I just finished a book...

My husband came home the other week and had purchased a book from a christian bookstore that he thought I might like. It was "The Shack" by William Young. I read it once, and I loved it. It involves a man who's young daughter is kidnapped and brutally murdered. He lives in a constant state of sorrow, hating himself and God for the events that had taken place. He has nightmares constantly with his daughter calling to him to help her and he can't. It later goes on to show how God "showed up", literally in this book, to guide Mack through it, and help him to forgive himself and the murderer, so that he could move on with his life. It reveals God in three physical persons; God, Jesus, and Sarayu, (The Spirit). I have already started to read it again. It gave me such a great vision of how God is so full of love, and how he wants to help us through our trails if we will just trust in Him. I just read a review, however, that leaves me a little bothered. You can read it at http://www.challies.com/archives/book-reviews/the-shack-by-william-p-young.php, but don't read it until you read the book. It pretty much says that the book portrays a far too lenient version of God, and does not reflect the consequences of not accepting Him as a person's Savior. It doesn't portray that people have a limited amount of time to make the decision to come to Christ; it actually has a passage where God tells Mack, "Time is on our side, I won't push you." That seems like God has already forgiven every one of their sins, whether they are Christians or not, which is definitely not true. I have refered this book to many people so far, and I did really enjoy it, I just want people to not be led astray from who our God is. Yes, he is awesome and loving and forgiving, but He is also only going to be ours if we ask him into our hearts and accept the free gift of salvation. If we don't, we know the consequences. Time is not on our side. The time is coming when Christ will return, and people need to know that they need to be ready. The only way to Heaven is through Christ. This came from God himself. Anyways, that's my "book review." Tehe!! I still really enjoyed the book. Many things about it I believe are true, but some things may be a bit off. It is a fiction book, however, and I suppose that happens. Always let the Bible be your number one source of information about Christ, not a fiction book. It is fun, however, to compare and contrast similarities and differences. Well boys and girls, I'm off to church for Movie Night at the coffeehouse!!