Notorious

Reviewed By:

Todd Naevestad, Colorado Springs, Colorado

REVIEW INTRODUCTION

Title:

Notorious

Author or Producer:

Jeff Lucas

Publisher: 

David C Cook

Publication or Release Date:

2019

Format:

Paperback

Length:

176 pages

OVERVIEW
In this nine lesson series, Jeff Lucas takes us through familiar, and some less familiar, stories in the Bible, focusing on the dastardly, the vile, and the evil who so often make their stand against God. The likes of Herod the Great, Jezebel, and Cain all serve to show what a life against God’s will looks like, and how we can learn from their failures to better our own lives with Him.

Set up for a weekly small group, the book includes a main lesson on the person of interest and six supplementary thoughts to be read as a part of a daily devotional. For nine weeks, groups will have a chance to engage together and discuss the stories, and then have material to review in their individual quiet time.

ASSESSMENT

Rating (1 to 5):

4 out of 5

Suggested Audience:

Small groups, Bible studies, Sunday School classes

Christian Impact:

A lot of classic and important Christian theology is filtered through a new lens; showing how villainy reflects what a Christian life should look like in new ways. Every story serves both as a warning and as a mirror that asks, “Are we any different?” We see not just the failings of these people, but also how we are like them and the traps that we need to avoid in our own spiritual walks. 

Other Notes (Optional):

This works best as a small group discussion. Reading it as an individual is fine, but is something you can burn through pretty quickly if you read from cover to cover. The inclusion of discussion questions and the fact that it can be paired with a DVD lesson series really lends itself to group engagement, rather than personal reflection.