Is it 7 o'clock yet? Okay. Amen. Well, greetings, brothers and sisters. I'm Troy Skinner, bringing greetings from the household of Faith in Christ. We happen to have our service on Saturday evening, so for reason you have to be here on Sunday evenings on occasion, it's always a pleasure to be here. Thank you for inviting me. We're gonna do a couple of things we haven't really done when I've been here before. We're going to have a couple of hymns that are going to be kind of chosen old, you know, hymn-sing style. So, somebody's going to shout out a favorite. I think our first hymn will do that way and our last hymn will do that way. So, also something we're going to do a little bit Something that we're gonna do a little bit different than the way things have flowed when I've been here before is we are gonna have the prayers of the people, but we're gonna do it after the sermon as opposed to before the sermon. So we're gonna be relocating that in the flow of things. But I mentioned that because I don't want you to get nervous like, hey, aren't we gonna pray? We are going to pray. But first, somebody have a good old favorite hymn that they would like us to open with. 169. What, what? 169. 169. because he lives. Everyone who's able, if you could stand. ♪ God sent his Son ♪ ♪ He called him Jesus ♪ ♪ He came to love, nurture, and forgive ♪ Live and die to our life, Lord God. An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives. Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know He holds the future and life is worth the living just because He lives. As we do all our new born days, and feel the pride and joy he gives. But greater still, the calm assurance This child can face uncertain days, because He lives! Because He lives! I praise tomorrow! Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know, He holds the future. And life is worth the living just because he lives. And then one day I'll cross the river. I'll fight my song in a war with pain. And death is the way to victory. I'll see the lights of glory then I'll know He lives Because He lives I can face tomorrow Because He lives All fear is gone Because I know he holds the future and life is worth the living just because he lives. Everyone may be seated. I love when I can sense the providential hand of God, the lines about dealing with fear and struggle, but being able to face that next day because he lives. I want you to hang on to that thought because that's gonna be something that will undergird the thing that Christians need to be reminded of as you hear today's message when we get there. So anyway, obviously we didn't, We planned that in advance, it was shouted out, and it really resonates with one of the main themes in tonight's message. Anyway, with that announcement behind us, somebody has official announcements, I'm sure, for the life of Fairview Chapel. Things might be coming up and other things that people need to know about, so we could hear those now. Maybe not, actually. Lisa's not here. Oh, okay. Okay All right. Well, the only announcement I could offer would be looking backwards. I don't know what's coming up I didn't know I do know that I was scheduled to be here in January and then two weeks in a row We had snow that that canceled that and so those are two times I got bumped and I was gonna be here last week but then Tim May was His schedule made it so that he wanted to come and the week he could do was last week. And so I got bumped again So, I don't know. We'll find out. Anyway, at this point, let's have whoever the usher is who handles taking up the collection to come forward and do that. And what we're going to do is, as the plate works its way through the room and the collection is taken up, once that happens, the usher will stand at the back and wait till everybody has an opportunity to stand up. Do we have an usher this evening, by the way? Yeah. OK. Once the basket's full, if you could wait toward the back until I have a chance to signal everyone to stand up for the singing of the doxology. During this time, if you wanna have some musical accompaniment, you can, but I want this to be a time where we ponder and meditate on the act of worship that takes place in this. Everything that we do, when we sing a song we're worshiping, when we pray we worship, when we are hearing God's word preached, it's an act of worship, and when we give back to him a portion of what he's given us, it's worship. So let's think about that during this time of the service. ♪ It's true ♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below. Praise Him, above ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. Father, we humbly ask that you would make us good stewards of these monies that you have put in the hearts of these people to share with the Ministry of Advancing the Kingdom, the work that is done here at Fairview Chapel. We thank you for blessing us so immensely that we have some means to give back in recognition of your many blessings. These are just a token of appreciation for the many blessings that you have given us. We thank you for drawing us together to hear your word, to sing your praises today, to reflect upon the meanings of all the different things. All of life is worship, not just what we do here this evening. We thank you for that reminder. We ask your blessing upon this time, upon the hearing of your message. May it be received well and applied in an active way to the lives of those who are yours. All these things we lift up to you in the inestimable name of Jesus Christ, amen. If everyone wants to remain standing, we're gonna do our one planned hymn, planned as of five, 10 minutes ago. True Hearted, Whole Hearted. It's four, six, seven. Hymn number four, six, seven. True Hearted, Whole Hearted. Harbin, oh, Harbin, faithful and loyal, King of the white sky, the days we will lead. Under the standard, the sauntered and royal, Strong in the straight, we will battle fully. Field and pasture, silence is tempered, thought of God's Spirit rejoicing and free. Be the land of washer, loyal forever, King of our lives, by our praise we believe. True heart and home, heart and wing, present allegiance, Building a store to its glorious name. Clap and ring, thumping the weekends, Ringing with joyous hymns in the gloomy rain. Heal the flusher, silence endeavor, Son of God's nearest rejoicing bring. King of the world, Lord, loyal forever, King of all lives, by thy grace we will be. True hearted, home hearted, Savior of glorious, Take my reward and bring me there alone. Over the hills and the fashions victorious, freely to travel, I'll go with my own. Ye that who watch were silent to hebber, Son of our Savior, rejoice in Him three! Everyone may be seated. So the last time that we walked through God's word together was actually Christmas weekend, if I recall correctly. And we traveled along with the Apostle John as he wrote a letter to Gaius, a disciple of Christ who was faithful to walking in the truth. The letter that we read is now known as Third John, or John's Third Epistle, or sometimes Three John, particularly if you're in Europe, you might hear it said that way. The shortest of the Bible's 66 books, containing just over 200 words, and six of these words are the word truth. And there's one other time when the word true appears. John is committed to the truth. And he wants to make sure that all of Christ's followers are also committed to the truth. Knowing the truth, believing the truth, proclaiming the truth. Living the truth. Now, who is Gaius? Well, we can't be sure. The name Gaius appears in the New Testament a number of times. but these are probably several different men named Gaius. It was a very common name back then in the Roman Empire, sort of like the names James or Robert or Michael would be very popular in today's America. But we do know this about this particular Gaius. He was beloved by John. The letter uses the word, if it's a, If it's translated the way I feel it should be, because in the Greek it's the same word four times, and I think the English translations that do us the best benefit translate that word all four times, beloved. He is beloved. And that usage of the word beloved actually helps us to understand the outline and the flow of the letter. It provides the section breaks, by the way, which is another reason why I wish the translators would be consistent on that. It can aid our reading and understanding. Anyway, in covering the first 12 verses of this love letter, the last time that we were together, we were able to see a familiar theme from John. Truth. It's what's for dinner. Truth, the other white meat. Where's the truth? Just truth it. You deserve the truth today. Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief the truth is. Snap, crackle, truth. I'd walk a mile for the truth. Finger licking truth. Give us 22 minutes, we'll give you the truth. Traffic and truth together on the eights. This is John's thing. The truth. You ever notice on social media how every individual, they seem to kind of have their go-to thing, you know? There's that person, you know, that it's just cute and cuddly posts over and over, right? And then there's another person, maybe it's like polarizing political posts over and over. Another person, a friend of yours, maybe it's cynical, snarky posts, over and over. That's their thing. Well, if John had social media, way back when, he would have posted an awful lot about the truth. Over and over. That's his thing. For example, in 2 John, the apostle warns against helping false teachers who are enemies of the truth. And third John, he commends those who help teachers of the truth. So now we are going to read the final few verses of third John, and then we're gonna talk about the truth as it is impacting us here and now in 2022. So if you haven't already, if you would turn to third John. And we're gonna look at verses 13 through 15, and do not be confused if you happen to be reading from one of the few Bibles, for example, which is the NIV, or perhaps you have a King James, because it might only show 14 numbers on your page, something like that. Well, some of our Bibles in the English translations show 14, some of them show 15, But I want to assure you, this is merely a numbering question. All of the words are the same. We have 14 in a space. Interesting. Well, yeah, there's different ways that the translators choose to handle the numbering. The versification is a very rare oddity in our Bibles, I will tell you. But it has no bearing at all in this particular case, none whatsoever on the content or the meaning of the letter. And we should keep in mind that when John wrote the letter, there were no verse numbers. The verse numbers were added more than a thousand years later to make it easier for us to reference and do study. So now, even though I am reading from what is the Pew Bible translation, NIV, which does not have the number 15 printed, I'm saying there are 15 verses because when I'm preparing a message, I lean heavily on my Greek New Testament, and my Greek New Testament has number 15 there. So as I was preparing, I had 15 stuck in my head, and that's where we are. And it's not just my Greek New Testament. If you're reading from an NASV or an ESV or something like that, you've got the number 15 on your page. And a lot of other English translations do too. But anyway, no worries. The words are all the same. So here they are, beginning with verse 13. I have much to write to you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. I hope to see you, by the way, verse 14, I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face. And then 15, peace to you. The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name. It's a very short passage in a very short book of the Bible. but I still wanna drive home the point that it is God's word. Breathed out by God, this is what we mean by it's inspired and therefore it's without error, it's infallible. It is, God's word is the fully sufficient rule and guide for faith in life practice. We do well to remember that. So those with ears to hear, Let them hear. Now, you mostly like me, right? Maybe you'd even say you love me, some of you. I hope so. I hope that you love me or at least like me because I am going to need your goodwill this evening. I'm not looking for a fight. Truly, I'm not. But I think a fight has found me. And it's found you too, whether you know it or not. There is a fight in the church going on. You can really feel it these last few years, but it's been going on before that. And it's not the regular kind of fights along the typical historical denominational lines either. No, no, this is a civil war kind of a fight. This is evangelical versus evangelical. Methodist versus Methodist. professing conservative Christian versus professing conservative Christian. And the stakes are high. And I'd like you to think about where it is that you stand. And to think about where it is that the Apostle John would stand if he were here today standing where I stand. What am I talking about? The shack. A shocking answer, right? It's become emblematic for so many of the things that we are feeling in very acute ways in the church today, these past couple of years. The problems we're having these past couple of years, they date back even before the shack, but this, really is emblematic of what is plaguing us as God's people right now. But you know, you hear me say the shack, and you're thinking, that's just like, that's a movie. And before that, it was, it's just a book. And before that, I mean, it was just, right, the collection of imaginative thoughts in the mind of William Paul Young, the author of that book. But the shack, it has become so much more than this. What it represents has become so much more than this. And not because the movie raked in tens of millions of dollars at the box office, also did well as a DVD when it was released. Not because the book is one of the all-time great bestsellers. It sat at the top of the bestseller list for a long time, having sold well over 20 million copies. That's a lot of books. Did you know that The Shack has sold more copies than The Godfather? More than Jaws. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. More than the Grapes of Wrath. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The Cat in the Hat. The Old Man in the Sea. The Exorcist. Catch-22. The Joy of Sex. Just to name a few. The Shack has had historic success. but not as much success as Who Moved My Cheese, so we can be thankful for that. Thank goodness for that. Now, despite all the commercial success, perhaps you don't know the story. So in a nutshell, here it is. A little girl is abducted, taken to a shack in the woods, and killed. Brutally. Her father, Mackenzie, or Mack for short, is devastated. Can you imagine something worse than your innocent child being tortured and murdered? There is a bit of Christ-likeness in this story, isn't there? The father sending his son to be tortured and murdered. Homack has a few questions for God, but he doesn't really go to God with these questions because he's always struggled to find the closeness with his heavenly father, he says, because he had abuse at the hands of his earthly father when he was a kid. And then an invitation arrives in the mail for Mac to go meet Papa in the woods at the shack, the place of his deepest hurts and most depressing pain. That's a good setup, right? It's emotionally tugging, easy to connect with personally, wrestling with questions we all grapple with, at least sometimes. And what will Mac find? Who will he meet? What will he learn when he goes to see Papa in the shack? Compelling questions. Through the use of a simple plot with simple characters, the author reveals his answer to these compelling and challenging questions like, why is there evil in the world? Where is God when there's a tragedy? What is the meaning and purpose of life? Are you ready for Mr. Young's answers? Are you sure? because we're now entering the battlefield of the Civil War. Let me start with some of the volleys that are loved by supporters of the book. And if you hated the book, well then please bear with me, because I agree with what these supporters have to say. The story of the shack, it honestly exposes the gaping and raw wounds that so many of us have festering under our facades. I haven't had a daughter Brutally murdered, praise God. But I have a son who faces significant challenges every day. And absent a miracle, he always will. And you have your version of this story. Like Mac, I'm the survivor of abuse as a child. You might have your own version of that story. Like Mac, the person next to you has struggled during their life to feel closeness with God. You probably have your own version of this story. And this is the brilliance of the shack. Paul Young is telling your story, my story, all of our stories, so we can relate. And so we read with interest, open to the possibility of a new emotional connection with God. And this is good. Really good. The dilapidated building in the shack, the shack itself, is a metaphor for our lives. There is a metaphor in the shack for our hearts, filled with aching, hurt, and yet, still filled with so much wondrous beauty. It's a standing contradiction almost. So this is good stuff. I mean, it's really good. Very relatable, it's very real. The story itself is a little imaginative and fantastical, but the emotional chord that is struck is very real. In a way, we might say that Paul Young has met people where they are. And this is good. It is something that we all could and should do better. It is good stuff, really good. And this is part of what bothers the critics. And it concerns me too. There's an old saying, win the heart and the head will follow. In the shack, Paul Young wins the heart. He offers salve for bleeding blisters. Every turn of the page brings a warm hug to a hurting reader somewhere. The shack is a shoulder to cry on. a bending ear that listens, a quiet friend who's there for you. And this has me on high alert. Because I have the Apostle John on the other shoulder, in the other ear, saying, as he does in 3 John, peace to you. And it's a peace that comes from true understanding. Johnny teases us, his readers, sometimes by saying that there's so much more he wants to write. There just isn't the time or the space. Or he might say that he wants to wait, like he does in Third John, so he can see us and tell us in person, face to face. So I'm wondering, if John came here right now and he offered us greetings, each of us by name, what would he say? Given that Christians are arguing with Christians about this darn book and movie and all the issues that swirl around it, what would John say about the shack? Well, given John's always present focus on the truth, I think I know a few things he would point out to us. To those who would say, hey, what's the big deal? It's only a book, it's just a movie. John would probably respond by pointing out that all authors have a point of view. Even an agenda when they write. And the shack is no different. In the acknowledgements in the back of the shack, the author himself says that the book, quote, shows the way in which God works. Elsewhere we read in the back pages of the book that it offers, quote, a magnificent glimpse into the nature of God. It offers one of the most poignant views of God and how he relates to humanity. These are theological claims. Paul Young is intending to teach about God. Who God is. What God's like. Why God does what God does. It's not just a story. It's not ambivalent. It has a purpose. If you read it, take it seriously. If you watch the movie, watch it seriously. You know, if I were to write a book and then make a movie and I tell you, this is a book and a movie about your wife, your husband, your son, your daughter, your mother, your father, anyone who's important to you, close to you, you would read it seriously, wouldn't you? You'd watch that movie seriously, right? This is the same with the shack. Now, shack's not about your spouse, it's about your creator. And it's not about your parent, it's about your savior. It's not about your child, it's about your beloved king. And Paul Young teaches in the shack that your creator, savior, king is a warm God. Warm within the Trinity, warm towards others. The shack teaches that God is personal, and powerful and all-knowing and all-good. This is a God who acknowledges the reality of pain and suffering and grief and evil. And in response to all this bad stuff, the God of the shack is gracious and forgiving. This God argues against legalism, emphasizing grace and mercy and love. Some have said that this book has changed their life by drawing them closer to God. And we can see why. I mean, there is much truth in the shack. Much truth. And therefore, the Apostle John, if he were here right now, he would say, read the book, watch the movie, and love it. Well, no. That's not quite what the Apostle John would say. At least I don't think so. And I say this because the shack raises some very serious red flags. I mean, the shack puts words in God's mouth. I mean, that's a dangerous thing. The shack ignores the holiness, the otherness of God. That is more than a dangerous thing. The shack also takes pot shots at the church, its leaders, pastors, seminaries, and that can also be a dangerous thing. Readers of the shack might end up confused about goddess worship, the divine feminine, as it's called. Readers of the shack might think that God is so tolerant that there's no need for the cross. Readers of the shack might see Mr. Young's amusing, manageable, non-threatening God and fail to understand God's majesty and awesome greatness that we see in places like Isaiah 6 and Ezekiel 1 and Exodus 3 and Exodus 33 and so many other places. In the shack, there is no need for guilt or judgment or wrath. There is no need for the order that's brought about by hierarchy, even within the Trinity. In the shack, it has three persons in a Trinity who mutually submit to one another. If this is so, we don't know it from the Bible, where the Bible never has the Father submitting to the Son or the Holy Spirit. The shack has a God who, believe it or not, submits to humankind. Have you read the Bible? God never submits to his creation. The creature submits to God. I'll point you to Hebrews chapter 13, verse 17. In the shack, the book teaches that the father was crucified with the son. The movie teaches that the Holy Spirit was also crucified with the Son. This ignores that the Father and the Holy Spirit are never, not one time, represented in human form in the Bible. They are Spirit. And it ignores the heart-wrenching truth that the Father turns away from the Son. When Jesus is hanging on the cross, bearing our sin, The shack ends up teaching that love limits justice, rather than seeing them as two sides of the same coin. The shack uses scripture out of context, with the results being universal salvation. The shack says that Jesus is, quote, the best way, not the only way. to a right relationship with God, in direct opposition to what the Apostle John writes in his gospel narrative in chapter 14, verse six. The shack promotes a sort of post-modern New Age universalism. God's imminence overwhelms his transcendence. In other words, his familiarity overwhelms God's otherness. and a condemning attitude toward the church, or really toward any institution for that matter. Promotes individualism throughout the shack, despite what we find in our Bibles, in Hebrews chapter 10 and chapter 13. And this is exceedingly ironic, as the shack seeks to bring a connected relationship with God, it does so by promoting a disconnected relationship between believers. Now I just unloaded a lot of stuff. I know I did, right? And no matter the side of the fight you might be tempted to take up, I've likely already offended you maybe. Because if you love the Shaq, well then you do not like all the Shaq bashing I just did. Might be thinking you sound like one of those narrow-minded fundamentalist bigots to me. And if you hate the Shaq, Well, then you likely don't like all the kind things that I shared about the shack. You might be thinking, there's nothing good that should be said about this book of the devil. You saying nice things about it just shows you are part of the problem. Well, I've turned the two competing sides into cartoon characters for effect. And while these caricatures are, you know, gross exaggerations, I still think it's important for me to take a moment to explain myself, why I've shared the thoughts I've shared so far. First, briefly, on why I said so many good things about the shack. Primarily, I have three reasons. First, I was taught many years ago by a very, very wise pastor the importance of being a generous reader, a generous listener. I'm not as good at this as I should be, but I'm better at it than I used to be, and I think I'm getting better at it all the time, and I would encourage you to walk that same path. Now, being generous in this regard, it means giving the writer the benefit of the doubt whenever you can. If something could be taken one of two ways, try to take it the more positive way until you have reason to think otherwise. If it's possible the author meant something different than it first seems, then allow for that alternate meaning, at least at first, to have a chance to really check it out. If the writer is, or the speaker is, possibly not intending to bring offense, well then, don't take offense. Seek to fully comprehend the other person's point of view. Try to know it so well you could explain it back to the other person, maybe even better than they could explain it to you. That's the goal, that's being generous. Now the second reason for my kind words about the shack, there is no denying its popularity. And why would this be if there wasn't something attractive about it? And it's helpful to examine and explain the dynamic that's at play. What is the reality of this popularity? And How can we better understand why this is the case? And then if we could explain it all, well then this, if we should have any concerns, we can then better explain the reasons why we might believe that it's dangerous, if that's where we end up. And my third reason for saying good things about the shack, there is a good amount of good truth in the shack. And so the good things I said about it, they're well-deserved. So why'd I say all those bad things about it then? Well, at the end of the day, this is my view. As I see it, The Shack is dangerous. It is one of the most dangerous books on the market over the last 20 years. That's a hard position to take, isn't it? Especially after I just got done telling you how I'm a generous reader. But being generous does not mean ignoring the obvious or being naive, not at all. It means being fair and careful, slow to draw conclusions. But conclusions must be drawn. The truth must be known. Remember, this author has stated that his book makes theological claims. The shack intends to teach you about God. Is what it teaches accurate and biblical? This is the question. We all have a bias. What is the bias of William Paul Young? My bias is that the word of God is true. And everything else gets viewed through that grid. My bias is that the reformers got things mostly right 500 years ago. My bias is that Oftentimes, the most dangerous lie is the one that looks an awful lot like the truth. These are my biases. What are Mr. Young's? Let's take a peek, see how maybe he shows us his hand a little bit. On the very first page, we see the words rigorous rules, externally religious and overly strict. Are these hints at an antinomian, an anti-law bias? It's hinted that those who seek obedience are seeking to appease a, quote, brooding, distant, and aloof God. That's what the shack says on page 10. Just a few pages in, we read that Mac, the main character, who lost his daughter, He has hated war with a passion. Innocuous enough, but it does begin to beg the question, does this maybe belie a bias in favor of pacifism? The antenna should go up a little bit anyway. What's the nature of God? Is it nature itself? I mean, the shack talks about the God of winter on page 14, and nature with a capital N. on page 15, and the universe is personified on page 30. Is there possibly a pagan bias in the shack? Is there a self-loathing bias against men? On page 22, the main character accuses himself of, quote, a manly dumb thing. Are men dumb? The main character's cat, named Judas. That supposed to mean something? I mean, why not Thomas, right? Doubting Thomas would seem to be a much better choice for the theme of this book than Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus. Is there a hint in this name? And what about the terrain that the characters travel throughout the story? Places like Hell's Canyon. and the Snake River, and Seven Devils Lookout, and the town of Lost-een. I'm not gonna attempt to draw very many conclusions from these particular sorts of things. But I will tell you, these sorts of things did get my attention. Made me sit up on my chair a little bit straighter when I was reading, you know? Actually, I got up out of my chair, went and grabbed a pencil so I could start making notes in the margins, and I do not typically do this when I'm reading a novel. But the shack was beginning to seem like it might be something a little atypical. And so, I really took notice. when I saw a couple of real life celebrities mentioned in this work of fiction. Why? What sort of people are these? Real people inserted into a fake story. What's going on? Well, one of these real people is Bill Moyers. Famous, many in this room might know who he is, famous for, among other things, hosting PBS's program, Faith and Reason. Moyers, I don't know if you know this, he was once a ordained Baptist minister, but he has since described himself as, quote, neither wholly a believer nor wholly a skeptic, end quote. That's an interesting real life person to include in the shack. Particularly since Bill Moyers is described in the pages of the shack as quote, a favorite, a brilliant man who expresses truth with unusual clarity, end quote. Wow. A partial skeptic is the one holding the truth. Now the other real-life celebrity in the book is Bruce Coburn. Bruce is a singer-songwriter and he shows up either by name or by song at least on four pages of the shack that I took note of. On pages 39, 118, 134, 144, that's where I noticed it. Maybe I missed a few. But that's plenty right there. In a book that claims to teach us about the true nature of God, Mr. Coburn has a prominent recurring role to play. This is no accident. He's in the book over and over again for a reason. What does Bruce believe about God? Well, Bruce Coburn is a self-described seeker. In a 2006 interview, which is the year right before The Shack was published, I want to note, Coburn is quoted as saying, I flirted with Buddhism. I sort of moved on into the occult, studied the tarot, and tried for a minute or two to be a fundamentalist Christian. Since then, I've fallen under the influence of Sufi writers, of Hindu teachings through yoga studies and various other things, and the search continues. This is a man held up as a hero in the shack. A man who says his parents are agnostics. Greek mythology captivated me completely. I like the Kabbalistic view of God. If you think of Jung or Freud, those have a divine aspect or offer a connection to the divine. These are quotes. I don't think I made my point well enough, so here are a few more. He says, I married a Christian. She had abandoned that course after realizing that the people she had been with were very narrow-minded. She's a very psychic person. How about this one? St. Paul? I don't think I would have liked him very much. Or this one. In a certain way, I do think of myself as a Christian, but I've always learned so much from so many other sources. And now, we're reading this very interesting book by a Canadian theologian called The Pagan Christ. Again, this is a hero in the shack. Someone who admits, quote, I don't know the answer, end quote. and advocates for, quote, the subjective nature of our relationship with the divine. It's important to remember how subjective it is and not to require other people to approach the divine in the same way, end quote. When I found this Coburn interview, I believe I found Paul Young's spiritual guru. If not his spirit guide, at least his kindred spirit. As in The Shack, Coburn espouses that, quote, what impresses God is the raw emotion, the raw feeling, end quote. Coburn lives out the sort of religious life that Paul Young appears to advocate in his book and in the movie. Coburn says, I don't go to church. But I pray from time to time. I meditate a little bit from time to time, which I think of as a kind of prayer because it involves opening myself to whatever might come in. Whatever might come in! There's so much more to quote, there really is. Let me just give you one more as he talks about something that was taught by Jesus. In my father's house, there are many mansions. It was suggested to me years and years ago that this was a reference by Jesus to reincarnation. I feel like one lifetime isn't enough, but I kind of assume that we have more than one life. I feel like death is some kind of graduation ceremony and we're on to the next level of education after that, whatever it is. I'm not sure if we can come back in human form or whether the bundle of energy that is in us goes somewhere else. Again, this guy has a fan in William Paul Young. And you can see these themes from these quotes throughout his book. I almost need not say more, but maybe One day I will, because there is a lot more to be said that I think would be edifying for the body of Christ to consider and be exposed to. But for now, I just expose what all the fraudulent things, what so many of the lies out there, lies that are infecting the church now, right now, maybe yours. In distinction from those lies, this is the truth. The truth is that you have an eternal creator who made you for a relationship with him, and you bear his image. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. And don't you forget it. But, Don't forget also that that image is marred by sin. Each of us is born in sin. And there's nothing we can do, can't work our way out of it. Sinner is our identity at birth. What do we do? We trust in God's provision. because he sent his son to do for us what we can't do. To pay the penalty by living a perfectly obedient life. Obedient all the way onto a death on a cross that we deserved, not him. And then he demonstrated that everything he said about himself, everything we find in the scriptures are true. Because as he promised on the third day he rose again. because he lives, as we sang. We know it's true. And so then out of humble gratitude, we seek to live lives of obedience in alignment with the truth of his word, not the lies of somebody else's words, the truth of God's word. And God's word fuels us with hope, a hope knowing that one day, We will join him to have the kind of relationship that he intended from the start when everything is fully restored and we are in glory with Christ forever. In union with him and in union with the other believers who are also in union with him as the bride of Christ. That's the truth. Look at everything else through that grid, please, please. Christ's church has to be better. Let me pray. Father, you are a wonderfully good God. We couldn't even begin to imagine your greatness if you didn't reveal yourself to us in ways that we could comprehend. We thank you that you have revealed yourself in the very creation that we inhabit, that you revealed yourself in your written word that's been preserved for us all these years, that we can study and know you through it, as you have revealed yourself in the word incarnate, sending your son to walk this earth as Jesus Christ of Nazareth, to demonstrate the obedience we fail to deliver that you deserve. Oh, we thank you and praise you for your wisdom. for your gentleness and mercy with us, that you've called us to yourself, and that you are renewing us day by day in our process of sanctification until that one glorious day when we'll be with you forever, glorified, with no more crying or pain, no more murders taking place in shacks in the woods, No more nagging doubts about you and your provision and what it all means as we grapple with the hurts of this world. Oh, how we yearn and look forward to that day. We praise your name. By the power of your Holy Spirit, we praise your name. And we praise the name of your Son, Jesus Christ. It's in his name that we pray, amen. So, I think what we're going to do is have another hymn, if anyone wants to shout one out, and then we're gonna have a time of prayers of the people after we have our song. So does anybody have, which one? 255? Okay. We can get behind that message, huh? 255, what a wonderful Savior. Uh-oh. What a wonderful Savior! We are redeemed! The price is paid! What a wonderful Savior! Jesus, my Jesus, my wonderful Savior, is Jesus, my Lord. I praise Him for the cleansing blood, what a wonderful Savior! Bring gladness of my soul to God, what a wonderful Savior! The wonderful Savior is Jesus, my Jesus. The wonderful Savior is Jesus, my Lord. He cleansed my heart from all its sin, What a wonderful Savior! And now He reigns and rules therein, What a wonderful Savior! What a wonderful Savior is Jesus, my Jesus! What a wonderful Savior is Jesus, my Jesus! ♪ Is Jesus my Lord ♪ He walks beside me in the way ♪ What a wonderful Savior ♪ And keeps me faithful day by day ♪ What a wonderful Savior Everyone may be seated. All right. Teacher wondering why do we move the prayers of the people of the end? I had two reasons. One was I thought it might fill our minds with some specificity. There's a word for you. Don't try to say that three times fast. About the condition of what the church is facing these days and how we've been handling it might plant some thoughts of things to pray about. Also, just in case somebody was mad at you, I wanted you to pray for me. before we left. So after we have our time of prayer, the only singing remaining will be the Alleluia. So there won't be another hymn. But I think everybody's pretty much been here when I've been here before. So we're going to do what I do when I'm here when there's an intimate gathering like this. I like to do the popcorn style prayer where the prayers of the people actually are voiced by the people. If you're not one who prays a lot, or tonight's just not the night we're gonna pray a lot, that's fine, you can pray silently, but I would encourage you strongly to consider praying aloud. It's edifying to everyone in the room, including yourself. So for what it's worth, I would encourage you to at least think about joining in the prayer. I know Teresa's always willing to open us, so I'm gonna lean on her to do that after she has a moment to say some prayers. Anybody else who wants to join in in turn is more than welcome and encouraged to do so. And then after a period of time, I will stand up and close us in prayer. Everybody good with all that? Yep, all right. Father God, thank you for this time together. Thank you for just the way you draw us into your presence. We pray for your Holy Spirit to come, but Lord, you're always with us and you're always tapping on our shoulder and saying, here I am. I thank God with you. So thank you for that. I just lift up some struggles that my family is going through. Lord, we're burying my cousin tomorrow. Lord, I just pray for the Enzer family and for the Carey family. They'll have a funeral on Tuesday. Lord, for my sister's family that is just still groping after a house fire. Just be in all those situations, Lord. And we're just very grateful for your presence. Thank you. Take care of the Stanley Martin family. He has such multiple medical problems. And Karen Ellen E. Polkine, who's on hospice, one of the stages of life. Take care of her, her husband, four daughters. Jesus, please be with Dottie. I haven't heard from her in a while. We're just thinking about it, Lord. Just bless him with this promise of his body, of healing his body, and pain goes through, Lord. Give him rest and give him calm, Lord. Let him reach out to us if he needs us. I'm afraid to say anymore. I hope she's okay. Bless her with all she's been through. I love her all. Can't you? Heal from her, be with her. Lord, be with this country, Lord, through all the divisions and Canadians going through their divisions, Lord. And just, Lord, just help us build a better government. In Jesus' name, amen. Father, we're reminded in the voiced prayers of the hurts that we deal with in this broken world. There is sickness, there is death, there's mourning, there's lots of crying, and in our private prayers that we maybe didn't utter aloud, there might be lots of shame. fear and doubt. And we turn to you for comfort. We ask that by your indwelling spirit, you would constantly call to mind and lead us to seek out our comfort in you. What you've provided through your word, both written and incarnate, that we wouldn't accept a substitute, that we would only accept the real deal, the truth, that you would attenuate our hearing so that we would recognize those who would deceive us with things that might tickle the ears, tickle our fancy, delude us perhaps if we're not careful into thinking that there is hope over some other rainbow. We know that it's good, Lord, sometimes to pray your word back to you. So with that in mind, the context of this prayer, I remind us all of the words in Ezekiel chapter 13 that talks about the darkness of what goes on around us when the leaders who are charged with the spiritual protection of your flock do not carefully do their jobs. The Lord says, the word of the Lord came to me. Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination, hear what the word of the Lord is. This is what the sovereign Lord says, woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing. Your prophets of Israel are like jackals among the ruins. You have not gone up to the breaks in the wall to repair it for the house of Israel so it will stand firm in the battle on the day of the Lord. Their visions are false. Their divination's a lie. They say the Lord declares when the Lord has not sent them. yet they expect their words to be fulfilled. Have you not seen false visions uttered, lying divinations when you say the Lord declares, though I have not spoken? Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says. Because of your false words and lying visions, I am against you, declares the sovereign Lord. My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions. and utter lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of my people or be listed in the records of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know I am the sovereign Lord. Lord, help us to recognize the wolves among the sheep. Help us to have the confidence to challenge those who try to deceive us and lie to us. Many of us can't help but suspect and feel almost in our bones that our nation, our world, but more profoundly, your church might be under judgment. We know that you protect those who are yours, that we have the seal of your protection on our foreheads. And so we will persevere. In those instances when we haven't done well, we know that we can ask you for forgiveness and you grant it because we are your children. Help us to more regularly, consistently, faithfully hear your voice and only your voice. Thank you for hearing the prayers of your people, Lord. We know that you hear them. You tell us you hear them when we gather together in your name and pray in the authority of the name of Jesus Christ, and that is what we are doing. We come to you boldly with humility and meekness, but boldly standing before your throne because we know that Christ our Savior in whom we lift up these prayers. By Him, we have standing before you. So thank you, Lord. Amen. Everyone who is able, if you would stand for our final moment of singing this evening. ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ Alleluia! Alleluia! May the shalom of Christ be with you as we now enter the mission field together. God bless.