William Paul Young Believes My God is a Monster

“I don’t need to punish people for sin.
Sin is its own punishment, devouring from the inside. It’s not my purpose to punish it; it’s my joy to cure it”

- says Papa in William Paul Young's The Shack

In my previous post, I referred you to James De Young's list of comparison between The Shack and the creeds of Universalism. Number 2 in that list is:

"There is no eternal punishment for sin. The creed of 1899 again asserts that God “will finally restore the whole family of mankind to holiness and happiness.” Similarly, Young denies that Papa (God) “pours out wrath and throws people” into hell. God does not punish sin; it’s his “joy to cure it” (p. 120). Papa “redeems” final judgment (p. 127). God will not “condemn most to an eternity of torment, away from his presence and apart from his love” (p. 162);"

In June this year, Ray Yungen of Lighthouse Trails Research visited Concordia University in Portland, Oregon just to hear the voice of William Paul Young  (WPY).

Yungen reports the following:
1. WPY rejects the evangelical doctrine that God will judge the unbelievers.
2. WPY rejects the substitutionary view of the atonement.
3. WPY says: "the God of evangelical Christianity is a monster."
4. WPY refers to the evangelical view as "darkness" and exhorts the audience to get rid of it.

It is very clear; William Paul Young hates the God of Evangelicalism-- he hates my God!

See this post from the Lighthouse Trails Research blog.

In CASH & in KIND: an illustration of God's sacrificial love

Namumuhay na ng payapa't tahimik si Hosea. Iniwanan siya ng kanyang asawa-- ang taksil na si Gomer. Mag-isa niyang pasan-pasan ang responsibilidad ng pagpapalaki at pag-aaruga sa kanilang tatlong supling. Ngunit 'di na bale. "It's time to move on" ika nga.

Subalit pagdating sa kabanata 3, ginambala ulit ng Panginoon ang payapang buhay ni Hosea. Ang utos:

"Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes." (Hosea 3:1 NIV).

Kailangan niyang tubusin ang kanyang asawa. Mangyari kasi ay ibinenta ni Gomer ang kanyang sarili bilang alipin. Ginawa iyon ni Gomer upang matustusan niya ang kanyang mga pangangailangan mula nang lisanin niya ang tahanan ni Hosea.

Bilang isang masunuring propeta, tumalima si Hosea sa tinig ng Panginoon. Habang siya'y nagbibilang, natuklasan niya na hindi sapat ang kanyang salapi. Kulang ang hawak niyang "cash". Panandaliang nag-isip si Hosea. Aha! Naalala niya ang nakatagong barley na kanyang inuunti-unting ipinapakain sa kanyang pamilya. Ngayo'y nakahanda na siyang tubusin si Gomer (3:2).

"That the payment is both in money and in kind is curious; it suggests that Hosea had difficulty in coming up with enough money to purchase her." (Duanne Garrett, Hosea, Joel; New American Commentary).

Pagdating sa pamilihan, matindi ang tawaran na naganap.

"... the Hebrew word translated as "bought" includes the idea of haggling." (Duanne Garret, NAC)

haggle- "to argue over something such as a price or contract in order to reach an agreement" (Encarta Dictionaries)

Perhaps you  are ready to spend your fortunes to save the life of a loving and deserving wife. But will you do the same for a blatantly unfaithful wife?

Remember that the story of Hosea and Gomer was meant to illustrate God's love for his people.

Romans 5:7-8 "Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (NIV)

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A Reason to Sing for the Barren Woman

Please read Isaiah 54:1-10 before reading this post.

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The people of God were in a state of distress. The Power of Babylon overwhelmed them. They were taken as captives; they were exiles- away from their homeland. The whole nation was under humiliation.

The Jerusalem they used to know was full of beauty and prosperity. But the last time they saw it, it was burning with merciless fire. The magnificent structures: houses, the king’s palace and even the temple of YHWH were being consumed by flames right before their eyes. But they were powerless- unable to do anything. They looked around, but there were no Moseses; no Joshuas; no Gideons; no Davids; to usher them into victory. They were likened to a shameful woman- Barren and separated from her husband. Every soul is downcast.

In Psalm 137, we find the Babylonians demanding the captives to sing songs of joy.
They asked: “SING FOR US ONE OF THE SONGS OF ZION”

But the musicians hang their instruments.
They replied:“HOW CAN WE SING THE SONGS OF THE LORD WHILE IN A FOREIGN LAND?”


So by the rivers of Babylon, God’s people sat and wept as they remembered Zion.

But here in Isa. 54, it is not the Babylonians who are asking them to sing. Isaiah is a prophet of God. This is God’s Word to them.
SING, O BARREN WOMAN! / BURST INTO SONG! / SHOUT FOR JOY!

For you are not really a widow. Your Creator- God Almighty is still your husband. He has not divorced you. You will not remain childless forever. In place of sorrow, He brings joy. In place of disgrace, He brings honor. For a while, because of your sins, God has hidden his face from you. But this brief moment is nothing compared to the coming glorious redemption. Halleluiah! Praise the Lord!

Yet this redemption is not without cost. Notice the 15 verses before Isa. 54. The preceding section is the memorable Song of the Suffering Servant.

Our sins demand punishment, but the punishment was not upon us, it was upon someone else.

In order to redeem God’s people, the appearance of God’s Son must be disfigured; his form must be marred beyond human likeness.

He who is perfect in beauty appeared on earth with no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

To the barren woman, He wants to bring joy; so he became a man of sorrows.

He was despised, oppressed, afflicted, wounded and rejected by men. He was pierced and crushed for the transgressions and iniquities of the barren woman.

ISA 53:10- “Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer”

EPH. 5:25- Christ loves us that he gave himself up for us

So People of God, do you feel like you are in an agonizing and disgraceful condition? Is your soul downcast? Do you feel like abandoned by God? Never forget that:
The LORD is compassionate and gracious; slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;
he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him (Psalm 103:8-13)

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32)

He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the LORD (Psalm 40:3)

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