Glenn Packiam - Lucky: How the Kingdom Comes to Unlikely People

What people are saying about

LUCKY

Glenn Packiam is a thinker who does not overthink. He is an artist who does not manipulate. He is a pastor who understands that truth is more valuable than spiritual emotionalism. Lucky is a prophetic work for today. Glenn beautifully articulates the call in everyones life to carry something extraordinary. This book is a strong answer to the prayers of the kingdom-minded.

Jon Egan, worship leader and songwriter, Desperation Band and New Life Church

Lucky is one of those books that makes you want to sit back, pause, and rethink your life in light of Gods ridiculous love. The message of this book has the potential to reshape the imaginations of a new generation of Christ followers and inspire them to live out the full implications of Gods kingdom come in the here and now. This will be a book that I encourage my entire congregation to read.

Lee Cummings, lead pastor of Radiant Church in Kalamazoo, MI, and director of Resurrection Life Churches International

Glenn has brought the most powerful words of Jesus to life in a modern-day context. Gods desire is for all of us to live beyond our wildest imaginationa life that is lucky. There isnt a greater message on the face of the earth than the truth of the kingdom coming to transform everything in and around us. I loved every page of this book!

Tom Davis, author if Red Letters, Scared, and Priceless

Praise for

SECONDHAND JESUS

Digging through the ruins of a house built on sand, Glenn Packiam lays bare the shameless lies of a way of religion, very popular these days in America, without foundations in Jesus or Scripture. But it is far more than expos. This is an honest, personal, detailed story of a Christian leader refusing cynicism and embracing forgiveness and hope.

Eugene H. Peterson, professor emeritus of spiritual theology, Regent College, Vancouver, B.C., Canada

Glenn Packiam is not only a gifted songwriter and worship leader, penning songs that capture the heart of our generation, but he is also a gifted writer whose textured voice needs to be heard. Secondhand Jesus is a much-needed challenge for every believer to embrace knowing God like they never have before.

Margaret Feinberg, popular speaker and author of Scouting the Divine

Glenn Packiam is an authentic Christ-follower, and as his pastor, I am privileged to watch him teach and lead others on this journey to having a firsthand faith in Jesus. This book is a must-read for anyone wanting more in their walk with Jesus.

Brady Boyd, senior pastor of New Life Church

What a great read! Page after page I found myself hooked. Glenn has written a book that not only engaged my mind, but also made my heart beat faster for Jesus.

David Nasser, author and speaker

With clarity and conviction, Secondhand Jesus presents the great need to ditch our memorized Christian answers and pursue knowing Jesus for ourselves. Each page is refreshing, challenging, and thought provoking.

David Perkins, director of Desperation Conferences

Glenn Packiam offers a personal and thoughtful exploration of the rumors and misconceptions that have plagued the Christian faith. It is a must-read for anyone whose faith has become stale or apathetic, but it also offers something for even the most earnest of believersa challenge to infuse ones faith with a firsthand relationship with God.

Rob Stennett, author of The Almost True Story of Ryan Fisher and The End Is Now

LUCKY

Published by David C Cook

4050 Lee Vance View

Colorado Springs, CO 80918 U.S.A.

David C Cook Distribution Canada

55 Woodslee Avenue, Paris, Ontario, Canada N3L 3E5

David C Cook U.K., Kingsway Communications

Eastbourne, East Sussex BN23 6NT, England

David C Cook and the graphic circle C logo

are registered trademarks of Cook Communications Ministries.

All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes,

no part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form

without written permission from the publisher.

Personal stories throughout are used by permission.

The Web site addresses recommended throughout this book are offered as a resource to you. These Web sites are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement on the part of David C Cook, nor do we vouch for their content.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from THE MESSAGE. Copyright by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright 2000; 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the New Living Translation of the Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. (Public Domain.) The author has added italics to Scripture quotations for emphasis.

LCCN 2010942616

ISBN 978-1-4347-6638-0

eISBN 978-1-4347-0364-4

2011 Glenn Packiam

The Team: Don Pape, John Blase, Amy Kiechlin, Sarah Schultz, Caitlyn York, Karen Athen

Cover Design: Rule29

First Edition 2011

To Dad and Mom. I am Lucky to be your son.

CONTENTS

BY EUGENE PETERSON

FEELING LUCKY?

LUCKS BEGINNER

THE GOD-DEPENDENT

THOSE WHO ARE EMPTY ON THE WORLD

THOSE WHOSE BEST LIFE ISNT NOW

THOSE WHOM THE WORLD REJECTS

LUCK-BEARERS

GOOD. LUCK.

an EXCERPT FROM SECONDHAND JESUS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Writing a book can feel like a lonely endeavor. You disappear at odd hours of the day and night and sit quietly with your thoughts, writing, erasing, rewriting. If someone saw me while I was writingwith my eyes glazed as I stare at nothing in particular, my lips moving to form words and my fingers frozen a half inch above the keyboard, waiting to write those words downthey would think Ive lost my mind. At times Im not sure that I havent! When the phrase is right, I feed the blinking cursor more letters. When Im stuck, that thin black line taunts me as it pulses and I contemplate getting a snack or a drink or both. Then, when a chapter is done, I have to resist the urge to send it to all of my friends, begging their feedback.

But writing never truly happens alone. I am in the company of all the writers I have read. Their thoughts bounce in my head, from the back to the forefront of my mind. And then there are the many conversations. How many unsuspecting friends, upon hearing that I was writing another book, innocently asked what it was about only to find themselves taken hostage as I launched into a twenty-minute exposition of each chapter.

Thankfully, I have been surrounded by amazing people who gladly interacted with me about this book, both in written form and in conversation. You have all helped make my thoughts clearer, my writing crisper, and this book better than it would have been had I truly been alone in writing it.