I can't remember the last time I consumed a book the way I have The Shack. I can't remember what day I began it - I know it was late last week. Now here I sit, less than a week later, having finished the last page tonight. I can sum up my feelings in one word: amazing.

The book is simply unlike most other books out there. It isn't simply a good story. Neither is it a book of theology. It is experience woven throughout an allegory that helps paint God in colors that most of us haven't taken the time to view Him. It is something that my first time through I flew through the pages, and which the next time I read it will likely crawl through its words.

The format and nature of the book reminded me a lot of Brian McClaren's A New Kind of Christian. That book came out in 2001 and I encountered it at a time in my life that was in a state of change. It helped open my eyes to a greater view of Who God is beyond the box that I had placed Him in my life up until that point. It had the same allegorical vibe as The Shack and left me having a hard time putting it down just like this one.

I don't feel like I can go into much detail, or maybe I just don't want to because I simply don't want to spoil the experience for anyone else wanting to read it for themselves. I will draw from one thing that the writer, William P. Young (or Paul Young) said a little over a month ago. Our Catalyst Vanagon (check it out at catalystroadtrip.com) made a stop to see the author when he was in Atlanta for a book signing. Young will be one of the main platform speakers at Catalyst this coming October, so they took a few minutes to ask the author some questions. You can watch one of the videos below. Go here to view both of them on the Road Trip blog.

Here is my favorite quote from the video that really hits where I am at at this moment in my life and reflects some of what God is speaking into my heart these days...

"My process and my Shack took me 11 years, and I moved it down to just a weekend for Mackenzie. I squeezed that process down. And I'm just trying to communicate to my kids... that it took me 50 years to come to love this God, and it was such a process of struggle with me because I had to unlearn so many things. And I want to save them 40 years - my kids are so far down the road from where I was, and I'm so grateful for that. But I wanted them to have a big picture so that they can understand where to put all the pieces, where to put the different pieces, of the puzzle pieces, that people give them - truth puzzle pieces. But now they have some place they can put it and they can be in love with this God that I'm in love with, Who pursues us the way He does."

Ernie Johnson & Paul Young from Catalyst on Vimeo.