Paul Young - great guy and a good friend!

{Full video from Sunday's discussion with Paul Young will be posted here soon}

There are some people with whom, once around, you are encouraged to forgive more readily, share more openly, and love more deeply. William Paul Young is one of those men. I went to bed last night and awoke this morning more committed to living my life with a fresh openness and vulnerability and willingness to more deeply do life with others so that love reigns supreme. (I Corinthians 13) It is strange but I just feel different today. That is the power of a compelling testimony and witness.

We had Paul Young at newhope yesterday and the crowds and healing were "off the chart." We did what the city asked us NOT to do ever again - we had a traffic jam all the way back to Southpoint Mall. :-) (Sorry City of Durham - we are working on it) The Worship Celebrations were drenched in the Holy Spirit and the tears just flowed as Paul shared his painful time in the shack and how God is bringing he and Kim through this time and using his story throughout the world to help others find healing and wholeness. You could truly sense God stirring in the hearts and minds of people as we dealt with our own "crap". (I think is Paul's favorite word, BTW :-)) Both services, from start to finish, though very different, were nothing less than sacred.

Regardless of whether or not you agree with everything in the book (Remember it is fiction), having Paul share his story shed beams of light on The Shack. I am now able to understand more deeply why Paul wrote this book for his six children. I can understand more profoundly the fictional characters he chose to represent Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And I can appreciate a man and woman, husband and wife, who endured 11 years of pain and turmoil and lived to tell us about it so that we can be more human and fully alive in Christ! For all of that, I am eternally grateful.

I hope to see you Sunday for part II of The Shack!