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Finally! I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve spent on this amazing piece of fiction in the past 16 months, from rewrites to edits to layout and design to putting up the website, but the finish line is in sight. I can’t wait to share this book with so many of you whom we’ve tortured over the last year by talking about a book few of you could actually read. Well, we’re about to fix that.

As I write this, the books are being printed about 25 miles from my study. We should have them in hand to send out even before our May 1, 2007 pre-publication date. We’re doing two releases on this book to help us generate some buzz that might encourage bookstores to carry this book. As you know we did not go with a regular publisher here because some of the Christian publishers we talked to wanted to change the most powerful parts of this story and secular publishers thought the plot was too ‘Jesusy’ for them! So, we’re depending on viral marketing, word of mouth and ultimately a work of the Spirit to take this book as far and wide as he desires.

Many people I’ve discussed this book with cast a suspicious glance when they think I am talking about Christian fiction. And I understand why. I read very little Christian fiction because most of the plots are too predictable, the answers very religious and the characters often one-dimensional with plastic answers for life’s difficult challenges. This is NOT that book. In fact when many of those I talked into reading it, finished with it they wanted 10 or 20 more copies for their friends and family.

When I first read The Shack it reminded me of a young Lewis or Tolkien, and I realize that is high praise indeed! I’ve now read it seven or eight times and I love what this book says about the God I love so deeply!

If you’d like to pre-order a copy you can do so now at the Lifestream Book Page. You’re also welcome to vist TheShackBook.com where you can sample a couple of chapters and find out what others who’ve pre-screened this book have to say about it. I just got another one today by Bart Campolo, Founder of Mission Year, who wrote:

My biggest disappointment with Christian books is that almost all of them seem to say the same things in the same way. Not so with The Shack! It reads like no other book, and tells a story I guarantee you have not heard before. Enjoy the adventure!

Even you are even one tenth as blessed by this book as I have been, you’ll still consider it money well spent. And when you read it, I’d love to hear how it touched your life too.

I got this email yesterday and it is one I get a lot from people who are trying to rethink the nature of sanctification outside the religious process of setting expectations and trying to coform people to them. I don’t that that’s exactly what this brother was asking, but it does invite that deeper dialog.

Does God change us by setting a standard and holding us to account, or has he prepared a better way for us? Here is the question that got this rolling in my mind:

I’m confused as to how to distinguish between what you call “performance-based establishments” and churches with biblical expectations. The scripture clearly lays out some expectations for overseers and deacons (as just one example), but of course these expectations shouldn’t be interpreted as a reflection upon earning one’s salvation. Isn’t there a way to maintain the biblical expectations for the church without undermining the truth of grace in salvation?

‘Expectations’ isn’t one of my favorite words. It kind of reverses the process by which transformation takes place, though I realize you might be using it in a wholly different context than I hear it.

In my mind ‘performance-based establishments’ use guilt and pressure to conform people’s behavior. I think Galatians is makes it clear that this process isn’t necessarily evil, it just doesn’t work. The law may get people to ACT different in the short term, but it cannot transform them from the inside. Elsewhere Pauls says law only adds to our sin by increasing our temptation and multiplying our shame.

On the other hand nonperformance-based environments will extend people the authentic grace of Jesus as it invites them into a relationship with him that will transform them from the inside. So while the goal is still the same—being transformed into his image—the process is vastly different. And they wouldn’t see the attributes of an elder in Timothy and Titus to be an expectation to perform to, but the fruit of God’s transformation evidenced in their daily lives. Remember, the ‘elders’ in Ephesus and Crete didn’t have those lists BEFORE they were ‘appointed’ by Timothy and Titus. This was not something they tried to live up to, but rather what had become true of them out of their relationship with him.

Thus a performance-based environment will be one where people feel they have to pretend, are looked down upon when they don’t measure up, and usually picks on the obvious sins of sexual brokenness or the obvious failures that impact the institution, such as giving and attendance. But they ignore the weightier issues of spiritual arrogance, greed and gossip. Nonperformance-based environments encourage people to be authentic even in their doubts and struggles realizing that it is only Jesus who change us and thus none of us end up with anything to boast about, nor to look down on others…

If we introduce people to the living Jesus, we don’t need to “maintain biblical expectations without undermining the truth of grace. They will WANT to be like him and as they learn to live loved and love, they will keep the entire law. I don’t think the new covenant changed the outcome God wants in us, but id did change significantly our perception of the process.

I got this email a few weeks ago, and thought it appropriate to share on this Good Friday. This is from a lady in South Carolina who has been recently been reading some of the materials from Lifestream.

I just had to share this with you. I went out to eat with some friends tonight and (they were talking about a recent message they’d heard) about Christ on the cross and the two thieves and how we have destroyed out lives through sin. One repents; one does not, But… tonight as we shared that story I saw something incredibly awesome for the first time. I saw two men hanging next to Jesus that He loved with every bit of his being and one of them knew it and the other did not! I am telling you my eyes are seeing clearer and clearer.

I’ve just finished So You Don’t Want To Go To Church Anymore. A friend gave me He Loves Me a couple of years ago and I’m in the middle of it now. I really believed I knew that Jesus loved me. I really did! But..,

I had no idea. After 32 years of trying to love Jesus with everything I had in me, I am beginning to get sight of what lays ahead! No words to describe!!!

That Jesus loves each of us has never been the issue. Somehow religion gives us the mistaken idea that there are some folks, those who work hard to please him, whom he really loves, and then there are those who don’t, whom he hates. When the love of the Jesus has never been the question. He loves—all of us! The question is only whether we’ll embrace the reality of his love, or deny it to our own destruction.

Sad, isn’t it? You would think that the one thing 32 years of living in Jesus would produce, would be the security in his affection that allows us to awake to each new day surely grounded in him. Instead, religion makes us busy with doing well-intentioned things for him, instead of coming to rest in the certainty of his affection for us.

And don’t try to tell me that those motivated by the fears of religion do more for God than those who rest secure in his love. I know better than that. Those who respond to the fears of religion may be caught up in a frenzy of activity they think is for him, but it the long run it is only for them and their hope of earning an affection he’s already given. While I will always acknowledge his graciousness to use even our misguided efforts for his glory, they can also cause much hurt to others in the process.

The people that I think are doing the most for the kingdom, are those who live each day in the security of his affection and do what he puts on their heart WITH him, instead of trying to do a bunch of stuff FOR him. And if it takes 2 days, 10 years or even 32, I pray you come to know just how loved you are and learn the joy and freedom of living in that reality.

I will be ruminating on the death and resurrection of my Older Brother Jesus this weekend, and all he did to secure for each of us a place in Father’s house. My parents and kids will be coming over this weekend. We’ll probably hunt a few easter eggs with Aimee. And then Sara and I are taking some days off. Her Spring Break began today and this year we’re going to enjoy some time off with each other! YIPPEEE!!!

I pray you all have a blessed Easter as well!

The Shack went to press today, and I’m very excited at how this whole project has come together and we can finally get it out for others to read. It will be released officially on September 1, 2007. But Windblown will offer a pre-release version for those who can’t wait. More details on that in the future.

We appreciate all of you who gave us your thoughts about our cover design. We knew we wouldn’t be able to please everyone, but here’s what we finally came up with:

You can also view the back of the book, if you like, at theshackbook.com.

And here’s what some others are saying about this book:

“When the imagination of a writer and the passion of a theologian cross-fertilize the result is a novel on the order of The Shack. This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress did for his. It’s that good!”

Eugene Peterson, Translator for The Message and Professor Emeritus Of Spiritual Theology • Regent College, Vancouver, B.C.

“Riveting, with twists that defy your expectations while teaching powerful theological lessons without patronizing. I was crying by page 100. You cannot read it without your heart becoming involved.”

Gayle E. Erwin, Author The Jesus Style

“Finally! A guy-meets-god novel that has literary integrity and spiritual daring. The Shack cuts through the clichés of both religion and bad writing to reveal something compelling and beautiful about life’s integral dance with the divine. This story reads like a prayer—like the best kinds of prayer, filled with sweat and wonder and transparency and surprise. When I read it, I felt like I was fellowshipping with God. If you read one work of fiction this year, let this be it.”

Mike Morrell, Zoecarnate.com

“This book goes beyond being the well written suspenseful page-turner that it is. Since the death of our son Jason the lord has led us to a small number of life-changing books and this one heads the list. When you close the back cover you will be changed.”

Dale Lang, rockcanada.org, father of student killed in Columbine copycat shooting

I got this question today by email from someone. There’s nothing that makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck more than this. But I have heard it taught a lot, especially by insecure men and women that are afraid of losing their supposed authority over people who are growing in freedom:

My pastor recently said at a leadership conference my husband attended that he, as the Pastor, hears from God more clearly than we do. Is that biblical? Is that true? It is frustrating because we are on this journey that is leading us to more freedom but we are confronted by people in our congregation that believe we are backsliders. It was said at this meeting that if you don’t serve in the church you are backsliding. It is hard. Hard to know what to believe anymore. Thanks for you words and podcasts. They mean a lot. If you could answer my question I would be grateful. You must be overwhelmed with questions.

Not only is the idea that pastors can hear more clearly from God untrue, but also no man of God would WANT it to be true. Jesus and the early church talked about from the ‘least to the greatest’ of them, ‘all will know me.’ Listening to God and following him is not what the mature folks get to do; it’s what he asked all of us to do. Those who lead don’t hear better, they help equip others to hear for themselves, because they would never want to see any person robbed from the delightful joy of learning how to listen and follow God. In fact a true leader will encourage you to follow him as best you know, even if you make a mistake, rather than follow what they think you should do.

Listen to these words from Matthew 23 in The Message:

“Don’t set people up as experts over your life, letting them tell you what to do. Save that authority for God; let him tell you what to do. No one else should carry the title of ‘Father’; you have only one Father, and he’s in heaven. And don’t let people maneuver you into taking charge of of them. There is only one Life-Leader for you and them—Christ.â€

This is a kingdom in which there are no experts to lord over others. Anyone who truly hears God will spend their lives helping others do so as well, not tearing away their confidence so that they will become more dependent on human leadership. That isn’t to say, of course, that there aren’t more mature brothers and sisters around us who can help us learn to follow him, and help us see when we’re missing God’s best for us by following our own desires, thinking they are God’s. But they wouldn’t dare say anything like you’ve written above. They are not interested in replacing God in your life, but helping you let God be your Father, friend and guide!

And, unfortunately, when you fail to conform to the religious standards of an institution, people will think you are backslidding. That doesn’t make it true. In fact, I think the more closely you follow him, the less you’ll fit into the religious constructs of the day, because they are meant to conform people, not to free them to life in him.

I’m sorry for the flack you’re getting, but this is just part of the journey. Keep loving them and loving him, but don’t think you have to conform to their expectations to love them. God has invited us to something so much better.

I got an email today from someone who is struggling to sort out what’s going on in the fellowship she’s been a part of for some time. Suddenly she’s finding that she doesn’t want to sit through all the meetings and finding them an “ugly weight†rather than a joy. But she feels guilty if she thinks about not going. She is realizing that although she goes in hopes of encountering God, it rarely happens there and yet she still has wonderful friends there.

It’s not an easy thing when God begins to open your eyes to the manipulation of religious systems. Suddenly participating seems like a chore, and you begin to see how the classes and designations designed to provide protection are actually manipulating people’s desires to belong and to be approved by others. Now it feels like a game and participating in it a bit “creepyâ€. What does she do?

Here are some excerpts from her emails: “That’s not to say that the pastor or others are horrible people – far from it. I love them and respect them. It’s just that I’m not comfortable spending from 10:30 to 12:45 there when all I really want to do is leave. It’s like my heart is changing as is my way of thinking. But adding to that is this sense of ‘well what would I do on Sunday anyway?’ I almost feel like I’m distancing myself from church as an institution and don’t know if that’s right or how to handle it….

“I’m frustrated and restless and honestly don’t know how to deal with much of what’s going on in my spiritual life lately. It’s like I can’t rest and that troubles me. I really hope you don’t mind me sort of tossing this your way. It’s just that you seem to be at a place where you actually do know rest and you’re not striving to be right or make a point.â€

Knowing her concerns reflect what so many others go through at this stage of the journey, I thought others with similar concerns would appreciate reading what I wrote back to her:

I can appreciate your story. Once you start seeing through the illusion of religion, it can be a scary road. All the things you’ve found comfort in before, suddenly seem destructive.

I love what you’re seeing, though I know it can be disorienting. It is the result of God answering your prayers to know him as he really is. As we get to know him, our perception of the things around us change, especially those things we’ve thought are his. I have no idea where this will lead you. Going to gather with other believers because they are your friends is never a bad reason to go. To see it as your place to meet Father is problematic, since he wants to be with you all the time. And seeing how you and others get manipulated by well-intentioned policies and programs will cause some grief.

Will God give you the grace to live through it and love folks anyway? Will God give you the grace to walk away and see what else he has for you? I don’t know. Only he does.

What you can do now is to stop responding to guilt. That’s the real power of religious thinking. It manipulates us with shame and with wanting others to approve of us, so that we’ll jump through its hoops. You don’t have to jump through those hoops to love God and love the folks there. But when you stop doing so, it may make you a bit more dangerous for the powers that be. The system cannot love what it cannot control and that may result in problems over time.

For now, just listen to Jesus. Do what he puts on your heart. Stop giving place to guilt so it can whither and die away and be gentle with those who cannot possibly grasp what you’re seeing now any more than you could a year ago. In that he will make the way clear ahead and you, too, will get to learn to live in his rest, and enjoy the incredible fellowship that the body can have together when it is less concerned about the success of the institution and more focused on who this Jesus really is…

I know that’s not very concrete, but he did not promise us concrete. He promised us life!

Thanks to the work of an avid reader and translator, Coen Groos, we are now able to offer PDF and Word versions of He Loves Me in Dutch! I hope you enjoy it.

And it looks like I may sneak over to Holland for a couple of days while I’m in the UK this summer toward the middle of June! I’ve never been there before and I’d love to meet so many people from there with whom I’ve been corresponding in recent years.

On Monday Sara and I got to spend the day with our daughter, son-in-law and of course our granddaughter Aimee on her first trip to Disneyland! That’s us on the left, except for Sara. She gets sick on the teacups, so she did the photography.

I have no idea what we’re talking about, but I seem to be the one doing the talking, which is not uncommon. At least the kids look interested, except for Aimee that is. She was anxious for the ride to begin. And she had a ball on that ride. We couldn’t spin it fast enough for her as she kept shrieking, “more spin” through her laughter.

I gotta be honest. There isn’t much about Disneyland that excites me anymore. I’ve been enough times that the magic is gone for me. It’s just a bunch of long lines and boring rides. We even waited twice in one line to ride Thunder Mountain Railroad, only to have the ride close twice just as we got to the head of the line because of some maintenance problem. Now, that’s a bummer! But to live it again through the eyes of my family, was a joy. Sara loves it. Julie loves it and Aimee really loves it! I rode some of the most boring rides in the world, but because it was with my family it was all special. I even rode Dumbo with little Aimee while the others were off riding something more fun. And I think I got the best end of that deal, even though we had to wait in line almost 40 minutes to jump on an elephant!

So on this day the relationships were far more important to me than any ride we were on. That’s the only thing that doesn’t get boring over time. I love hanging with my family and watching the delight of a little girl just discovering g-forces and flying rides for the first time. To her it was all magic and wonder, and she couldn’t get enough of it.

What’s amazing to me is I feel that way about my journey in Jesus every day. There is nothing boring about living my life out in him. Just being with him on any given day is life enough and joy enough. And I never know what’s coming next!

I have been way too busy since getting back from DC. Things have a way of piling up around here. Tomorrow I speak in Anaheim at the national convention of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development on “Sexual Orientation and Public Schools.” This is similar to what I did last week in DC, but without the panel. I deal with how schools can take sexual orientation harassment and discrimination seriously without undermining people of faith. It’s always a fun bit!

My wife, daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter are coming too! We’re hitting some of the Disney theme parks here on after my presentation and all day Monday. My family loves that place and it will be fun experiencing it through the eyes of a two year old.

Someone sent me an article last week that was written by Floyd Watson. I don’t know Floyd, I haven’t read his writings before, but I appreciated the last words of his last article. He actually finished two days before died. So the last paragraph he ever wrote was this:

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.

Can you imagine summing up any better or more succinctly how Father asks us to live in this age?

What a way to go!

This feels like one of the longest trips of my life, just because of the ever-changing nature of the meetings I am into. I started over the weekend with some brothers and sisters from the Nashville area (and some that came in from further distances) sharing the life of Jesus together. Then it was off to Vanderbilt University for three days of sorting through church/state issues with a host of civil liberty groups, advocacy groups, lawyers and academics attempting to sort out such things as the Bible in public schools and evolution and intelligent design. I had some wonderful personal conversations as part of those days that were incredibly enriching.

Now I’ve moved on to Washington, DC and yesterday toured the Holocaust Museum (pictured at left) for a gut-wrenching, moving and eye-opening experience. We came away overwhelmed by what had happened, how easily an entire society was manipulated into such atrocity and the absolute devastation of so many lost lives. Unbelievable! And the exhibit touches some of your deepest emotions. Everyone on the planet would do well to live through that unspeakable time of our planet’s history and the reality of how one group of people could be so systematically targeted for torture and death.

Then last night we met with some networks of believers in the DC area that were most fascinating to say the least. I wish I could speak more about it here, but I just don’t have any idea what to say or how to process it yet. We went from one of the high-end office/restaurant areas of DC to a smoke-filled basement with half a dozen young men who were sharing a hookah as they were asking real questions about life in Jesus and how they could live it more authentically.

I’ll finish here this weekend with Friday night, Saturday and Sunday meetings with friends of Lifestream and The God Journey, and friends of those friends. I’m looking forward to seeing some folks I’ve met before and meeting new ones. And then on Saturday afternoon I’m doing a presentation as part of my BridgeBuilders portfolio to the leaders of 17 of the most influential government lobbying groups on public education about how we can deal with sexual orientation discrimination and harassment without undermining people of faith.

You just never know the places God will ask you to go. I treasure each of those environments and what he is doing in the midst of them, though so many coming at me in rapid succession, has worn me down pretty well. Today has afforded more rest and a chance to catch up on the office stuff that has built up.

As I spent some time in Matthew this morning, however, one phrase put perspective to so much of what I’m involved with during these days. I read the story of Jesus coming to the disciples in the midst of the storm as their boat is being swamped on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus has just endured the news of his cousin’s beheading by Herod, dealt wiht 5,000 people who wanted to hear from him and spent an all night session alone with his Father. The disciples saw Jesus coming to them over the waves and their hearts are struck with fear.

“It is I!” Jesus spoke to them, though they hardly believed it in their fear. I love that simple expression. Honestly it doesn’t matter to me where God asks me to go or who I might be asked to touch on any given day, as long as I can identify him and the work he is doing in those things. I may only have a hint of it, but when I hear, “This is I,” my heart comes to rest. It doesn’t matter if I’m stretched way beyond my comfort zone, or if the waves are crashing over the bow. It only matters that he is there and his purpose is unfolding in the way I live alongside him. Then, I really don’t mind being anywhere he wants me to be!