On Point of View today, we welcome back, celebrated author, Max Lucado. Max tells us more about his newly released book, Because of Bethlehem: Love Is Born, Hope Is Here.
We also hear from director and producer Billy Dickson about the movie Believe.
In the final hour, Kerby welcomes back O.S. Hawkins, president of Guidestone Financial Resources, he tells us about his book, The Daniel Code: Living out Truth in a Culture that is Losing Its Way.
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Max’s sermons begin at home with the congregation at Oak Hills Church, which he has led for more than 25 years. It is in this setting that his stories are first told, from a pastor’s heart. Eventually some of these sermons and stories are refined and fashioned into books that are shared far beyond the walls of Oak Hills and the city limits of San Antonio, Texas. Max’s words have traveled around the world in more than 54 languages via more than 120 million individual products. Most of these products are books (92 million), which have now occupied spots on every major national bestseller list. Over the years Max Lucado has been featured in countless national media outlets, dubbed “America’s Pastor” by Reader’s Digest, and even named one of the most influential leaders in social media by The New York Times.
Max was born in a small town in West Texas, the youngest son of an oil field mechanic and a nurse. He grew up in church but as a teen took a different road, walking away from his parent’s faith. One starry summer night, after downing a six-pack of beer, Max began to wonder if there wasn’t more to life than parties and chasing pretty girls. Not long afterward, a Bible class at nearby Abilene Christian University stirred his heart again, drawing the young student into the unconditional love of God.
Max left West Texas with a master’s degree in Biblical Studies and a deep desire to share God’s love and mercy with others. When he landed in a small church near Miami, Florida, one of his duties as an associate pastor was to write the weekly church newsletter. It was then he discovered a powerful synergy between his passion for people, pastoral ministry, and writing.
Max and his wife Denalyn have three grown daughters. They live in Houston, Texas.
He loves it because somewhere someone will ask the Christmas questions: What’s the big deal about the baby in the manger? Who was he? What does his birth have to do with me?
And the answers he’s found give us all hope. 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.
And Christmas begins what Easter celebrates. The child in the cradle became the King on the cross. Because of Bethlehem, we have a Savior in heaven.
These are the heart shaping promises of Christmas. Long after the guests have left and the carolers have gone home and the lights have come down, these promises endure.
Let’s turn on the lamp, curl up in a comfortable spot, and look into the odd, wonderful story of Bethlehem.
Max has found a lifetime of hope. We will too.
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As a cinematographer he is best known for his work on the television series Ally McBeal, for which he was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series in 2001 and 2002. He was also a cinematographer for numerous television films and photographed the television series The Big Easy, Hidden Hills and 12 Miles of Bad Road.
As a television director, he directed episodes of Ally McBeal, One Tree Hill and the reality series Majors & Minors. In 2008, Dickson created the internet television series IQ-145, starring Thomas Dekker and Lindsey McKeon. Dickson also directed, edited, photographed and wrote all the episodes for the series.
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Inspired by the story of Daniel in the Old Testament, bestselling author O.S. Hawkins shows how we can engage our broken culture with integrity. Daniel was a young man who “wrote the book” on how to survive in a pagan, permissive, and perverse culture. His value system was challenged at every turn.
Daniel steps off the pages of scripture and into our modern culture today to reveal some timeless principles—a sort of “Daniel Code”—that enable you to not simply exist in our culture but to engage it and survive it as well. You will discover that the same God that ensured Daniel’s victories is here for you today.
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