Bible Connection Podcast: Good News of Great Joy with Max Lucado
With over 30 years in ministry and books that have impacted countless readers, Max Lucado is a fount of encouragement for all believers. In this ninth episode of the Bible Connection podcast, Max talks about his journey in ministry and writing as well as his most recent book: How Happiness Happens: Finding Lasting Joy in a World of Comparison, Disappointment, and Unmet Expectations (Thomas Nelson, 2019). He explains his research into happiness, anxiety, the Bible, and how it all connects.
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Max Lucado
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For over 30 years, pastor and writer Max Lucado has been encouraging others with his powerful ministry. In this episode of the Bible Connection podcast, Max shares his journey into writing and the different places his books have taken him over the years. From Brazil to San Antonio, Texas, Max has worked hard to develop his spiritual gifts and share them with others.
[Sign up to receive the free email devotional, An Encouraging Word from Max Lucado]
In How Happiness Happens, Max examines the current state of happiness in the modern world. Anxiety levels are rising at the same time as personal happiness is dropping. Why is that? Where has our happiness gone? Max shares some of his findings and the paths we can take to find happiness again. Max believes that God cares about our happiness and has given us clear paths towards happiness, including encouraging others.
[Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, How Happiness Happens: An Interview with Max Lucado]
Throughout his ministry, Max has developed a deep love for and dedication to the Word of God. He shares what the Bible is currently teaching him and the ways it speaks to him in every season of his life.
Excerpts from This Podcast
10:30 — “That’s the way God intended the Bible to be understood, in these moments, in these stories. And trying to step into them and envision them is a job, I think, of a Bible teacher. There’s certainly a time for explanation of doctrines and teachings, but the stories, they put the music. It’s one thing to look at the notes on a piece of sheet music, but to hear the symphony play it, that’s a different thing.”
11:45 — “I think after all of these years as a pastor, I’ve realized the power of trying to identify the emotion to which we’re trying to speak.”
14:21 — “So the real question is: where did our happiness go? How did it disappear? I don’t know if there is really any way of coming at one answer to that, but there are some pretty clear suggestions.”
15:53 — “I’m really not anti-stuff. I am pro having a realistic expectation about stuff. Stuff just doesn’t deliver, but being kind to others really does.”
16:49 — “Our joy level, it matters to God.”
18:23 — “Encouragement is really a quick way to begin making other people happy. Some ways are more profound and more challenging, like forgive one another or admonish one another or even teach one another. But everybody can put into practice this idea of encourage each other. And, really, my big idea is that we’re happy when we make others happy.
19:28 — “And so when we encourage others, we’re really carrying out our assignment.”
21:49 — “Service out of perspiration is every bit as valid as service out of inspiration.”
22:38 — “The fact of Scripture has to outrank the feelings of emotions.”
28:09 — “It’s one thing for us to believe in what God does, it’s one thing for us to believe that God’s going to do something in the future. Then there’s this whole world in between. Do we believe what God’s up to right now?”
Featured Scripture: John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Episode Links:
Buy your copy of How Happiness Happens in the Bible Gateway Store
Buy your copy of the NKJV Lucado Encouraging Word Bible in the Bible Gateway Store
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