Max Lucado: A Sovereign, Good God Can Redeem the Most Difficult Circumstances

For many, Christmas is the best time of the year. For others, it's difficult and challenging to get through. Pastor and author Max Lucado joined The Glenn Beck Program on Monday to talk about his new book, Because of Bethlehem: Love Is Born, Hope Is Here, and the hope found in a baby in a manger.

"Some of the people I know who have the most vibrant faith are those who have discovered that God can be the perfect father to them . . . it's kind of a mental switch. They say, Okay, I wasn't, for whatever reason, blessed with a good earthly dad, but I'm not going to let that slow me down. That is what it is. I'm going to press into God, and I'm going to see what scripture says about the kind of father he is, and I'm going to begin relating to him in that fashion," Lucado said.

The new book also has a companion Study Guide or DVD Study.

God knows what it’s like to be a human. When we talk to him about deadlines or long lines or tough times, he understands. He’s been there. He’s been here. Because of Bethlehem, we have a friend in heaven.

Listen to this segment from The Glenn Beck Program:

Below is a rush transcript of this segment, it might contain errors:

GLENN: Max Lucado is a pastor in San Antonio and an author. 120 million books sold, and people are still reading -- Max Lucado has a new book called because of Bethlehem. And also the Because of Bethlehem coloring book, which I think is fantastic. Pat had never even heard of an adult coloring book and has all the typical questions that I had when I first found out that we were making coloring books for adults. But now I love them.

Max is here with us now. Max, how are you, sir?

MAX: I'm great. I'm great. Merry Christmas to you. Thanks for letting me be on your program.

GLENN: You bet. I want to talk to you a little bit about Christmas from the eyes of people that don't necessarily find this the most wonderful time of the year. I know people who I would generally consider happy people. And I got an email from one of them the other day that said, "Christmas is the worst time of the year for me. It is so hard, and some of it is based on things that happened, and some of them is based on missed opportunities."

What do you say to those people?

MAX: Yeah. And as a pastor, I meet people like that quite often in between church services. Likely, someone will come up and say, "This is really a tough December for me." And when I ask why or explore why, oftentimes, it's something that happened this year, so this is the first Christmas since this -- you know, the funeral. The first Christmas since the divorce or the first Christmas since the job layoff. So what they would expect to be a happy season feels even heavier. And you're absolutely right. For some people, Christmas is a reminder of what they never received. And they assume or feel that everyone else did. Maybe a healthy family or wonderful parents or a great childhood. And so Christmas can be a reminder to them of -- of pain, and consequently, they just kind of slug through December and try to get it over with.

GLENN: And if you don't have a good family or if you -- particularly, people who didn't have a good dad -- you know, how do I look at, you know, God as a father and a loving father when I don't even know what that means? You know.

MAX: Yeah. And it requires some pretty exact discipline on the part of somebody's father whose father was anything but a father. And when they read in the Bible that God is our Heavenly Father -- and that conjures up images of betrayal or abuse or abandonment -- it's difficult.

But I have discovered this, Glenn. That there are those who say, "You know, I'm going to envision the perfect father, and I'm not going to blame God for my father's failure. My earthly father, my biological father's failure, but I'm going to trust God that he can reveal to me the image of the perfect father. And I'm going to let scripture, let the stories that the Bible tell me who my Heavenly Father is."

And some of the people I know who have the most vibrant faith are those who have discovered that -- that God can be the perfect father to them. And they make that -- it's kind of a mental switch. They say, "Okay. I wasn't for whatever reason blessed with a good earthly dad. But I'm not going to let that slow me down. That is what it is. I'm going to press into God, and I'm going to see what scripture says about the kind of father he is. And I'm going to begin relating to him in that fashion.

GLENN: I will tell you that Pat said to me at one point to consider -- he said, "It will change your life. Consider your -- consider God an actual dad. Envision him as an actual dad."

Now when I read scriptures, I know how I'm supposed to be a dad because I can see him as a dad. I can see how he is as a parent. He doesn't put up with crap after a long, long, long fuse. But he never punishes in -- in a bad way. He -- he lets you feel your consequences.

MAX: Absolutely, yeah.

GLENN: And he does it for your own good.

MAX: He does. He does. And I think that we are wired as human beings to need a father. We are wired to need a father. That's just the way we are built -- that's why the family unit is so important. And that's why the breakdown of fatherhood in culture is such a disaster. But it's not fatal. It's not fatal.

We believe in a sovereign, good God who can redeem the most difficult circumstances. And it's worthy of note that when Jesus taught us to pray, he said, "Pray like this: Our father who art in heaven." That's how he taught us to pray. We relate to God, yes, as a king, yes, as a Creator. But we can relate to him as our father.

And it's often pointed out that the way Jesus said that was the word our Abba. A-B-B-A. It was a tender colloquial term like papa or daddy.

I don't think anybody is ever so successful, sophisticated, or important, that they don't need a Heavenly Father with whom they can relate as a daddy, that since being able to crawl up in a father's lap and say, "I'm tired. I need help. I need strength," that we were made, Glenn -- I think we were made to receive that.

GLENN: Tell me about the book Because of Bethlehem. I'm just reading here. And I love this. Most of the players in the Christmas drama inspire us with our faith. This is about halfway through.

Mary who had great courage. Joseph who was obedient. The shepherds who came quickly and worshiped willingly. The wise men who traveled far and gave generously. Most of the characters in Bethlehem drama behaved like heroes. But there was also one who played a role of a villain.

Why is this -- why is this important?

MAX: It is important. King Herod. You know, what a story. Here's a king who was -- who was 10 miles from Bethlehem, who had wise men come from a distant country saying that they perceived through the stars that something miraculous was happening. And it could be in the vicinity of where King Herod was.

So he consults with his religious leaders. His religious leaders say, "Well, there is a prophecy in the Bible that says that the king will be born in Bethlehem."

And I think King Herod was so power-hungry, so jealous, that he couldn't bring it -- he couldn't bring himself to make the 10-mile hike to Bethlehem to see who this might be. And as we know, he actually ended up trying to kill the newborn Jesus because he tried to slaughter all the children in Bethlehem.

He's really a picture. In the book, Because of Bethlehem, I look at some of these characters and what they teach us. And I think that Herod is the picture of the man that is consumed by jealousy, by a lust for power, and how it just destroyed him, and how it prevented him from making what could have been a life-changing discovery in his life.

And so in the book -- I look at some of these characters, like Herod, or Joseph, or Mary, asking, "What can they teach us this Christmas? What can they teach us?" And I think he serves as a warning, that we shouldn't let ourselves get so arrogant and prideful that we don't feel the need to take moments to explore what supernatural interventions God might be doing right next door to us.

GLENN: You're not making these guys into movie stars. At one point, towards the end, you write, "Hollywood recast the Christmas story. Joseph's collar is way too blue. Mary is green from inexperience. The couple's star power doesn't match the bill. Too obscure. Too simple. Story warrants some headliners. Square-jawed Joseph, somebody like George Clooney. Mary needs a beauty mark and glistening teeth, Angelina Jolie-ish. What about the shepherds? Do they sing? If so, can we get Bono?

I watched for the very first time, what is it? The Nativity Story, I think. It came out about five years ago.

MAX: Uh-huh.

GLENN: And I was struck by how they cast everybody as simple, very young, very -- I mean, it seemed very, very real to me. And when you cast the story that way, you -- you really appreciate what Mary and I think -- especially Joseph -- did.

MAX: It's just a beautiful story, isn't it, Glenn? And it's so good for our spirit. I think it's good for our country right now, coming out of this difficult election, to let the Christmas story remind us that God loves every person. And he can use the simplest person. I can't imagine a person more simple than Mary. You know, she lived in a remote part of a remote country, on the margin of the Roman Empire. And yet she would be entrusted with what we Christians believe is the greatest miracle of all, and that is to bring God into the world.

And then there's Joseph. He apparently was a good guy. But he was a normal guy. He probably wouldn't have gone to the equivalent of an Ivy League college or been considered for Secretary of State or anything. You're just a regular old Joe. He was Joseph. And yet God takes these normal folk like you and me and says, "Just trust me. I can do a miracle for you. I can do a miracle in you. I can do miracles with you." And I think we need this reminder.

You know, in an increasingly secular society, we miss out on the surprises of God. We live with the mentality that says that all we -- all that exists is what we can hear or touch or see. But stories like Christmas remind us that somebody -- Almighty God is up to something really good. And he's bringing it about in the right way. And he's using regular folk like us to accomplish his purpose. And that's a refreshing reminder.

GLENN: I know we don't know this. But in your, you know, opinion as a man. How -- how much of Mary and Joseph's life was spent, do you think, thinking, I don't know -- maybe that was just a dream?

(laughter)

GLENN: Because they were people. How much of their life was spent questioning whether or not this was true. Because they were still cleaning dirty diapers and everything else. You know what I mean?

MAX: Absolutely. Absolutely. And we remember that -- that right at the core of the Christian gospel is the -- is the immaculate conception, you know, of Mary.

GLENN: Yeah.

MAX: And I believe it. I do. I know people dismiss it and disregard it. But I believe it. And if it is true, then Mary knew it was a miracle, right? I mean, she would have known.

GLENN: Mary knew. Mary didn't have as much a problem as Joseph did.

MAX: Joseph could have struggled. He could have.

GLENN: Yeah.

MAX: You know, I feel like the angelic appearances to Joseph and then just the testimony, the loyalty of his precious Mary, maybe the appearance when they took Jesus to have him set apart in the temple at the age of eight days, and he had that, you know, encounter with the people in the temple that said, "Something -- something is going on here. Something special." You know, there's no doubt he would have struggled. There's no doubt. We just don't know. We just don't know.

GLENN: Yeah, because we've all had -- now, we've never had angels appear to us, most of us.

But we've all had moments where somebody has said, "Boy, something is special." And then there's times, years later, that you're like, "I don't know." You get lost. And you're like, "I just don't know anymore." They are remarkable people because they were.

The name of the book is Because of Bethlehem: Love is Born, Hope is Here.

Max Lucado is our guest. He also has a Christmas coloring book out, which I didn't understand when I first saw them about four years ago. I'm like, "Come on. Are we really dumbing down -- adults need to color?

I think it is one of the most relaxing and mind-cleansing things you can do. But, Max, I appreciate it. And Merry Christmas to you and your family.

MAX: Merry Christmas to you, Glenn. All the best.

GLENN: God bless. Thank you very much. Max Lucado again. The name of the book is Because of Bethlehem.

Featured Image: Max Lucado (Photo Credit: MaxLucado.com

What do clay pots have to do with to preserving American history?

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Editor's note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

Why should we preserve our nation’s history? If you listen to my radio program and podcast, or read my columns and books, you know I’ve dedicated a large part of my life and finances to sourcing and preserving priceless artifacts that tell America’s story. I’ve tried to make these artifacts as available as possible through the American Journey Experience Museum, just across from the studios where I do my daily radio broadcast. Thousands of you have come through the museum and have been able to see and experience these artifacts that are a part of your legacy as an American.

The destruction of American texts has already begun.

But why should people like you and me be concerned about preserving these things from our nation's history? Isn’t that what the “big guys” like the National Archives are for?

I first felt a prompting to preserve our nation's history back in 2008, and it all started with clay pots and the Dead Sea Scrolls. In 1946, a Bedouin shepherd in what is now the West Bank threw a rock into a cave nestled into the side of a cliff near the Dead Sea. Instead of hearing an echo, he heard the curious sound of a clay pot shattering. He discovered more than 15,000 Masoretic texts from the third century B.C. to the first century A.D.

These texts weren’t just a priceless historical discovery. They were virtually perfect copies of the same Jewish texts that continue to be translated today. Consider the significance of that discovery. Since the third century B.C. when these texts were first written, the Jewish people have endured a continued onslaught of diasporas, persecutions, pressures to conform to their occupying power, the destruction of their temple, and so much more. They had to fight for their identity as a people for centuries, and finally, a year after the end of the Holocaust and a year before the founding of the nation of Israel, these texts were discovered, confirming the preservation and endurance of their heritage since ancient times — all due to someone putting these clay pots in a desert cave more than 2,000 years ago.

I first felt a prompting to preserve our nation's history back in 2008, and it all started with clay pots and the Dead Sea Scrolls.

So, what do these clay pots have to do with the calling to preserve American history? I didn’t understand that prompting myself until the horrible thought dawned on me that the people we are fighting against may very well take our sacred American scriptures, our Declaration of Independence, and our Bill of Rights. What if they are successful, and 1,000 years from now, we have no texts preserved to confirm our national identity? What kind of new history would be written over the truth?

The destruction of American texts has already begun. The National Archives has labeled some of our critical documents, like our Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights, as “triggering” or “containing harmful language.” In a public statement, the National Archives said that the labels help prepare readers to view potentially distressing content:

The Catalog and web pages contain some content that may be harmful or difficult to view. NARA’s records span the history of the United States, and it is our charge to preserve and make available these historical records. As a result, some of the materials presented here may reflect outdated, biased, offensive, and possibly violent views and opinions. In addition, some of the materials may relate to violent or graphic events and are preserved for their historical significance.

According to this statement, our founding documents are either “outdated, biased, offensive,” “possibly violent,” or a combination of these scathing descriptions. I’m sorry, the Declaration of Independence is not “triggering.” Our Constitution is not “outdated and biased,” and our Bill of Rights certainly is not “offensive and possibly violent.” They are glorious documents. They should be celebrated, not qualified by such derogatory, absurd language. Shame on them.

These are only the beginning stages of rewriting our history. What if they start banning these “triggering” documents from public view because they might offend somebody? Haven’t we torn down “triggering” statues before? What if we are no longer able to see, read, and study the actual words of our nation's founding documents because they are “harmful” or “possibly violent”? A thousand years from now, will there be any remnant to piece together the true spirit behind the nation that our founders envisioned?

The Declaration of Independence is not “triggering.”

That is why in 2008, I was prompted to preserve what I could. Now, the American Journey Experience Museum includes more than 160,000 artifacts, from founding-era documents to the original Roe v. Wade court papers. We need to preserve the totality of our nation’s heritage, the good, the bad, and the ugly. We need to preserve our history in our own clay pots.

I ask you to join with me on this mission. Start buying books that are important to preserve. Buy some acid-free paper and start printing some of the founding documents, the reports that go against the mainstream narrative, the studies that prove what is true as we are continually being fed lies. Start preserving our daily history as well as our history because it is being rewritten and digitized.

Somebody must have a copy of what is happening now and what has happened in the past. I hope things don’t get really bad. But if they do, we need to preserve our heritage. Perhaps, someone 1,000 years from now will discover our clay pots and, Lord willing, be able to have a glimpse of America as it truly was.

Top 10 WORST items in the new $1.2 TRILLION spending bill

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Biden just signed the newest spending bill into law, and Glenn is furious.

Under Speaker Johnson's leadership, the whopping $1.2 TRILLION package will use your taxpayer dollars to fund the government through September. Of course, the bill is loaded with earmarks and pork that diverts money to fund all sorts of absurd side projects.

Here is the list of the ten WORST uses of taxpayer money in the recently passed spending bill:

Funding venues to host drag shows, including ones that target children

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Money for transgender underwear for kids

Funding for proms for 12 to 18 year old kids

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Border security funding... for Jordan and Egypt

Another $300 million for Ukraine

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$3.5 million for Detroit's annual Thanksgiving Day parade

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$2.5 million for a new kayaking facility in Franklin, New Hampshire

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$2.7 million for a bike park in White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia, a town with a population of less than 2,300 people

$5 million for a new trail at Coastal Carolina University

$4 million the "Alaska King Crab Enhancement Project" (whatever that means)

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There is no doubt about it—we are entering dark times.

The November presidential election is only a few months away, and following the chaos of the 2020 election, the American people are bracing for what is likely to be another tumultuous election year. The left's anti-Trump rhetoric is reaching an all-time high with the most recent "Bloodbath" debacle proving how far the media will go to smear the former president. That's not to mention the Democrats' nearly four-year-long authoritarian attempt to jail President Trump or stop his re-election by any means necessary, even if it flies in the face of the Constitution.

Meanwhile, Biden is doing worse than ever. He reportedly threw a tantrum recently after being informed that his polls have reached an all-time low. After Special Counsel Robert Hur's report expressed concerns over Biden's obviously failing mental agility, it's getting harder for the Democrats to defend him. Yet he is still the Democratic nominee for November, promising another 4 years of catastrophic policies, from the border to heavy-handed taxation, should he be reelected.

The rest of the world isn't doing much better. The war in Ukraine has no clear end in sight, drawing NATO and Russia closer and closer to conflict. The war in Gaza is showing no sign of slowing down, and as Glenn revealed recently, its continuation may be a sign that the end times are near.

One thing is clear: we are living in uncertain times. If you and your family haven't prepared for the worst, now is the time. You can start by downloading "Glenn's Ultimate Guide to Getting Prepared." Be sure to print off a copy or two. If the recent cell outage proved anything, it's that technology is unreliable in survival situations. You can check your list of supplies against our "Ultimate Prepper Checklist for Beginners," which you can find below:

Food

  • Canned food/non-perishable foods
  • Food preparation tools
  • Go to the next level: garden/livestock/food production

Water

  • Non-perishable water store
  • Water purification
  • Independent water source

Shelter

  • Fireplace with a wood supply
  • Tent
  • Generator with fuel supply
  • Go to the next level: fallout shelter

Money

  • Emergency cash savings
  • Precious metals

Medicine

  • Extra blankets
  • Basic first aid
  • Extra prescriptions
  • Extra glasses
  • Toiletries store
  • Trauma kit
  • Antibiotics
  • Basic surgery supplies
  • Potassium Iodate tablets

Transportation

  • Bicycle
  • Car
  • Extra fuel

Information

  • Birth certificates
  • Insurance cards
  • Marriage license
  • Immunization records
  • Mortgage paperwork
  • Car title and registration
  • House keys, car keys
  • Passports
  • Family emergency plan
  • Prepping/survival/repair manuals
  • Go to the next level: copy of the Bible, the U.S. Constitution, and other important books/sources

Skills

  • Cooking
  • Gardening
  • Sewing
  • First Aid
  • Basic maintenance skills
  • Go to the next level: farming/ranching
  • Self-defense training

Communication

  • Family contact information and addresses
  • HAM radio

Miscellaneous

  • Flashlights and batteries
  • Lamps and fuel
  • Hardware (tools, nails, lumber, etc)
  • Extra clothes
  • Extreme weather clothes and gear
  • Gas masks and filters
  • Spare parts for any machinery/equipment

Is Trump's prosecution NORMAL?  This COMPLETE list of ALL Western leaders who served jail time proves otherwise.

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Mainstream media is on a crusade to normalize Donald Trump's indictments as if it's on par with the electoral course. Glenn asked his team to research every instance of a Western leader who was jailed during their political career over the past 200 years—except extreme political turmoil like the French Revolution, Napoleonic Wars, Irish Revolution, etc.—and what we discovered was quite the opposite.

Imprisoning a leader or major political opponent is not normal, neither in the U.S. nor in the Western world. Within the last 200 years, there are only a handful of examples of leaders in the West serving jail time, and these men were not imprisoned under normal conditions. All of these men were jailed under extreme circumstances during times of great peril such as the Civil War, World War II, and the Cold War.

What does this mean for America? Are Trump's indictments evidence that we are re-entering times of great peril? Below is a list of Western leaders who were imprisoned within the last 200 years. Take a look and decide for yourself:

Late 1800s

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Jefferson Davis: The nearest occurrence to a U.S. President to serve jail time was in the case of Jefferson Davis, the first and only president of the Confederate States of America. Jefferson was captured in Georgia by Northern Soldiers in 1865 and locked up in Fort Monroe, Virginia for two years. He was offered a presidential pardon but refused out of his loyalty to the confederacy.

Early 1900s

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Eugene V. Debs: Debbs, a Midwestern socialist leader, became the first person to run for president in prison. He was locked up at a federal penitentiary in Atlanta having been convicted under the federal Sedition Act for giving an antiwar speech a few months before Armistice Day, the end of World War I. Many of his supporters believed his imprisonment to be unjust. Debs received 897,704 votes and was a distant third-part candidate behind Warren G. Harding, the Republican winner, and James M. Cox, the second-place Democrat. Harding ordered Debs’s release from prison toward the end of 1921.

Nazi sympathizers and collaborators: After the end of World War II in 1945, several European leaders who had "led" their countries during the Nazi occupation faced trial and imprisonment for treason. This list included Chief of the French State Philippe Pétain, French Prime Minister Pierre Laval, and Minister-President of Norway Vidkun Quisling. The latter two were also executed after their imprisonment. President of Finland Risto Ryti and Prime Minister of Finland Johan Wilhelm Rangell were also tried and jailed for collaborating with the Nazis against the Allied Powers.

Late 1900s

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The end of the Cold War: The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 was one of the pivotal moments that brought the Cold War to a close and marked the end of Communist East Germany. With the fall of the wall and the collapse of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), the former leaders were brought to trial to answer for the crimes committed by the GDR. General Secretary Erich Honecker and General Secretary Egon Krenz were both put on trial for abuse of power and the deaths of those who were shot trying to flee into West Germany. Honecker was charged with jail time but was released from custody due to severe illness and lived out the rest of his life as an exile in Chile. Krenz served 4 years in jail before his release in 2001. He is one of the last surviving leaders of the Eastern Bloc.

Lyndon LaRouche: Larouche was a Trotsky evangelist, public antisemite, and founder of a nationwide Marxist political movement, became the second person in U.S. history to run for President in a prison cell. Granted, he ran in every election from 1976 to 2004 as a long-shot third-party candidate. When he tried to gain the Democratic presidential nomination, he received 5 percent of the total nationwide vote. Even though in 2000 he received enough primary votes to qualify for delegates in a few states, the Democratic National Committee refused to seat his delegates and barred LaRouche from attending the Democratic National Convention.