Max Lucado has used his God-given gift of wordsmithing for over 40 years to touch people’s hearts with deep spiritual truths. Reader’s Digest has dubbed him “The Best Preacher in America.” The New York Times considers him among social media’s most influential Christian leaders. But perhaps the biggest badge of honor Max wears is the one that has become the focus of his life’s work—he is a man who has found, kept, and cherished God’s amazing grace.
Important Events in Max Lucado’s Life
Max’s Early Life
1955: Max Lucado was born in San Angelo, Texas, on January 11, 1955. The family relocated to Andrews, Texas, when Max was young, and he and his three older siblings grew up in the small ranching town with their loving parents, Thelma and Jack.
Compared to his older brother, Dee, who never met a stranger in his life, Max seemed soft-spoken and shy. But he possessed a quiet charm that served him well, especially in high school, where he served as student body president and played center on the football team.
Though Max did a good job of keeping up appearances, he lived a dual life from his sophomore to senior year of high school. Even though he attended church on Sundays to appease his Christ-loving parents, he spent the rest of the week hiding that he drank and partied regularly.
After he graduated high school, a traveling “hippie preacher” invited Max to a Bible study. They studied the book of Acts, and for the first time, Max heard about the Holy Spirit’s role in the life of a believer. His rebellion gradually lost its luster as the Holy Spirit used those seeds of truth to start a new work in his heart. Max attended Abilene Christian College at his parents’ urging, which later became Abilene Christian University (ACU).
1973: While at ACU, Max was involved in student government, served as an intern for a nationally recognized radio program called Heartbeat, and wrote a column for the student newspaper, The Optimist.
Max met Jesus at ACU in a way he had never experienced before. During his junior year, he attended a revival service at a local church and rededicated his life to Christ. He would later confess that if Christ had not intervened in his life, he would have inevitably continued down a destructive path that led to alcoholism, jail, or worse.
During his senior year, Max returned from a mission trip to Brazil with a heart on fire for the Lord and a desire to become a full-time missionary there. Because the Brazilian government required missionaries to have two years of ministry experience and a theological degree, Max continued his studies at ACU to obtain his master’s in Biblical Studies after graduating with his B.S. in Mass Communication.
1979: As Max worked on finishing his graduate degree, he moved to downtown Miami to serve as Central Church of Christ’s associate minister under Doug Kostowski. There, he became better acquainted with fellow ACU graduate Denalyn Preston, who had moved to Miami to teach school. The two fell in love and wed on August 8, 1981.
Part of Max’s ministry tasks at Central included writing a weekly column for the church newsletter, The Central Concern. He had no idea anyone outside his local congregation would see those brief essays. Max was shocked when he began receiving nationwide requests for copies of his articles. A friend from the West Coast contacted him to suggest that he use the articles to write a book. The idea appealed to him, but Max couldn’t imagine finding the time for the project since he and Denalyn were busy preparing for their move to Brazil.
Max’s Burgeoning Ministry
1983: After Max received his master’s degree in 1983, he and Denalyn moved to Rio de Janeiro to serve as full-time missionaries. As they labored to plant churches for five years, God was busy grounding Max’s faith in the finished work of Christ, teaching him profound truths about grace, and preparing him for a different kind of mission field in the coming days.
While in Brazil, he finally found time in the evenings to edit and weave together his newsletter articles into a manuscript. He sent his completed work to fifteen publishing houses and received over a dozen rejections.
1985: On the same day Max and Denalyn received confirmation of their first pregnancy, Tyndale offered a contract on Max’s first manuscript.
His debut trade book, On the Anvil, was an instant hit and has remained a well-loved Christian classic ever since. In a foreword for the book’s 2005 edition, Max says, “I never dreamed of being an author. Never. The words in the book are not those of an aspiring penman. As you read On the Anvil, you are reading the thoughts of a young missionary writing from his soul."
Before Max and Denalyn left South America, God blessed the couple with two baby girls, Jenna and then two years later Andrea. God also blessed Max with two more published books, No Wonder They Call Him the Savior and God Came Near.
Max’s Pastorate and Prolific Writing Career
1988: After their five-year mission in Brazil ended, The Lucados felt led to return to the U.S. and their home state of Texas. Having just lost Max’s father to Lou Gehrig’s disease, they were eager and grateful to be closer to his mother.
Max accepted the pastorate at Oak Hills Church in 1988. The 500-member church in Northwest San Antonio quickly thrived under his leadership. God also continued to bless his writing ministry. By 1990 Max had six published titles to his name. His royalties provided ample income to support his family, so he stopped taking a salary from the church.
Ten years into his pastorate, the church relocated to a 34-acre property on the far north side of San Antonio to accommodate their quickly growing numbers. They continued to grow. In 2003, an average of 4,500 people attended their weekly services. By 2012, the average weekly attendance had reached a reported 8,800 people spread over six weekend services and four satellite locations.
2007: Twenty years after first taking the pulpit at Oak Hills Church, Max decided to step down as lead minister when he discovered that he had a heart arrhythmia. His health concerns were not so severe as to cause Max to leave the ministry, but wanting to make some changes for his health, he chose to assume the less demanding role of Teaching Minister at Oak Hills—a position he still holds today.
The role change allowed Max more time to spend with Denalyn, Jenna, Andrea, and Sara (born shortly after he began preaching). It also gave him more time to focus on his writing and pursue other ministry opportunities that could take his message of grace, hope, and truth to a larger audience.
Current: Besides still serving as Teaching Minister at Oak Hills Church, Max continues to write, speak, teach, and record podcasts that draw people closer to Jesus. He has authored over 150 books—for children, youth, and adults—that have sold over 145 million copies in 50 languages. The inspiration and content for all his trade books came from his sermons. Among his other prestigious book awards, Max was one of only four authors ever to receive the ECPA Pinnacle Award—an award created to recognize those who have made outstanding contributions to the publishing industry and society at large.
Interesting Facts about Max Lucado’s Life
1. Though not technically involved in the 1970s Jesus Movement, Max stated in an Outreach Magazine article that he was greatly impacted by their teaching when a long-haired, bell-bottom-wearing evangelist from California came to his hometown and invited him to a non-traditional Bible Study.
2. Since being published in 1997, Max’s award-winning children’s book, You Are Special, has sold millions of copies worldwide, including in communist China. New Hope China provides this hope-filled book to vulnerable Chinese children throughout the province, especially those abandoned in orphanages.
3. In 2016, Max and Denalyn appeared on Fixer Upper, the popular reality series starring Chip and Joanna Gaines. Their daughter, Sara, and her husband, Jeff, had purchased a fixer-upper featured on the program. Max wrote a beautiful wedding prayer for the couple, secretly made into wall art and placed in their remodeled home before the show’s unveiling.
4. Already an internationally known and respected author, when he stepped down from Oak Hill’s pulpit in 2007, Max’s successor was shocked and horrified one Sunday when several busloads of tourists pulled into the parking lot to hear Max preach.
5. Through Max’s teaching ministry UpWords, his one-minute devotionals can be heard throughout the U.S., Canada, and 22 other countries. His email devotionals are received and shared by more than a million people around the world.
Inspiring Quotes by Max Lucado
“Paul’s logic followed a simple outline: Our debt is enough to sink us. God loves us too much to leave us. So God has found a way to save us.” – “Are You in Debt to God?”
“Can you imagine a scalpel growing smug after a successful heart transplant? Of course not. They are only tools. So are we.” – “For His Glory”
“On God’s clock you’re in the middle of your millisecond. Compared to eternity, what is seventy, eighty, ninety years? Just a vapor. Just a finger snap compared to heaven.” – “Is God Good When Life Isn’t?”
“What if reference to any denomination were removed and we were all just Christians? Then we Christians would not be known for what divides us; instead we would be known for what unites us—our common Father.” – “My Crazy Thought – UpWords”
“When a father leads his four-year-old son down a crowded street, he takes him by the hand and says, ‘Hold on to me.’ He doesn’t say, ‘Memorize the map’ or ‘Take your chances dodging the traffic’ or ‘Let’s see if you can find your way home.’ The good father gives the child one responsibility: ‘Hold on to my hand.’ God does the same with us.” – “Anxious For Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World”
Important Lessons We Can Learn from Max Lucado’s Life and Books
Max’s life is an incredible story of God’s Grace, displayed—in, to, and through—an ordinary Texas man called to The Cross of Jesus to lay down his youthful frolic with sin and walk In the Footsteps of the Savior.
God Came Near to Max at that pivotal time in his youth to prepare him On the Anvil for a life of service and ministry. And When God Whispers Your Name, it’s impossible for The Children of the King to resist.
Just in Case You Ever Wonder, Max isn’t the only one God has called for a life of purpose. There’s More to Your Story too! Do you find that hard to believe right now because you feel stuck between a rock and a hard place? Don’t worry. He Still Moves Stones.
Start with Prayer. Come to Him Just as You Are. And Come Thirsty. Jesus, the God Who Knows Your Name, has prepared a place for you—in Him—For These Tough Times. God will draw near to you as you draw near to Him and remind you that You Are Never Alone and teach you how to Live Loved. No Wonder They Call Him Savior!
Photo Credit: © Getty Images/BrianAJackson
This article is part of our People of Christianity catalog that features the stories, meaning, and significance of well-known people from the Bible and history. Here are some of the most popular articles for knowing important figures in Christianity:
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