We applaud men for doing good things. We enshrine God for doing great things. But what about a man who does God things? One thing is certain. We can't ignore him. If these moments are factual, if the claim of Christ is actual, then he was, at once, man and God. The single most significant person who ever lived. Forget MVP. He is the entire league. The head of the parade? Hardly. No one else shares the street. Who comes close? Humanity's best and brightest fade like dime-store rubies next to him. Dismiss him? We can't. Resist him? Equally difficult. Why would we want to? Don't we need a God-man Savior? A just-God Jesus could make us, but not understand us. A just-man Jesus could love us, but never save us. But a God-man Jesus? Near enough to touch. Strong enough to trust. A next door Savior. Since entering the ministry in 1978, Max Lucado has served churches in Miami, Florida; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and San Antonio, Texas. He currently serves as the teaching minister of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio. He is the recipient of the 2021 ECPA Pinnacle Award for his outstanding contribution to the publishing industry and society at large. He is America's bestselling inspirational author with more than 150 million products in print. Visit his website at MaxLucado.com Facebook.com/MaxLucado Instagram.com/MaxLucado X.com/MaxLucado Youtube.com/MaxLucadoOfficial The Max Lucado Encouraging Word Podcast Next Door Savior By Max Lucado Thomas Nelson Copyright © 2007 Max Lucado All right reserved. ISBN: 978-0-8499-1336-5 Contents Acknowledgments...............................................xiii1. Our Next Door Savior.......................................1PART ONE No Person He Won't Touch2. Christ's Theme Song........................................11Every Person3. Friend of Flops............................................19Shady People4. The Hand God Loves to Hold.................................27Desperate People5. Try Again..................................................33Discouraged People6. Spit Therapy...............................................41Suffering People7. What Jesus Says at Funerals................................49Grieving People8. Getting the Hell Out.......................................55Tormented People9. It's Not Up to You.........................................63Spiritually Weary People10. The Trashman..............................................71Imperfect PeoplePART TWO No Place He Won't Go11. He Loves to Be with the Ones He Loves.....................81Every Place12. What's It Like?...........................................87Inward Places13. A Cure for the Common Life................................93Ordinary Places14. Oh, to Be DTP-Free!.......................................101Religious Places15. Tire Kicker to Car Buyer..................................109Unexpected Places16. The Long, Lonely Winter...................................115Wilderness Places17. God Gets into Things......................................123Stormy Places18. Hope or Hype?.............................................129The Highest Place19. Abandoned!................................................137Godforsaken Places20. Christ's Coup de Grce....................................143God-Ordained Places21. Christ's Crazy Claim......................................151Incredible PlacesConclusion: Still in the Neighborhood.........................157Discussion Guide..............................................165Notes.........................................................209 Chapter One Our Next Door Savior Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Matthew 16:13-16 * * * The words hang in the air like a just-rung bell. "Who do you say that I am?" Silence settles on the horseshoe of followers. Nathanael clears his throat. Andrew ducks his eyes. John chews on a fingernail. Judas splits a blade of grass. He won't speak up. Never does. Peter will. Always does. But he pauses first. Jesus' question is not new to him. The previous thousand times, however, Peter had kept the question to himself. That day in Nain? He'd asked it. Most people stand quietly as funeral processions pass. Mouths closed. Hands folded. Reverently silent. Not Jesus. He approached the mother of the dead boy and whispered something in her ear that made her turn and look at her son. She started to object but didn't. Signaling to the pallbearers, she instructed, "Wait." Jesus walked toward the boy. Eye level with the corpse, he spoke. Not over it, as a prayer, but to it, as a command. "Young man, I say to you, arise!" (Luke 7:14). With the tone of a teacher telling students to sit or