FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jana Muntsinger,
MMPR
804.754.2118
Lucado Paints Image of Next
Door Savior
Near Enough to Touch, Strong Enough to Trust
Jesus of Nazareth made a
unique claim during his 33 years of life on earth—He claimed to be both fully
divine and completely human at
once. For millennia
to followthousands of years, theologians and
everyday people have struggled to understand how the
these contradictory natures could have co-existed in one person. Now NYT
New
York Times best-selling author Max Lucado tackles this
complex concept by making it simple.
His new book, Next Door Savior (W Publishing
Group, September 4, 2003), paints a vivid portrait of a Savior who was Eeveryman. With imaginative storytelling that puts scripture
the
Bible in fresh perspective, Lucado introduces the reader to the God who,
for 33 years, lived next door.
Max Lucado
approaches this book as an opportunity to spotlight the uniqueness of Jesus. “Our world tends to lump Jesus in with a pantheon
of would-be messiahs,” says Lucado. “But the actions and claims of Christ don't let us
do so. He claimed to be, at once, God and man. Such a claim separates him from
all people—He
was either
full of hope or full of hype.”
“We applaud men for
doing good things,” writes Lucado in the introduction. “We enshrine God for doing great
things. But when a man does God-things? One thing is for 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.”
In Next Door Savior, each
chapter dramatically describes an event in the daily life of Jesus—encounters
with the ill and weary, meetings with the important and pompous—and how Jesus
personally interacted with each as both God and man. Lucado shows that Jesus’ impact on everyday people is not limited to
Biblical times. [connect to next graph here]
DDrawing on both biblical
stories and modern day examples, Lucado shows that Jesus is still a Next
Door Savior with whom there is:
§
No Person He Won’t Touch: Jesus
reachesd
out to every person—the desperate, the shady, the suffering, the spiritually
weary.
§
No Place He Won’t Go: Jesus
searchesd
out and visited the most unexpected places—the stormy places, the ordinary
places, the incredible places and inward places.
-more-
Next Door Savior helps the reader
discover consolation within the dual natures of Jesus—his humanity and
divinity. “Don’t we need both?” Lucado
writes. “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. Jesus is the single most important 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 against
him.”
--more--
Next Door Savior/page two
Next Door Savior is written to address the questions
and longings
of
longtime followers
of Jesus as well as those posed by curious onlookers. Says Lucado: “
To the seeker, Next
Door Savior offers reasons to believe. To the believer, Next Door Savior offers fiber for
faith. But more than an apologetic treatise on Jesus, this book is
designed to platform the "God-manness" of Christ, acquainting the reader with
Jesus’ one-of-a-kind
claims.”
Consumers
worldwide will access the message of Next Door Savior via a
variety of product formats. U.S.
consumers will enjoy simultaneous releases of the hardcover book, the audio book
(cassette or CD) and a Spanish language edition. Internationally, foreign language paperback editions will be
issued in Spanish, Chinese, German, Indonesian, Korean, Afrikaans, Portuguese
and Spanish during 2003. A
companion
music CD of the same name boasts artists such as Michael W. Smith, Third Day,
Ginny Owens and Fernando Ortega slated for the project (September 2, Creative
Trust Workshop/Provident). A small mass-market booklet, excerpted
from Next Door Savior, will be available this fall, and a DVD video curriculum
releases Spring 2004.
W Publishing Group has
developed a multi-pronged marketing campaign to support the release of Next
Door Savior and its ancillary products.
Extensive promotional efforts introduce the new products to retailers
and consumers over several months:
§
July Convention launch: Lucado will attend the CBA International
Convention in Orlando, and the new book will be promoted via autographing
sessions, special events and advance galley giveaways.
§
July-August Consumer pre-sell campaign: This full-color
counter easel features special pricing for the book and companion music CD
(SPCN 0-8499-7483-6, no charge).
Consumers pre-ordering the book will receive a free sampler music CD and
coupon.
§
Summer Church promotion: W Publishing will send advance reading copies
to 10 strategic churches across the country to seed the market and solicit
feedback from a national advisory board for the Next Door Savior DVD
video curriculum (releases 2004).
§
Fall Retail promotions: Christian and general market retail outlets,
including Barnes & Noble, Wal-Mart, Borders and Family Christian Stores,
will feature the book in prime locations.
Next Door Savior will be featured in a wide variety of consumer
retail catalogs. Retail merchandising
kit (SPCN: 0-8499-7484-4, no charge) will promote both the book and companion
music CD in retail outlets nationwide.
§
Fall DaySpring cross-promotion: The publisher of Max Lucado’s greeting
cards will implement an in-store and web promotion to invite Lucado card buyers
to purchase his newest book.
§
October Satellite simulcast: Max Lucado will host a Next Door Savior
national satellite broadcast via Church Communication Network (CCN) in
October. Thousands of churches will
participate in this live televised event, broadcast from Lucado’s home church,
Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas.
Each attendee will receive a copy of an evangelism booklet based on Next
Door Savior.
“Never before has a Max Lucado book been
surrounded with such advance buzz, shared passion and ministry potential,” says
Allen Arnold, Vice President, Marketing and Brand Strategist, Thomas Nelson,
Inc. “We have expansive promotional
plans and innovative marketing partnerships to take Next Door Savior to the
next level.”
--more--
Next Door Savior/page three
During the past fifteen years, Max Lucado has
become recognized for what USA
Today called “his chatty, easy-to-read style.”Max Lucado, who published his first book in
1985 and has more than 33 million in print as of July 2003, is nothing short
of a publishing phenomenon. He has been a fixture
on national bestseller lists
for almost two decades—including The
New York Times, Publishers Weekly
and the Christian Booksellers Association. Lucado has been featured in a wide range of
media, including USA Today, “Larry King Live” and “NBC Nightly
News.” A New York Times best-selling author
with more than 28 million books in print (GETTING NEW NUMBER FROM W), Lucado is
nothing short of a publishing phenomenon.
He is the first and only author to win three **ECPA
Book of the Year awards, and at least one of his books has appeared on an ECPA
bestseller list every month for the last 12 years. In
February 2003, 18 different Lucado titles appeared
on various ECPA bestseller
lists simultaneously, and a record 11 of his 12 published works appeared
on an ECPA bestseller list simultaneously in 1994. (UPDATED STAT?) Max Lucado, his wife Denalyn and their three
daughters reside in San Antonio, Texas, where he serves as a minister at Oak
Hills Church.
W
Publishing Group is a subsidiary of Thomas Nelson, Inc., a leading publisher,
producer and distributor of books emphasizing Christian, inspirational and
family value themes. Thomas Nelson Inc.
is the largest publisher of Bibles and inspirational books in the English
language. For more information, visit www.wpublishinggroup.com.
# # #
May 2003
*Evangelical
Christian Publishers Association
*Evangelical
Christian Publishers Association
Next Door Savior
Near
Enough to Touch, Strong Enough to Trust
By Max Lucado
˜˜˜˜˜
Release: September 4, 2003
Format:
Hardcover
Category: Christian Living, Practical
Life, General
Price: $22.99
ISBN:
0-8499-1760-3
Audio Book:
Two cassettes, 180 minutes, $18.99, ISBN: 0-8499-6358-3
Audio Book: Three CDs, 180 minutes, $24.99, ISBN: 0-8499-6359-1
For publicity interviews or excerpts,
please contact Jana Muntsinger, MMPR, 804.754.2118 or jana@mmpublicrelations.com