William Paul Young, and His New Novel “Eve”

I love William Paul Young. I must say I enjoyed reading the Shack immensely and his other book Crossroads as well. I’m glad to have read his new release Eve as well. He is an insightful and poetic soul.

I just watched his story and Yes, it’s worth your time:

I have tremendous compassion and love for Paul (I think that’s what he goes by) and have watched many interviews of him. I have a “kindred spirt” feeling for him. We’ve been down a similar road. I know Jesus loves him SO much.

Regarding the Shack

He wrote the Shack as a novel for his kids… only his kids… to relate to them his personal relationship with God and how loving and gentle and powerful and wise God is. God is the one who promoted his book as if to say, look what my boy wrote! I’m SO proud of him!

Like Papa, his heart is for all the lost and missing sons and daughters of God. To leave the ninety nine and go after the one. To go to any length to bring home the prodigal and lavish them with a relationship of relentless affection.

He wrote the book in the way he did to circumnavigate the many triggers and negative responses the world has to ideas about God. I think this was the wisdom of God at work in HIS rescue operation for all his lost kids.

That is how I see it, and may God continue to use it and Paul to reach a lost world for Christ and back to the heart of our loving heavenly Papa.

Click here to read my review of Cross Roads

Excerpt:

I have to admit it. I really do like William Paul Young! Yes, I even enjoyed his book The Shack, and I enjoyed immensely his latest book Cross Roads. I thank God for Paul Young. He is a gift to the human race. Could it be that God thought so much of his son Paul and his book that he said, “I want the world to read this! I want the world to hear his heart! I am so proud of my boy! I am especially fond of him!”

Sadly, I know I will get flack for standing with my brother Paul Young. I know many of my Christian friends think he is a heretic. I think many of my Christian friends need to repent for passing judgement on a fellow brother working in such a creative way to reunite God’s lost kids to their heartsick Papa. That’s what I think.

After reading Cross Roads, I went down stairs and picked up the Bible to see if the same relational unconditional-love-filled God that William Young writes about in his books is the same God that the apostle Paul presents…

Click here to read More!

And now, to comment on his latest novel Eve:

Over the past couple of days I read William Paul Young’s book entitled Eve. What do I even say?

I know that those who are bound by a religious spirit will hate it.

I was talking with a friend today about the religious spirit. What else can we call it? Legalism? Self Righteousness? Performance mentality Christianity ‘better have all your doctrine straight and theological ducks in a row or you’re a damned and doomed outcast’ religion! You get the picture?

I told my friend that all the while I am hanging out with someone who has this demonic stronghold (this shadow sickness) I realize that there is something inside of them that hates me. It’s only a matter of time until they turn on me. Reject me. Hate me. Curse me.

I used to be bound by these demons of religion too. I grew to hate this demon. I want to wage war on this demon of religion. I want everyone to see it for what it is and hate it too! In fact I remember having a dream awhile back in which people would come to church and these religion demons would swoop down upon the people entering to poison their minds. Yes, I truly believe this happens to far too many Christians. You and I both know this is true.

(PLEASE HEAR THIS! It must be said that this doesn’t mean we hate any other infected human being. Our fight is not with flesh and blood.

“For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12

It is SO wrong to go around judging people as having a religious spirit as well – “judging the judgers”. This is NOT helpful to anyone, leastwise you. Instead we will choose to forgive those who are afflicted because we too are so often afflicted. The older brother sometimes lives in us too! Of course I’m referring to the prodigal son story. The older brother judged the younger and refused to celebrate his return but instead harbored his jealous grudge. He didn’t know the Father even though he remained “faithful” and didn’t “stray”. But did he know Papa’s heart? Didn’t his heart stray just as far if not farther than his clearly wayward prodigal brother?

We all struggle with self righteous judgement of others. The disease is widespread. So widespread that there is… no one(?)… who is not afflicted at one time or another. To forgive and have compassion on them is to forgive and have compassion on yourself! I was reminded recently how God treats the older brother. Papa goes out and gently and lovingly invites them to join the grace party. May we do the same!)

Young calls to our attention that this spirit of religion comes from eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, instead of the tree of life.

I have been under a great deal of stress lately as I have realized that I often engage in the same nonsense. I try to war against this evil spirit of religion by using this same “knowledge of good and evil” as my foundation. Unintentionally I enflame and further entrench those who are bound to this disease. I make it all the worse by my efforts to dismantle it. Reminds me of Moses when he tried to save the Israelites by murdering an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew.

Alright Jesus, let’s do this your way. (May we all say this genuinely from our hearts) Enough of the ego. I say “Enough” to the bully of my pride. Jesus come and have your way. Forgive me LORD. Forgive me all the people I have taunted and incited to rage (even by this post).

So… will we realize our profound and arrogant error by pursuing being “right” over love and begin instead to humbly eat from the tree of life? I want to. I choose to now!

Jesus is the tree of life.

Relationship is the tree of life.

How can we do such a thing? To eat from the tree of life? Well Jesus says I can if I have a change of mind and heart (ie. “repent”) and overcome… and I’m told the secret to overcoming is simply to Trust!

The context of Christ’s words in Revelation 2 is that we re-turn to our first love! (Incidentally this is what Young’s book Eve is all about!)

His novel is the story of a fictitious symbolic woman Lilly who gets to observe and even participate in our common history, Adam and Eve, our very first parents in whom every one of us existed in the garden, in Eden, the paradise of God. Wow! What a story. You’ll have to read it for yourself.

May we each take the time to seek God and ask him to restore us to our first love. May we all re-turn our faces toward the One who has never had a shadow of turning from us.

“Every generous act and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights; with Him there is no variation or shadow cast by turning.” – James 1:17