from Max Lucado: no wonder they call Him the Savior

Meditate on the wonder of the cross with Max Lucado -- just $5.99 for a limited time!

from Learn More The cross.   It rests on the time line of history. Like a compelling diamond...   Its tragedy summons all the sufferers...   Its absurdity attracts all cynics...   Its hope lures all searchers.   Far more than a gold-plated symbol of religious belief, the cross is the centerpiece of the Christian faith -- the meeting place of time and eternity. Where God and man encounter each other.   Max Lucado takes you through the drama of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ -- bringing to life Peter's denial, Pilate's hesitancy, and John's loyalty. Relive the events leading up to Jesus' crucifixion, from the foggy garden of Gethsemane to the incandescent room of the resurrection.   No Wonder They Call Him the Savior leads you up the hill of mankind's highest hope and reminds you why he deserves to be called our Savior. Get No Wonder they Call Him the Savior from Max Lucado for just $5.99 for a limited time... and get FREE shipping on your order of $30 or more! List Price: $15.99 Sale Price: $5.99 (63% off)   eBook Price: $6.99 BUY NOW   Take a look inside...   Enjoy an excerpt from No Wonder they Call Him the Savior. The Part that Matters   "I just want to know what counts." Deep Irish brogue. Dark, deep eyes. The statement was sincere. "Don't talk to me of religion, I've been down that road. And please, stay off theology. I have a degree in that. Get to the heart of it, okay? I want to know what counts." His name was Ian. He was a student at a Canadian university where I was visiting. Through a series of events he found out I was a Christian and I found out he wanted to be but was disenchanted.   "I grew up in the church," he explained. "I wanted to go into the ministry. I took all the courses, the theology, the languages, the exegesis. But I quit. Something just didn't click."   "It's in there somewhere," he spoke with earnestness. "At least I think it is."   I looked up from my coffee as he began to stir his. Then he summarized his frustration with one question.   "What really matters? What counts? Tell me. Skip the periphery. Go to the essence. Tell me the part that matters."   The part that matters.   I looked at Ian for a long time. The question hung in the air. What should I have said? What could I have said? I could have told him about church. I could've given him a doctrinal answer or read him something classic like the Twenty-third Psalm, "The LORD is my shepherd... " But that all seemed too small. Maybe some thoughts on sexuality or prayer or the Golden Rule. No, Ian wanted the treasure—he wanted the meat.   Stop and empathize for a second. Can you hear his question? Can you taste his frustration? "Don't give me religion," he was saying. "Give me what matters."   What does matter?   In your Bible of over a thousand pages, what matters? Among all the do's and don'ts and shoulds and shouldn'ts, what is essential? What is indispensable? The Old Testament? The New? Grace? Baptism?   What would you have said to Ian? Would you have spoken on the evil of the world or maybe the eminence of heaven? Would you have quoted John 3:16 or Acts 2:38 or maybe read 1 Corinthians 13?   What really matters?   You've probably wrestled with this question. Maybe you've gone through the acts of religion and faith and yet found yourself more often than not at a dry well. Prayers seem empty. Goals seem unthinkable. Christianity becomes a warped record full of highs and lows and off-key notes.   Is this all there is? Sunday attendance. Pretty songs. Faithful tithings. Golden crosses. Three-piece suits. Big choirs. Leather Bibles. It is nice and all, but... where is the heart of it?   I stirred my coffee. Ian stirred his. I had no answer. All my verses so obediently memorized seemed inappropriate. All my canned responses seemed timid.   Yet now, years later, I know what I would share with him. Think about these words from Paul in 1 Corinthians, chapter 15.   For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures.   "First importance" he says.   Read on:   That he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.1   There it is. Almost too simple. Jesus was killed, buried, and resurrected. Surprised? The part that matters is the cross. No more and no less.   The cross.   It rests on the timeline of history like a compelling diamond. Its tragedy summons all sufferers. Its absurdity attracts all cynics. Its hope lures all searchers.   And according to Paul, the cross is what counts.   My, what a piece of wood! History has idolized it and despised it, gold-plated it and burned it, worn and trashed it. History has done everything to it but ignore it.   That's the one option that the cross does not offer.   No one can ignore it! You can't ignore a piece of lumber that suspends the greatest claim in history. A crucified carpenter claiming that he is God on earth? Divine? Eternal? The death-slayer?   No wonder Paul called it "the core of the gospel." Its bottom line is sobering: if the account is true, it is history's hinge. Period. If not, it is history's hoax.   That's why the cross is what matters. That's why if I had that cup of coffee to drink with Ian again I would tell him about it. I'd tell of the drama on that windy April day, the day when the kingdom of death was repossessed and hope took up the payments. I'd tell of Peter's tumble, Pilate's hesitancy, and John's loyalty. We'd read about the foggy garden of decision and the incandescent room of the resurrection. We'd discuss the final words uttered so deliberately by this self-sacrificing Messiah.   And finally, we'd look at the Messiah himself. A blue-collar Jew whose claim altered a world and whose promise has never been equaled.   No wonder they call him the Savior.   I'm wondering if I might not be addressing some readers who have the same question that Ian had. Oh, the cross is nothing new to you. You have seen it. You have worn it. You have thought about it. You have read about it. Maybe you have even prayed to it. But do you know it?   Any serious study of the Christian claim is, at its essence, a study of the cross. To accept or reject Christ without a careful examination of Calvary is like deciding on a car without looking at the engine. Being religious without knowing the cross is like owning a Mercedes with no motor. Pretty package, but where is your power?   Will you do me a favor? Get yourself some coffee, get comfortable, and give me an hour of your time. Take a good look at the cross with me. Let's examine this hour in history. Let's look at the witnesses. Let's listen to the voices. Let's watch the faces. And most of all, let's observe the one they call the Savior. And let's see if we can find the part that matters. Learn More Plus, more favorites from Max...     God Is With You Every Day Hardcover   List Price: $17.99 Sale Price: $10.79 (40% off) Shop Now     Six Hours One Friday: Living the Power of the Cross Hardcover   List Price: $19.99 Sale Price: $7.99 (60% off) Shop Now Shop the full Lucado collection! Shop the Collection *Sale price ends on 4/30/21 @ 11:59PM EST excluding eBooks and audiobook unless otherwise noted.    FREE shipping on U.S. orders of $30 or more, excluding Alaska and Hawaii.   *eBooks purchases are fulfilled by our partner, Glose. 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