Life Lessons: Books Of 1 & 2 Peter [Paperback]

Max Lucado (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1997 | Series: Inspirational Bible Study (Book 11)

With honesty and clarity, Lucado lays out Peter's two-part survival manual. The first book shows how Christians can survive persecution from outside by clothing themselves in the peace of God. The second book warns believers against complacent faith and false teachers. Each lesson has a Scripture passage, an inspirational reading, questions to answer, space for journaling, and a prayer.

Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (December 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0849953227
• ISBN-13: 978-0849953224
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #714,564 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great Looking Book, Very Weak in Content, March 12, 2009

By 

David A. Bielby "Ev Xpistw" (Normal, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: 1 & 2 Peter (Life Lessons) (Paperback)

I bought this book because it seemed like it might be really good.

Normally I don't give a two star to a book, and especially to such a noted author. But I really feel cheated by this book. I bought it because I thought it would add some inspirational insights to my studies of 1 & 2 Peter. Let me give you a quick review of what I found and why I will not use this book much, and why I cannot recommend it for someone studying 1 & 2 Peter.

This book has 120 pages, and is about 6 1/2 by 9 1/2" with some nice artwork in gray scale on the inside of each page. However, over half of the pages have perhaps two or three questions on them with a few inches of space to write the answers in. The questions are typical of an inductive bible study-except that these questions actually miss the key point of the passage sometimes. So really this is more of a workbook, than 'life lessons'.

Secondly, the material that I evaluated in-depth singles out only one part of a passage and asks questions about that part. The rest of the passage is overlooked. In fact, the great themes of the passage, which are far richer in my opinion, are not even addressed at all! That's just tragic!

Let's zoom in on 2 Peter 1 (chapter 10 in Lucado's book) so I can illustrate my point.

There are ten pages in this 120 page book devoted to chapter 10. Of those ten pages, the first page is just a title with artwork in gray. Then on the next page you have a short paragraph of 'reflection' with about two inches of space for you to write your answer to the question that paragraph asks. Then he gives a paragraph on 'Situation' which is really just the chapter of 2 Peter 1 in the NCV text, and then the NKJ text following that with instructions to read either version. Unfortunately the text is quite long AND italicized, which makes it less pleasant to read.

Then we have a section called 'Exploration'. This is one question after another with 2 inches of blank space after each question so you can write your answers in the book.

So the first five pages of the chapter consist of two very short paragraphs, some very simple artwork, a title, the Bible text in two different versions (not my two favorite versions either), and a lot of blank paper.

The next section is called Inspiration and is a clip from his popular book Traveling Light. It's good, talking about the nature of God who is an unchanging Spirit, which ties into the passage. This sets up a key point later in the chapter, which I will get to.

The response? More questions with 2 inches of blank space after each one.

So now on the 9th page of this 10 page chapter we have half way down a section called "Life Lessons". Here Max Lucado contends that God cannot move any closer to us because He is unchanging...so therefore we must move closer to God. Immediately I thought of songs and scriptures that seem to contradict this (ESV James 4:8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.) I don't believe this teaches God will move in his nature, but He will draw nearer to us by allowing us to experience Him personally. Because Max doesn't talk at all about this, it's hard to know what he means. Unfortunately I was left wondering if he even thought about this problem. Yet in-spite of this popular verse that seems to contradict what he is saying, he doesn't address that at all.

Then he gives a prayer which is good. The last page is titled Journaling and is blank.

Honestly, this chapter could have been written in half an hour. Cut and paste passages from two versions of the Bible and cut and paste text from a previously published book that kind of matches the topic and voila!

There is one big problem with this chapter. The title and theme of this chapter is actually NOT the theme of 2 Peter 1. He titles it self-discipline. But 2 Peter 1 is about living out an overcoming faith, and self-discipline is one component of that...but it is not the main thought at all. It's about cultivating faith! Self-control is one of the issues Peter mentions that we are to make every effort to add to our faith. He covers 7 qualities to add to our faith, crescendoing to the very most important of all. Love. So I not only didn't appreciate the extremely skimpy "Life Lesson" on 2 Peter 1. I believe he missed the point of the passage...thereby causing his readers to focus on the wrong aspect of Peter's lesson in 2 Peter 1.

Here is the heart of the segment in 2 Peter 1 that he seems to draw his title and focus from. Please just read it and you will see that 'self-discipline' is clearly not the theme. ESV 2 Peter 1:5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

The theme is faith, built up by all of these seven qualities...the last of which is love!

So I guess I should mark this book a 1 star, but I can't. That's because I really like Max Lucado in general and his other books that I have are very good. So let me end by saying that this one should be completely redone...or retitled if Nelson wants to make real Impact with it.

5.0 out of 5 stars Max Lucado Study, February 25, 2011

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ThreedogsMom - See all my reviews

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This review is from: 1 & 2 Peter (Life Lessons) (Paperback)

A very good study tool. The questions bring out some very good discussion. They make you really look at your personal walk with Jesus.

5.0 out of 5 stars I & II Peter Bible Study by Max Lucado, February 24, 2011

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cattilc - See all my reviews

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This review is from: 1 & 2 Peter (Life Lessons) (Paperback)

Max Lucado always does a good job in his guided Bible Studies.

He makes you dig, forces you to think, and apply the study to daily life.

I would recommend any of his Bible Study Guides.