"The Shack"

The Shack by William Paul Young is the "buzz" book of the year. Young basically "self-published" the book with his own publisher, Windblown Media, and now it has sold over a million copies, mostly by word of mouth.
The book is a deeply emotional story about why God allows suffering. I believe that Young does an excellent job in answering this question in the novel, which is probably why it has sold so well. Young imagines that a man named Mack who gets a note from God, asking him to return to the shack where his young daughter had been murdered. The man does, and finds answers to his questions and doubts about God's goodness.
However, some things about the book trouble people. I know one church library in Mississippi that has banned the book, and LifeWay Christian Stores sells the book but asks readers to read it with caution. Why?
Read the rest of this review in the first comment below...

Recommended movie list

Can you give me a list of your recommended christian movies?
Thanks
Christi Ricker

Christi,
That's an interesting question. Let me see...
The following I would recommend to all ages:
"Facing the Giants" (high school football, great feel-good movie despite no
professional actors, gospel message)
"Flywheel" (low budget, unprofessional acting, but humorous, great message
about fatherhood, faith and honesty, gospel message)
"Joshua" (imagine if Jesus visited a small town in America today; well done
movie, unique story)
"Time Changer" (unique movie about what happens if a Christian from 1890
sees our culture today; gospel message)
"Unidentified" (about UFO's, Christian message)
"Something to Sing About" (comedy, music, gospel message)
"The Climb" (mountain climbing, adventure, gospel message)
"The Road to Redemption" (comedy with gospel message)
"Last Flight Out" (exciting missionary story, gospel message)
"The Nativity Story" (story of Jesus' birth; follows the Bible story)
"Matthew" (word for word through gospel of Matthew; actor who plays Jesus
smiles a lot)
"The Gospel of John" (word for word through gospel of John; very well done
film)
"The Ten Commandments" (Carlton Heston classic and the 2007 animated version)
And of course, all of the "Veggie Tales" movies are great for the kids

The following are good Christian movies with a good message, but they may be
too intense for children:
"A Vow to Cherish" (about faithfulness to marriage when spouse becomes
sick-- one of the most emotional movies I have ever seen)
"The Second Chance" (about a pastor who got too big and forgot his roots,
like prodigal son)
"End of the Spear" (about missionaries murdered in South America; about
forgiveness and gospel is explained by the natives to other natives)
"The Visitation" (about cults and false Messiahs and Jesus being the only
true way; this is a scary movie, however)
"The Hiding Place" (true story of Nazi concentration camp, gospel message)
"Hangman's Curse" (about "haunted" high school, good movie for teenagers,
deals with bullying, gospel message)
"Amazing Grace" (about end of slave trade and Christians being involved in
politics to make a difference in society; very well done with good acting,
costumes; makes use of the song "Amazing Grace" several times; be sure to
watch the musical tribute after the credits)
"The Passion of the Christ" (you know this one)

And the following are not explicitly Christian movies, but they have a
spiritual message or a message affirming faith in God:
"Bella" (shows the value of human life through the eyes of one man, and one pregnant woman)
"Saving Sarah Cain" (wonderful feel good movie; secular, worldly woman who
must adopt her sister's children who are Amish and is confronted by their
simple faith)
"The Chronicles of Narnia: Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe" (classic children's
fantasy story- Lion symbolizes Jesus)
"The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian"
"Saints and Soldiers" (WWII movie-- not for children; shows a soldier who
has faith and one who does not)
"Gods and Generals" (Civil War movie-- not for children; shows the true
faith of Generals Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee as well as faith of Union
soldiers)
"Thr3e" (intense, psycho thriller, but good faith message)
"Because of Winn Dixie" (cute, feel-good movie about a pastor's daughter and
a dog)

Any comments from readers about these films? Would you add some other movies to the list?

Breaking the Missional Code

I just finished reading Breaking the Missional Code: How Your Church Can Become a Missionary in Your Community by Ed Stetzer and David Putman.
Ed Stetzer is an experienced church planter who did research for the North American Mission Board (NAMB) at the time that he wrote the book, and now does research for LifeWay Christian Resources and also consults with NAMB. David Putman is also an experienced church planter.
Stetzer and Putman challenge the reader to see North America as a mission field, and use the same techniques in North America that international missionaries use-- particularly understanding the culture and context of your environment and making sure that you do not allow cultural barriers to prevent you from getting the message to people. Too often, pastors have tried to imitate the methods of other successful pastors like Rick Warren or Bill Hybels, rather than trying to discover the unique culture of their own community (which is what they call "breaking the missional code") and then applying that knowledge to designing ministry for their own community. The authors stress that every community is different, and within each community there are different cultures that need different kinds of congregations. A truly missional church will recognize this and seek to plant other churches for other cultures, such as ethnic groups, postmoderns, multi-family housing dwellers, etc.
The authors stress that in today's culture that is changing from modern to postmodern, we should no longer see missions and evangelism as separate activities, nor should we see discipleship and evangelism as separate. To "break the missional code," we must see that postmodern people will often come to the gospel through a slow process, through building relationships and through Bible teaching, since they often come from a culture that is ignore of the Bible, although open to spiritual things. Postmoderns may actually worship, participate in community projects with a church, attend Bible study and listen to sermons for a year or two before being ready to make a commitment to Christ. Thus the missional church must see that missions and discipleship are part of the process of doing evangelism.
This was a thought-provoking and challenging book. Every church leader would benefit from reading this book.