Killing Fear

Posted on by Terry L Brown

KILLING FEAR

What are you afraid of? What do you fear?

It has been said that God will never give us more than we can handle. But that is not true. If it were fear would play a small or non-existent part in our lives. Why fear something we can handle? Instead, what we discover is that we frequently face circumstances and situations that we cannot handle, nor can they be handled with help from our friends and family. These circumstances and situations could rightly be referred to as giants – circumstances and situations – that produce varying levels of fear deep within us as we come face to face with our helplessness to overcome and “kill” them.

We learn that God does give us more than we can handle by bringing us face to face with these giants of fear, not so we can be “killed” by them, but to learn that it is only when we humble ourselves before Him and admit our helplessness to “kill” these giants of fear by our own strength and to confess that it is only by His grace that we are saved will fear fall dead before us.

There is a story in the Bible that describes this killing of fear by God’s grace perfectly. It is a well-known story. In fact, it is so well known that it is easy to overlook many of its details, but it is in the details that we discover the secret of killing fear. It is the story of David and Goliath found in the book of 1 Samuel. Allow me set the scene before we dig into it deeper.

At the time of this story in the history of Israel Saul is king and David, who will later become king, is just a young shepherd boy. Israel is at war with the Philistines and David’s older brothers were in Saul’s army. As these armies faced each other, one encamped on one side of a ravine and the other encamped on the opposite side, a Philistine of enormous size, Goliath by name, a giant man between 9-1/2 to 11 feet tall (think about that for a moment!), walked into the ravine separating the two armies and issued a challenge to the Israelite army…

“He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, ‘Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.’ And the Philistine said, ‘I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.’ When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid” (1 Samuel 17:8-11 ESV).

Fear gripped Saul and the Israel warriors. We are told that when Goliath issued this challenge…

“All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid” (1 Samuel 17:24-25 ESV).

It was during this time of fear among Saul and the Israelite army that David’s father, Jesse, sent David to the war front with provisions for his brothers and to check on their welfare. He is not there very long until Goliath advances toward the Israelite army and issued his challenge again. And David heard it. But his response is very different from the fear paralyzing Saul, his brothers, and the rest of the Israelite army. He said…

“Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God” (1 Samuel 17:26-27 ESV)?

There was no fear in David. In fact…

“David said to Saul, ‘Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine’” (1 Samuel 17:32 ESV).

At first, Saul tried to convince David that he did not stand a chance against the giant. But David recounted to Saul how he had saved the sheep he shepherded from both a bear and a lion by killing them and that he would do the same to Goliath because…

“he has defied the armies of the living God” (1 Samuel 17:36 ESV).

Saul, with few options to choose from, decided to allow David to fight Goliath, probably not expecting him to live through the situation, but he helped him the only way he knew how.

“Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, ‘I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.’ So David put them off. Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.

“And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. And the Philistine said to David, ‘Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?’ And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, ‘Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.’ Then David said to the Philistine, ‘You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.’

“When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.

“So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it” (1 Samuel 17:38-51 ESV).

When David confronted Goliath he was fearless. This stands in stark contrast to the warriors in Saul’s army.

When David confronted Goliath he was fearless. This stands in stark contrast to the warriors in Saul’s army. Obviously, David had learned how to kill his fear, but the solder’s had not. How was David able to do that, but not the soldiers? We are going to answer those questions in just a few minutes. But in order to do that we have to figure out where fear comes from.

We will begin our search in Genesis 3:8-10…

“They (Adam and Eve) heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ He said, ‘I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself’” (Genesis 3:8-10 NASU).

No doubt God had walked in the garden before this and Adam and Eve welcomed Him; they did not hide. They did not fear His presence. They were not afraid. But this time they were afraid to be in God’s presence. There was fear. Why? Because they had disobeyed Him and knew they were naked. The innocence that had clothed them before their disobedience was gone.

You may be thinking: “What in the world does Adam and Eve and being naked have to do with David and Goliath and killing or fears.” But I think it will become clear to you shortly.

Notice the very first thing Adam and Eve did after they had sinned and their innocence was gone.

“And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths (Genesis 3:7 ESV).

They clothed themselves. They used what they could to hide their nakedness from each other. And it seemed to work. We do not read about them being ashamed or afraid to be in each other’s presence after they clothed themselves with fig leaves. They had successfully killed the fear their nakedness caused them to experience after disobeying God. But their fear soon returned when God came into their presence. They learned that the clothing they had made to hide their nakedness/shame from each other, the fig leaves, did not hide their nakedness/shame from God. That is when God, after having told Adam and Eve and the Serpent what the consequences of their sin were going to be, provided them more adequate clothing than fig leaves. What was that clothing?

“And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21 ESV).

Do you see what happened? Adam and Eve tried to fix their brokenness and kill the fear welling up inside of them by fixing the problem themselves. And they thought they had. The fig leaves hid their nakedness/shame from each other, but when they heard the sound of the Lord God coming near them the fear of the their sin, their brokenness, their shame, and their nakedness being discovered rushed back upon them – and they hid.

Why? Because the fig leaves represent good works. Man believes if he just does enough good things, says just the right things, or gives enough money to charity the bad things we have thought or said or done will never come back to haunt us and will lose their power to influence our lives from fear. But it does not work. We feel good for a while as long as our fig leaves – our masks – are in place, but Goliath soon appears. And he comes toward us and says: “You call yourself a Christian, a child of God? Who are you kidding? Look at you. You’re pathetic. You’re a liar; you’re a hypocrite. You’re no child of God. He doesn’t love you and I can prove it. Come fight me. If you’re a Christian come fight me.”

And what happens when the giants in our lives challenge us? All too often we react in the way that the men in Saul’s army…

“All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid” (1 Samuel 17:24 ESV).

Why do we run? We faithfully put on the armor of good deeds each day and our fears are hidden from the eyes of those around us. But then something happens, a giant comes along – we get sick, one of our children gets sick, our spouse picks up and leaves, we lose our job, our past is exposed, our hidden sins are exposed – and fear rises up before us. We discover clothing ourselves in fig leaves – good deeds – which is the armor the world uses to overcome fear (Saul’s armor) is only effective when life is going good. But the moment something beyond our control comes into our lives we discover we had not killed fear at all, just hidden it. And we begin to lose hope and depression sets in.

But what I want you to hear this morning is that we can the kill the fear within us.

The secret to killing fear is putting on the right clothing.

The secret to killing fear is putting on the right clothing. No, I am not talking about going out and buying a 3-piece suit or an expensive dress.

What clothing did David put on to kill the giant while all the warriors ran in fear of him?

“Then he (David) took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine”(1 Samuel 17:40 ESV).

David’s “armor” consisted of a staff, 5 rocks, a pouch to put the rocks in, and a slingshot. From a human standpoint David’s weapons were totally inadequate to defeat the giant before him who was clothed in a helmet, a coat of mail that covered his body, shin guards, a sword, a spear, and a javelin. And that does not even take into account the fact that Goliath was between 9-1/2 and 11 feet tall. He could have easily tore David apart with his bare hands.

But David boldly faced that which the rest feared, confident he would be victorious. In fact, we are told that David ran toward the giant. Why?

“Then David said to the Philistine, ‘You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied’” (1 Samuel 17:45 ESV).

David clothed himself in the name of the Lord. He faced his fears in the power and might of the Lord. He did not rely on manmade armor to protect him or manmade weapons to fight with. David knew that he would not be able to defeat Goliath if he relied on his own strength. He knew Goliath was capable of snapping him in two like a twig. But he did not face this giant – this fear – in his own strength. He knew it was only by God’s grace that he would be able to slay the giant. And it is by God’s grace that we slay our own giants – those fears in our lives that mock us and taunt us, threatening to kill us spiritually, emotionally, and sometimes even physically.

How do I know that? Because the Bible tells me so.

Ephesians 2:8-9 says…

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2-8-9 ESV).

Paul go on to tell us in Ephesians 6…

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:10-12 NASU).

Now, notice what David used to strike Goliath down so he could be killed – a smooth stone. Remember, as David ran toward Goliath he took one of the five smooth stones he had picked up from a brook from his pouch, put it into his slingshot, swung it around his head, and let it fly. It struck Goliath in the forehead, knocking him the ground. David ran up to Goliath, took Goliath’s own sword and cut his head off.

What has that got to do with grace and spiritual warfare – killing fear?

Goliath is described as being 6 cubits tall. Six, in the Bible represents sin and Satan. Thus, Goliath represents the demonic forces that attack us and the fears that result from this spiritual warfare. Five is the number for grace. Remember, it is by grace we are saved. David picked up 5 smooth stones from a brook and used one of them to bring Goliath down. This represents us accepting the fact that we cannot kill the fears that come against us by sheer willpower or by trying to be a good little boys and girls. Willpower, while helpful, has limits and our goodness outside of Christ is corrupted by sin. We have to accept the grace of God that He offers to us through the acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior if we are to kill our fears.

It is also important to note David picked up the stones from a brook and that they had been worn smooth by the running water. These were not pieces of rock with rough edges and sharp points. The running water represents the cleansing and purifying power of the Holy Spirit. When you accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of your life the Holy Spirit comes into your heart and begins to overcome, slowly but surely, like running over a stone, the evil, the fears – the Goliaths, the giansts – that live there. He begins to “smooth” out your life.

It is also significant that David was able to bring Goliath down with only one stone. He did not have to use all five stones or even two stones. He used one. Now, remember, the number 5 represents grace. In other words David did not “use up” all the grace he had. He had four smooth stones left. What this teaches us is that God gives us an abundance of grace to kill whatever giants – fears – that come into our lives. And this is exactly what the Bible tells us.

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8 ESV).

This tells us God has given us all the grace we need to kill our fears and then some.

Notice also where David struck Goliath with the stone – in the forehead. The forehead represents how we think – what we believe. Satan would have us believe lies. God’s grace is given to kill the lies we have believed and replace the lies with the truth.

Thus, Jesus tells us…

“If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:31-32 NASU).

If we believe God’s Word – the Truth – and continue to believe it, we will kill, by God’s grace, the fears that want to kill us. Our fears live when we believe lies. Our fears are killed when we believe the truth.

And what is the Truth?

Think for a moment. What did God do for Adam and Eve after they had sinned and began living in fear?

“And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21 ESV).

He made them garments of skin. But garments of skin could only be provided for them if a death – a sacrifice – took place. God had to slay an innocence animal, which prefigured Jesus’ sacrifice upon the Cross, in order for Adam and Eve to continue to have a relationship with Him.

And this is exactly what God does for us. We cloth ourselves with good deeds – fig leaves – and our fears live on. But God offers us the opportunity to “cloth” ourselves with Jesus Christ, giving us the power – the grace – to kill our fears.

“The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Romans 13:12-14 ESV).

Jesus sacrificed Himself upon the cross that we might have the opportunity to “cloth” ourselves with Him. Paul tells us…

“In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:26-27 ESV).

And Jesus told us…

“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32 ESV).

Killing fear begins with accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior because when we do that God’s grace floods our beings with the Truth and we can face our giants – our fears – knowing it is God who fights for us. All we need do is trust and obey.

From the Garden To the Shack

Posted on by Terry L Brown

From the Garden to the Shack

A few years ago the book, The Shack, was published with great fanfare and excitement among Christians. Now, the movie version of The Shack is premiering with equal fanfare and excitement among Christians. But is this the proper response Christians should be expressing for The Shack? Is this book and movie fit for Christian consumption or is it heresy dressed up in an easy-to-swallow pill?

With no sense of superiority I must confess I have not, nor will I, read the book, The Shack. I also have not, nor will I see the movie, The Shack. Whether you choose to read the book or see the movie is entirely your prerogative. Nevertheless, I will give my opinion as to whether this story is something Christians should embrace and promote as good or at least harmless, or if it is something to be ingested through the eyes and ears with caution.

For those who question what right I have to express my opinion on The Shack having never read it or watched the movie, I respectfully answer by saying I have spoken to one, a Christian, who has read the book and had both positive and negative things to say about it. I also read a review on the book posted on cbn.com by Belinda Elliot who gushes over it. From that information and a few other bits and pieces of information garnered from simply reading the give and take of comments posted online in response to the myriad articles one finds on the internet about The Shack, I feel confident that I know enough about the story to give an educated opinion as to the spirit behind this story.

Of course, there will still be some who believe I have no right to express my opinion on The Shack having never personally read the book. In reply I would say it is not always necessary to have firsthand experience with something to accurately understand the benefits and/or detriments of whatever the “something” is. For example, I do not have to ingest meth or cocaine to accurately discern that they are extremely dangerous and addictive drugs. All I need do is read about these drugs and obverse the consequences people suffer from having become personally acquainted with them from firsthand experience. In other words one need not personally experience the full force of evil to understand and discern that something is intrinsically evil, something I believe is true of The Shack.

But in order to make my point in believing that the essential and intrinsic nature of The Shack is evil I will start, not with The Shack itself, but with an episode in human history when a choice was made by a man and woman to believe a lie rather than the truth because the lie appealed to the legitimate needs of the body and mind and because it was presented to them in a way that fascinated and dazzled them. But the consequence of believing that lie and giving it life by literally ingesting it, poisoning the deepest parts of their beings, resulted in the greatest tragedy in human history.

It is a story worth reading.

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

“He said to the woman, ‘Did God actually say, “You shall not eat of any tree in the garden”?’ And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.”’ But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths” (Genesis 3:1-7 ESV).

The story seems simple and straight forward, and on one level it is. Adam and Eve lived in a garden God created for them. It was a place where their every need was provided for. It provided food for the body, beauty for the soul, and an intimate relationship with God for the spirit. And where they got that food for the body, that beauty for the soul, and that relationship with God was abundantly provided for by God. We are told…

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden…” (Genesis 2:15-16 ESV).

“Every tree of the garden.” Adam and Eve had full access to every source of food they needed to live, not just physically, but spiritually as well. But with the abundance of God’s provision came a warning from Him…

“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17 ESV).

Along with God’s overwhelming abundance of provision for Adam and Eve came one prohibition. They were not to eat; that is, find their source of food, whether for their bodies, souls, or spirits, from one of the trees: the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God made very clear that the consequences of eating from this tree would be death. Simple and straightforward, yes; but also not so simple and straightforward.

Enter Satan, referred to as a serpent in this narrative. His primary goal after God had created man in His image, was to destroy man, to kill him; not just his body, but his soul and spirit as well. And he knew just what he needed to do to accomplish that goal. He began by asking Eve…

“Did God actually say…” (Genesis 3:1)?

Satan began by planting a seed of doubt into Eve’s soul about God’s character. He wanted Eve to question the goodness and fairness of God. He wanted Eve to question why God would prohibit her from eating from this one tree. He wanted her to question if God were intentionally withholding something good from her? He wanted Eve to question God’s motive, the “why”, behind the prohibition.

With the doubt of God’s character now planted within Eve’s soul Satan began to water it by directly accusing Him of lying about her dying if she ate of the fruit of this tree. He then fertilized that doubt by promising her she would actually become like God, knowing (that is, in a very real sense, defining) good and evil. If was as if Satan were telling Eve…

“If you eat this fruit you will no longer need for God to determine for you what is right and what is wrong or what is good or what is evil. You will be able to determine that for yourself. You will be free.”

That is a powerful temptation, one that is today being used with great effectiveness.

But as powerful as that temptation was (is) it is likely it would have been resisted if not for two other components associated with Satan’s lie. What two components?

Notice that when Eve looked at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, after having her conversation with Satan, she saw that is was good; she did not see that it was evil. She saw that it was good for food; that is, it was a source that she believed would fulfill the legitimate need of the body to be nourished. She saw that it was good in that it was a delight to the eyes; that is, it was a source that she believed would fulfill the legitimate need of the soul to be nourished by beauty. And she saw that it was a source of wisdom; that is, it was a source that she believed would fulfill the legitimate need of the spirit to be nourished by truth.

Eve looked at this tree and saw goodness and beauty (truth), encapsulated in a fruit that was perfect in ripeness and firmness. Imagine if Eve had looked at the tree and instead saw evil and ugliness (lies), encapsulated in a fruit that was rotten and worm infested. That would have been a strong deterrent for overcoming Satan’s temptation to question God’s character and His motives for prohibiting the eating of this fruit.

How often do we look at evil and ugliness (lies) and see goodness and beauty (truth) because we want the evil and ugliness to be true because we want to be God, defining good and evil for ourselves?

The first component Satan used to entice Eve to eat from this tree was to deceive her into seeing its fruit as good for her instead of laced with evil that would kill her.

The second component associated with the Satan’s temptation is similar to the first.

Just as the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and its fruit appeared as something to be desired, when in fact, it was poison, so was the creature that spoke with Eve. This creature in the Garden of Eden, referred to as a serpent, was not a hideous looking creature. The Hebrew word for “serpent” is nachash. It is a word that means “shining one”, implying a being, if not beautiful, at the very least, a being that fascinates and attracts not only the eye, but the mind.

Whether this serpent was a literal snake or not is a discussion for another time. Suffice it to say that the being that tempted Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit was Satan disguising…
“himself as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14 ESV).

It is important to note that the Bible says nothing about Eve being frightened in the least by this serpent. She saw only light, not darkness, and certainly not 50 shades of grey.

All too often we associate Satan and evil as being ugly and terrifying, and it is. But Satan knows the way to ensnare his human prey that he might kill him is much more effective when the snare is baited with perceived pleasure and beauty rather than pain and ugliness. Thus, Satan appeared to Eve as a Shining One, striking and dazzling in appearance with a voice that was no doubt very pleasant to the ear.

This was the snare Eve was being drawn into, a snare that was not only baited with what appeared to be pleasure and beauty, but a snare set by a creature that appeared equally pleasant and beautiful.

The combination of Eve’s desire to be as God knowing (defining for herself) good and evil made possible by her eating a fruit that was very appealing to her entire being to achieve that knowledge and presented by a creature of other-worldly beauty, sealed the deal.

The lie was made palatable because the fruit in which the lie was packaged to look like “health” food for the body, soul, and spirit. Further, the lie was made desirable because the one telling it was mesmerizing to look upon and listen to.

Satan’s goal was to mar God’s character, to make Him appear as something He was not in the souls and spirits of Adam and Eve. It was to get them to question God’s motives as to why He would prohibit them from partaking of something that (appeared) good and beneficial. If he could get them to believe something about God that was not true it would be easier to deceive them into believing other, more outrageous lies in the future.

And Satan’s tactics have not changed from that fateful day in the garden of Eden to today. We still find him lurking around where Christians can be found – Christian bookstores and Christian movies – such as the book and movie, The Shack.

The Shack tells the story of a man who has experienced a depth of pain far deeper than most of us will experience in our lifetimes, the pain of having one of his children abducted and murdered. Thus begins his quest to have his questions answered concerning pain, suffering, and forgiveness toward the one responsible for his pain and suffering. And there is nothing wrong with these questions. In fact they are quite normal. What is wrong is where he looked for the answers to such questions, just as Adam and Eve looked in the wrong place to satisfy the legitimates needs of their bodies, souls, and spirits when enticed to do so from a “Shining One” rather than from the One who is the true Light of the world.

For the man in The Shack the Shining One appeared to him after he received a mysterious note telling him to come to the shack where his daughter was murdered. He was not sure what to expect, but in an attempt to get the answers he was so desperately looking for, and thus satisfy the hunger that his pain was producing in his soul and spirit, he chose to go to the shack. And did he find God waiting there for him? Ah, there is the dilemma with this story.

Some would say he did find God because as the story unfolds his questions were answered; his hunger for understanding was evidently satisfied by the fruit produced by the words “God” spoke to him at the shack. Others would say he did not find God at the shack even though he found some comfort and understanding from the words spoken to him by the Trinity of beings he encountered there because this Trinity – Father (an African woman), Son (a Middle Eastern man), and Holy Spirit (an Asia woman) – was not the God – the Trinity – of the Bible.

So, how do we discern which of these two beliefs is true? We turn to the one place where we should look to discern whether anything we believe is true or false; to the Bible. The Bible is God’s Word to us. In it we find the Truth; in it we find how God has chosen to identify Himself so that we can discern if the One “speaking” to us is actually the Lord God (Yahweh) or a Shining One who presents himself as God, or at least, as god-like.

And how does God identify Himself to His creation? Part of His identity is revealed to us right at the beginning of His Word as He was actively creating the Universe and everything in it. The Bible tells us…

“God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night” (Genesis 1:5 ESV).

What does this tell us about the One True God? First, it tells us that God is the Creator of everything, including you and I. But it also tells us something a little more subtle, but just as important. It tells us that God has chosen to identify Himself as male…

“The darkness he called Night” (Genesis 1:5).

Of course, we know that God, in His essence, is neither male nor female. But that does not minimize His decision to identify Himself to us as male – not just here at the beginning of the Bible, but throughout the Bible. Near the end of the Bible, in the Book of Revelation, an angel is speaking to John concerning why God chose him to reveal the events that are to take place at the end times. The angel, referring to God, says…

“The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place” (Revelation 22:6 ESV).

God is here again identified through the use of male pronouns.

Further, God is referred to as “Father” scores of times in the Bible, but not once as “Mother”. Jesus Himself, referred to God as His “Father” over 150 times. Also, of great importance concerning how God has chosen to identify Himself as male to us is reinforced by Jesus when His disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray. Jesus responded by saying…

“Pray then like this: ‘Our Father… (Matthew 6:9 ESV).

What is my point? Just this.

We now live in a time when gender is believed to be fluid; that is, male and female are not concrete attributes of our being. Being biologically male does not mean one is actually male if one self-identifies as female; being biologically female does not mean one is actually female if one self-identifies as male. In essence we are being told that neither society, nor our DNA, has the right to impose its identity upon us. Transgender has become the latest rallying cry of deceived men and women who have taken up arms against God by attempting to shout down the truth that mankind was created by God as male and female (Genesis 1:27).

I believe with all my heart one of Satan’s primary objectives when he lured Eve into a conversation with him concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was to blur the uniqueness of maleness and femaleness because once that blurring reached critical mass the primary building block of human society – the family – would be destroyed and along with it the image of God would be destroyed, for man would then bear the image of Satan. And what is the image of Satan?

The first thing I noticed when watching The Passion of the Christ was the appearance of Satan in the Garden of Gethsemane (notice he was back in a garden again) as he crouched down a little way from Jesus as He prayed to the Father. I looked closely at this person portraying Satan and said to myself…

“I can’t tell whether this person is male or female.”

Then I thought of how much truth was wrapped up in that image of Satan; neither male, nor female, but rather an androgynous being seeking to create man in his image. And as transgenderism takes more and more hold upon us as a nation and as individuals we are more and more beginning to shed the image of God and clothing ourselves with the image of Satan. The danger is very real, but very subtle.

We are beginning to not only see the lunacy of the lie of transgenderism as the lines of maleness and femaleness become more and more blurred as males now openly and proudly (think of Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner) put on the mask of femaleness and females openly and proudly (think Chastity/Chaz Bono) put on the mask of maleness, but we are beginning to experience in real life situations the dangers of this lunacy as more and more corporate and government entities chose to allow, if not insist, that males in female bathrooms and locker rooms and females in male bathrooms and locker rooms is good rather than evil. We have returned to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. With this in mind let me turn directly to The Shack.

The Shack is the transgenderization of the Trinity. Rather than Father (male), Son (male), and Holy Spirit (identified by the use of male pronouns in the Bible), the “god” in The Shack is Mother (black woman), Son (male), and Holy Spirit (Asia woman). This may seem like a trivial matter. It is not. No doubt Eve believed eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was trivial compared to the actual consequences of her action. And no doubt those who ingest through their eyes and ears the story of The Shack think it is a trivial matter, mere entertainment. I strongly believe that is a mistake.

In a world where gender-confused individuals demand the right to self-identify rather than conform to the image God created them to bear and to be addressed with pronouns reflective of their self-perceived gender, God is denied that same respect. God has plainly, consistently, and unequivocally chosen to be identified as male. The Shack is an attempt by Satan to strip God of His identity as God and take His place.

The Shack is like a magician’s sleight of hand as he attempts to make you believe something that is false, such as cutting a woman in half with a saw, by subconsciously drawing your attention away from what is going on in the background. The Shack does the same thing as it attempts to divert attention from how he is going to introduce a heretical portrayal of the Trinity (what is going on in the background) as a black woman, a Middle Eastern man, and an Asia woman – which may seem innocent, but it is not – by using the diversionary tactic of focusing one’s attention away from this Trinitarian lie by appealing to the strong emotional, and legitimate need to find peace and understanding in the midst of incredible pain and suffering.

I will close with this question. What is the most lethal poison you know of? Cyanide? Arsenic? Strychnine? They are all deadly, but there is one that is potentially much more lethal than any of them or all of them put together. The most lethal poison known to man is the one that tastes good.

Satan is in the business of making poison taste good, because it is the only poison you will eagerly ingest.

In my opinion The Shack is one such poison so if you decide to read/see it please make sure you have the antidote handy.