Max Lucado on Facing the End Times with Faith and Hope

Audio By Carbonatix

Although Max Lucado is enjoying a rare mistake day off due to one of his interviews being rescheduled in California, the Best-Selling author has a lot on his plate, from filling in at Gateway Church due to the recent abuse scandal that has rocked the church, to being the pastor at his church in San Antonio to making sure that he keeps putting out best-selling books each year. In a sit-down interview with Crosswalk, Max does what he does best in offering hope in troubled times in his new book, titled What Happens Next. However, many of Max's faithful followers remember his heart health scares from a few years ago. 

"For a near 70-year-old like me, I'm doing great. The Lord has healed and is healing me of a couple of issues. I feel no concern or anxiety about it. I still live with a large aneurysm in my heart. The Lord has protected it from growing, so I'm grateful for that and feeling pretty good in terms of energy and activity. 

Crosswalk Headlines: Where were you when the Holy Spirit said you needed to help Gateway church out and become their pulpit fill-in? 

Max Lucado: The context on Gateway is that their former pastor, no longer at Gateway, stepped down; I was not in the middle of that. I'm not in the middle of determining guilt, innocence, consequence, and all of that, and I don't want to be; they have a wonderful team sorting that out. I was on vacation when the news about pastor Morris hit social media, and I was just stunned. I love the Gateway Church. I've preached there many times over the years, and so I felt even then the Lord urging me to be of service to Gateway. When I returned from vacation, lo and behold, there was an invitation for me to speak within the following weekend. After I spoke, the leaders asked if they could meet with me. I thought they were going to just talk about what they could do in their circumstance. I met with the elders, and they said, "Would you consider serving as one of our two interim pastors until we are able to determine our next course of action?  I prayed about it, of course, and talked to my wife and a couple of advisors, but it was not a hard decision. The only issue was logistics, being that I'm still a Pastor at my church. 

CWH: How are you managing to do both, filling in at Gateway and Preaching at your church? 

Lucado: The only challenge is logistics because I am preaching at the church where I serve, and so it's a lot of flying up on Saturday from San Antonio to capture their message and Saturday service and then flying back Saturday night to preach on Sundays. I love the people of Gateway and am happy to do it. The Lord's hand is on that church. 

CWH: Are you preaching the same message at Gateway and your church? 

Lucado: No, what I planned to preach at my church in San Antonio didn't quite fit what I needed to preach about at Gateway - two different messages in two different directions.

CWH: Why did you feel the need to write about End Times? 

Lucado: I've had quite a few people ask me to write a book on the End Times, and it just felt right. 

CWH: Do you think we're living in the end times, Max?

Lucado: I think we're in the end of end times. I think so many things are happening at such a pace and such a speed that what Jesus called the birth pains and his delivery draws near, you know, the pains increase in intensity and in frequency. I find myself in that camp of believers, and I realize there are a variety of opinions on this. We all agree Jesus is coming, the dead will be living, the evil will be judged. We all believe that. 

CWH: There are many different views out there on the end times. How can we find common ground? 

Lucado: We find common fellowship because we believe that Jesus is coming back. One of those topics is the role of Israel and the end times. I do believe that what happened in 1948, when Israel was reinstated as a nation, could be and should be interpreted as a significant event, a major milestone in prophetic history; no other nation has been banished from its homeland for nearly 2000 years, and then returned, that returning that regathering, is necessary for several key, and prophetic moments to happen. I do believe that a page is turned in prophetic history; nobody knows the day, and no one knows the hour, but we do see certain signs. What we're seeing is Israel being encircled by enemies. Every day, there seem to be more and more warnings. 

CWH: How should a believer respond to what is happening in Israel? 

Lucado: I believe we need to pay close attention to that because, in the end times, Israel is going to be encircled by enemies. I think that God has told us what to expect, never to scare us but always to prepare us.

CWH: What do you want the reader to walk away with after reading your book? 

Lucado: I always like to say the most prophetic book in the Bible is the Book of Genesis because it's a picture of God's plan for end times. The book of Genesis offers us the perfect paradise, and people were in perfect harmony, in perfect bodies, in a perfect relationship with their Heavenly Father. That's where we're headed now; what happens between now and then? There's a lot of discussion about that. My book outlines what I think is the timeline of heaven. I'm very excited about where we're headed; I'm not afraid. I want the church to be excited. We have the best news in the world, and I'm thrilled to be a part of sharing it.

CWH: How can believers prepare themselves for the times that we live in? 

Lucado: although we do not know the future, we do know the one who holds the future. We do not have to be afraid like those who have no hope. What we can do is share this hope with urgency, kindness, compassion, and clarity with every opportunity that we get.

Photo Credit: ©Facebook/Max Lucado

MAINA MWAURA is a freelance writer and journalist who has interviewed over 800 influential leaders, including two US Presidents, three Vice-Presidents, and a variety of others. Maina, is also the author of the Influential Mentor, How the life and legacy of Howard Hendricks Equipped and Inspired a Generation of Leaders. Maina and his family reside in the Kennesaw, Georgia area.