Max Lucado: The Gospel of the Second Chance

But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you into Galilee; there you will see him as he told you. Mark 16:7

“Now tell me if that’s not a hidden treasure!

If I might paraphrase the words, “Don’t stay here, go tell the disciples,” a pause, then a smile, “and especially tell Peter, that he is going before you to Galilee.”

What a line. It’s as if all of heaven had watched Peter fall—and it’s as if all of heaven wanted to help him back up again… No wonder they call it the gospel of the second chance. Not many second chances exist in the world today…You can have a second chance.

Just ask Peter…The next time he saw Jesus, he got so excited that he barely got his britches on before he jumped into the cold water of the Sea of Galilee.

It also enough, so they say, to cause this backwood Galilean to carry the gospel of the second chance all the way to Rome where they killed him. If you ever wonder what would cause a man to be willing to be crucified upside down, maybe now you know.

It’s not everyday that you find someone who will give you a second chance—much less someone who will give you a second chance every day. But in Jesus, Peter found both.”

You can too.

Max Lucado, excerpt from “The Gospel of the Second Chance” in No Wonder They Call Him the Savior (Portland: Multnomah, 1986) 44-45.

“But that many of us are called poor, this is not our disgrace, but our glory; for as our mind is relaxed by luxury, so it is strengthened by frugality, and yet who can be poor if he does not want, if he does not crave for the possessions of others, if he is rich towards God? He rather is poor, who, although he has much, desires more.”

Tertullian (160-220) in Apologetical Works, Argument XXXVI.

“I’ve always wondered why they call it Good Friday, when in fact, it was bad Friday, dark Friday, evil Friday…Perhaps the Church Fathers wanted to deny Satan any credit of victory in the Easter story. Although it was bad at the time, it ultimately turned into the greatest victory mankind has ever witnessed. Christ defeated death, defeated sin, and won for us eternal life. It culminated on Good Friday. Good Friday gave us the cross of Jesus Christ…We would not know of His ultimate generosity and love unless this story were told.”

Randal Wiedemann, Five Minutes with Jesus: Transforming Power (Bloomington: CrossBooks, 2011) 48.

“We’re most like God when we’re giving.”

Dixie Fraley at Generous Giving Conference 2001, Phoenix, AZ.

“It ought to be the business of every day to prepare for our last day.”

Matthew Henry as cited by Richard J. Krejcir in Contemporary thoughts amongst Evangelical Leaders why Stewardship is Declining.

“In the sphere of material things giving means being rich. Not he who has much is rich, but he who gives much.”

Eric Fromm, The Art of Loving (New York: Continuum) 22.

“Giving produces freedom 100% of the time: freedom from the bondage of things, freedom to receive more from God, and freedom to be a conduit of blessing to others.”

Tricia Mayer as cited by Richard J. Krejcir in Contemporary thoughts amongst Evangelical Leaders why Stewardship is Declining.

“Where riches hold the dominion of the heart, God has lost His authority.”

John Calvin, Commentary on the Harmony of the Evangelists: Matthew, Mark, and Luke trans. William Pringle (Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1845) 337.

“One of the single-most important tasks of leadership is to teach people to give.”

Rick Warren, Teaching Your People to Be Generous. Exponential ’04.

“The reason Christians don’t give to their church is not because of apathy but because of ignorance. They have never been taught what God’s word says about good stewardship.”

Interview with Ken Williams by Generous Giving. Generous Giving Journal: Pastors Edition, October 2003.