Max Lucado’s newest book, Outlive Your Life, is nothing short of a call to revival based on the book of Acts. This isn’t an old-fashioned revival like the kind I grew up with, where the main concern is all about the individual getting right with God (though Lucado does not overlook this important aspect). Rather, it is about Christians acting out their commitment to Christ through compassion and acts of service.

In many ways, this book reminded me of Rich Stearns’s book The Hole In Our Gospel. It is clear that Lucado has been influenced by Stearns: The Hole In Our Gospel is cited in the book, Stearns blurbs it, and proceeds from the book will go to support World Vision. In fact, you could almost say that this is what The Hole In Our Gospel would look like if Lucado had written it. It has the same concern for the poor and disadvantaged, and the same call for Christians to obey the biblical call to compassion, service, generosity and hospitality. But true to Lucado’s style, it has short chapters, striking anecdotes, a bit of humor, and walks through a passage of the Bible (in this case, Acts 1-12).

Lucado’s books are a quick read, and it’s tempting to buzz through Outlive Your Life in a few days, close the cover and move on to something else. However, Lucado doesn’t want you to do that. He wants your life to be changed, and to facilitate that change he includes a “Discussion and Action Guide” in the back. If every person who reads this book gets together with like-minded friends and commits to discussing and acting on it, it is no exaggeration to say that the world would be turned upside down (Acts 17:6).

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