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 Newest Post... THINK PINK!  


My more recent posts:


Come Away To A Quiet Place... 


Weeds and Roots


 Today, I choose...

He Calls Me Wildflower

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VISIT MY ONLINE ART GALLERY:






WWW.MICHELLEBENTHAMCREATES.ORG


IN OTHER NEWS: Women of Faith featured an excerpt from my blog about a WOF event I recently attended. Check It OUT!

I recently joined Angie Monroe on her Resolute Catalyst Radio Show talking all about Preserving Your Potential in Pressure Cooker Seasons.  LISTEN to the PODCAST on Angie's Podomatic
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I'M GIVING AWAY CREATIONS! Everyday that my blog reaches 100 page views, those who leave comments will be entered to win a 4x6 original artwork on paper of your favorite verse of Scripture.  Click here the rules and how to enter. 

THURSDAY, MAY 2nd Comments: NONE! Really... We had 112 page views yesterday - first time we've broke 100 since March 29th! Leave your comments and link up to the blog and you are entered to win. NOEL WILLIAMS has been commenting regularly, visit Noel at http://www.prhayz.wordpress.com/ She linked up to our website on Twitter yesterday which I believe helped send traffic my way! So NOEL is our MAY 2nd Winner. NOEL, please email  me your favorite Scriptures and colors. 

I will post my draft of the Painting for Bridgit by May 11th! :)

4/20/2012 WE HAVE NOT HAD ANY 100 PAGE-VIEW days these last few weeks. Share a link and leave a comment to enter to win! I'll post the next update next week! 

FRIDAY APRIL 6th Entries: OUR WINNER IS BRIDGIT ! Bridgit please email me so we can get started on your personalized artwork! KEEP CHECKING BACK, Linking Back and letting others know about this give-a-way! 

Date                       # of  Page Views                 Commentators

3/28                           83                                        Ana Marie

3/29                         146                                      Bridgit  

3/30                           88                                       Noel

3/31                            76                                       Julie 

4/1                              58

4/2                              71                                       Nanette

4/3                             63                                       Noel

4/4                            46

4/5                            32

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VISIT MY ONLINE ART GALLERY:






WWW.MICHELLEBENTHAMCREATES.ORG


IN OTHER NEWS: Women of Faith featured an excerpt from my blog about a WOF event I recently attended. Check It OUT!

I recently joined Angie Monroe on her Resolute Catalyst Radio Show talking all about Preserving Your Potential in Pressure Cooker Seasons.  LISTEN to the PODCAST on Angie's Podomatic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzoUU8qlkwc

                                                                                                                                                        ___

Scripture & Prayer BlogEncouragement and Prayer from the pages of God's Word as He has written them on my heart! Scripture & Prayer Blog



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If you are looking for my Bible study on the Hebrew Names of God click HERE.



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BETH MOORE IS COMING TO GATEWAY CHURCH for PINK IMPACT IN APRIL! Don't miss this great time to come together as women of God and hear the anointed teaching of Beth, Holly Wagner, Author Andy Andrews, Ps. Debbie Morris, and many more | April 26-27, 2012. Our Southlake Campus is SOLD. OUT. Frisco will have a live Satelite Feed and North Richland Hills is expected to sell out by the first of March or so! JUST JUMP IN!


Visit Beth at the LPM Blog and learn more what she's up to and her Living Proof Ministries!!

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Shop at my bookstore: MICHELLE's BOOK NOOK
Life is happening here...

It's taken me a while to get my bearings again, but I'm writing. And, I'm in love. With My Family. With My God. With the place I am in my life. With my HUSBAND. I'm in love and I love it... (See Gateway Church Christmas Carol)!

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Deep Breath Ministries...

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Monday, June 16, 2008

Book Review: The Shack


Click on the picture for more information about this book!
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I'm reading The Shack by William P. Young. For those of you grieving the loss of any sort, the questions that arise from that pain and the sometimes disjointed and disconnected feelings we have toward God in the aftermath of a such a loss... I would say, "Read The Shack."
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This quote is from the back cover summary of the story:
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"Mackenzie Allen Phillips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend.Against his beter judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he find there will change Mack's world forever.In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant The Shack wrestles with the timeless question, "Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?" The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him. You'll want everyone you know to read this book!"

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So, with that said, lay down all your preconcieved, religious notions about God, pain and the way tragedy occurs and read The Shack. A novel filled with thought provoking situations faced in the human realm everyday, and an offer to challenge those of us who would put God inside a box, framed only by the statement of faith in our denomination of choice without a relationship born of our faith and His Word. Is The Shack a book to base your doctrine and theology on? Not hardly. Nor would I venture to guess that its writer would want anyone to examine the book and base their faith solely on what he writes. I cannot even readily say that I agree 100% with the premise presented in the story - but it does make me think, search an ask of God what it is I have wrong about Him. And that makes the read much more worth it...

I believe the book presents the proposition of what would happen if we took our questions to God, and in the process stopped viewing Him in purely human terms. It is not for the faint of heart, and perhaps it is not for the unseasoned sojourner in the stream of this life we walk with God. In my heart, this book has provoked me to ask God what is a truth to take to heart and to comparitively place this book against the Scriptures for evidence of truth. It is something I always do.

When reading the book, "Hinds Feet On High Places," I discovered that the writer later turned to New Age relativism and left the roots of her faith founded in her as a child on the mission field. Does this insight make her allegory less of a story?

There are those who argue that Lewis' "Narnia" fiction or Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" bear the same striking marks of fantasy and absurdism where God is concerned. But that makes them no less valuable to us in the Christian world because we are required to dig in and learn more about God as a result of our perusal. These again are not foundations of doctrine, but highlights and pointers that reveal to us a God worthy of being searched out, worshipped, respected and believed in. All of it must be submitted by standard to His Word and His Work to be marked as valid and pointing to God.

Any student of God's Word must examine the claims and the truths as they are presented by anyone - human teachings and writings about God are always subject to human interpretation and error. There are a number of arguments that have been raised based on this book - which I do not have the time or the intention to entertain. I see a lot of merit in the story about Faith, Forgiveness, Healing, Redemption, Reconciliation and Relationship that makes it a worthwhile read. Read it with the heart and the eyes of someone reading Fiction - just the way you would read John Grisham or Danielle Steele - then balance that with your study of God's Word, your involvement in the local church and by asking God through prayer to reveal Himself to you in more intimate and real ways as you make this journey.

I am sure that when we surrender ourselves to the Holy Spirit and His teaching through God's Word - we will find Him in a blade of grass, a secular or a worship song, any place where Creation exists - after all, Creation cries out that He exists. The truth is eternity and salvation come through a relationship with God through our faith and by His grace in the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Our faith is born and brought to maturity by the hearing and applying of God's Word on an individual basis. In light of that truth, I can still recommend this book as a fiction novel that will challenge us to ask God where we have put Him into a box. Read on.

3 comments:

  1. I loved this book. So much of it was a confirmation on what God was already showing me about Him...

    It is a beautiful picture of a relational God who just wants US.

    Hugs,
    Julie

    ReplyDelete
  2. Okay, let me try again to say what I was trying to say cause I believe with all my heart that there is only one way to our beautiful God. And I know you know that! I loved The Shack because of the perspective on the Trinity. Our relationship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit goes so much further than just a master/servant relationship but as friends, as lovers. I loved the way this fictitious book honored the Trinity and led me to God in that way.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey Michelle,

    The book sounds really interesting!!

    I remember being disappointed when I found out about the author of Hinds Feet on High Places.

    But that book brought me to a place in Christ I had never experienced before. Life~changing would be the word.

    God can use anything to teach us if our heart is seeking hard after Him.

    Can't wait to read the book!

    Blessings♥

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting. Please leave a comment and let me know you've stopped by! When commenting, please use Colossians 4:6 (MSG) as your guide: "Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out." Words are powerful, therefore, I will moderate all comments and will not post any spam, disrespectful or demeaning comments on this blog. Be blessed and remember, Jesus told His disciples that they would be recognized by their love.