This review is strictly for those readers who enjoy Christian-based literature. There is no one who pours more heart into writing about Jesus Christ being Lord and Savior than the author Max Lucado. If you don’t enjoy Christmas stories from a religious standpoint, or Christian inspirational, then this review is not for you.
If your still reading then I’m sure you that you are a person who loves the inspirational work of Max Lucado, or maybe you just have an amazing open mind like I do for reading everything. For years, Lucado has been motivating masses within the Christian faith. For Christians, he inspires and encourages, while warming the heart with stories understandable to all readers and that stem from every day life. I enjoy the calmness of his writing and his gentle prose and amazing storytelling.
Christmas was already a month and a half ago. I have no idea where that time went since we just celebrated Valentine’s Day. I had this book called Christmas Stories: Heartwarming Classics of Angels, a Manger, and a Birth of Hope in my queue from Thomas Nelson Publishers. Though I enjoyed all the stories in this book around Holiday time, I didn’t have quite as much time to review.
This collection of Christmas stories is certainly one you’ll want to bookmark and remember to purchase closer to Holiday time 2013. It would make not only a wonderful gift book, but also a nice addition to a family Christmas collection. My family and I enjoy reading stories and books every night in December leading up to Christmas and the week following.
I enjoyed the story called The Christmas Candle, which he had previously published, and I was happy to see it in this collection. Taking place in Victorian London, it’s so touching, it doesn’t disappoint. I also had a fondness for the story The North Pole or The Manger? where he talks about how humans try to conjure heroes for every need when really we have Jesus, the most special creation ever made.
The quotes, fictional stories, essays, and excerpts from several other of his books, assists Lucado in putting together a book that keeps those of us who are Christians, and those who are asking questions, centered on Jesus during the Holiday season.
Sharing a little of the Christmas Season over the Valentine Holiday, yet the same message abounds: Love.
Story Collection Synopsis~
A heartwarming collection of Christmas stories and reflections from Max Lucado
These stories—like your favorite Christmas ornaments—come in all shapes and sizes. They unfold in a variety of settings, from ancient Bethlehem to rural England. From a small Texas town to the heavenly realms. Some are short. Others many chapters long. Some offer reflections. Others imagine Christmas through the eyes of a burnt-out candle maker, a lonely business man, or heavenly angels.
Yet all are vintage Lucado, and all resonate with the wonder of the season.
“In the mystery of Christmas,” Max writes, “we find its majesty. The mystery of how God became flesh, why he chose to come, and how much he must love his people. Such mysteries can never be solved, just as love can never be diagrammed. Christmas is best pondered, not with logic, but imagination.”
That’s what each of these unique Christmas stories help us do. In the midst of the bustle and hurry that often distracts us this time of year, these stories free us to explore the ways in which Christ’s coming has forever changed history—and us.
Max Lucado, Biography~
In just under two decades of writing, Max Lucado has accomplished more than most writers hope for in a lifetime. Most of his books have appeared on one or more best seller lists, including those published by the “New York Times,” “USA Today,” “Publishers Weekly,” and the Christian Booksellers Association (CBA). Aside from hardcover books, Lucado’s writings have also been published as children’s books, videos, CD-ROMs, DVDs, music CDs, mass paperback booklets, apparel, giftware, bookmarks, calendars, study Bibles, workbooks, curricula, and plush products. In spring 2003, Hallmark/Dayspring Cards launched a new gift card line featuring excerpts from Lucado’s writings–and has already sold more than one million cards.
All this success has drawn more than a little attention to a previously low-profile Texas author and minister. Lucado has been featured in a wide range of media, including “USA Today,” “Larry King Live,” and “NBC Nightly News.” He has spoken at the National Prayer Breakfast before the President of the United States. He has traveled with internationally renowned musicians as a special speaker on their music tours, such as the highly successful “Come Together & Worship Tour” (sponsored by Chevrolet) with Grammy Award-winning artists Michael W. Smith and Third Day.
Journey to the Top
Lucado was born in 1955 in San Angelo, Texas, and raised in Andrews, Texas, the youngest of four children. His father was an Exxon oil field mechanic who, Lucado remembers, always smelled of grease cleaner. “It makes it easy for me to see a God who is loving and kind–because my dad was,” he says. His mother was a nurse who grew up working in the cotton fields.
Lucado went through a period of rebellion against his parents’ values and their God during his teens and into college. But it wasn’t long before he found himself drawn back to his roots, back to God. He married, spent time serving as a missionary in Brazil, and returned to the States, where he began working as a church minister and writing on the side.
Secret to Success
From all accounts, Max Lucado is not a man consumed by sales, awards, and achievements. He often turns down media interviews since they impede on family and ministry commitments. He spends the bulk of his week serving as senior minister at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas. And he is truly surprised by his own success–more impressed by his one-in-a-million wife and three amazing daughters than by his successful writing career.
I was given a courtesy copy of this book by Thomas Nelson in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own.
Oh, for the HOOK of a BOOK! 