The Shack (32 page)

There is a host whose insight, perspective, companionship and encouragement have mattered. Thanks to Larry Gillis in Hawaii, my buddy Dan Polk in DC, MaryKay and Rick Larson, Micheal and Renee Harris, Julie and Tom Rushton, and the Gunderson household in Boring, OR (that’s a noun, not an adjective), along with the folk at DCS, my great friend Dave Sargent in Portland, the individuals and families of the NE Portland community, and the Closner/Foster/Weston/Dunbar kinfolk in Estacada.

I am full of gratitude for the Warren Clan (numbering around 100 now), who helped Kim rescue me from the dark side, and my parents and Canadian family, the Youngs, Sparrows, Bruneskis and others. I love you, Aunt Ruby; I know you’ve had a hard time of it lately. Also, I have no words to express my heart and love for Kim, my children and our two incredible daughters-in-law, Courtney and Michelle, who are both bearing our first grandkids (Yipee!).

Creative stimulation includes a number of old dead guys, like Jacques Ellul, George McDonald, Tozer, Lewis, Gibran, the Inklings and Soren Kierkegaard. But I am also grateful to writers and speakers like Ravi Zacherias, Malcolm Smith, Anne LaMott, Wayne Jacobsen, Marilynne Robinson, Donald Miller, and Maya Angelou to name a few. Musical inspiration is eclectic, a smattering of U2, Dylan, Moby, Paul Colman, Mark Knopfler, James Taylor, Bebo Norman, Matt Wertz (you are something special), Nichole Nordeman, Amos Lee, Kirk Franklin, David Wilcox, Sarah McLachlan, Jackson Browne, Indigo Girls, the Dixie Chicks, Larry Norman and a whole lot of Bruce Cockburn.

Thank you, Anna Rice, for loving this story and penetrating it with your musical gift. You gave (me) us an incredible gift.

Most of us have our own grief, broken dreams and damaged hearts, each of us with our unique losses, our own ‘shack’. I pray that you find the same grace there that I did, and that the abiding presence of Papa, Jesus and Sarayu will fill up your inside emptiness with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

This book became #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List on a $200.00 marketing budget and passionate readers who wanted to pass it along to their friends. If you’d like to share this book with others, here are some ideas we affectionately call—

The Missy Project

If you are as taken with the message of this book as we are, you may already have some unique ideas as to how you can best let others know about it. Here are some ideas to help you share this book with others.

Give the book to friends, even strangers, as a gift. They not only get a compelling page-turning thrill ride, but also a magnificent glimpse into the nature of God that is not often presented in our culture.

If you have a website or blog, consider sharing a bit about the book and how it touched your life. Don’t give away the plot, but recommend that they read it as well and link to
http://www.theshackbook.com
.

Write a book review for your local paper, favorite magazine or website you frequent. Ask your favorite radio show or podcast to have the author on as a guest. Media people often give more consideration to the requests of their listeners than the press releases of publicists.

If you own a shop or business, consider putting a display of these books on your counter to resell to customers. We make books available at a discounted rate for resale. For individuals we offer volume discount pricing for orders of six books or more.

Buy a set of books as gifts to battered women’s shelters, prisons, rehabilitation homes and the like where people might be really encouraged by the story and its message.

Talk about the book on email lists you’re on, forums you frequent and other places you engage other people on the Internet. Don’t make it an advertisement, but share how this book impacted your life and offer people the link to
The Shack
website.

For more up-to-date information and ideas on how you can help, please check out
The Missy Project
at our website.

www.theshackbook.com

“For those of us who are longing to ‘live loved’, I cannot recommend a better follow-up to
The Shack
than
He Loves Me.
It is an exploration and adventure into the heart of the God we hoped was truly there, and who loves each of us in particular with an everlasting love.”

William P. Young, author of
The Shack

He Loves Me: Learning to Live in the Father’s Affection

Second Edition
by Wayne Jacobsen

Do you find yourself picking through circumstances like children plucking daisy petals attempting to figure out whether or not God loves you? If you find yourself least certain of his love in those critical moments when you most need to trust him, there is hope for you. Where? At the one event in human history that forever secured your place in the Father’s heart—the cross where Jesus opened the door into the heart of his Father. There you will discover that what he always wanted was not the fearful subservience of servants, but the loving affection of sons and daughters. If your spiritual life feels more like an empty ritual rather than a joyful journey, let Wayne help you discover this Father who loves you more than anyone on this planet ever has or ever will and how you can rest in his love through every circumstance you face.

So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore
by Jake Colsen

What would you do if you met someone you thought just might be one of Jesus’ original disciples still living in the 21st Century? That’s Jake’s dilemma as he meets a man who talks of Jesus as if he had known him, and whose way of living challenges everything Jake had previously known. This is Jake’s compelling journal that chronicles thirteen conversations with his newfound friend over a four-year period and how those exchanges turn Jake’s world upside-down. If you’re tired of just going through the motions of Christianity and want to mine the depths of what it really means to live deeply in Christ, you’ll find Jake’s story will give you hope for your own.