Max Lucado, whose bestselling Christian living titles and Bible studies have over 150 million products in print, is writing a book on the end times.
What Happens Next: A Traveler’s Guide Through the End of This Age will be published by Thomas Nelson on August 13 and will explore the apocalypse, Armageddon, the rapture, and other doomsday events foretold in the Bible, as well as what Lucado calls “God’s great assurances.”
News of Lucado’s book comes nearly two years after a spike in books on biblical prophecy in 2022. Lucado was compelled to study the end times due to increased levels of disappointment among readers today. “If this world is all there is, what happens when this world is sad, broken, or beaten down,” he asks PW. “On the other hand, if this world is just the downbeat of the Maestro’s baton and the symphony is just getting started? That’s exciting.”
The topic is new for Lucado, but messages of hope will be familiar to readers of Lucado’s previous titles, says v-p and publisher Andrew Stoddard, who calls What Happens Next “optimistically urgent.”
“This topic is something that he has thoughtfully and prayerfully studied for years, and something that he feels ready to share with his readers in the midst of turbulent times,” Stoddard adds. “Many of today’s readers have big questions about the alarming current state of affairs and our ultimate individual and corporate trajectories. Pressing concerns and thoughtful, actionable wisdom intersect with one another starting on page one.”
What Happens Next will feature quotes from scripture as well as “accessible explanations” and words of encouragement, Stoddard says. Sections of the book include “God will keep His promises,” “Heaven has a timeline,” and “A golden era awaits God’s children.”
Meanwhile, Lucado and his publishing team recently celebrated nearly 40 years in publishing by, in part, compiling data about the author's presence in the book market. According to three major national consumer surveys commissioned by the Max Lucado brand, 19% of U.S. adults 18 years or older were aware of Lucado in late 2023. The same findings indicated that 14% of the American adult population (one in seven) has read one or more Lucado books, and words associated with Lucado include “encouraging” and “inspirational.”
Previous surveys had found that 15% of adult Americans knew of Lucado in 2014 and 11% were aware of the author in 2004.
The data is based on surveys in 2004 from The Ligon Group, 2014 via LifeWay Research, and 2023 from HarperCollins Christian Publishing (HCCP) Consumer Insights Team.
