Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Book Review: Fearless




Can you imagine your life without fear? Is that even possible? When fear herds us into a prison and slams the door, wouldn't it be great to just walk out? These are questions that are promised to be addressed in Max Lucado's new book Fearless.

In the book the author lays out several different fears that seem to plague us all these days. For example, Fear of not mattering, fear of not protecting my kids, fear of violence, fear of death, fear that God is not real, etc. When looking over the table of contents I was amazed at how timely and prudent the topics chosen truly are.

I enjoyed the fact that the book lays out really simply. The chapters are labeled with individual fears. So, you read a chapter about a certain fear and he explains through the life and teachings of Jesus how faith can and should replace that fear.

Something very important to note is the fact that the author places a huge emphasis on Scripture. This is something that I really appreciated. The author wasn't trying to create solutions to each fear that we face every day, but rather pointed us to the solution to our fears. Which is faith. And where do we find the strength for our faith? In the Scriptures. Each chapter is filled with examples of Scripture that can lead us to a life of faith.

There is one more unique aspect to the book. Since each chapter deals with a different fear, it almost seems that the book has been separated into 13 little books with an introduction and conclusion at each end. You're free to look through the Table of Contents and find the fear that is real to you at that moment and skip around. It's not really necessary to read the book from cover to cover.

An added bonus at the end of the book is the discussion guide. For me reading through the chapters of the book was revealing enough, but if you wanted to dive deeper into each chapter this is the place for you. It would even work great as a discussion starter in a small group setting.

Overall I enjoyed the book and if you are a fan of Max Lucado's previous books this one certainly won't disappoint. I do believe that he has written a book that deals with a very practical and insightful topic. And he does a very good job approaching the topic of fear.