3:16: The Numbers of Hope (3:16) | Max Lucado

3:16: The Numbers of Hope (3:16) | Max Lucado | 3:16 The Numbers of Hope

books:

3:16: The Numbers ...

	3:16: The Numbers of Hope (3:16) Max Lucado Thomas Nelson, 2007 - 240 pages average customer review:based on 18 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

If 9/11 are the numbers of terror and despair, then 3:16 are the numbers of hope. Best-selling author Max Lucado leads readers through a word-by-word study of John 3:16, the passage that he calls the "Hope Diamond" of Scripture.

3:16 will have a large, multi-faceted campaign, including:

Multiple licensed products to further extend 3:16 at retail. Partners thus far include Hallmark, Dayspring, Kerusso, and Bob Siemon Designs 3:16 curriculum and church musical in development 3:16 consumer music CD featuring top Christian music artists 3:16 as the centerpiece of a global ministry initiative launched worldwide via simulcast on Palm Sunday, 3/16/08 Unprecedented release in several languages, including Spanish, German, Swedish, Dutch, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese Multiple ancillary publishing products to include evangelism booklet, DVD priced for giveaway, children's product, and gift book

for more information click here

Beautiful & Powerful!

Reading this book was an incredible experience for me and brought me to tears, all with gratitude, for what Jesus out of His love for me and others. Max Lucado has a beautiful and gifted way of presenting the meaning of John 3:16 and provides the vivid descriptions and context, which is helpful to understanding the power of this verse. Prior to reading the book I could say I was familiar with the scripture, hearing it so many times throughout the years, but reading this book provided me with the understanding of what this scripture really means. I encourage anyone who is actively seeking a spiritual relationship experience with Jesus Christ (versus a religious experience) to read this book.

for more information click here

3:16 The Numbers of Hope

I thoroughly enjoyed the vivid homey style of Max Lucado in this work which is just one more example of his ability and skill as writer who knows his subject well and lovingly.

Numbers to live by

Master storyteller and popular pastor Max Lucado is at his best in his 130-page riff on one of the best-loved passages of the Bible, John 3:16, a verse he beautifully calls "an alphabet of grace, a table of contents to the Christian hope, each word a safe-deposit box of jewels." Following the main text is a 40-day devotional study on the life of Jesus, excerpted from many of his widely-read books.

Lucado kicks off his book with a retelling of Nicodemus's famous conversation with Christ, in which Jesus tells him, "Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (NKJV) The thought, Lucado says in his trademark prose, "coldcocks Nicodemus." When he asks Jesus how anyone could possibly be reborn, Jesus responds with John 3:16.

The words of John 3:16, Lucado says, are to Scripture what the Mississippi River is to America --- an entryway into the heartland. "Believe or dismiss them, embrace or reject them, any serious consideration of Christ must include them." They are "heart-stilling, mind-bending, deal-making-or-breaking." Lucado's anecdotes are warm, poignant, often funny, and help him make his points. Chapter by chapter he unpacks each piece of John 3:16, mining the treasures to be found.

One of Lucado's trademarks is his ability to retell biblical stories in a way that refreshes them for Christians who may have heard them a hundred times before or that piques the interest of the first-time listener. He is not afraid to introduce scholarly terms (anothen) but always unpacks them for his audience in an informative, inviting way. His language is vivid and precise, and his writing reflects that of someone who makes it look easy because he has wrestled over every sentence. "Heart-breakers, hope-snatchers, and dream-dousers prowl this orb.... But God loves."

Humility permeates his work and continues to endear this mega-selling author and his writing to his readers. When Lucado writes about himself, he pens lines like this: "Burger dependent. Half asleep....and sinless? I can't maintain a holy thought for my two-minute commute."

Yet there is a toughness to his theology. Lucado is quick to reach out with comfort, but also refuses to compromise his beliefs. His writing on the "in Him" portion of the passage emphasizes this. Looking at the popular belief that all spiritual paths lead to heaven, he takes a firm stand. "Salvation is found, not in self or in them but in him," Lucado writes. "...Don't believe in you; you can't save you. And don't believe in others; they can't save you."

In another uncompromising and passionate look at the word "perish," Lucado writes a no-holds-barred short treatise on hell. "Hell, like heaven, is a location, not a state of mind...an actual place populated by physical beings." He adds, "There is no point on which I'd rather be wrong than the eternal duration of hell...if God, on the last day, extinguishes the wicked, I'll celebrate my misreading of his words." It is not God's will, Lucado says, that anyone should perish. "...but the fact that some do highlights God's justice." There's plenty of fodder here for discussion among Christians. Yet Lucado doesn't leave it there. He adds that "The supreme surprise of hell is this: Christ went there so you don't have to. Yet hell could not contain Him."

Lucado can be as reassuring as he is tough. Consider this lovely passage:

"Allow the only decision maker in the universe to comfort you. Life at times appears to fall to pieces, seems irreparable. But it's going to be okay. How can you know? Because God so loved the world. And, since he has no needs, you cannot tire him. Since he is without age, you cannot lose him. Since he has no sin, you cannot corrupt him. If God can make a billion galaxies, can't he make good out of our bad and sense out of our faltering lives?"

This is a fine introductory book for those new to Lucado's writing and will also be appreciated by his legions of readers. Don't miss it.

--- Reviewed by Cindy Crosby

for more information click here

The bible verse that still shakes the world today!

As the title of Mr. Max Lucado's "3:16: The Numbers of Hope" suggests, this book is almost entirely centered on the most famous bible verse, John 3:16. Mr. Lucado's writing style is very easy to read and digest and his use of analogies throughout the book provide an excellent context to some of the deeper meanings of this simple yet so complex bible verse.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 King James Version)

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16 English Standard Version)

You see references to this verse throughout your daily walk. People at sporting events hold it up for the television cameras, etc. But have you really ever sat down and thought about the profound meaning of this short verse? That is exactly what this book tries to do. While it does go too deeply into theology, it provides an excellent platform to build off of. Some people have complained in their review of the book about the fact of a lack of deeper study but I don't think that was the intended audience of this book.

Jesus turned the world upside down with his teachings and many argue that this quote is perhaps the cornerstone of Christianity. Contrary to many religious theologies this verse points out the fact that you can't "earn" your way to heaven. How could you? How could you ever good enough in the eyes the perfect being? Instead John 3:16 shows the beauty and easiness to receive eternal life. And yet we as human beings take it and make it difficult.

This is the third book I have read by Mr. Lucado. The other two were Facing Your Giants: A David and Goliath Story for Everyday People and And the Angels Were Silent: Walking with Christ toward the Cross (Chronicles of the Cross). I would also recommend both of these books.

for more information click here

The Gospel Shines Forth

If you've been to a Christian bookstore in the past two months, you've probably seen Max Lucado's newest book: 3:16 - The Numbers of Hope. Thomas Nelson has given this book substantial promotion, and it looks like the campaign is just beginning. Soon to follow is a teen edition, not to mention the trinkets that typically accompany our evangelical fads.

But leaving aside the faddishness of evangelicalism today for a moment, let's get to the book itself. 3:16 will probably be Lucado's best-remembered work. He borrows graciously from his previous works, especially in the devotional half of the book. 3:16 is a good introduction to Lucado's winsome writing. Lucado's ability to communicate is outstanding. I recommend that pastors read him, if only to learn from the delightful way in which he expresses theological concepts.

From a theological standpoint, 3:16 doesn't break new ground, thankfully so. Lucado affirms the major Christian doctrines of the faith. He speaks rightly of Christ's substitutionary death, the "Great Exchange" (our sin for Christ's righteousness), the need for faith, the exclusivity of faith in Christ for salvation, and the existence of both heaven and hell. Lucado is a traditional, conservative evangelical. Yet, he manages to package these doctrines with grace-filled illustrations, explaining Scripture while challenging and comforting his readers all at the same time.

Those of us who lean Reformed may grow weary of Lucado's constant appeal to humanity's free will and choice. At one point, he states boldly that God never forces himself on anyone. So, although he claims that salvation is a work generated and based solely in God, he makes it clear that the choice of salvation is exclusively in human hands.

But let's not get hung up on technicalities. The gospel shines forth in the book. I was thankful to see an emphasis on the resurrection and not just the cross (something that Rick Warren's Purpose-Driven Life completely neglected).

3:16 is an easy book to read and digest. I have no doubt it will make an impact on many a lost person and that God will use it to bring people to himself. God bless Max Lucado for using his gifts to preach the gospel!

for more information click here

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

products you might be interested in