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On a recent trip to Florida on a BridgeBuilders assignment , I spent an evening with some Methodist brothers who had been reading some of my books and wanted to come down for an evening of conversation. I had a fabulous time! It reminds me all over again that there are great people on this relational journey who serve with great grace among those in more traditional congregations. It does well to remind us all that living outside the box, isn’t about stopping Sunday morning attendance, but living alongside the Resurrected Christ wherever he places us in his family.

One of those brothers had been reading a book of letters by Swiss theologian Karl Barth from the 1960s. I loved what he was saying about it and he made me a copy. This was in response to a seminary professor who wanted to send Dr. Barth some questions on behalf of Christianity Today. Now I haven’t read Karl Barth in years and am not even sure what his particular theological bent was that riled up the evangelicals in the States. So, this is certainly no defense of his theology, but it is celebration of his wisdom for dealing with criticism. Not all who criticize are looking for truth, and you don’t have to fall victim to the ‘orthodoxy’ crowd that it is only interested in proving a point and not growing in the Truth. I thought others of you might enjoy reading some excerpts from it:

Please excuse me and please try to understand that I cannot and will not answer the questions these people put.

To do so in the time requested would in any case be impossible for me…. But even if I had the time and strength, I would not enter into a discussion of the questions proposed.

Such a discussion would have to rest on the primary presupposition that those who ask the questions have read, learned, and pondered the many things I have already said and written about these matters. They have obviously not done this… But I cannot respect the questions of these people from Christianity Today, for they do not focus on the reasons for my statements but on certain foolishly drawn deductions from them. Their questions are thus superficial.

The decisive point, however, is this. The second presupposition of a fruitful discussion between them and me would have to be that we are able to talk on a common plane. But these people have already had their so-called orthodoxy for a long time. They are closed to anything else, will cling to it at all costs, and they can adopt toward me only the role of prosecuting attorneys, trying to establish whether what I represent agrees or disagrees with their orthodoxy, in which I for my part have no interest! None of their questions leaves me with the impression that they want to seek with me the truth that is greater than us all. They take the stance of those who happily possess it already and who hope to enhance their happiness by succeeding in proving to themselves and to the world that I do not share this happiness. Indeed they have long since decided and publicly proclaimed that I am a heretic, possibly the worst heretic of all time. So be it! But they should not expect me to take the trouble to give them the satisfaction of offering explanations which they will simply use to confirm the judgment they have already passed on me.

…These fundamentalists want to eat me up. They have not yet come to a “better mind and attitude” as I once hoped. I can thus give them neither an angry nor a gentle answer but instead no answer at all.
Karl Barth (From Karl Barth, Letters: 1961-1968)

After a few hundred emails, it is pretty easy to tell those people who have serious questions and concerns and want to engage in honest dialog, and those who demand a one-sided conversation to defend their views and mischaracterize mine. I love dialog with the first. I think dear brothers and sisters can disagree about a lot of things and find meaningful and graceful dialog through those differences.

The second, however, act just like Pharisees, always straining at the smallest issue while missing the bigger picture of God’s grace and love. They don’t listen to others but act as prosecutors to prove my knowledge is deficient to theirs. I like Barth’s approach here. You don’t have to engage that conversation, for it will not bear fruit in either life.

A few weeks ago almost all of the extended family on my side of the family got together for a reunion in honor of my parents’ 60th wedding anniversary. We gathered at Shaver Lake, California where my parents live. That’s the mob to the left. We had a great time together in the Sierras and though it was a bit of a task to get us all together, it was well worth it.

Given the the pressure on relationships in our day, it is quite a treasure to have parents who have found a way to stay together that long. Our family is far from perfect and we have our share of ups and downs, but overall we have a deep and abiding love for each other that becomes more precious with the passing of time.

But I realize that isn’t true for everyone. Some families involve very broken people who are not free to love even their own children in a way that even older children desires. A few weeks ago a man wrote me about a desire to reconnect with his dad even though their relationship had been estranged for some time. He had experienced some healing in his own life and wanted to see if that could extend to this father as well. We shared about the process for that and I warned him about not having any expectations about how his father might respond, or he’d probably come away disappointed. Here’s what he wrote me a couple of weeks ago. I share it here with his permission.

I met with my dad. We hadn’t seen each other in over four years. I was able to offer him love in a way I never have been able to before. In the past I could only love him out of my brokenness which demanded certain things from him. This time I was able to offer my love out of a heart that is being healed. And I realized what a tough man he is to love. Honestly, for the past four years I really didn’t miss his caustic, cynical personality, one that is quicker to make enemies than friends. But I’m stepping into this, moving towards him, offering him my love and honesty. And I was able to tell him that I don’t have any expectations of him, of how I would like him to respond. The lines of communication have been re-opened. And in the end he thanked me for reaching out to him and he told me that he loves me.

An interesting side note is that I have befriended our neighbor who is the same age as my dad and who lost his wife of 45 years. He would have people stop by from local churches who would attempt to console but would end up preaching at him. He would kick them out. I just tried to love him and be there for him. This was two years ago. He has since given his life to Christ and is a new man! And I have been able to play a part in helping him reach out to his adult son and reconnect. That’s been an amazing journey to watch, since I’m now seeing it from a father’s perspective. Here is a 70 year old man who used to be tough as nails (marine in Vietnam, cop, etc) and now is a humble, gentle and broken man. He tears up when he talks about his son and how he longs to be a friend to him. And he always hugs me and tells me I am his best friend. Pretty incredible stuff.

The Father has revealed and healed so much in my life, exposing all the lies I believed about events that happened to me when I was younger that I had no control of. These lies then formed the foundation of my beliefs—about myself, others and the Father. God, in His kindness, has taken me (and continues to take me) on a journey of exposing the lies, deconstructing them and then speaking His Life and Truth into the situation. He is in essence reframing or reinterpreting those events. And since He is outside of time, he is taking me back to those events and showing me that He was there, even though I didn’t acknowledge His presence at that time.

I love it when people who are being loved, grow in the freedom to share that love with others. It reminds me of one of my favorite passages from THE SHACK:

Mack, if anything matters then everything matters. Because you are important, everything you do is important. Every time you forgive, the universe changes; every time you reach out and touch a heart or a life, the world changes; with every kindness and service, seen or unseen, my purposes are accomplished and nothing will ever be the same again.

The kingdom of God breaks into our world not through our achievements or large-scale initiatives. The kingdom of God breaks into our world in the simplest ways we love the people God puts in front of us today, and doing the simple things he nudges us to do, especially when we are willing to move beyond our comfort zones to love others who may, in fact, be quite difficult to love. Those are the acts that change the world!

Last Thursday I had just returned from a day of meetings in Los Angeles. Among others we’d met with one of the producers of the Spider-Man franchise, who is a passionate believer, was deeply impacted by THE SHACK and wants to help us bring the movie to screen. One of the things he said was, “Do you realize what you have the opportunity to do? You get show what a flower looks like God walks past it in a garden.” Wow! That makes me quiver!

I was relating that story to my wife and daughter who had brought the grandkids over for dinner. My daughter asked, “Do you guys ever stop and think that you might be way in over your heads here?”

Sara and I howled in laughter. Of course we are! I told Julie that I haven’t touched the bottom of the lake in so long, I don’t remember what it feels like anymore.

For the last 12 years God has asked us to be involved in all kinds of things that we’re not capable of doing, nor did we have the means on our own to make them happen. Whether it has been BridgeBuilder negotiations, publishing, or traveling around the world without a safety net. But we have seen him provide over and over exactly what we needed and brothers and sisters to share our lives with in the process.

Somehow in all of that we learned how to ride the top of the water spiritually speaking, by relaxing into his love. What a shock it has been! I didn’t know it, but for most of my life I’ve begged God to keep me in the shallow water by praying for circumstances that were predictable, manageable and comfortable. And I was always so angry and frustrated when he didn’t fix the circumstances that troubled me so that I could be happy.

But that’s not where life is lived for most of us. I never learned how much his love and grace could carry me through. All along he wanted to teach me how to swim on the top so that I could go places with him far beyond the shoreline. For the last dozen years or so, I’ve been learning to live with my security is in his love for me, not in being able to touch the bottom.

i honestly think that’s how many of us have misunderstood this Christian life. We thought it meant that God would keep us in the shallows, instead of teaching us to swim over the depths. We got angry at him when things didn’t turn out as easy as we wanted, when he was using those things to move us out of our comfort zone and into his. But living in his is so much better—free, alive, adventurous and fruitful.

So now I have no idea where the bottom is and I honestly don’t care anymore. When you can’t touch the bottom, it doesn’t matter if it’s 3 feet below your outstretched legs or 300. My security isn’t there anymore; I am learning top put it in God’s awesome love for me that can sustain me through anything, and accomplish his purpose not only in the circumstances I’m in, but also transforming me in the process.

And that’s not just true for me. It’s even more true for people facing far more dire circumstances than I am today. I get email every day from single moms struggling to stay afloat, people battling horrible diseases (or caring for kids who are), or people out of work or lonely and isolated. I know how frustrating all of that can be and at the same time I know that God wants to teach them to swim above those things rather than being consumed by them. That all begins with a revelation of his love and engagement with you.

His love is more certain than the rising sun. Learn to relax into him and he will become far more real to you than the fact that you, too, are in way over your head!

I guess this bit of humor is making the rounds on the ‘net! I loved it:

Ingrid, the church gossip, and self-appointed monitor of the church’s’ morals, kept sticking her nose into other people’s business.

Several members did not approve of her extra curricular activities, but feared her enough to maintain their silence.

She made a mistake, however, when she accused Frank, a new member, of being an alcoholic after she saw his old pickup parked in front of the town’s only bar one afternoon.

She emphatically told Frank (and several others) that everyone seeing it there would know what he was doing.

Frank, a man of few words, stared at her for a moment and just turned and walked away. He didn’t explain, defend, or deny… He said nothing.

Later that evening, Frank quietly parked his pickup in front of Ingrid’s house, walked home, and left it there all night!!!

You gotta love Frank!

Paul, Brad and I (that’s us above by some of our signs, and one of the shuttle buses that ferried people back and forth to their hotels) met some great people at Christian Retailing Convention in Orlando, but those events truly are not my cup of tea, or should I say Diet Coke! We are amazed at how this tidal wave just keeps rising. In the last month weekly sales for THE SHACK have doubled, following on the heels of The Today Show appearance, and articles in TIME Magazine as well as PEOPLE. We had some marvelous opportunities to share THE SHACK story and found people deeply touched by how God brought all of that together.

We met our UK partners and found their enthusiasm for THE SHACK staggering. They recorded a video interview with all three of us for use there. Also THE SHACK has been featured in a number of news reports on the BBC which has surprised folks there since they never talk about books with Christian themes.

And my two titles continue to grow, reaching an entirely new audience. At a book signing I did for HE LOVES ME, I was approached by a key book buyer from Barnes and Noble, who said she’d just ordered enough of my two titles to drive them to the front of the store. Wow! Who would have thought?

I don’t know when it’s harder to write entries these days, on the road or at home. I come home to a way too full inbox. My books are just soaring now on the draft of THE SHACK and that has brought all kinds of new people to my email, phone line and front door! I still haven’t worked out how I’m going to handle all of this, but for the time being I’ve got a new helper around the office. Jessica completed her summer with us and departed for a family vacation. My incredible wife Sara has stepped in to help us get through this time. She has taken a leave of absence from her counseling job at a local high school and will take over a lot of my daily duties at Lifestream, to give me more time to write and deal with other realities at Windblown Media.

I am really excited about our working together through the next year. She will be handling a lot of details around here, but please know if you’re talking with her, it’s the same as talking with me. Some folks would say it’s even better!

One final note. We also heard from our brothers and sisters in Kenya who are still in need. Food prices have hit the roof and they are still caring for families that were displaced in the violence and have no home to return to. Every dime sent to us will go directly to those who need it. If God puts it on your heart to send something, please go to our Invoice Page and click on the ‘Pay Invoice’ button. You can then list “Donation for Kenya” and the amount you’d like to give. If you use the ‘Donation’ button you will need to also send me an email letting me know you wanted this to go for Kenya and not for Lifestream. All donations to this cause are tax deductible. Or, if you prefer, you can also send a check to Lifestream • 7228 University Dr. • Moorpark, CA 93021.

Yes, we did make it home from Europe, but have fallen into a firestorm of emails and business arrangements that need my attention NOW! Almost takes all the joy out of coming home! Almost!

I leave for Orlando tomorrow, so things are a bit face-paced around here. But in the last week we’ve moved the movie production of THE SHACK a few more feet down the track and we are so excited at how that is shaping up. Kathie Lee Gifford on the TODAY show this morning gave it an exceptional summer-reading plug. TIME magazine has a blurb in their new issue, and we also have had interest for articles from Reuters, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, and PEOPLE. So the phenomena keeps unfurling. Who would have ever thought.

But here’s what I really wanted to share. I had a brief exchange with a lady named Vicky and I think it would be encouraging to others of you as well. This is what Father wants to do in our lives and he has a thousand ways to do it given our unique make up and circumstances.

Here’s the exchange:

I am a 49-year-old widow. Just a few months after his 44th birthday, my husband was diagnosed as being in the late stages of an insidious and deadly type of cancer. He died 49 days later. That was September 20, 2005. I spent two years utterly shattered by these events and am just now emerging from the shroud of this living death.

Last night I started reading So You Don’t Want to go to Church Anymore.

I am a performance-based believer (at least I think I’m a believer, plagued by doubts all the time), all my life trying to earn God’s love and attention. The idea of him as “Father” or “Dad” is totally foreign to me. I’ve always felt there that I’ve missed something, that something has failed to take root in my heart and I’ve just missed the point. Over the years I’ve alternated between being a good-Christian-Girl to being an outrageous party girl to getting into New Age stuff. I don’t want to live this way any longer. I want it to be real, and to know that I know that I know.

My biggest question is HOW? How do I just stop and let God love me? Last night I prayed that he will show me how to let him love me. How do I open up and let him be a Father to me?

My response: First let me say I’m sorry for the deep pain you’ve experienced. Unfortunately, it is not as uncommon in our day as people might think. Life is filled with pain, it’s just that lots of people have learned to hide it.

Secondly, I’d say to simply ask God to see his reality. You don’t let him love you. He already does. It’s just that you don’t see it yet. When you ask him to show you, he does the work to untangle you from the inside so that you can see that love. That process generally takes some time. So just wake up every day acknowledging his love for you. Ask him to show you a bit more every day….

A few things from the website that might help:

Listen to Transitions (free download).
Read HE LOVES ME (free download if you prefer).
You might also find some of our podcasts.
And if you haven’t yet, buy and read THE SHACK.

NONE of these will do it, of course. They will begin to help you carve out a mindset that will help you recognize Father’s working in you so that you can discover the unique way that Father wants to make himself known to you and in you.

And to that end, I pray that the eyes of your heart will be opened to behold all that this God has done for you and al that he wants to do in you to let you freely live as his daughter in the earth. It’s great stuff. Isn’t it amazing how he has already begun to draw you back to his side? He understands your pain, the places you’ve wandered, and now wants to get you on the track that matches the hunger he’s planted in your heart. And he’ll do it! He’s pretty good at what he does.

This is how she responded. And I love that God didn’t use any of the things I gave her, but simply made himself know in the reality of Vicky’s life.

A few weeks after your reply, my boss asked me to accompany him to his friend’s house to notarize some end-of-life documents. The man, like my husband, was stricken with an aggressive, deadly cancer and had only days to live. When we arrived, the wife was extremely distraught and I sat there and held her hand as she poured out her grief and fear over this imminent loss.

She was on my mind the rest of the day and it weighed heavy on me all that she was going though and the grief that lay ahead…and that evening I was reliving in my mind and spirit the days leading up to my own husband’s death. How even though he had betrayed me, I loved him, I couldn’t HELP but love him, I couldn’t just all of a sudden stop loving him even if I tried; and in fact, I would have gotten up on that bed and died in his place. Absolutely. Without question.

And then That Voice…the Voice that I know to be Jesus Voice…whispered to my heart “that’s how I feel about you and that’s what I did for you”. And my heart opened up to Him.

Finally. After nearly 50 years of trying to get Him to love me, trying to get MYSELF to love Him. Finally, ALL HIM. 100%. Not 99% God + 1% me. Which always ended up equaling exactly ZERO. Finally. All Him.

Do I sound giddy? I am!

One more picture! This was the view from our chalet last night in the village of Rougemont in the Swiss Alps.

Sara and I just returned from two days in that area with our hosts Silvio and Dominique Viotti. We have had a great time with this dear brother and sister and their family. We have laughed ourselves silly more times than I can count. A couple of years ago Silvio translated SO YOU DON’T WANT TO GO TO CHURCH ANYMORE into French and is just finishing up on HE LOVES ME. They have been warm and gracious to us and have showed us the incredible beauty of their country. They have also introduced us to a number of their friends on Sunday as we had a bbq out in a park and shared about Father’s life together.

Tomorrow Sara and I board a Swiss Air jet from Geneva for the flight home. I’ve been gone 3 weeks, traveled hundreds of miles and am looking forward to a night or two in my own bed at home.

Finally, we just found out that the NY Times published an article today on THE SHACK, which has now had four weeks at #1 on their Trade Fiction list. Christian Novel Is Surprise Best Seller traces the rise of THE SHACK by William P. Young, calling it “the most compelling recent example of how a word-of-mouth phenomenon can explode into a blockbuster when the momentum hits chain bookstores, and the marketing and distribution power of a major commercial publisher is thrown behind it.”

On Friday we hiked up to the rocky nob of the hill that you can see on the picture from my last blog. It is to the left above where we are staying. The view was breathtaking. The picture above is the view to the south and the picture below the view to the north of the small village where we have been staying. The weather has been fabulous, if a bit warm. Sunny every day and the landscape is green and luscious.

Today we are off to the Alps for a two-day expedition! This should be fun. Then, it is home on a big Swiss Air jet.

Sara and I left Germany this morning and arrived in Switzerland. The previous day we trained down to the southern border of Germany and were taken on a beautiful drive through the Black Forest. What a great time we had! Then this morning we took a train into Switzerland. That’s us outside the capital city of Bern before we spent the midday touring the city. We climbed to the top of the Cathedral tower in the background for a breathtaking, if not queasy, view of the area.

I had such a tremendous time in Germany. The ‘Jake’ book has become a huge seller there and most people I met with had already read it and were ready to interact with me about its content. I was so blessed by the people I met, the hunger they had, and their openness to follow Jesus instead of the rituals or demands of religion.

I love it that Jesus is stirring a common passion all over the world. It is not being led by any person, but the Holy Spirt is disillusioning people with the emptiness of our religious dogma and practice, to invite us into a real relationship with him. The only frustrating part of the trip was being unable to speak the language and not spending enough time in each place to get to know people as well as I hoped. But I was warmly and graciously received by people all over the country.

Now we are holed up in the village of Vallorbe along the French border west of Lausanne. This is the view out of the home we’re staying in. And what’s more, we actually get five nights sleeping in the same bed! How fun is that?

Still working my way through Germany. Sara arrived on Monday and we are enjoying this trip together now. We will be leaving Kaiserslautern today and head to Manheim. Then we have one more stop in Germany before we go to meet our friends in Switzerland. It has been an awesome trip so far. We’ve met lots of hungry people and have had some wonderful fellowship. I love how Father is calling people to himself in these days.

Here’s some items that might be of interest:

Our local paper out here ran an article about Windblown Media and The Shack. A lot of the facts in the story aren’t quite right, but the writer sure got the spirit of it. I thought some of you might enjoy reading it.

For those who have been waiting for an audio version of THE SHACK, it is now available both in a seven CD set and by Digital Download.

Also the ebook versions are done and will be available for Amazon’s Kindle and other ebook outlets on June 20.