I wouldn’t normally pick a Max Lucado book to read. However, since I’m apart of the Thomas Nelson Book Review Bloggers, they were really pushing to have this book reviewed, so I thought I’d take a shot at it. So, here it goes 🙂
Overview
The book begins with a chapter on why we fear. Lucado then spends the remainder of the book examining different fears that people have and using the words of Scripture to help ease those fears and remind people to turn to Jesus. Lucado never goes “pollyanna” optimistic and never goes “Chicken Little” pessimistic. He’s real about the fears that exist in this world, but offers the hope of Jesus that can overcome those fears. The book is laced with personal stories and stories of people he’s either met or read about. The stories help the book move along at a quick pace.
Review
Overall, I’ll give this 4 stars. I give it 4 because the book achieves what I think it was meant to achieve. The book is soaked in Scripture. Lucado backs up what he says Jesus said by quoting Jesus. That’s a refreshing approach for me (sadly, I’ve run into too many people who say Jesus said this or did this, but never back it up by quoting the Scripture). There were a few times where I furrowed my brow and probably made a funny looking face. I think Lucado rips a few verses from their context to support what he’s saying or makes a simple statement that the Scripture, under a close examination, wouldn’t support. However, these few moments of debatable scholarship don’t detract from the overall theme of the book.
~sdg
The Camel's Hump 