The Shack

Let me set the stage a bit. The Case for Christ was getting ready to be released and I heard some women in my theology class talking about the Shack. Shortly after this, I saw a trailer. I was a bit put off thinking Octavia Spencer might be representing God.. hopefully not. I decided not to see it at the theater and instead read the book. The book helped me get past the God as a woman with its explanation for it but some of the things in the book were hard for me to visualize. I liked the book though and had no trouble finishing it. then I preordered the movie. This movie is a GOOD thing. I dont understand why people are trying to make it bad. If more Christians operated on the basis of love, forgiveness and trusting God to be the judge there would be... wait for it more Christians. Call me crazy but Im pretty sure God would approve. Ive started reading this piece called The Shack -- the Missing art of evangelical discernment thanks to a commenter. I have a lot to read still but one thing I have noticed is that the writer doesnt seem to get the concept of the trinity saying that the Father and the Holy Spirit werent suffering with JKesus on the Cross. That is like saying Jesus wasnt there at creation when the bible clearly states he was John 1:1, 14. The trinity is very hard to wrap our heads around but the movie did a good job representing it when Mack asked: Whch one of you is... The answer says it all. Watch it if you love God, watch it if you dont believe in God but arent so opposed to God you cant stand any references to it. Watch it if you have a semi-open mind. The message in this movie is something the world needs so much more of and though I am a professing active Christian Im not referring to the believing in Christ part. I thought this was a beautiful movie wonderfully acted and it almost brought my stoic husband to tears. I am so sad to see so many Christans not supporting something that could be so helpful to the faith if they just practiced the Biblical principals of love and forgiveness this movie does so well at conveying.

The Shack is a movie based on the book by author William P. Young. Young, according to an interview, wanted to write a story that expressed the gospel, specifically how God may see and want to interact with the peak of His creation (mankind), in a novel contemporary way. For my money I think that Young succeeded in doing so and though I havent read the novel it seems to me that the movie, an especially engaging account of a man caught in a nexus of personal pain, succeeds in capturing and delivering the same message about God. It is an account of salvation of a man entering into a real relationship with the trustworthy Creator of universe and discovering as he is brought into the relationship of the personality, desire, and interactivity of God who allows the man the freedom (and the consequences that go with it) of his choice to participate and to know and to interact with God; in short, to choose or reject God. People who would shy away from such an obviously Christian movie should know two things about the film: 1) the movie by way of how it presents God gives the viewer an obvious choice to believe the main character, Mackenzie, or to dismiss his accounts and (2) this is a drama that deals with painful and heartbreaking events that are not clean nor cleanly resolved; it doesnt present life, even one where the main character makes a choice to walk through it with God, as being wrapped up all nice and tidy in the end like some people think of the biblical Job story. Far from this, Macs life though it is going much better by the end of the story, is still one where he has had to live and move through incalculable pain and makes choices to continually forgive in the aftereffects of that pain. So the story parallels many peoples life experiences as they are, not in fairy tale fashion. That last bit is important because the clear-eyed view of the story and what it relates about God (certainly taken from the biblical characteristics of the trinity but expressed through a very human view--also certainly open to scrutiny and rebuke but being overly literal about this story will also being missing its many points) makes it an even more compelling case about God. It treats God seriously, as a personal entity, and offers some not often pronounced insights into His character. Many people (myself included) will be or were surprised by the presentation; some will go away offended but I might enquire why? God, in His agency, is depicted in trinitarian fashion and just as Jesus was Gods fullest represenation of God to humankind as clearly exhibited in the gospel accounts and through His own words so too does The Shack express God and His character to a mere man.

GOOD FOR PERSONAL GROWTH. HEALING BOTH EMOTIONALLY AND SPIRITUALLY.

You have GOT to see this!!!

I wish the whole world would watch this movie!!

A story that gives hope and guidance and one that shows unconditional love from our Papa. Please watch if you can.

When I first heard that there was a new movie coming out in theaters called The Shack, I immediately looked to see if it was based on a book. Im someone who prefers to read the book first since I love to read. I read the book and LOVED it so I planned to see the movie as well. I finally got a chance to watch it last night and had to give myself time to think about it before I wrote a review on it. The Shack is based on William P. Youngs bestselling novel about a man who goes on a spiritual journey. Mackenzie (Mack) Philips (Sam Worthington) loses his youngest daughter after a tragedy and he blames himself for it. He enters a time he calls The Great Sadness and wonders where God was when his daughter was taken and why would He allow such a thing to happen. Mack receives a mysterious note from Papa, the name his wife uses for God, asking him to meet Him at the shack deep in the wilderness of Oregon. After much deliberation, Mack heads there and embarks on the most soul-searching, trans-formative spiritual journey he has ever experienced. In addition to Sam Worthington, some other notable actors and actresses in this movie include Octavia Spencer who plays Papa and Tim McGraw who plays Macks best friend, Willie. This movie is approximately 132 minutes long and is rated PG-13 for thematic material including some violence. It can be watched in English and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio, English Descriptive Audio, Spanish Subtitles, and English SDH. I had already read the book when I watched this movie last night and I cried when reading it so I knew it would make me emotional but I didnt expect to cry during almost the entire movie. The Shack is definitely one of those movies that left me emotionally-satisfied and, if you are a crier, I would definitely grab a box of tissues before watching this. I thought the acting was phenomenal and I loved how beautifully this movie was done. I feel it followed the book pretty closely so if you are mostly interested in watching the movie instead of reading the book, I think you will still be able to really enjoy it. Im glad I read the book first so I knew what to expect and it was nice to see how the movie was done, as opposed to how I pictured it in my mind. If youve read the book and loved it, I highly recommend watching the movie. Its not scary necessarily and the violent acts arent shown. Most of the violence is hinted at based on our knowledge of the subject (a child abduction) but there are a few things shown after everythings happened. Those parts were hard to watch but the rest of the movie was so good that I will definitely watch it again. I have a friend who is eager to see this as well since we both loved the book!

I dont understand why film critics give this movie bad reviews. It attempts to tackle some very real and difficult spiritual issues. They are not easy subjects.

For some reason, I believe Hollywood had nothing to do with this movie. 5 stars.

I first saw this movie years after it was released on Netflix and had me crying. Im not much of a crier but the meaning of the movie is what many of us struggle with, finding and knowing God and finding Him again. We all have our losses and this movie helped me not only to heal after losing my mom but also to find God again. This is a must watch and must have.