The Shack

After over a year's hiatus the blog is back. To much to say for facebook, plus I'd lose half my friends, BAH!!!

Ok, so I just finished reading the wildly popular book, "The Shack". It's all the rage in the Christian community, one book in a long line of books that have been all the rage in the Christian community over the years. Not only do many Christians love this book but so does the unbelieving world (#1 on the NYT best seller list), that oughta be a red flag right there.

Let me go back a bit as to why I read the book in the first place. A few weeks ago I had my high school Bible class take a look at a critical review of The Shack and give their impressions. Well.... a friend of a parent heard that I had criticized the book without reading it and defended the merits of the book. It was suggested I read the book before openly criticizing it. So I guess this means I have to read the entire Koran or the Upanishads or Dan Brown's works of fiction or any other writing before offering any opinion on any statement made in the work. Well, at least with The Shack I have done just this.

Granted it is an interesting story and at times it presents Biblical truth. The problem is that wrapped around and interwoven within the truth statements are statements presented as truth (from the mouth of God) that are false, in direct opposition to what Scripture teaches, and often drawn from the panentheistic teachings of eastern religions. I have four pages of notes cataloging these statements. If one's only exposure to so-called Christian writing was The Shack, that person would not come away from the experience with an understanding of the God of the Bible, or the Gospel.

This is the most dangerous sort of false teaching. It was suggested to me that discerning Christians will be able to sort these things out. That's true, but the reality is that there are few discerning Christians in this day and age. What is apparent is that there is a high degree of tolerance for and even acceptance of false teaching within the Christian community, this ought not to be so.

I can best summarize my (now informed) opinion on the theology and teaching in The Shack with the words of Dr. Harry Ironside, “Truth mixed with error is equivalent to all error, except that it is more innocent looking and, therefore, more dangerous. God hates such a mixture! Any error, or any truth-and-error mixture, calls for definite exposure and repudiation. To condone such is to be unfaithful to God and His Word and treacherous to imperiled souls for whom Christ died.”

As for the popularity of the book within the Christian community, I give you 2 Timothy 4:3-4 " For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths."

Final words....don't go in The Shack!

Soli Deo Gloria,
Mike

The Gospel and Goat Stew

These are the Fundis (day-laborers) that have been leveling the playing field at West Nairobi School for the past several months, and some office staff. The work was all done by hand with picks, shovels, and wheelbarrows. It was an awesome thing to see the transformation take place. Most of these workers live in the slums of Kibera and Kawangwari. We didn't want them to leave WNS with just there wages so we decided to give them a feast of goat stew and nyama choma, ugali, rice pilau, cabbage and vegetables to show our appreciation for their hard work. Since we're a Christian school we also wanted to give them a gift of eternal significance, so...........
After the feasting was through............
I shared the Gospel with them.
Then we presented them each with a Bible in their native tongue, Swahili, or English. Now the seed has been planted and you can pray that God will apply the Word to their hearts and bring many to repentance and saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Nairobi Homestead

Some of you have asked to see pictures of our apartment (maisonette), so here are just a few. This is, of course, the living room. You can see our handmade Christmas decoration hanging from the window bars. The bars are not decorative.
Dining room with Jocinta and family for Thanksgiving dinner. No turkey here.
Backyard.
Front gate, Abby, and Daisy with Jackson who is one of our guards.

Driveway.
Kitchen. That 5 gallon bucket contraption on the right is our water purifier. Pour the water in the top and it passes slowly through a ceramic filter dripping into the bottom bucket. An absolute necessity here in Nairobi.
Easy Bake oven.
Abby with Jocinta our house helper making Chapatis (Kenyan tortillas).
Outdoor laundry area. Most laundry is washed by hand since the machine is so old it only cleans clothes that aren't dirty. We don't have a drier, very uncommon here, so the clothes are hung on a couple of lines on the opposite side of the laundry area. Behind the boards/doors of the cabinet are 2 propane tanks for the stove. We exchange the empty tanks at a petrol station a few blocks away every couple of months.

Amboseli Safari and Mt. Kilimanjaro

We took Grandma and Jim on a short two day safari (trip) a week after there arrival. The violence and disruption had subsided enough for us to safely get out of Nairobi and travel south towards Tanzania. Many of the roads to the west and North of Nairobi were blocked by tribal gangs who were robbing and burning vehicles. The direction we traveled was unaffected at this time. The Lord blessed us with a safe trip and allowed us to experience many of the wonders of His creation.

There were literally hundreds of these big critters all over the place, up close and personal.

Grandma makes a new friend. She was actually somewhat unnerved by the boldness of this little Vervet but I made her sit still while I took the picture.

Maasai Village in Amboseli

One of the Chief's sons is giving us a little cultural instruction. That's the Chief sitting on my right.

Hangin out with one of the Chief's sons.


Inside a Maasai dung house.
Abby and Lily lovin the Maasai goats.

A Little Maasai Line-Dancing

Grandma and Jim arrive in Nairobi on December 30, 2007

Expecting a pleasant visit with the family the next day they are caught up in the political and social upheaval and violence that will dominate Kenya for the next several weeks. In fact, the next day is when I was trapped in Uchumi while a major gun battle was raging outside between police and demonstrators. Grandma and the family were hiding in the hallway of our house a block away to avoid flying bullets.

First Week of Christmas Vacation at Hell's Gate National Park

Some of the friendly and not so friendly environs.

Exploring the Gorge at Hell's Gate

ANSWERED PRAYER

Thursday 6:30 pm
Major trouble was averted today. The million man rally at Uhuru Park was called off early in the afternoon when it was clear that the police presence was massive and only about 100,000 people came straggling in from different directions. ODM leaders have said the rally will now be held next Tuesday. Raila and Kibaki seem to be cooling off a bit and most people want life to get back to normal, so hopefully this whole thing will settle down in the next few days.

There were some running battles with the police in various locations around Nairobi and in different cities around Kenya but on a much smaller scale than in previous days. There were a number of confrontations in Kibera, with another church being burned, and we were able to hear sporadic gunfire throughout the day. I can still hear chanting from the Kibera area.

We are all fine but getting cabin fever and ready to get out and about again. Thanks for your continuous prayers.

By His Grace
MLAL

GOD IS OUR REFUGE

Thanks for all your prayers and please continue to lift us up before the Throne of Grace, especially Thursday, Jan. 3rd as there promises to be a major confrontation between opposition and government forces.

We continue to be in good spirits and are planning a short excursion this morning to help one of our Kenyan friends at church. We'll do some final grocery shopping then if it looks calm on the street we'll take Grandma to the Giraffe Park, provided it's open, for a quick visit then back by noon.

Psalm 91:

1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.”

3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler
And from the perilous pestilence.

4 He shall cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you shall take refuge;
His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,

6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it shall not come near you.

8 Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked.

9 Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,

10 No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;

11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.

12 In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him on high, because he has known My name.

15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble;
I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.”

We all say AMEN and HALLELUJAH!

NEW YEAR'S EVE IN NAIROBI

Ok I made a bad move today. Since it looks like this is gonna last a little longer and get more serious than anticipated, I went to do some last minute shopping for essentials. We heard one of the stores would be open for about 30 minutes so I headed off to see if I could scrounge some milk and rice. Well, all was quiet when I left but I had to stand in the check-out line for about 2 hours. This went over the time when Raila was to announce he was President in Uhuru Park. This rally was dispersed by GSU (presidential security force) but the mob of several thousands headed up Ngong Road, highly agitated, throwing rocks and chanting, "No Raila, No Peace!" Well, Ngong Rd. is where the store is that I was shopping in. Nobody in the store had a clue that trouble was coming until I saw 2 trucks full of police, assault rifles bristling, pull up out front. I was almost to check-out when the security doors on the store came slamming down, locking everyone inside. Then, we were able to hear the angry crowds outside yelling and chanting. Next, the police started firing and popping tear gas. This went on for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, I'm texting back and forth to Liz letting her know what's happening, she and the family can hear the gunfire from our apt. and she has everyone in a hallway away from the windows. Finally, it quiets down outside and they open the security doors. I ran into one of my neighbors at the store so he jumped in the car with me and we head out through the debris that had been strewn all over the road. There are still people on the streets but very dispersed so I gun it and take a back way to the house. We pull down our street and here comes another crowd marching up the road toward us about 50 yards from our compound gate. Our guard saw us coming and had the gate opening as we flew into the driveway. He slammed and locked the gate as the crowd passed by.

Everyone in the compound was out and wondering if we were gonna make it back. People were hugging and crying and reprimanding us for our foolishness. I gotta a big hug from Liz. As always the Lord was watching over us and now we should have more than enough food and plenty to share for the week.

God is good and we know that He is our peace and security and that, "He causes all things to work together for good to those that love Him and are called according to His purpose". Keep prayin. As I type this out I can hear rifle fire all around our neighborhood. The girls are getting a little concerned and wondering what it's all about and Grandma said this is the most excitement she's had in 80 years.

Liz just informed me that she emailed you all while I was in lockdown at the store and mentioned that we're not ruling out anything including evacuation, we'll see what happens. Meanwhile, I just saw on Yahoo News, local stations are blacked out, that Raila has called for a million people to rally on Thursday and I assume demand he be declared President. Obviously not a guy who cares much about peace and security.

Again, keep prayin, and we'll keep you updated as things develop and as long as the cyber connection lasts. On that, I can't send any more emails as apparently I've exceeded Hotmail's limit in 24 hrs, so keep checkin the Blog.

Love you all,
By His Grace and for His Glory, God is good!
Mike, Liz and the whole Fam

JOY TO THE WORLD

Wishing you all a Blessed Christmas and the Joy of our Lord and Savior,

JESUS CHRIST

We love you all,

Mike, Liz, Abby, and Lily

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.
Isaiah 9: 6,7

"And she will bear a Son ; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins."
Now all this took place that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying,
"Behold the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which translated means, God with us."
Matthew 1: 21-23