The Shack : Bible Study 08

Chapter 10: Wade in the Water

P140 What Jesus had been suggesting, Mack finally allowed into his consciousness. He was talking about walking across on the water. Jesus, anticipating his hesitation, asserted, “C’mon, Mack. If Peter can do it…”

Q: What is Jesus trying to do with Mack when he asks him to walk on the water? Why does this request make Mack hesitate?

Matthew 14:25-31 During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear.
But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."
"Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."
"Come," he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"

P141 Jesus: Such a powerful ability, the imagination. That power alone makes you so like us. But without wisdom, imagination is a cruel task master. …do you think humans were designed to live in the present or the past or the future?

…now tell me, where do you spend most of your time in your mind, in your imagination; in the present, in the past, or in the future?

Q: How much do we live our lives in our imagination? Why do you think God planted that ability within us? When does our imagination help or hinder our faith?

Deuteronomy 28:64-67 Then the LORD will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods--gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you an anxious mind , eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart. You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life. In the morning you will say, "If only it were evening!" and in the evening, "If only it were morning!"--because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see.

P142: Jesus – Mack, do you realize that your imagination of the future, which is almost always dictated by fear of some kind, rarely, if ever, pictures me there with you?

It is impossible for you to take power over the future because it isn’t even real, nor will it ever be real. You try and play God, imagining the evil that you fear becoming reality, and then you try and make plans and contingencies to avoid what you fear.

The person who lives by their fears will not find their freedom in my love.

Q: What things make us insecure and unfaithful to God? Why do we rarely picture Christ as being at the heart of our future? What does this tell us about our faith?

John 14:1-3 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

P144 Jesus - Our earth is like a child who has grown up without parents, having no one to guide and direct her. Some have attempted to help her but most have simply tried to use her. Humans, who have been given the task to lovingly steer the world, instead plunder her with no consideration, other than their immediate needs.

Q: Why do we dominate the earth and abuse it? How do our modern lifestyles affect our planet’s ecosystem? What should we be doing as Christians to change this?

Psalm 24:1-2 The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.

P145 Jesus - have you noticed that even though you call me Lord and King, I have never really acted in that capacity with you/ I’ve never taken control of your choices or forced you to do anything, even when what you were about to do was destructive or hurtful to yourself and others.

To force my will on you, …is exactly what love does not do. Genuine relationships are marked by submission even when your choices are not helpful or healthy.

Q: Why doesn’t Jesus take charge over our lives? Would we expect Him to change things to suit ourselves if He did? How can we allow Him to influence our choices? Why are we sometimes resistant to this?

1 Peter 4:1-2 Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.

P146: Jesus – I don’t want slaves to my will; I want brothers and sisters who will share life with me.

That’s because like most men you find what you think of as fulfillment in your achievements, and Nan, like most women, find it in relationships.

Q: How can we fulfill our lives in Christ? How would that affect our accomplishments and relationships?

John 17:21-23 Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me . May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

P147: Jesus – Women, in general, will find it difficult to turn from a man and stop demanding that he meets their needs, provides security, and protects their identity, and return to me. Men, in general, find it very hard to turn from the works of their hands, their own quests for power and security and significance, and return to me.

Q: Why do we find it so difficult to return to Jesus? What obstacles get in our way?

Matthew 11:28-30 "Come to me , all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

P148: Jesus - Power in the hands of independent humans, be they men or women, does corrupt….remember, I am not about performance and fitting into man-made structures; I am about being. As you grown in relationship with me, what you do will simply reflect who you really are.

I came as a man to complete a wonderful picture in how we made you. From the first day, we hid the woman within the man, so that at the right time we could remove her from within him. We didn’t create man to be alone; she was purposed from the beginning.

Q: What makes us identify ourselves through what we do, instead of focusing on who we are in God’s eyes? When we end up glorifying our achievements, do we cheat God?

Isaiah 46:5-7 "To whom will you compare me or count me equal? To whom will you liken me that we may be compared?
Some pour out gold from their bags and weigh out silver on the scales; they hire a goldsmith to make it into a god, and they bow down and worship it.
They lift it to their shoulders and carry it; they set it up in its place, and there it stands. From that spot it cannot move. Though one cries out to it, it does not answer; it cannot save him from his troubles.

P149: Jesus - Seriously, my life was not meant to be an example to copy. Being my follower is not trying ‘to be like Jesus’ it means for your independence to be killed. I came to give you life, real life, my life. We will come and live our life inside of you, so that you begin to see with our eyes, and hear with our ears, and touch with our hands, and think like we do. But, we will never force that union on you. If you want to do your thing, have at it. Time is on our side.

Q: Are our lives meant to copy Christ? Is he not an example to us? What is the author trying to convey by making Christ speak these words? What do you think he means by ‘time is on our side’?

John 13:15-17 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

1 Peter 2:21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example , that you should follow in his steps.

The Shack: Bible Study 07

Chapter 9: A Long Time Ago, In a Garden Far, Far Away

P128 Mack about Sarayu (Holy Spirit) – No wonder so many people are a little unnerved at relating to her…She obviously is not a being who is predictable.

Q: Does having the Holy Spirit in our lives make us feel uncomfortable? Why/ why not?

Romans 9:1-4
I speak the truth in Christ-I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit - I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel.

P 129 Sarayu – A fractal…something considered simple and orderly that is actually composed of repeated patterns no matter how magnified. A fractal is almost infinitely complex. I love fractals, so I put them everywhere.

P 131 Sarayu: Oh, Mackenzie, if only you knew. It’s not the work, but the purpose that makes it special. And…it’s the only kind I do.

Q: Why are we so obsessed with getting things accomplished rather than asking ourselves what is the purpose behind our actions?

Galatians 3:5
Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?

Sarayu: I created everything that actually exists, including what you consider the bad stuff. But when I created it, it was only Good, because that is just the way that I am.

P132 Mack: Then why has so much of the ‘Good’ gone ‘bad’?

Q: Why has so much of the ‘Good’ gone bad?

Sarayu: You (humans) are truly blind to your own place in the Creation. Having chosen the ravaged path of independence, you don’t even comprehend that you are dragging the entire creation along with you.

Q: Where do we see the effects of our disobedience in the world? What motivates us to spoil God’s good works?

Romans 1:18-20
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

Sarayu: That is the wonder and adventure of exploration, a piece of what you call science – to discern and discover what we have hidden for you to find.

Sarayu: For any created being, autonomy is lunacy. Freedom involves trust and obedience inside a relationship of love.

Q: Why do we associate freedom with independence? How can freedom involve trust and obedience?

Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

P133: Sarayu: Humans have a great capacity for declaring something good or evil, without truly knowing.

P134 Mack: That’s going to bother some people. There are lots of people who think it (Garden of Eden) was only a myth.

Sarayu: Well, their mistake isn’t fatal. Rumors of glory are often hidden inside of what many consider myths and tales.

Q: What do you consider to be the truths about the Garden of Eden? Why do many people attribute it to being a myth?

Genesis 2:8-9
Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground--trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Sarayu: When something happens to you, how do you determine whether it is good or evil?

And how confident are you in your ability to discern what indeed is good for you, or what is evil?

Q: How do we determine what is good and evil? How do we know this to be true?

Hebrews 5:12-14
In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil .

P135 Sarayu…that which you determine to be good will change over time and circumstance. And then beyond that and even worse, there are billions of you each determining what is good and what is evil. So when your good and evil clash with your neighbor’s, fights and arguments ensue and even wars break out.

And then if there is no reality of good that is absolute, then you have lost any basis for judging. It is just language, and one might as well exchange the word good for the word evil.

Q: Why are we so resistant to absolutes in our society? If there is no absolute right or wrong, why do we both reward and punish people?

The choice to eat of that tree (in Eden) tore the universe apart divorcing the spiritual from the physical.

Mack: I spend most of my time and energy trying to acquire what I have determined to be good…and I spend a huge amount of energy and worry fearing what I’ve determined to be evil.

Q: How could Adam & Eve’s disobedience wreck the harmony between the physical and spiritual? How true is Mack’s statement above to your own life?

P136 Sarayu: You must give up your right to decide what is good and evil on your own terms. That is a hard pill to swallow; choosing to only live in me. To do that you must know me enough to trust me and learn to rest in my inherent goodness.

Q: Why are we afraid to give up our right to determine what is right and wrong? How can we live by and with the Spirit?

Both evil and darkness can only be understood in relation to both Light and Good; they do not have any actual existence. I am Light and I am Good. I am Love and there is no darkness in me. Light and Good actually exist.

John 12:35-36
Then Jesus told them, "You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light." When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.

P137 Sarayu: No Mack. A child is protected because she is loved, not because she has the right to be protected.

Mackenzie, Jesus didn’t hold on to any rights; he willingly became a servant and lives out of his relationship to papa. He gave up everything, so that by his dependent life he opened a door that would allow you to live free enough to give up your rights.

Q: What did Jesus give up to become one of us? How has His sacrifice helped our salvation?

Hebrews 2:8-9
In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

P138: Sarayu: And well you should, Mackenzie, because this garden is your soul. This mess is you! Together, you and I, have been working with a purpose in your heart. And it is wild and beautiful and perfectly in process. To you it seems like a mess, but to me, I see a perfect pattern emerging and growing and alive – a living fractal.

Q: What kind of messes are our own souls experiencing? How can we get the Holy Spirit to work with us to make our souls wild, beautiful, and perfect in process? What does that mean to you anyway?

The Shack: Bible Study 06

Chapter 7: God on the Dock

P105 …but Jesus went straight to Papa and, kneeling at her feet, began to wipe off the front of her clothes. He worked down to her feet and gently lifted one foot at a time, which he directed into the basin where he cleaned and massaged it.

John 13:3-5 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

Mack: Obviously, what was truly important here was the love they had for one another and the fullness it brought them. He shook his head. How different this was from the way he treated the ones he loved!

Q: How does love bring fullness to our lives? Why is it so elusive at times?

1 John 4:7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

P106: Sarayu: You can’t share with one and not share with us all.

We have limited ourselves out of respect for you…as we are listening to you, it is as if this is the first time we have known about them (Mack’s children), and we take great delight in seeing them through your eyes.

P107 Mack had to snicker at the thought of God having devotions.

Mack sat transfixed as he watched Jesus kiss his father’s hands and then look deep into his father’s eyes and finally say, “Papa, I loved watching you today, as you made yourself fully available to take Mack’s pain into yourself, and then give him space to choose his own timing.

What was he witnessing? Something simple, warm, intimate, genuine; this was holy.

Q: How do we offer our devotion to God. When do we make time for devotions? What holy moments have we experienced.

Psalm 29:2 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness .

P108 Sarayu began humming…To him (Mack) it sounded Gaelic, and he could almost hear breath-pipes in accompaniment…if he could just keep listening to her, he would be thrilled to do dishes the rest of his life.

P109: (Jesus looking at the stars). “I created it as the Word, before the Word became flesh. So even thought I created this, I see it now as a human. And I must say, it is impressive!”

Q: Does this passage make Christ more human to us? Is it more important to make a human connection with Christ, rather than a divine one?

Genesis 1:16-18 God made two great lights--the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.

P110: (Mack to Jesus) It’s like I’ve always known you. But Papa isn’t at all what I expected from God, and Sarayu, she’s way out there.

Jesus : She is Creativity; she is Action; she is the breathing of Life; she is much more. She is my Spirit.

Sarayu means Wind – a common wind…

John 3:8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

Q: What do you think about this description of the Holy Spirit? Is it helpful to your understanding?

P111: Elousia: El is my name as creator, but ousia is ‘being’ or ‘that which is truly real,’ so the name means Creator God who is truly real and the ground of all being.

Q: How real is God in our lives?

Mack asking about the place for humanity – Jesus answers: Right where you were always intended to be. In the very center of our love and our purpose.

Ephesians 1:4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.

Q: How do we know that we are at the center of God’s love and purpose? What hinders us from accepting this?

1 John 3:1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God ! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

Jesus laughed. “I am Jewish, you know. My grandfather on my mother’s side had a big nose; in fact, most of the men on my mom’s side had big noses.”

P112: Jesus: God, who is the ground of all being, dwells in, around, and through all things – ultimately emerging as the real – and any appearances that mask that reality will fade away.

P113 Jesus (again looking at the stars) I’ll never get tired of looking at this. The wonder of it all – the wastefulness of creation, as one of our brothers has called it.

Q: Is creation wasted? On whom?

P114 Mack says he feels lost. Jesus responds: I know Mack. But it’s not true. I am with you and I’m not lost. I’m sorry it feels that way, but hear me clearly. You are not lost.

Q: Why is it important to know Christ is with us when we fell lost? What events have we experienced to know that this is true? Have there been moments when we have not felt this way?

John 18:8-9 "I told you that I am he," Jesus answered. "If you are looking for me, then let these men go." This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: "I have not lost one of those you gave me."

Chapter 8: A Breakfast of Champions

P115 He hadn’t had a flying dream in years, not since The Great Sadness had descended, but tonight Mack flew high into the starlit night, the air clear and cool but not uncomfortable.

P116 As odd as it sounds, Mack had learned inside his dreams to fly like this; to lift off the ground supported by nothing – no wings, no aircraft of any sort, just himself.

Q: Have you had any flying dreams? What did it feel like to you?

The dream had provoked The Great Sadness and before he could even get out of bed, he was once again fighting his way through the despair that had devoured too many of his days.

Q: Have you ever felt this kind of despair? How did you cope with and overcome it?

Psalm 42:5a Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?

P118: Papa – Dreams are sometimes important, you know. They can be a way of openin’ up the window and lettin’ the bad air out.

Mackenzie, I have no favorites; I am just especially fond of him.

Deuteronomy 10:17 For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.

Q: Does God have favorites? Why/ why not?

P119: Papa talking about humanity – I don’t like a lot of choices they make, but that anger – especially for me – is an expression of love all the same. I love the ones I am angry with just as much as those I’m not.

Papa I’m not asking you to believe anything, but I will tell you that you’re going to find this day a lot easier if you simply accept what is, instead of trying to fit it into your preconceived notions.

P120 Papa: I don’t need to punish people for sin. Sin is its own punishment, devouring you from the inside. It’s not my purpose to punish it; it’s my joy to cure it.

Q: What do you think about the above statement? Is it true to scripture or just the author’s wishful thinking? Should sin be punished by God? Should we be excused for our sins?

Ezekiel 5:8 "Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself am against you, Jerusalem, and I will inflict punishment on you in the sight of the nations.
Hosea 9:7 The days of punishment are coming, the days of reckoning are at hand.
Let Israel know this. Because your sins are so many and your hostility so great…

Matthew 25:46 "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

Hebrews 2:2-3 For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.

P121 Mack talking about the Trinity I know that you are one and all, and that there are three of you. But you respond with such graciousness to each other. Isn’t one of you more the boss than the other tow?

Jesus Does that make sense to you, Abba? Frankly, I haven’t a clue what this man is talking about.

P122 Sarayu Mackenzie, we have no concept of final authority among us, only unity. We are in a circle of relationship, not a chain of command or ‘great chain of being’ as your ancestors termed it…Hierarchy…is your problem, not ours.

P123 Hierarchy imposes laws and rules and you end up missing the wonder of relationship that we intended for you.

When you chose independence over relationship, you became a danger to each other….Authority…is merely the excuse the strong use to make others conform to what they want.

Q: What do you think about this section on hierarchy and authority? If this is true of the Trinity, what does this say about Christ’s Church? Would the Church work without hierarchy?

Matthew 20:25-28 Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Papa: We carefully respect your choices, so we work within your systems even while we seek to free you from them. Creation has been taken down a very different path than we desired.

P124 Jesus If you had truly learned to regard each other’s concerns as significant as your own, there would be no need for hierarchy.

Q: Why are we not significantly interested in other people’s concerns? What causes us to ignore or pass by other people in trouble?

Galatians 5:14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

P125 Mack …what is the value in a little girl being murdered by some twisted deviant? There is was gain, the question that lay burning a hole in his soul. “You may not cause those things, but you certainly don’t stop them.

Psalm 94:3 How long will the wicked, O LORD, how long will the wicked be jubilant?
Psalm 44:24 Why do you hide your face and forget our misery and oppression?

Q: Why is Mack so angry with God at this point? Why doesn’t God stop bad things happening to innocent people? Is it all just down to good and bad choices?

Papa …your choices are also not stronger than my purposes, and I will use every choice you make for the ultimate good and the most loving outcome.

In their disappointment, they either become softened toward me or they become bolder in their independence.

Q: Have you found the above statement to be true in your own life? If so, when and where?

Mack was staggered. “Look at the cost – all the pain, all the suffering, everything that is so terrible and evil…And look what it has cost you. Is it worth it?

“Yes!” came the unanimous, joyful response of all three.

P126 Papa - You see pain and death as ultimate evils and God as the ultimate betrayer, or perhaps, at best, as fundamentally untrustworthy. You dictate the terms and judge my actions and find me guilty.

Q: Why do we blame God for everything tragic that happens in the world? When do we feel betrayed by God? How does our faith overcome those times?

Sarayu: Mackenzie, you cannot produce trust just like you cannot ‘do’ humility. It either is or is not.

John 14:1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.”

Q: Do we trust God naturally, or is it learned by experience?

I just want you to be with me and discover that our relationship is not about performance or you having to please me.

Q: What makes us want to please God through what we do?

Mack I just can’t imagine any final outcome that would justify all this.
Papa We’re not justifying it. We’re redeeming it.

Q: What do you feel about these words between Mack and God? What does it mean for God to redeem situations and not justify them?

Luke 1:68 "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people.

The Shack ; Study 05

Chapter 6: A Piece of Pi

P88 God: or if you don’t want to do that, you can do whatever you want.

Q: is this what is meant by free will? What does it mean to you?

P89 Jesus: She loves surprises, and even thought you might not think it, her timing is always perfect.

Jesus: Don’t go because you feel obligated. That won’t get you any points around here. Go because it’s what you want to do.

Q: What causes us to feel obligated to God? When and where do we experience this?

Micah 6:6-8 With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

God: I’m in the kitchen Mackenzie. Just follow my voice.

P90 Suddenly Mack wanted to ask a thousand questions, or say a thousand things, some of them unspeakable and terrible.

Q: What do you think are the unspeakable and terrible questions that Mack wants to ask of God? What kind of questions would you like to ask God?

Mack: So God listens to funk?...I thought you would be listening to…you know, something churchier.

P91: these kids ain’t saying anything I haven’t heard before; they’re just full of vinegar and fizz. Lots of anger and, I must say, with some good reason too.

Q: Why does the author suggest this attitude of God toward popular music? Do you agree or disagree? Why?

Mack gasped voluntarily. He wasn’t used to having deep secret surface so quickly and openly. Instantly guilt and anger welled up and he wanted to lash out with a sarcastic remark in response.

P92 Mack: if you couldn’t take care of Missy, how can I trust you to take care of me?

God: Mack, I’m so sorry. I know what a gulf this has put between us….That’s why you’re here…I want to heal the wound that has grown inside of you, and between us.

Q: What causes Mack to fiercely blurt out this question? How does God feel about the issue? Is this the way that God deals with our issues?

Psalm 44:23-26 Awake, O Lord! Why do you sleep? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever.
Why do you hide your face and forget our misery and oppression? We are brought down to the dust; our bodies cling to the ground. Rise up and help us; redeem us because of your unfailing love.

P93 God: I’m not trying to make this harder for either of us. But this is a good place to start. I often find that getting head issues out of the way first makes the heart stuff easier to work on later…when you’re ready.

Q: Why does the head stuff often get in the way of the heart stuff?

God: Mackenzie, I am neither male nor female, even though both genders are derived from my nature. If I choose to appear to you as a man or a woman, it’s because I love you.

To reveal myself to you as a very large grandfather figure…would simply reinforce your religious stereotypes, and this weekend is not about reinforcing your religious stereotypes.

Q: What religious stereotypes do we have about God? Where do they come from? What do they accomplish?

P94 Mack…why is there such an emphasis on you being a Father? I mean, it seems to be the way you most reveal yourself.

God: Let me say for now that we knew once the Creation was broken, true fathering would be much more lacking than mothering.

Q: Is this an adequate explanation for God being emphasized as Father? Why/why not?

Matthew 23:9 And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.

God: Of course you are! I’m not interested in prisoners. You’re free to walk out that door right now and go home to your empty house.

P95 God: or we could talk about all the limiting influences in your life that actively work against your freedom. Your family genetic heritage, your specific DNA, your metabolic uniqueness….and then there’s advertising, propaganda and paradigms. Inside that confluence of multifaceted inhibitors…what is freedom really?

Q: What inhibits us from being truly free? Are we aware of them?

God: Mackenzie, the truth shall set you free and the truth has a name; he’s over in the woodshop right now covered in sawdust. Everything is about him.

Q: Why does God suggest that Christ is the truth that sets us free? Have we ever experienced this?

John 8:31-32

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free ."

P96: Love always leaves a significant mark…We were there together. (Calvary)

Mack: How can you say that? You abandoned him just like you abandoned me!

God: Don’t forget, the story didn’t end in his sense of forsakenness. He found his way though it to put himself into my hands. Oh, what a moment that was!

Q: How do the events at Calvary align themselves with Mack’s pain? Why would God allow so much pain to happen to Him and His Son?

Matthew 27:45-46 From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"-which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Luke 23:46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.

P97: God: You, on the other hand, were created to be loved. So for you to live as if you were unloved is a limitation, not the other way around.

God: Mack, pain has a way of clipping our wings and keeping us from being able to fly…And if unresolved for very long, you can almost forget that you were ever created to fly in the first place.

Q: What limitations do pain, loss, and sorrow afflict on our lives? How do they damage and diminish our created capacity to love?

97/98 God: I am God. I am who I am. And unlike you, my wings can’t be clipped.

P98 God: the problem is that many folks try to grasp some sense of who I am by taking the best version of themselves, projecting it to the nth degree, factoring in all the goodness they can perceive, which often isn’t much, and then call that God. And while it may seem like a noble effort, the truth is that it falls pitifully short of who I really am.

Q: Why do we insist in creating God in our own image? Why do all our images fall pitifully short of who God actually is?

P99 Mack: But what about all the miracles? The healings? Raising people from the dead? Doesn’t that prove that Jesus was God – you know, more than human?

God: Although he (Jesus) is also fully God, he has never drawn upon his nature as God to do anything.

Q: What do you think about Jesus not drawing upon His divine nature? Where did His healing powers come from?

Mark 5:25-30 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?"

P100 Mack: So, when he healed the blind?
God: He did so as a dependent, limited human being trusting in my life and power to be at work within him and through him. Jesus, as a human being, had no power within himself to heal anyone.

God: remember this, humans are not defined by their limitations, but by the intentions that I have for them…

Q: What do you think about the above statement? Does it crush or inspire you?

P101 God: To begin with, that you can’t grasp the wonder of my nature is rather a good thing. Who wants to worship a God who can be fully comprehended?

Q: What makes God so mysterious to us? How does it make us feel that we cannot fully comprehend God?

God: All love and relationship is possible for you only because it already exists within Me, within God myself. Love is not the limitation; love is the flying. I am love.

Q: What do you think about God being the source of our love? How should that help our relationships with our loved ones?

1 John 4:7-12 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love . This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

P102: God: The God who is – the I am who I am – cannot act apart from love!

Mack: Not that he actually believed any of it. If only it were true. His experience told him otherwise.

Q: Why does Mack doubt God? How do our bad experiences create barriers of doubt between us and God?

John 20:26-28 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" Then he said to Thomas , "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."

28 Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"


God: As much as you are able, rest in what trust you have in me, no matter how small, okay?

Q: Why is it so important to God that we trust Him?

John 14:1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.”

P103 Mack: I’m so sorry that you, that Jesus, had to die.

God: I know you are and I thank you. But you need to know that we aren’t sorry at all. It was worth it.

Jesus: “And I would have done it even if it were only for you, but it wasn’t!” he said with an inviting grin.

Q: Why does Mack say he is sorry? What do we feel about Jesus being crucified for us? How do we communicate those feelings to others?