Adventures In Grace

Jesus sent Mack into a dark cave where he met this beautiful woman who is the judge. As she and Mack talked, it surfaced hat he didn't think that God truly loved all his kids, or Missy wouldn't have been murdered; in light of that, she asked Mack to take her place and be the […] The post #073 – The Shack (Chp. 11 – Here Comes Da Judge) – Pt 9 [Podcast] appeared first on Adventures in Grace .

This is a special announcement for the podcast.  Just a quick update on what has been happening and making sure everything is working properly in my system. I have had numerous problems of late with the site … from malware shutdowns … to podcasts not showing up … to Bluehost crashing … I think everything […] The post Can You Hear Me Now?! … Special Announcement appeared first on Adventures in Grac...

Mack's walk with Jesus quickly becomes a test to see if Mack trusts Jesus. Heading off down the dock, Jesus walks past all the boats, not stopping until he reaches the end. Mack is thinking that it's awfully cold for a swim and a long way to the other side of the lake, but he's game […] The post #072 – The Shack (Chp. 10 – Walk on Water) – Pt 8 [Podcast] appeared first on Adventures in Grace .

Mack's next encounter is with Sarayu whom he has decided is the Holy Spirit … in the garden of his soul. She is gentle, somewhat ethereal, but also down-to-earth in her gardener clothes. She is delighted at Mack's assessment of her garden as "chaotic," although she assures him that her garden isn't just a mess of […] The post #071 – The Shack (Chp. 9 – The Garden) – Pt 7 [Podcast] appeared first o...

Over breakfast, Mack discusses with Jesus, Sarayu and Papa the hierarchy of the Trinity, only to learn there isn't one. They are in a circle of relationship and choose to serve each other above themselves. In perfect unity there is no need for authority. This transitions to a discussion about how God works in the […] The post #070 – The Shack (Chp. 8 – A Breakfast of Champions) – Pt 6 [Podcast] ap...

Mack's introduction to the three holy beings continues and he is delighted to watch the relationship among them. Each one seems to have a particular message and so their conversations with each other take on a different tone. As they begin to share what they have to teach him Mack is overjoyed at the holy […] The post #069 – The Shack (Chp. 7 – God on the Dock) – Pt 5 [Podcast] appeared first on A...

Meeting the three beings in the shack evokes a number of emotions in Mack. First is relief that the note was not sent by the murderer so he will not need his gun. Next is wonder at the strange creatures who are obviously holy; in fact, Mack is quickly convinced that he is in the presence […] The post #068 – The Shack (Chp. 6 – A Piece of Pi) – Pt 4 [Podcast] appeared first on Adventures in Grace .

We pick up our study of the Shack this week.  In previous weeks, we discussed our purpose in studying the book, as well as how the story is a metaphor for what happened in the author's life. This week, we discuss the backdrop of the story … the introduction of Mack, as well as how […] The post #067 – The Shack (Pt 3: Chps. 1-5) [Podcast] appeared first on Adventures in Grace .

I'm back! After a VERY long absence, I decided to return to podcasting. Where have I been? What have I been up to? What is the future of the show? Hear all about it! Click to Listen "The Return" Show Notes No Show Notes for this week. "The Return" Episode Resources   No resources for […] The post #066 – The Return [Podcast] appeared first on Adventures in Grace .

We've talked in general about The Shack and why we are studying the fictional book. In this episode, I want to get the author's perspective of his side of the story. Knowing why an author wrote the book is a huge benefit to understanding the book.  Once we understand this, we have a better grasp […] The post #065 – The Real Story: The Shack (Pt 2) [Podcast] appeared first on Adventures in Grace .

I've wanted to talk about The Shack for quite some time. The first time I read this book, it healed me of so many wounds in my life. We start up a study of the book, followed by Baxter Kruger's book on the theology of The Shack But before we begin, I want to talk […] The post #064 – The Shack (Pt 1) [Podcast] appeared first on Adventures in Grace .

We end our study (for now) on the issue of self-worth and why we struggle in life. In this episode, I want to hit upon the topic of renewing the mind. What is this? Can we detail it to make it practical and get away from "religious answers" on this? I detail a lot of my […] The post #063 – Renewing the Mind [Podcast] appeared first on Adventures in Grace .

I've always struggled with why I struggled after salvation. And I've equally struggled with a good analogy for how I saw truth now. In this episode, I share one of my own whacky analogies … a whacky computer analogy … of who we are in Christ and what our flesh is. I have posted the […] The post #062 – Flesh: The Whacky Computer Analogy [Podcast] appeared first on Adventures in Grace .

Bill Gillham has been a great influence on me in my understanding of "flesh." I thought it would be good to hear him explain it in a rare teaching by Bill that I don't believe is available anywhere. Last week we discussed what "flesh" patterns are. This week we hear from Bill Gillham about the structuring of […] The post #061 – Bill Gillham: Structuring Flesh Patterns [Podcast] appeared first on A...

In our study of self-worth and significance in God, we started last episode to look at the issue of why we struggle.  Why is basing our identity upon what God says about us SO difficult? The reason is because of the flesh. Last week we discussed what the Bible means by the word "flesh." This week […] The post #060 – Flesh Patterns [Podcast] appeared first on Adventures in Grace .

In our study of self-worth and significance in God, we want to now turn to the issue of why we struggle.  Why is basing our identity upon what God says about us SO difficult? The reason is because of the flesh. But here we get into trouble.  What is the "flesh" that the Bible talks […] The post #059 – Flesh [Podcast] appeared first on Adventures in Grace .

To find true healing in our lives, we must learn to deal with past hurts.  This is all part of the journey into significance based on God. There is a lot of confusion in Christian circles about what forgiveness is about.  In its simplest definition, it means to "divorce" the other person. Click to Listen […] The post #058 – Forgiveness [Podcast] appeared first on Adventures in Grace .

To find true healing in our lives, we often have to go through brokenness.  This is all part of the journey into significance based on God. In this episode, I play a special interview by Paul Young (who wrote The Shack) as he describes his "shack" and his healing in God. Click to Listen "Healing" […] The post #057 – Healing [Podcast] appeared first on Adventures in Grace .

Finding our significance in God is a journey … a journey into love.  This isn't an instance of love … this is a journey.  That means we work this out, step by step, in real life. We have spent several weeks talking about the problem in the fall of man and The Lie.  Now I […] The post #056 – Journey into Love [Podcast] appeared first on Adventures in Grace .

Toxic love, unhealthy relationship, toxic relationship, and bad relationship are all different names for the same thing as I see it. Toxic love is a sickness in the hearts of the participants. It is a union of unhealthy and needy individuals. It is a parasite of the human spirit. It uses another person's weakened spirit […] The post #055 – Toxic Love [Podcast] appeared first on Adventures in Grace...

The fact that man has believed The Lie and fallen results in chaos in his life … he no longer knows who he is … he is divorced from any value he had, since his relationship with God was to be the fullest expression of his worth. Today, at the end of the twentieth century, […] The post #054 – Fallen Results [Podcast] appeared first on Adventures in Grace .

To understand the goal of salvation, we must look at the original creation.  In so doing, we run across "The Lie" … not just any old lie, but The Lie which is the foundation of all our problems. This Lie is not a call to atheism, but of independence … that we would live out […] The post #053 – The Lie [Podcast] appeared first on Adventures in Grace .

Father God? Or Daddy God?  A listener recently wrote me and mentioned how they had their "father's shadow" looming over their lives as they dealt with their self-worth. I can relate. Being raised without a dad, and even having some disturbing encounters with him at an early age, I struggled with seeing God as my […] The post #052 – Father God vs Daddy God [Podcast] appeared first on Adventures in...

The Significance Journey … to learn a new self-worth based on what God says about you isn't easy.  We've built up years of "stinkin thinkin" that just doesn't go away over night. The lie of the fall in the Garden of Eden was that man could live independently from God, govern his own life, control […] The post #051 – The Significance Journey [Podcast] appeared first on Adventures in Grace .

Last week we discussed the Performance Trap part of the Lie in the fall of man:  Self-worth = My performance + Others' Opinions.  But we left with the problem, and not the solution. In this episode we return to this topic and talk about God's solution to this problem.  On what basis are we supposed to […] The post #050 – Fear of Failure & God's Solution [Podcast] appeared first on Adventures in Gr...