desire. They made The Shack their celebrated “Lifeway Presents ‘Book of the Month’.”  How cool is that!

1. Images of the Comedy Movie Posters I have in my collection. British quad and 1 sheet saucy exploitation images from Tom William Chantrell and others for Carry On.
2. Carry On Sergeant is a 1958 comedy film about National Service starring William Hartnell, Bob Monkhouse and Eric Barker; it is the first in the series of Carry On.

It was UNTIL…Lifeway proudly championed The Shack throughout their bookstore chain. Sales continued to soar, but as with all things that garner a measure of success, it soon attracts its own set of detractors as well. Little did we suspect that we would become the center of a raging controversy taken before the Southern Baptist National Convention. Accusations of “heresy” surfaced; suspicions of deception and error were being whispered abroad. When such things were voiced by one of their respected seminary presidents and complaints made by other prominent pastors, orders were handed down and The Shack was pulled from their shelves. Though it was by Lifeway’s own initiative to make us their “Book of the Month,” the promotional campaign was abruptly ended.

If you just tuned in to Lucy Wright’s daring story on Locked Up Abroad: Escape From Argentina, I’m sure you have questions. We checked in with Lucy to get answers. Find the latest business news on Wall Street, jobs and the economy, the housing market, personal finance and money investments and much more on ABC News.

The charges of potential heresy would be discussed and ruled upon at the national convention. It didn’t take long for the rumor mill to kick into full gear, and my phone lit up. At first, I couldn’t believe any of it could possibly be true.

But, when I got a call from the Lifeway — sure enough, it was for real! It came as a total shock to him as well, along with the very unsettling realization that he could well be out of a job. Afterall, this was all his idea—to put such contraband on full display at the front of the store, nationwide! I thought he was kidding—he wasn’t.

Really?  This is a work of fiction. It’s a novel for goodness sake. Yes, it’s about God, about how God can meet us in the middle of the most horrible tragedy, and love us to a place of healing—able to bring forth good even out of the most despicable evil.

For two weeks, they met, discussed, debated, scrutinized. The one request that I voiced was that before they concluded their deliberations that I be allowed to speak on our behalf, to answer any questions or accusations they might have, and have a chance to explain and/or defend, if necessary, what we had written. I knew The Shack was edgy and provocative—that was on purpose. But we were profoundly careful about what was said and what words, be it dialogue or questions, were put in whose mouth.

As a fully trained seminarian, a passionate junior theologian in my own right, I was well aware how close to edge on some subjects we were traveling. But as a committed, Bible- believing Christian who absolutely cares about the nature and character of God—I also know exactly what we were trying to reveal and why. Asking provocative questions that we know would cause people to think and force them to go search out the answers for themselves, we knew would go much farther than would our doctrinal treatises or sermonizing at them. For nearly sixteen months, undergoing four major rewrites, we chiseled and hammered on this boulder of a story, and fashioned with God’s incredible help, what we thought was an endearing story whose primary mission was to unveil God’s incredible heart of love—the heart of the One, each one of us had come to know in our darkest moments of pain and adversity, the God who will never abandon us.

But, this wasn’t a “PR” effort. None of us had the patience for a religious sales pitch. We wanted to wrestle with real pain, the real conundrums of life for which there are no easy answers.

And having all suffered the trite, ridiculous, albeit perhaps well- intentioned empty platitudes others trafficked in, we longed to steer clear of seeking to tie the messy parts of life off with a fake, perfect, little bow. That’s not the world we live in. There are no easy answers to deep pain and suffering. There is no magic wand or some miraculous “formula” to employ. Life takes a bit of time and a lot of relationship. And if you are going to love deeply, you are going to be hurt badly – but it’s worth it! That’s the kind of story we could crawl inside and feel at home within.

Something honest. Something messy.  But real, and yearning for truth. Do we have all the answers? Nope – not even close! La Maschera Del Demonio Full Movie on this page. Do we know pain and hurt? Yep! – who doesn’t?

Have we met God … in spite of all that? In the midst of all that? Yep, and that’s where we each found the strength and the desire to get back up, flap our wings, and give it another shot at learning how to live as someone deeply loved by an incredible God!

It isn’t so much our trying to trust, as it is our being won to a place of trust by learning just how much God loves us. Trust is the fruit of a relationship wherein you know that you are loved. Something most people don’t know very well.